09 December 2019

A Custom Christmas: Mrs. Claus, Pink Conversion

Welcome, welcome, welcome to my 6th annual Christmas Open House! I am so glad you're here, and I'm so glad I'm here! It's been a challenging year and there were times when I wondered if I would get this done, but I was determined not to let this tradition lapse, and I was too excited about this year's theme to skip it.

Y'all know how much I love color conversions (there's a tab at the top of the page you can check out), and last year while working on A Christmas Tea, I was mugged by an idea, and A Custom Christmas was born. This week I'll be sharing Christmas projects that I've customized to fit Christmas at my house, and as I do every year, I'll also be sharing some of my favorite recipes. This year, I'm focusing on really easy recipes that go together quickly with ingredients it's easy to keep on hand, to leave more time for stitching and relaxing this holiday season. So join me here every day through Friday, bring your favorite hot beverage, and just wallow in Christmas! The kitchen and the sewing room are open!

Without further ado, here she is... my pink Mrs. Claus! This is Spirit of Mrs. Claus by Brooke Nolan and she's available in Brooke's Etsy store.





Here are the details of my pink conversion (original color--->my substitute):

border of dress:
3713--->369
3716--->368
335--->320

dress (I used Cosmo threads for the dress, but DMC has a couple of pink ranges that are similar):
666--->Cosmo 431 (lightest shade)
321--->Cosmo 432 (medium shade)
815--->Cosmo 433 (darkest shade)

collar:
676--->white
680--->762

belt:
700--->369
890--->368

mug:
164--->368
913--->320
321--->Cosmo 432

cake stitched in ecru and 433

Kreinik #8 braid:
3202--->101
003--->007
3509--->089

Mill Hill beads:
02011--->silver

DMC Memory Thread (roses, details on wings, glasses, braids): white, pink, white luster, silver

I omitted the lazy daisies stitched on the bottom of her dress, as I wanted more of the pink sparkles to show. As I always do, I gave her brown eyes instead of green, and I skipped stitching the puppy. And I changed the cake to white with chocolate frosting because that's Mr. Wonderful's favorite.

I used Cosmo for the dress because I wanted a muted, dusky pink and DMC doesn't have the exact range of pinks I was looking for. The range on the right is close, but richer and has more red. The range on the left is pretty, but much rosier than I wanted. Either would make a lovely pink Mrs. Claus, if you can't get hold of Cosmo threads.

UPDATE: A very helpful update from reader Joanne--she found a reliable online source for Cosmo threads! Thank you so much, Joanne!

And here are instructions for how I finish perforated paper, and my thoughts on the joys of perforated paper, in case you've never worked with it. 

And now for a recipe! As I said at the beginning of this post, this week's recipes are all about quickness and convenience. If you've been reading for a while, you know that I am serious about slowing down the holidays and making them quiet, cozy, and enjoyable. (I rambled at length about this subject a while back: Part 1 and Part 2.) With that in mind, I'm sharing a few of my favorite throw-it-together-and-get-back-to-stitching recipes.

This one is wonderful for breakfast or snack time. Get some bagels (I like the mini ones), toast them, spread this goodness on them, and enjoy. Scrumptious.

Orange Cream Cheese Spread

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 Tbsp. orange juice
1/2 tsp. orange extract
3/4 c. confectioners sugar
bagels

Beat cream cheese til fluffy, then beat in orange juice and orange extract. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar. Store in the fridge. Try not to eat it all the first day.

*****
Hope you've enjoyed the first day of this year's Christmas Open House. Come on back tomorrow to see Mr. Wonderful's Christmas ornament for this year!

22 comments:

  1. Your pink creation is simply lovely! I am not a big pink person, but the threads you chose seem to just fit all those confections she is holding. I've never heard of Cosmo threads, but will check into them. And thanks for the tasty sounding recipe, too :)

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  2. The pink Mrs. Claus is stunning, Honeybee! I am not a big pink fan, but I really do like your pink stitching. It is very appealing. I always enjoy seeing your conversions; you definitely have a good eye for what works as well as what you want your end product to look like. How do you like stitching with the Cosmo threads? Thank you for providing the recipe; I am all about the quick and easy! I am looking forward to your open house this week!

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  3. You continue to totally amaze me with your creativity and gorgeous results!!!! She is beautiful!!!! Makes me think of sugarplum fairies and ballerinas....swoon!!!! And that orange cream cheese spread is a keeper :) Thank you so very much for sharing all this with us!!!!

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  4. Your version of Mrs Santa is much prettier. I like dusky pinks too. The spread sounds yummy. Thanks!

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  5. Mrs. Claus is lovely in pink. You certainly have a good eye for conversions.

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  6. So happy to see the first day of your Christmas Open House- always a fun week! Mrs. Claus is so pretty in shades of pink; you have a real talent for color conversions. Thanks for the recipe too. I agree with having quick recipes you can throw together so you can get back to stitching and relaxing!
    Mary

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  7. Beautiful conversion. Thanks for sharing and your delicious recipe sounds just yummy indeed.

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  8. You do such gorgeous work, Honeybee. Beautiful Mrs. Claus!

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  9. Exquisite stitching and Mrs Claus looks so beautiful. I have a couple of the Angel ones, on my "to do" list. Kay.

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  10. You did a great conversion, she's beautiful!
    Thanks for the recipe.
    Looking forward for more.
    Marilyn

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  11. This is truly amazing!!!! what charm and character Mrs. Claus has!! I love it!

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  12. 💗Well you know I am a BIG fan of her!! Love this Mrs. Claus.💗

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  13. I LOVE the color conversion! A pink Christmas is my favorite too! Keep'em coming! Thanks, Tina

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  14. Hi Honeybee! I LOVE the dusty pinks you chose. I have another pattern I'd like to try those colors on, but can't find any retailer (online) who carries the Cosmo flosses, and those that DO carry them, don't have those colors. Where do you have the best luck purchasing Cosmo flosses?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Joanne! I've actually never seen it in a cross stitch shop; it seems to be more popular among quilters. Fat Quarter Shop in Texas and The Country Sampler in Nebraska carry it. You might call and see if you can do a mail order for those colors. I'll keep looking, but I'm about to go out of town so it may be a bit.

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    2. Hi Honeybee! Thanks for the quick reply. I'll try Fat Quarter. I also heard back from 123 Stitch and they gave me 3 suggestions:
      - Etsy (didn't have much luck in the past....it's hit or miss)
      - Oh Sew Retro
      - Thread Bear Fabrics

      Have a safe trip! ...and Merry Christmas!

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    3. I had excellent luck with Oh Sew Retro! Mary was a delight to deal with and got everything to me (plus a little something extra!) within 2 days. She carries the complete line of Cosmo flosses.

      Just another lead for anyone looking for a reliable source of Cosmo flosses!

      ~~Joanne

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    4. Joanne, THANK YOU! I'm so glad you found them! I've updated the post with this source.

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  15. Mrs. Claus looks wonderful in pink. I love including pink in my mix of Christmas ornaments.

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  16. Honeybee: Do you have any plans to convert the Brooke's Books 'Santa Claus' to match your Mrs. Claus conversion? If so, would you be willing to share again? I'm starting your Mrs. Claus version in the next couple of weeks, and would like to plan for Santa's list of supplies at the same time. Thanks, Honeybee!!

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    1. Hi Joanne! I do plan to do a color conversion of the Santa, but I don't know when I'll get him done (and he won't be pink). I hope I can get him done this year and I'll definitely share the conversion when I do.

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