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Stay tuned for more of the 12 Days of Christmas, Chickens in the Basement style. But, right now, I have to tell you about a present that arrived in the mail for my son. The timing was so appropriate, too.

For the last four months, my Aunt Mollie has been working on an ornament for Will. This is his second year playing the trombone in Wakefield High School Marching Band. She had trouble finding the right color felt for the jacket. Mom found that. Whenever Will was in uniform, he was always rushing and unable to pose for a photo, so details had to be gathered from various performance shots. The feathers on top of the ornament are from my hen, Shakira! I found the trombone at SuzAnna's Antiques. It was a real group effort to gather details, but Mollie, the creative genius, pulled it all together.

This afternoon when Will got home from his last Marching Band performance of the season (they marched in the Wake Forest Christmas Parade), there was a package waiting for him. When he opened it, his mouth hung open while he studied the details. He had no idea Mollie had been working on this for him. He was thrilled and couldn't wait to call to thank her!

We had to rearrange some other ornaments on the tree to make space for this one front and center.

Just to show you how talented Mollie is, here are some other pretties she has created...

This year, she made everyone in the family one of these...

She tatted the design then wrapped them around the ornament. It is so pretty on the tree with the lights reflecting off it. The detail with such small stitches! As if tatting weren't hard enough, this is three-dimensional!

Several years ago, Mollie made ornaments for the whole family for the first time. Granny had died the year before. You'll hear more about Granny in the days to come. She is the inspiration for all of the Christmas trees my extended family puts up each year. It's easiest just to show you...

Mollie made these for us that year. It's amazing how accurate the image is. I love hanging this on the tree every year along with all of the ornaments Granny made.

Once we check Christmas off our list for the year, I'll have to show you some of the other beautiful things Mollie has created. She paints, writes beautifully in calligraphy, makes the best fudge and Devil's food cake (just like Granny) and, according to Mom and Katie, is the nicest of the three sisters!

This was taken at The Tea Room when Mollie's last birthday was celebrated. The sister's don't always wear hats and will probably send me nasty e-mails for using this photo of them, but it's the only one I have in my computer of the three of them. Left to right: Mom (Pat), Katie and Mollie.

Stay tuned! The Sixth Day of Christmas will return on Monday. Hope your weekend is as fun as mine!