Kirsten Ashley of Ugly Stepsister Longwood Community Tree Ornaments

Longwood Gardens has been a mainstay since childhood. I recall visiting as a child with my family and thinking it was a real life Secret Garden.

I was excited to create ornaments for the community tree project. I wanted to incorporate something that wasn’t just pretty for these ornaments, but also is true to my artistic vision.

I chose  classic wooden ornament shapes, a pearlescent watercolor ground for some holiday sparkle, and watercolor for 2 of the 3 ornaments I created.

The third features a watercolor moon made of cut paper mounted on a heart-shaped wooden background.

Hearts, moons, and emotive women are motifs that are very true to the work that I create.

You can view these beautiful unique ornaments on the Bellefonte Arts community tree at Longwood Gardens, during the annual A Longwood Christmas (Nov 21, 2025 through Jan 11, 2026). And visit the Bellefonte Arts shop to see more of Kirsten's work through her business: Ugly Stepsister.

Longwood Gardens is located at 1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348.

Bellefonte Arts is located at 803 C Brandywine Blvd, Wilmington, DE 19809.