Done Decorating

Okay - I'm feeling a bit grinchy. I had this post together 2 days ago, at least I thought I had it together. Somehow, for the second time this week, I've had a post get scrambled and parts of it disappear after I wrote it. Grrrrr... I had much snappier patter the first time I wrote it and it took two days for me to get up the energy to re-do this, so here it is.

I have kept the decorating for Christmas pretty simple in this house. It is 1/3 the size of the house I moved from and it isn't a grand house. Just a nice little bungalow, so here it the dining table. Simple Disappearing 9 patch table runner, my favorite peppermint candles and a new candle holder courtesy of the 60% off sale at Joanns.

The tree - you can't tell it in this picture but I may have gone a tad overboard with the tinsel, but I love how the lights sparkle off of it in the dark. Big Dude loves both of those chairs as was evidenced by the humongous amount of cat fur I lint rollered off of them yesterday. The tree sits in the front window and gets lots of people driving by.

This is the baker's rack that is doing the work of a mantle and a foyer table, and doing it quite well, if I say so myself.

At the top we have my Quaker Row sampler by Bent Creek. They did it all in one color of floss but I changed it up and added some red and gold. A smattering of Santas along with one of those flameless candles. Its flickers nicely in the dark.

Second shelf, my nativity scene. I needlepointed this set in 1985 and I still love it. It is sitting on my latest little Christmas quilt, Tickle, from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. And if you look closely you will see that my creche has a chicken in it. Makes it even more special.

Third and fourth shelves - A basket of gingerbread men. I made these years ago. They start as scraps of batting, you paint them with a mixture of glue, instant coffee and cinnamon and "bake" them in the microwave. I hand stitched the faces. Next to the gingerbread guys is a little Christmas sampler from Blackbird Designs appropriately called "Merry Christmas." And the bottom shelf holds a nice collection of Christmas-y quilts.

Swinging around the room you can see my gingerbread guys quilt and my solution for a place to hang the stocking when you don't have a mantle. You hang it on your TV cabinet. These stockings are big - just shy of 24" tall. I made them eons ago, finishing the boys' stockings before their first Christmas. I don't know if you can tell (click on the pictures and make them bigger) but I used a ton of different fibers and decorative stitches on the stockings and even waaaay back then I found a way to work yellow into my Christmas decorations. The background for the boys' stockings is a lovely light gold color. I like yellow, always have, always will.

So there you have it. I'm done decorating and now I'm going to sit and enjoy the view... right after I spray the tree with some piney scent - I'm so classy - LOL!

happy stitching-
carol fun