Linda's Review of Best Friend Santa - Mill Hill Jim Shore #JS20-5106

It definitely isn't any where near the holiday season so I'm sure you're wondering why I'm showing you a Christmas cross-stitch ornament I just finished.  Well, I started this after last Christmas and just finished it the other day.  It's a 3 1/2" by 5" ornament so it only takes a few hours to make but I only had a chance to work on it for a few minutes here or there.  As a result, it took months to finish.

I just love to cross-stitch small ornaments especially when they contain images of dogs.  I also love cross-stitching small ornaments because they don't take a lot of time to complete.So, when I saw the "My Best Friend Santa" cross-stitch ornament from Mill Hill I knew I was going to make it.

The "My Best Friend Santa" ornament kit contained the presorted thread, 14 count perforated paper, needles (stitching and beading), beads and instructions.  The  pattern uses full counted cross-stitch and outline stitching for emphasis and depth.

The pattern came with starting, stitching and back finishing instructions as well as samples of the various stitches required, beading instructions and color code chart (with code #'s, color names, and cross-stitch symbols) and a black and white chart with black and white coded symbols.  For the most part the colors and symbols on the keys and chart were easy to read and follow.  However, the symbols behind the highlighted lines were hard to read at times.  

A JS20-5106 Correction sheet for two of the key symbols that were wrong was included in the kit.  The medium salmon symbol was wrong and the white symbol was wrong in the code chart.

I had no problem cross-stitching the Santa ornament and then cutting the perforated paper close to the sides of the Santa figure. This kit did come with instructions for finishing the back and I opted to finish mine with red felt which I glued to the back with an Avery disappearing color glue stick.  I trimmed the edges so the felt was aligned with the perforated paper.  


Instead of adding a floss hanger according to the instructions I opted to sew two strands of floss to the top of the ornament, securing the edge of the ornament with an additional stitch and then tying the ends at the top in a large knot. 

Unfortunately I can't tell you how many hours it took me to complete this ornament as I've been working on it little by little over the last few months and didn't keep track of it. 

I was very happy with the way my Mill Hill Counted Cross Stitch, Santa and best friend ornament turned out and hope you like it too.