A couple of summers ago, I went to help my lifelong friend Libby clean out her late 19th century barn. The place had some real history. Three or four generations of one family had lived there and when they sold the place they left a LOT of stuff behind. I was up for the challenge and excited about the things I would find.
We worked for days hauling out old World War 1 and 2 souvenirs, plate negatives, vintage clothing galore, antique books and more agricultural ephemera about raising chickens then I ever want to see again. Somewhere, under the stacks of 1950's 4H, award winning, sewing projects I found a wool coat with BIG wooden buttons. It was a brilliant red and looked plenty thick enough to keep you warm and highly visible while trudging through deep upstate New York snowdrifts on your way to the chicken coops. My friend didn't even question why a Floridian would want to launder and pack that coat up for a trip home to sunny Florida. She knows me and knew the red wool coat was destined for something arty.
There is just something amazing about the sight of bright red anything contrasted against snow white, add a little evergreen to the color mix and bam.... Christmas is all you can think about. So, inspired by the beauty created by God in nature itself and an old red wool coat, I made a few Christmas ornaments to brighten up my tree this year.
I've got a couple in my Etsy shopand have also posted a pattern for making them yourself just in case you find an old red coat or can get your hands on some red felt. The PDFs are also available for purchase directly at PayPal for $5. Just click the Buy Now button.