White Christmas by Di Kirchner

In sunny Down Under where we celebrate the holiday season in summer, a White Christmas is a concept that belongs in dreams and fairytales.

It was this magical and dreamy vision of a far-away White Christmas that inspired Australian designer, Di Kirchner to create a whimsical and delicate all-white window decoration. 

The focus of Di’s latest project White Christmas from the book The Design Collective | Christmas, is a cluster of holly leaves, tendrils, twigs, and berries, which forms a source emanating sparkling silver rays, all framed in a white ring.

Although these elements, when embroidered, look and feel delicate, holly is a hardy plant that has been used as a representation of winter celebrations for centuries.

Northern European cultures believed holly held special significance as the plant remains green and bears fruit during winter when most other plants shed their leaves and become dormant. It became the symbol of winter solstice celebrations and was believed to bring good luck for the new year.

The Celts believed that the holly tree, or cuileann in Irish, held magical powers and druids wore sprigs of holly during their festivals and rituals. They considered the tree to be holy and never to be felled. Early Christians adopted holly as a reminder of Jesus’s suffering and a homage to the legend that his crown of thorns was made from holly branches. 

The three large berries are worked by wrapping wooden beads in threads and covering them with seed beads while the smaller berries are thread-wrapped pebble beads.

Although the design looks intricate and delicate, it only uses a few simple techniques including wrapping, beading, and couching as well as blanket, satin and straight stitches. The magic and whimsy are created by the clever use of white, silver, and grey threads in rayon, and metallic, as well as stranded, floche, and perlé cotton.

Whether you are in the sunny South or the snowy North, with our White Christmas you can sing along to Bing Crosby:

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow, oh, the snow

Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

White Christmas by Di Kirchner is a white hanging ornament with a garland of leaves, beaded berries and twigs.

Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for White Christmas includes everything* you need to re-create this lovely hanging ornament: Fabric (unprinted), wires, wooden beads, metal ring, bias binding, ribbon, embroidery threads, beads and needles.

*Please Note: To cater for flexibility of purchase, instructions are not included with our kits. For step-by-step directions on how to create this project, please refer to the book.