Hanging up stockings is a Christmas tradition. How did it begin? I have two different stories to tell. The first is that when dear old Santa Claus came down the chimneys (with great difficulty Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping , because of his chubby tummy) he jiggled and shook, occasionally and accidentally, letting small gifts fall out of his sack and into the socks and stockings which hung around the fireplace to dry over night. Of course, when the happy owners of the stockings and socks came to don their warm, dry, hosiery in the morning, they were cheerfully surprised to find their stockings filled with 'delights'.

The second story is that the origin of this wonderful tradition dates back to the fourth century. It was attributed to the real Saint Nicholas who was especially famous for his kindness to children. St. Nicholas heard about three poor sisters whose father was very poor. So poor was this man and desperate as well, because he could not afford to provide any of his daughters with dowries so they could marry. The legend tells us that on Christmas Eve, the sisters, as was their usual custom, washed their stockings Cheap NFL Jerseys China , and hung them near the chimney to dry. Secretly, that same night, St. Nicholas visited their home, climbed upon the roof of their home, tossing a handful of gold coins down their chimney. When the gold coins tinkled down the chimney, amazingly they fell into the maidens the stockings. All the sisters were wed happily, thereby giving birth to the tradition of the Christmas stocking.

These days, Christmas stockings are an essential highlight of Christmas, though when we hang them out now (even though we may not have a fireplace) we do tend to hang out our stockings, expecting them to be filled with little treats in the morning. Finding just the right Christmas stockings is simple with fantastic sites like everythingchristmas.au, where you can do all your online shopping and have fast delivery to your door. Another great online site where you can register free Cheap NFL Jerseys , and search hundreds of classified pages to find stocking fillers and things for Christmas is OzFreeOnline.
Its really worthwhile browsing all the latest classified listings from all over Australia, so join today and begin shopping.

Making your own Christmas stockings can be fun; get the whole family to make their own individual stocking to hang up at Christmas, you may have to help little ones with the sewing, but they can glue on any fancy bits and pieces they want to make the stocking unique to them.

You will need large pieces of coloured felt, coloured thread or wool, a large sharp embroidery needle, coloured ribbon, lace, bells, tinsel, sequins Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping , buttons, fake holly and berries, little pine cones, PVA glue and anything else you wish to use to decorate your stockings.

Just use one of dads big socks for the pattern and pin it to a large piece of brown paper. Cut around the sock to make a template. If you have never done anything crafty before, dont despair, online sites that can assist you here are spotlight.au, where you can learn how to do just about anything by booking into their many craft classes. OzFreeOnline has classified pages where in the Arts and Crafts you can browse the many free ads where people are willing to share their talents with you, and where you can place your own free ad just by registering and joining the many other Australians online.

Now that you have a pattern for the stocking, place it over two pieces of felt. The felt doesnt have to be the same colour, so be unconventional. Pin the brown paper pattern close to the edge of the felt, and cut around the fabric. You will need both pieces of fabric to make one entire stocking.

When you have done this Cheap Jerseys From China , pin the two pieces of felt together and sewing on the right side, work blanket stitch around the edge of the stocking to sew both parts together. Sew a piece of ribbon about 12cm long on the inside at the back of the stocking, so that you can hang your stocking up over the fireplace.

Decorate the front of the stocking with anything you like to make it only one of its kind and glue everything in place with the PVA glue. You might even stick felt initials on it as well. The sequins will catch the lights from the Christmas tree and look lovely and sparkly when reflected at night. Now all you need to do is find a shoebox for each person in the family (aged 12 years and over) so that they can save fillers for these little stockings such as;

Lollies
Chocolates
Chocolate Santas
Nougat
Dried fruit
Small change
Gift vouchers
Faux jewellery
Hair clips
Football key rings
Mini notebooks or address-books
Pretty little earrings
Lace handkerchiefs
Crazy cufflinks
Tennis balls
Golf balls
Matchbox cars
And any other little bits and bobs.

Author's Resource Box

Barbara Thorp recommends Ozfreeonline Classifieds the largest best buy in Australia. See also Ozfreeonline Classifieds - Blog for more shopping related articles.

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Verlander Not Ready To Change Approach Despite Struggles - RealGM Wiretap

Justin Verlander allowed seven runs for the second straight start on Monday night as he endures the toughest stretch of his career.

Verlander's one-time 2.67 ERA has since blown up to 4.98 since May 9.

"Maybe I'm just getting it all out of my system now, and I can turn the page and never look back," the right-hander said. "That's what I plan on doing."

Verlander is a power pitcher and typically adjustments are made as they get older. However, he isn't ready to entertain that idea.

"I don't think I'm there yet," he said. "You look at my stuff and it's still there. I'm not throwing 100 mph in the ninth inning, but stuff-wise, I'm still there."

Verlander has thrown more than 1,800 i.