Merry Christmas!

Christmas, Musings on Life and Beauty

We spent Christmas Eve with my husband’s brother and his family last night, remembering the reason for the holiday.

empty manger
With costumes on, the children (14 in all!) quietly portrayed the events recorded in the New Testament surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ.


As I photographed the production, I noticed something.  Having a real baby in our own little manger changed the feeling a little.  The excitement really was about that little bundle in a rough wood box.


They all wanted to be close to the manger, gathering around it in a circle.


The baby truly was center stage, the object of their attention.


As I watched this awesome group, I realized that they were teaching us a silent lesson.


Christmas really is all about baby Jesus.  It reminded me of my favorite Christmas embroidery:


I hope we all will spend a few quiet minutes today, kneeling in the stable. Adoring Him.

It will make all our lives more stable.

Merry Christmas to you, from our family, and especially from our little angel who’s taking this all in for the first time.

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Baby Stocking

Christmas, Quilting and Sewing

At about 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, I addressed the problem of having no stocking for my 4 month old baby.  The fabric I purchased to make one that matches the family was still sitting on my sewing table, and I didn’t have time to make it then because it requires embroidering her name on it by hand.  I was already tired, and still had breakfast to make and gifts to wrap.

I remembered this sweater, sitting in my bag to go to goodwill.


Well, it’s not going there anymore.  I cut the back of it out to make a stocking, and I’m saving the rest for another project.  I took about 30 seconds to draw a stocking shape on it with my fabric marking pen.


Then I cut it out, folded it with the right sides together, and sewed around the edges.  I used the cable design around the original collar for the top of the stocking.  Simple and beautiful.  (And just for the record, yes, I know it’s crazy to start a project like this at a time like that.  But sometimes your mother’s heart just needs to do something.  I’ve learned that when I listen to those feelings I feel happy.)


I took a strip from the sleeve to make a little tab to hang it with.




It needed a little something more, so I cut a strip of silk fabric and made a rosette to embellish it with.  I used another piece from the sleeve as a sort of leaf, and then added a paper tag cut from vintage sheet music to write “first Christmas” on it.




Just a little bit of time, and my little bundle has a special first Christmas stocking!

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In Love with Birds

Decorating

Back in October I snatched a few fallen branches from my cherry tree and stuck them in my basement.
For Christmas, I brought them to my kitchen, and I’m pretty sure that when the other Christmas decorations go back into storage, these will be staying.  Meaning, I love them.


I put a branch in each of my urns that sit atop the linen cabinets, and hung my FAVORITE bird ornaments that I hunted for online last year after spying a picture of one in a magazine.




I also hung a couple of smaller branches from the kitchen light fixture and placed birds on it, too.


And I totally love it.  The birds just make me smile.


Smiling is a good thing.

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