My Parsnip for Christmas Ornament

 There are times that words can get you into trouble, and others where a slip of the tongue can lead to marvelous moments and creative adventures. Such was the latter case, when my dear friend of Marion's World, had a silly slip of the tongue when hanging her partridge on her Advent Garland. She said,"Parsnip" instead of Partridge, and thus was born the saying, "The Parsnip in a Pear Tree!" Oh how we all laughed along, but it didn't stop there, oh no! She came back to hang a handmade parsnip the very next day. It was such a riot, I just had to try and make one too. I give all the credit to her, for it brought me more moments of giggles than I have had in a very long time! I laughed the whole time I was making it. Then, to top it off after I had finished mine, today she posted a, "How To", video that sent me into bouts of laughter all over again. I could see now how hers was done, but wouldn't you know she hadn't done it the way I did at all. LOL  Hers was a much simpler way. But since, as you will see, I hadn't her supplies, I think I may be forgiven. She also made hers much smaller, but I couldn't tell the scale through the phone I was watching it on, so once again I must ask for forgiveness. Mine is a whopping parsnip at 12.5 inches, and hers is a dainty 5.5 or 6 inches, counting the stem. Still, it's all about the fun and just grabbing some fabric and winging it! Tally Ho and all that!

I started off with a rectangle of old white t-shirt, which I had cut into the size I wanted, as I hadn't any linen scraps like hers. The nice thing about t-shirt it rolls up nicely. I started stitching from the tips, and as I hadn't seen how she made it, I stitched it from the roots up. As the root got fatter I rolled up more scraps of the t-shirt and stuffed the pointy ends into the root and kept stitching. Making sure all my tiny stitches went back and forth through the root, keeping everything in place. This was a bit fiddly but not too difficult.

I really must apologize, as I got so caught up in the making I forgot to take pictures. You can see from the top picture that I sewed a tight seam up the back, but at the same time, I kept stitching clear through the parsnip pulling it to make dimples, while securing the opening down. As I was doing the roots I decided not to have four roots, so just rolled over the fabric, and rolled the fourth root into the third root, so I wouldn't have to cut it off. I must say, the stretch of the t-shirt material really helped at this point. When I got done with the roots how I liked them, I continued by stuffing some old pillow stuffing I had saved from a worn out throw pillow, into the parsnip with a chop stick, and kept stitching with my white thread. Making sure that all my stitches ran in a horizontal line around the parsnip so that it looked right. The more I got into this the more it made me laugh.

I cut a strip of green felt from the scrap the parsnip is now lying on, and cut intermittently into it, then rolled it up to make a bunch of greenery for the top. Then I took fine tipped cloth marking pens and drew funny lines where each dip in the fabric was, because I didn't have a better way, and couldn't  see that Marion had used variegated brown thread. Ha ha ha this makes me laugh so much! WE are getting to the root of things now! The roots are so long and whippy I could have twined them any which way I wanted, but I liked them just hanging free.

Here I went looking for a spot on my jingle bell garland to hang it, and wouldn't you know there was a spot, facing my kitchen. How appropriate was that?! LOL 

 

 So I hung it up, but something just wasn't quite right. It was so white it looked like a huge white horseradish. Everyone knows parsnips are yellowish, so I took him down and gave him a little wash.

A little wash of yellow acrylic paint diluted in water that is. After he had dried, I hung my parsnip up with a bit of green hemp cord, and I gotta say, this is the grandest, funniest, and only parsnip I have ever had the pleasure of making. For a first attempt, it will most certainly do! Thank you Marion, you are the tops!  

So if any of you out there want a funny project, and you want to be part of the fun. Just head on over to Marion's World on Youtube, and take a gander at what she has made and what all she gets up to. She also has another channel on Youtube called Marion's Garden, and it too is full of fun and adventure's. I dare you to do it, because once you do, you will be hooked just like the rest of us. She is the grandest of fun and fanciful ladies and I am happy to call her, friend!

I hope you are all having a good day. May God bless!