Successful socks

I never even thought about making my own Christmas stockings until my sister mentioned it a couple weeks ago, and I thought..."ya know, it really can't be that hard." I was in the hunt for a stocking for Vienna anyway and I didn't totally love mine and Andy's current stockings. But I really didn't want to spend a lot of money...

I did a little searching online on "how to" and came across this great 3-part video tutorial. I decided I'd give it a try and took off to the fabric store. That was a nightmare. Screaming child, understaffed store, so many decisions....ugh. Needless-to-say I didn't want to step foot inside that fabric store again for a very long time. But I walked out with some great material and accessories and ideas for my stockings.

I basically followed the video with a few exceptions:

1. I didn't use the adhesive material.

2. I made the outside of my stocking the same length as the inside lining as I wanted to roll my stocking over to create the cuff.

3. I attached the loop to the inside lining instead of the outside.

I'm really no sewing savvy, so trust me when I say this is super easy. If I could figure it out and make alterations of my own, it really can't be that hard. And the best part, it doesn't have to be perfect sewing...or cutting. The first stocking took the longest because I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing, but the second two were a breeze. Seriously, so simple.

I spent $30 for all the supplies...that included thread, all the accessories and the material. I'm super happy with the way they turned out. I love them. The only thing missing is names, I'd still like to add our names to the cuffs, in a non-cheesy-nice-looking-sort-of-way, but I'm not too sure how to do that. So maybe that'll be a project for next year.

Daddy's stocking:

Mommy's stocking (can't decide whether to put a bow on it or keep it off...)

Vienna's stocking

Yep. I'm super happy with the way they turned out!

St. Nick's Day

Growing up in my family, one of the traditions to our holiday season was St. Nick's Day. Most people I've ever mentioned "St. Nick's Day" to have had no idea what I'm talking about. It's a European tradition, I'm honestly not too sure how common it is in the U.S...but my Mom is from Germany and grew up with this tradition and then carried it on into her own family. It's pretty simple really, you put your boot outside the door on December 6th (you can even go as far as leaving your "Christmas wish list" in the boot) and St. Nick comes along (takes the letter) and fills the boot with goodies. I loved it when I was little, going outside and finding your boot filled with candy! What little kid wouldn't love that?

Of course there's more to the story behind why St. Nick's day exists, but that's something a simple google search could answer for you...I'm not going to go into the whole story. But it was fun, and we decided to do St. Nick's Day with Vienna.

"St. Nick" filled V's boot with Gerber Arrowroot cookies (since she's too little for candy & chocolate) and a Christmas bib...

...V discovered the goodies in her boot...

...in which she shoved an entire cookie into her mouth.

Does anyone else celebrate St. Nick's day?

Oh Christmas tree...how lovely are your branches

I love this time of year. I know everybody says that, blah-blah-blah, but I really do. I love snow. I love Christmas music. I love the food. I love picking out gifts for people. Everybody is so happy this time of year most people are so happy this time of year....everything, I love it all.

Last year at this time I was super pregnant and I was thankful for the Holidays to distract me as we anticipated the arrival of our baby - they flew by, to my delight. This year they're flying by again, and I wish I could slow it down. But I think I've come to the conclusion that this time of year will always go by fast. That's just the way it is.

One of my favorite holiday traditions is picking out and decorating a Christmas tree. Growing up we never had a fake tree, we always had real ones. And I refuse to get a fake tree, I just love real ones too much...I love hunting for the perfect tree, cutting it down, bringing it home, smelling that spruce aroma...mmmm.

This Christmas is extra special as it is our first Christmas with a kid. Yes, I have a kid...it still feels weird to say that. The anticipation of the Holidays is so much more exciting with Vienna as part of our family. She's experiencing this all for the first time...it's so fun. Over Thanksgiving weekend we went to the Bentlyville lights display, V loved looking at all the lights. We also got our Christmas tree and brought it home to decorate. (Okay, so mommy and daddy decorated while Vienna napped.) And topped it off with a cup of hot cocoa and some Christmas music. Of course Mom has to document everything with pictures.

(Except Bentlyville....because my camera died right when we got there...) :( boo

Picking out a tree!

Taking it home...this is a classic "Mom, put me to bed" look.

Waking up from nap and seeing the tree for the first time!