Deck the halls...

Christmas is a jolly time in our house. We love to have the place filled with decorations, twinkly lights, special treats, Christmas music, and laughter... We have immigrated to Australia 3 years ago and our families live in Europe. So Christmas is all about spending time with just our little family here. And making it as special and memorable as possible for these two - our gorgeous Alexander and Alice.

This year I decided to make some felt Christmas stockings. I came across these stocking kits by Bucilla on ebay - and I was hooked. They are very time consuming, everything is hand embroidered and hand sewn, but the result is well worth the effort. These two stockings took me 3 months to make, and they almost weren't ready in time (I literally put the last stich in at 11pm on Christmas Eve). Next year I will make two more for me and my husband, to complete the set. There are dozens of gorgeous designs to choose from, and they are not hard to make, all you need is some basic hand sewing skills and oodles of patience.

I also wanted to start a new tradition by making felt christmas tree ornaments for the kids every year, with their names and date embroidered on the ornament. I wanted to make them a 'baby' ornament each for their first Christmas. Alexander's first Christmas was last Christmas, but I made him one anyway. He also got a gingerbread house for this Christmas - it has 'Alex 2012' embroidered on the back. Both ornaments are my own design, I will put up patterns for them soon.

One more Christmas is over. This one was extra special for us as our little family is finally complete with Alice joining us in October. And Alexander is now old enough to appreciate the presents and the festive atmosphere. 2013 will be an exciting year for me - in order of priority I am planning to:
1. Survive (no mean feat with two under two!)
2. Get my etsy shop off the ground
3. Plow through my very long list of sewing projects, learn new techniques, and most importantly, have fun!

Hope you all had a wonderful time with your families this Christmas and see you all next year!