Handmade ornament collection decades in the making

Betts George uses eggs from various poultry to create elaborate scenes for Christmas ornaments as she shows at her home in Colleyville, Texas. (MCT News Service)

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DALLAS – Of course Betts George is picky about where her Christmas ornaments and figurines go.

She spent countless hours over the course of several decades crafting the delicate creations, so it stands to reason that she’s meticulous about showing them off.

So meticulous, in fact, that she starts putting everything out in mid-November so she can get it just the way she wants it.

There’s the tree in the entryway loaded with miniature ornaments, that she doesn’t even mess with stripping down at the end of the season. She just leaves the branches decorated and puts a bag over it before putting it in a closet, which makes setup the next year a snap.

The angels, made from paper towels, take their places above the stockings on the mantel.

Then there’s the crown jewel of George’s winter wonderland: a dried manzanita tree with branch after branch of delicate painted and carved eggs. George worked with eggs from chickens, quail, geese and more.

Each one of her egg creations has a coordinating theme inside and out. The exteriors she’s adorned with gift wrap, stationery and other decorative papers. And inside each carefully carved-out niche is a figurine of some sort. There are ballerinas, angels, chickens – even Easter rabbits.

She’s selected the tiny works to match the paper in some way. For paper with a snowy landscape, there’s a Christmas tree and doll looking out a window. There’s a Santa framed with a festive holly wreath on the eggshell.

And though it’s hard for her to play favorites, George is partial to snowy eggs with a snowman inside and a bird-decked shell that plays off the red bird miniature inside.

George, of Colleyville, Texas, started working with eggs in the ’60s. At first, she used decorative trim and beads on the outside of the eggs. Over time, her love of pretty papers won out. She’d use cards and Christmas greetings that people had sent to make her holiday egg decor throughout the year.

She took up crafting as a way to pass the time when her husband, a retired pilot, was away working. “I would work all night and go to bed at 5 or 6 in the morning,” she says.

She completed eight to 10 eggs a year.

With her tree full – she’s got about 80 eggs – these days it’s all about maintaining what she’s got rather than adding more.

“I’m done making them. Now, I just repair them,” she says. That means adding more of the shiny coating to get rid of cracks or painting the paper that’s faded over the years.