My Santa Tree

This dowelling  tree has only Santas on its branches.  It stands at the top of the stairs, and it's the first thing you would see if you opened my front door and looked upwards.  On the door in the back (linen press door) I have hung my Santa ornaments and some special ornaments made for me by children over the years. On the tin trunk under the tree, and on the floor you can see a few of my Christmaa tins,  The large Santa in the small table at rear is a particular favourite.  I've has him for 17 years, and carried him home from USA.

My Angel tree

The picture above shows my Angel tree (made from dowelling, and hanging from a picture hook on the wall), and a collection of standing angels on the box below it.  You can also see my L&L Angel of Hope on the wall.  Below, there is a pic taken from a slightly different angle.

My "Angel Room" aka (when it's not decorated for Christmas) the Sitting Room

My doll-angels are in the pic above.  Not all of them started life as angels, but they all have their wings now.  They sit by the 1970s Christmas tree.  If you stand looking at the doll angels and look to the left, you'll see my L&L Angel of Grace hanging in the stairwell, and catch a glimpse of my much-loved Christmas fridge magnets (picture below).

Just to the left of the stairwell is my Angel Corner, which houses an assortment of angels (candle-holder angels, bell angels, glass angels, brass angels, musical angels etc) over-looked by my L&L Angel of Love hanging on the wall.

There'll be more of the Angel Room in the next post.

My 1970s Christmas Tree

This pphoto really doesn't do the tree justice - it really is much prettier than it llooks here.  At the back of the tree (on the right) you can see one of my rescued angels (I call this one Angelica, and she's the largest of my angels).

Moving on into the kitchen ...

 A collection of cups plates and dishes (above) and my much-loved salt and pepper pots on the window-sill(below).

Updated Christmas pics

The photo above is an updated pic of my lounge room corner with the 1950s tree, now with its full complement of wrapped Christmas gifts.

 The next picture is of the dining room , showing my two framed cross stitched Marilyn Gandre works - Santa's Great Book and Santa's Workshop.

and the final pic is also from the Dining Room, showing my Advent Calendar on December 7,  Seven of the starts have been turned to show Santas.  I've also replaced the table runner with a new market purchase - a lovely patchwork Christmas runner I bought from the lady who made it.

Just before we leave the dining room ...

This is the fat terracotta Santa that greets my visitors - he is standing near my front door.  My dear niece Aislinn gave him to me for my birthday a few years ago.

More of the Dining Room Christmas display

This is my Dining Room table, which has some of my nesting Santa sets.  You can just see the corner display unnit which has my vintage colection.  On the wall are L&L's Oh Christmas Tree and Santa of the Forest (the top is undfortunately cut from this pic.

Two more little finishes

These ornaments are Christmas gifts for two youngsters, a brother and sister. 

A little finish

I was asked to make this ornament which is to be a Christmas gift.

My vintage Christmas items (still in the dining room)

I've accidentally cut the top off this pic, but there's another one below showing the lovely Santas on top of the display case. This display case has my older angels (top shelf) and on the other shelves my older Santas and assorted vintage Christmas ornaments. Sitting at the dining room table you can see my lovely old straw-filled Santa, who is having his first Christmas in my house (though he must have seen around 6o Christmases in his lifetime). I have to admit that this corner of my house is one of my all-time favourite areas - I do love my vintage Christmas items, particularly the Santas.

This little display case houses some of my smaller vintage Christmas decorations, and is on the dining room wall near the display case shown above.

and here are some of my absolute favorites - my vintage Santas. They're standing on top of the corner display cupboard that houses (at this tme of the year only) my vintage Angels and smaller vintage Santas.

More pics from the Dining Room

Above, you can see my little collection of Nativities. mostly vintage, and mostly rescued from garage sales. Below is a more detailed pic of my two favourites - the one on the left (behind) is an old Italian set, the one on the right is an African terracotta set I bought new over 20 years ago. My tiniest Nativity is on the botton left corner of the clock - I bought it home with me from Italy this year. It's only about 3cm wide. The Santa sleigh on the clock is a vintage piece.

Back home again

after a very wet 12 days in the van at lovely Port Stephens, just an hours drive from my home. It rained all day and night for the first 11 days, but I am so very pleased that the rain stopped yesterday afternoon, and we managed a dry pack up today. My laundry floor is currently covered knee deep in wet items waiting their turn in the washing machine.

So, to cheer myself up I'm putting in a few more pics of my Christmas house - it was so nice to open the door and see Christmas again.

We've moved up to the dining room now. The first pic is the top of my cedar chest, and it has my gourd Santas, a few nwsting Santas and some particular favourites of mine. I stitched the cross stitched Santa many years ago, from one of the Leisure Arts Christmas Cross stitch hardcover books.



and this pic shows the top of my buffet. It houses my Advent tree, and my very small collection of Jim Shore Santas. This picture was taken before December 1 - had it been taken after December 1 the appropriate number of stars would have turned into Santas. The small cross stitched Santa on the wall is teh Santa that took me the longest to stitch. I started him in 1992, and didn't finish him till 1997 - it has the fiddliest back-stitching round everything, and the face is full of fractional confetti stitches. Being fairly new to cross stitch when I started him, I stitched him on 18 count Rustico Aida - not the best choice of fabric for a design with so any fractionals!


Sorry if you've been having trouble making comments on my blog. I know some people have. I have changed the setting, hope that helps.

... more Christmas in the lounge room ...

Moving along from the 50's tree, we see a collection of smll Santas in the white CD cabinet, and next to that is a desk with my Christmas trinket box collection on the two open lower shelves. On top of the desk is an assortment of Santas collected over the past 20 years. On the wall above the TV, the framed cross stitch is Santa Reunion (LA I think). Here's a close-up of the stereo cabinet, which is temporarily housing more Santas.

and here is a close-up of my most treasured Santa badges.

Christmas trees on the stairwell

These pics are of my stairs leading down from the front door entry to the lounge room. In this first pic you can see my little trees, collected or made over the past 20 years. The two Santa faces on the wall are cardboard face masks that I bought at a craft show in 1996.


moving down a little, here's a clearer pic of the two Santa masks, and you can just see in far right the white trolley with my musical Santas.

and in this final pic you have an overview of the whole wall. To the right of the Santa mask is an advent tree - no gifts in the pockets yet, but they'll be there come December 1. Further right is this year's Christmas cross stitched project - Santa and his sleigh. On the white trolley is my small collection of musical Christmas ornaments. In front, you can see some of my reindeers.

There'll be more pics from the lounge room soon.

My 1950s Christmas tree

I have quite a few Christmas trees of various materials and sizes, but this one is my absolute favourite. When I was a child (in the 1950s) my family had a very similar tree, and I recall disliking it intensely at that time, as I really liked the 'real' trees (branches cut from pine trees) we used to have in the house prior to the arrival of the artificial tree. I found this treasure in a country charity sale, and it has been part of my Christmas celebrations for the past 12 years. This tree is in my lounge room, and it's around this tree that I place my Christmas gifts. I decorate this tree with Christmas baubles (many of which are old and have been rescued from charity shops or garage sales, others given to me as gifts), and other treasures.

On the wall to the left of the tree is a display of some of my treasured vintage Santa brooches in a recycled set of frames.

... and more trees ...

Six more tiny bead decorated trees finished tonight. These will also go into my 'take home' gift basket for Christmas visitors.

A batch of Christmas trees finished

Twelve tiny bead decorated trees, and two just slightly larger ones. These arer destined for my 'take home' gift basket for adult Christmas visitors (visiting children have their own basket of gifts to choose from).

moving round the lounge room ...

Miss Maddie on the lounge with one of her Christmas toys (she likes toys that ta;k or sing to her when she presses their tummies). On the wall above the lounge aretwo stitched Lavender & Lace designs (Gift of Peace and Christmas Joy if my memory is correct) and Donna Vermillion Giampa's Santa's Portrait.

and hewre's a close-up of Miss Maddie. I'm sure her eyes are as sore as they look, but she is having treatment for them, and it does seem to be helping.

This pic is of the part of the lounge room where I spend most of my time. My stitching chair is on the right. Santa is an old friend - he's been part of my Christmas for 18 years now. The cross stitch on the wall is Vermillion's 9 Santa Sampler. I stitched it over 2 on 18 count Aida in 1996, and it was absolutely my favourite project to stitch. Everytime I finished a Santa I felt as if I had finished a project.

... and on into the lounge room ...

Today I'm showing one wallof my lounge room. Here are my Santa candle-holders and candles, and my four Christmas candle-snuffers. They're sitting on one of the many trunks that store my Christmas things throughout the year (and currently house the items that decorate the house in the non-Christmas period). This is the 'white Santa' group.

and here is my collection of Santa bells. The Christmas tree tile at the back was brought home from Kunanurra in Western Australia in 2010.

More from the lounge room next time.

More of my Christmas house ... the study

I decided to continue with the study (the least decorated of my living areas). The first pic is what I have to my left as I sit at the computer. The cross stitched Baltimore Album Quilt was a round robin project witht he Life's a Stitch group in 2004, and it's one of my favourite non-Santa pieces. The other cross stitched pieces in this photo were stitched for me by my niece Aislinn, and her sister Ciara painted the framed Santa many years ago. In the Santa mug are my Santa pens and pencils, collected over the past 20 years.
This next pictture shows what is behind me and to the right as I sit here. You can just see Miss Maddie stretched out on her cushion on the left, and on the ottoman next to her are the children's Christmas books. Next to that are the children's play things, on top of a black metal trunk. You can just see (far right) some of my recycled Santa cards hanging on the door that leads into the lounge room.

And in this pic is the Children's corner, where I store the soft Santas and other larger things that visiting children can play with.

Next time we'll venture into the lounge room - where I have much more interesting Christmas things about me.

Welcome to my Christmas house

I know - way too early in the year to be decorated for Christmas, but that's how it is in my house this year. It's a particularly stressful time for my household health-wise this year, and my stress reduction mechanism was transforming the house for Christmas. I think I did a good job, considering the circumstances. This first pic is my Santa tree. It's on the top landing, and it's what you see if you look up when entering my front door. This tree is totally decorated with Santas (over 300), collected over mamy years and from all over the world. The large standing Santa on the left came from Los Angeles in 1994, and the Santa mask on the wall was a birthday gift many years ago. My cross stitched Santa ornaments hang on the linen press door on the far left. Some of my small Christmas tins are under the tree.

The second pic is what I am looking at now on my right as I sit at my computer. It is my small collection of snowpeople, and it is on my computer desk. I collected these treasures accidentally over the last couple of years, and now I am quite fond of them.

I'll be putting in more pics as Christmas approaches. In case you haven't guesssed, Christmas is a big deal in my house!

Recycled angel

I adopted this Angel at a local church sale. She was in a sorry state, dirty, and with just one wing. It looks as though she had been strung up as a flying angel, as she had all sorts of cords attached to her body. I removed the cords, cleaned her up, made her a new set of wings, and added some 'jewellery', and de-knotted her hair. Now she is ready to join my other angels when I decorate the house for Christmas 2011. She is my largest angel, at about 1 metre tall.

Two tiny ornaments finished last night

I was hoping for four, but sometimes my life interferes with my stitching plans! These are quite small - the larger one measures (excluding hanger) just a tad over 4 cm long and 3 cm wide (that's approx 1.75" x 1.25").

A batch of tiny angels

I spent this evening making up this group of 43 tiny angels - 21 pairs of earrings and one single hanging angel. When I was tidying up my bead box today I found the clear plastic angel wings I had bought years ago and never used, so I decided to put them to use. I don't think I'll buy more - they're not my favourite beading accessory, though I am pleased not to have wasted them.

While I'm talking of angels - here's an update on Miss Maddie. She is back to her usual self, cheeky and bossy as ever. There have been no medical set-backs, and she is active and behaving quite normally. I am a very happy camper!

I've been playing with the hot glue gun ...

and made up this batch of 14 angels. Not stitched - these little angels with their button limbs and wire-edged ribbon dresses are glued together, and seemed to take forever to make this year. I threaded the button limbs a few weeks ago when I was holidaying in the van, did the face painting last week, made the 'dresses' this week, and finally got them all finished tonight.

Another finish

No stitching at all involved in these little wreaths. There are 21 in this batch, The wreaths are about 6cm (2.5") in diameter.

A batch of Angels finished

Sixteen little Christmas angels. They're resting now but come Chrstmas they'll be hanging from their fishing-line cords, and hopefully bringing Christmas spirit into the homes where they will be living.

More little Chrstmas trees

Six more tiny button and bead decorated Christmas trees finished and framed in tiny gold frames (just 4cm wide and 4.5 cm tall).