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!

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

For buyers and sellers of handmade goods...

For those that that sell handmade goods, it is difficult (at least for me) to completely track all my expenses. Of course I get excited when I make a sale and record all the information, deduct fees and shipping...but what about all the supplies I purchase? Ad space? Seminars or classes? Somehow I *forget* to write down everything I buy and there are two reasons for this: 1. I get lazy and 2. I'm scared to see how much I REALLY spend.

I promised myself last year that I would keep a better record of things, and I have...... of sales. Supplies though? Not so much. After about March I just stopped recording things. Next year I promise to try harder! Is record keeping as hard for everyone else as it is for me?

And for buyers of handmade goods (that includes us sellers too!): Buy less, spend more! Try to go all handmade and make gifts more personal. Not only will you search for the 'perfect' gift for the recipient, but you will also be supporting an independent artist rather than the children in china making plastic toys for $2/month.

As for myself, the majority of gifts I'm giving this year are handmade by independent artists (or by me) and just a couple of them are store bought. It's hard to go completely handmade (I want to meet the person who builds TVs from scratch AND keeps them at a reasonable cost!) but I definitely did try my hardest!

This post was inspired by The Long Thread

And the Season Begins...

Well for me it begins after finals are over. I have one last final to take tonight at 6:30 - the last final on the last day of finals. Man I got lucky this semester, especially with all the crap surrounding my transfer. Hopefully by the time the Spring semester starts though, I'll have it all sorted out. All in all, I think I did really well this semester. I won't have my grades until the 19th but I think I'll end up close to a 4.0 this semester. It does make me feel better when I hear kids around me complaining on how hard the class is and I'm acing all the exams. Today I'll be selling back my last textbook, taking my final and the Fall term will officially be over!

On another note, I will be going away the 17th until the 27th but I'll still keep my shop open. I just won't be able to ship anything until I get back, but because of that I'll probably put up a small sale for those who don't mind waiting on getting their orders after Christmas. I also have plans for New Years, but that won't mean anything as far as my store in concerned.

Now that practically school is over this semester, it's snowing right now (and has snowed many times this past month already), I can just sip on coffee while listening to Christmas music. I don't like listening to the same songs for 2 months, but once in a while, when the timing is right, it just puts me in the holiday spirit that I'm ever hardly in. So what is everyone doing during this holiday season???