What I got for Christmas

My lovely husband got me some of the most wonderful gifts for Christmas (and all from etsy!) Take a peek if you will...

1. Lovely neck warmer from FoldedRoses
2. Beautiful trinket box made from Maple by dikruck
3. Beeswax Votive Candles by echinacea
4. Gorgeous Print by sandrineM

1. Framed Original Drawing by Cookstah
2. Puggle Queen Print by Mandawlfe
3. Mac Love button by Gnipmac

I would love to see what you got for Christmas too!

I'm Loving: Lace Knits

I'll take one of each of these please!

Anyone want to buy these for me for Christmas? No? Well, then at least get them for yourself!

1. Lace Slouch Hat - tanzarelle - $25
2. Crochet Sweater Shrug - byKEONA - $57
3. Gray Shawl with Lace - afra - $46
4. Lace Hood - PolClary - $22
   

Polaroid Calendar

Going through my blog roll today, I found a great little gift from one pearl button! She took her own images and made them into a calendar.

You can find the original post and the link to download the lovely calendar here!

Baby Booties

Although I'm not having kids any time soon, I was asked to sew a pair of booties to review a pattern from ithinksew.com. I decided on a gorgeous corduroy houndstooth fabric that I haven't cut into yet as I only have two yards and love it too much!

I lined the inside in chocolate brown cotton and added three little wooden buttons as embellishments. (The booties actually close with velcro, how easy!)

You can get your own pair right here!

Light Bulb Terrarium

I thought this was a really neat video on how to make a light bulb terrarium. It would make a great gift not only for Christmas/Hanukkah but for any time of the year!

Click here to see a step by step tutorial on making a terrarium in general.

Stocking Tutorials

I thought I would round up my favorite stocking tutorials to share with you!

1. Monogrammed Stocking - Mandipidy
2. All the Trimmings Stocking - Denise Schmit
3. Scrappy Stocking - Maggie Makes
4. Sewn Stocking - Craft Leftovers

1. Vintage Quilt Stocking - Sew, Mama, Sew!
2. Simple Felt Stockings - Woman's Day
3. Felted Stocking - Crafting a Green World
4. Strip Pieced Stocking - The Purl Bee

Do you have any stocking tutorials that you'd like to add? Post a comment and share!

Felt Garland Tutorial

I bought this mini Christmas tree at Target last year along with some glass bulbs (both were on clearance!) I would have loved some lights on this tree but I did not want to get the battery operated lights as I would probably go through a pack of batteries for keeping it on so much.

Instead, I chose to make a felt ball garland. I had ordered a bunch of felt balls last year because they were so adorable but I had no idea what I was actually going to do with them. Well, it hit me - I can use up the felt balls FOR garland!

I first took some silver embroidery thread (it's thicker than normal embroidery thread and has some texture to it.) and tied a knot in the end. I found a super large needle and threaded it with the embroidery thread. *note* this thread is a pain in the butt to work with and to actually thread, so pay attention that the needle doesn't fall off the thread at any point!!

I then put each felt piece on the needle and used pliers to hold onto the end of the needle and then pulled the ball down onto the thread. After you do this, knot the thread to secure each felt ball. I intend to keep this garland for a few years at least so that's why I knotted each ball to keep it in place. With the thread being so textured, it could hold each ball loosely in place if you choose not to knot it.

After doing this several times, my small garland was done! I only had 22 felt balls and the garland came out to be a little under 4 feet. You would probably need over 120 to do a full tree (as a low estimation!)

And the finished product with my Puggle putting the finishing sniffs on the tree ;)

Etsy Finds: Christmas Decor

Who doesn't love decorating for Christmas?!

1. Goodie True Shoes - $52
2. Designs by Nancy T - $21
3. Jo Heckett - $82
4. Mr Button - $18

Shop Local: Huntington, WV

1. The Last Circus - $20
2. Woodland Radio - $5
3. White Owl Vintage - $10
4. Bird's Eye Photography - $6.99