Babuskha Bowling

Well, the Christmas elves were busy last night. A whole set of Russian Dolls is finished, and they've set sail in the Russian Doll boat (ahem, bread basket) that our recent lovely house-guest made for Tilly. 

Tatiana, Katja, Sveta, Anya, Pinky and Matilda have a long life of fun in front of them. Not only are they dolls, they are also stuffed with little bells, so that Tilly can enjoy them as rattles right now. (Well, she could, if she would remove their heads from her mouth long enough to shake them!)

The dolls also double as skittles for a game of six-pin bowling:

But now they have to go back into the workshop to wait for Christmas, so that Tilly can pull them all out of her new stocking!

To see what others are creating today, stop by their Creative Spaces.

A Russian Doll Christmas

The time has come to make Tilly a stocking, to hang beside Justin's, mine, and Bella's. After hours of deliberation as to whether I should put an 'M' for Matilda, or a 'T' for Tilly, I decided on neither.

Instead, Tilly gets a pretty little Russian doll, which matches the lovely bedding my Mum made for her Moses basket, and the cushions and little quilt she made for the nursery. Plus, a lovely linen doll print, flown in from Beijing, for the trim.

And what will Father Christmas be putting in Tilly's stocking this year? Well, one thing that the little elves are sewing up is a set of stuffed Russian Doll skittles for a mini-bowling game. Here's a little sneak peek into Santa's workshop:

And Bella makes three

I did manage to make Bella a stocking in time for Christmas, with green felt and little doggie paws along the top:

We filled it with raw-hide treats, a new squeaky beaver, and a big bone to chew on. And how fun, our initials spell out a word, 'Jab'!

Stockings

I recently hung up the felt stockings I made last year, and felt a resurging of pride! I'd really wanted to make stockings that we'll keep for a long time, and I definitely still love them one year on!

Here's Justin's, with a grizzly bear and Christmas trees:

And mine, with a moosie and folky hearts:

I need to make one for Bella, too, for this year, and now that work is over, that should be easy to find time for. I can't decide whether to put her one of her favourite animals on (a beaver or a hedgehog) or do a dog that looks like her. Maybe both? I do know that I want to do little paw-prints on the white band at the top!

So, yay for hand-stitching and hand-made all the way! I hope Santa notices!