Felt Christmas Stockings

Jan15

It’s been a year and a half since I logged into this WordPress site, and this great hiatus is not because I’ve stopped crafting. Goodness, no. But instead, I let this project that once brought me tremendous joy sail away with other seasonal life interests. I could blame the busyness of work or that I’m now taking graduate classes at night. But in truth, I think the joy that led me to create this blog began to fade a year and a half ago, making a fun side hobby feel more like work.

Well, as some people say, never throw anything away because its bound to come back in style.

Over the Christmas break, I was inspired to read through the countless blog posts I have here. Of course, it’s a little embarrassing to see how many spelling and grammatical errors exist (and I’m sure there are a few in this post too), but the walk down memory lane was fun. At the same time, I was creating felt stocking for my parents, using patterns/kits by Bucilla.

Christmas was a little different this year for my family. My mother was recently diagnosed with cancer, and two weeks before Christmas, she underwent a very intensive surgery that caused an extended hospital stay. My parents live in Georgia; I live in Alabama. So for several weeks, I made the trip back and forth.

As I’ve said on this blog before, my mother has the best advice, and her crème de la crème is this: Know what makes you happy, so when times turn sad, you have tools you can use to lift yourself up.

My greatest tool is crafting and sewing… and a whole of prayer. I can’t remember when the idea came to me, but I know this project of creating felt stockings was one of the greatest blessings during this difficult time.

Not only did the kits throughly entertain me during a time where there was a lot of sitting around, but they able gave me a focused line of thought on something positive and beautiful.

I finished my dad’s stocking before the surgery, and I worked on my mom’s throughout her recovery in the hospital. Once it was finished, I was able to hang it on her wall, adding a bit of Christmas decoration to her small hospital room.

And I will note: the kits were amazing portable. I utilized small jars to organize the beads and sequins, using a magnet on the underside of the lids to store the sewing needles. I was able to contain everything I needed in a single freezer zip lock bag, so no matter where I was—siting at my craft table, the floor of a waiting room, the chair in the hospital room, etc.—I was able to work on it.

Mom ended up leaving the hospital on Christmas afternoon, and in the following days, we opened presents and tried our best to celebrate a normal holiday season. The new stockings for Mom and Dad hung on the mantle with the felt stockings Mom made for me and my brothers when we were born.

I’ve been writing a lot about this season I just experienced, mainly in Word documents that one day may see the light of day. In doing so, I felt the joy that I once had for this blog rising back up with in. So here I am, back for reading pleasure. The good news is, I have a lot of content from the past year and a half that I can share with you. I hope you enjoy.

Celebrating Christmas in July with Yarn-Wrapped Ornaments

Jul14

The folks over at Patience Brewster reached out to me last week with a question: How are you celebrating Christmas in July?

I loved the line they used in their email, “Though we do flourish when the sun is high in the sky and the flowers are blooming, our minds are always on Christmas!”

I’ll admit, I have a hard time thinking about Christmas when it’s 100 degrees outside, but looking through Patience Brewster’s Christmas line, I was inspired by the colors she uses. Despite winter being a cold, dark-colored month, Patience uses bright, bold colors that remind me of summer.

So I reconsidered the question, and I have an answer. I celebrate Christmas in July by making the projects I ran out of time to make last year, like these yarn-wrapped Christmas ornaments.

I had all of the materials to make this project because I had purchased the Styrofoam balls last December. Alas, you can only do so many Christmas crafts before the magical days finally arrives. (I understand why Santa needs all year to prepare.)

This project is also a great way to use leftover yarn (which I have by the basketfuls). Otherwise, you’ll need Mod Podge, a paintbrush (for the glue) and a knitting needle (which I used to poke a hole through the ball.)

Using the knitting needle, I guided a long piece of yarn through the hole, and then brought it back around the ball to knot at the top. And as you go about gluing on the rest of the yarn, try to keep these pieces out of the glue. When you’re done, tie the two loose pieces together to be the string that attaches the ornament to the tree.

Starting in the middle, I painted the Mod Podge along the circumference, and then I slowly wrapped the yarn around the ball, gently pressing the yarn into the glue. Though you can continually work until you’re done, I think it’s beneficial to occasionally stop and let the glue dry, especially if you get too much glue on your fingers. (I find it helpful to let them dry as they hang. My chandelier proved to be the perfect drying spot.)

For the more colorful ornament, I applied the yarn in pieces instead of continuing wrapping it. This version definitely takes longer (and if you’re like me and dislike glue, it definitely requires more patience).

I think I’ll let these decorate my gardenia bush for a little bit before I store them away with other Christmas ornaments. But thanks to Patience, I definitely have Christmas on my mind. Once you start to think of Christmas ideas, it feel like the opportunities are endless.

Anthropologie-Inspired Felt Christmas Stocking

Jan28

I 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!

I’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.

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.

Felt Dr. Who Christmas Stocking

Oct29

The best kinds of custom orders are the ones that give you a topic you could run with. For this project, my friend asked if I could make something out of felt relating to Christmas and Dr. Who. So my first thought – a Tardis Christmas stocking!

The idea was solidified by a picture I saw on Pinterest. (It’s so hard to have an original idea these days.) But in the picture, it looked like everything was glued down, and I decided to sew everything in place instead. Plus, I added the touch of holly and a wreath to add to the Christmas theme.

It’s not a large stocking, but it’ll be perfect to hang at your desk, in a school locker or on a door handle. Send me a message via my contact page if you want to place a custom order for yourself!

A Felt Christmas

Dec24

Merry Christmas Eve!! My parents gave me an old Christmas tree they had to use in my house in Birmingham, but when school let out, I brought it home to decorate my wing of the house (aka the basement).

So with a blank slate, I naturally pulled out some felt.

I freehanded each piece. I wish I could give you a template, but the project began on a whim, thinking I could use them as gift tags. Quickly, one or two ordaments turned into twenty.

To add additional decorations to the tree, I created a very simple paper garland to wrap the tree in. I purchased some Christmas scrapbooking paper and used a punch to make all of the circles.

Using a sewing machine creates a very easy process. Simply slipping each circle under the sewing foot as the machine feeds it through. Once you get the rhythm, you’ll have 6-feet of garland before you know it.

The final step (and the best step) is taking everything you have made and adding it to the tree.

And there you have it. A tree so simple, you could create it the day before!

From my family to yours – I wish you a very crafty Christmas!!

Christmas Cookies

Dec21

It’s that time of the year again. Merry Christmas!

I was never an architect.

Dec24

But thanks to an old kit from Williams Sonoma, I am able to make gingerbread houses… from scratch! And with it’s planned out design, all I have to do is make, roll out and cut the dough. Let it bake and then decorate to my heart’s content!

My mom says they will be the centerpiece for Christmas dinner. I don’t know if they are worthy of a centerpiece, but Liz and I sure had a fun time making them!

And can we talk about these 3D tree cookies?!

Tis’ the Season

Dec22

I am a big fan of block letters. I have made them multiple times as personalized birthday gifts, and for Christmas, I thought it would be a simple (yet wonderful) decoration. I bought the cardboard block letters from a craft store (I love JoAnn’s and Hobby Lobby the best), and with a yard of fabric, it was easy to create this.

As you can see, I’m a big fan of plaid. And note, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to make each letter.

(1) Use the letter as a stencil when cutting out the fabric. Cut with a margin of 1/2 inch around each letter. (2) Use Modpodge to glue the fabric to the letter. Glue the margins down to the sides of the letter, creating a smooth, clean edge. (3) Do this on either side of the letter. (4) Cut a long strip of fabric, again with 1/2 margins on either side. (For instance, these letters had a width of 1 inch, so I cut strips with a 2-inch width). (4) Fold the margins in to create the exact width of the letter and glue down with Modpodee. (5) With Modpodge, glue the strip along the sides of each letter.

It’s that easy! As an extra touch, you could add quilt backing underneath the fabric. The backing adds an extra expense, because you have to buy it in a roll, but it’s a detail that makes it look like it came from Anthropology (always a winning situation.)

I brought the letters home and found the perfect spot for them in the living room downstairs.

And since I thought the room lacked on holiday decorations (compared to upstairs, at least), I added a simple paper garland.

It too was super easy to make. I simply used a 1-inch circle cutter and a 1/8 inch hole punch. I used double-sided paper, and once I punched out the circles and the holes, I strung them on basic white thread. Quick and easy!

Christmas Tradition: Cookies!

Dec21

It’s a tradition in my family that I make Christmas cookies (aka gingerbread cookies) every year. I spend about 5 hours rolling, cutting, cooking and decorating these bad boys (usually by myself), but this year I was blessed with a mother who joined in to help!

And while wondering through William Sonoma, I came upon a can of crushed up peppermints that they had packaged and sold as “Peppermint Snow” (props for the cleaver title!). And of course, it was $24. So I took the idea and made my own, spending only 88 cents.

It was super easy and quick to make. I just took the candy canes (that I found at Walmart for 88 cents), but them in a zip lock bag and hit them until they are small, even pieces. Adding it on top of cookies made a perfect Christmas touch, plus it pairs perfectly with gingerbread. Mom and I probably made around 100 cookies today. So if you’re in the neighborhood, swing by and I’ll hook you up with some delicious cookies and a glass of milk!

PS – It’s a pet peeve of mine when Mr. Gingerbread is without a Mrs. They are always cut out together, and decorated to match. (Call me a romantic!)

For the Love of Felt

a blog for all things sewing and crafts

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