DRIPPING SPRINGS — Christmas is a time for cherishing special moments and celebrating with loved ones, furry friends included. Erynn Lamoreaux has made it easier to include pets in decorating, without them tearing down the tree, by providing portraits of them on ornaments.

Lamoreaux started her small business, Spotted Elephant, in early 2020 to combine her passions of gift giving and creating art. She sells hand-painted ornaments of pet — and sometimes family — portraits for people to give to someone special around the holidays.

“Since I was young, I’ve always been drawn to art as a creative outlet. No one judged me for my feelings in that moment being expressed onto a canvas. I believe anyone has the freedom of expression whether it’s through art, photography, sports, etc.,” she explained. “I’ve always had a huge heart for gift giving. My art has always been something I do in my free time and many people in my life told me I should turn it into something, but of course, you have those doubts of ‘Would people actually buy what I make?’ Of course they will!”

The business name is inspired by a painting Lamoreaux did of a spotted elephant back in 2014 for her living room. She loves elephants and wanted to paint one to be different with spots for her logo.

After getting pets of her own in her adult life, Lamoreaux discovered, firsthand, the love that humans have with their pets because they are just part of the family. She has two labrador retrievers, Ranger and Knox, but she gives all of the credit to her former pet bunnies Foofie, Evie and Teddie for inspiring her to start creating the ornaments.

For Lamoreaux, she enjoys to “see it in their eyes how meaningful it is” when she gives customers the final product that they ordered. But also, she has felt an overwhelming amount of support from people — family, friends and strangers around the world — who support someone’s paintings that originally started out as a hobby.

While the most common pets are dogs and cats, the business owner said that nothing is impossible as she has painted a turtle, horse, parrot and many others.

“Once a client submits their subjects to me I transfer the photo by drawing it onto a piece of paper, cut it out and trace it over the wood slice, hand paint, outline, add the name and a stamp on the back of each ornament and seal them off,” she said.

Lamoreaux encourages those who want to start their own business, or go off on a new endeavor, to not be discouraged by the challenges that may come.

“When you first start out with any business, there’s a lot of unknowns. I still don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to the logical side of owning a business. There’s always room for growth,” she said. “If you are looking to start a small business, or just spread your talent, just do it. It’s scary and unknown what can happen, but I can tell you that doing what you love and sharing it with the world is what makes the world go ’round. Strangers rooting for you from other states and leaving reviews just makes it all worth it!”

Ornaments range from $30-35. Those who want to guarantee that their ornament comes in time for Christmas are encouraged to place an order by Dec. 15.

For more information, or to place an order, visit www.facebook.com/spottedelephant.