Ten gold blocks with Christmas trims! And my favorite is?

Here they are...all ten over the last eight months.  Each one had a different objective and different materials and techniques I wanted to try... The whole project was an experiment and, all in all, I'm happy with them.   But some were more successful than others. I tried to pick a favorite but could only narrow it down to two.

One of my two favorites was the peacock..  First because I was able to experiment with the widest variety of materials.. Second it was the biggest design challenge.  By nature peacocks are usually a linear design and I wanted one to fit on a 6" block and make a big impact..  The one thing I could do to make the body and tail seem large and dramatic was to make the head very small... I was able to use beads, buttons, braid, fabric, old jewelry, and cording among other things.  By far the broadest variety of materials of all the blocks..

The second favorite was an exercise in couching.  This was by far the most time consuming block but also came the closest to achieving what I set out to do...

On the other hand the block that was the most fun used the least amount of materials... but I adore whimsy.

The dragon presented the same kind of challenge as the peacock... trying to make a big impact in a small space.  I should have did the same thing I did with the peacock...make the head smaller...  I hadn't used sequins until this block and they were trotted out in force.  The trim along his spine was a particularly ugly, tacky one but when folded in half was perfect.

I'm sure as you look through the blocks you will notice the different approaches to delve into my stash of Christmas trims..and I hope you have a favorite... I love them all and learned from every one...