The Stocking Set is Complete!

I really should have lit the fireplace for this picture.... but when you're trying to take a picture of stockings that seem to spin and all face different directions and you've got a excited toddler and a separation-anxious infant and a home-sick-from-school kindergartener all trying to squeeze into the picture as well, the last thing you want is a burned hand on a little screaming person.

Anyway, here's the kids' favourite Christmas decorations after the tree... their stockings. I'm so happy with how they turned out because I had no idea I would be making a matched set way back when I made the first stocking on a whim.

Each stocking perfectly depicts its owner as I saw them on their first or second Christmas. Mischievous Ethan, active Sebastien, Estella who loves slides and new baby Isabelle for whom everything is edible.

The base stockings are all a little different because they were bought during the post-Christmas sale periods and were whatever was leftover at the store that year. To embellish them, I used felt to replicate the style of varsity letter patches. I printed their names from my computer onto regular paper and then carefully cut out the letters and used them as stencils to cut the felt. The monkeys and their accessories are also felt, which I cut out freehand following a roughly sketched design. Everything is glued in place using a generous amount of white glue.

I feel extremely blessed every time I look at this set of stockings and marvel at how lucky I am to have the best husband with whom I share four beautiful children. I'm glad that all those years ago I had a sudden urge to decorate my first son's stocking because it gave me the opportunity to create some lasting tokens of affection that my kids will (hopefully) cherish far beyond their childhood years. I hope that when they look at their stockings, they know that mommy made each stocking especially for them and filled them with all her love...

... and Pokemon cards, because I'm pretty sure my kids would argue that they can't live on love alone.