1 stitching finish, 1 ornament finish and a winter hanging pinkeep finish!

Good evening! I'm happy to be able to show you a couple of finishes tonight! The first is Red House in Winter by LHN and I'm pretty pleased with the finish. At first I wasn't sure I loved the ribbon I chose for the bow but it is growing on me. I love the ribbon itself, just wasn't sure it was exactly right for this design. I'd tried to find a deep red gingham the other day and couldn't so I'm going with this for now. I'm keeping this one for myself, so I can always change it out later...

Next up is Going Sledding by The Sampler Girl. I stitched this piece last winter so I'm SO happy to finally be able to hang it up for the winter! I had the hardest time finding the little wooden sleighs - I tried the 2 different crafting stores I go to and neither had them available last winter or this year either. So, I ordered these little unfinished ones from a store online and then painted them. I ordered 10 to make it worth the shipping - they were really inexpensive so I definitely see more of this pattern in my future as some winter birthday presents...

I also finished stitching Peppermint Latte by Casey Buonaugurio Designs in the 2010 JCS Ornament Issue. For some reason my camera did not take good pictures of it at all tonight - I think the red fabric and light threads were throwing it off. I'll try again in the daylight tomorrow. So, I still need to finish-finish it. I want to do a bead border on it so I'm hoping I'll have time to run out and pick-up some beads for that. It was a pretty quick stitch and it's really cute!

So, the biggest lesson learned for me this year with my ornaments - FINISH AS I GO!!! I have really missed my actual stitching time these last few weeks as I've finished up these ornaments. Happy to say that my dining room table is almost back to looking like a dining room table again - well, except for the remnants of the army of 30 clothespin reindeer that have also been residing there all week - as the kids and I made them up for girl scouts, teachers and grandparents. This week will be devoted to finishing shopping, wrapping, cleaning china and prepping for Christmas Eve dinner which we are hosting this year. I'd love to stitch one more ornament I have all kitted up but it might need to wait for after Christmas at this point. We'll see... Have a great evening and thanks so much for visiting!!

Meredith