Anthropologie-Inspired Felt Christmas Stocking

IMG_4921I know, I know. I’m writing about my Christmas stocking in the final days of January, but to my defense, this month has flown by. I’m ready to flip my calendar to February with hopeful thoughts that next month won’t be as crazy.

But back to Christmas: this year I decided I wanted to buy a nice Christmas stocking, one that I would treasure year after year. When I stumbled across this stocking at Anthropologie, I was instantly smitten, but the price tag made me think twice. The thought is almost reflexive at this point: I could totally make this!

IMG_4907I’ll keep the picture of the Anthopologie stocking small because when placed side-by-side, my stocking looks pretty “crafty” in comparison. The difference is in the quality. I’m sure Anthopologie used expensive wool. I used acrylic felt from Hobby Lobby. They used these adorable mini pom poms with a trendy color pallet. I was stuck with the primary colored trim selection at JoAnn Fabrics.

Don’t get me wrong, I love how my stocking turned out, especially when you compare the price. I spent about $8. The item is now out of stock, but I remember Anthropologie selling it for almost $50.

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In my excitement of the project (plus, I made it really late at night and the lighting would have been a mess), I didn’t take many step-by-step pictures. But the process doesn’t venture far from a normal Christmas stocking tutorial. After cutting out the main piece of the stocking, I simply attached rows of trim. And instead of using my sewing machine, I used a blanket stitch to hand sew the stocking together. I used light blue thread to provide a little contrast.

My final touch was the accent of purple and magenta yarn pom poms. I hunted for the white yarn in the similar style, but after going to a few stores, I felt lucky to have stumbled across the purple yarn. So I made it work!

I’m sure when Christmas comes around this year, I’ll go through the same thought process of wanting a buy nice stocking. But for now, I’m excited that this Christmas stocking is mine.

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A [Felt] Breakfast of Champions

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When my sister-in-law told me that my 19-month-old nephew loved to “cook,” I figured I could chip in a few ingredients. And while Ikea has supplied him with my the basic fruits and vegetables, I thought I would provide a whole meal: felt fried eggs, felt bacon and a stack of felt pancakes.

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The easiest of the 3 items is the felt fried eggs because you really can’t go wrong. I used two pieces of the white felt (cut in any shape) and one circle of yellow felt for the yoke. Once I attached the yoke to one piece of the white felt, I blanket stitched the two pieces of white felt together (using two pieces hides the back stitch from the attaching the yoke and it adds some thickness).

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I created the felt bacon strips next. Again, using two pieces of brown felt to add thickness. I added the line of “fat” using light brown felt.

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For the felt pancakes, I cut two circles of light brown felt as well as “syrup” with dark brown felt and “butter” with yellow felt. I attached the “syrup” and “butter” to one of the circles, and then using a blanket stitch, I attached the second circle, leaving a small hole to stuff the pancakes with batting before sewing it closed.

I don’t know what what could be more adorable. Well, then there’s lunch…

Two Years In

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With another year comes another milestone. Today marks this blog’s 2nd birthday!! And all I can saw is thank you.

Following my summer hiatus, I logged back into WordPress and found an average of 30 visitors a day. And this is after four months of posting nothing. I don’t know who all of you are, but I am grateful for your loyalty and encouragement.

I’ll keep posting if you keep coming back.