Christmas Stockings

My current project is stockings. These are so much fun because you can personalize it to anyone. They can be as elaborate or simple as you like, and fun and frilly as you like, as large or small as you like. Plus they make great gifts. Each and everyone I make is different. Every time I start one, it's like starting a new puzzle. Hopefully I can get around to making my own before Christmas.




























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Story of Christmas Stockings:
By Rebecca Roberts

Like all good legends, the story of the Christmas stocking has many versions. The original story has evolved to allow for differences in culture, time period, and good old fashioned story-telling. So it's hard to pin down exactly how the Christmas stocking tradition started, but too much exactness isn't any fun, anyway. And certainly not in the spirit of Christmas. So here's our favorite version of the story:

Once there was a father with three beautiful daughters. Although the daughters were kind and strong, the father despaired of them ever making good marriages, because he didn't have enough money to pay their dowries.

One day, St. Nicholas of Myra was passing through their village and heard the locals discussing the plight of these poor girls. St Nicholas knew the father would be too proud to accept an outright gift. So he waited till dark, snuck to the man's house, and dropped three bags of gold coins down the chimney.

The daughters had spent the evening washing clothes, and had hung their stockings by the fireplace to dry. The gold coins dropped into the stockings, one bag for each daughter. In the morning, they awoke to find enough money to make them each a generous dowry, and all married well and happily.

As word of St. Nicholas' generosity spread, others began to hang their stockings by the fireplace, hoping for a similar gift.

Halloweeeny Decorations

Halloween is tons of fun. I always look forward to seeing the fun and creative costumes that people come up with. You get kudos if you made your costume or came up with something clever, if you didn't, shame on you. Halloween is a chance to rummage your closet, go through some old craft tackle left over from that project your never finished, hit up the thrift stores and get down and creative, and dirty if it calls for it. Especially if you have kids, allow them to pull out your old prom dresses. I was a genie one year thanks to my mom's pack ratting abilities. Going to the store and grabbing it off the shelf earns you no points in my book. Plus, it's cheaper. And speaking of cheap, same goes with your house decorations. Personally, I don't quit get the blow up air thingys, but that's just me. And it's a cop-out. I spent about $5 on mason jars, and $2 for webs and that was it for Halloween this year. I cut up a sheet for ghost, stuffed it with grocery bags, hung lanterns (mason jars) with wire, made spiders with pipe cleaners, and of course pumpkins. Easy sneezey. For my costume I was a 40's housewife, the era I feel I missed out on, and my husband was, well, in total Andy style, a stick of ram. Ah yes, if you haven't tried to use a power drill to carve your pumpkins yet, I highly recommend it. You can carve it lickadi split come out with something a knife can't possibly do. Plus, it's a blast! Humm, maybe the Drimal ....next year.