Personalized Christmas Stocking Tutorial

Ok, so I am going to show you a recent craft project I made for Christmas. No, it is not related to our wedding at all, but I thought what the hay, I will show it to you anyway. :)

Right now at my work we are having a contest for who can decorate their plain red Christmas stocking the best. I love crafting so I got really excited!

The cute kitty in the picture is my roommates cat, Burrito.

I just love the little guy. :)

Below is a picture of the plain red stocking they gave us to start off with and they told us to decorate it however we pleased.

I was in Hancock Fabrics the other day looking for fabric for my wedding and took the opportunity to pic out a really cute fabric for my stocking as well.

My sister learned how to make fabric flowers a few months ago and I was intrigued so I decided to make one to put on my stocking.

First you cut out a long strip of fabric and then fold it in half. Take a needle and thread and start threading it through both layers of the fabric along the edge. As you pull the thread tight the fabric naturally starts to gather and spiral into the shape of a flower. For more detailed instructions on how to make these go to the Creation Corner.

Next I wanted to make a center for my flower so I took some Aleene's Fabric Fusion and glued it down onto the center of the flower.

Next I cut up squares from the fabric and glued them down flat onto the stocking with Aleene's Fabric Fusion as well. I had a red and white flannel ribbon that was left over from a wrapped gift that I tied and glued onto the top of the stocking. I used some of the extra pieces to cut out little hearts too. I had some left over letters from the project I did to ask my bridesmaids to be in our wedding. I used these to put my name on my stocking.

And it was finished!

There's Burrito again, checking out the stocking hanging from the fireplace in my room. :)

And here is a close up of my new fabulous Christmas stocking!

Sneak Peak!

Today I have decided to give you all a sneak peak of the fabrics that we will be using for decoration at our wedding reception. I haven't decided yet whether or not to tell you what they will be used for because I think I might want to make it a surprise. :) During the last couple of weeks my mom and I have gone to a few fabric stores to find the perfect fabric. All of these were found at Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts. I am so excited because I feel like my look is finally coming together!

200 days to go!!!

It is officially 200 days until our wedding!! So excited! Yes, 200 days is still quite a while but I think it will be here before we know it. With the holidays coming up and a few of my friends weddings and showers to go to, it will fly by (or at least I hope so!). I think when we hit 100 days, that is when the real count down will begin. :)

Cake Inspiration

Next week we are meeting with Sweet Dreams Bakery located in Oakhurst, CA for a cake tasting/meeting. We have heard many great things about this bakery so we thought we would meet with them first.

Jon is especially excited about meeting with the bakers because of the cake tastings, of course. I think this may be the most exciting part of wedding planning for him. lol. And... my dad wants to come to the cake tasting too! Figures! So next week on Thursday the four of us, my mom, dad, Jon, and I will be tasting cake. :)

The fun part for me is picking out the design of the cake. Don't get me wrong, I love cake, but since I found out that I have an intolerance to gluten there haven't been as many flavor options for me. Although I have heard that pretty much any wedding bakeries make gluten free cakes now that taste as good, almost as good, or better than the real thing. I do love that Betty Crocker has a line of gluten free baking mixes (I think the gluten free chocolate cake is better than the regular kind) and I discovered the other day that they have Bisquick gluten free pancake mix and it tastes just the same as the regular stuff.

Soooo, I am thinking we will make the whole cake regular and then just have one of the tiers (probably the small top one) gluten free for Jon and me. I don't want to make all our guests eat gluten free cake just because of me! Although, no one would probably know the difference. I bet it is more expensive though.

Anyway, to the fun part (at least for me).... the cake design! I have been looking on various websites for cakes I like the look of lately. I found some inspiration at Martha Stewart Weddings and The Knot. Since my dress has lace on it, I'm thinking of incorporating a "lace-look" to our cake. I love how bakers can do just about anything anymore these days. They can make frosting look like lace! Check out these cakes I like below. Aren't they beautiful?!

Ps. It's Jon's birthday today!!!! If you know him make sure you wish him the very best! :-)