2012 Christmas Ornament Finishes

And they're finished--the 2012 ornaments, that is! Not much else is done here in the way of Christmas (I can hear you all gasping!)... Nope, no cards have been sent, the tree still isn't decorated, and only two gifts for my sons have been purchased--I think I may be staying up all night next week trying to get everything finished. But, at least my ornaments are done :) I so enjoyed stitching and finishing these little cuties. I love every single ornament that I've done this year--they are all very different, but each one was a joy to stitch.

So, without further ado...here are my final three ornaments for 2012... an elf, two angels, and two Santas: 

October, November, December 2012 ornaments

Would you like to see how I ended up finishing them? I sure hope so...

For October, I stitched an "oldie, but goodie" design by Homespun Elegance called "Santas and Feathertree." It can be found in the booklet "Cinnamon Stick Christmas VI which is chock-full of adorable designs. This one is stitched on 40 ct. raw natural Newcastle linen with DMC threads. I did change the colors of the red and green and also made the birds a gold color rather than the suggested blue. Finally, I added a little gold star at the top of the tree. I kept the finishing simple by adding just a green cording and a few gold jingle bells.

 "Santas and Feathertree" by Homespun Elegance

November's ornament is by The Trilogy and is called "Gifts Galore." It is part of the "Domes of Yule" series which can be stitched together or as individual ornaments. This was stitched on 32 ct. lambswool linen with an assortment of DMC and overdyed threads. They're a bit hard to see, but there are tiny gold beads accenting the tree next to the elf. Did I ever tell you I have a "thing" for elves and gnomes? Just love the little creatures to pieces! Since this is such a "fun" piece, I added a polka dot fabric into the finishing and I really love how it turned out. After all, who doesn't love polka dots?

"Gifts Galore" by The Trilogy

My final ornament of 2012 was designed by my friend, the very talented Vinniey, over at  Cottage Garden Samplings. The first time I saw this darling piece, I knew I just had to stitch it! How sweet are those little angels with the five golden rings? I just love how Vinniey combined the gold beads with the stitching on the rings to give them a dimensional look. And that gold beaded chain--genius! I stitched this ornament over one on 28 ct. black Monaco with DMC and overdyed threads, ruched some sage green satin ribbon and added some gold beads in the middle of the bow. I think this may just be my very favorite ornament finish of the year!

"Five Golden Rings" by Cottage Garden Samplings

So, on to the annual "parade of ornaments" for 2012... I traditionally display them on the garland going up my stairs and if you'd like to see past years, you can see the 2011 display by clicking here and the 2010 display by clicking here. I'll have to admit, I'm so excited when I see them all lined up at the end of each year! (You can click on the photos to enlarge them).

 Monthly Christmas ornaments: 2012

2012 monthly ornaments: January ~ March

2012 monthly ornaments: April ~ June

2012 monthly ornaments: July ~ September

2012 monthly ornaments:  October ~ December

Do you have a favorite? I'd love to hear which one you like best...I keep wondering when I'll stop stitching an ornament a month, but for now, there is no end in sight. I do hope my sons will treasure my stitched ornament collection some day (probably not, but perhaps they'll be married by then and their wives might!). Each one is created with a lot of love and effort and I hope someone will think they're special in years to come...

Update on my oldest son's jaw surgery... OK, yes, this is a skull--not exactly Christmasy, is it? I've put it here to show you what had to be cut in the extensive surgery that my son went through last week. This was major surgery--almost six hours long where the doctors had to saw his jaw in half, remove some bone, and then realign it so he would finally, for the first time in twelve years, be able to bite properly. He developed a condition known as an "open bite" in his late teens in which none of his teeth met except the very back molars and he kept putting off the surgery until now. Luckily, it was successful, and although he is still in a great deal of pain, the worst is behind him. All of the areas you see with pins in them were cut and sawed--across and under the nose and on each side of the face in the jaw bone--can you imagine!! They didn't have to do anything to his chin, thank goodness, as it was fine.

My son is on an all liquid diet for a while now which gets old very quickly. But last night, as a special treat, I made him lasagna which we ran through the blender. Sounds yukky, doesn't it, but to him, it tasted delicious after all those sweet nutritional drinks he'd been having. I asked him what food he would first choose to eat when he was given the all-clear from his doctor to begin chewing and he said "pizza!" If all goes well, he'll actually be able to bite down on a slice normally. Such a simple thing that most of us take for granted...But, for him it will be the first time in a dozen years that he'll be able to eat normally. Anyway, he's living with us for the rest of the year and we're really enjoying his company. In fact, I think I may just ask him to decorate the tree for me (or address Christmas cards, or do a bit of online shopping for his brothers' gifts!).

I want to thank you all for your comments, prayers, and emails regarding his surgery. It was very scary for all of us and he has a long way to go (the numbness often doesn't subside for six months or more!), but I so appreciate all of your caring thoughts. As I've said many times--stitching friends are the best!  I plan to be back next week with a post of my (hopefully) decorated tree and a reveal of  Christmas gifts sent by so many of you sweet friends... Until then--happy cookie baking / cookie eating / tree decorating / card writing / gift buying / gift wrapping / caroling, and hopefully, a bit of happy stitching time thrown in for good measure! Bye for now...