It's begginning to look...

... a lot like Christmas

 Christmas cards.

 Chocolate-Mint Pinwheels.

 Strawberry Shortbread.

 Pecan Snowballs.

 Goody bags for our family, friends and neighbors.

Tree at night.

Tree in morning.

 Tonio, Sebastien, Lindsey, Tim, Andrew.

 Pierre, Nancy, and army men.

 Christmas pillows.

 Treats for my Dad !

 Notes by his bed.

Can't wait to have my Dad here to celebrate Christmas with all of us... such a great Christmas gift.  The only thing that would have made it that much better is if my Mom could have come too... next year Mama !

Love Linz

Off to pick up my Dad from the airport {giggle with glee}.

Stockings

This past week, I've been cooped up inside with a nasty sinus infection / hacking cough.

After sleeping a few of those days, I started feeling good enough to be more human.

So I dusted off the sewing machine, went on pinterest for inspiration and voilà !

I made our Christmas stockings !!!

Inspired by this picture below:

 

 (yapins.com)

I used one of my wool socks as a pattern and just added some fat - ha !

 The material came from old Gap slacks and old American Eagle jeans from Tonio.

They were at the point-of-no-return, so basically, the holes were far too advanced for my amateur seamstress skills =).

As you can see, I alternated the pants material for the reverse sides.

Using my favorite sewing tool, the trusty seam ripper,

I removed 2 belt loops from each pair of pants to make the hooks.

Can you guess which one is Tonio's and which one is mine?

I know we will have some fun stuffing those pockets too.

The Gap slacks were Tonio's favorite pair of pants, so, in a way, we're paying homage.

May they live forever... or until I get tired of them and decide to sew new stockings =).

I'm very thankful for my husband who takes such good care of me and encourages me in my creative endeavors (I know he's proud of me for trying new things).

Thank you Jesus for the down times.

--Love Lindsey