Snowflake button pin!

I didn't have time for much cross-stitching during the holiday season, but I did manage to create this little snowflake button pin:

Since Mother nature dumped about two feet of these little babies on us here in the New York area last weekend, I'll be perfectly happy to stick with the stitchy kind of snowflake for as long as possible in the new year! 


What should I stitch up next, I wonder? Is it too early to start thinking about Valentine's Day projects? 

O Tannenbaum

Now that I've shared so many of our ornaments, here's a shot of our tree, decked out in all her handmade glory:

Merry Christmas!

Last three handmade tree ornaments!

I've got three more handmade tree ornaments to share before Christmas comes tomorrow!

My mom crocheted this rose ornament at least 25 years ago. It has a tiny music button inside that is still working after all these years! It plays White Christmas when you press it:

I made this one when I was a little kid. I am pretty sure this was from an ornament kit that someone had given to me. 

Here's another one made by my mom. She stuck some pins into a bit of styrofoam, and then wove her orange and gold embroidery floss around it to create an ornament frame. Clever, right? This is one of my favorites because of the cute photo of my little bro in the middle.

Soon I'll reveal the tree itself! Merry Christmas eve, everyone!

Plastic canvas rocking horse ornament

I haven't stitched anything on plastic canvas in a long time, so it was nice to be reunited with this little guy when we decorated the tree this year:

Can you believe Christmas will be here in just two more days? Back to the crafting and wrapping for me...!

Sparkly beaded ornaments

I should really share a photo of our entire tree one day soon! In the meanwhile, here are a few more ornaments crafted about a zillion years ago by me and my mom, this time from the beaded category:

 

Next up: plastic canvas! Yes, we dabbled in every craft imaginable when I was growing up!

Felt mitten clip ornaments

My mom and I crafted up these little felt mitten ornaments when I was still in grade school:

These are a super-simple craft to make with kids, because once the mittens are cut out from the felt, they are simply glued to an alligator clip barrette like this:

photo via Too Cuties Boutique

...and then decorated with whatever little sequins, rickrack, yarns or other doodads you can find in your craft stash. 


And they're a breeze to put on the tree, since they clip easily to the branches! Next highlight from our house: beaded ornaments!

Crocheted plushie Frosty and Santa

I've always loved these plushies that my mom crocheted when I was small:

there must have been some magic in that old silk hat...

santa claus has got a hot rod sleigh

I've tried my hand at knitting, but I've never learned crochet... maybe I'll have to add it to my list of things to try in the new year!

Mr. and Mrs. Frosty

A couple more tree ornaments from mom's ouevre:

Mrs. Frosty, rockin' the sequins

Mister Frosty's not afraid of a little bling himself

Next up? Crocheted plushie Frosty and his friend, crocheted plushie Santa!

Plushie ball ornaments

When I was small, my mom decided that she was tired of me, my brother, the two dogs and the four cats wreaking havoc on her fragile Christmas tree ornaments every year. Her solution? She crafted up some unbreakable plushie ball ornaments!

 

Next up on our stroll down Christmas ornament memory lane? Felt Mr. and Mrs. Frosty, coming soon!

Cross-stitch of Christmas past

Here are a couple of the cross-stitch pieces from Christmases past that came out with our decorations last weekend:

Small Candle from Leisure Arts' Christmas Stitchin' (1981)

Tree Ornament from Leisure Arts' Timeless Ornaments (1995)

I've worked on a couple of small holiday cross-stitch pieces this year too, but the big question is this: will I get them finished before Santa's big night?

Vintage handmade felt zoo animal ornaments!

I absolutely love pulling out the Christmas ornaments from my childhood every year, and most of my favorites were crafted by my mom. This past year, I've gotten really into crafting with felt, so I'm especially cheered by these felt zoo animals that my mom made (incorporating both sewing and hand embroidery) back in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

a happy hippo

i love his little lion toenails

every fashionable pig has a yellow bow on her tail this year

look at those spots! (mom was a master satin-stitcher, apparently!)

These little guys are a fitting decoration at a time of year when everywhere you go feels like a zoo! Do you have any beloved ornaments that you look forward to every Christmas?

The (handmade) stockings are hung...

Today we did our Christmas decorating! We put up lots of handmade goodies from Christmases past that I'll be posting here in the coming days, but for tonight, I thought I'd share our home-made stockings. Most of the childhood Christmas decorations that I treasure were made by my mom, with one exception: here's the stocking that my dad latch-hooked for me when I was little:

latch-hook stocking by Howard Moore, circa 1981

Sassy obviously has a stocking, too. I sewed this up for his first Christmas, back in 2004:

because Sassy is always a perfect angel

I went with the Eames small dot fabric for Steven, of course:

Small Dot Green is a quintessentially "Eames" decorator fabric from a golden age in industrial design. The Small Dot design originated as the Eames's entry into a textile competition held by the Museum of Modern Art in 1947. Four designs were submitted - the other three being Dot, Crosspatch and Circles - but only Crosspatch went into production at the time. The remaining three designs - Small Dot included - were recently reproduced from archived drawings with the assistance of Lucia Eames, daughter of Charles and Ray. (via http://www.jandofabrics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=cha00006)

What do you hope that Santa will leave in your stocking this year?

Quickie wine glass tags from felt scraps

I hosted a brunch for some friends at our house about a month ago. Shortly before everyone arrived, I remembered that I had intended to whip up some wine glass tags so that everyone could keep their drinks straight throughout the day.


I already had the little round wire thingees in my craft stash. I don't remember where I bought them, but there are lots of etsy sellers who stock them:

wine charm rings via etsy seller ShantiSupplies

I didn't have time to make anything elaborate, so I decided to do something simple with the felt scraps that I had laying around in my craft room. I used my pinking shears to give the scraps a pretty edge, poked the wires through them, and voilà! 

I hope you're planning to do some fun holiday entertaining this month as well. L'chaim!

The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming

It's the second night of Hanukkah, and my thoughts have turned to... LATKES!


Earlier this evening I remembered the adorable Hanukkah book that I picked up last year, The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming (by Lemony Snicket and Lisa Brown):

You really have to read this book -- I think it's hilarious. Here's our poor little upset latke protagonist:

In case you can't tell what he's saying:

When I remembered that we had this book, I was struck by how easy it would be to create a screaming-latke-inspired embroidery. First I traced the illustration onto my handy-dandy Sulky Solvy Water Soluble stabilizer:

And then I stitched away by the light of the menorah! (Ok, it was the light of the TV but that hardly seems as festive, right?)

His arms and legs came out a little janky, but other than that I think he's a handsome fella.

I hope that you have many delicious holiday treats planned for the coming days as well!

Happy Hanukkah!

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, which means that it was time to pull this out:

I stitched this up last year from a free pattern that I found on the web:

via http://www.koolerdesign.com/fcstardavid.aspx

The symbol in the center is chai, the Hebrew word for life. I'm not an especially religious person, but when we lit our menorah this evening, we spent a few moments reflecting on the blessings that are recited for Hanukkah, and this one which is read on the first night of Hanukkah really resonated with me:


Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion. 


Baruch Atah Ad-noi Elo-hei-nu Melech Ha-olam She-heh-che-yah-nu Ve-kiye-ma-nu Ve-kiye-gi-ah-nu Liz-man Ha-zeh.


I hope that you have also found a moment to reflect on the blessings in your life today -- Happy Hanukkah!