It’s still winter. Here in North Carolina we are seeing daffodils push up from the ground. It gives us hope – then we usually get so surprised when the temperatures plunge or we get the rare “winter event” with a flurry or a hint of ice.
6 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ framed
Dyed, Printed, Stitched, Beaded
$45 available in my shop here
I know, I know. You are rolling your eyes at us. I’m rolling my eyes at me too.
There is something delicious about the anticipation of spring, and something beautiful about having more chilly winter days to stay indoors and create something beautiful. And eat chocolate. There is always chocolate.
This project was shared several years ago in a Quilting Arts Holiday magazine.
In the magazine I describe how to use the screens and some basic beading techniques. (You can see lots more beading instruction on my DVD, Bead It Like You Mean It.)
You can find the issue HERE. It is chock full of other fabulous projects for you to create.
All the techniques used to bead the snowflake are also taught in my on-demand course. Available HERE.
74 Comments
Patti Maxwell
February 20, 2022 at 12:29 pmThe loveliest of snowflakes! It was also fun to read the responses from your previous post.
Eileen
September 22, 2014 at 8:22 amI always make something for my sister and niece for Christmas. I love the planning and the making!
Rachel Parris
September 21, 2014 at 9:36 pmI love surprising someone, who has no real reason to expect a gift from me, with a small carefully chosen or made gift.
Cyndy
September 21, 2014 at 6:50 pmSeeing and celebrating with my grandchildren. We’ve had to adopt the flexible holiday schedule over the years. Passing on the family tradition of “when we get together, it’s Christmas, no matter what the calendar says!” Twenty years ago, I made fabric bags with muslin tags inside, every year the recipient signs the name and year, so now a part of Christmas is looking over who has had the bag in the past. Sweet memories.
Amy Eileen Koester
September 21, 2014 at 3:55 pmI love family traditions. Making tamales with my daughter’s, singing carols, sewing Christmas pajamas for my children.
I love your snowflakes, can’t wait to try them.
Sylvia
September 21, 2014 at 2:01 pmI love seeing the lights in the snow covered trees outside. Not the gaudy ones, the plain white lights in a pine trees with the snow falling gently. Love your snowflakes! Thanks for the chance to win!
Antoinette Brown
September 21, 2014 at 12:20 pmMy favorite tradition is decorating the tree with ornaments that carry memories and decorating the trees outdoors with treats for the animals. The grandchildren like to help with both activities.
Annmarie
September 21, 2014 at 10:31 amI would love to win a copy of Quilting Arts “Holiday”. There are so many things to love about the Christmas holidays. All the cheery music, snow, decorating, and of course the children’s anticipation of the big event – Christmas lists to Santa, cookie baking, making presents for loved ones.
Your snowflakes are awesome!
Lauren Macdonald
September 21, 2014 at 9:25 amI’m glad I read Carla’s response about the fruitcake! I pick one or two things from a Holiday gift magazine ( the yoyo wreath and little gift bags from last year) and make a bunch for family members. And then I bake and deliver to my friends and family – cookies, biscotti (so easy to make at home and so expensive to buy), fruitcake. Add an iTunes card to that for my grandson and my pension can cover it all! I love Christmas and REALLY love the issues with lots of gifts to make!
Ellee
September 21, 2014 at 2:16 amMaking gifts for everyone used to stress me out a whole lot. The solution has been to simplify the gifts I make so that they get done in a timely manner.
Margaret Millar
September 20, 2014 at 8:34 pmWhat lovely family traditions you are setting in place for your children to remember and pass on.
We have two sons 22 & 20yrs, the younger one and I always delight in decorating the house and tree and the older one contributes by checking out the decorations and saying “you need more gold / red etc there”! He doesn’t like the doing but enjoys being around us and the results! Over the years we have made many ornaments for the tree and as gifts to special friends. We wait until we are all together to put on the last ornaments which have our names on them and those of grandparents who sadly are no longer with us.
Our other “must do” at Christmas is baking. Since he was very small, my younger son and I have made various cookies and shortbread which we package and label with love for family and friends. It is often late at night now when we make it but he tells me it’s not really Christmas until we have finished them.
We live in Sydney Australia so Christmas is HOT Hot hot. Often around 100 degrees. I remember so many years of helping my Mum slaving over the stove to prepare traditional winter Christmas fare (which was always delicious) until one year Dad suggested we have seafood instead. Since then we have wonderful salads, a feast of king prawns (large shrimp), smoked salmon and pavlova, trifle, seasonal fruits and freshly made mango ice cream for dessert. Our one tribute to the winter Christmas is English style Christmas pudding and custard.
Lots of Australians like to have a Christmas in July party when the weather here is cold and they can enjoy traditional fare!! I think your star ornaments would be great for winter decorating in my home.
Last year we lost Mum just before Christmas and my brothers and their families all went in different directions. It was weird to be just 4 instead of 18!! This year I will be encouraging them to come to my home to re_capture that family feeling to the holidays. So when your weather is cold and snowy think of us “down under” in the midst of summer!!!
Pat
September 20, 2014 at 4:28 pmI like to make gifts for family and friends. Just buying things doesn’t appeal to me as much as making something special for each person.
Paula Lee M.
September 20, 2014 at 2:51 pmI think the most stressful thing about the holidays is that I want to please everyone and gift everyone I work with. Most years I spend too much time trying to get things together for my co workers, and slacking on my family and friends. My co workers, with a few exceptions, I only see at work and don’t really share in their lives. This year I am going to reverse it.
Marcia
September 20, 2014 at 12:12 pmChristmas – what a serene, wonderful time. (Did I say that?) I “stockpile” gifts throughout the year for family & close friends when I find something: (a) they must have, (b) it’s on sale, or (c)I like it myself! As Christmas gets closer, I somehow feel that the “purchased” gift might not be enough (my thought, not theirs). I then go about the frantic task of creating something a little more personal….Christmas trees made from fabric, a small lap quilt, a Christmas-themed wall hanging, placemats, etc. When the gifts are given (with so much love), I realize that all the “extras” were not necessary, and it is completely enough to be together with the ones we love, celebrating the real reason for the season. This year my motto will be “One & Done.” Thanks for the reminder, Lyric!
Tracey Zimmerman
September 20, 2014 at 10:51 amWith so much going on on the holidays, I decided to have a day for just my kids and myself on a day that no one else in the family makes plans. On the winter solstice we eat dinner by candle light then head out for a walk around the neighborhood to look at all the lights. Santa always visits to set up our tree and fills stockings with decorations, mostly homemade ones. Nobody misses gifts because it is so fun to look for new decorations hiding with old favotites and then decorate the tree.
Jean B
September 20, 2014 at 10:07 amEvery year I struggle with too many things to do at Christmas. Shopping with all the crowds with Christmas carols booming and crazy people everywhere makes me crazy too! We have started ordering most stuff online. We also have only done one big gift for each. 4 kids, a minister’s salary, and a dislike of all the commercialization. I also like to make something for friends, rather than buying. It’s about Christ not gifts or special programs or parties etc.
Mary
September 20, 2014 at 9:34 amI miss snowflakes since I moved to a desert community. These would help.
kathyS
September 20, 2014 at 9:01 amFavorite: making holiday cards to start the season, then going forward to create the gifts—typically beaded jewelry, then book shopping. Least favorite: umm…wrapping all of the above.
Carol Mcdowell
September 19, 2014 at 5:02 pmI love making things for people – this is both my favorite thing and the thing that stresses me out. No matter how early I start, I always seem to be behind. But it’s worth it in the end. A handmade gift is from the heart not a big box store.
Debra
September 19, 2014 at 3:38 pmMy favorite part of the holiday is family gatherings. The thing that stresses me most is trying to make everything perfect. I had to stop that. Now I just try to love the time as it passes. I think making gifts and decorations and cookies helps. I don’t have children or grandchildren, so I shop for Toys for Tots. I love to do that every year. I can buy whatever I want and know that some child will love it.
willa
September 18, 2014 at 11:29 amI guess the part I like about winter is when Christmas is over and I hope for snow.
Love your little snowflakes.
Lee
September 18, 2014 at 6:52 amYour snowflakes are amazing!! I stress out with shopping… which is why I love to do handmade as gifts!
Suzanne Gwynne
September 17, 2014 at 2:29 pmWe enjoy making handmade gifts as well. The most special family tradition for me is the storytelling that happens around the table all through the holidays as family and friends drop in and we reconnect and retell those important stories.
Sandra
September 16, 2014 at 9:57 amI love the holidays making gifts, sharing meals with family and friends the smiles on peoples faces who could ask for more 🙂
Judith Reynolds
September 15, 2014 at 10:18 pmThe last couple of years, has been the hardest for our family. Sewing and Quilting has made the time go day easier. I enjoy quilting for my grandchildren and see them wrapped up in a quilt that I made with my very own hands. Judith, Texas
Corinne D
September 15, 2014 at 9:24 pmI love so much about Christmas! Look forward to cookie baking/decorating, the tree, the Santa collection, lots of delicious food, and most of all, my family, some I see only once a year at Christmas.
Jayna
September 15, 2014 at 11:36 amTradition! Turkey for Thanksgiving. Ham at Christmas. Catch-and-release shopping in downtown Seattle on black Friday followed by standing in the street singing carols at the tree lighting. Lights and decorations and sparkly window displays and cinnamon … But mostly I love slowing down to celebrate the Advent season and the retelling of the Christmas story. Add a performance of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” and I’m a happy girl.
Carla
September 14, 2014 at 8:39 pmSo many things I love about Christmas, but probably the most important to me is making cookies and fruitcake from the recipes my mother used. Mother was an amazing baker and her cookies were works of art. I use her recipes every year as well as some of my own, and my daughter is starting to ask for copies of the recipes, so the tradition continues.
A new tradition I started last year that I look forward to is Christmas Day dinner dessert. I made a cake in a house-shaped pan, frosted it and turned it over to my granddaughter to decorate. She was four last year, so the decorations were gloriously eclectic. The house cake will continue each year to be Kaylee’s contribution to Christmas dinner. Before we cut the cake I took pictures of her holding it. I only see my granddaughter a couple of times a year, so I was thrilled to create this special connection.
I applaud you for keeping presents such a minimal part of your celebration. I finally instituted drawing names for gifts within the extended family and that has been such a stress reliever I can’t believe I didn’t do it years ago!
Jerie
September 14, 2014 at 7:42 pmChristmas is the time our family gets together. The kids renew their friendships with distant cousins and each family helps with all the meals and getting into the Christmas spirit. We have had up to 18 people at our house for a week and manage to keep the drama and anxiety to a minimum. Gift are only for the kids. EVERYONE loves it and I can’t wait for this year’s get together. Christmas is so much fun when there are kids involved.
Heather Sinclair
September 14, 2014 at 3:30 pmI love the change in the weather and the days getting shorter so the evenings are dark and therefore i tend to cocoon- and work on a project in the evenings instead of being outside.
Su Scott
September 14, 2014 at 1:03 pmWOW….these are wonderful snowflakes. I do snowflakes too….. no two are alike.
It’s refreshing to read about your thoughts and activities during one of the biggest, most commercialized holiday around the world. I’m glad you have taken the time and effort to SPEND TIME and energy with your family in a more personal, meaningful and actually joyous way. I’m looking forward to this year’s issue myself! Congratulations getting into this issue.
Enjoy and Merry Christmas (a little early)…cheers su ‘-}
Jeanne
September 14, 2014 at 10:55 amI love putting the ornaments on the tree. Most of them bring back family memories or places we’ve traveled to together. It is like going through a family picture album. This year we will travel a great distance to be with our son and his family. Having three grandchildren to hug will be the best part of Christmas. They make me feel that all is right in the world!
Penny
September 14, 2014 at 3:43 amThe snowflakes came out very nice. I live not far from the Snowflake Bentley museum. I love most everything about the Christmas season. The songs and programs. Decorations, I love making them. My favorite thing is to come up with new items to make each year. I bet I have enough ornaments to cover 3-4 trees. I love to watch the people bustling about trying to find the ultimate gift. I love the joy of our Savior’s birth.I love sleigh rides in the freshly fallen snow. I don’t like that everything has gotten so commercialized.It is my favorite holiday. Not much stresses me out about it. Most of my gifts that I give are hand made. I sew, sew, sew. So let it snow, snow, snow!
Bea
September 14, 2014 at 12:26 amI so enjoyed reading this, and couldn’t help smiling about the simplicity of the holiday. And I loved the snowflakes!
Pam
September 13, 2014 at 11:26 pmI love our Christmas eve extended family gathering and the excitement of all the children. Your snowflakes are lovely!
gjeneve hopkinson
September 13, 2014 at 9:56 pmLike so many, my favorite part is the family time. My son flies from MN to CO to spend time with us and his sister and her family. The best thing ever, FAMILY.
Kim cady
September 13, 2014 at 9:49 pmI love baking and cooking special gifts for neighbors and friends.
Nancy
September 13, 2014 at 8:04 pmI love spending time with my family. The boys come home from school and we have a few weeks of “family time”. The snowflakes are really beautiful btw!
Karen
September 13, 2014 at 7:08 pmI just love the snowflakes!! They would be a beautiful addition for decorating during the holidays…and after, during those snowy months of winter.
Debbie St.Germain
September 13, 2014 at 6:24 pmI just love spending time with my family and with our first grandson, it makes it all the more joyful.
Debbie
Lisa Flowers Ross
September 13, 2014 at 6:08 pmI like having a quiet Christmas day with my family and sitting in the dark with the Christmas tree lights on.
Over the years, I’ve tried to ask family to not exchange gifts feeling that it would relieve stress and save money and keep the focus away from the commercialism, but some just don’t like that idea.
Tabitha Keener
September 13, 2014 at 6:07 pmI absolutely love everything about the Christmas season from the music to the weather! My family doesn’t make a fuss about gifts either, we do what we’re able to or just make something! I stopped stressing years ago and my fondest memories are the Christmas that we made things and didn’t get much except togetherness. The only thing I think I hate would be below zero temperatures and crazy last minute traffic! Thanks for the giveaway!
tdkcarpenoctem@hotmail.com
Mary Green
September 13, 2014 at 5:37 pmI’m a Minnesota Girl transplanted to Texas so snowflakes are very special to me as well.
Robin Parton
September 13, 2014 at 5:10 pmMy favorite part or the holiday season is the joy the grandchildren have, makes it all worhwhile.
Steph
September 13, 2014 at 5:04 pmI love Christmas eve service, hot chocolate while opening gifts, packing Operation Christmas Child boxes with my teenagers, and decorating cookies. I don’t like the extra workload year end brings at my job.
JB
September 13, 2014 at 3:29 pmGetting together with family that live far away, but come join us for the holidays, makes it special. Christmas without the grandkids is really boring, with them is slightly stressful but so worth it.
Michele
September 13, 2014 at 3:04 pmChristmas cookies!
Marlene R
September 13, 2014 at 2:53 pmMy favorite things about the holiday are the times spent with family, priceless!
Gill
September 13, 2014 at 2:25 pmYour post made me think!
I rush around trying to be superwoman at Christmas when all that really matters to me is having all my family at home – perhaps a simple celebration this year!
Laura
September 13, 2014 at 2:19 pmIt’s great that you’ve identified priorities when your children are younger! Years ago, we too got out the “gift list” and stopped buying/making for those who’ve never made any gesture of thanks. Why stress? If they come back around to share their lives, we add them back on of course.
My favorite part of ChristmaQuanzaHanukkah is the joy that goes into handmade presents. The tighter the budget, the more creative the gift, right? I’ve always chosen something special to each person–a task that gets us sharing before the holiday–and then made each a meaningful gift. It might be a house-tree inhabited by flower fairies, personalized fleece pillowcases with zippered hiding places within, or photo-laminated guitar picks…
My joy is in the making! I often leave something about the gift unfinished and bring materials with me to further the fun when they want to share the process. And year after year, whether they’re 2 or 25, they usually push aside the big-ticket presents after a day or so to “work” on art… Sigh… That’s my favorite part. Thanks for asking!
Lydia
September 13, 2014 at 1:41 pmAlways wish for more time off at the holiday season to travel and visit family, but alas, it isn’t to be quite yet. For now, have to settle for blog posts and Skype calls, of which I am very grateful for. Making things to send off is a joy. Love the snowflakes.
missy
September 13, 2014 at 1:40 pmI love the peacefulness of the snow falling, covering the land in a blanket of snow. I love Christmas, seeing friends and family opening the gifts I have made them, bringing warmth to my heart!
Connie
September 13, 2014 at 1:27 pmWe do travel at Christmas, so the decorations at home are minimal: a 4′ tree in the bay window, wreaths inside and outside of all doors, poinsettias, and ceramic angels. I usually take about 6 Snow Village houses to our destination along with a small tree to create a warm holiday environment without the work a bigger tree would cause. The holidays bring family members together. We also find a friendly church at our destination and go to Christmas Eve service. We love the warmth of fellowship and decorations in a candle-lit sanctuary and we love singing all the hymns and carols. This is our favorite thing about the season. I usually take sewing projects with me to enjoy during our stay. The snowflake projects would be ideal as they are small, but gorgeous! We minimize the shopping and exchange a few gifts only with immediate family. In two years we will probably stop travelling at Christmas as my husband will be retired and no longer tied to traveling at school holiday times.
Rhonda Davis
September 13, 2014 at 1:18 pmMy favorite thing about the holidays is the family get togethers!
Corinne
September 13, 2014 at 12:29 pmMy favorite thing is seeing family.
Diane
September 13, 2014 at 12:26 pmDecorating the tree with handmade ornaments is my favorite. Takes forever because I have to look at each one and remember who gave it to me. One year when no one would help, I hung the tree upside from the ceiling and the ornaments looked so much better swinging free in the air – it became the most talked about tree ever. Memorable for sure. Getting a tree home and in the stand are a pain, so last year I found a place that delivers and the stand was guaranteed to be easy. It was and I’m doing that again this year. Worth every penny for the tree and I still have the stand. Hooray for choosing to do only what you like and finding an easy way to do it.
Diane
Barb Peters
September 13, 2014 at 12:24 pmLove your snowflakes–sometimes I miss living in the snow belt. My favorite thing about Christmas is the music–love, love, love making and hearing it!
Valerie
September 13, 2014 at 12:22 pmMy favourite thing about Christmas is spending Christmas day with my husband just relaxing and Boxing Day when all the kids come over and we sit and chat and nibble all afternoon.
Goldene
September 13, 2014 at 11:29 amMy favorite thing about the holidays is having my family with me!
Mary Ann
September 13, 2014 at 10:47 amI love sitting in the family room with the light out and the Christmas tree lit. The soft glow from the tree feels perfect. My husband and I both like this. It is our quit time to sit and talk. It is very restful and helps to center us.
Barb Ingersoll
September 13, 2014 at 10:38 amMy kids are grown and scattered but each Christmas brings at least some of the family home. ‘Traditions’ that might have easily slipped away resurface and the tree is always decorated with the ornaments we made together over the years, along with the inevitable stories behind each one. Music, food and family stories abound and we all hold fast to the feelings, memories and blessings the holidays bring.
Penny
September 13, 2014 at 10:27 amI love Christmas Eve –probably the busiest day of the year. We help at our church’s three services that last until about 10 PM, then come home to put the final touches on the Christmas meal we will take to grandparents’ house the next day.
deb Berkebile
September 13, 2014 at 10:06 amNow that the kids are all grown, I love when they come back to visit they’re good ole mom and we ate known to break out some type of craft. These snowflakes would be the best for this years homecoming.
Loretta Bedia
September 13, 2014 at 9:46 amI LOVE having my family for a Christmas dinner sometime in December. I come from a large family so of course in includes my seven siblings and spouses, my two daughters and son-in-laws, my son, and four grandchildren. When the children lived at home they would invite friends. Some of my nieces and nephews close in age to my children so they can catch up. I usually have 25 – 30 people and it is wonderful. I love your snowflakes.
carol d.
September 13, 2014 at 9:18 amI save up most of the year to bake the 14 different kinds of cookies my mom baked (she did lots more but these are my favorites), real butter, cream cheese, frosting, huge ginger people, trees and of course stars….3 of my grandkids are close enough for us to cook together which is the best bonus!!….Like you shopping is less than a pleasure so we go to museums where we are all surrounded by beauty. Thank you for the chance to win!
Jennifer Barkand
September 13, 2014 at 9:14 amI really enjoy the Christmas Cantatas, I have to admit the lights and decorations. I have not been able to decorate for over 4 years, so taking a “lights ride” has been something I have added to my list!
SusanL
September 13, 2014 at 9:09 amMy kids are tracked out of school for all of December so I absolutely LOVE doing all of the fun holidays activities around town with them… seeing Santa and all the lights & decorations, and making crafts and gifts for each other!
Pamela Reim
September 13, 2014 at 9:01 amWhat a great perspective. I do love unwrapping all the Christmas ornaments along with the memories. Christmas baking is at bottom of list anymore as my grandkids are far away and who needs the cslories…
Lynda
September 13, 2014 at 8:49 amI love how you’ve created Christmas to focus on what’s most important. One of my favorite things is to make our own Christmas cards.
Rebecca
September 13, 2014 at 8:48 amThank you for a glimpse into your family life. I congratulate you on your priorities.
Deanna Ellett
September 13, 2014 at 8:18 amI love the christmas family get togethers and the festive foods that go with them. I could do without the shopping too. Your snowflakes are lovely. Thanks for the chance to win
Kathy Plourde
September 13, 2014 at 8:00 amI love Christmas…except for buying presents…I love the music, food, family…
Julia Elliot
September 13, 2014 at 7:58 amThe thing I love is unwrapping the nativity scene and placing each piece in a formation a little different from last year. I love turning the house into a magical Christmas place.
Susie
September 13, 2014 at 7:52 amThe snowflakes are lovely and perfect for winter decor, even before the holidays!
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