Christmas Round-Up, Part Two!

I finished 2 of the 3 stockings for Jack this year.  Not too bad, right?  I have eleven months to make one for our house.  Grandparent's houses are taken care of, which is where Santa visits anyway.  Somehow I didn't get a picture of the his jack-in-the-box stocking, but this is how the other turned out:

It fits in with the stockings at my parent's house.  Half were made by my grandmother and I've filled in the additions.  I still have a ways to go before reaching Mimi's level of Stocking Awesomeness, but I'm practicing. 

I made Rory a Black Apple Doll and I'm in love.  There are a lot of takes on this ragdoll, especially in the face, and I'm pleased with how this one turned out.  I embroidered instead of using paint.  I had fun making her outfit and her little accessories: a denim skirt, a pink frilly skirt and two scarves.  I'm sure we'll end up making more.  (I imagine I dinosaur dress is on the list.)  Her knee-highs are made from bits of an old t-shirt.  T-shirts.  Endless possibilities.  It's scary.  Rory says that her name is, "Rory, like me!"

I knew I wanted to make a name book for Jack but wanted a new spin on it.  I tried to think of fun alternatives to the usual alphabet picks (A is for apple, B is for ball, etc.)  I settled on bird species, partly because something that detailed is completely ridiculous for a baby's soft book.  Google and I found a Jay, an American Avocet, a Cardinal and a Kildeer.  Thousands of felt scraps later, plus some embroidery thread, cellophane for crinkle-goodness and some cool yellow corduroy and we have one of my favorites for this year. (Click the pic for a bigger view.) Ta-da!