Being gone all last weekend really threw a wrench in to my Holiday Preparations. As much as I would like to tell everyone (myself included) that I prepare things weeks in advance, I basically epic fail in this department because I'm usually so darn busy or get distracted.

Yesterday I managed to make it down to the Outlets in Carlsbad for a little last minute bargain Christmas Shopping. Hot damn, were there some unbelievable deals! I will not make mention of any specific items, or any names of recipients, but I highly recommend that you venture to the Banana Republic and Crate & Barrel outlet stores. Both of those stores are like crack to me, and it's a miracle I emerged from either one of those stores without buying out their entire inventory. Amazing! Lets just hope that my family members will be just as impressed with the gifts I chose for them as I was with the selection available at both of those stores. It was nothing short of a Christmas Miracle that I was able to make it to the outlets, shopped, and drove home all in 1 hour and 40 minutes, considering I live in Orange County and the Carlsbad Outlets are in San Diego.

When I returned home, I had to finish with some work, cook dinner, and do the whole bed-time routine with the boys. After they went to sleep, it was time to bake cookies for the neighbors. This year I decided to be lame and use a mix... but the trick is that I modify it, which makes for a super easy way to make cookies with a lovely home-baked-from-scratch-taste without all of the measuring that usually takes place baking cookies the old fashioned way. My contribution of Chocolate Cinnamon Sugar Cookies is below:

1 package Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix
1 Stick of butter (I prefer salted) - melted
1 egg
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
2 tablespoons Cinnamon
1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (Toll-House, please)

Mix all of the dry ingredients together with the melted butter and the egg. Once thoroughly blended, add chocolate chips and fold together. Refrigerate dough for approximately 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

With hands, roll cookie dough in to 1-inch balls and place on to a cookie sheet approximately 1 1/2-2 inches apart. Bake in oven for approximately 9 minutes, and let them sit on the cookie sheet for approximately 5 minutes before moving cookies to a cooking rack.

Makes two dozen cookies.

After the cookies were done and I brought them over to some neighbors to enjoy, I went on to sewing Christmas Stockings. Yes, I sew things. I really enjoy it, and this project was no exception! I decided this year that it was time to sew new Christmas Stockings for several reasons. 1) Trevor didn't have his own stocking. How sad is that? 2) Our stockings were bought from the bargain bin at Walmart 3 years ago, were all mismatched, and smelled like a sweatshop in China. 3) I'm all about my Christmas items meeting a certain aesthetic guideline. So, off to sewing I went!

I made my own pattern by drawing out the desired shape of my stockings first on the reverse side of some wrapping paper. Once I decided on the overall shape, I cut the stocking template out of the paper. The base stocking color is a forest green corduroy that is so fine that it essentially looks like velvet. I cut out 4 stockings with the fabric folded so that there are two pieces of fabric for each stocking for a total of 8 cutouts. Next, I sewed the sides (with the tops open) of the stockings together with the right sides facing each other. once they were sewed, I sketched out the top cuff for each stocking based on the pattern I previously drew, cut those out, and sewed those together as well. Then of course, I sewed the cuff to the actual stocking and I was done!

The only complaint that I have with this project actually has nothing to do with sewing them, etc. But it has everything to do with the thread that I purchased! I have learned a hard lesson, and that is don't waste money on Guetterman thread (which is really expensive, German thread that is supposed to be the best). Seriously... stick to Coats & Clark Dual Duty XP for all of your sewing needs! That stuff is the best. It's strong, and doesn't get caught in the bobbin. It's not likely that any of you out there know what I'm talking about since sewing is such a lost art. But for those of you that do know what I'm talking about, take my word for it... I implore you! That darn thread caused me to break three needles in a matter of minutes because it kept jamming the bobbin. Nice!

Other than the thread fiasco, it was so easy to make my own Christmas Stockings. Today I dropped them off at The Shirt Cannery in Mission Viejo for custom embroidery, and I should have them back Wednesday in time to hang them by the fire place for Christmas. Can't wait! I'll probably swing by JoAnn's or Michael's when I pick them up to pick up some decorative braided trim for the bottom of the cuffs to make them look a little more festive. I would have done that today, but it was imperative that I get them in for embroidery this morning to get them back before Christmas! I'll be sure to post a picture once I have them back from embroidery and put the decorative trim on them.

Next on my list of "to-do" for Holiday preparations is making some new throw pillows for my couch, as well as a padded cornice box for my window downstairs. Sure, I might be crazy... but I have fun doing it. And besides, I've got dinner guests coming over on the 28th. It's time to get my house looking decorator perfect!

I apologize for the lack of pictures in this post, but after posing for hours of Wedding Pictures this past weekend for the sake of my best friend I'm a tad anti-camera.