Whilst Christmas, in the sense of fun, was a definite success, Christmas in the sense of crafting, was not so much. The long list of decorations and gifts that I intended to make, ended up being whittled down to four things. The Princess and the Pea Set for Bella, a crocodile, Lily's new stocking and a pair of tutu's for the girls. The pompom wreath ( to be made using this) will have to wait until next year, as will a snow flake cushion and a special Christmas duvet set.  

I started working on Lily's stocking last Sunday, after putting together the pile of fabrics ages ago (again, here). But after half an hour of hemming and hawing I just wasn't feeling the love. Although I was happy with all the individual fabrics I wasn't inspired to create something special for Lily, that wasn't just a copy of Bella's stocking because whilst I wanted there to be a cohesiveness I also wanted it to be obvious who's was who's.

Bella's love of pink and florals is legendary but Lily, although a lover of dolls and make up, doesn't seem to have any huge preferences about colours or overly girly prints, so it took me a little longer to realise the one thing that would totally personalise her stocking.

Lily is crazy about birds. She can't talk, but can say the letter B and says it very excitedly every time she sees a bird. I absolutely covered the Christmas tree in jeweled birds this year, knowing how much she would love it and was rewarded with a chorus of very excited 'B's.  So it made perfect sense that her stocking also be covered in birds. Which was easier than I thought it might be, because it turns out I own a plethora of bird prints! Who knew?

 

It wasn't until after I'd finished the stocking that I dug Bella's out and realised that I'd embroidered birds on hers when I made it three years ago, as well as the matching deer of course, creating a definite link between the two. 

And yes, I was again rewarded with a flurry of 'B's when she saw it. I call that a success. Even if most other things fell by the wayside.