Stockings & a Banner

I hope you are better prepared for Christmas than I am!  There are still a couple of presents to purchase and cookies to bake, plus some of the already purchased gifts are not wrapped yet!  Yikes! It is getting way to close to have this much left to do!

Last week when we went to Tucson, I had the opportunity to photograph our daughter's family's stockings.  The don't have a mantle so hang them on this really cute bench by the front door.  This makes it easier for Santa since he can't come down the chimney anyway!  He sneaks in the front door!

Except for the denim on the left which was made by the other Grandma (Hi, Mary!) these are stockings I've made over the years for grand kids.  The red with the lace is made from fabric and left over lace used for the bridesmaid's  and flower girl dresses from M & M's wedding and belongs to their oldest daughter A1 (she is A1 because another granddaughter's name also begins with an A and because she is very special!).  The stocking with the Princess Feather quilt pattern was made from a pattern in a Country Living magazine several years ago and belongs to L, I think.  I made two of these and one belongs to E who is our other daughters second daughter.  The ticking stripe belongs to H or maybe the Princess Feather belongs to H and the ticking stripe belongs to L!  I think I've made too many Christmas stockings to remember any more which I made for whom!  Mindy saw a ticking stripe stocking in a magazine and we tried to duplicate it with a couple of changes.  I think the lace at the top of this one is the other half of the lace I used for the coffee bag stocking.

The yellow and brown Sunbonnet Sue I made for Mindy when she was a little girl and I had first started quilting.  I know, yellow and brown, what was I thinking?  Well Sunflowers are yellow and brown, after all!  The other stockings in the back belong to Ehrwen (I probably misspelled that!) their cat and Prince, their dog.  You can also see part of Mindy's Rudolph collection here.

On the bench is part of Mindy's collection of Rudolphs.  She has been collecting them since she was quite young.  One year all she said she wanted for Christmas was a stuffed Rudolph.  Try as I might, I could NOT find one that year.  So, I did what any self-respecting mom would do.  I found stuffed deer and painted it's nose red with finger nail polish.  She did figure it out, though.  She loved it anyway even if it wasn't a REAL Rudolph!

Here is the banner I made for the china hutch in the dining room. 

These are chipboard letters from Hobby Lobby.  I painted them white and sparkled them up with a bit of clear glitter.  They are simply hot glued to twine.  It does make it a bit difficult to open the door of the cabinet, though. LOL  My SIL, Joyce, made the ceramic high button shoe that sits on the side of the hutch.

The stocking is from a heavy grosgrain fabric with a lace doily cuff.  I love this neutral combination highlighting the textures instead of a color.

The kerosene lamps are wearing their holiday bows though they are hard to see.  Many of them are from family and a few I got from an antique dealer in Wisconsin.  I didn't buy them exactly.  She needed antique clothing repaired and rather than paying me, I would earn pieces in her shop.  One dress I finally gave back to her without completing it as I had put so many hours into this Victorian era ball gown that I told her she couldn't afford for me to finish it.

There are a few more Christmas things to show you, but they will have to wait until the next post.  I'll try not to be so long between posts, but there was shopping to do and I do have to go to work, too!

Until next time, enjoy the season!

Lois