Handmade Christmas

Lately I have been stitching Christmas. The shepherds in the fields.....

.... three crowns for my little kings and queen.....

....Mary, Joseph, and an admittedly lumpy and oversized donkey (well, I had to shrink him in the washing machine...)

...tree decorations. The pink bird was stitched by my five year-old son....

....three kings from the Orient....

... and here's my husband's beautiful contribution - a gorgeous wooden stable.

Mary and Joseph are journeying around the house until Christmas Eve, the kings are waiting in their castle (constructed from wooden blocks by my children), and the shepherd is tending his flock in a little felt field.

Today I have been dyeing pieces cut from an old silk sheet which I'm attempting to stitch into cloaks for the children, to go with their crowns. Husband chopped down a pine tree (he regards this as environmental assistance because apparently these trees are a pest here in Tasmania) and brought it home on the back of the ute. The children almost exploded with excitement before helping us decorate it with all the beautiful handmade things we've been gathering and making. I wrapped a little piece of tinsel round some of the branches but it actually spoilt it, so I've hung said tinsel along the edge of the mantelpiece above the fireplace, together with my eldest's fingerknitted Christmas strings. The paper angels from Lark are singing along the shelf, and the tin Santa we brought from London is standing in the middle of them all.

Making Christmas.... probably the best way I've ever done it.