And a tiny little finish

I put the last stitches into this this morning.



Now to find time to finish it. Maybe this weekend? I took the whole weekend off, mostly as a form of rebellion because I ALWAYS have to work Valentines Day. I am getting my hair "did" on Saturday, and taking my mother to see "The Kings Speech, but, other than that, I'm unscheduled the entire weekend. Woo hoo.

Meari asked if I kept my ornament tree up all year. I don't, mainly because the Halloween tree is gnarly and black, and it wouldn't look good with Easter ornaments or patriotic stuff on it, and my Christmas tree is just too big and it sheds. I have toyed with the idea of making other trees, but I think I figured out how to display some of the smaller hanging things.

I bought a vintage looking patriotic shutter hangy thing last summer, because I thought it would be cute to hang patriotic ornaments on the louvers. Mine has two little pegs on it as well. I can't wait to put it up this year, since I've been hanging my patriotic ornaments on the key rack, and I think it will look cute, but that got me to thinking. Why can't I just use a shutter to hang other season's ornaments on? Depending on the color, it would work for fall through winter--imagine how pretty it would be to have rust reds and purples on a weathered blue or white shutter, then transition to wintry ornaments for December into January. Even a black one would work, or a gold, depending on what colors you used on the ornaments you hung on it--how elegant would black be with gold toned hand-stitched ornaments on it for the holidays? I've started looking on Ebay for them, since I'd like to do this inexpensively, and I'd prefer to not use plastic. I did find a really COOL barn vent that sent my heart skipping beats, but it was $200, and, well, I don't have $200 for a decorative piece, even if it's beautiful. I also looked up architectural salvage yards; there is one in Baltimore, and Left-brain said we could go look there (I think he'd like to look around too, and another set of arms, particularly strong ones, is always appreciated). It wouldn't be that hard, if I got a pair, to hinge them, or add some decorative hardware, so I think it's a DIY project we could both really like.