Merry Christmas!!!!

Our Christmas card for 2012

Christmas Projects!

Cards!
Stockings!

A coat!

We are sending out Christmas cards this year and I am really excited!  I have been gathering addresses and labeling envelopes and someday I will actually send them.  We printed our cards through Sam's Club because we were able to get the best deal and they aren't too shabby looking.  Ideally I would love to use a site like Tinyprints or Paper Coterie because their cards are beautiful but they are expensive. I'll post a picture of our Christmas card a little later. 

Appliqued felt stockings are kind of a tradition in our family.  My Gramma Keller made stockings for all of her grandkids and I carried on the tradition for Josh, Avery, James, Parker and Lindsey.  It's a little bit more work to make a stocking, especially since I like to personalize the stocking.  For Mina's stocking I wanted to incorporate the Nutcracker because I have so many fond memories of performing in that ballet.  I started out the process with some thumbnail sketches:

This helps to solidify ideas and pinpoint what works and what does not.  After that I picked the design I liked the best and started cutting out the felt pieces.  I used straight pins to experiment with the layout.  It is kind of daunting at this point because it makes me realize just how much work there is to do!

Then the sewing and embroidery starts.  I decided to start with the Mouse King toy in the lower lefthand corner.  I cut the rest of the pieces and started to sew.  I like to use a little bit of stuffing to give the stockings more dimension.  I'm also going to use beads and sequins to make it look even better.

All he needs is his sword!

The last project is to make a coat for Mina.  I love the look of a tailored coat but I don't want to spend that much on a coat that will only be worn for a short time.  I really like the lines of this swing coat from BabyGap.  I have an old sweater that I am going to transform into a coat.  Stay tuned...