kattitudes

Every time I see these, I want to experiment with them. I think that the fleece might not be quite as forgiving as the felt that I have gotten so into the habit of working with, but I think that might just be a good thing actually. It is nice to branch out.

And branching out in the midst of my Christmas stocking collection is always appropriate; particularly when that branching out takes me away from the ever onward march of the ubiquitous felt fabric. Love it as I do, even I am getting weary of it.

This is just a basic stocking to duplicate. Nothing particularly fancy. The shape is pretty stocking standard (with a little kicky difference in the heels which makes the personality in this particular design). You can always enlarge the photo significantly and use that to cut out your fabric if you felt like you needed a hand with the basic shape.

Also, the cuff is getting easier to find in the trim section of the fabric store. The nice thing about these is that they are being sold just as is by the yard. All you need do is purchase and sew it right on to the stocking. This goes for so many of the big cuff trims that are out there now a days. Goodness it makes stocking sewing so much easier!

As this is coming from a site that takes a brutally long time to load, I find it is best to open the page and let it sit for a few minutes to give the movie a chance to load up. Then, after a few minutes, I hit play and by that time, I do not have to deal with the lag time while the site tries to keep up with the load time (if all that makes sense).

If not, no worries. All that will happen is that the movie pauses whilst it loads up. It is annoying but self correcting.

And it is cute. And wicked. Wicked in the way that only South Park can achieve. And goodness me. What is it about South Park that makes you sing along with the little miscreants? It is just terrible. Terrible that I actually know the words to their twisted little songs!

This soup mix in a jar is a little different than normal in that it is a bit more substantial than most. The flavor makes it worthwhile, frankly.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup macaroni
1/4 cup lentils (dry)
1/4 cup mushrooms, dried and chopped
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tablespoon onion flakes
1 tablespoon chicken bullion granules
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 dash garlic powder

Layer ingredients and store in airtight container.

Attach a tag with the following instructions:

Pasta Soup Mix:

Combine contents with three cups of water in two quart saucepan. Bring to boil then reduce heat.

Cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally.

I love this! Here is another way to use the brightly colored handkerchiefs that are left over from Grandma’s stash of hankies (if you are not actually using them as hankies). And if you are lucky enough to actually find real hankies in the store, you can grab the brightly colored visual eye candy to carry out this type of stocking delight.

I love the use of heavy fleece fabric for the stocking body. Nice and simple, but then using the brightly colored pop of a Christmas handkerchief for the POP of the cuff. What a fantastic way to offset the plain color of the rest of the stocking. The combination really makes the whole stocking sing.

Not necessarily the healthiest cupcakes around, but some of the cutest on the block. All these are is piled up to the ceiling with frosting. Lots and lots of icing. An irrational amount of frosting. There is a cute cut gumdrop mooshed and cut into place looking like a bow for an embellishment.

You know, there are times that sometimes, it is all about the details. I imagine that a nicely done plain white cake cupcake - elegant in its simplicity with moistness and richness for all would be perfect for this particularly base. And then topping it with pretty much any frosting (or icing) that you see fit to try. It seems that once you get to that level of icing, everyone involved in the cupcake decorating process has had a little fun participating in the decorating … which of course only leads to more mayhem … which starts the whole decorating mayhem circle off again.

In all seriousness, this would be a great cupcake decorating idea to carry out with more than one person in the kitchen (thinking about little hands helping). The more icing glooped around the edge, the better. It just seems like this would be a perfect opportunity to have a lot of fun in the kitchen with kids.

This is incredible. Not only is Peace on Earth just a precious cartoon, absolutely precious, but it was nominated for the 1939 Nobel Peace prize! It was the only cartoon to ever be nominated for the Nobel Peace prize. What an amazing claim to fame.

And it is a wonderful little piece of Christmas animation.

Theoretically, this particular masque is supposed to be a fantastic moisturizer and will serve to leave your face absolutely super soft. I cannot see the harm in it, and if nothing else, it would make a phenomenally wonderful smelling gift.

The Christmas tins that are available right now are just out of this world, which means that you could pick out some beautiful options and really dress up a spa basket.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cocoa
3 tablespoon heavy cream
2 tablespoon cottage cheese
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoon oatmeal powder

Mix ingredients together; smooth onto face. Relax for 10 minutes; rinse with warm water.

Here is another great spa or personal care type recipe that packages up wonderfully and can make a great addition to a spa basket type gift for someone special this Christmas. It makes sense to include a label for your gift recipient that has instructions with information like the suggestion to warm this scrub in the microwave and so on.

This is the perfect time of year to find beautiful containers and jars and the like to package up scrubs like these too. You should have a lot of fun looking for the right container for these types of gifts.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup coarse or sea salt
1/4 cup sweet almond oil
2 or 3 drops peppermint essential oil

Mix together ingredients. Soak feet in warm water for 10 to 15 minutes before using scrub to help with exfoliation. If desired, try warming the scrub in the microwave.

Apply scrub to feet, rubbing in a circular motion. Let the scrub remain on feet for 10 minutes, then rinse with warm water.

Now here is a lovely stocking. With just the judicious use of thread applied in the right places, you create the illusion of a whole heck of a lot more in depth embroidery work than was actually done.

And honestly, as lovely as the floral work is (and it truly is) if you are not up to the additional work, you can leave it off. The main trick is to get the toe and boot trim finished as that is what will offset those sections from the rest of the Christmas stocking.

All in all, really a nice Christmas stocking, particularly for adults who like to hang a Christmas stocking, but do not necessarily want or need the full standard 18 inches to have to fill with all types of silly little stuffers from all around the house.

I really like the smaller Christmas stocking. I was not sure at first, as with my stocking obsession, I usually like to see full sized, but the more I see these, the more they have grown on me.

I also love the idea of making a number of stockings in this size to keep around and on the tree. They would be perfect to keep on the tree and near the kitchen to pack with warm cookies and quick kitchen presents for people that stop without a lot of advanced warning.

Plus, they are just darned cute.

This is absolutely not a handmade item, nor is it an inexpensive gift, but it is an adorable gift and an oh so comfortable gift. Yes, we own them. And yes, every time they are worn and seen around our house, someone inevitably asks where they were found. As a result, I have learned to keep the information close at hand.

There is just something about recapturing the comfort of your childhood by wearing the warmth and fuzziness of a footed sleeper. It is fantastic. Yes, hot as the dickens, but wonderful nonetheless. I bought one as a Christmas present for my Mister when we lived in London. He complained nonstop about freezing to death at night. I thought it was a right hilarious joke. He thought his throat would have to be cut before he wore it. However, on nights when the thermometer dipped below freezing literally, I noticed it was pulled out of hiding to keep warm.

If you have a prankster in the family that might appreciate the return to childhood, this would make an incredible Christmas present. Yes, the price tag can get hefty, particularly when you add up the cost of multiple outfits to make an entire family match.

Around my house, I started a tradition long ago. Everyone that stays the night on Christmas Eve gets new Christmas pajamas for good looking pictures on Christmas morning. However, you have to open them Christmas Eve and wear them. I was thinking about getting everyone footed pajamas this year for those that will wake up in our house on Christmas morning. My problem is that I wonder how much I would have to pay my Mister to actually go through with it. We are still in the midst of a drought here in hot Georgia state, so I cannot exactly count on the cold weather to get him to cooperate this time around. I might have to start spiking the egg nog early. Early and strong. It could be my only hope.

via Pajama City