Hey friends!!

I’d love for you to join me and some amazing women for a fun girl’s night out!!  Check it out HERE!!

Seriously, come!!

i would love to meet you:)

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Woohoo!!  Christmas is tomorrow, and I’m soooo excited!! 

I hope you enjoy this holiday season!  Can’t wait to hear all about it when we come back…

We are taking a little break to spend time with our dear families, we wish you a merry christmas!!

Before we take off…

The winner of our Christmas Stocking Giveaway is:

Here are your random numbers:

8

Timestamp: 2010-12-24 17:07:17 UTC

Liz!!!

Congratulations Liz!

We will contact you for all your info!!

Thank you so much everyone for playing!!  We’ll see you next year:)

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***Giveaway Reminder***  Don’t forget to enter our stocking giveaway!!  Winner will be chosen Friday:)

I’m sooooo behind this year, I’ve got 3 more days, and it will be a miracle if I get everything done!!  I just wanted to quickly share a couple of easy, fun, neighbor gift ideas if you’re running a little behind like me:)

Idea #1, Holiday Pins, I got from Becca at Blue Cricket Design, and knew I wanted try this out…  I LOVE how they turned out…

They’re just dressed up clothes pins (found at the dollar store).  I spray painted some of them red, and mod podged Christmas paper over top.  Finish them off with a little distressing  ink and some cute buttons.  Add a magnet to the back if you would like multi-purpose pins:) 

 Package it up with a little note, and some twine for a festive holiday card garland!!

Idea #2, Magnet Rosettes.  I am pretty much obsessed with making rosettes; necklaces, hair pieces, jewelry, pillows, you name it, rosettes make them all better!!  So stick a magnet on the back and you’re set!!  Package them up cute with a tag, and voila!!

Idea #3, Homemade Fudge. 

Once again, packaged up all cute, there’s nothing better (for a chocolate lover that is:)

I hope you have lots of fun gift-giving this holiday season!!

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My kids really wanted a sled for Christmas this year…

Thanks grandma!!

Stairs work great too!!

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I’ve always loved the look of hand-sewn or quilted stockings, so much that a few years ago, before I could sew, I bought our family a bunch that could totally pass for hand-made (they were handmade somewhere).  Anyway, my super genious sister-in-law suggested we try it out, so I FINALLY decided to make my own this year!

I LOVE how they turned out!! 

Thanks Brooke for lots of fun, and creatvity!  Look how darling her stockings turned out…

I got my inspiration from lots of ideas and tutorials out there in blogland, here are a couple of links I looked at…

Would you like to make your own…

Supplies:

• christmas fabric
• muslin (lining fabric)
• thread
• sewing machine
• cutting mat and rotary cutter
• embellishments

Step 1

Create a pattern. 

Trace the shape of an old stocking onto a piece of muslin or batting, (I used batting b/c it was much more sturdy to work with) making sure you give yourself a good 1/2 inch extra for seam allowance. 

Use this pattern to cut out your front and back pieces of the stocking and the liners.  (I mixed and matched all my stocking fronts and backs to make things less matchy matchy)  if you like matchy matchy, that works too!!

***When you cut the stocking front and back, make sure your fabric is folded so your wrong sides are together, and will end up together when you sew it together in the end.

For the striped fabric stocking front, just cut a bunch of strips all uneven widths and heights.  Sew them all together forming a rectangle. (Well, in this case, I don’t know what shape that is;) 

Then cut your stocking front out from that rectangle.

Step 2:

Ok, so you have a bunch of stocking fronts.  Now is the fun part.  You can create each one however you would like. 

For my youngest son, I decided to cut out the heel and toe. 

Then, with a coordinating fabric I cut another heel and toe piece (slightly larger) to sew on the stocking front. 

Fold the curved edge about 1/4 inch and press in place.  Then, stitch in place.

I made a striped fabric pattern for my other son’s stocking (using the method i described above)

I decided to do a monogram initial for my daughter’s stocking.  Just trace the letter (backwards) on a piece of heat-n-bond.  (Sorry for the lack of pictures here), you can follow THIS tutorial for more detailed directions on appliques. Cut the letter out and attach the letter to the fabric using directions on the heat-n-bond.  Applique the initial to the stocking front, and stitch around the outer edge to make the letter really pop.

I think my sister’s stocking ended up being my favorite.  I knew I wanted ruffles of some sort.  I cut 3 strips of fabric all slightly different widths.  

Next, I went along the edge with pinking shears.  

Make each strip into a ruffle by sewing a gathering stitch (the longest stitch on your sewing machin stitch settings) down the center.  Pull the bobbin (bottom) thread to form a ruffle. 

I LOVE jumbo ric rac.  I alternated jumbo ric rac with each ruffle, pinning them in place until I liked the spacing.

Step 3:

I knew I wanted some sort of cuff on all of mine.  So for the cuff I cut a piece of fabric slightly wider than the stocking front and about 5 inches tall.  Hem the bottom side of the cuff.  Do this by folding the raw edge in 1/4 inch, then another 1/4 inch and press in place. 

I also wanted to embroider names on each of my cuffs, so I did this before pinning the cuff to the stocking front.  If you skip this, it’s totally fine, just pin and sew the cuff in place.

For my daughter’s stocking a created a poofy ruffly cuff (if anyone knows a better name for this, please let me know, b/c I know I must sound like a total nerd!!;)  First hem the cuff, and sew in place. 

Next, sew a gathering stitch on each side.  Gather up your threads on each side forming a ruffly poof in the center.  Pin in place to get your placement right. 

I added some pompoms to the bottom of this ruffle (b/c they’re sooo adorable) by pinning them as close to the edge of the poof, and sewing along the wide strip. 

Step 4:

I almost forgot about this next part.  You need something to hang your stocking right!!??  I just cut a big long strip of fabric about 25 inches long by 2 inches wide.  Fold the edges toward the middle and press in place.  Next, fold the entire strip in half (length-wise). 

Sew along the folded edge to form a nice finished strip of fabric.  I cut this large strip into fifths (for the 5 stockings I made), for the loops at the top.

Step 5:

Ok, once you have all your fronts complete, pin the right sides together of all your fronts, and all your linings.  (with muslin it doesn’t really matter)  Sew along the edge using about a 1/2 inch seam.

Next, turn your lining fabric right side out,

and place inside the stocking through the top (it should still be inside out). 

Line up all the seams as best you can, then sew along the top, leaving about 3 inches open at the back corner.

Clip all excess fabric and threads before turning right side out.  After you turn your stocking right side out, shove the lining back inside, and smooth everything out. 

Fold your strip into a loop and place the raw ends of the loop inside your gap, and pin right into the corner of the stocking.  Press the edges down to form a crisp edge and close up your opening by sewing 1/4 inch all long the top.

Phew!!  You’re all done!!  Not too hard, just kind of lengthy.  This is one of those projects that was totally worth it though!!

So Christmas is in 4 days people!!  And you know me, any excuse to give something away:) 

So… guess what, I have an extra stocking… 

Would you like one?  Maybe for next year? 

I’m giving this striped fabric stocking away to one of you!!!

There are 2 ways to enter:

1. Tell me the very best gift you ever gave away.
2. Become a follower of our blog or let me know if you already are.

That’s it!! 

Good luck ya’ll!!!  Oh yeah, I’ll pick a winner on Christmas Eve:)

Linking up here this week…

Including:

giveaway now closed!!

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Ha!! If you can think of a better name for these, please let me know. These are a super easy and tasty treat to make for yourself your neighbors this year, or parties, or just a fun thing to whip up with your kiddos.

I got this idea from the Sweet Tooth Fairy, (she’s amazing!!) and absolutely love it!!

Waffle pretzel caramel M&M thingys

Ingredients:

• a bag of snyders waffle pretzels
• a bag of hershey’s white chocolate mint, caramel, hugs, or regular kisses (I’ve pretty much tried them all)
• a bag of M&M’s plain or peanut

Directions

Preheat your oven to the warm setting (170).  Place the pretzels on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Place one kiss on top of each pretzel.  Place the cookie sheet in the oven for 5-6 minutes until the kisses are soft but not melted.  Remove from oven and quickly place one m&m on top of each kiss and press down until flat.  Cool in fridge for about 10 minutes. 

Better make a double batch, b/c you will eat 20 and not even realize it.  Ok, if you’re me you will.  AND… package some up for your friends:)

Linking up HERE this week!

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I’m a big believer in giveaways!!  I love to enter them, win them, and I LOVE to give stuff away (stop by Tuesday to win one of my handmade Christmas stockings, hee hee:)

So, don’t you think blogging is so cool!!  This week I was skimming over some of the blogs I love to follow, and I found out about this cool giveaway/event sponsered by Pier 1.   It was for a $500 gift card to Pier 1!!!  Pretty amazing huh!! I LOVE that store!!  So, guess who won…

I DiD!!!  I still can’t believe it!! I was a tad bit excited:)

Do you recognize any of these beautiful faces?  It was so cool to meet these blogging “celebrities” that I love to stalk  follow:)  Char, Jen, Shelley, and Becca were all there with all their Christmas spirit!!

So how in the world do I spend this $500!??

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Hi There! I am so excited to be here on Just Sew Sassy today! I love Staci and Marina’s Anthro knock-off shirt and Reversible ruffle scarf!

Nope not drunk (what a relief you will not be taking your tour with a drunk driver), I may or may not be a bit clumsy though.

A little about me, I am a SAHM with one crazy 3 year old boy, a 6 week old baby boy, and a big geek for a husband (don’t worry, he calls himself a geek). I love keeping busy and sharing all my projects and adventures whether they be Home decor, holiday projects, or discovering how to get permanent marker off granite counter tops.

So, enough about me…here are a few of my favorite projects.

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