To start with I bought a yard and a half of three colors of felt and two yards of a fourth. I chose dark green for the bottom layer so I got the most of that color. I started with my top layer first. I folded my old Christmas tree skirt in quarters and then did the same with my red felt. I lined them up and using my old tree skirt as my guide, I cut my red felt. I then folded my next layer of felt into quarters and using the red felt I’d just cut I cut my white felt about an inch and a half larger. I repeated this for my last two layers. To make my scalloped edges I used a CD as my guide and marked on my felt with a piece of chalk. You are bound to have two that don’t line up just right use this as the back of the skirt. I scalloped the top three layers and left the bottom layer straight. To make sure everything lined up when I was ready to cut my slit I made sure my awkward spot where the last scallop lines up with the first was on the fold line where the fabric had been folded over to wrap around the bolt. I folded my layers again into quarters and used my CD to cut a circle for the center. I lined the tip of my folded over felt to the hole in the CD to make sure all my layers had the same size hole. Then I unfolded the felt and cut my slit right on the fold line stopping at the middle. To attach the layers together I used a hot glue gun lining up each side of my slit and then the center I glued the edges together. My tree never looked so festive!

I wanted my children’s stockings to be handmade by me. My stocking growing up was one that my mom had made for me, my husband also had a stocking that his mom had made him.  I wanted their stockings to be something special and made with a mothers love.  I also wanted their stockings to be a little larger than normal because I find myself struggling to find enough small items to fill a regular size stocking. I started by drawing my pattern out on a large sheet of paper. When I was happy with the general shape and size I cut it out remembering to allow a little extra space for my seams. I decided on fleece for the stockings because I wanted something soft and kid friendly but also durable and easy to work with.  I was able to make 3 stockings from one yard of fleece. If you were making smaller more standard sized stocking you could probably get four out of a yard. I made a loop by sewing a small strip of fleece into the top outside corner of my stockings. I bought two yards of fuzzy white trim and one package of rik rak this amount was perfect for three stockings. Starting at the outside seem I used a hot glue gun to glue my fur trim and rik rak. My son was so excited when he saw them he said “Wow Mama look! Giant socks!”

This year we started a new tradition, Santa pancakes! I used strawberry pie filling for Santa’s hat, a large chocolate chip for his eyes and whipped creme for his beard and the trim on his hat. My kids loved them and they were delicious! A great way to celebrate the build up to Christmas.