A wintry cross stitch finish

  This little stitchery, a freebie from Erin Elizabeth Designs, was one that I completed last winter but .had not figured out a finish for.  The design depicts a little snow globe, sort of a tallish shape.  I finally came up with the idea of displaying it in an upside down pint Mason jar -- and yesterday I took a few minutes to make it all work.

I pressed the cross stitch really well and trimmed it down a little and pressed all the raw edges to the back.  Then I rolled it up to make it fit in the jar.  I quickly saw that it was going to need something inside it to help it hold its shape and not collapse within the jar.  In my cardboard stash I found a white marble-look side panel from a tissue box.  I rolled it up, taped it together with packaging tape, and rolled the stitchery around it.  That made the difference and gave me just the look I was going for.

I'd thought I might glue a sparkly snowflake button or two to the lid of the jar, but I haven't done that yet.  I sort of like the plain look, but when I get it out next year I may decide it needs a sparkly snowflake.  Meanwhile, I'm loving this little finished project just as it is.

So happy to have completed this at last!

Sorting through a Christmas tote

 

When we were getting out our Christmas decorations, I was looking for a specific item and Mr. T handed down a large plastic tote out of the attic, labeled "Christmas and Snowmen/Winter".  As I hunted through the contents quickly (not finding the item I was looking for either!), I voiced the thought that probably almost all of this could go to the thrift store.  Most of the items were very nice, many of them things we'd been gifted with over time.  Some, like the candle below, were things I'd made myself but just would not be using.  He agreed, but noted that this was not the time to go through the tote.

So a month or so after Christmas, when we were packing most of the Christmas things away, I asked my hubby to bring that huge tote down again.  It took me a week or so, but I got through it.

Here is how it all shook out when I finished going through the tote.

To the trash:
A decorative hanging ball covered with gilded pinecones, suspended by jute twine — pinecones are falling off it and it’s just not pretty anymore

To the thrift store:
A stuffed bear holding a velvety gift box
A bagful of silk holly, some of it “snow covered”, and a few pine cones
A Christmas table runner that’s not my style
A snowman lamp that’s not really my style anymore
A wall hanging, same
Several pewter-look ornaments
2 square hand-decorated Christmas candles
2 partial sets of iron-on letters for personalizing Christmas stockings
A decorative wooden box with Christmas theme
A lighted folk-art type wooden reindeer
A few bits and pieces of handmade ornaments and some ribbon
Several Christmas ornaments (from the homestead) that we just won't use

To our camp:
A lighted evergreen garland
Two silk holly garlands
A woven rug in a quilt pattern design of red and green
A Christmas wall hanging I think would look good there
A gallon ziplock bag of assorted ornaments that could work for a camp Christmas tree

Let me explain that last section: to our camp.

 When I pulled that lighted evergreen garland (something I didn't even remember having!) out of the tote, my first thought was that we could use it at the camp.  We have a lighted evergreen garland over our picture window here at home, and it looks nice in all seasons.  The camp is not yet winterized (no insulation, though we have purchased the insulation for it), and I didn't really think of having Christmas there, just of using the garland there all year round.

But when I told Mr. T of my thought for the garland, he immediately noted that if we got things insulated as well as we hoped to, it just might be possible to plan for Christmas at our camp next year!  So as I continued sorting, I set aside a few more things we could use for a camp Christmas.  We will see what happens and how it all plays out, but for now it's something fun to think about and plan for.

I'm so glad I decided to sort through that Christmas tote!