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Emma Mitchell

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Basic Crochet Stitches

December 18, 2011 By silverpebble 32 Comments

O, Christmas twig

Our Christmas tree is little – it has to be or it might be a struggle to get in through the front door. I kept a few decorations back to make a painted Christmas twig, inspired by a few I’ve seen in recent weeks. I have to admit, I really like minimal, natural Christmas decorations, especially on our newly exposed very old brickwork. 

The surface of this wall was sad, sagging ancient plaster board and crumbling plaster until a month or two ago. The replastering hadn’t worked in this bit of the room so we had to rethink. The crumbly bits were removed to expose this beautiful wall and, very excitingly, the fact that the mysterious cubby hole I blogged about last year did used to be a teeny tiny window. It has now been reinstated. 
We can peep through from the living room to the dining room. You might imagine that a certain toy pig and monkey enjoy speedy transit through the window at regular intervals, sometimes narrowly avoiding landing in cups of tea.
We’re not exactly sure how old the brickwork and window are but a glazed window from the far side of this wall has been dated to the early to mid 1700s. Our neighbours claim to have Tudor brickwork in their garden! 

As for the doily bauble, it was quite tricky – there was a spot of reconstruction required after the balloon was popped but it was serious, gooey fun to do and I recommend it.

Officially, Making Winter week draws to a close tomorrow, but I suspect we’ll be extending it for a few days as there’s so much lovely festive creativity going on. There are some truly beautiful projects and images over in the Flickr pool, I’m especially keen on Amy’s exquisite origami, Lola Nova’s paper house diorama and Julie’s stunningly beautiful mittens. Mrs TH and I will be working on mosaics over the next few days.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sue says

    December 18, 2011 at 3:52 pm

    What a lovely house you live in. I wish I had a old, thick walls with a little interior window.

    Reply
  2. Rachel says

    December 18, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    How thrilling to have a little peep-hole in such a thick wall!

    Reply
  3. Thrifty Household says

    December 18, 2011 at 4:19 pm

    I love your minimal Christmas twig!

    Reply
  4. zephyr says

    December 18, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    Oh! Those sweet young eyes, peeking through the once mysterious, wonderful teeny tiny window!!

    Reply
  5. Annie says

    December 18, 2011 at 5:15 pm

    What Sue said! At least I have a couple of Christmas twigs!

    Loving the doily bauble 😀

    Reply
  6. driftwood says

    December 18, 2011 at 5:27 pm

    oh so lovely, I LOVE your twig, we have one, but I didn't paint it white. perhaps next year x

    Reply
  7. Menopausalmusing says

    December 18, 2011 at 5:31 pm

    Muchos twig painting went on here earlier today too…… followed by a reunion with Juan Sheet……….. ;o)))))))))

    That is a gorgeous picture of a pair of eyes peeping through the window.

    Reply
  8. Magic Bean says

    December 18, 2011 at 5:42 pm

    Am now even more keen to catch up and see for myself the little window. Merry Christmas Pebbles- Ax

    Reply
  9. Victoria says

    December 18, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    The doily bauble turned out really well. I must remember to have a go at that next year.

    Reply
  10. Toffeeapple says

    December 18, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    I would never have thought that I could have wall/window envy, but I do, I do! It all looks lovely.

    Reply
  11. kristina says

    December 18, 2011 at 6:24 pm

    Oh I adore your Christmas twig. Definitely my kind of Christmas decorating. And I so want a peep hole 🙂 K x

    Reply
  12. selfsewn@summerfete says

    December 18, 2011 at 7:04 pm

    Beautiful Emma
    Love the cubby hole.
    Merry Christmas!!

    Reply
  13. Louise says

    December 18, 2011 at 7:41 pm

    I like to have a christmas twig too, but we call ours a stickmas tree! I've taken photos of it recently and will probably add some to my blog over the next week. I think they're very effective.

    Reply
  14. by Teresa says

    December 18, 2011 at 7:55 pm

    Your little window is just charming… especially the little face peeking through. A happy Christmas to you and yours — sent from across the Globe in Oregon. I invite you to visit my blog and see my riot of color over here. 🙂
    :¦:-·-:¦:-·-:¦:-·-:¦:-·-:¦:-·-:¦:-·-:¦:-·-:¦:
    *M*E*R*R*Y* *C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S*!*
    :¦:-·-:¦:-·-:¦:-·-:¦:-·-:¦:-·-:¦:-·-:¦:-·-:¦:
    ((hugs)), Teresa 🙂

    Reply
  15. Madelief says

    December 18, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    Hi Lynn,

    Your bauble and branch look lovely! To have a house dating back to 1700….It sounds very special. Whenever we visit England, I always try to find old houses with character, a bit like yours :-)!

    Your daughter looks very sweet peeping through the hole.

    Happy new week!

    Madelief x

    Reply
  16. greenrabbitdesigns says

    December 18, 2011 at 9:37 pm

    I love the little crochet bauble. I think the your Christmas twig goes beautifully with your lovely home.
    V x

    Reply
  17. The Coffee Lady says

    December 18, 2011 at 10:32 pm

    We used to have a little window like that in our old house; sadly the house was so small you could always see the ironing board propped up at the other side of it.

    What a lovely looking bauble you have there…

    Reply
  18. Ali says

    December 18, 2011 at 10:39 pm

    We have a twig too! It went up last Christmas, but I loved it so much it has become a seasonal twig and stayed up all year.

    Sorry not to have joined in with any Making Winter stuff this time – the only thing i've honestly been making is phlegm (sorry tmi).

    Reply
  19. Belinda @ Wild Acre says

    December 18, 2011 at 10:58 pm

    Beautiful old bricks like yours are such a happy thing, love them and the wee window and def nicking the gorgeous decorative branch idea next year – Lotte and Bloom did an amazzzzing autumn one with dangling fresh flowers, swoon!!! Lovely post. Bxx

    Reply
  20. Thimbleanna says

    December 19, 2011 at 4:38 am

    Oh Wow — what an honor to be the caretakers of all that history. That window is so cool! I love your twig and bauble too — very pretty!

    Reply
  21. Mrs. Micawber says

    December 19, 2011 at 6:10 am

    What a lot of wonderfully distracting links in your post today!

    The brick wall is beautiful. I've always wanted to live in an adobe house with cubbyholes and little cutouts like that in the walls, so I quite envy you your window.

    The branch and the doily ball look beautiful.

    Reply
  22. dragonfly says

    December 19, 2011 at 7:09 am

    Love the peeking through photo!

    Reply
  23. dottycookie says

    December 19, 2011 at 8:31 am

    Oh, oh, your window! I can barely begin to imagine the fun you're going to have with it!

    Reply
  24. harmony and rosie says

    December 19, 2011 at 9:09 am

    i love your little monkey hatch and you seem to be mighty festive in general. Somehow I've missed out on all your creativity this month so at some stage I'll be having a good catch up over a cup of tea. Love the doily bauble!
    Kate x

    Reply
  25. mynestofyarnandbuttons says

    December 19, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    What a lovely home you have and I love your twig and all the special ornaments. Love the bird and of course the doily. Looks so fun to make. The window opening is so sweet and the sparkling peepers are precious! Enjoy the days ahead. xoRobin❤

    Reply
  26. Magic Cochin says

    December 19, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    Your very own hagioscope – how marvelous!

    Hope things are a little less frantic now and hope you enjoy and lovely Christmas.

    Celia
    xx

    Reply
  27. Scented Sweetpeas says

    December 19, 2011 at 12:55 pm

    oh bottoms, I forgot to ask about how your doily sculpture was when I dropped by 🙁 Love your white triggy creation, very effective. Hope you liked the things I dropped off for you and I hope you get some rest (sorry I interrupted that precious rest time). x

    Reply
  28. Monica says

    December 19, 2011 at 2:01 pm

    i must make one of those crochet balls!

    must must must.

    Happy Christmas Emma.

    Reply
  29. Handmade in Israel says

    December 19, 2011 at 2:07 pm

    Oh, I love your wall and your little window! Your house sounds adorable.

    Reply
  30. Calico Kate says

    December 19, 2011 at 4:15 pm

    What a glorious wall and a lovely hole and a really super twig too!
    Pleased that the bauble worked I will be giving these a go….
    CKx

    Reply
  31. Lynn says

    December 20, 2011 at 3:37 am

    Congratulations on the confirmation of window! Gazing enviously from my oh-so-new (well, 80-year-old) house.

    For a while we had a fallen portion of lilac bush in our living room. I rather miss it. My fave thing was decorating it with nests and (fake) eggs at Easter. xoxo

    Reply
  32. sarah-jane down the lane says

    December 21, 2011 at 5:37 pm

    hooray for the teeny tiny window! Merry Christmas lovely! The necklace is sooooooo lovely, I can't tell you I had a little lump!

    with love, Sarah -x-

    Reply

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