Every year I give my grandchildren a Christmas tree decoration with their name and year on it. I somehow failed to take a photo of the four of them together, but did get a photo of Misses G & E with theirs to give you an idea.

I cut eight baubles from heavy interfacing on my Cricut doing a front and a back for each bauble. I then painted the interfacing with gold paint so that any gaps in the beads wouldn’t look as obvious. I had a lovely time going through my beads, which came from my stash and from their great grandmother’s stashes and I sewed them on randomly. I found four beads with their initials on and added them. They worked out surprisingly well but took quite a few nights of stitching. I ironed on the back catching a hanging ribbon in between.

They look a bit more sparkly in real life, and look nice on the tree.

I made these four ornaments for the children of a neighbour who is also a sewing friend.

I made several gnomes for various people but this is the only one I actually photographed. Obviously made on my Cricut, my cutting out is atrocious!

The fairies and birds are made with scraps, with the inspiration and patterns coming from The Sweet Stitches. These are so much fun and so rewarding to make, and are really good for using tiny scraps.

I made several birds, and had fun finding beads for the feet. My free motion embroidery needs work but I did enjoy doing it.

I made a couple more fairies, playing about with scraps and glittery fabrics. Turns out I’m not too good at adding blush to the cheeks. The one on the left looks a bit embarrassed.

I was making one of the birds for a friend and thought that a cinnamon stick would make a nice perch. I used a sequin and small bead for the eye on this one.

And then I had an urge to make a more Christmassy fairy which I gave to a friend along with the bird above. I was again inspired by Bo from The Sweet Stitches. This fairy has real sheepskin trim and a fair bit of glitter. Her dress and hat are made from silk velvet. Still wobbling around with the free motion embroidery though. It’s hard to see here but her wings are sparkly.

I can absolutely recommend this activity. It is fun to go through those tiny scraps and choose fabrics for the various elements. I’m going to make some other animals and birds I think. These would be excellent for a fundraiser.

As usual I’m sitting here feeling as though I made a few other things but without photographic evidence it’s hard to report. I did play with some beading but I have a long way to go with it. I did make myself a new outfit for Christmas and a couple of gifts, so a post on them is imminent.