Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs: Kid-Made Ornament

I love Mama Miss and her fabulous kid-made ornament blog hop each year!

I’m thrilled to be joining because it inspired me to make an ornament with my kids that I’ve wanted to make for a while. One that would honor my Grandmother each year on our tree.

But, honestly, as excited as I was to make this kid-made ornament, I was also dragging my feet about it too…

I think I was dragging my feet because I still miss her so much.

My Grandmother died two years ago. On some days it feels like it was ages ago and on other days it feels so fresh. On the days when I’m really missing her, I think about what she wore every single day. No, it wasn’t the same clothes or the same shoes (although I think she had duplicates of her favorite snazzy sneakers), but it was something that she wore on her lapel. I can remember her bright white collar folded over her various shirts and sweaters to showcase her favorite accessory: her guardian angel pin.  Maybe she missed a day or two here and there, but I don’t remember it that way.  I remember that her smile lit up whenever she saw someone that she loved (and, by the way, that was everyone that she knew) followed by her showing off her angel or shrugging her shoulders slightly so that you knew that it was there.  She loved her angels so much that she pinned one in her car just below the radio, too.

Her car just had to match her outfits…

Or, at least that’s how I thought about it as a kid.

When she died, my Mom wanted me to have one of her guardian angels.

It has been stuck into the lampshade on my bedside table ever since. When I signed up to join the 10 days of kid-made ornaments series, I knew that I wanted to showcase my Grandmother’s guardian angel as an ornament.  It’s such a simple way to honor my Grandmother during the holidays.

Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs: A Kid-Made Ornament

My Mother-in-law bought us an amazing children’s book called, Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs, that covers the topic of death and the loss of a Grandparent.    

It’s a wonderful book that really gets at the heart of how to talk to kids about losing a family member.

This post contains affiliate links to Amazon at no extra cost to you ~ read about it here

How to Make a Salt Dough Ornament

What you Need:

• Flour
• Salt
• Water
• Rolling Pin
• Pearl tempera paints
• Guardian Angel <— I just *have* to include this in case you want to have one too

You can find my favorite salt dough recipe (that actually works!) over at Learning 4 Kids.

I ended up adding a touch more water to get the dough just right.

My daughter and I rolled out the dough and used lots of holiday cookie cutters to make various shapes.

Then, I took my Grandmother’s angel and pressed it into the dough.  It made such a lovely print!

Note: You can use lace, a necklace or pendant, a watch, or anything that you’re loved ones cherished to make a print on your ornament.

 

Once the salt dough ornaments cooked (at 350 degrees F for around 15-20 minutes), we waited for them to cool and to paint.  I used pearlescent tempera paint in two shades, gold and pink.

I painted in one color, then let the ornament dry, and painted lightly over the top with the contrast color.

I love the way that they turned out!

I not only love the way that it looks, but I love what I think about each time that I look at it.

I think about my sweet Grandma and her love of her guardian angels.  She may not be with us physically anymore, but she surely isn’t forgotten.

Other Kid-Made Ornaments

10 days of a kid-made christmas ~ Ornaments Inspired by Books!

 

More Kid-Made Ornaments from Happily Ever Mom