Dashing through the Snow!

Over the river

 Ahh... tis the season!The snow is here, the cold weather is here... and I've already complained about cold toes while teaching. that can only mean one thing... Time to start thinking Christmas-y thoughts! Like how am I going to play fetch with the poodles in the snow? Or am I going to fall down the hill when trying to take them on a little nature walk?
 The plus side is that Bacon loves this weather (though is wishing I hadn't clipped him quite so close), while Tempi stays outside only long enough to do her business, no longer.

And since I haven't had any interesting horse experiences lately, this blog post will go in an entirely different direction...

And through the woods....

There's something about the cold weather and short days that makes me think that I am at all crafty. I am not. I know this about myself. I come from a long line of non-crafty individuals.

Last year I made my own Christmas ornaments from barn wood, ribbon and horse themed stamps. They were underwhelming, to say the least. 

This year, I lurked around on line looking for interesting Christmas gift ideas for my lessonee's (yeah, upon rereading this, I probably should have just said 'students'... but really, I'm gonna leave it). There were a few that I really liked and will have to keep in mind for next year (don't you hate those diy gifts that take foresight and planning?), but none that I could really sink my teeth into this year... 

Lucky them, I actually bought something for everyone (love cyber Monday deals!) instead of handing out some home made mess. But watch out for next year... mwahahaha!

This is my current project. The horse show ribbon wreath! Every bit of this wreath is made from an old ribbon I won while showing London in high school.. Seems like a good reuse of some of the less memorable ribbons, right? I will say that there were some difficulties in constructing this work of art, not the least of which was having to destroy my old ribbons.
The biggest problem I had (and this is going to sound douchey) is that I just didn't have enough sixth place ribbons! And for the holiday theme, I needed green, lots of green! The red was easy; London and I made a career of coming in second. The white was simple; lots of shows use white as the accent color on their ribbons. But the green... Thank goodness that there were four first place ribbons from an old Topsider Schooling Show in St Patties Day green! So my Christmas Wreath was saved by a theme show... thank goodness. I really didn't want to have to start cutting up championship ribbons (the project would not have been started if I had to destroy a championship ribbon)... Though London and I have collected our fair share of sixth place ribbons at the championships.

Anyway, after two days of gluing and cutting, clipping and holding....I give you, the MacDonald Dressage Christmas Wreath!

Don't you just hate cell phone pictures?

Now I just have to hope that it doesn't fall to pieces the first time I slam the door.