And All Through the House

the Tree was in place, and so was the lace ....

VICTORIAN DOLL HOUSE - purchased in 2000

I thought Christmas Eve would be a good time to show photos of the exterior and interior of the doll house that I take to all my tatting events so you can see how I've decorated it in 'Victorian' style, with Victorian furniture and, of course, tatted lace. I will be describing this lucky find more fully in a future post, and also how and where I found the furniture.

This is the front view.

The door actually opens, and normally you can see into the house through the clear (acetate) windows, but I wanted you to see the detail on the windows.
















Here is the side with the double window, which I find charming















.






Here is the side with the single window


















And here is the interior, which is the way it looked a few years ago (a photo of a photo).

I've made a few changes since then, but you get the general idea.


The tree is all beads, which I found at Michaels.

Note the hardwood floors on the 1st level!


In a future post, I'll take you on a more detailed 'tour'.

At the moment the interior is not 'photo ready' because the house just came back from two events, and the furniture is still in disarry, as I always put it in positions that make it safe to carry, and I haven't had a chance to get it all back in place!

* * *

On this Christmas Eve 2010, I wish those of you who celebrate

the Christmas holidays

a Very Merry Christmas!

* * *

As a record of the weather here in Pittsburgh on Dec. 24, 2010, there's about 3" of snow on the ground (from previous snowfalls) - but none on the roads - with temps in the low 30s, no precipitation, no wind. Perfect. This kind of weather doesn't often happen on Christmas Eve, but this is how I remember every Christmas Eve during my childhood in the 1950s! It was a magical time - waiting for Santa! I'm feeling quite nostalgic this evening!

Christmas Tree Pin - 1991

- Multiple Uses for Edging Patterns

- Black Wool Cape (from my costume wardrobe)

I recently wore my Christmast tree pin (circa 1991) during our recent Festival events, and I was reminded how it came about. And when I wore it on my black wool cape, I also added another piece of tatting to it to make it more noticeable (see below).

Here is the pin I made in 1991

It is from the same edging in Ann Orr's Classic Tatting patterns that I used to form the star shown in my Feb. 17, 2009 post. I noticed that each point of the edging looked like a Christmas tree. So I tatted one motif in white thread, then glued it onto a card, and it did look like a tree.

But I thought the motif looked the right size to put on a pin backing that I had purchased from a craft store. The pin backing (about 2" high) is made for inserting a separately purchased cameo. However, I cut a velevet oval from gift ribbon to fit into the center of the pin, then glued the tatted tree (in gold metallic thread from DMC) onto the velevt.

Then I glued tiny rhinestones to add bling. I made several of these pins for friends and family

Wearing pin on Black Wool Cape

When I went to our recent tatting events on Dec. 4 and 11, I wanted to wear the pin on my black wool cape that I purchased a few years ago at a consignment shop (a very lucky find!). But the pin by itself didn't stand out, so I found a piece of tatting in my stash to 'frame' it. It is an ecru tatted edging which I had formed into an oval. I pinned the edging to the cape (didn't have time to baste it down), then centered the Christmas pin inside it. I received lots of compliments on it!

Here is a close-up of the pin on the cape

framed by the ecru edging.

Here is a photo of the entire cape. There is red piping around the neck and down the opening, which is a part of the red interfacing inside. I pinned back the interfacing so you can see how nicely the cape is made.

I have no idea where the cape came from, but it's a welcome addition to my costume wardrobe!

Snowflake Inside a Clear Ball Ornament

Sharon's Merry Christmas snowflake!

Because I'm having blogging/computer problems (long story), I'm going to publish a REALLY short post (aren't you glad?) to show you that I was able to get Sharon's pretty snowflake into a clear Christmas ball ornament.

Sharon generously gave us this excellent pattern last year in her December blog. I loved the pattern and her easy diagram, and I posted about it in my own blog on Dec. 24. (In fact, this IS the snowflake that I made last year.)

The ornament is plastic - not glass, as they usually are - and is very well made. I got it at Michaels, and it is 3-1/2 inches in diameter. They also have smaller ones. I like this one because it has a larger opening, which made it easier to 'roll up' (not fold) the snowflake and drop it down into the ornament.

The hanger on the snowflake is wrapped around the 'knob' on top of the ball, and the metal top is clamped over top of the hanger, holding it in place.

I made the snowflake with Lizbeth white, size 20, and it didn't need any sitffening. It easily rolled into a 'tube' (not too tight), then it unfolded when it got into the ornament after jostling it a little bt.

It is displayed here on an 'egg holder', so that it can sit on a table.

* * *

During the past two weekends, our group demonstrated tattig at Vicary Mansion (Dec. 4) and Old Economy Village (Dec. 11). Considering we've consistently had 'snowy-blowy' weather for the past few weeks, we were lucky to have had good weather both Saturdays. Today we're back to snow!