No Sew Felt Stockings

Each Christmas morning of my childhood, the first thing to be opened was always our stockings. Amongst Santa's random fillings were small toys and trinkets, oranges and walnuts (hey, he must have wanted me to be healthy right?) and usually a bit of cash (the prized piece) for some post holiday shopping.  Seeing the stockings on our mantle through the month of December was always one of my favorite things during the holidays.  Sometimes mine was mysteriously stuffed a few days before Christmas and I was convinced it was just to torture me with thoughts of what might be inside.  My stocking was handmade by my grandmother and was absolutely gorgeous.  Apparently, in a single year she made one for each grandchild and at the time there were about ten of us!  For years, I didn't hang any here in San Francisco because I just couldn't find something that was nearly as perfect as the ones she had made.  Every holiday season I looked, hoping to find anything that would compare - every year I had no luck.

So this year I decided to make my own (which I think might have been what started this 25 days of DIY in the first place). Back in November I went on a mad google search for some ideas and came across this post. I fell in love with the felt ones and dug out the sewing machine to get started. And then I panicked.  What was I thinking!  I hadn't sewn anything since college and now I thought I could do this?!?! No way. But then I remembered a friend telling me about a felt project she did once and how well a regular hot glue gun worked wonders with this medium.  And guess what?  It worked so well that now my sewing machine is back in the corner collecting dust. I do hope to try my hand at sewing again at some point (New Years resolution?), but for now the glue gun might just be my new BFF.  While they are not nearly as intricate as the ones my grandmother made years ago, I think they turned out pretty cute. Now comes the fun part of deciding what to put in them (chocolate sounds way better than fruits and nuts). Looks like I will be adding "eating healthy" to my New Year's resolutions as well. :)