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Mom's Holiday Handicrafts

Mom, as I've mentioned before is a rather private person so my writing yet another post about her handiwork will probably not please her.  However, she is a very skilled craftsperson as the following will illustrate.  So at the risk of invading her privacy further I will continue to share her work.

Money was tight when I was first starting out married life so the idea of spending on items that were only used one month or less a year seemed ridiculous to me (or maybe it was just me being tight).  Mom came to the rescue.  She would do sewing, painting, macrame, knitting and cross stitching of Xmas items.  I'll show a sample of things she made over the years here; more will be revealed in future holiday posts.  Much of what Mom made came with this label attached:

Name has been abbreviated to protect the reticent

My carolers
Mom and her brother teamed up on this project some time ago.  My Uncle did the woodwork using a jigsaw to cut out the carolers; Mom did all the decorating.  These folks have been around for about 20 years now and the curly hair has loosened in my more maritime climate, but Mom's skills in painting and using crafty lace, ribbon and such do shine through.  My Uncle has now passed away so these singers are a fond reminder of him each year when I put them out.

My quilted Xmas tree wall hanging
Mom quilts as well and has a high-tech sewing machine (at least to me) to do all sorts of specialty sewing.  This is a tree she put together for me a few years back.  You'll note, she's got a knack for tying ribbon bows that I have yet to acquire.  She's shown me several times how to do it, but I lose the skill when I leave her presence.

A cross-stitch Noel
Then there's this very holiday-like Noel wall hanging.  It uses the plastic grids (apparently called plastic canvass) found at most craft stores.  Generally, I am not fond of the types of things made with this product, but Mom came through with a real winner with this one.


The knitted mittens and intarsia 
Then of course there are the knitted items.  I love these little mittens with the jiggle bells and as you can see Mom adds a substantial hanger to them so they are easy to place on a tree.  She gave me the sock just last Xmas.  So at 80 something Mom is still going strong and her intarsia work is far neater and more consistent than mine.

Every year as I decorate the house for the holidays I bring out this host of memories.  Some items are decades old and some very new creations.  And every year I'm reminded of the woman who continues to test her skills to make holiday items that are priceless.  Thanks Mom.

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