the making of a christmas stocking

With two new additions to the family, I finally got a chance today to make their stockings. I started with Matthew's stocking first. I also made one for Julia, our Swedish foreign exchange student.

I have the advantage of owning an embroidery machine, but if I didn't ..... I would probably use some glitter glue to write the family's members name on their stocking.

I got out my pattern which I made a few years ago. Here's how I made it.

I took an old stocking I had and used it as a template. Cut 2. Keep one in tact, that will be the inside of the stocking. I usually make this out of fleece. The second one cut the top off (for the name), and the heel off for some extra decorations.

I'm using my embroidery machine here to complete the top of the stocking. I bought the fonts several years ago - it's called Walt Disney. I have this entry level Brother embroidery machine which I bought for about $300 and I love, love, love it. It only does 4x4 designs and only a single spool at a time - but what a work horse! I haven't killed it yet!

I sew the top to the bottom part of the decorative stocking. I used some brick brack over the seam line. Do the back the same way.

I embroidered the heel of the stocking to make it extra special for my grandson. I used a nice big block of white to do the actually embroidery. Once it was done, I put the heel out around the design.

And then sewed it to the stocking.

With right sides together, sew the decorative stocking together at the sides.

Use the full size sock template to cut out the fleece for the inside. Cut 2.

And sew the fleece together at the sides leaving about a 2-3 inch opening in the seam to turn the stocking inside out.

Make the hook for the stocking by taking some fabric, fold inside and again. Iron it very well to make nice sharp edges. Sew edges together.

Put the fleece stocking inside the embroidered stocking with right sides together. Basically, you are putting one stocking inside the other. Always, always, always make sure right sides are together. Pin the hook hear the seam.

Sew together around the top of the stocking.

When it's done, pull it right side out through the 2 inch opening you left in the fleece. It should look like this.

Sew the 2 inch opening in the fleece closed.  Push the fleece inside the embroidered stocking and voila! There you are!

The stocking is done for my sweet baby grandson, Matthew. It matches his brothers and his mom's. On to Julia's!

Isn't that just the sweetest face ever! My little monkey face ...

The Giggle Box Graduates!

Congratulations Jacquelyn! You made it! You conquered the Chemical Engineering program at University of Michigan and came out the other side.....victorious!

Congratulations to your son... who walked with you through every struggle.

Say goodbye to long long hours studying at the library .... And crazy lab partners.

Say goodbye to driving to campus to park and take a bus to the different classes.

Say goodbye to stressful final exams and late night SWE meetings.

Say hello having more time to spend with your family! And what an awesome bunch of people we are. Hahahahahaaaaa! But ... we always got your back.

Say hello to your awesome sister ... and Bruce Wayne.

Say hello to seeing more of your friends and girl friend.

And just as important - but not more than .... say hello to the dollar billzzzzz!

We are super super proud of you! Congratulations University Michigan, School of Engineering Grad of 2014! What an accomplishment!

Now you can say hello to being a U of M alumni!

Samsung NX30 Digital Camera

I wanted a new camera for Christmas and I finally got around to looking at the different ones available. It has been awhile since I looked at the digital camera technology.  

When I started thinking of what was truly important to me in a camera, I came to the conclusion that it was the ability to share my pictures and videos quickly. Share them to social media sites and for my blog. I wanted a nice digital SLR that was SMART.

After reading a bunch of camera reviews, I settled on the Samsung NX30, which is a mirrorless digital camera. The mirrorless technology also makes the camera smaller, so it's easy to just throw it in my bag and go.

If you're looking for me to spout all the technical shooting specifications, then you're going to be disappointed. It has all the bells and whistles of being a good digital camera, but when it arrived - I set out to discover all the sharing capabilities. I knew it was Samsung and the picture quality would be excellent. The HD Video capability is fantastic as well!

I loved the fact that I could easily share my pictures and videos to my smart phone. Right away I was using my smart phone as a view finder for the camera. It was quick and easy to attach to my wireless network and just as easy to log in and share my photos to Facebook. Done and Done.

The one gotcha that I found with sharing was with Picasa, which is the Photos capability through Google. I keep logging in and it was tell my that the username/password was wrong. In my email, I got several notices from Google saying "We recently blocked a sign-in attempt to your Google Account."

After monkeying around, I figured I had to move to the 2 step verification process in my profile's security options and ta-do! It worked! It caused me a little heartburn as every device I had logging into Google was now changing through a 2 step verification process. 

All in all, I love the camera and I'm having fun going through all the shooting features and trying them all out. I also ordered a close up and long range lens - coming soon!.

MunchingBrotato Quest

Holly turned 14. OMG! Holly turned 14! What do you want for your birthday Boo?

She finally came downstairs and said, "I wanna go to Chicago. MunchingBrotato is having a meetup - can we go?" She lives and breathes the Minecraft You Tuber. Mmmmmmm......it'll be fun for us and Julia (our foreign exchange student) too - she'll get to see a really big city. OK then - let's do this! She packed her special edition phone case for his signature.

Four hour drive to Chicago from Michigan .... and both the girls fell asleep. Julia does this all the time - sleeps sitting up.

After a couple hours, we stopped off in Indiana.

Burke was super excited ...he was born ready! For what? We have no clue. Julia has now been in 3 states in the US.

Super scary Skyway bridge. STOP sightseeing Burke! and keep your eyes on the road.

After we got into our room at the Chicago Hilton, we went out for some sightseeing. The Christmas tree by the Grand Ballroom.

I had Burke, Holly and Julia stand by the non-working fountain for a photo op. It was cold - they were not amused.

And then we froze out by Lake Michigan.

My first panoramic view of the city line with my new awesome camera!

 Julia's first encounter of one of our lovely Great Lakes.

Walked right by a protest. "Hands up - don't shoot!".

We finally got to Gino's East for their famous deep dish pizza! It was so good, we ate it all! Afterwards, we went back to the hotel for a good nights sleep. Big day tomorrow!

First thing in the morning after breakfast, we went to the Art Institute of Chicago for some art sniffing. Renoir, Monet, and much much more. It was awesome to see the long line to get in.

Eating lunch at the Art Institute..... it was nearly time. She was so nervous - freaking out really. Was having weird anxiety dreams for weeks now. She looks calm, but inside she was flipping out!

We headed over to the Bean or Cloud Gate.

Ahhh the Bean. As we approached the meeting place, the Tweet went out. He was on the way - but 15 mins late! Oh no! Super cold and already I couldn't feel my feet.

It wasn't on the news, but the bean fell off it's track and started to roll. No worries, Burke was there to stop it and put it back.

The weirdest thing happened.... A parade of Santa's showed up. Couple hundred and lined up in front of the bean. Sweeeeet....

We watched the ice skaters at Millennium Park while we huddled together trying to keep warm. Waiting ..... for mashing potato, brunching motato. Wondering if he had a brother .... munching tomato?

A large herd of people started to gather. "Who is that?" I heard someone say. "It's something potato.", said someone else. Holly immediately freaked out. He's here!

She managed to squeek near him. OMGlob! The crowd gathered around him and started spilling out into Michigan Ave. Suddenly a sheriff appeared out of nowhere and guided the poor boy into safer area, as he was signing autographs.

And finally, it was her turn. Look at that beautiful smile! And he's ok too. Tyler Kristy is his name.

Finally the crowd thinned out and there was a few die hard fans. Selfie! Those girls were die hard fans!

Holly was in hog heaven! She floated out of there. We went back to the hotel and waited for Burke and Julia, who had slipped out to go up to the Sears Tower.

Once Burke and Julia made it back to the hotel, we headed out! Mary Lambert, Fitz and the Tantrum, and Sam Smith all at the Miracle on State Street. The place was rocking!

Burke captured this amazing shot the very next morning. Sunday .... heading back.

Best weekend ever!!