So, 3 years ago I was browsing the internet for a stocking for Keller. I came across some CUTE stockings with a price (hint: $60) that was a little (OK, a lot) out of my price range. I decided to make my own and here’s what I came up with:

This year, I decided to make one for Campbell, too.

Scour the clearance tables in the back of the fabric store for fabrics for this project. You don’t need a whole lot of any of them and weird fabrics work best. Seriously…who’d buy that green stuff? And that fur? Faux German Shepherd at best.

The pattern for the stocking and the claws can be found and printed here. I made slightly smaller claws this time around. If you want big claws like in the picture above, add about 1/4” on both long ends.

You’ll need:
24” X 20” of the main fabric
5” X 13.5” of the fur/top fabric
scraps for the claws
5.5” piece of ribbon, cord, etc for the hanging loop

*** ALL SEAMS ARE 1/4” ***

Print and assemble the template. Match up the hash marks. The pattern for the claw is on the first page, in the middle of the stocking piece.

Fold the main fabric piece in half. Pin and cut out your pattern.

Cut out 6 claw pieces. (Tangent: If your claw fabric is thin, interface it now. I didn’t and had to do that after they were all cut out….major pain in the butt.)

Cut your fur/top fabric to size if you haven’t already.

Take 2 claw pieces and put them right sides together. Sew, leaving short edge open.

Trim the point. First like this:

Then like this:

Repeat with remaining 4 claw pieces. Turn them all right side out. A dull pencil works well for this.

If you made the claws bigger, you may want to stuff them with a little fiber fill at this point.

Lay one of your main stocking pieces out, right side up. Place and pin the claws like this:

Put the other stocking piece on top of it, right side down (so right sides are facing). Pin.

See the claws sandwiched in there?

Sew, leaving the top edge of the stocking open.

Turn the stocking right side out (you might want to clip to the sewing line between the toes) and pull out the claws. Press, if you need to.

Fold your fur/trim in half, right sides together, matching the short sides. Sew the short sides together.

Turn the fur/trim right side out and insert into top of stocking. The right side of the fur cuff will be against the wrong side of the stocking fabric. Line the seam in the fur cuff up with the heel side seam of the stocking. Insert your ribbon or cord for hanging at that seam, too.

Stitch around the top of stocking.

Flip the fur cuff over to the outside and you’re done!

(bigger/stuffed claws on the left, smaller/non-stuffed claws on the right)

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Before I get to that, I just wanted to draw your attention to the auctions going on this week over at A Daily Scoop. A young husband and father (an 8 month old and a baby on the way!) died last week when he became stuck in a cave. I don’t know this family in any way, but I have been in that cave (with BC when we were engaged), so it hit close to home. I’ve donated 2 camera straps to the auction. If you want to bid on them, click here.

Whilst perusing the Pottery Barn catalog, my neighbor mentioned she’d noticed there were some ornaments pictured that weren’t actually for sale.

You can buy the little stuffed hearts, but the other one is nowhere to be found. Here’s my knock off!

Trace a peace sign (or whatever shape you prefer) on cardboard. I used an old Amazon box. Here’s my template.

Cut it out. You can probably use scissors for the outside, but you’ll need an Exacto knife for the inside.

Don’t forget to punch a hole in the top for hanging. I couldn’t find my big hole punch, so I just punched a bunch of little ones together. It looks awful, but you won’t be able to tell once you’re done.

Get your Mod Podge and a sponge brush. You’ll also want a small brush.

Sponge brush a thin layer of Mod Podge on one side of the cardboard. Stick it to the back side of your paper. I used some great wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby. It’s thinner than scrapbooking paper, which is important. It also has this fabulous grid printed on the back with logos to show you the center of the design. NICE for centering your ornament.

Trim the wrapping paper, leaving approximately 1/8” (or the thickness of your cardboard) all around.

Don’t be too jealous of that fancy IKEA cutting board I use for crafting. Cut slits in all the inside corners and a + (like the straw hole in a take out cup) in the hanger hole.

Take your small brush and, working in small sections, Mod Podge the edge paper down to the edges of the cardboard.

Put a dab of glue in the hanging hole and then stick the handle of your brush through it. This makes a nice round hole instead of that mess I punched out.

You may need to use the blade of the Exacto knife to push down some of the inside corners.

Repeat with the other side.

Once that’s done, give the whole thing a coat of Mod Podge. Let it dry and…..

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We’re headed over the river and through the woods for Thanksgiving….be back Saturday. Hope your holiday is great!

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Have you seen these ornaments in the Pottery Barn catalog?

Here’s a whole tree full:

Cute, right? BUT, they’re $6 a piece. And I’m cheap. Here’s how I made mine.

Print out a template of a peace sign. Here’s mine. It measures about 5.5”. The PB ones are 7”.

Cut out the template and then trace it on some craft foam. I got a pack of 40 sheets for $4.99 at Michael’s.

Cut it out with scissors and punch a hole for hanging. I used a small hole punch but you might want to use a regular size, depending on what you’ll be hanging them from.

Spray paint both sides with a color that matches your glitter.

Here’s what you should have now:

Next you’ll need one of two things: Mod Podge or glittering glue. You can get the glittering glue at Michael’s in the Martha Stewart section.

On the left is Martha Stewart Glittering Glue with a brush applicator. On the right is some Martha glitter. It’s a fine glitter. You want fine glitter.

Brush the Mod Podge or glittering glue all over one side of the peace sign. Don’t be alarmed that the glittering glue looks like this:

It doesn’t dry super fast, so you’ve got some time to make sure you get a nice even coat. If there are any drips around the edges, wipe them off before you glitter. The glittering glue is more like a paste and doesn’t drip as much. It also dries slower.

I made one using each product and liked certain things better about each one. I’ll post both pictures at the end and let you decide if you can tell a difference.

Move the peace sign onto a clean piece of paper and sprinkle glitter all over it.

Tap off the excess glitter and set it aside to let it dry. You may need to use a skewer or something to make sure the hanging hole stays open.

Once it’s dry, flip it over and do the same thing to the other side.

After both sides were dry, I took a small brush and touched up the edges with glue and glitter.

String a ribbon or some fishing line through the hole and hang!

Finished product?

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