In light of the baptism of our future king; the currently-a-baby Prince George, yesterday, we reflected on our little stock of baby blessing cross stitch kits, and had a thought or few about which public holidays and special occasions benefit the most when a wonderfully embroidered pattern or chart is received. After much inner consultation from our experts, we bring you our own personal patented-pattern list of favourites:
5. Christenings
Carrying on our little post royal baby blessing cheer, it's pretty easy to see why christenings (along with naming ceremonies) benefit hugely from a hand embroidered memento. Cross stitch patterns with room available for names, dates and churches/venues have been a long standing tradition for gifts or commemorative items, thanks to their emphasis on uniqueness and ability to personalize. Whether you frame them for the home wall or keep them as an keepsake for when baby boy or girl grows up, it's by no means a demand for the day, but it's certainly a way to make it even more memorable.
4. Mother's Day and Father's DayAll to often, we honour the love we have for Mum and Dad with nothing more than a impersonal greeting card from a high street shop or newsagent. There's hardly a better way to show how much you care for a parent than with longtime spent on a fantastic cross stitch made just for them. Fine for a birthday as well as Father's/Monther's day, they don't need to have a message specificaly targeting the day, just something simple that symbolizes your close relationship. And if you're a stitching man, don't feel there's any expected reason for you to shrug off the idea of giving your old man a cross stitch pattern.
3. Spring and Easter
Spring is our personal favourite of the seasons. The feeling of starting afresh, sowing new seeds and weather that hits just the right spot between blistering and frosty, we'd gladly spend the whole of March and April putting together a cross stitch that shows just how much we love it. Of course, it's also when we get to celebrate Easter with bountiful chocolates, religious ceremony and watching our children search the garden for eggs (that may or may not actually be out there..).
2. Anniversaries, Weddings and Valentines Day
To be honest, all three of these deserve individual spots, but in our want and need to cram as many occasions in, we made a concession. Just like with all events, it's knowing how much time went into making the present that makes a pattern such a lovely gesture for newlyweds on their big day, a couple or partner on a milestone anniversary, or for a special someone on the most love filled day of the year. We always aim to arm you with a variety of choices, whether it be a photo-style chart elegant in its simplicity, a 3-D congratulations or a card that's as handmade as the pattern it houses.
1. Christmas
Wow, what else can we say about Christmas? Even though we're only now 2 months away from Christmas Eve itself, we previously did a four-part look ahead at the many wonderful variants of the Christmas cross stitch kit. From multi-dimensional cards to Winter wonderful pieces and crafty xmas tree decorations, the reason Christmas stands tall as the best occasion for to work towards with a challenging cross stitch kits lies in the abundance of symbols, iconography, traditions and multiple points of interest that makes the holiday, still, the most heart-warming few days of the entire year.
Are there any holidays or special occasions not on this list that you regularly stitch towards? Which ones do you think people need to get their needle out more for? Let us know over at our Facebook page, on our Twitter or over at our Google+, where you can also share your gifts with our cross stitch community (where hopefully that certain someone won't see it..).