2015 Parade of Ornaments!

Are there really only seven days left until Christmas?! As the big day approaches, I'm feeling better about things than I was when I last posted. I've definitely cut back on the decorating this year and, you know what... I'm okay with that. The house still looks festive, just in a more scaled back fashion. I still don't have the tree entirely decorated--my ornaments are sitting in their underbed storage box waiting patiently for their moment to shine. Hopefully, I can get them hung later today as I have to work tomorrow. I also need to sit down and catch up with all of your blogs--have to admit, I've barely had time to glance at them since we returned from Argentina. I will make a special point of visiting as many of you as I can today...

I know many of you are new to my blog, but each year I devote one post to the monthly ornaments I've created over the past twelve months. If you are interested in seeing previous "Parade of Ornament" posts, you can find them by clicking on the highlighted year:  2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Once again, even though this December has been much warmer than normal (with NO SNOW at all!), we have had a serious lack of sunshine, so my photos are not the best. 

2015 Monthly Ornament Finishes

Yikes! That photo is worse than I thought!! How about some close-ups? You can click on them, too, for a better look...

January ~ March 2015 ornament finishes

April ~ June 2015 ornament finishes

July ~ September 2015 ornament finishes

October ~ December 2015 ornament finishes


I always enjoy hearing which is your personal favorite. I'll give you a closer look so you can make your decision...

JANUARY
Prairie Schooler Santa from "Christmas Past"

FEBRUARY
Prairie Schooler "Winter Wind" motif

MARCH
Country Cottage Needleworks "Snow Birds"

APRIL
"Joyeux Noel" French freebie


MAY
Little House Needleworks: "Joy To the World"

JUNE
Little House Needleworks:  "Deer Valley Inn"

JULY
Prairie Schooler's "Button Up" finish

AUGUST
Grandma Kringles: "Winter's Night"

SEPTEMBER
All Through the Night: "Merry Christmas" finish

OCTOBER
"Let It Snow" snowman finish

NOVEMBER
Prairie Schooler: "Prairie Birds" finish

DECEMBER
Homespun Elegance "Cinnamon Stick Christmas V" finish

Oh, I'm so pleased with this year's ornaments (I know I say that every year, but, I feel so happy when I see them all posted together). I love that they are all very unique and I can't wait to move them from my stair garland to my Christmas tree!  So, which one wins your vote? I hate picking favorites, but, if I have to, I choose February. It just invokes such a feeling of peace in me and, of course, the red cardinals remind me of my dad.  

Here is a final look of my garland at night...

All is calm, all is bright...

Amidst all of the decorating, gift buying, card sending, etc. that December brings, I had to make a treat for work. Our tradition is to bring a treat in during your birthday month. So, why, you ask, am I taking a birthday treat in during December when my birthday isn't until January? Well, we had several people who had birthdays during the same months so there was some shuffling done and I ended up with December. So, for three nights this week, I baked and baked and ended up with this large cookie tray to share with my wonderful co-workers. They were so appreciative and I froze the cookies that I didn't take in to have for Christmas. This year, I made Christmas Butter Cookies, Reese's Cup Cookies, Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, Raspberry Almond Shortbreads, White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies, Brown Sugar Pecan Cookies, and Bombshell Brownies! Can you smell the butter and sugar? As usual, the Reese's Cup Cookies were gobbled up first. Which would you choose?

How many calories are on this plate? Oh, that's right--
calories don't count at Christmas, do they?!

I have received some lovely Christmas gifts from around the world, but am waiting to open them until I've sent out my own gifts. I am so, so sorry mine will be late this year, but I just couldn't meet the mailing deadlines having been away last month. I hope you'll be patient with me and I promise, I'll try to do better next year...

Well, I'm signing off now so I can go visit your blogs, head to the post office, finish decorating the tree, wrap a few presents, and address the last of the Christmas cards. Sure sounds like a busy day, just like I imagine each of you is having. Thanks so much for dropping in to visit me today--I know it's not easy at this time of year. Try to relax and enjoy this last week before Christmas... I know I'm going to!  Bye for now...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stitching Strawberries

Image
Good morning, good morning! I'm sure some of you wondered if I would ever post my June bowl of smalls, didn't you? Well, I'm happy to tell you that I just finished them up yesterday and I'm eager to share them with you. Although I didn't get as much stitching time as I would have liked (do we ever??) due to dealing with the estate sale at my childhood home, I did manage to stitch and finish four new strawberry themed pieces along with three adorable fabric strawberries. Is there anyone out there who doesn't like strawberries? I just wish the season lasted longer, but at least these little creations will stick around a while! First up is a freebie from Cosmic Homemade called "Sweet Strawberry" which you can find by clicking here . I really love the combination of the black crows with the burgundy strawberries in this one. It is stitched on 32 ct. raw natural linen using the suggested DMC colors (although I did switch the two reds here and there). To...
Read more

Christmas Stitching on Halloween

Image
Happy last day of October--or Happy Halloween if you prefer! How are my blogging friends today? I can hardly believe we are rounding the corner to the final two months of  2018, can you? October has been one tough month around here--I won't sugarcoat it. I just have to hope and pray that November is kinder... My stitching retreat, two weeks ago, was such fun: stitching , eating, stitching , snacking, stitching , sleeping, stitching ... Unfortunately, I had to leave a day early as my niece's baby shower fell on that last day. But, it was still nice to be there for even the short time I had with four long-time stitching friends. We don't have formal exchanges these days like we used to--if someone wants to bring something, that's fine. No one keeps track! I had some extra time to stitch while my mom was in the hospital so I made four little snowflake ornaments--one for each of my friends. Believe me, by the final one, I think I had the chart memorized. It is actually on...
Read more

2018 Parade of Ornaments

Image
Happy mid-December, everyone! Well, it's that time of year again... another year of stitching an ornament each month has come to an end. And in this post, I'm happy to share with you my 2018 Parade Of Ornaments --my ninth annual! If you are new to my blog, this is a post I've shared each December since 2010. Many of you have told me they draw inspiration from my ornament finishes and I'm so happy to hear that. I spend a great deal of time on each one--trying to make them little heirlooms that my family will be decorating their own Christmas trees with long after I am gone. If any of you would like to see the past "parades," please click here:  2010 , 2011 , 2012 , 2013 , 2014 , 2015 , 2016 , and 2017 . So, cue up the music and let's get started! As you can see, I really didn't have a theme to my stitching this year. I did notice that five out of the twelve are stitched on black, though--I think I am just a bit addicted :)  I also see a fair number ...
Read more