Welcome to day five of my advent calendar of ornaments. The Cheesy Christmas advent calendar (2020 & 2021) has given way to a tour of our hodge-podge of a Christmas tree – one ornament at a time until Christmas Day.

Today’s ornament is all about stitchery…

Hardanger & Embroidery

As much as I know nothing about mushrooms (see day 3), I know a lot about different types of stitchery.

A few years ago, however, I picked up a series of stitching kits that taught you progressively how to do different stitches in Hardanger, a Norwegian stitching tradition whereby you stitch the fabric in such a way as to “lock down” certain parts of the fabric, then you cut & pull threads, essentially leaving “holes” in the fabric, that will not continue to fray or unravel.

Before coming to France, I started ornaments for Liz, for myself and for each of the kids. On one side, a very small section of hardanger (shown above) along with their monogram, and on the other, a simple cross-stitch design in a red, nordic pattern. The two sides are then stitched together and stuffed, making a puffy little cushion of sorts, that’s interesting to look at from both sides.

One of the recurring themes that you’ll see in these ornaments is that each one has a special one all their own. There’s a good reason for that.

At some point, Lord willing, each of the kids will leave home and start a family of their own. This way they will be able to start decorating their own tree, with special ornaments that they remember from their childhood. Every Christmas, as they pull ornaments out of storage, they’ll be able to enjoy re-living special memories from years gone by. It’s all about creating a sense of identity through a continuing story.

… and that’s today’s Christmas ornament.

Give the gift of Parisian strolls this Christmas.
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