FF: Two Stockings.

Christmas is my favorite holiday. It's not even a contest. For as much as I hate snow, and as much as I once loathed Christmas music--I worked several years in a bookstore, so I think I get a pass on that one--I love Christmas trees and decorating with my family and eating a big meal and family traditions and doing special things with my kids.

A couple of years ago, I decided to make stockings for my family. Each family member got to pick a color, and I perused tutorial after tutorial, but never landed on anything I loved, so I drafted my own. The green and pink were my first two, and I made them before I realized I needed to cut the cuff slightly smaller than the body of the stocking. It made for a much cleaner line.

And then I had another kid, so he needed a stocking. My older kids suggested his be yellow.

This year, my younger sister mentioned she hated her kids' stockings, and I was listening and not thinking much about it until I realized--wait. I make stockings. What was stopping me from making more for her kids? When I proposed the idea, she loved it.

She requested red, so I pulled all of my red fabric and crossed my fingers that she'd be okay with a whimsical stocking. I really really wanted to use the ninjas for my nephew, and thankfully she was all on board. My husband saw this one and asked if I could trade it for his red one, but I said no. I had already sent my sister a pic, and she was thrilled.

And one for my niece too. I really like the FMF and Juliana Horner roses together.

I'll be putting these in the mail this weekend. My sister is moving to a new house this weekend too, so they'll arrive just in time for her to get her decorating on. (She insists the first thing she's unpacking is her Christmas tree.)

Small Steps.

I am slowly checking things off of my Christmas to-do list. And, you know, only sixteen more days to get it all done. Because that makes me feel better! Sheesh. The other day, my oldest asked me if I'd make him a scarf. Oh, son. You know I will because I am helpless to say no when you ask me to make you something. BUT, it won't be until January. (At the earliest.)

My absolute must-do-before-Christmas task is completed. I needed to make another stocking for the baby. Last year, I made four stockings for my family, and even though a year had passed, I still hadn't forgotten about how annoying they were to make. The thought of making a fifth was super daunting. However! I had saved my template from last year--bravo, Audrey, you occasionally make smart calls--and I remembered that I needed to cut my cuff 1/4" smaller to ease it into the stocking. Thankfully, those two things saved me about a kajillion years of trouble, and this stocking came together with relative ease, proving once again that being prepared and knowing what you're doing can save so much time. The oldest boys decided that Fava's stocking should be yellow. Hopefully next year he doesn't protest and demand an orange or purple one.

I also needed a birthday gift for my BFF, so I sent her the largest size of the open wide zippy bag from Noodlehead. Of course, it was stuffed with goodness.

And here is the finished yellow stocking among its comrades. My sons demanded to have their stockings next to the baby's, so he's sandwiched. I love how much they love their brother. I had my husband hang another nail this weekend for his stocking, and now there are five, so envision a fifth red stocking next to the blue one, okay?

I've finished the top for the baby quilt that has to be done next month, and I'm working on other Christmas/birthday gifts. I'm not going to get everything done. I know that. But I'm trying! :)

Six Holiday Napkins

Some months back, fabric.com ran a sale on their clearance fabrics. Heavily discounted fabrics on further markdown? Yes, please! I browsed through all 40+ pages of clearance fabric, looking for fabric that I could turn into birthday and holiday gifts, and when I stumbled across this menorah print, I had a lightbulb moment. I could totally turn these into cloth napkins for my sister. While slightly extravagant as she'll only be able to use them for a short window of time, I think it's an occasion that could use its own napkins.

I made six total, as that's about all I could squeeze out of a yard of fabric. (Which I think cost me $3.44 or something ridiculous like that.) The original plan was to back them with a tan corduroy that I had in stash, but I didn't have enough, so I found a gray instead. I assumed they would take no time at all, but I was surprised at just how much they did take. Prewashing and pressing the fabric, cutting, sewing, turning inside out, pressing, then double topstitching. That being said, I'm pleased with the finished product, and I'm excited to give them to my sister when I see her next month. (I'm even more excited to see her and my brother-in-law and my niece and nephews!)

To make things even more exciting, I found this ribbon in my ribbon stash, so while these took a bit of labor, they were fairly inexpensive cost-wise. Now, I just need to figure out what to do with the leftover menorah fabric. Maybe a matching table runner? I'll have to take a looksie through my scraps and see what I can scrounge up.

And yes, these are totally a finish from my Q3 FAL list. Woo! How is your list coming? I'm trying for one more finish before the end of the quarter, but I'm not quite sure it's going to happen. Wish me luck!

Finished Advent Calendar.

I know I showed you an almost identical picture a week or so ago, but I've since painted my clothespins and added numbers. Those numbers, man. It was impossible to find something locally that I liked that was in the right colors that wasn't going to break my wallet. So I bought those kraft tags for $3 and wrote numbers on them. It's not the awesomest, but you know what? I'm happy with them. I first painted the pins with hot pink spray paint, let them dry, then sprayed them with silver glitter spray. (And they look awesome.)

I purchased a new ornament for everyone in the family, and we started off advent by hanging them on our tree. I had a bear of a time deciding on twenty-four activities that were relatively inexpensive yet still relevant for two toddlers that taught them service and kindness but also allowed them to have fun and didn't require being outside in the cold too often. But the list is made, and we'll see how this year goes. (If you have a really awesome idea up your sleeve, please leave me a comment and share it with me!)

Happy December 1st!

Edit: Barbara asked me to share my list, and why didn't I think of that? Here is my list of activities for Advent. We are also reading a portion of the Nativity story each morning. This is in no particular order, and we will be recycling a few throughout advent. I should also mention that we aren't doing Santa with our kidlets, so that rules out a number of choices or makes them more difficult than I'd like.

• Hang up a new ornament
• Make red and green play dough
• Ride the carousel at the mall
• Read Christmas books
• Watch a Charlie Brown Christmas
• Sing and dance to Christmas carols
• Draw/Color Pictures for our friends and family
• Make Christmas cookies
• Decorate Christmas cookies
• Deliver Christmas cookies (yes, three days of cookies)
• Participate in a toy drive
• Have a visit with a special friend
• Visit Daddy at work and take a coffee break
• Drink hot cocoa
• Wrap brother's Christmas gift
• Go look at Christmas lights
• Fingerpainting
• Make a gingerbread house
• Ride the Christmas train at the mall
• Help Daddy make a fire
• Spend special time with Daddy
• Take a bike ride with Daddy (depends on the weather--will be replaced by snow activities if it snows)
• Write a thankful letter
• Take canned food and other non-perishables to the food pantry

So that's our list. I'm assuming it will snow at least twice, providing extra snow activities. I'm sure we'll read Christmas books more than just once. Ditto Christmas carols. I wrote down all of my ideas, and then used this list from Adriel Booker when I got stuck and couldn't think of anything else. When the kids get older (my oldest isn't yet four) we'll venture into new territory, but for now, watching the boys get all giggly about hanging their new car ornaments made me smile.