My mother, Tonie, loved Christmas.
She decorated every part of every room in the house.
Mom had different Christmas themes each year.
There was her Victorian Christmas, Blue and Silver, Traditional, Red and Gold, just to name a few.

Mom was very talented and creative.
She made wreaths and arrangements.
Mom was also very good at crocheting and embroidery.

Mom embroidered this denim shirt for my younger sister.
I would love to do something with this, but I don’t know what can be done without losing the integrity of mom’s beautiful embroidery.
    

What I loved the best, was mom’s bead work.
When my older sister was a teenager, mom would bead the entire lace bodice of my sister’s formals.
She would bead lace appliques and add them to the paeu de soie skirt of the formals.
Mom always wanted to do the same for me, but I did not like going to formal dances.
She joked about beading some jeans for me.
She did bead a purse for me, but I just can’t find it.
I know it is some box somewhere in this house.

Mom has been on my mind quite a bit.
I wanted to share some of her lovely beading work.
She beaded a tree skirt for my siblings and me.
I gave two to my son, since I no longer put up a large tree.

Mom had me draw and cut the felt petals for these poinsettias.
Then she covered every inch of the petal with beads and sequins.
My son sent me this picture of his tree and one of the skirts mom made.
It brought back memories of seeing mom working on beading these poinsettias.
I drew this poinsettia for my art journal today.

Years ago, Mom purchased a fabric panel of the Nativity scene.
It took her a few years, but she beaded the entire panel and made a tree skirt.
My favorite part is the sheep.
They are beaded with pearls.


Some sheep are beaded in sequins.


Mom did lovely work.
She had bins filled with all types of beads.
One time, we were in Laredo, our home town, and we turned it into a bead buying spree.
When we were preparing to sell her house, I took all of her beads, lace, and doilies.
Someday, I will make something with those doilies.

I knew that beading is something that I could not do, so I gave most of the beads to my friend, Nancy.
Nancy is very creative and I knew she would put them to good use.
Nancy used these beads to make bracelets for all the women in the family.
My sisters, granddaughter, and daughter-in-laws loved receiving these bracelets, as did I.

Nancy also used the beads to decorate a pillow she made for me.

She is a very special friend.