Uniquely Normal Mom

Make your own Christmas Stocking (or for your children)!

Make your own Christmas stocking

My daughter didn't have a Christmas stocking last year but I wasn't bothered by it. She was young and even now it isn't imperative that she have her own Christmas stocking. But it would be really cute.

I set out on my BFF, Google, and found this tutorial, which didn't have much explanation, but left you with really cute stockings. I knew I wanted a few things different on my stocking, but I absolutely loved the general idea!

This is a very cheap Christmas stocking, I spent less than $5 for the felt and a bag of buttons. I had embroidery floss and sequins on hand, but even if you had to buy them, this whole project would still be less than $10 in supplies. I started this one night after work and made it pretty quickly! The longest part of it all was stitching the embroidery floss around the initial, but that's because I did that step last.

Here's what you need:

Felt for stocking (half a yard was enough for me)Contrasting felt for hanging loop, initial and cuff
Embroidery floss (for edges, initial and buttons)
Buttons
Sequins
Hot glue gun
Scissors (pinking shears, if desired)
Sewing Machine

The first thing I did was use a stocking as my template on some ivory felt and cut it out. I didn't want to freehand this one. I wanted this stocking to be the same shape as size as our other stockings.

If I were to do it again, I would cut three patterns instead of two. The first one would be the front, with all the embellishments, the second would be to help hide what was in the stocking and cover up all the embroidery stitches and the third would be the backside.

Tracing and cutting out the felt

I then cut the letting 'I' out, as that is my daughter India's first initial, a small bit of felt to use as a hanging loop and the felt to make the stocking cuff.

Next I would arrange the buttons, glue them on, then use some embroidery floss to accent them. Make sure you leave enough room to sew around the edges.

Then put your initial on (put all embellishments on before you sew it on) and put some pretty stitches around it with the embroidery floss.

Sew your two sides (or three) together, opposite sides together.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like the closed sides like this....

...and I didn't so I turned it right side out and used my MIL's pinking shears to cut all the edges.

(Remember, I didn't add my buttons until the end.)

At this point I sewed the cuff on, followed by the hanging loop. I didn't want the stitch to be visible on the outside of the cuff so I sewed it onto the inside.

Now the fun begins! Add all sorts of embellishments! Sequins, buttons and embroidery floss made me happy!

Sit back and marvel at your cute, fun creation! I promise, your kids will love it too!

I hope you enjoy this cheap and easy Christmas stocking! :-)

Labels: crafts, do it yourself, holidays, Pinterest

Simple Project: Repurposing an Old Sweater into a Children's Sweater Dress

The final project: my old sweater turned into a sweater dress for my daughter!

I had this sweater.

It was cute, but it made my stomach look poochy. Not right away, though. I would put it on and look cute in it for a couple of hours, but then it would make it look like I had a little belly. Not appreciated. I sure you may have a sweater or a shirt like that too.

So I put it in a bag for Goodwill.

As I was bringing the bag to Goodwill, it dawned on me that this sweater was very cute and perhaps I could use it for something else.

Enter: the children's sweater dress! Dun, dun, dun!

Here is my sweater, which made me look 4 months pregnant approximately 3 hours after putting it on:

The sweater that will soon be repurposed

See, it's pretty cute.

I decided I would just start slicing, taking an inch or two off around the outside. After all, I just needed a much smaller version of it to fit my daughter.

Cutting away!

Cutting the right amount off around the neck was quite difficult, but this sweater had buttons, so I knew I had some room to play with it. I'm also hoping the buttons will come in handy and she can wear this next year as well. It may be wishful thinking, but whatever.

Then I put the shirt inside out and sewed the opposite sides together.

(I did use another dress as my template so I didn't have to make my 16 month old daughter put it on over and over again.)

I purposely left the sleeves a little longer so maybe, just maybe, we can get use out of this as she grows.

I then made a denim flower brooch and matching hair clip. They match her cute, little jeggings.

And here's the final product (after taking laps outside for a bit):

Old sweater turned into a children's sweater dress

I love my daughter's re-purposed sweater dress! Now I'm on the lookout for more sweaters to make more sweater dresses!

Labels: crafts, do it yourself, green living, Pinterest

How to store bulk grains, beans and rice

I love bulk foods! Buying things like rice, oatmeal, quinoa, and dry legumes can add up if you buy them pre-packaged by the pound.

But, if you are thrifty, you can save a lot of money by buying foods from the bulk bin, reduce packaging waste and still have food that tastes great!

At a local grocery store, one pound of pre-packaged steel cut oats costs around $4. I buy my steel cut oats for about $1 a pound, which is a significant difference to say the least!

I'm a grain addict, and love to make my own cereal, so I'm always buying new grains.

The problem I encountered was storing all those grains. I wanted something attractive and I didn't want to have to spend lots of money on plastic containers that were plain and boring.

I decided to recycle old jars I had collected and cleaned. Jars from salsa, pickles, applesauce - anything!

Here's what I did....

First, do something with the jar covers.

-Paint 'em, cover the labels with marker or Mod Podge some decorative paper over them.

Decorating jar covers to store bulk food in.

Second, name your grain.

-Print off the names of the items you're storing using cool fonts (you can download awesome fonts for free here), or find some other way to label your jars.

Third, decorate!

-Mod Podge, paint, magazine clippings, chalkboard paint, tile, anything!

(Pssst....I save many of the cards I'm given and re-purpose them for projects like this.)

Lastly, DISPLAY!

Stored bulk rice, grains and legumes

Happy bulk food storage!

Labels: crafts, do it yourself, eco-friendly, food, frugal, green living, healthy

Shhh, I've been crafting!

I don't know what the heck I'm doing when it comes to crafts. Most of the time, I have brilliant ideas, a cupboard full of supplies and about one-fifth of my projects that ever see completion. I'm a happy dreamer, what can I say?

But since we're only-eat-rice-and-beans-broke, and I can't skimp on cuteness for my daughter or gifts for friends, I've been making some things. OK, I've been making gender neutral baby legs since I was pregnant, and I've been creating for months, but I've been really shy about sharing.

Here are some of my projects for my daughter and friends...Trust me, they are nothing special.