Lulu's Christmas Corsage

I should be wrapping packages, or putting up the fake tree, but I didn't feel like it today. I was thinking about my mother and how she always wore a Christmas corsage. She was good at arranging greens and table decorations, maybe she created the corsages herself. They were usually made with holly leaves, red berries, maybe some evergreen twig, and little white bells that looked like sugared Easter eggs. I wish I could find those bells today! Lulu always looked cheerful and upbeat during the holidays.

So instead of doing something practical today, I made a Christmas corsage! Not quite like the ones Lulu wore, which I wish I could reproduce, but it was fun to be in my studio and I like the whimsical finished product. Did I go to far? There is a lot of stuff in it -- pine cones and seed pods, tiny bells, leaves and a vintage red blossom, paper rose, stamens, feathers, even cats whiskers! (I knew I was saving them for something.)

To make the little bird I glued birch bark to card stock, and when it was dry I used my "Martha" craft punch to stamp out the bird.

I really like the cats whiskers.

Felt Christmas Stocking Pins

When our mother, Lulu, was a nursing home resident, our family made friends with many of the other residents, and often their families. Carolyn and I planned special events for the ladies (and a few men!). Each December we gave a holiday tea, with sweets from Molly's Bakery, music, fun and silliness.

For one of the holiday teas I made many of these cute little felt stocking pins. The ladies loved them! I was touched when, at our tea the following year at Christmas, some of the ladies wore their stocking pins from the year before.

The pattern for the stocking pins is below. Trace around the pattern onto doubled felt and cut out. Join the back and front with buttonhole stitch, in a contrasting color of two strands of embroidery floss. Cut a strip of white felt to wrap around the top. Scalloped or pinking shears make a pretty cut. Glue the white felt strip to the stocking using Beacon Fabric-Tac, joining ends of the felt strip at the center back. Glue a 3-hole pin back horizontally on the back of the stocking, on the white strip.

The miniatures that go into the stocking were found at Michaels, near the scrapbook section of the store. You will find a lot of these little holiday things in the months leading up to Christmas.

Join the various miniatures, plus a leaf or two pulled from a fabric flower, using a small piece of fine guage florist wire. (I glued the florist wire to the back of the tiny wrapped presents).

Put a small amount of polyester stuffing in the stocking, to puff it out a bit. Put some Tacky glue on the pre-wired miniatures and insert in the stocking, behind the stuffing. Let dry, wear your cheerful pin during the holidays! Make 30, host a tea at a nursing home and brighten the holidays for the residents there!

It might be fun to add a little embroidered flower to the toe of the stocking. I didn't do that because I was making a lot at one time.

Here is the pattern for the stocking. You will probably have to enlarge or reduce it on your computer or printer. The dimensions of the stocking are 2 - 3/4" high x 2" wide. If it is helpful, the frame around the pattern is 2 - 7/8" high x 2 - 1/8" wide.

These were fun to make, very colorful.

Enjoy!