Artistic Artifacts 2025 Holiday Fundraiser

Beginning in 2017, Artistic Artifacts staff members have created handmade stockings to raise money for charity that staff chooses. The past several years we have chosen Food for Others, a food bank in our community.

Food insecurity affects nearly 27% of households in Fairfax County, with more than 256,000 people struggling to access enough nutritious food. The rise in numbers has been particularly pronounced in the middle income households. Despite multiple community efforts and resources, the need continues to rise, so our contribution will go to help our neighbors.

As a resident of Fairfax County, I’m happy to support such a worthy charity, and we donate 100% of the proceeds raised. From the start I’ve enjoyed ‘sweetening the pot’ by organizing creative finds from the store to fill the stockings with. We then ask our friends and followers to participate by donating as they can. We also ask assistance in spreading the word about this fundraiser — you can help us reach more people by sharing our website listings and social media posts!

Each $10 donation submits your name to be the random selectee to win a stocking — the more you donate, the greater your chances! Donate $100 and designate 10 different stockings, or just your favorite one. I’ll announce the “lucky donors” — who will be selected randomly — on December 13 during our weekly Facebook Live presentation.

From the start our plan was to use the same pattern for consistency, but for each of us to use different fabrics or techniques and showcase different Artistic Artifacts products. Our first year we found a Christmas Stocking Pattern & “How To” on the Stitchin’ Post blog from an online search, and modified the size/shape a bit. Chris discovered subsequently discovered a Christmas Stocking Tutorial on the FabricWorm site that included instructions for incorporating a cuff. It's now our go-to share when people ask how we made these; the instructions are easy and clearly written.

The staff who volunteered for this year’s round added their own creative ideas to sew 14 unique stockings. I also donated two vintage hand-knit wool socks that were my mother’s when she was a child — so thick and warm! Chris added fun fabric and stitching additions to them for a total of 16 stockings you can donate towards. This year’s crop of stockings were unveiled on November 8 during our Facebook Live — you can see a replay on our YouTube channel.

As you see on our website and here, we had a wonderful turnout of Artistic Artifacts staff members and instructors showcasing a variety of fiber and mixed media techniques! Every year, we are amazed at the ideas folks used to make their stockings and each one shows off the particular skills and techniques each one of us has. Full of color and whimsy, we’re sure you’ll be wowed by our creativity!

For my stocking, this year I again relied on one of my favorite surface design techniques, using our wooden printing blocks and Artistic Artifacts Textile paints to create my fabric. I embellished some of my snowflake prints with free motion quilting on my BERNINA and added a vintage fabric flower to my cuff.

I’m so proud of the contributions of the staff to this fundraiser — click on their name to see and donate to their stocking!

• Sharon, who is our mixed media star, used some scraps of the Tim Holtz Palette Seasonal fabric collection and embellished with stamped snowflakes, hand stitching and other embellishments
• Julie tried her hand stitching one of our Sashiko stitching cloths and added some colorful threads and fabrics from her stash.
• Amy used her trademark beading techniques with a peaceful seasonal fabric of shades of blue and gold. The beaded “netting” cuff is stunning!
• Katelyn was determined to make a cowboy boot and her Western Winter Stocking was a success, including a heel and spurs!
• Barb picked out the Cozy Bear flannel we have in the shop! In addition to hand stitching the bear’s scarves and hats, she added a knit cap with pompom for the cuff – so clever!
• Andy chose to use serger techniques to embellish his donation and shared how he made the fringe in a recent FB Live — visit our YouTube channel to watch!
• Barbara is working through her stash and trying to repurpose jeans donated by her husband. Inspired by a wall hanging by Kim Diehl, she added a few frolicking snowmen!
• Becca’s needle felted stocking uses her current technique of choice and gives homage to her Scandinavian heritage.
• Ben, our BERNINA technician by day and costume designer by training, used chainstitching on blue velvet inspired by a Turkish artist who sells restored Cornerly embroidery machines.
• Dudley used a modern take on a tree with scrap fabrics and zig zag stitching.
• Katherine also chose to use scrap fabrics in nontraditional colors for her stocking. She says they reminded her of “skating on blue ice with the wind making our cheeks turn a bright pink.”
• Kira, who goes by @thescrapmasterstudio on social media, put her scraps to good use in her colorful stocking.
• Chris chose to make her stocking using a Kawandi style stitching technique with Tilda fabrics from theCreating Memories winter collection.

We’re hoping you are inspired by our creations and decide to contribute to our fundraiser to benefit Food for Others (some of their accomplishments are shown below) and also make your own stockings to add to your own holiday tradition!