Christmas Sock Advent Garland

When I saw these adorable socks at the Target $1 Spot last year, they inspired this Christmas Stocking Garland idea!  It's a combination of a garland, a stocking, and an advent activity!  My daughter is in her first apartment, and doesn't have any Christmas decorations yet, so I wanted to send her something that would brighten up her apartment, PLUS remind her that I was thinking about her each and every day.  Thus the invention of the sock-advent-garland!


It starts with 25 socks in various colors and sizes.  I hope you can find them after Christmas on sale! The socks were strung together with ribbon and a darning needle.

The daily numbers (1 - 25) were made with my Stampin'Up Stamps and ink pads, then punched with Stampin' Up punches (some ovals, some circles). A hole was punched at the top of each number, and a piece of Baker's Twine (from Taylored Expressions) was tied to the number tag.  The tags were GLUED to the socks with Inkssentials "Glossy Accents."



 Then the filling begins!  The secret is to either not have too many heavy items, or to have several hooks on your mantel to distribute the weight.  I did not number the socks sequentially because as each item is removed from the socks, I didn't want the garland to sag from being uneven.  The numbers are scattered haphazardly.  For my young adult daughter, the socks contain makeup, gum, earrings, small candles and Scripture verses to create her own advent candle wreath, lotion, disposable razors, candy, etc. A few socks contain family recipes on little note cards for her to add to her growing recipe collection.  Depending on your budget, you could add gift cards for gas, music, and much more! 

If you have more than one child or person opening up the socks, then you can either label the back of each number tag with a different person's name and distribute the gifts that way, or make each sock a piece of paper containing a family activity  (Day 1: Decorate the Christmas tree; Day 2:  Bake Christmas Cookies, Day 3:  Shop for Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts, etc.)  Here is a link to my favorite "Christmas to-do list" that helps your family focus on the less fortunate while at the same time preparing your home and your heart for Christmas.   Christmas Planning List

ENJOY!  If you create an advent sock garland, I'd love to see it!  Post a link here and share it with us!  Merry Christmas!

Congratulations Jenny

An egagement congratulations card for a young lady I've known for 30 years... in fact her mom & dad were in my wedding many years ago! I'm so excited for Jenny and Randy. This card was made with Purely Pomegranite paper (SU) and the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set and embossing folder. (also from Stampin Up!) The large rose image is stamped on the Pomegranite paper repeatedly, and then a piece of vellum is run through the "Big Shot" machine and layered onto the top of the cardstock, with ribbon added along the edge to cover the area where the vellum was attached. (This card is CASED from a card made at Jami's house a while back at one of her club nights.)

Catching up on Birthdays

You can never have enough Birthday Cards, right? I'm filling up my stash, plus making some to give to a family member, so here's what I've been working on. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, this beautiful paper and the colors. The designer paper is from "American Crafts" and it's called "Amplified." I used SU Lavender Lace, Melon Mambo, Cool Carribean, and Purely Pomegranite for the cardstock and colored the images with both Copic markers and SU markers.




Stamp Set: Crazy for Cupcakes (SU!)



Stamp Set: Pun Fun (SU!)



Stamp Set: Time for You (SU!)

I Love It When This Happens!

I've had some good stamping time the past week or so.... and I even had time t straighten up my desk area. After grabbing up some fun new items at CHA, it was fun to get some stamping time. Here are a few things to share with you. The Sewing card was made for a very sweet family at church, the Streelmans, who are sadly moving to Portland. I am in LOVE with their 2 little girls Becca and Natalie and am so sad to see them go. Karen was one of our brand new helpers in Children's Choir and it was so fun getting to know their family and getting to serve alongside of them at church. The good news is, it's always good to have friends who live in fun places so we can go visit them! Card Details: Kraft card base, retired designer paper, sewing machine, buttons, Oval Punch, Scalloped Oval Punch, Puns from the Past SU Stamp Set (stamped in Chocolate Chip Ink), Twill ribbon, twine from Paper Trey Ink, Pirourette Pink SU cardstock for the scalloped oval and some old buttons from my stash.

The Polka Dot Thank You card was super easy but super fun. It's just a bunch of "Bold Bright" circles punched with my various circle punches, and glued to white cardstock. The bottom of the front panel was cut with wiggley scissors, and then the words "Thank You" from the retired SU stamp set called "Wonderful Words" was stamped on the back inside of the card so it shows when you close the card. I made a bunch of these to keep on hand because they were so fun and so easy.

Thanks for looking!