Another gift for my little bro. I stitched this back in October and have been DYING to share it:
This was an old t-shirt, given to me by my dad back when Nissan came out with the Z. It’s one of two Nissan Z tees that I had, and I prefer wearing the other one.
But after I took up embroidery, I thought, “well, I can make this tee better.” So I took the natural lines in the black and white photo – highlighting the Z, the lines in the road, and the “light lines” behind the Z. I’m so proud of this one.
Since I didn’t have a sewing machine at the time (and still need to learn to use mine), my mom helped by sewing it into a pillow. I then stuffed it up.
My brother and I have a joke about bears going back to Conan’s old days in the ’90s. I can’t remember the exact context or skit, and youtube isn’t helping me. I’m pretty sure it was a guy in a bear costume that said “I am your bear. Grrr…”. Anyway, lil’ bro and I took that and ran with it and would say it to one another at random times. Inside joke thing that’s probably not translating to “funny” on the blog. Anyway.
This small backstory just to highlight that when I saw a polar bear picture in my boys’ Planet Earth coloring book, I just had to make my little brother an ornament. I think this little bear is pretty cute. Sorry for the picture being slightly fuzzy.
Anyone else out there ever turn to coloring books for embroidery patterns? I might have to stitch up some Star Wars goodness soon and my boys have 3 coloring books full of possibilities.
Do you subscribe to the Follow the White Bunny newsletter? If you don’t, then you should – as a subscriber, I got this wonderful freebie pattern of Pjotr in Paris, and stitched it up for my brother’s girlfriend this Christmas:
I stitched this on felt and turned it into a door hanger/lavender sachet. I was inspired by dream pillows over at GardenMama but, as bro’s GF has dogs that could be tempted to chew something with a scent, I thought it would be safe from harm if it was given a nice little hanger.
I loved using lavender, which I purchased on ebay. Next year I hope to grow my own. The lavender made everything in my Christmas-stitchin’ stash smell wonderful!
Now comes the post-holiday fun – where I share all the embroidered fun that I’ve been holding out on due to holiday gifting! I’ve been dying to share these for weeks, but I didn’t want to post anything that I was making for Christmas – and aside from ornaments, I’ve been largely working on Christmas gifts since November. I’ve been quite a busy lady.
My first share – this tea towel for my mother-in-law. She’s a fan of her tea, and when I saw this little vintage pattern (courtesy of doe-c-doe) I just had to stitch it up for her.
I learned a new stitch with this one – the blanket stitch – and was really happy with how it turned out. I think, though, that my favorite little detail might be the steam. Such a cool pattern. I hope my mother-in-law enjoys this one – I know I enjoyed stitching it!
We’re going to be busy with holiday merriment, so I won’t be blogging for the rest of this week. I wish you a merry Christmas or, if you’re not into Christmas, hope you’re enjoying the winter holiday. And I leave you with this little poinsettia I finished up yesterday:
I like the little details, like the boat in the background. Per Shabby Tiger, this set is from the 1950s and has never been used – it’s in perfect condition. Shabby Tiger has two wardrobes full of vintage linens, so I hope she posts more into the pool!
Is it still common to give Christmas gifts to teachers? I remember doing that during my childhood, but so much has changed since then. However, we decided to give Monkey’s teacher a Christmas gift. She’s a wonderful teacher – it’s her first year teaching, but he’s having so much fun in kindergarten and learning so much. I’m so thankful that he had a great teacher starting out – it’s so important to have a good start since he will be in the education system for quite a long time.
Anyway, I asked Monkey if he wanted me to stitch an ornament. He said yes, and agreed on a snowflake (so quick to stitch, very important since his last day of school before break is Friday!). He picked the colors, and wanted a star for the middle. I’m very happy with the results, so happy in fact that I probably have not stitched my last snowflake…
I made these last week for a cookie contest at work. I didn’t win, but who cares when can eat these:
These are Chai Tea Eggnog Cookies, and they came from the most recent issue of Southern Living. They are fabulous. You would think that 2 tablespoons of eggnog isn’t going to impart a lot of flavor, but it actually provides just the right balance – you taste the eggnog, but you’re not overwhelmed with it.
My only quibble was the glaze (which, FYI, I subbed allspice instead of the nutmeg – my sole change to the recipe). Two tablespoons of eggnog is not enough to wet the powdered sugar for a glaze consistency. So I added a little milk (didn’t want too much eggnog flavor) – that seemed almost right – then I added a little more milk and that was overboard – much too wet. I could have tried the glaze again – it certainly wasn’t hard – but I thought the cookies tasted great on their own and decided to leave them as is. Next time, I might try to perfect that glaze.
I’m really glad I tried these out – something new and a bit different than your standard cookie. Why don’t you try them – maybe bake some up for Santa?
Sometimes I like a small counted cross stitch project, and lucky for me, there are lots of folks out there offering some nifty free charts. A newer blog I came across recently is Cross Me Not. Not only does she have a lot of Christmas charts (if you have time for Christmas – it’s running out!), but now she’s offering Transformers charts! For those reliving their 80s childhood and for those with kids that love them now, the charts are pretty awesome. I have two boys, so you know I’m going to be stitching these up!
So go pass on the blog love and visit Cross Me Not today!
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