A pair of Prairie Schooler Santas

And here we are on the final day of November! Can you believe it? I don't know where the hours go, to be honest, and often wonder how I managed to get everything done before I retired. I know I made better use of my time and that is going to be one of my goals for next year. Since I last visited you, I've been busy trying to finish up my monthly ornaments and doing some gift stitching / finishing. This is definitely the time of year when I wish I could get by on four or five hours of sleep in order to get everything accomplished that I'd like to! But, no--I need at least seven hours to function at all. How about you? 

With the busy, busy fall that I've had driving back and forth to New York to help out my mom, I turned to comfort stitching in the form of my beloved Prairie Schooler Santas. For October, I finished this beautiful blue guy from Book No. 58 "Old Saint Nick." He is stitched on 40 ct. natural Newcastle with the suggested threads. The chart showed two teeny, tiny gold stars hanging from his right hand which I thought were quite charming. Unfortunately, I looked and looked and couldn't find any that were that small. So where did I find these? Well, I "borrowed" them from one of my Homespun Elegance charts that included them with the purchase. (If I ever stitch that particular chart, I'm not sure what I'll do!)

Once again, I went with my favorite oval shape and used a scrap of one of my son's old flannel shirts to top it off. Pretty cute, eh?

November's ornament is one you have seen before, but I gave it away so I'm keeping this one for myself. I actually stitched two of these this month and am giving one away to a stitching friend as a "Random Act of Kindness"--hope she likes it! This is from Prairie Schooler's Book No. 62 called "Kris Kringle" and was also stitched on 40 ct. natural Newcastle linen using the suggested threads. I think this may be one of my favorites... Oh, who am I kidding--I love them all!

I'm getting quite a collection of these oval shaped gentlemen! Which one is your favorite? And yes, more will be arriving next year, I'm sure!

I only had three entries for the patriotic stocking chart and the winning name drawn from the hat is: 

Elizabeth (busy lizzy)

 

Elizabeth, please contact me (my email is in my "A Bit About Me" profile in the sidebar) and let me know your mailing address... I'll get the chart out to you as soon as possible. Do you think you can have it stitched by Christmas--ha ha! If you didn't win--keep an eye on this space as there will be more giveaways in the future. 

So, how are your Christmas preparations going? I haven't bought a single gift, but I'm way ahead in the decorating game since I didn't host Thanksgiving this year. We had a warm weekend and were able to get the porch decorated, the candle lights in each window, and much of the inside decorated. I was even able to pull out my big white box of Christmas ornaments and start hanging them on the tree on Wednesday.  I posted the photo below on Instagram (if you wish to follow me, just click here: ) and it quickly became my most "liked" photo in the 2 1/2 years that I've been a member of that community. I received so many lovely comments and remarks about these little treasures. I think only a fellow stitcher would know how much patience, time, and love actually goes into each and every one! Yes--this box would be one of the first things I'd grab if I were to ever find my house in some natural disaster! Heaven forbid!

Are any of you avid Amazon shoppers like I am? It's almost too easy to order things, isn't it? A few clicks of your mouse and your order arrives at your door in a couple of days.  Anyway, my middle son told me about a good site to actually check before you click that "purchase" button to see if the reviews on products are real or if they have just been written by the seller (and his or her friends and family). It analyzes the reviews by looking for paid reviews and suspicious patterns and provides a letter grade for each thing reviewed. Last year (before we knew about this site), my husband ordered some socks and they weren't the greatest even though they had tons of stellar reviews. Sure enough, when we checked the site after our purchase arrived, they had an "F" rating! If you would like to check your own Amazon purchases out on Fakespot, just click here to get to their site. All you have to do is copy and paste the URL of the item you are considering buying into the search box and watch for the rating to appear. I hope this helps!

I'm heading up to my mom's again on Sunday for a few days, but I hope to catch up with your blogs when I return. She has been blessed with a lot of guests lately. My middle son visited her in mid-November and my oldest son and daughter-in-law will be flying in from California right before they arrive at my house for Christmas. I love how my entire family is pulling together for her! Wishing each of you a very Happy December--busy days ahead, but it's always such fun to be surrounded by the spirit and magic of Christmas. Thank you all for taking the time to visit me today--and a special thank you to those of you who take the time to comment! I do read and appreciate each and every one! Bye for now...