Book Review: Holiday Ornaments Galore

Still looking for some holiday decor to stitch up or a gift for your favorite cross-stitcher? Check out Holiday Ornaments Galore, a book from Leisure Arts with a whopping 98 designs on all sorts of holiday themes.

Here you’ll find cutesy snowmen, elves and gingerbread people; stockings, ornament motifs and wreath designs; text sentiments, animals, Santas and more.

The projects are all designed by Urusla Michael and they are show in a numbered, full-color project gallery at the front of the book, with corresponding numbered charts in the back. Basic stitching instructions appear at the front of the book to help new stitchers or give you a refresher on any needed skills (the patterns use full stitches, quarter stitches, back stitches and French knots).

You can download the ebook from Leisure Arts or order a paper copy.

[Photo: Leisure Arts.]

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20 Snow Globe Cross-Stitch Patterns

Cute spooky and fantasy cross stitch patterns is how the designer behind Haunted Frames describes their shop, and I have to agree with them. These designs are cute and Gothic and a little bit spooky all at once. There’s a heavy focus on book themes, which you know I am a fan of, so let’s get into it.

Stopping first in the books section, there are lots of designs that are literally on book shapes, but if you know my love of both books and cats, you’ll know I had to share the Midnight Book Cart cross stitch pattern. As the name suggests it’s a design with a witchy book cart, complete with a spiderweb, bats flying out of a book and what it describes as a ghost cat (though I would have to make a black cat instead of a white one since I have a black cat, and that fits with the vibe).

The design is 65 by 97 stitches and is worked in 17 colors. It’s shown on 16 count fabric, which makes it 4.1 by 6.1 inches, or 10.3 by 15.4 cm.

I also love the winter themed little free library design, which would be perfect to stitch up for the little librarian in your life (or to drop at a neighborhood book space).

Projects with a book theme make up the majority of the patterns that are categorized in this shop, but you’ll want to scroll through all their patterns to see what else is available, since it doesn’t look like everything is in a category. You’ll find castles and dragons, more cats of course, some more obviously Halloween and Christmas themed projects and those that would suit for spooky season or any other time of year.

If cute and dark is your aesthetic, you’ll want to check out all the patterns at www.etsy.com/shop/HauntedFrames, which you can find on Etsy.

[Photo: Haunted Frames]

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