Christmas Crafting

Last Christmas I really thew myself into a tizzy, making all of my gifts by hand.  This year I just don't have the time, but I am working on a few handmade details to go with my Christmas Gifts, as well as some handmade goodies for my husband.  

This is our first Christmas in our house.  Previously, I had always lived in small apartments and never did much decorating.  I always put up a tree, but that was about it.  This year I've had the opportunity to decorate my outdoor planters with cedar boughs and eucalyptus, add some new decorations to my Christmas tree, and I sewed some stockings for on our fireplace.  I have always wanted to hang stockings by the fireplace... dream come true!

My husband and I are very budget conscious... Most of my decorations are dollar store finds, or things that I have made myself.  I went with my mom to Michael's Craft store last weekend to get a few decorations and could not afford a single thing from that store! I was blown away at how expensive Christmas things can be... I mean, you really only have the decorations up for one month of the year.  I'm not sure that I'll ever get out of that 'poor student' mentality!

I really like how my stockings turned out.   I used a piece of fabrics I had bought off Etsy to make cushions out of.  I lined them with scrap broadcloth, and used some scraps of burlap and ribbon to dress them up.  I cut and braided regular old twine to create a loop to hang them.

I got quite a bit of Christmas crafting done this weekend... I also made some salt dough ornaments, which took me back to being 5 years old again and hanging out with my grandma.  I painted them ivory yesterday, and am just waiting to string some ribbons through them, then will use them as gift tags on my presents.

Are you up to any Christmas crafting this year?