'Twas the Night Before (the night before) Christmas...
The Tree, as of this morning:
It's a wonky tree from a certain retailer serving its 5th year of service; we call it the "Leaning Tower of Tree-za" and swear each year to replace it. I picked the star, but it's fitting as it's a "Capiz Star" and very evocative of the Philippines, so it "represents" Marc. :) Usually I stuff a few of the lights in it so it'll glow.
Love this strawberry! (Thanks, Patty!) There may not be enough lights (mine are "frosted white" and "metallic gold", but they still look pretty here.
I get these strands of bells from Walgreens, but I don't know that they had them this year. They look great (esp. the "embossed" ones) even though they are plastic! The berry/leaf/bell item in the center was the decoration on a Christmas cake from Mitsuwa.
My favorite section of the tree. <3
One of my two wishes (or would it be four?) this Christmas. I hope you all have these 3 wonderful virtues this season, my friends and readers! (Thanks again, Andrea!)
These wrapped-twine balls came from ikea last year-the black really adds something--yes, black at Christmas!
Squint through the wintry gloom to see my bear and grazing sheep! Previously, I had the wonderful hornbook Becky sent me wedged into the tree, but I love it here more! :D We haven't done presents under the tree since we moved here (we don't really do presents at Christmas, umn, well, 'cause we're young and poor. What's that? 28 isn't young? Well, the tree does look barren with nothing underneath, so I decided it would make great display space.) I've grown to like my quick-fix for a tree skirt: a holey ol' hand-me-down hunter green vellux blanket from Marc's mom. If you scrunch it around the base it makes a great hillock for the sheep. :D Don't dwell too long on the scale problems here--sheep are 8x the size of the salt-shaker Ginger Cottage and Teddy is 3x a sheep! ;)
I finished the stitching for Santa & Friends: Foxes by Prairie Schooler. :D
I've been agonizing for DAYS over how to finish it; particularly the backing fabric. I WANTED to use the Christmas Doors on a Black Ground that you see here. Finally I thought of what else I should use, and remembered that I want to stitch some of these, and that the black Door fabric is perfect for them. :)
I feel so relieved to know what to do, and will work on it at leisure. In the meantime, I might just wedge the linen, unfinished edge and all, into the tree (Hi, Myra! *waves*)
Finally, here's my not-quite finished Christmas gift to myself! :D I stitched this in DMC 115 over 3 days of not-hard-work. I'm so happy with it, and after I finalize the framing (ironing, padding, lacing) I'll put it somewhere in my kitchen. :)
I've always loved Christmas Eve; maybe it's some remnant of being Norwegian/German, but our family always did the "Big Thing" on Christmas Eve. So much so that I forget/scratch my head about bloggers who are scratching their heads over Christmas Dinner prep. Why, I'd be too busy playing with my new toys (or sleeping off Christmas Eve goodies) to make a Christmas Dinner!
A Very Merry Christmas Eve, And a Happy Festivus, too!
Berit
It's a wonky tree from a certain retailer serving its 5th year of service; we call it the "Leaning Tower of Tree-za" and swear each year to replace it. I picked the star, but it's fitting as it's a "Capiz Star" and very evocative of the Philippines, so it "represents" Marc. :) Usually I stuff a few of the lights in it so it'll glow.
Love this strawberry! (Thanks, Patty!) There may not be enough lights (mine are "frosted white" and "metallic gold", but they still look pretty here.
I get these strands of bells from Walgreens, but I don't know that they had them this year. They look great (esp. the "embossed" ones) even though they are plastic! The berry/leaf/bell item in the center was the decoration on a Christmas cake from Mitsuwa.
My favorite section of the tree. <3
One of my two wishes (or would it be four?) this Christmas. I hope you all have these 3 wonderful virtues this season, my friends and readers! (Thanks again, Andrea!)
These wrapped-twine balls came from ikea last year-the black really adds something--yes, black at Christmas!
Squint through the wintry gloom to see my bear and grazing sheep! Previously, I had the wonderful hornbook Becky sent me wedged into the tree, but I love it here more! :D We haven't done presents under the tree since we moved here (we don't really do presents at Christmas, umn, well, 'cause we're young and poor. What's that? 28 isn't young? Well, the tree does look barren with nothing underneath, so I decided it would make great display space.) I've grown to like my quick-fix for a tree skirt: a holey ol' hand-me-down hunter green vellux blanket from Marc's mom. If you scrunch it around the base it makes a great hillock for the sheep. :D Don't dwell too long on the scale problems here--sheep are 8x the size of the salt-shaker Ginger Cottage and Teddy is 3x a sheep! ;)
I finished the stitching for Santa & Friends: Foxes by Prairie Schooler. :D
I've been agonizing for DAYS over how to finish it; particularly the backing fabric. I WANTED to use the Christmas Doors on a Black Ground that you see here. Finally I thought of what else I should use, and remembered that I want to stitch some of these, and that the black Door fabric is perfect for them. :)
I feel so relieved to know what to do, and will work on it at leisure. In the meantime, I might just wedge the linen, unfinished edge and all, into the tree (Hi, Myra! *waves*)
Finally, here's my not-quite finished Christmas gift to myself! :D I stitched this in DMC 115 over 3 days of not-hard-work. I'm so happy with it, and after I finalize the framing (ironing, padding, lacing) I'll put it somewhere in my kitchen. :)
I've always loved Christmas Eve; maybe it's some remnant of being Norwegian/German, but our family always did the "Big Thing" on Christmas Eve. So much so that I forget/scratch my head about bloggers who are scratching their heads over Christmas Dinner prep. Why, I'd be too busy playing with my new toys (or sleeping off Christmas Eve goodies) to make a Christmas Dinner!
A Very Merry Christmas Eve, And a Happy Festivus, too!
Berit
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