I always think I never have enough decorations - especially when it comes to the Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving decorating season. Well, I have to admit, after crafting for fifty years you start to accumulate a LOT of decorations.
Hubby's been telling me for years that I have enough. I, like any crafter I know, just shirks that off.
Well, I have to admit, he's right. I do have enough. So much so that I have to rotate them from year to year. This year I decided to focus on my cross-stitch pictures.
If you've been following my blog for awhile you know that the Fall, by far, is my favorite season for crafting. The reasons have to do with scarecrows, pumpkins, witches, ghosts, goblins, Frankenstein's, pilgrims, etc. that can all be created for the September through November home decorating season.
What would the Fall season be for crafters without pumpkins and scarecrows? They're an integral part of everything Fall. Just as integral as blowing leaves, hay bales, and crows. Given how versatile they are they're a favorite design for crafters.
I love designing pumpkin and scarecrow dolls, crafts, custom fabric, ornaments, Fall mixed media collages, and so much more. And, I love to cross-stitch. So, of course, I've bought a lot of cross-stitch kits over the years to create little pictures.
I thought you'd like to see how I rotated my decorations this year. Here's the rundown:
Two of my favorite "BIG GUYS" that hubby and I made back in 2002 adorn the family room fireplace. The sitting scarecrow on the left side of the fireplace was made based upon a "Harvest Me Up!" pattern by Pretty Primitives.
The pattern did not call for a basket of leaves in his lap. I decided to add that one year.
Another one of my favorite big, wooden scarecrow is a tall scarecrow we made back in 2002. It was made by hubby and I based upon a "Wally and His Pumpkins" pattern by Heidi Markish Designs. I added the straw, gourd, and hay bale accessories at the bottom and raffia bows.
Another one of my favorite wood creations is a large turkey we made back in 2002 based on a "Give Me Turkey Talk" pattern by Tattered Treasures. Since I love to sponge paint I couldn't resist sponge painting him.
He has a little wooden sign saying, "Eat Beef."
The family room mantle is decorated with 6 of the cross-stitch pictures I made as well as some of my mixed media holiday and seasonal decorations.
For the cross-stitch kits we have the following from L to R:
1) Haunted Mansion beaded cross-stitch Mill Hill pattern and kit.
2) Gather Together beaded cross-stitch Mill Hill pattern and kit.
3) Country Welcome beaded cross-stitch Mill Hill pattern and kit.
4) Covered Bridge beaded cross-stitch Mill Hill pattern and kit.
5) Moonlit Treaters beaded cross-stitch Mill Hill pattern and kit.
6) Autumn Wreath beaded cross-stitch Mill Hill pattern and kit.
I am always amazed at how these little cross-stitch pictures come out. I love putting them in shadow boxes so I can display them standing up on the mantle.
In the middle of the mantle I added some of my mixed media designs and creations. I fell in love with mixed media creations several years ago and love making paper-clay and wood mixed media decorations.
Harold, pictured above on the left, is a 4" x 5 1/2" x 3/4" scarecrow and is a little apprehensive as to what he's supposed to do in the field. He knows he's there to scare the crows, but he's unsure as to how to do it. After all he doesn't want to be mean.
Harold is a mixed media scarecrow wood doll with paper-clay painted face with brushed brown cheeks. His side and back are sponge painted and his outfit is a multi-layer embellished paper collage with paper center band and black raised dots. Paper patches add charm to his collage outfit and his wild raffia hair is barely controlled under his straw hat. An orange bow is tied under his neck.
Next to Harold is a mixed media cube I designed and made several years ago. There is a story behind these creations, which as as follows:
My mother always loved to decorate for the various holidays and various seasons and loved decorating her home with handmade decorations either she had made or were made for her by her children. So, when my mother down sized and moved into a senior citizen apartment many years ago she didn't have a lot of room to store or display her seasonal and holiday decorations.
In thinking about this over the years I thought about handmade decorations that could be left out for several holidays and several seasons. Something that wouldn't take a lot of room. Something you could bring out in September and leave out until March.
Well, light dawned on me one day and multi holiday and multi season mixed media 3-level collage art blocks seemed to fit the bill. The multi level wood blocks would be perfect for a multi seasonal multi holiday mixed media collage decoration that could be left out for many months.
Since the Fall, Christmas, and Winter seasons are my favorite times of the year I thought my blocks should have a Fall side, a Christmas side, a Winter side, and a Halloween side. And, best of all, they could be left out for 7 months. All you'd have to do was turn the block for the season or holiday you wanted.
I ended up creating a lot of mixed media collage art block towers with a Fall side, a Christmas side, a Winter side, and a Halloween side.
Next to the mixed media cube is a mixed media canvas I created while taking a Tinytopia & The Magic of Little Things online class being taught by Mary Jane Chadbourne class at Artful Gathering several summers ago.
The project was to create a small, simple design mixed media canvas from the miniature houses.
Well, given that I never do anything in moderation my canvases were small (6" x 6" and 8" x 8") but not a simple design. Mine ended up being dense collage clusters of sorts. I started out trying to make them simple, but they just wouldn't cooperate. So, dense they became.
Hazel is part of a trio of witches that are as ugly as they are confused. Halloween is coming up and they have lost their witches brew recipe. They've looked everywhere and cannot find it. Without it Halloween will just not be the same.
Hazel is a 6" x 6" x 3/4" mixed media Victorian witch wood doll with painted paper-clay face with black bead eyes, red painted mouth, rosy blushed cheeks, black painted finger nails, sponge painted wood body, paper collage and embellished outfit. Her sides and back are sponge painted and her outfit is a multi-layer embellished paper collage with a black paper cape tied with ribbon bows under her neck. Her light gray curly alpaca yarn hair is barely controlled under her witches hat. Paper jack-o-lanterns with painted faces and swords and key steam-punk paper images add charm to her collage outfit.
On top of the desk I like to decorate that is next to the family fireplace are four of the cross-stitch kits I have completed over the years. They are as follows from L to R:
1) Be Thankful beaded cross-stitch Mill Hill pattern and kit.
2) The Gazebo Mill Hill beaded cross-stitch Mill Hill pattern and kit.
3) Country Quilts beaded cross-stitch Mill Hill pattern and kit.
4) Autumn Basket beaded cross-stitch Mill Hill pattern and kit.
I also love to decorate my dining room fireplace area and mantle. It is a large area to cover so I end up putting a lot of my decorations there.
The two pumpkins shown above (Trick or Treat and Boo) were new decorations added a couple of years ago by hubby! They always go well with any scene I choose.
The two pumpkins shown above (Trick or Treat and Boo) were new decorations added a couple of years ago by hubby! They always go well with any scene I choose.
In the far left corner is a large cloth scarecrow which I made in 2001 based on a "Hang Me Around Larry" scarecrow pattern by Time Worn Treasures.
We added the wood stand that he is supported by.
In the far right corner is a Halloween decoration that we created based on a "I Just Love The Fall" pattern by Rustic Treasures.
In the center of the fireplace is a 3 1/2' large fall silk floral decoration I made about 20 years ago. I love it because it's very colorful and totally fills up the area created by the dining room Rumsford fireplace.
Sometimes I like decorating with buntings so two years ago when I was experimenting with hand embroidered leaves I thought a bunting with hanging leaves would make a great Fall decoration for my dining room.
It is an 8' long ribbon bunting with twelve hand embroidered leaves.
The leaves are all double sided and padded with batting and are all hand embroidered and blanket stitched along the edges using various DMC embroidery floss colors for emphasis.
The leaves range from large 6" leaves to medium 4" leaves to small 3" leaves. All of the leaves are hung from a ribbon hanger with loops on the end so I could easily hang it on the large mantle pegs.
In the far left end of the mantle is the "Haunted Library" cross-stitch picture that I made decades ago from a Mill Hill kit I had bought.
Just to the left of the "Haunted Library" cross-stitch picture is Tabitha who adores being a witch. She loves casting spells, turning princes into frogs, and flying around with black ravens scaring everyone. She even likes bats, rats, spiders, and living in caves.
There really isn't anything Tabitha doesn't like about being a witch. And, the wonderful black, green, and purple outfit she gets to wear. Well, how can she not like those? Need to turn a prince into a frog or cast a spell on someone - just ask for Tabitha. She LOVES being a witch and all that entails.
She is a totally needle felted witch art doll that I made many years ago using alpaca roving from my sisters alpacas. Her dress is made out of black felt.
On the right hand side of the "Haunted Library" is my Stan The Pumpkin Man scarecrow who is a little apprehensive about anyone taking his pumpkins. He knows that everyone will be coming in Fall for their pumpkins and hopes he'll be less apprehensive about them taking them by then. We'll see......
He is a totally needle felted scarecrow doll that I made many years ago using alpaca roving from my sisters alpacas.
Next to Stan The Pumpkin Man is another one of my mixed media cubes. Next to that is Hildegarde Ann who is another mixed media witch I made several years ago.
Hildegarde Ann can hardly wait for Halloween. Not because she loves scaring people. but because she's a good witch and loves handing candy out to all the trick-or-treaters. In fact, she and her twin sister are known in their neighborhood for having the best candy.
Hildegarde Ann is a 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" x 3/4" mixed media shelf sitter wood doll with painted paper-clay face with black bead eyes, sponge painted wood body and paper collage embellished outfit. Her sides and back are sponge painted in her favorite Halloween colors and her outfit is embellished paper collage adorned with a jack-o-lanterns, clocks, bats, scary insects, raised dots and ribbon bows. her gray thick alpaca yarn hair is from my sister's alpaca Masquerade's fiber and is barely controlled under her witches hat. Masquerade's yarn is also wrapped around the band of her witches hat and adorns the brim of the underside of her witches hat.
I don't know why it is that I can never do anything in moderation. I try to, but always fall prey to loving what I'm doing and wanting to try this or try that. That is definitely a formula for over doing and, one of these days, I am truly going to run out of space for everything I make. Hubby and my sister would tell you that I'm way past that point right now. They're probably right, but when my creative juices have a hold on me - I make way more than I should.
Such was the case with the miniature houses I made for the Tinytopia class I took at Artful Gathering years ago. The class was taught by Mary Jane Chadbourne, who is an amazing mixed media artist. I loved her class and loved the way she taught. Her classes were always a lot of fun and filled with all sorts of different projects and methods to try.
The picture above is a Halloween menagerie of a row of houses that I made based upon things I learned in her class.
Pictured above are two of the houses I made based on her class. The first house I put on a paper mache box mounted on wooden pegs. The second trio of houses were mounted on turned upside down terra cotta candle tray.
Penny The Pumpkin Pie Maker is another one of the needle felted art dolls I made several years ago using my sisters alpaca roving.
She is a female scarecrow who just loves baking - especially when she's making her famous pumpkin pies. She has a knack for making the best pumpkin pies in the area and is well known far and wide for them. In fact she has so many requests for her pumpkin pies during the Fall season that she can't keep up with all the orders.
She tries to but sometimes she needs help from her cousins, Stan The Scarecrow Man, and Samuel Scarecrow. Stan is more than willing to help - even though he's a little apprehensive about his baking skills. Samuel, on the other hand not only thinks being a scarecrow is beneath him - cooking is also. He's just too regal to bake - or so he thinks.
Next to Penny is another one of my mixed media cubes.
In the far right corner of the mantle is Hagatha who another one of the needle felted art dolls I made years ago. She, too, is needle felted and made from my sisters alpaca roving.
She isn't afraid of anything witchy except flying. She just doesn't like it. Too many unpredictable situations can arise - like wind, rain, snow, sleet, tornadoes, hurricanes and more.
She much prefers to stay at home in the cave and make witchy potions. That she's excellent at and that she will willingly do. Ask her to fly and you'll get her "Who me!" reaction. Need a witches brew? Just ask Hagatha. Need a few spells cast? Just ask Hagatha. Need a witch to fly around? Don't ask Hagatha. She's no where to be found.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing my Fall decorations. By the end of this week they'll be put away and another one of my favorite decorating seasons, Christmas, begins. I can hardly wait.
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