Three ways to bring Christmas warmth to your home.

A Hand-embroidered Ornament

I know I am not the inventor of this idea, but it's the first one I've made.  Growing up, my mother always hand-painted eggs and made them into beautiful delicate ornaments for friends.  I tried this once a few years ago and it just did not turn out like hers did.  The paint kept gumming up and I couldn't make any details.  You can see my try here.  So this year I tried making an ornament with something I do know a little bit about.  If you are interested in learning embroidery, you can find a wonderful tutorials here.  I love embroidery, it is like drawing with thread.  To make this ornament I used a ribbon spool to trace the circle onto felt.  I drew a nice little chicken on a piece of paper, cut it out, and then traced it onto the felt.  Once the chicken was stitched on I just tied flowers all around it, I don't know that you could go wrong with lots and lots of flowers everywhere.  I used this stitch to sew around the outside of the circle, making sure I poked a little stuffing in there before I sewed it shut with the ribbon poking out.  To cover up the knots on top I added some ribbon flowers.  Very simple, and a great beginners embroidery project.  You could even sprinkle a little lavender in there and it would make a great gift any time of the year!

Framed Christmas Music

 

This project made me excited.  I found this old little booklet of Christmas songs at a church swap.  I believe it was a caroler's booklet.  It's quit old and the pages are yellowing a little.  I already have quite a few Christmas piano books, so I thought this would be a fun decoration.  Who would want to hide something like that under a pile of piano books?  It brings a lovely spirit into the room.  I love the story of Christ's birth, I love art, and I love music.

This project is pretty self explanatory, simply frame your music and display.

Christmas' Scent

I found this recipe for a natural air freshener over at Bless This Mess, and oh!  It is heavenly!  I've seen so many people decorating with cinnamon sticks lately, I finally bit the bullet and bought a little box, I'm so glad I did.  Melissa was right, this is not a headache-inducing-strong-aroma, it's simply a refreshing scent.  And easy too!  Hop on over there and check it out!

What are you guys doing in your homes this holiday season?  I'd love to know!