CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

Yes, it seems to have started - the countdown to Christmas. An email came from the Soul Gallery, saying they had put up the Christmas tree, but that it was looking a little bare, and needed some decorations to sell.
In actual fact, I had been working on some little projects for a while, and they were just about ready to go!!

 It had all started when I bought an ol;d baby's blanket at the Op Shop. It was  not in marvellous condition, and had a few holes. But it was pure wool, and the fact that it had partly shrunk made it even better. A couple more washings made it felt up really nicely.

 The first project was a little flock of birds. At our local Craft shop, I bought some packets of these tiny bright red heart shape buttons, and decided to use them to create a theme. It was complemented by this ribbon featuring hearts.

Next came a series of felt heart hangers, onto which I sewed a variety of little white buttons, interspersed with some of the little red hearts, complemented by a cheerful red gingham ribbon.

 Next I made some little Christmas mini-stockings, embellished with old lace and more heart buttons.

 I had also been making some slightly larger Christmas stockings, using a lovely colourful linen fabric, some Christmas themed fabric prints, and lots of lace, beads and other embellishments.

 I had a few Christmas "tags" left from last year....

 And I remembered that I had made these little mini-Santas earlier too. To make the felt for these, I actually knitted up some tapestry wool in rows of red and black, then felted it. So they are really made "from scratch."

 All of these little stockings were made from old woollen jumpers which I had felted in the washing machine.

 The tree did not look nearly so bare after I had hung all these little things on it. But I do hope that it is bare again by Christmas, and that people come to buy these little treasures, which are handmade from natural and recycled materials.

 These two doves are also from last year's batch, and feature an assortment of ribbons and beads.

I am playing round (mainly just in my head for now) with some ideas for some little angels using lace and felt and pearls. But November is going to be a rather busy month for me in other areas, so they will have to go on the backburner!