Decorating for Christmas

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, and the weekend closest to 1st December, which means it's time to put out the Christmas decorations!

I love decorating for Christmas.  I get it from my mum.  When we were kids there were decorations everywhere - in the kitchen, in the hall, in the lounge room, even in the bathrooms!  Hanging decorations was one of my favourite family Christmas activities - that and looking at Christmas lights.

It still is one of my favourite Christmas activities.  Finding unique or special ornaments on my travels, reliving the memories as I decorate, or creating something special of my own.  These are some of my favourites on display this year.

The cross stitch Nativity scene on plastic canvas.  I started this about 10 years ago, although it took me awhile to finish.  It was a 3-parter in a CrossStitcher magazine probably about 15 or 20 years ago.  We had one of the parts and Mum managed to track down the others so I could stitch the series.  There's also an angel, a star, and the Inn Keeper and his wife, but I need to buy more stands to display them!  I've used game piece stands which work a treat.

Blackwork Christmas Angel.  This one also came from a magazine, although I can't remember which one!  It was one of the patterns I stitched in 2012 when I lived in the UK. She was meant to have a border around her, but I didn't like it, so I left it off - after all, life's too short to stitch background.













My cross stitch advent calendar - another one from a magazine!  I think this was also from CrossStitcher.  There's a stitched picture on each reverse side.  4 and 15 are missing because I have to fix their hangers.  Mum made the hanging quilt.  It has tabs to hang on a dowel hanger, but I'm using a skirt hanger in the meantime.

Ninja turtle baubles.  They were surprisingly easy to make  - green baubles, ribbon, googly eyes and some craft glue.

My Christmas decorations from my travels in the UK and Europe.  They should be hanging on the tree, but my 7 month old kitten thinks the Christmas tree is her new climbing frame and that anything hanging on it is hers to attack by right.  So instead they are on sticky hooks on one of the high kitchen cabinets to keep them safe!  The teacup and crown come from the Royal Palaces in England, the shamrock from Ireland, the purple bell is from Germany, the man in the red circle is from Iceland, and the two on red ribbons are from Harrods.

My second advent calendar - Lego Star Wars!  Very excited to start this tomorrow. Each day you get a little thing to create or build.  I had to hunt it down online because the only one I could get locally was the Lego City one.  And Star Wars is so much cooler.

Discworld Christmas cards.  I bought a set of 4 one year, gave two away as presents, and kept the other two as decorations.  They did hang on my wall for about two years before joining the Christmas decorations box.  Artwork by the very talented Paul Kidby

The Willow Tree nativity scene.  I love Willow Tree figurines - they are some of the only dust-collectors that I own.  The nativity scene is just stunning in its simplicity.  There are a couple of other sets you can buy to build on it - the wise men, and a set of animals.  Maybe one year.






Do you decorate for Christmas?  Do you go all out, or only have a few special decorations?  Do you prefer to have colour themes, or do you keep and collect your decorations to use year after year?  Are you a geeky Christmas person, or more traditional?  Religious or mainstream? Or maybe you don't do Christmas at all - maybe you do Hanaka or forego religious celebrations. I'd love to hear how you decorate (or don't) for Christmas, or any other holidays.

Happy Stitching!

Geeky Christmas Designs

The count down to Christmas is on.  Advent starts next Sunday, and the Christmas decorations will go up.  The stores have had them on display for at least a month.  Tuesday will be one month to go.

However, there's still plenty of time to start and finish your Christmas stitching!

I've designed a number of Christmas cards and decorations that are now for sale in my Etsy store.  As a true fangirl, these designs are all geeky in nature, incorporating as many fandoms as I could.

Ron and Harry wish you a very Magical Christmas.

The TARDIS Christmas set, featuring a pair of earrings, and two different cards.

How cute are the earrings?!

Why not say "Happy Christmas" in Klingon?  Perfect for any Star Trek fans

In case you were wondering, it says QISmas DatIvjaj 'ej DIS chu' DatIvja 

Death as the Hogfather, as portrayed in the film Hogfather

Death as a more modern Hogfather.  Both cards are available in the one set

On a side note, these designs also don't have snow.  My biggest bug-bear about standard Christmas designs is that they are predominately just snow scenes.  Being Australian, snow doesn't really feature in my Christmas celebrations, so it doesn't appear in my designs.  Christmas designs for the Southern Hemisphere.  But feel free to use a few white beads or extra white stitches to add some in if you're in the Northern Hemisphere! :)

Happy Christmas and Happy Stitching!

Finished Projects, Framing, and Gift Giving

What does your UFO (Un-Finished-Object)/WIP (Work-In-Progress) pile look like?

Mine isn't too bad.  I tend to have a couple of projects on the go – a larger one and then a couple of smaller ones I can work on when I need a break from the larger one.  So I don’t throw it out the window!  I do have a large pile of “want to stitch” projects which grows larger by the day.

No.  Instead of a WIP/UFO pile, I have an FO pile – Finished-Object.  Stitching projects that I have finished but then done nothing with.  A pile of projects waiting to be framed, or turned into cushions/banners/something, or stuck onto cards, or just given away.

A couple of weeks ago I decided enough was enough.  That’s one of the good thing about moving house, and having limited storage space – I rediscovered all of my FOs and had nowhere to put them.  I'm now on a mission to get them framed or displayed.

Some of the stitches I've finally mounted on cards this week

The age-old question is of course how to display them?  Do you go for the standard frame or something different?  A wall hanging or other useful object, like a cushion or box cover?  Options are limited when you've already finished the project – you can’t turn a large project into a shirt emblem or a small project into a large wall hanging.  Some projects are easy – they’re designed as bookmarks or cards, and I've (finally!) managed to finish these off.  For a lot of my other FOs this time I've gone the standard frame or the stretched canvas.  I love the look professional framing, with the matting and wide frame, but that can get very expensive!  I have a few projects I’d love to get professionally framed eventually, but in the meantime I've done them myself.  It’s actually not that hard to frame your own projects, or stretch them over canvas (a new skill!), and I'm impressed with the way they've come up.  Keep an eye out for the next blog where I’ll share my framing tips with you.

Some frames, hoops and stretched canvas

I even managed to get some hung

I now have a pile of FFOs – Finished-Framed-Objects (I made that one up – anyone have a better idea?).   But then the question becomes what to do with them?  I don’t have enough wall space to display them all (and doubt I ever will!).  I've always been hesitant to give away finished projects though.  Not because I've fallen in love with them (although that is occasionally the case), but because I never think other people will appreciate them.  I never think they are good enough, or the right style/look for other people.

I'm getting better at it. My parents and brothers have received numerous stitchy gifts, as have a couple of good friends.  When I moved overseas a couple of years ago, I gave away a number of old projects to the girls in my bible-study group, which they all loved.  And whenever I've stitched something specific for someone, they've always been very appreciative of it and loved it – wedding and baby samplers especially.

Turns out, people do realise and value how much time and effort goes into these projects, and they are impressed by the skill of cross-stitching – this old fashioned art still has a place in the modern world!  It’s my attitude that needs to change – I need to have more faith in myself and my stitching abilities.

I think I've got presents and cards sorted for the next little while.

Happy Stitching!!