Leafy cross-stitch quartet, part 4: the ginkgo leaf!

Finally! The fourth installment in the leafy cross-stitch quartet: the ginkgo leaf!


The first three installments can be found here (maple), here (oak), and here (birch).


I'm really happy with all four of these pieces, but I think the ginkgo is my favorite, because of its significance to me and Steven. When we lived on the upper west side of Manhattan, we always admired the ginkgo trees in the neighborhood. Ginkgo trees are the oldest trees in the world and they are renowned for their resilience. They're able to survive harsh weather, urban pollution and in the case of Hiroshima, even exposure to the atom bomb. Their fan-shaped leaves are unique, and they possess both medicinal and culinary uses. 


(Lest you think these beautiful trees are perfect, you should try not smell them when they start dropping their seeds on the ground.)


We've collected a few other ginkgo-related items over the years. When he isn't wearing it, Steven stows his wedding band in this pretty dish that I picked up at Crate & Barrel:

(Note that the dish is layered on top of one of
our chic agate coasters from Zhush.com!)

I bought this ginkgo leaf necklace from Etsy shop Ginkgo and wore it on our wedding day:

Last year, Steven surprised me with this beautiful ginkgo leaf ring from the very talented Etsy seller tiderdesign:

And we still need to germinate the seeds from this ginkgo tree-to-be kit and find a nice spot to plant it in our yard:

So here's the final leaf again, this time in its little frame:

It took me nearly a year to get these designed, stitched, framed, hung, photographed, and blogged! Would you like to see how they look on the wall in our master bath?

Ta-da! I'm rather chuffed with the final result. I really enjoy bringing accents into our home that hint to the world outdoors, and it's especially nice to have a reminder of leaves during these cold, grey winter months!


I've actually been home on staycation for the last two weeks, and I made time to work on a TON of home improvement & craft projects. I'll make an effort to highlight some of them here in the coming weeks!