2010 Christmas Ornament

This originally began as an Ornament for an exchange at my local quilt guild that I joined this year. We were told to bring a handmade ornament to exhange at our Christmas party. We didn't have to make it ourselves, but I did.

Ice Crystal (Roughly 2 1/2" x 2 2/1")

I've wanted to incorporate metal into my Fiber Art and got this idea from Video Workshops from Quilting Arts by Mary Hettmansperger. It's silver colored wire (about 26 gauge) and beads (6/0 size) and just twisted together. Then applied to a white piece of fabric that's sewn onto blue fabric that was covered with shiny organza (I think?) I'm not good with types of fabric, I just go to the fabric store and choose what's interesting to me.

I think these turned out much better than I expected and it was super easy and fast to make! I've decided to try and make a new handmade ornament each year. Now we'll see how long that last. It all depends on what next year holds. Happy New Year! I can't wait for several of my online art classes to begin! I've found online learning (if I actually make time to do the work) is the best learning environment for me! Saves my back from having to transport a sewing machine, materials, supplies, etc.. So stay tuned to find out what I come up with in the next couple of months ahead!

My Martha Stewart Touches

Here are my attempts at trying a few Martha Stewart touches of decorating.

I've wanted to do this one for several years and actually got it done this year. It turned out much better than I expected! I've seen similar hanging baskets like these in nearby Davidson, NC (a small college town) and always wanted to use the branches cut from my Christmas tree to make some for myself.


I use the hanging baskets that hold my summer flowers and pull out all the dead foliage, but leave the dirt for next year. Then I just cut the huge branches from the Frasier Fir tree that were trimmed to make it fit in our Christmas Tree Stand. I stuck those into the dirt first and then filled in with branches of other greenry that I cut from around our yard. There is long leaf pine, cedar, and Holly. Whoever said to "Deck the Halls with Holly" had to be dipping into the Egg Nog a little too much! That stuff is so sharp and prickley!

I intended to add battery operated lights to each of the four baskets but when I went to the local craft store (Michaels) they had already put everything on drastic clearance and there were none to be found. Oh well, maybe next year.

Next is my Poinsetta Arrangement. I've been doing this one for a couple of years now. My husband gets up the day after Thanksgiving to hit the big savings sales. I personally haven't found anything I wanted that desperately to fight the crowds for, but he loves going out and getting those "deals!" I'm glad that he does, he always comes home with $.99 Poinsettas. They're small, only 1 quart size, but I put four of them in this one container and then spend the rest of the Christmas season pointing at huge $15 and up plants and saying "Mine look as good as that one!" What fun to have a nice huge arrangements for only $4. I just leave the plants in the pots they come in and put them in the container and I'm done.


So this is about all for my decking of the halls!

2010 Christmas Tree

A few years ago I took pictures of many of my Christmas Ornaments and featured them with stories of why they are special. I think I faded out in that project, maybe if I can get my act together I'll resume that for next year. Meanwhile, I'll give you a few glimpses of the decorating for this year. I didn't get a whole lot done this year and after my granddaugther saw my tree all decorated she asked why I didn't wait for her to help. Oh boy!!! It's a deal, she'll definitely get in on that fun next year! I sure hope she's still willing then!

Each year now since our children have families of their own, we go together up into the NC mountains to choose and cut our own trees. Well we don't have to actually cut them, they do that for you after you've chosen and tagged the one you want. This give the very particular members of our family (mainly my husband and daughter) a very wide selection to choose from and the grandchildren a chance to see where the trees actually come from, etc. Overall usually a very fun family adventure. For me, this year it was a scary adventure to go up into the mountains while it was snowing. (I can hear you northeners snickering!) My husband was driving, so that wasn't bad. It's the other drivers that make me nervous with potential skidding into us, etc. But we all made it up the mountain, quickly picked out our trees and hurried back down before they closed the roads. (The road further on up the mountain was closed while we were still there.) But it was very beautiful to pick out a tree with all the snow. Here is our chosen tree just before it was cut. These are Frasier Firs.

After we get down off the mountain with our trees, we usually stop for lunch. This year we ate in downtown North Wilkesboro, NC and to our delight their parade was that day so we had a perfect indoor, in the warm, seat for viewing! We're all smiles now that the trees are bought and we're out of the cold!



Here is the tree, all decorated. This year we put the train around the bottom for the enjoyment of the grandchildren. It takes up a bit of floor space, but it's been worth it to see them play with it.