Good morning! I am so glad to be restarting the Year Long Christmas Challenge! I got nothing done for Christmas 2021! That’s fine, but this year I want a relaxed Christmas with a few finished projects- like in 2018 and 2019.
Hopefully, the challenge will motivate me to complete at least 1 Christmas project every month! I typically don’t like starting red and green projects until after Thanksgiving, then I run out of time!
The Year Long Christmas Challenge did help in 2018 and 2019. I finished a few projects, like the Christmas napkins and child’s t-shirt pillowcase, I also learned how not to make divinity and that we don’t like marshmallow candy- even homemade!
This year I want to complete a few Christmas decorations and presents and try more new candy recipes.
The January Christmas project is Fixing an older Froggy Ornament.
What is a Froggy Ornament??
Every year, we give the kids a Christmas tree ornament.
Some are homemade, some are bought. We have vacation ornaments (like the North Shore ones that I remembered to buy early in the vacation), favorite cartoon ornaments (love the Scooby one) and special event ornaments (like musical instruments to remember a band solo or jazz concert).
One year, I bought 3 trumpet ornaments! The 1st two were glass. I broke one in the store and one later, then I bought a metal trumpet ornament.
I should have stayed away from glass ornaments, but the clear glass bulbs are soo cute, easy to decorate and inexpensive.
January’s Christmas Challenge is to fix (remake) a clear glass ornament from 2007. It has lasted quite a while, but for 5-6 years it has had packing tape over a crack. Now, it is completely broken and the rocks are falling out-not good on a Christmas tree.
The 2007 Froggy Ornament reminds us of a fun camping vacation at Pine Lake State Park in central Iowa. We camped there for a long weekend- fishing, biking and swimming.
The youngest learned to skid his bike because the campground was steely sloped down to the lake then. ‘Skid! Skid!’ We’d yell when he started going down the hills.
One night there was a downpour. In the morning, we opened the camper door to water flowing quickly past the camper to the lake!
An evening walk at Pine Lake inspired the Froggy Ornaments.
The walking path was covered with small frogs.
The middle one kept telling us to watch where we walked. ‘Don’t step there!’ ‘Watch out!’ ‘Over here!’ There were so many, many baby frogs, they were cute and loud!
Later, there were deer on the same path. This time, everyone was quiet so we didn’t scare them away.
So, the 2007 Christmas ornaments were covered with baby frogs.
The frogs are fun and easy to paint- even on the new plastic ornament.
The frog body is one green finger tip of paint. I made different sizes, but most are small like the camping frogs. A few needed a second coat, most did not.
The frog feet and eyes are the end of a smaller paint brush, a q-tip would also work. I placed the white eye circles about half way on the body, not totally above it.
Once the paint was dry, a permanent marker made it easy to draw eyes and smiles on the froggys. Some of the froggys are looking at each other, while some have silly eyes. I also used the permanent marker to write the location and year.
I did use paint for the Merry Christmas message on the ornament. Thankfully, the dots on the points of the letters help my writing look tidier and maybe more festive!
I also painted a festive froggy with a Santa hat and a fun froggy-he has a thin red line for his tongue sticking out to catch a fly!
When it was all dry, I sealed it with a coat of clear gloss spray paint.
These plastic ornaments should not crack or shatter, which is great because the froggy ornaments were also inspired by my (then) little collectors.
Like most kids, ours came home with pockets full of stuff- pebbles, rocks, sticks, sand and once in a while, pinecones. Their rooms had lots of treasures.
Thankfully, some of them fit in ornaments. 2 of the froggy ornaments held rocks and one held baby pinecones, all found and treasured by our little collectors.
I’m so glad that the Froggy Ornament was able to be fixed (remade) and the treasures were able to be saved. I’m also glad to restart the Year Long Christmas Challenge- one month completed, 10 more fun and festive, red and green projects yet to come! I hope you will join me on my challenge!
Happy Camping (or saving ornaments!)
Frugal Campasaurus