Stocking Substitute

As the all four of my kids have grown up, gotten married and moved on they have all taken their Christmas stockings with them.  Leaving me with not just an empty nest, but an empty mantel and the questions: what do I do with their stocking stuffer presents when they are all home for Christmas???

It's a week before Christmas and I can't make 7 stockings...besides they all have stockings at their own homes.  I thought of little boxes, but couldn't find the right size. I found some cute tins, but they were more than I wanted to spend.  Here is what I came up with after wandering around Michaels:

Some stickers and tags; each couple will have a theme

Some handle bags

decorative tape

a finished Christmas bag "stocking"

The mantle full and the "stockings"ready to be filled, now I better finish my shopping and get to the wrapping!

Merry Christmas everyone!

-Cindy

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C-R-E-A-T-I-V-E

One of Sophia's birthday (click here to see her penguin-themed party) gifts was this adorable name-plate, handmade by our friend Heidi. Not only is it a gift that Sophia won't grow out of (she got 7 pairs of pajamas!), but it also compliments the colors in her bedding (the bedding that inspired this whole endeavor a year ago). 

Such a great personalized gift!

SO cute!

And here's the inspirational bedding:

What a great gift idea! Thanks Heidi! What creative things have you done with scrabble letters?

--Sarah

Harvest Card

I noticed this past week in the card isle of the Grocery store a growing number of Thanksgiving cards. I suppose every other holiday and occasion has cards, so why not Thanksgiving? Given that cards are soooo expensive,  making your own is a great idea! And if you happen to had a scrap bag, a great use of those odd-shaped little pieces of fabric.

Here's how I made mine:

 I happened to have card stock and matching envelopes from the "intro paper packet" that came with our printer (so many years ago when we bought it). They are a nice heavy weight and have a pre-fold crease down the middle. 

I grabbed a few harvest colored fabrics from my scrap bag...

...and sewed one of the squares onto the card.

I added another piece of fabric, gathering it as I sewed to create a ruffle.

I picked out a couple more fabrics and gathered them in a way that resembled a leaf, then sewed them together across the base.

 I added the leaf to the card by sewing "veins" up and down the leaf shape. (Sorry this picture is so fuzzy...I need to invest in a better camera)

I added the message: "Happy Harvest" and my fabric card was done!

--Sarah

Pottery Barn Advent Calendar DIY

Two years ago the Pottery Barn debuted this advent calendar in their Pottery Barn Kids catalog. I loved it! I loved the way there were pockets for every day and I imagined our future family (we didn't have kids yet) tucking little gifts into the pockets and exchanging them each day leading up to Christmas.

I remember as a kid, my parents would get a paper advent calendar that had little doors and each night, after my dad got home from work we would all stand around the fridge while he opened the door. The anticipation of the moment is still a vivid memory of my childhood, one that I wanted my own children to experience too. 

I wanted to order it back in 2008, but it was $69 (!!) and we didn't have any kids at that time so it didn't seem like a legitimate purchase (not that you need kids to have an Advent calendar). So I decided then that I would make it. I went down to the local craft store and purchased several yards of green felt and a whole stack of 8x11 pieces of felt in every color I could find and a whole bunch of embroidery floss (the same supplies I used for those easy felt ornaments). 

I roughly followed the same dimensions that were listed in the Pottery Barn catalog: 36" wide and 61" high.When it came to the shape of the tree, I folded the felt in half and with a dark marker drew the shape of the tree onto the felt.  I also copied some of the pocket motifs: the snowman, stocking, santa and ribbons, but I also personalized many of the pockets with places that are important to our family.

Here's the Pottery Barn Version

Here's my version:

 

 A look at some of the pockets:

For most of the pockets I glued the small pieces then used a blanket stitch around them to secure them and give a more finished look. 

 Snowman

 Baby Jesus in the manger.

 Gift and mittens.

 The North Pole

 Christmas tree light strings (really they are buttons!) and gingerbread.

 Holly.

 Tree and ornaments.

 Pockets can hold all kinds of goodies: stickers, playing cards, little activity kits, note pads...

 And then there were the pockets I made that had personal significance:

 Lighthouse, since we vacation every year at the beach in Maine where my husband's family owns a beach house.

 Cactus, for the years we lived in Arizona and had "Christmas in the Desert."

 

 Mt. Washington summit, where my husband and I first met hiking.

 The Tree is two pieces of felt stitched together. I didn't put any sort of batting or interfacing in between. It was stiff enough on its own.

 Three O-rings on the back to hang from. It lays flat nicely against the wall without any need for extra support.

 It took me about a year to make, not because it time consuming, but because it was one of those projects that I just kept putting off. I finished it last year, just in time for Christmas. Last Christmas Sophia was a brand-new, two-week-old baby, this year she'll be a year old and more able to participate in our new family tradition!

 --Sarah