Advent Calendar Blog Hop - 10 is my Day

I've joined Serendipitous Stitching's blog Serendipitious Stitching Blog for her Annual Advent Calendar Blog Hop.  While I LOVE Christmas, I don't do a lot of Christmas stitching other than Shepard Bush stockings.  I have done about 12 of the SB stockings and 2 duplicate stitched stockings and I that I tried to knit, which was an epic failure.  I love Halloween, so tend to gravitate more of my stitching to that theme when I have a choice.  I would have loved to have done Jo's Halloween hop, but I was overwhelmed with work during that time so was thrilled when she asked me to join for Christmas.

She asked us to tell you all about our tree, for years we had a real tree.  I grew up with a real tree, always at least 6' and sometimes taller.  The tree in the picture is probably 7 to 7 1/2 feet tall and was probably one of the last real trees we had in the house.   Hubby and I moved for my work, and left our daughters in the house, they really didn't do any Christmas decorating.  Our ceilings I think about 12' at the beam, so that will give you some feel for our tree. 

As for decorating it, I put the same ornaments on each year.  There were home made ones from the kids in school, and some from craft fairs, but there were also ornaments that were from my Grandmother's tree that I got when she passed away.  So while they aren't all the most prettiest, they are all special.  I guess the ones that I love the most are the Sesame Street ornaments that I got the year I divorced my 1st husband.  My son and I didn't have two nickels to rub together, but I managed to get a tree and we put it in a corner and only had enough decorations for about a 1/3 rd of the tree.  I splurged on the set of ornaments that I thought he would enjoy putting on the tree.  They have been going on the tree now for about 43 years.  Amazingly NONE have gotten broken.

I have an angel that goes on the family tree, it is one that I've had for about 49 years now.  She has seen better days and her wings have lost a lot of their glitter, but she watches over the house during the season, so she stays.  She is glass, so again amazing that she has lasted this long.  She stayed in KY when we moved to CA and then back to MI.  Hope to see her this year as the girls will put up a tree, hopefully.

Our kids and now grandkids have always helped decorate the tree.  Some times the lights go on the tree, and other times they end up on little children.  My Grandma Pearl always said if you let the children see and touch things, that they are less likely to try to hold them later.  And while the most precious ornaments go more towards the top, the kids do have a lot that they can put on themselves.  If they get broken we don't cry, we just reach in the box and get another one out.

When we moved to CA we left the ornaments at our KY home and we got a fake tree as we were in an apartment and tried to go back to MI or KY each year when we could.  I found a small tree at Big Lots that was cheap and that is what we put up.  I got some cheap ornaments, but have added a few nice ones.  The tree didn't come home with us when we moved back to our small house in MI.  So I got another fake tree for MI house and usually I put it up right after Thanksgiving, it is up now, but not pictures.  Its a little bit bigger than our apartment tree, but not much.

We will go to KY for our Granddaughter's first Christmas, but will be nice to have some decorations at our MI home too.  Hubby doesn't know but I got him a blow-up Santa for the front yard.  I used to put lights outside and lots of blowup at Christmas.  Our house was the talk of the neighborhood :)  I miss those days.

So what have I stitched that is Christmas themed?

I did needlepoint nativity figures and based on this picture that was 18 years ago!!  The designer was supposed to add animals and angels, but she never did, so Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the Wise Men stand alone each year.  This was one of my first dives into needlepoint and I changed almost all of the colors, because I didn't want mine to look like everyone else in the group that stitched them.

My middle daughter is a dog person, so one year i did this little chart for her with the frame.  I thought it was so cute.  I framed it myself and she has it hanging all year in her bedroom.  

And for my oldest daughter I did a Shepard Bush design, Road to Bethlehem.  I have lots of other Christmas themed designs by this designer and will get them done at some point.  Right now I'm working on one that is called Angel's Song.  If you search back you will see a picture of it.  I also did the back drop of a nativity scene for her with Ms. Martha figurines.  When she passed away, everything was packed up and put in our storage shed, so hopefully they are all out there and will go her daughter at some point.

I also love doing Lavender and Lace Angels, which alway remind me of Christmas, but are nice anytime of the year.  I have completed 3 angels and one Indian woman and have 3 Angels in my WIP bin.  Love them and will complete them at some point, but it's taking me longer because I went from being a one - at - a timer to thinking I could manage a rotation.  Or maybe I just suffer from shiny objects syndrom and always want to start the new fun things.  Going to focus in 2022 on one of them with the hope for a finish, Angel of Peace.

So now you know a little bit more about me.   Will leave you with a few more pictures.   The mug is my special mug from my Grandma Millie's house.  At dinners at her house we each had our own mug to drink out of, and the little blue bird was mine.  It is probably 60 plus years old and isn't used anymore, but rather in my china cabinet and reminds me of a simpler time when families did Sunday dinners.  the little house was in a card that I sent to my sister one year.  She kept it and has it on her piano, so I snapped a quick picture the last time I was at her house.

Thanks Jo for including me.  Look forward to see all those who are participating this year.

Sandy