Personalized Ornaments by Calliope

Just Mauied

2008-04-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

Won't this be a darling gift personalized for a couple who just got married in Hawaii! Maui that is. When it's an ornament we'll put names on their tummies and Just Mauied with the date inside the little heart. We make other ornaments for weddings, and we make ornaments for souveniers of tropical vacations so this new design will be great for either occasion.

New Family Tree ornament

2008-04-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a drawing of one of our new designs
for 2008. It's a Family Tree because you can
personalize each little character on the tree with
a family member's name. You can see our last
minute change - a bigger star on the top. We think the year, 2008 will look cute up there and
our customers can put a family name or a phrase
on the white base. We're thinking of doing some similar products using a dog and a cat. We'll see how the sample comes out. This will be a nice addition to our other Family ornaments.

Coming up with New Products each Spring

2008-04-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

Every Spring we have an opportunity to take a look at our fabulous selection of Christmas designs and do our inventory and talk about what our customers loved this last year! Then we plan a nice selection of new ornaments that will really compliment our current ones and have somthing fresh and new for everyone who has bought year after year.

Believe me, after 37 years in the Christmas ornament business it is a challenge each year to think of original ideas! And all of our ideas are ORIGINAL - and designed by Dorr Eddy, one of our owners and a talented product designer who does all the product development for Calliope Designs as well as working for other companies designing products in ceramics, glass, wood and plastic.

When you see 37 years in business, you must realize, Dorr is an old school designer doing every single product by hand drawing and hand coloring each item. No computer generated designs here!

We start with a list of ideas based on ideas we've had all during the year. He works on tissues and drawing paper and may end up drawing and coloring the design several times before it's in rough draft form. After the draft is completed we evaulate it for subject, color, size, and theme. We check to make sure there are great places to personalize - room for everyone's names and the year and a phrase. We make sure the colors are good on a Christmas tree! We discuss each drawing and how it can be made even cuter, then Dorr does a final rendering. After this is complete we apply any extra touches to the finished art - glitter, silver or gold paint, lettering.

When the artwork is complete it's time to have the samples made up to make sure the ornament is perfect! Here are some images of new ideas we have for 2008:

Personalized Ornaments by Calliope: Starting a Collection of Personalized Ornaments Part 1

2007-09-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Personalized Ornaments by Calliope: Starting a Collection of Personalized Ornaments Part 1

Starting a Collection of Personalized Ornaments Part 1

2007-09-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Christmas is a holiday of family traditions - That's one of the things that makes it so special. We decorate our homes a certain way, have wonderful meals with special dishes that we loved as children, attend midnight church services, open Christmas stockings and exchange gifts with each other! And, as you all know, the holiday season can become very very hectic - trying to get everything done on time and meet everyone's expectations.

This is especially true in our family as 36 years ago we started a Christmas ornament business - and believe me, we work non stop right up until Christmas Eve.
You can read about our business at http://www.calliopedesigns.com/about_personalized_ornaments.aspx. To simplify our lives at Christmas time we started ornament collections for all of our children, neices, nephews, and now their children by giving them a personalized ornament each Christmas following birth. Of course, now we're giving out engaged, wedding, and expecting ornaments - as well as starting second generation baby collections. http://www.calliopedesigns.com/wedding-ornaments-480.html shows some of our cutest wedding ornaments!

We have baby ornaments for boys, girls, twins, and triplets. http://www.calliopedesigns.com/babys-first-christmas-ornaments-478.html And, we even have ornaments for expecting couple.

Always remember to make a personalized ornament with a name, a phrase (Baby's First Christmas) and the year. Some baby ornaments have room to personalize the ornament with the baby's day of birth, weight, and length! When you find an ornament at Calliopedesigns.com you can personalize the ornament any way you want!

Storing your Personalized Ornaments

2007-08-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

Ornament storage boxes:

Martha Stewart Living recommends each ornament be stored in it’s original box before putting away until next Christmas. If the original box is not longer available, wrap each ornament in acid free paper, and carfully place it in a cardboard box with cardboard dividers to protect each ornament. The cardboard dividers give the box strength too – to keep it from being crushed in storage thus damaging your wonderful ornaments.

Martha recommends labeling each box with the inventory of what’s inside!

In our family we made our own Christmas ornament storage boxes using our favorite gift wrap paper glued to the sides of the cardboard box. We decorated the outside of each box with cut out portions of our favorite Christmas cards – making a collage of Christmas memories. My 87 year old mother has given me these boxes now, and it’s amazing to remember the many years we decorated a tree together.

Here are some ornaments that might be nice for a collection for the children in your family, http://www.calliopedesigns.com/friends-and-children-509.html. We recommend keeping that collection for each child in it's own box. If you have dough ornaments, be sure and keep them in an airtight, tupperware type container. Label each container with the child's name so that next year the child can anticipate unpacking his or her own special collection.

Storing your Personalized Ornaments and all other Christmas Ornaments

2007-08-29T12:35:00.000-07:00

Storing your Personalized Ornaments and all other Christmas Ornaments

Beautiful Christmas ornaments are often fragile so it’s important to develop a nice way to store them and keep them safe from breakage, weather conditions (humidity, heat, dampness, etc.) and little unwanted creatures (bugs and mice)!

Calliope Designs offers two types of personalized ornaments. Our traditional “dough” ornaments and our new claydough ornaments. http://www.calliopedesigns.com/about_personalized_ornaments.aspx

Our traditional dough personalized ornaments are made of a mixture of flour, salt, water and colors, and are baked in an oven until hard, then glazed with a clear shiney coating to protect them for years. No matter how thick the coating, dough ornaments need to be stored in an airtight container to protect them from any moisture deterioration. We recommend they be stored in a tupper ware type container or a zip lock freezer bag for ultimate protection. Using this practice we continue to use the ornaments we made when we first started Calliope Designs in 1971! http://www.calliopedesigns.com/about_how_made.aspx to make your own dough ornaments.

Our new claydough ornaments are made of a polymer clay – and it is not subject to any moisture or weather conditions, bugs, or mice. They are also extremely durable. So there are not specific storage requirements for their preservation.

An Individually Handmade Christmas Ornament

2007-08-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

An individually handmade Christmas ornament is something that you can be proud to give as a gift. The wide range of holiday ornament designs, from pet ornaments to occupation ornaments, means that you can find something special for everyone on your list. There are ornaments for athletes with sports like football, wrestling, baseball, fishing, tennis and karate (and more!) and each can be personalized with a name, a year or a special message. Do you have a new baby in your life? We have special ornaments for "Baby's First Christmas" for that new bundle of joy! These ornaments last a lifetime and will bring a smile of joy to your loved one each year that they display these treasured gifts. These beautiful personalized ornaments are crafted to capture the spirit of Christmas for people of all ages! Find a huge selection of personalized ornaments at http://www.calliopedesigns.com.

Christmas in August

2007-08-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

As teh temperatures soar and we enjoy the beach, ice cream, and outdoor picnics it seems a funny time to think about snow, Santa Claus and Christmas - but that's what Christmas in August is all about! There are five months until families and friends gather to celebrate the Christmas holidays but it is both fun and practical to make some Christmas shopping plans now. Time for shopping is hard to find in December, butnow, in August, it's a breath of fresh air. Start by finding the perfect personalized ornaments for your family and friends. Calliope Designs personalized claydough and dough ornaments are just the right items for everyone.
http://www.calliopedesigns.com.

New Website Part 2

2007-04-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

We are putting some new pages on our website. So along with a new look there will be new information. The first new page is going to be about making custom designed products. These would be for corporate gifts, organizational fundraisers, and gifts at events.

Our minimum order is only 288 pcs. Considering the work involved in developing a custom designed product, that's not very many pieces. And the pricing is good - we can sell these at our wholesale cost as there is some economy in this process.

The customer needs to plan ahead. It takes about 5 months from the first conversation to do the artwork and product development, have a sample made, and then order the production and have it shipped to us from the factory.

We have been in the Advertising Specialty industry for many years. When a company orders an ornament from us one time, they usually get one over and over again. Several of our customers have bought ornaments each Christmas since 1980. I think that's a good recommendation!

You can have your very own design, with your name or company name hand inscribed on it, and the year, for a very reasonalble price. Check out our new pages on our website by going to www.calliopedesigns.com and clicking on the link called Custom Designed Ornaments where there is a picture of The Greenbrier Inn's Gingerbread Ball ornament for 2006!

New Websie!

2007-04-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

Our website is getting a facelift. It's four years old and needed refreshing. You will still find our cute ornaments to be personalized and plenty of helpful gift ideas and "how to" pages. Be sure and visit "How to Make Your Own Dough Ornament at Home" page. The link to that is found at the bottom of the home page. http://www.calliopedesigns.com/dough_ornaments.aspx.

Easter lambs personalized ornament for the table.

2007-02-27T12:10:00.000-08:00

Last time we created an Easter Chick to sit on the table by each place. After each Chick is finished it should be coated with a clear acrylic spray, then personalized with an extra fine tip permanent marker! A nice little keepsake, especially if you put the year 2007 on it.

Today I'm going to write about making a standing lamb dough placecard for the Easter table.

You'll use the same recipe for the dough materials found at www.calliopedesigns.com - making your own dough ornaments at home.

Mix up some white, black, a tiny bit of pink and a tiny bit of blue. The white should be soft, almost sticky as we are going to use the garlic press. The other colors can be medium hard.

It might be fun to have a little jingle bell to put on a collar around the lamb's neck, but it's not a necessity.

Tools: a toothpick, garlic press, sharp kitchen knife, and alum. foil

Again, you won't want this little item to be too big! It will take too long to bake, and they are cuter when they are small.

The first piece to make would be the white body. Take about 2 T of white dough and roll it into a ball, then into an oval shape. Set aside.

Make the legs. These four legs will be the same size. Because they will be holding the lamb's body and head, we will want them to be oversized in a way... sturdy. And bigger at the base than the top. (These lambs are going to be whimsical in appearance!) So make a fairly large ball of dough - roll it until round and smooth. Set it down on the table and cut it in half. Roll each half into a ball again and set them down and cut each in half. Now you have four pieces just about exactly the same size.

Roll the four pieces of dough into balls, then set the balls on a smooth surface and roll each into a cone by using the tips of your fingers and pressing down slightly on one end so it becomes smaller as the other stays the same.

You should have four legs (cones) hopefully with large bases (the feet). Set these four pieces standing up, close together and press the white body on top. Make sure it will stand up. The legs don't have to be very tall, maybe only 1 " or so.

Make a little black ball and roll it into an 1" long snake - and press on to the bottom end of the body (for a black tail).

Take about 1 T of white dough and make a ball, then a football shape, and press into the body for a head. Make black ears - the same way you did the tail - a ball of black, cut in half, rolled and pinched into ear shapes. Press those on to the white dough head.

Now comes the fun part! Practice pushing dough through the garlic press. Just push out about 1/3-1/2" of dough, and swipe it with the toothpick. The dough pieces will stick to the toothpick. Then lay the toothpick on to the white body of the lamb and pull the toothpick away leaving the dough fleece on the body. Continue over and over until you have covered the entire body of the lamb, the entire head, and the little tail and ears are sticking out.

To make the blue eyes, take a tiny bit of blue dough. Roll it into a ball, cut the ball in half. Make two tiny balls. Place them on the table. Stick the toothpick right into the center. The eye will stick to the toothpick. Touch the blue eye to your tongue, then stick the toothpick into the lamb's head where you want the first eye to be.... repeat with the second eye.

Same process with the pink nose. You can make two nostrils or one - whichever is cuter to you.

Bake in a 225 degree oven until completely hardened. Spray with a clear acrylic coating. There is no place to personalize the lamb unless you want to cut out a flat piece of dough - perhaps a heart shape, and bake it on to the lamb's side. Then spray and personalize.

Have fun.

Personalized ornaments for Easter

2007-02-23T14:58:00.000-08:00

Here's an idea for something really cute for your Easter table. Small springtime animals - lambs, chicks, bunnies, etc. whimsically designed and created to be used as place cards for Easter!

The instructions for mixing up all the dough to be used is on my previous blog postings. So some hints for making little 3 dimensional animals:

Think about the animals you'll make and what colors you will want to have on hand. You won't need a full range:
Lambs: black and white with blue eyes and pink nose
Chicks: yellow with blue eyes and orange feet and beak
Bunnies: white, with blue eyes and pink nose.

Tools: Definitely a garlic press, sharp kitchen knife, alum. foil, toothpicks - oh and a clean damp cloth to wipe off the table between different colors.

Size: You won't want these to be too big. For one thing it takes forever to bake them completely. Also, they are not quite as cute when they're big - they tend to look a little dumpy and not roly poly cute! Let's say your animals will have a finished size of 3" tall by 2-3 " wide.

All animals will be constructed the same way. You'll begin with the body - Take a piece of yellow dough and form a nice smooth ball. - We'll do the chick first as it's the easiest. Work on a smooth surface like formica table top, and construct the ornament on a piece of foil. (It's easy to move to the oven that way)

Take that ball and pinch one side to form the tail. Make another yellow ball about 1/2 the size of the first. Roll it until it is completely smooth. Stick this ball on to the first body ball, on the other side of the pinched tail area. Now you have a body and head.

Make another yellow ball about the same size as the head. Roll it very smooth. Put it on the table and cut in half. Roll each half into a ball. Then pinch one end like you did in step 1 - and then flatten the ball. You will have a wing - press that onto the side of the body. Repeat for the other side.

Now you have a body, head, and two wings.

You are finished with yellow, so wipe off the table where you were working. Let's make the feet.
Take some orange dough, making a ball about the size of the ball that made one wing. This is not an exact science - your chicks might look different than mine! Roll that orange dough into a ball and cut it in half. Then roll each half. Put the two balls down next to each other, just barely touching. Press down on about half of the ball squishing it to the foil. Put the body of the chick on top of the two side by side feet and gently press down to have them stick together. Use a toothpick to make feet marks on the chick. (They might look a little like duck feet, but this is artistic license! They will be big enough for the chick to stand up.)

The beak is next. Take an amount of orange dough and form a ball - probably a small amount.
After the ball is smooth, use your fingers to make a cone or pyramid shape. Press into the chick's face, right in the center of the ball. Using your sharp kitchen knife, gently slice the pyramid in half, to form both top and bottom of the beak.

Time to wipe the table again. We'll make the eyes blue! Here take a very small amount of blue dough and roll it into a ball. Put it on the table and cut in half, and roll two new balls. They should be small, but in proportion to the beak. Take a toothpick and put it into the center of the ball. Pick up the toothpick with the ball of dough on the end, touch the end to your moist towel (or to your tongue to moisten) and place the toothpick on the chicks head right above and to the side of the beak and press in a little. The eye should stick to the head as you remove the toothpick. Repeat with the other eye.

Your chick (s) should be baked in a 225 oven until they are done. I usually leave my projects in the oven overnight. At 225 they won't burn and they will be dried out completely.

When baked and cooled, spray with a verathane coating. When completely dry and finished, personalized with a black fine point permanent marker.

Good luck with the lamb and bunny! If you need more tips, write me back.

Time to start making some dough!

2007-02-15T15:14:00.000-08:00

OK, do you have everything on the list? If so, let's get started by making some dough!
You can make it in smaller batches than this recipe, just reduce the proportions. You will probably want to make quite a few colors.

White
Red
Blue
Green
A little brown
A little black
A little purple
A little orange
A little yellow

After you make the dough, put it inside a nice zip lock bag and keep it in the refrigerator.
If you keep it too long and it gets sticky, just add flour the next time you want to use it.
If it gets dry, add a little moisture - water - just a little.

Here is the url with instructions: http://www.calliopedesigns.com/dough_ornaments.aspx

I think it's better to send you to the site as I haven't mastered this process yet.

Next time: some Easter ideas!

Here is the url with the instructions:

Personalized Ornaments by Calliope: A Personalized Ornament?

2007-02-08T16:35:00.000-08:00

Personalized Ornaments by Calliope: A Personalized Ornament?: "While you are gathering all of your materials and supplies together, I'd like to post a photo of some ornaments being created.

In this photo you'll notice some of the tools we used to get special effects.

Look around in your kitchen for:
A garlic press - doesn't matter how big the holes are. Maybe you have two different ones, that would be fun.
A kitchen knife.
Toothpicks.
Cookie sheet.
Alum. foil.
Rolling pin.
Mixing bowls.

You'll need hairpins or paper clips for the hangers.
1:29 PM
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2007-01-29T13:31:00.000-08:00

Here is the photo of ornaments being made.

A Personalized Ornament?

2006-09-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

What's a personalized ornament? It's usually a Christmas ornament, but can be for any other holiday depending on the design, and it has something written on it, or engraved on it, or printed on it - usually done to order.

We've been making personalized ornaments out of bread dough since 1971! And it's the way we've made our living all that time. Of course, as our company grew and grew we had to hire helpers, move into a warehouse and a whole lot of other things that are a fun story.

The reason I'm starting this blog is to teach anyone interested how to make dough ornaments. It's a fun project. Kids of all ages (3-83) love playing with the "dough" which is cheap and non toxic. And the ornaments themselves become treasured family heirlooms!

It's also a fun classroom activity, and a fun fund raising activity.

I know it's January 2007 - and Christmas seems a long time away. We can begin with a spring project - perhaps some Easter or Mother's Day ornaments.

Before you get started you have to have the ingredients - Here's your shopping list, and come back soon for your first lesson!

Ordinary inexpensive white flour
Ordinary inexpensive salt, fine grind
For coloring -
Wilton cake decorating colors (quite expensive)
Schilling food coloring (inexpensive but limited in color selection)
School quality tempra powdered paints.

The alternative to making batches of colored dough is to make the ornament in natural color, then come back and paint it after it is baked.

If you'd like to see the results of our years of work you can visit our website: http://www.calliopedesigns.com