A Spooky Halloween Door

 

A Halloween finish, fully finished, in time for Halloween! Can we believe it? No, no we cannot! When I picked up the Just Cross Stitch Halloween issue this year, this spooky little door was the first design that caught my eye. I found several more, and for the first time in years, I bought the issue. I didn't know if I would have time to stitch any Halloween, let alone do any finishing, but I managed it and I'm so happy with how it turned out!

As usual, I made a few small changes you can see below. I left off the spiders and the stoop, and changed the house number to 1931, the year the original Dracula movie was released. I stitched mine with the recommended DMC on 32 count Confederate Grey linen.

I've had this little thing in my finishing stash for a few years. I got it at Michael's, with no specific project in mind; just thought it might come in handy some day.

I gathered up some more supplies for my Halloween door from a couple of Etsy shops (links at the end of this post) and got a stick from my yard.

Look at this adorable wee kitten!

Finally, I took a hacksaw to this dollhouse window (from Hobby Lobby a few years ago, tucked away in my finishing stash) and made a fanlight, painted it black and backed it with yellow fabric.

And there we have it! A spooky Halloween door guarded by a sleepy little black kitten. 

Hope y'all have a happy and safe Halloween! (I may have overdone it on the candy, but in my defense, we didn't get to celebrate last year.)

Supplies:

Kitten

Oak leaf garland, pumpkins, door mat

It's Happening!

 

Another Christmas finishing project to share with y'all! 

Design available in this Etsy shop.

Fabric: 28 ct. Whitewashed Board by Fabric Flair, purchased from this shop.

Threads: GAST Carriage Black (2 skeins), GAST Bayberry, CC Cherry Cobbler (2 skeins, just in case)

Wooden frame: Hobby Lobby

Gotta get back to my sewing room. I'm up to my ears in Christmas in there and I'm finding it very absorbing, very soothing, amidst the stress of this year. I'm blazing away on my annual Christmas Open House, I've got some other Christmas finishing to do, and I've got a Christmas design that I've wanted to stitch forever that I'm having a fit to get started. And I need to decorate my sewing room. And this coming week I'm putting up the trees and decorating the house. It's happening, y'all!

Happy Stitching!

Get in, y'all. We're doin' Christmas.

 

I. Love. This. Stitch. 

This design  sums up my approach to the holidays to perfection. If you're new here and haven't read my posts on Choosing a Quiet Christmas, here's Part One and here's Part Two, to give you an idea of where I'm coming from. I am a big fan of turning off the "Christmas Machine" and making the holiday exactly what you want it to be. If you love the Christmas Machine, by all means, enjoy! But if the holidays are a dreaded source of stress and exhaustion, I do hope my ideas will help give you your own ideas about how to change that for the better. 

We normally wait until Thanksgiving weekend to do the Christmas decorating. I am not a Black Friday girl. I am a Chill Out and Decorate for Christmas Friday girl. We celebrate Thanksgiving and then we roll into Christmas. This year, though, I'm feeling I want Christmas to last longer. I want to enjoy the decorations longer. I want to listen to Christmas music longer. I just need more Christmas this year. It's been a rough year for us, as it has been for so many of you. A few weeks ago, I announced to Mr. Wonderful I wanted to put up Christmas decorations in mid-November this year. He's cool with it, of course. So that's what I'll be doing in a couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to it. This year calls for Christmas Therapy, I think.

Design & Finishing Info

Fabric: 28 ct. Muffin (flea market find; I don't know the manufacturer)

Threads: GAST Buckeye Scarlet & Otter Creek

Buttons: Jo-Ann Fabrics (gingerbread men; cookie assortment; micro minis)

Red trim: Hobby Lobby (home decor/upholstery section)

Rolling pin: Hobby Lobby

Wood plaque: Wal-Mart

Happy Halloween!

 

Still busy in the sewing room! Here are a few more finishes. I just finished stitching these lovely cat's eyes, available here. Stitched on 28 ct. black even weave.

This is Happy Halloween by Silver Creek Samplers, mounted on a wooden plaque from Michael's and embellished with a bit of a branch from our yard and some wooden leaves. My notes on stitching this are in this post.

And here is a wee fox ghostie! Isn't he cute? From this Etsy shop and stitched on 28 ct. PTP Dawn.

From my previous post, more pics of these finishes, just because I think they're pretty.

Happy Halloween, Happy Stitching... and On To Christmas!

Fall Finishing & Framing (& Enabling)

I have been playing in my sewing room! Prepare to be enabled!

Squirrel freebie from The Blue Flower

Fancy Pumpkins is available here. (NOTE: I purchased mine from Etsy but the shop owner has since moved her business to her own website. I have not purchased from this website. ALSO: My changes to this design are in this post.)

Halloween Kitties, from an Etsy shop that is unfortunately no longer available. Stitched on PTP Dawn.

Fall Mandala available in this Etsy shop as a set of four seasons.

Spooky Village pulled from Halloween Quaker by Lila's Studio, stitched on 32 ct. PTP Murky.

Back to the sewing room! My finishing & framing sprees are few and far between and I have to make the most of them before life intervenes and I have to go do more "important" things, like... everything. Play whenever you can, y'all!

Happy Stitching!

Bead Trim for Ornaments

I've been wanting a bead trim option for my ornaments for some time now, and I finally found one I like. As is usual for me, it's an adaptation and is not actually bead trim at all--it's for jewelry making, but I think it works.

I referred to this tutorial, but of course left off the jewelry findings on the ends. I used SuperDuo beads and regular Mill Hill seed beads, and used tiny sequin pins to attach the trim to the ornament. I then used a Sharpie that matched the seed beads to dot the pin heads to conceal them. 

These are what the beads look like. I had these in my stash for a while, having bought them because I liked the colors and thinking I would eventually figure out how to use them for finishing. Not being a jewelry maker, I had no idea, so I asked a lady shopping in the bead aisle who looked like she knew what she was doing. She very kindly gave me an idea about stringing them, and that was enough to put me on the right track. 

I needed a 15" length of trim for this ornament and although it was a bit fiddly and slow at first, I did get the hang of the two needles and got faster toward the end. I'm happy with how it turned out and already have my eye on this bead trim for another of my ornaments. 

Crocheted Doily Ornament Finish

So. Last October's flu shot knocked me on my backside and derailed plans I had made to do a bunch of finishing and framing that week.

This year, I was smart, and came up with my Flu Shot Plot. I spent a few days getting all my housework and a bunch of cooking done, just in case I did another post-shot face plant. But the cleverest part of my plot was this: if I didn't end up sleeping for two days... all my stuff would already be done and I could spend the week playing in my sewing room! 

I am happy to report that it's play time! I got my shot yesterday, and apart from a sore arm and some heavy duty napping yesterday afternoon, I've had no side effects and I'm ready to do some finishing! Hooray! It's been way too long and I am way too behind. I'm so looking forward to being in my sewing room, making a mess, and sharing the results with y'all.

I decided not to over-do it today, though. I did some tidying up in there... because it's always important to tidy up before you make a big mess. And I whipped out a super simple ornament using my September Christmas Ornament SAL finish that I showed last week. 

This finish is as easy as falling off a log. I found the little craft doily on clearance at Jo-Ann's for 97 cents. I've seen these craft doilies at Hobby Lobby, too. You can usually find them in white or ivory, and they come in various sizes. I just gave this one a little spritz with spray starch, ironed it, and glued my finish on--that's it! Inexpensive, simple, fast. This finish can be completed in just minutes.

Just so y'all can see what a difference the starch makes, here are before and after pictures of the little doily I used for this finish.

Finishing doesn't always have to be elaborate and time-consuming. Sometimes the most satisfying finishes are the simplest.

The Joys of Perforated Paper

It's been forever since I stitched a Brooke Nolan angel, but I finally got one finished! Every time I stitch one of these beauties I think, "I should do more of these!" They are really fun to stitch and the finish is just eye-popping. This one is Spirit of Christmas Stitching and it's available in her Etsy shop as either a PDF download or a hard copy. Most of her "dollies" (as I like to call them) have wings, and sometimes I stitch them and sometimes I don't. This time I left them off, and I also didn't stitch a few of the items that are supposed to be gathered around her skirt. I think the patchwork is so pretty and I wanted an unobstructed view of it. Another change I almost always make is to change the eye color from light to dark.  

Now, let's talk about the joys of perforated paper. Perforated paper is, in a word, wonderful. There are several very good reasons for its wonderfulness.

1) It's very easy to stitch on. The holes are gigantic, so if your eyesight is not what it used to be, or if your eyes are just tired at the end of a long day, it's just the thing. Also, because the holes are gigantic, you get to use a fat needle and three strands of floss and there are no fractional stitches. It's the stitching equivalent of getting out your box of crayons and leisurely coloring a picture of a lady in a pretty dress. Like we all did when we were little. It's super relaxing.

2) It's sturdy. In every conversation about perforated paper I've been a part of, there is always at least one stitcher (and usually more than one) who expresses fear of tearing the paper. You will not tear the paper. It's not like printer paper. It's more like card stock. I've been stitching on it for years and years and have never torn it. Okay, I suppose if you're working out some anxiety and you're really yanking your thread, you might tear it, but if you're in that shape, you should probably be taking a walk or having a cookie or something. (Definitely cookies.)

3) It's easy to finish. The question of finishing always comes up, too. Several years ago I did a couple of posts on the subject. This one is how I do it, and this one shows an idea for using old Christmas cards to finish ornaments. My Stitching Dolly is finished with this pretty dark green card stock.

The thin, wired cord I used is (I think) from Michael's, but Jo Ann Fabrics also has it seasonally (red/white at Christmas, pink/white at Valentine's, pink/green at Easter, etc.). For other angels I've finished, I've used 1/8" ribbon, or you could use the Kreinik or the floss from the design.

If you haven't played with perforated paper and want to just dip in your toe, you could experiment with one of those small Mill Hill ornament kits and see how you like it before plunging in on one of these large pieces. Brooke also has a number of smaller dollies in her shop that are only about 5" high (the large ones like this Spirit of Christmas Stitching are about 7.5" high).

One of these days I'm going to get out all the Brooke Nolan dollies I've stitched and post pictures of them all together. 

And I'm going to stitch Mr. & Mrs. Claus.

And the Stitching (color conversion!), Knitting, Crocheting, and Quilting angels.

And the Woodland Santa series.

And Gretel. And Annie...

And Spirit of Mistletoe (another color conversion!)...

And Spirit of Cinderella's Fairy Godmother (yet another color conversion!)...

And, and...

...I'm going to need more time.

(Caution: More Enabling! I would be failing y'all if I didn't also point you to Brooke's collection of gorgeous freebies, in case you've overlooked them. I also need to stitch these. Really, what am I doing with my time?

Freebies on Craftsy Y'all, that seasonal house series. And the monthly birthday cakes.

Freebies on her website The Stitcher's Alphabet, y'all.

I ask again, "What am I doing with my time?!")

Lantern Finish

All you need for a lantern is to give your rectangular finish a peak and add a screw eye (available in the framing department of craft stores). I just used a Sharpie permanent marker to color the screw eye black. Info on the design is in this post. The holly garland is several years old, from Hobby Lobby.

Snowflake Finish

This is a freebie available right here. I stitched the birds as Dark-eyed Juncos, as they are my favorite winter visitors. All the other birds we have here are year-round residents, but every winter, these fat little grey Juncos arrive for a visit.

Stitched on 32 ct. grey/white petit point linen from Wichelt with DMC Blanc, 04, 645, 844, 3866; Mill Hill beads in black, 03007, 40479. The grey/white trim is from Hobby Lobby, as are the additional beads and crystals.