Merry Christmas To You!

Sending wishes for a very

 Merry Christmas

to you!

Vintage Advent Tree

One of my favorite Christmas decorations is this felt advent tree 

that I hang in my front hallway every year. 

It has been in my family for a very looooong time.

My Mama found it at a church bazaar in the late 60's/early 70's.

It is such a perfect way to help little children count down the days til Christmas.

(The ornaments are numbered 1-25 on the reverse side.)

I'm noticing a few worn spots that need TLC.

So I'll have to perform felt and yarn surgery before I pack it away this year.

I have to keep it in good shape so it will last for another 40 years. 

Little Ceramic Tabletop Tree

THIS is what I returned to the vintage shop for.

I've always loved these little ceramic tabletop Christmas trees.

:-) 

How many of you gals still have one of these?

Little Christmas Tree Quilt

I finished one of the Christmas projects I was working on:

A little tree quilt that I will use to display my collection of Christmas tree brooches.

I cut out a muslin triangle and attached strips of green fabric.

Next I added ric-rac and lace trims 

and sewed on the angled side pieces and trunk. 

I cut out a bunch of squares to create the rest of the quilt top,

made my quilt "sandwich", 

top stitched to hold it all in place

and sewed on a binding. 

Beads, sequins and rhinestone buttons added sparkle and shine.

I searched through the Christmas decorations in the basement 

and found my tree brooches.  

There are plenty of empty squares, so my collection has room to grow.

(Santa always puts one in my stocking.)

I can't wait to hang this in the hallway come December! 

How Lovely Are Thy Branches

"Oh Christmas tree,

How lovely are thy branches."

I Do Love Trees!

Santa leaves a sparkly little tree brooch in my stocking each Christmas.

These cute, diminutive trees have turned into quite the collection.

I have them displayed in a hammered aluminum tray this year.

I wear a little jeweled tree on my lapel when I go out.

And on Christmas Eve I'll pin them to napkins at the dining table. 

A couple of weeks ago, after reading one of my tree craft posts,

a fellow blogger called me the "Queen of sweet trees".

And looking back at my Christmas posts I realized she might be on to something.

I really do love trees!  I have them all over the house.

I'm not the least bit regal.  I'm just a Mommy from the Midwest.

But if one is going to be called Queen of something, 

I can't think of a nicer subject than trees.

The Enchanted Forest

Blue Smurf Tree, Gingerbread Tree, Rudolf Tree and Dazzling Pink Tree.

These were just some of the festive evergreens in the Enchanted Forest.

Creative trees in every color were auctioned off 

to raise money for Marillac, a children's mental health program.  

Mr. Garden and I had oohed and ahhed over the trees for several years

and we believe that all children deserve a chance to grow up healthy,

so we decided to make a bid.

Imagine our excitement when we found out that we had won!

We were very happy to bring this little tree home with us!

It fits right in with all the gingerbread in our kitchen.

Sparkling Christmas Tree

My sparkling Christmas tree, 

branches heavily laden with baubles bright,

gifts from little hands, 

symbols of the holy season, 

memories and much joy!

Triangle Trees

Yesterday I stitched up a few simple little triangle trees

to share with the gals at book club.

So easy! 

It's lots of fun working with all this vintage ric-rac.

Looking at this picture now, I realize I should have added 

a star or some bling to the top.

Oh well... it's too late now.

I think they liked them anyway.

A Trio Of Glittery Trees

I finally finished up the little project I was working on!

A trio of glittery trees!

I saw these sampler trees at Amy Powers- Inspired Ideas Christmas 2010, 

and wanted to give her pattern a try.

So I gathered up all sorts of colorful beads, shiny sequins, ric-rac trim

 and embroidery floss and got to work.

When I posted the sneak peek photo a couple of weeks ago, 

a few of you thought I was making a tree skirt.

That would be a great idea too! 

Just for fun, I laid all three of the flat panels together

to see what a tree skirt might look like.

Anyway, I just love how these little trees turned out.

And can't wait to start decorating for Christmas next Friday!

Be sure to take a look at all the wonderfully creative

ideas in all of Amy's magazines here.

Hope you have a fun and creative weekend!

I'm joining Terri's "Deck the Halls", Christmas Project Blog Hop at  Artful Affirmations.


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I'll Give Them All To You To Hold

look  the spangles

that sleep all the year in a dark box

dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,

the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,

put up your little arms

and i'll give them all to you to hold

every finger shall have its ring

and there won't be a single place dark or unhappy

then when you're quite dressed

you'll stand in the window for everyone to see

and how they'll stare!

oh but you'll be very proud

(from little tree  by ee cummings)

My tree is up and ornaments adorn every branch.  

Each one holds a special memory.

Linked to:

Show That Sapin @ My French Country Home

Can You Find The Julbock? - Mosaic Monday

We trimmed the tree with ornaments homemade and store bought.  Some shiny and new, some childhood toys.  Each one special.

Wanna play  "Where's Waldo" with the tree decorations?  We used to play this game when the kids were little.   Can you find the origami piranha?  The papoose?  Where is the Venetian Santa in the gondola?  Point to the glass church.  And the Toucan with the big bill.  I spy with my little eye a tiny felt bear with jointed limbs.   Where is the blue bell made from an egg carton?    Can you find the Julbock?   (You don't know what that is?  He's the Swedish Christmas goat, made from straw.)

 For several years we have played a hide and seek game with the tree.  We hide green pickles and red peppers (ornaments, not the real thing)  in the tree on Christmas day  and then let our kids search for them.  They are hard to find when there are lots of other ornaments all over the tree.  We give out one last present after they are found.

Thank you Mary at Little Red House for hosting Mosaic Monday.

Oh Christmas tree!

"Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches!"

Vintage Felt And Sequin Christmas Trees

This vintage felt tree hangs in my front hallway every Christmas. I just love it! It's actually an advent calendar. If you turn the ornaments over, they are numbered 1-25. It's yet another one of my Mom's marvelous Church Christmas Bazaar finds from the late 60's/early 70's.

I mentioned in the previous post that  Mr. Garden's Grandmother M. made a whole bunch of felt and sequin Christmas trees. Grandmother M. apparently loved making crafts and she often got her grandchildren involved in the process. Sadly, she passed away when Mr. Garden was quite young, so I never had the chance to meet her. I think I would have liked her a lot.

She used green, red and white felt to make the trees. Here are pics of the green and red versions. The smaller size green trees were discovered a couple of years ago in a box at a vintage/antique store by my Mom and she knew I would give them a good home.

Christmas Tree Auction

Every year they have a tree auction at Union Station to raise money for a local charity. Take a look at some of these fun and festive trees! (these pics were from last years auction.)

Christmas Tree Brooches

I recently started to collect Christmas tree brooches. I just love Christmas trees, and these miniature versions are such fun! I wear one on my collar when I go out. And I attach them to the napkins on my Christmas table to add a little sparkle to the table setting.

I am amazed by all the different designs! 

Mr. Garden gave me the book "Christmas Tree Pins- O Christmas Tree" by Nancy Yunker Trowbridge, for Christmas.   There are so many beautiful pieces to look at!