A while back I wrote on a few holiday projects I had been working on and wanted to update those and add some more!
But before I get into all that, we got a little snow today, but the sun in note out and do are the children and animals! So here are a couple pictures from around the farm today!
First up, my “tree” has been decorated!
It took me a long time to decide how I wanted to decorate this little guy. I thought about using little hooks and plastic balls so the kids could play with it and redecorate it. I considered going rustic with burlap ribbon and copper ornaments. Finally I decided on stockings! We don’t have a fire place and I didn’t have a good place to hang our stocking that wasn’t too high, in the way of something, or just weird. So as I stared at the tree trying to figure it out, the idea of hanging the stockings on t came to me and I love it! The thing about it that I love the most is knowing this will be a tradition. Even when we have a real tree, we can still put up our “stocking tree” each year. It’s cute, fun and functional. I’m excited to watch the kids learn what these things are all about!
Last year I wrote about the fleece stockings I made for my family. This year I had to make another one. Last year I had three fabrics that matched and one odd ball. Thus year I found fabric to match the odd ball, so the three became the kids stockings and the two became the parents! It worked out perfect. I had also been on a mission to find a way to identify each stocking. I wish I had a sewing machine that could have done the embroidery, but I don’t. The fleece fabric limited what I wanted to put on it, such as puffy paint or iron on. Then I found these burlap letters at Walmart. I knew I was on to something! I wanted then reinforced, so I used tacky glue and glued them to some holiday fabric.
I made sure to glue the edges as I didn’t want the letters to unravel. After they dried I cut them out. Then used a simple hole punch and some fun ribbon and tied them on to each stocking! Luckily, we have no repeat letters in our family! And I love how they turned out!
Lastly, ornaments. Growing up some close family friends started a tradition with my sister and I of giving us ornaments each year. My parents also joined in and gave me an ornament year after year. They were always angels. I now have a beautiful tree covered in a wide variety of gorgeous angel ornaments. They all have special meaning to me and I treasure each one. I want to continue this tradition with my children. Josiah gets snowflakes, Charlotte gets angels and Eli will get stars.
Now, when I went looking for ornaments, they were a little on the pricey side. When added on top of all the other gifts and presents it was just getting to be too much. I needed to look for other options. After searching Pinterest and Etsy I found some wire designs that I thought I could handle. They are simple craft wire, that I just shaped freehand and with the help of a pliers. For the star and snowflake I added a few beads. I hope that my kids will grow to love this tradition and hopefully like these ornaments made by their Momma. I think this homemade ornaments thing is something I’d also like to continue. Now with better planning there are so many options out there to try!
I hope your holiday preparations are going smoothly!
Happy harvesting,
Leah
Harvesting Roots 
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