December Celebration, Dinner & Ornament Exchange

Come and join in the Holiday fun on December 12th.   The evening will begin with a  Pot Luck dinner.  The Bead Society will provide the Main Dish (Ham and Beef).  Members are asked to bring a covered dish such as fruit, vegetables or a salad. Utensils, plates and napkins will be provided by one of our members. The rest is up to you.  

We will hold our annual garage sale so bring items you would like to sell or trade.  

Bring your donations for Hope House.  Help make someone's holiday a little brighter with a piece of hand made jewelry.

There will be no regular Membership Meeting.

Celebrate the winter with your fellow bead society members and participate in the Annual Ornament Exchange.  

See below for the theme and rules rfor the exchange. 

Mary Lynne Westerverlt  Announced the Theme for the December Ornament Exchange:

                                          "Peace on Earth"

Every day it seems the news of the world gets worse with horrific stories of Ferguson MO, Syria, Gaza, Ukraine, just to name a few, dominating our consciousness. Even our entertainment offers no escape with daily stories of sports figures and celebrities who brutalize women and spread bigotry. It's enough to make a girl want to turn off the news completely and hide in her beading room. With that in mind, I have chosen the theme for this year's ornament exchange to be "Peace on Earth".  By Mary Lynne Westervelt

Here are the rules for this year:

• 1. You must be a paid member of the Kansas City Bead Society to participate in the ornament exchange.

  2. This is an ornament exchange! Not an earring, pendant, bracelet or hat exchange. The item you create must be something that can be hung on a tree, in a window, or from a small ornament display hook.

  3. You must use at least 5 beads on your ornament.

  4. You may use traditional symbols such as a dove, olive branch or peace sign, but you may not use any religious symbols or the commercially traditional combination of red and green. Please respect the diversity of our society so that everyone may feel comfortable participating in the ornament exchange.

  5. Make an ornament that you would like to keep and display yourself, and then give it away in the spirit of friendship.

  6. Think about peace as you make your ornament and what you can do to make your home, community, and the world we live in a more peaceful place.

  7. Put your ornament in a gift bag or wrapped box so that it cannot be identified, but put your name inside the bag or box so the recipient will know who to thank.

  8. Ornaments will be exchanged at the December 12th potluck dinner. There will be no "stealing" of ornaments this year.

A word about the past practice of "stealing" ornaments: I know that some of our members feel that this is a tradition. From talking to a number of members, I know that many people do not like this so-called tradition and that it has led to hurt feelings in the past – especially when members have worked very hard on an ornament only to have the recipient blatantly asking for someone to "steal" it. In addition, this "stealing" takes additional time, and our society has grown in membership to the point where it is no longer practical to drag out the process. Finally, this practice is not in keeping with this year's theme. Peace, ladies and gentlemen! 

By Mary Lynne Westervelt