Never too soon for Christmas ornaments, right? Well here’s what they look like fresh out of the soda kiln. Bright & shiny. Next I will add a bent wire ring on the top to hang them from. And since I love making them… I’m sure there’s another batch or three in my not-so-distant future!

Some of you have asked how I fire my wheelthrown holiday ornaments. I posted a couple “before” photos… and these are the “after.” Still standing on their little tripods. With the tips dipped in kiln wash so they don’t soda-fuse to the ornaments during firing.

Many people have asked how I fire my holiday ornaments. I tell them “upside-down.” Well, here’s the real secret revealed… I prop them up on a tripod I make out of clay, bisque and dip in kiln wash. A little balancing trick so I can get soda-fired effects around all sides of the ornament. Hope it was worth the wait!!!

My first batch of holiday ornaments are ready to go into the soda kiln as well.

So Winter is slowly coming to an end… but it’s still holiday festive in my studio
as I’m trying to finish up this latest batch of holiday ornaments.
I’ve added all of the handbuilt caps & rings to the trimmed tops of each ornament.

And then I painted them with some colored flashing slip accents. My hope is that these colors will “POP” a lot more in the soda kiln. There should be some oranges and mustard yellows in here somewhere when we’re done!

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And now they’re even starting to look a bit like ornaments… as I just did some stamping & trimmed off of the “stump.” Next I need to handbuild caps & rings to hang them from!!!

Sure, the holidays SEEM far away… but it’s always fun
to make a few ornaments & mini’s on a wet & soggy rainy day!

Plus, there’s only 308 days until Christmas!!! Giddy-up!!!

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We’re getting closer to the holidays…
still plenty of time for shopping, wrapping, packing, and “ornamenting.”

I just LOVE surprise care packages in the mail… especially when it’s a beautiful handmade ornament just in time for Christmas! This beauty was made by my friend Pam of NorthWind Pottery. Sure, I may have purchased it online a year ago, but I definitely forgot all about it thinking that I would just “pick it up” from her at some point… making this care package an especially great surprise!!!