DIY Burlap Christmas Stockings!

It's never too early for Christmas. . . . Right?? At least for me, I can listen to Christmas music YEAR ROUND. . . but I probably won't be doing that I don't think the people around me would appreciate that very much! That doesn't mean that I can't make stuff in preparation for Christmas though! My parents recently moved a house and we've had the same stockings for YEARS now, I mean they're cute but we've all grown up a bit and some of us have moved out and I thought it was time to kind of. . . update the decor a little bit. I had some left over Burlap and thought to myself: Hey, these can be really cute as stockings! So I decided to give it a try! with a little help from my mom, since I'm not the best at sewing and she's a seamstress - she has the "eye" for these things. (I apologize advance for my lack of pictures! I wasn't planning to make a post because I honestly didn't think it would turn out this well!) 

Items needed:
Burlap (I got mine at Hobby Lobby) 
Fur lining (Joann Fabrics) 
Sewing Machine, thread. 
Scissors
Sharpie 
Sponge Brush
Black Acrylic Paint 

First thing I decided to know was use an old stocking I had as the model and literally traced around it onto the burlap. I used a sharpie but you can use what ever works best. 

Now, you're going to need multiple layers of burlap, burlap is see-through because it is threaded (maybe? yeah?) That's also the reason why it unravels very easily. You can either use lining inside your stockings or in my case I just cut extra burlap. I made a total of 5 stockings and I cut out four pieces of burlap for each stocking. You probably don't need that much, but I wanted to be on the safe side and at the same time it'll make your stockings thicker and allow for more items to be put it - which is totally worth it, in my opinion! 

After I cut enough stockings out I decided I wanted to personalize them a bit and I painted each person's initial onto the stocking. You can free hand this but as I am terrible at writing I used a template I bought at hobby lobby. I just used a sponge brush and dabbed the black paint onto the template. And Here's how it turned out! 

After this was dry, it was onto the sewing! 

You will use two layers for the front of the stocking and two layers for the back of the stocking. Make sure that when you are sewing, the painted letter is facing the inside - so it's inside out. You want the sewing to be inside the stocking and after you're done you will make right side out. (Hopefully that makes sense!) 

After sewing the stockings and leaving the very top open, sew on your fur lining or whatever topper you want for your stocking. I also used a bit of that fur and made a little loop to hang the stocking which I sewed inside the stocking on the left top corner. 

Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures! I honestly thought I was going to screw this up. 

Here is the final result! 

The stockings ended up being a little narrow, so If you don't want them to be a bit wider remember to trace wider than your template and give room for sewing. I absolutely loved the way they turned out! And thanks to my mother for helping me with the sewing and tips! 

Hope you guys enjoy and give it a try or gave you some ideas! Hopefully it was understandable, I'm not the best at explaining myself. 

Thanks for reading! Please come back soon!

Until next time . . . . 

Adventure is out there! ;)

-Laura Dang 

DIY Easy, Inexpensive and personalized Homemade Gifts!

As most of you know, I am a college student who was recently unemployed and because of this money can be a little tight! I'm also at that age where everyone is getting engaged and married or having babies. Translation: LOTS OF GIFTS. I've always been a fan of personalized and homemade gifts, I think they are much more personal and I think people enjoy them and I, myself enjoy making them! Add this with the fact that I am tight on money so I needed to find ways to make gifts that were still meaningful but looked nice and that the recipient actually wanted! After scrolling through pinterest I made a couple of ideas of my own and this is what I came up with!

I wanted to make a housewarming gift for someone I knew and I took their personality and decor style in mind and decided to use burlap for their gift. They had just moved and I wanted to give them something they can hang in their new home so I made this:

I wanted it to be cute, simple with a personalized touch! And guess what?? It was all under $15! Now, some things I had on hand so it might cost a little more but also these things you can use for many other gifts as well. Here are the items that you will need!

You will need some Burlap - I got this for $3.99 a yard at Hobby Lobby - a picture frame - $7.99 at Ross - Spray Adhesive (which I had on hand) but this costs $8.99 at Hobby Lobby. You will also need one sheet of regular computer paper and your computer and a regular printer.


Step 1: I measured out the burlap to the size of one sheet of computer paper. You will be feeding this through your printer so you need to make sure that the size will fit. Also be careful while cutting the burlap because it does tend to unravel. I didn't have a huge problem with this though.

Step 2: Use the spray adhesive and spray your paper and then lay your burlap down and make sure they stick together really well. Make sure you don't have any strands hanging off the sounds because you don't want that to accidentally get caught and stuck while you print. Also, I recommend spraying the paper rather than the burlap since the burlap is full of holes.

Step: 3 I went onto my computer and just went to my trusty old Microsoft word! You can use any program you prefer or are familiar with like Photoshop, paint, etc. I created what I wanted it to say and made sure everything was aligned.

Step 4: Put the burlap into your printer feed and print away!

Step 5: Throw it into a frame and TA-DA! You're done!

IF you don't want to print on burlap you can always paint on it instead, it works just the same! Printing just makes it look more seamless and it's also quicker if you are stuck on time. Many people even thought it was embroidered on!

I personally love the way it looks and I think it is so easy to customized. I added this framed burlap to a basket with some hand towels and some candles and she loved it! [ Basket and Towels ALSO bought on Ross! ;) ]

I also made another one as a wedding gift! I think these are great housewarming, engagement or wedding gifts!

Let me know if you guys try it and how it turned out! And let me know how you're liking burlap at the moment?! I know it's making a huge run on pinterest right about now and I absolutely love the way it looks!


Until next time . . . .

As always, Adventure is out there!

- Laura