A Puzzle and A Blessing Sampler

Happy Friday!!

I hope you are having a nice start to 2025.  Things are slowly getting back to normal here, despite a head cold. I started feeling punky on Monday, but I’m feeling a little better now.

 

My daughter and her boyfriend came for a visit in September, and they bought a Harry Potter 1000 piece puzzle a couple of days before they returned home. 

We had a very small start on it then, so we left it on a table in the family room. We made a little more progress when they came at Thanksgiving. And we finally finished it during the Christmas holiday.

Santa brought them a puzzle board. It has four drawers that hold pieces and a cover to protect the puzzle when they aren't working on it. It rotates and, because it is thin and flat, it can slide under a bed for storage.

 

There is something in the cross stitch community called a blessing sampler. It is said that if you begin a sampler on January 1^st and finish it by January 31^st then your needle will be “blessed” for the whole year.  It’s a silly but fun thing to do.

 

I selected the English Rose sampler that I received in one of the mystery boxes I shared about here.

 

English Rose Sampler is designed by The Proper Stitcher. I’m stitching it on 36 count linen and using the called-for Victoria Clayton silk threads.

This is the progress I made on Wednesday.

I’ve tallied my December stitches and will include those when I put together a 2024 recap over the weekend. I also need to think about what 2025 might look like in my crafting world.  What about you? Are you making any plans for the new year?

 

Hope you have a nice weekend and I’ll be back soon 😊

Even More Christmas Decorations

Happy Friday, Everyone! 

Here are a few more photos of this year’s Christmas décor.

When my husband and I decided to move to western North Carolina a couple of years ago, we placed all our personal belongings in a storage unit in Florida until we could find a permanent home. Christmas of 2022 found us without our Christmas decorations, so we splurged and bought new ones. We were ok with this because I would sometimes decorate more than one tree each year, and knew I wanted to do that again.

We selected rustic / farmhouse / mountain ornaments, mostly from Hobby Lobby but also a few from local artists.  These ornaments adorn the main tree in the living room, which is a live tree.

Once we retrieved our treasures from Florida, I decided to keep the new ornaments for what would be the main tree again. I went through our old decorations and selected ones to keep, and they adorn the pencil trees.

The first pencil tree is in our bedroom. I used silver ribbon that I had used in Florida, and the ornaments are ones that I painted many years ago.

The ones I selected for this tree are blues, whites, silver w/a little gold. I painted some red and green but left those in the box.

I placed a few items in the kitchen niche.

The piece below hangs next to the door going to the garage. I change it monthly. The cross stitch is December Calendar Crates by Stitching with the Housewives.

Moving to the family room downstairs...

We have three of these ceramic trees. My husband’s uncle got these for us thirty years ago. You can imagine that the stars have been knocked off at least once during that time, which is why this one is a little crooked.

I placed a Christmas quilt top in the hoop next to the treadle machine. (more about the hoop and stand in a future post)

I’m not completely happy with the bookcase and have different plans for it next year.

This little town has been around for many years. There are bulbs that fit inside each one to light up but I just turn on the bookcase light and skip fiddling with the cord.

We must have a place to send letters to Santa and the tartan box fits the décor. More about the tartan box on Monday.

There is only one Christmas quilt on the ladder this year. My husband took his holiday quilt for his office sofa. I didn’t take photos there because the lighting was horrible.

The last two pencil trees are for our kids. These trees hold special ornaments like the ones they made in school and the ones they would receive as a gift each year.

Our son’s tree is filled with Hallmark cars and trucks, school ornaments, his baby footprint and those he was gifted.

Our daughter’s tree is much the same except she collected Hallmark Barbie ornaments most years.

We enjoy many special memories when we look at these trees.  Once again, I’m not completely pleased with them and have different plans for them next year.

Baking is happening here today. My daughter arrives this afternoon, so I’m off to freshen guest rooms and bathrooms.

 

I hope you have a great weekend. I’ll return on Monday to show you two cross stitch Christmas mystery boxes I’ve received.

 

More Christmas Decorations

Hello, Friends!

I’ve taken a few more photos of the Christmas decorations on the main floor of the house. This part is pretty much finished, I think!

This corner is one side of the fireplace.

I moved the gossip stand to that side and placed a quilt over it. The Santa gourd was painted by a neighbor in Florida many years ago.

And I made the snowman wearing the navy scarf when my son was in kindergarten.  He is now 33...you can do the math...it hurts my heart!

On the opposite side of the room from the snowman corner, is the tiered shelving unit my Mom got me for Christmas last year.

The dining table is missing charger plates. I'm telling you...we are missing so many things from the move. Everything from kitchen items to craft projects. I can't imagine how this happens.

This piece of furniture is the bottom of my china cabinet and is where I display a nativity scene and other Lenox items. The top of the cabinet is wrapped in quilted blankets and stored in the garage. We do not have enough wall space (lots of windows, though!) to assemble it. I'm thinking of moving it downstairs where there is plenty of space. But then I think about it, wouldn't it be strange to have it separate from the dining set?

Between the fireplace and the dining room is all about Santa Claus.

My husband found this sleigh on one of our antiquing trips. It isn't really antique but it fits the decor.

On the opposite side of the kitchen from the Hoosier cabinet is a sideboard that I've attempted to decorate with prim items.

My favorite store in town has the cutest snowmen. I've collected a few over the last couple of years.

This is my latest acquisition. This fella is wearing a tuxedo coat...super cute!

That is all I have to share today. I will continue to post holiday decorations over the next week or so...more for my own record, but I hope you get some enjoyment from them as well.

Wednesday will be Witching Hour Wednesday where I will share stitchers' progress from the SAL. I hope you will return then.

Enjoy your day!

A Few Christmas Decorations

Happy Friday, Friends.

I have decorated the house for the holidays and want to share just a few photos with you today.

I bought these stockings years ago when I first got my embroidery machine. I had ordered extra, expecting my family would grow.

The stocking holders are Santas from House of Lloyd’s Christmas Around the World. I purchased these many years ago at a home party…can’t recall who hosted. We were a family of four, at the time, but I bought a few extra...again, expecting my family would grow.

Our main tree is the live one we got at the tree farm after Thanksgiving. The others will be mentioned in a future post.

The thing I’m enjoying most is the Hoosier cabinet. I had no idea when I got it how fun it was going to be decorating this piece for each season.

It is a chocolate / cocoa bar this year.

The snowman runner was made by my friend Vicki at Vicki's Crafts and Quilting. She does amazing work and sells her handmade items on Etsy. You can find her shop here. 

You may have spied the runner's matching topper in a previous post.

I am not, by any means, a professional decorator. However, I do enjoy surrounding myself with things I love, especially at Christmas.

Enjoy your weekend!

 

A Weekend with My BFF

Hello Friends!

My best friend from Florida visited over the weekend. We mostly hung out and chatted but did get out and about a little bit.

Our local leatherworks shop was hosting a toy drive Friday night so we dropped off toys and stamped our own leather ornaments.

We spent Saturday afternoon antiquing with my mom and hubby. We got a little silly at the ice cream shop in Maggie Valley.

My hubby suggested we treat my friend to the Candlelight Tour at the Biltmore Estate. This is our third year attending and it never gets old.

The Chihuly blown glass exhibit is on display at the Biltmore until February 2^nd. They have a few pieces scattered across the property, probably as a teaser so visitors purchase tickets to see the large exhibit. We hope to do that before it ends.

This piece was in one of the courtyards in front of the main house.

I literally take hundreds of photos each time we visit the Biltmore. My favorite thing to see at Christmas is the gingerbread house.

Biltmore Gingerbread House Front

Biltmore Gingerbread House Back

Of course, the big tree display in the center of the front lawn is always fun, too!

We were up and out early Sunday morning for coffee at one of our favorite places, Panacea. As I was enjoying my Chai latte, I realized I hadn’t shown you the quilt they have hanging on one of the walls. Each block represents something about the Frog Level district, which is where the coffee shop is located.

Once we returned home, my friend and I started cutting t-shirts.

These will be for my husband’s DAD quilt.  We planned the layout and I prepared the shirts with interfacing.  

I cut one block but then decided to wait on the others until I find sashing and border fabrics. I am short on both by a bit ☹

We went out for Sunday dinner and then enjoyed some downtown Christmas lights.

The weekend passed way too quickly but we all had a great time.

I have some Christmas decorations to show you, so I’ll be back on Friday with those.  My book club meets Thursday night, and guess what?!? I haven’t started the book yet! I’ll do that right after work.

Hope you are having a lovely week…see you soon 😊