All posts tagged stocking

Shape Sticks Stocking Stuffer

by Vanessa Brady on 7 December 2012 in Holiday, Kids with 31 Comments

Spend enough time on Pinterest and you’re sure to see tons of pins where people stick velcro dots on the end of jumbo craft sticks so that kids can make shapes and such. I’ve been wanting to make these for a while now and it just so happens that I’m also on the hunt for good stocking stuffers. Bingo, two birds with one stone!

This is such a quick and easy project I almost hate to write a full tutorial for it! Depending on the amount of sticks you want to make, you could seriously finish this in 10 minutes. Perfect for those last minute “Oh Crap, We Forgot The Stockings!” moment!

I’m uploading the free Label Printable as well as the Activity Sheet Printable. Feel free to download them and use them for your own personal pleasure (no commercial use, please). If you laminate the activity sheets, kids can also use a dry erase marker to write out the words. These also make a great addition to your bag to keep the kids busy during your fancy holiday dinner!

Shape Sticks

Materials:
- Jumbo Craft Sticks
- 5/8 inch round hook & loop stickers
- Muslin Bag
- Activity Sheet Free Printable (01, 02, 03, 04)
- 5×7 Laminating Pocket (no heat necessary)
- Label Free Printable

Directions

1. Stick a hook sticker and a loop sticker to each side of the jumbo craft sticker for a total of four stickers per stick.

2. Print, cut and laminate each of the 5×7 activity sheets.

3. Print and cut out the Free Label Printable.

4. Put all the Shape Sticks and activity sheets in the muslin bag and attach the label. Done!5. Perfect stocking stuffer…and no batteries needed!

Retro Space Age Stockings

by Vanessa Brady on 8 November 2011 in Holiday, Original Prints with 30 Comments

Ok, I admit it and I’m not ashamed to reveal that we’re big fans of science fiction in our house. My Dad got me hooked on classic sci-fi literature as a kid and well, Jim can definitely roll with even the biggest trekkies out there. So, it should come as no surprise that even our holiday stockings have a bit of a sci-fi twist. I chose a red/blue/gray color pallet to work with but the color combination are endless! I would love to see how these would look in warmer hues like cranberry, mustard and pine.

I am releasing the patterns for each of these (with an extra bonus for my Facebook fans!) but please, go easy on me. This will be my first attempt at releasing anything that could possibly even resemble a pattern. There are going to be some issue, I’m just going to put that up front right now. If you decide to download the patterns and if you come across any problem, please please please let me know! I’ll definitely try to fix the issue and upload the corrected pattern for those who download it after you.

Tomorrow I will post a tutorial on the assembly process but really, it’s super easy and depending on the amount of sewing you’ve done, you may not even need the tutorial. The most time intensive part will be sewing the appliques on by hand but if you do it while watching something good on TV (The IT Crowd, Game of Thrones, Firefly are some of my favorites), your appliques will be done in no time.

Scroll down to the end of this post if you’re interested in the free patterns to make your own Retro Space Age Stockings!

I really hope you all enjoy these patterns, it took almost two years to get them to you! Once again, let me know if you see anything that needs fixing.

The first image link will take you to the Retro Space Age Stocking Scribd Collection (edit: had some problems with Scribd so I’m hosting them onsite now) Follow the links below to download the stocking body pattern as well as patterns for the background rays, cuff, tag and letters to customize the cuff. Each of the four different appliques (Robot, Rocket, Raygun & Alien Ship) use this basic pattern to start off with. Applique patterns for each design follow the basic stocking pattern.

All patterns are available to download here except for the Alien Ship, which is a Facebook Exclusive. Gaining access is super easy though! Just “like” Tried & True’s Facebook page and you’ll get immediate access. As always, you are more than welcomed to use these patterns for your own personal use. Please do not redistribute or sell commercially.

Retro Space Age Stocking Patterns

Stocking 01 pdf
Stocking 02 pdf
Stocking 03 pdf
Stocking 04 pdf

Rays 01 pdf
Rays 02 pdf

Letters 01 pdf

Robot Applique 01 pdf
Ray Gun Applique 01 pdf
Rocket Ship Applique 01 pdf
Alien Ship Applique 01 pdf (T&T Facebook Exclusive!)
Alien Ship Applique 02 pdf (T&T Facebook Exclusive!)

Mint Oreo Truffles

by Vanessa Brady on 18 December 2010 in Food with 1 Comment

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Welcome to Seven Days of Stocking Stuffers! Seven days where we talk about projects small enough to fit in a stocking and easy enough that you won’t pull your hair out in the process. Not into stockings? No worries, these projects would also be great for any occasion!

Well, it’s that time again! What time, you ask? Oreo Truffle time, of course, silly. If you’ve been with us for the last year, you’ll remember that these super easy truffles won last year’s T&T Trials for the perfect little food gift. Here we are a year later and they’re still ridiculously addictive.

This year we decided to change it up a bit and use mint Oreos with crushed candy cane sprinkled on top. It was a bit of a gamble messing with Bakerella’s recipe but it totally paid off in the end. The mint innards of the truffle mix perfectly with the hint of crunchy texture from the candy cane. If you could put Christmas on a stick, this is what it would taste like. (Wow, that sounded much better in my head. Now I can’t stop thinking about reindeer poop on a stick. Great.)

Speaking of sticks, last year we had a bit of an issue with some of the truffles being kinda messy so this year I decided to make it an all-out Bakerella Christmas and pop these suckers on sticks. Much much much easier to work with candy coating.

I’m planning on wrapping these individually and groups of five to give out as little “Thanks for the wonderful year” gifts. That is if I can convince my husband to stop stealing them!

Cupcake Chalk Tutorial

by Vanessa Brady on 13 December 2010 in Kids, Tutorial with 7 Comments



We had an early birthday party for friends last weekend themed Union Jack. Last year it was Cracker Jack, this year Union Jack. Turns out, I like quirky little parties. Unfortunately, throwing “quirky little parties” mean very few options when it comes to decorations or favors. Remind me of this next year when I’m walking the aisles of Party World looking for obscure “Jack” references!

But back to this year…I was looking for a quick and easy favor to make for about 16 kids. If I had planned ahead of time, I would have just bought cheap British flags for everyone and called it a day. Instead, I decided to try my hand at chalk. In the shape of a birthday candle. Two days before his party. Do you see where this is going?

After three tries, a ruined mini cupcake pan, a dozen discarded silicon molds, two bottles of tempura paint  and the biggest mess in the history of the world…this is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy!

Cupcake Chalk

Materials:
- tempura paint (wet or dry)
- plaster of paris
- disposable containers
- disposable spoons
- small foil cupcake liners
- small muffin tin (you won’t be able to use for food again)
- disposable piping bag (or ziploc bag)
- paper towels
- more paper towels

Instructions:

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1. Assemble and organize all your supplies. Once you start working with wet plaster, things have to move very quickly. Having everything everything accessible is an absolute must.

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2. Line your pan with liners. The first batch I made, I used old silicon liners and took forever to dry. Unless, you’re super prepared and are making these weeks in advance (I hate you), I highly suggest using foil liners instead.

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3. Ok, here’s where things get kinda tricky. Start with mixing 3/4 cup of warm water with 1 1/2 cups of plaster. Add in a bit more water if you’re not able to spoon easily into your foil liners. Allow cupcakes to set for 5 minutes. (24 cupcakes = double recipe)

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4. While you’re waiting for the cupcake body to set slightly, mix up your “frosting” using 1 cup of water for 1 1/2 cups of plaster. At this point, you can add the tempura paint to the “frosting” if you want some color. I used liquid blue and got an extremely light blue frosting. (If I remember correctly, because I used liquid tempura, I could only add so much paint before it got too runny. Powdered tempura paint might work better.) Working quickly, spoon the frosting into a piping bag and moving in a circular manner, frost your cupcakes. Allow to dry completely (at least 12 hrs).

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5. Wrap each cupcake individually with either plastic wrap or a sandwich baggie cut in half. Tie in place with a ribbon and label.

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A Retro Holiday Peek

by Vanessa Brady on 19 November 2010 in Home with No comments

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I’m still working on the Retro Space Age Stockings patterns. I know, I know, they’re a month late but you’ll still have most of December, right? And really, if you’re anything like me, you’ll finally get to cutting out the pattern the week of Christmas.

Heh, you gotta love the procrastinator.

 
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