Monday, December 28, 2009

Taking DOWN our Christmas

Before I took all of my "homemade" Christmas down
I thought I'd take a picture of all my finished stockings..
This one is Brook's... and I must say fits her personality perfectly.
I saved the fur from one of her jackets she'd gotten rid of last year.
It had a zip-off collar so I unzipped it and kept the fun part. haha
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I hung the stockings on the mantel in order of age..
Little Brady's (on the end) was a mixture of all the fabrics
from the other stockings..
Brenae had a high heel stocking with flowers
Brent got the manliest fabric I had... haha
(Brook informed me it wasn't very manly however!)
It was filled with presents and somehow he never even noticed.
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Brad's was first, then mine, Jon's , Brenae's and Brent's.
This was the first year I've ever done stockings.
I think I had more fun finding presents to put in them
than I did doing the real gifts..
The kids LOVED having them..
I'm just gonna tell myself it's partly because they loved
their "homemade" stockings, but we both know
that it's really because they were filled with more stuff..
A GIRL can dream though!! haha
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Next was one of our trees.
This one was in the living room with the stockings
so it too was a "homemade" work of Christmas.
Brook and I tied strips of all our left over fabric to make some garland.
Then I made little heart pillows and she stuffed them for me.
I added the rest of our circle flowers and some of my favorite pictures.
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I had a few left over flowers so I sewed them onto a few of
the heart pillows. The rest of the "little" flowers I hot glued
on to the picture card corners to give it a little color.
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They are the easiest things of all to make.
Literally an inch of left over fabric is enough to cut a circle out of.
Just layer a few circles of differing sizes and fabrics and
run 3 big stitches through it.
Pull them until they gather and tie a knot.
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Here are a couple of samples of the "little" card ones,
and the bigger ones I used on the tree as ornaments.
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I also made a GINORMOUS one for the tree topper this year.
Just start with several scraps of material and you're in business.
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Put your largest circle on the bottom and start layering circles.
I staggered some of mine to give the bottom a leaf look.
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Just keep adding circles of as many different fabric colors as you want.
I had lots of scrap pieces left over from the stockings so I just used mine all up.
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When you get all the pieces you want add a piece to the middle that is
the color of the thread you are using.
You don't have to do this, but that way your stitches don't show.
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Go up from the bottom and make big stitches.
Gather as you go or your thread will break.
(or mine does anyway)
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Since this flower was so big,
I had to stitch and gather around some of the other circles as well.
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You Can NOT mess this up !!
Just stitch and pull. It can be as tight or as loose as you want it to be.
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Here is my finished TREETopper...
I must say... It was a fun change for our tree this year.
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WWE had a wonderful Christmas in 2009...
And in my heart I smiled an extra giggle
knowing that we made most of it ourselves.
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May we all end 2009 proud of our accomplishments.

6 comments:

sara said...

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your stockings!!!!! And those flowers are ADORABLE! I will have to try and make some. CUTE!

Darla said...

i love the stockings! they are so cute that i wish i was one of your kids! and the flower tree topper you made is gorgeous. i have been making flowers too, some for my girls hair and some for pins. it's so fun, and easy, and i'm all about easy. i hope you all had a wonderful christmas.

Becky said...

Okay, so now you are inspiring me! To breakdown..........love your extra special, fantastic and original ornaments and stockings! But the tree topper is "killer"! You are incredible! And tell me??? Aren't you the mother of a 2 year old????? Just wondering......ha, he, ha, he,!

Love your comments!

lori vliegen said...

your stockings and tree ornaments are fabulous!!! and that tree topper......incredible!!! LOVE it!! your ideas are always so fun and creative!! here's to an artful 2010!! hugs, :))

deb did it said...

cutest stuff EVER...you are FAB

deb did it said...

I keep coming back here to admire your fun frisky funky creations!!! Come play with me....?