Embellished Felt Stocking

Amanda and I were able to exchange ornaments in person this year. We moved again this year, and she visited the area twice this year for work.

Glitter Foam Snowflake

This ornament required a video tutorial, which is not my favorite way to learn, but I was pleased with the results. The tutorial does not include dimensions, but I started out with 3" squares. It does have a foam circle on the back, but I started out by gluing all the pieces to the back of the rhinestone, which I think made it easier and looks better. 

Glitter Foam Tree

My glitter foam tree did not come out looking quite like the template I followed. I am not sure I used the same size circles, but it ended up looking much more tightly glued together.

Glitter Foam Gnome

This year I focused on sheets of glittery foam as my medium of choice for the ornament exchange. I bought some last year but the ornament I tried to make did not end up working out. This gnome pattern was intended for felt, but it was easily adaptable to foam. Using a rhinestone-like gem for the nose made it lay flatter and goes nicely with the glitter. I have no idea how I would have cut a wooden bead in half.

Hidden Foxes Quilt

 

This is undoubtedly the most beautiful quilt I've ever made. I just absolutely love the color combination. My sister asked if it was for my cousin's new baby and I said, "No! It's beautiful! I can't give it away!" It is a perfect little girl quilt though, and it does need a home. I had all the triangles cut and laid out last year, but I set them aside as motivation to finish the Hunter's Star quilt.

Hunter's Star Quilt

I finished my first quilt since 2020! I started this quilt in 2020, right after I finished the fox and feathers quilt. I made a bunch of half square triangles, was not motivated to trim them, and set it aside. Then we moved again, and that managed to consume an entire year. I was finally motivated to pick it up again because I cut a bunch of triangles for another quilt, coincidentally featuring the scraps of the fox fabric, and decided I should finish this quilt before starting another. 

A Very Cross-Stitch Christmas

Amanda has a long track record of creating cross-stitched ornaments for our exchange. After several years of procrastination, I finally made two tiny cross-stitched ornaments for Amanda, so naturally she sent me two much bigger cross-stitch creations! She selected the succulents because I have a bad track record with plants and managed to kill the succulents I bought earlier this year. She titled this ornament "Succulents you can't kill (a terrarium in cross-stitch)" or "How I spent 30+ hours of my life in December 2022." She estimates it actually took longer than that. I appreciate all her time and effort because they will last me forever!