Don't forget to hang up your sock

I got into the Christmas spirit a little early this year, making a christmas stocking for our dear cousiphew Mason. I downloaded a free stocking pattern from McCalls and modified it a bit for what I wanted. I used wool felt with a cotton lining, and embroidered Mason's name on the cuff. Here's the end result:

I hope Mason nevers gives Santa a reason to leave coal in his stocking

Adam's Birthday

My brother Adam turned 26 last week! We went down to Houston for his birthday party and got to spend time with a lot of family and friends that we haven't seen in a while.

Me, Zach, my brothers Ryan and Adam, Mom

Zach gave Adam a few extra inches of height for his birthday... and took him to a haunted house, which I declined going to.

Happy Birthday Adam, we love you!

Felted Yorkie

I just finished a custom order for a felted yorkie. This was my first long haired felted animal, and it was quite a challenge! The technique for implanting long hair is pretty straight forward, but takes a lot of patience. This palm-sized dog took several hours to make.

I used an alpaca/silk roving blend, which is a lot smoother than the wool I normally use. After implanting all the hair, the dog looked like a big fuzz ball, and a lot of work with a comb and scissors was needed. I think I ended up with more hair on my clothes than on the dog.

Making a List...

My Handmade Registry is a website which lets you create wish lists of all your favorite handmade items from Etsy. This could be dangerous. On the other hand, it will make Santa's job a lot easier.

Image from myhandmaderegistry.com

But as much as I love handmade, I prefer myregistry.com, because it allows you to add any item from anywhere on the internet. I also found it easier to use. For all those early shoppers, here's a little peek at my Christmas wish list so far...

 

Trash to Treasure

Remember that desk I rescued from the trash? It was feeling a little lonely without a chair by its side. Then, one day when I was driving home, I spotted a chair right around the corner from my house. Poor chair had been thrown into a ditch, and of course I decided to take it home with me. Chairs found in ditches require a lot of tlc, but this one was worth it since it was solid wood and just right for my desk. I sanded it down to find hunter green paint under its current red and yellow paint. Thats right, red and yellow...perfect for a fast food establishment but not quite the look I was going for. It's now a subtle shade of green with a crisp white cushion.

Pumpkin Carving

S: We went to college station this past weekend and got to spend some much overdue time with our good friend Kelli. While there, we carved pumpkins for Halloween.
Z: I have to give mad props to the pumpkin. Despite being one of the only plants to get all kinds of scary evil images rendered into its orangy flesh, the pumpkin remains quite a festive and honorable old gourd. So here's to the pumpkin patches (read: farmers) of America for making wholesome tasty pumpkins sans devilry.

The messy part, scooping out all the pumpkin guts

Three hours and three broken knives later...

From left to right: Zach's goblin, Kelli's ghost castle, and Sarah's witch

Happy Halloween!

Sweet Harvey Letterpress Feature

Sweet Harvey Letterpress is featuring my pumpkin bags on her blog!