photo from Cards Unlimited

On Christmas Eve’s Day, I want to warmly wish my readers and friends a healthy, cozy Christmas with family and friends. When others call out “Happy Holidays” may you remind them what this season is and was originally about and that no political agendas are going to change it. Whenever you see a fat, grinning Santa think of Christ coming down to earth to offer us the priceless gift of eternal salvation. When you see reindeer…think of the stable and humble conditions the Lord was brought unto us. When you open gifts, try to think about Mary and Joseph as they held mankind’s gift in their arms.

Merry CHRISTmas everyone!

For my second week ( I skipped the last one) of A Homemade Christmas hosted by my cousin, I present to you my own designed ankle warmers.

What started out as practice on DPN’s, quickly turned into a project. None of us were surprised. It was too chunky of yarn to use as wrist warmers, and then I remembered a present I helped pick out a week few days ago for Christmas. They were leg warmers with two buttons on the side facing out, yet I wanted it to fall more onto the top of the foot (which would be over the top of the shoe) I tried to do the same and this is what I got:

Using thick chunky wool, and size 10 and a half DNP’s, I cast on 32 stitches, ribbed for about 4 and half inches, then increased in stockinette gradually until it was the size I wanted it. Then sew on two black shiny buttons onto each one. As crazy as it is, that is how I work. No pattern and room for mistakes…and in case anyone would like to hear about the mistakes…one is longer in the ribbing than the other.

I’ve worn them into town and they are quite cozy…and when I go to take them off, my poor ankles are cold, and I slip them right back on. They would be great for someone who likes handmade items, socks, and doesn’t mind quirky fashion.

For the first Homemade Christmas hosted once again by my cousin, Emily Rose, I decided to share what I will be doing this Christmas. On Monday night, I took a class on glass etching, which was very simple, and so I now have another thing which I can do for Christmas gifts.

Glass etching with the acidic cream is simple. One picks out a stencil, traces it onto contact paper, then cuts out the shapes, leaving an outline. Next, one places the peels off the back of contact paper, leaving the part to stick onto the glass. Next, we dab on the Armour Etch Cream onto the part where we want the frosted look to be, usually on the inside of the stencil. It looks like this…

I chose a dragonfly stencil from a library book, but one can chose anything to suit holidays, names, personalities, etc. The teacher put her son’s name on one side and then a helicopter on the other. Mom also had the idea of putting a word like “Jellybeans” or “Sugar” onto a jar, then filling it with that substance.

Not many people do this regularly, but it is easier than “actual” glass etching. There are endless ideas for this craft, and Christmas can be a great opportunity for experimentation.

A few more posts that I have done earlier in the season which could be used for Homemade Christmases:

The Blanket Buddy

Preparing for Homemade Christmases

Fingerless Gloves