Christmas Ornament Reveal

November 25, 2017

Christmas Ornament Reveal

As we have for years, we celebrate Thanksgiving with my parents and then, in the same visit, also celebrate Christmas. That means it's now time for the Christmas ornament reveal.

I always planned to make something for each of our children, but earlier this year I was at a needlepoint shop when they had a trunk sale. There it was: a Xavier University ornament. My father-in-law is a Xavier alum and it seemed to be a sign. I had to stitch it for him. Well, if I was going to make something for him, then I had to make something for my mother-in-law. And heck, if I made something for my in-laws, I should make something for my parents, too. That impulse shopping meant I had a flurry of stitching ahead of me.

Well, my eldest didn't get an ornament per se. She's busy as an investment banking analyst and that leaves little time for Christmas decorating. I stitched a small tree for her to set on a shelf so she can have a bit of Christmas spirit at home. It's a little more than an inch thick and can stand on its own.

The tree is stitched in Alternating Mosaic.

You can guess what my son loves on all his sandwiches.

I stitched the bottle with a thread that has a bit of a sheen to resemble a glass bottle.

No surprise as to why my youngest got this ornament. She's having a great freshman year.

The words Fighting Irish are stitched with a metallic thread

My mom got this chickadee ornament. I loved the stylized bird with a minimalist twist. Unfortunately, she's having a hard time deciphering the image. Bummer. Do you see it?

The berries are beads and the background is stitched in Alicia's Lace varation.

I made this one for my dad. It's a "stash buster", the kind of thing you can stitch using what you've already got at home. Thought it's hard to see, the background is a pretty metallic blue.

I'm heading out for a visit with my in-laws on Tuesday, so I plan to take these along. Hopefully they'll find a spot on their Christmas tree.

The sign: I never thought I'd find a Xavier University ornament on the East Coast.

I'm hoping this Bethlehem scene will appeal to my mother-in-law.

And, finally, here's the stocking I stitched for our own tree. Once our children take all their ornaments with them, our tree will look bare - - unless I get busy making some for us to keep.