Saturday, December 16, 2017

Christmas is coming...

Our tree won’t be put up till tomorrow – my daughter’s getting here tomorrow evening and we’ll decorate it Monday and Tuesday.  And bake.  And play Christmas carols.  I took all next week off from work!  (yeah, I’m a little excited)

If you’re interested in seeing non-tree Christmas decorations, then you’re in the right place (I'm really enjoying the things some of you have posted about your own Christmas decorating!).  Let’s start in the living room.

This crèche is the one that was in my family’s living room when I was a kid.  It was banished to a box when my mom got a larger, nicer one when I was in high school but this is the one I’ve always loved.  The stable is heavy cardboard that’s either printed with a wood grain or has a paper coating on both sides and the background is a separate piece that fits onto tabs on the back.  All the figures are securely glued in place (except one can remove the baby Jesus from the manger).  It has a cardboard, glitter covered star that will fit into a slit on the top of the stable, but I use one I made from a wad of silver tinsel stitched into a ball and hung from the ceiling with nylon thread – you can see the bottom of it at the top edge of the picture.


I have quite a few angels that we put out at Christmas – my mother collected them and I display my favorites.


One of Homespun Elegance’s annual ornaments – I bought the chart at the Spirit of Cross Stitch Festival merchant mall in 1995 and stitched it up a couple of  years later.



On the mantle are a few more of my mom’s angels, and our stockings hang below.  Mine is on the left – my mom made it when I was about a year old.  On the right is the one I made for my husband for our first Christmas together … but he insisted our son use it (and shame on me, I never made Wonderful Husband a replacement).  My daughter’s is in the center – that one was so much fun to design and stitch.  I entered it at the Woodlawn Needlework Show the following year and got a second place ribbon for it!



Everyone with kids has at least one school Christmas project they display year after year, right?  My son made this wreath in … kindergarten, I believe.  I love it because he wanted his to be different from everybody else’s and made the wreath from RED handprints with GREEN thumbprint berries!


One summer when I was 10 or 11, my mom decided to make a project she saw in an ad at the back of her McCall’s Needlework magazine.  This was back in the ‘60s when those were large format magazines – the size that Life magazine was originally.  The inside back cover was an ad for lots of Christmas needlework kits, but Mom just worked from the picture (which was about an inch and a half tall) and made her own.  The wise men have bits of old earrings and necklaces as their jewels.  Watching her do this, of course I wanted to make something too!  The same ad included a set of ornaments – little animals in stockings – so I made one with a cat.




Oh my, more felt.  I made this from a kit in 1979 or 1980.  I remember enjoying the felt appliqué, but I got really tired of sewing on all the sequins and beads!



Another (felt) kit with lots of beads and sequins.  I made four of these for gifts and then made one for myself from the leftover bits.  The one on the left is from the kit (this one was my mom’s), the right side guy is Mr Scraps.


My buffet in the dining room.  After Christmas I may get the other side of the red runner hemmed!


In the family room, more of my mom’s angels hanging around on the bookcase.


And a set she gifted me with when I was 13.


And lastly, at my back door, holiday penguins.  Saw these little guys in CVS one year and couldn’t resist.


It’s been snowing since early this morning and I’m such a child when it comes to this weather – it always delights me.




If you're still here, I want to thank you for indulging me!  Happy holidays!


>^..^< 

4 comments:

  1. I'm a child about snow too, throwing a tantrum. You started creating young and along with your mom, made wonderful family pieces. Looks like a beautiful street!

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  2. What great treasures and memories.
    I remember doing a lot of the felt ornament kits from Herrschner's.
    My Aunts lived close to the store and would go to the warehouse sales and get me kits.
    I too, still hang them on the tree.
    Some I did when I was very young, so the stitching is kind of....primitive. :)
    Enjoy your memories!
    Happy Holidays to you also.
    Have fun on your time off.
    Marilyn

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  3. Lucky you....looks like you got quite a bit of snow!!! I enjoyed seeing your Christmas decorations and hearing the stories behind them. The felted projects brought back memories of stockings I made for friends way back when. I too disliked adding the sequins/beads but, they really added the "sparkle"!!! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. What wonderful decorations! I love the stockings but your hubby needs one too.
    By coincidence, my younger son made a wreath of hand prints this year. Maybe I will still be displaying it when he is much older too!

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