Christmas Craftiness

I attempted, and succeeded (mostly), to summon my inner-craftiness this Christmas season. It all started with the desperate need to make Amyah's stocking. I made all 4 of the other stockings a few years ago. They were a lot of work! And, I've dreaded making Amyah's ever since she was born. I finally sucked it up and went to the fabric store. The fabrics weren't really what I was hoping for. However, I wasn't in the mood to drive all around looking for a fabric store that sold what I was looking for (I'm not familiar with the fabric stores in the area, so it would have taken a long time). Instead I decided to just find what I could find, and make do. The fabrics looked pretty cute side-by-side, but her stocking turned out a bit more crazy looking than I anticipated. Oh well. It works. And, it's cute enough. If you can't tell, the green fabric has pictures of stockings on it...
Next project... the Christmas Tree. I have needed garland and a tree skirt for years. But, I'm on a budget more than ever, so I had very little money to work with. I found these stars at Pier 1 for $1. I decided I'm going to look every year for more star ornaments. It has become my Christmas Tree's theme! I also found these cheap red wooden beads at Cabela's. I'd love to find some more garland to add some sparkle to the tree, but I'll have to keep working on that over the next few years. Everything I loved was way too expensive, even after Christmas.

The Christmas Tree Skirt: It started as an old red sheet wrapped around the bottom of the tree. Apparently they were Kevin's old sheets from college. There wasn't enough red, so I added our old white sheets that were practically in shreds. This was the final result! I'm really happy with the way it turned out! Caramel/Chocolate covered Pretzel Rods: Way too much work and far too messy to ever attempt again! Next year I'm going to try Aunt Regina's English Toffee instead.

Susie was attempting to create gifts out of paper for everyone--a paper dress for Amyah and a hat for her dad :), so I helped her sew some presents instead out of my fabric scraps.

Other Projects not pictured:
Mini Baby Blanket (Susie's gift to Amyah)
John Deer Pillowcases (Tyler's gift to Susie, Susie's gift to Tyler)
Monkey Apron (Kids' gift to Kevin)

I think I used my sewing machine almost daily during the month of December and it was a lot of fun! However, I don't have a sewing table, or anything easily accessible. I need a crafting table and room please! All the set-up and clean-up wore me out!