Christmas Candy

When we were kids, we hung our stockings on Christmas Eve and waited ... oh, so impatiently ... for Santa to fill them overnight.  Truly, totally just like the Christmas Story movie.

What wonder when we woke up early ... very early ... on Christmas morning. We would hurry in to check the treasures left for us. Oh, the candies in bright colors and interesting shapes. Christmas candy!

And fruit! Oranges and apples would bulge out here and there. And nuts filling out the extra spaces.

Candy and fruit and nuts, OH, MY!

These days, when I fill the stockings of our adult children (we still do that at our house), they're more likely to get Ghirardelli chocolates, nail polish, leopard patterned tissues, hand cream, tiny flashlights and other small goodies that I can fit into the stockings.

No nuts. No hard candy in pretty colors and interesting shapes. No apples or oranges.

So this year, to share that memory with the kids and start a new/old tradition, we had nuts and fruit ... and Ghirardelli chocolates ... and leopard patterned tissues. I like to think its a blend of old and new.

Maybe next year we can include some ribbon candy. Just for old times sake.

Gotta love Christmas candy.

DIY Shoe Freshener

I've been making "boot stuffers" for years for the many, many, many boots of my boot-collecting husband. Essentially, they're a denim tube filled with cedar shavings (hamster cage stuff). They're pretty basic in spite of the embroidery or painted enhancements I've used at one time or another. But DH loves them and they keep his boots erect which saves wear and tear on the leather. And, they keep them dry and fresh. Win, win, win.

I had the (ahem) BRILLIANT idea of making something similar for myself to keep my sneakers, etc dry and fresh. And, of course, at this time of year, that translates into gifts for the girls in our family. If I want it, they probably do, too.

So I thought about it ... a LOT. Should I make them footshaped with embroidered "painted" toenails or tube shaped? ... should I make them of denim or of something more feminine? So many options!

And here's a pretty example with a tutorial here. Nice. Feminine. Easy-peasy simple.

But DH made the suggestion of using socks. Okay. Socks are a really good idea. On the other hand, I was worried about cedar thingies trying to poke through the knit of the socks. Sooooo .... I made a muslin tube, filled it with cedar shavings, sewed it closed and put it inside the sock. I tied a ribbon around the top of the sock and I think these will make nice stocking stuffers ... ha ha. Pardon the pun.

I chose the Hello Kitty socks for my girls (see the unstuffed plain yellow socks next to the new and improved Shoe Freshener Kitty pink and green socks).

I'm liking it.

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Goodwill finds

Interesting day today.
Dentist appointment at 8:00 am.
Stop for a late breakfast.
Second dentist appointment at noon.
Back on the road at 4 pm. Wow! One day down the drain .... BUT ....wow! Isn't that our favorite Goodwill on the way home?!

Soooo, here are my fabulous Thursday-grueling-day-at-the-dentist-bright-spot-of-the-day fabulous finds:

A sampler cross-stitch of the twenty-third Psalm.

A vintage (heavy, heavy) brass lamp and interesting shade.

Total investment $15.00 which is more than I usually pay, but boyz-howdie do I love both of them. I'm intending to paint the frame on the cross-stitch and the lampshade needs a little glue, but all in all, I'm very pleased.

And I know just where they'll look best in my house.

Happy Thursday, ya'll!

Cupcake pincushion

Just a quick note about the cupcake pincushion I made last Friday. No tutorial on this one ... I was in a rush to finish this for a birthday gift, so I didn't have time to take pictures of the various steps. And the picture I took of the finished pincushion is sort of - icky. Sorry about that.

But, anyway, here's the "recipe"
(1) fulled wool aka shrunken sweaters (I used the wrist area to imitate a cupcake liner)

(2) poly fiberfill to round out the top portion
(3) emery grit (for keeping pins and needles sharp - it also adds weight to the pincushion) ... I got my emery grit from etsy.com
(4) muslin in a pillow shape (to enclose the emery grit) - I put this pillow of emery grit on bottom for balance and for ease of use
(5) embroidery thread ... french knots that look like candy sprinkles plus a few straight pins with colored balls on top
(6) lace around the top of the cupcake liner ... just to neaten things up a little

Voila! Cupcake pincushion. As Mom would say, there's love in every stitch!

Seafoam Cashmere Acorns

What do you do with an outdated cashmere jacket? One thing you can do is make acorns! As my sister said this morning, "From this acorn, mighty cashmere trees will grow." Ya think?

It's been a long, long, l-o-n-g time since I've written, but I'm going to try to keep you updated about what my busy, busy hands are currently doing.

Today it's cashmere acorns. Although Tex-Nan bought her acorn caps at Walmart (didn't realize they carried them!), I also picked mine up at Walmart ... underneath the not-so-mighty oaks dotted around the parking lot.

I'm hoping this photo will tell you everything you need to know about making acorns the quick and cheap way. Oh, yeah!  I used a baby food jar to pencil the circle on the wrong side of the fabric. Otherwise, I think it's self-explanatory.

Welcome, Autumn!