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Tuesday 1 December 2015

First Day of Advent

I decided to give myself the first Door of the Advent Calendar this year and I'm making it a Little Stitcher post.


Last year I stitched The Little Stitcher's Twelve Days of Christmas as a monthly project.  Laura designed twelve charts with a different theme for each one to represent the days of Christmas.  She invented the different themes herself using her lovely imagination!

I stitched them all on the same fabric, it just photographs differently depending on the light on the day!  The centre piece was in Just Cross Stitch's Ornament Preview issue in 2014.  I am making them into a mini scrapbook which was going well until Christmas was over and I didn't feel so seasonal.  One of my goals is to finish it this year.

Two years ago I completed the Advent Calendar designs also from The Little Stitcher and display them on this rather useful wooden tree.  I add a different one each day:


The theme for the Advent Calendar Blog Hop this year is:

How do you celebrate Christmas Eve?

Now, that all depends on whether hubby and I are working!  The first three years we were together he was working in the evening and I had the night off.  Then we had two years when neither of us were working on the night followed by three years when I worked during the day!  In the shop where I work the deal is that you either work Christmas Eve or Boxing Day but not both.  Last year and this year I'm down for the Boxing Day shift.

The daytime is like a normal Sunday with an extra air of excitement!  Then we have our usual tea and a quiet early evening.  We have a special plate you can write on and wipe clean so my older son writes a letter to Santa from both children.  We leave it beside the wood burner along with a mince pie and a carrot for Rudolph.  If we have reindeer food from the Primary School Fayre we will scatter that outside (it is basically muesli mixed with glitter by the Nursery class and sold for 20p a bag!).

We hang our stockings beside the beds for Santa to fill with smaller treats, he will leave all the presents under the tree in a pile for each person.  He also leaves a Santa Sack for mother-in-law who spends Christmas morning with us (dinner with one daughter and tea with the other son). 

When I put the Large Boy to bed we have a selection of books we always read together:

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C Moore
Another Night Before Christmas by Carol Ann Duffy
The Traditional 12 Days of Christmas
12 Days of Christmas by John Julius Norwich
and finally the new Allan Plenderleith:
(previous offerings were:
 The Bonkers Banana, The Silly Satsuma, The Smelly Sprout and The Christmas Banana)

Then it's time for the Small Boy to have his bath and snuggle down with Mummy.  Once he is asleep I get up again and make sure everything is ready for Santa to deliver the presents. 

So that's our Christmas Eve!  Let's see what everyone else does for their special evening.

Finally, one last Little Stitcher photo:

Day 1 Advent Calendar



24 comments:

Rachel said...

I'm looking forward to this daily blog hop and finding out how people spend Christmas Eve. Love your 12 days of Christmas stitching and your sweet wooden tree. Can't believe it's December already!! :)

Mini said...

Beautiful christmas stitching. Thank you for sharing about your xmas eve celebrations.

The Knitting Cross Stitcher said...

A very pretty 12 Days of Christmas and a lovely description of Christmas Eve in your home.

gominam said...

What a beautiful post to usher in the blog hop! You've got wonderful Christmas stitches there! I'm excited to see how others celebrate too. You and hubby are such sweet parents and in-laws too. Keep the magic alive. Thanks for sharing:)

Vickie said...

What a great post filled with seasonal stitching. Christmas Eve is so very special.

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Beautiful traditions for an night of slumber with sugar plums and big packages dancing in their heads ;)
Thank you for sharing your traditions!

Katie said...

Beautiful post! Thanks for sharing. Love all your beautiful stitching.

CalamityJr said...

Oh, this year's theme is wonderful! It's so good to learn more about our bloggy friends. I had a thought for next year while reading about your beautiful family related traditions - since your "hoppers" come from all over, how about sharing a traditional holiday recipe? Just an idea... Thanks for sharing. I feel like your post today was my first Christmas gift, and I so enjoyed opening it.

Julie said...

Wishing you a delightful Christmas Eve this year Jo.

Bea said...

What a terrific theme for the blog hop! I will look forward to reading about everyone's Christmas Eve. Lovely stitching you've posted. But get back to that scrapbook! Can you hear the whip snap? LOL

Justine said...

What a great start to the blog hop! I'm feeling all Christmassy reading about your Christmas eve traditions and looking at your beautiful stitching. Thanks for the book recommendations too, I will be on the lookout for a few of those!

AnaCristina said...

wonderfull!!!!

Barb said...

Just beautiful stitching! I love reading about how your family celebrates. My family are all grown up so each year is a bit different!

Susan said...

Thank you for sharing your Christmas Eve with us. I do so miss have a little one this time of year as all those little things, like putting out the reindeer food, have slipped away at our house.

Sheryl said...

Lovely post and beautiful stitching. It is interesting to hear how everyone in different parts of the world celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Thank you for organising this Advent Calendar hop once again this year.

Tiffstitch said...

Beautiful stitching and those sound like great traditions!

Leonore Winterer said...

You're stitching is lovely, I really adore 12 days of christmas designs :) It's also really interesting how different people celebrate, that reindeer food is such a cute idea!

Christine said...

Your 12 days stitching is beautiful. I always quite liked working Christmas Eve when I worked in retail

Stitching Noni said...

Great post... I am looking forward to reading everyone's posts as the Advent Blog continues through the month :o)
Hugs xx

♥ Nia said...

Lovely post!! Thanks for sharing sweetie :)

cheryl said...

Wonderful Christmas traditions and beautiful holiday stitching! Thanks for hosting the blog hop. Merry Christmas!

Elfie said...

I enjoyed reading your post, and seeing tour Christmas stitching. Merry Christmas!

Brigitte said...

We also have a traditional meal for Christmas Eve and I have had it since I was a child. A very simple but a good one. And I wouldn't change a single thing about it as it reminds me of my Christmas Eves as a child. Here in Germany the presents are given and opened already on Christmas Eve so no early getting up on Christmas Day morning, lol.

Astrids dragon said...

Love the stitching! I love your traditions and I think next year we need to read more books! Happy New Year, Jo!