Turning Halloween to Christmas; a Lesson in Personalizing a Design

Updated September 12, 2022.
Jack o’Lanterns, bats, kids in costumes and . . . black cats; all these are things we associate with Halloween. That, I’m afraid can pose a big problem for people like me who own (and love) black cats.

If I had a dime for every black cat canvas that has a Halloween theme, I’d be able to buy a great big canvas. If I had a dime for every black cat canvas that had a Christmas theme, I couldn’t even buy a cup of cheap coffee. I’ve done them both.

As a result, I have to personalize the canvases I find for the ornaments I’d like for our trees. Here are the steps I use

1. Make sure the canvas you pick has a cat that isn’t too scary-looking (screeching and overly arched backs are out)
2. Make sure your canvas has a minimum of other Halloween-themed items. Some of these can be redone depending on what and where they are. But remember that although changing colors can be easy, turning a pumpkin into a pillow is harder.
3. Change the eye color to a realistic cat eye color. I changed the gray eyes on this cat to olive green.
4. Change orange elements to red, Halloween green to a darker, brighter Christmas green, and look for alternatives to large areas of black other than the cat. Here I changed the orange ribbon to red.
5. Stitch over small elements and replace them with Christmas-themed embellishments. Here the end of the ribbon will hold a tiny star button.
6. If there is space, add names or other personal touches. This ornament is for my daughter to honor her black cat, Iggy. By adding the letters and heart at the bottom, the design becomes unique.

With a careful choice of canvas and some small changes, this Halloween canvas becomes a perfect choice for a Christmas ornament.