Handmade Christmas Goodness

I have had so much fun this year making gifts. Besides the really fun crocheted cupcake ornaments, this weekend I made marshmallow cocoa stirring sticks from better homes and gardens....
Gather up milk chocolate or mint chocolate chips, marshmallows, peppermint sticks or sucker sticks, jimmies for decorating, and a foam core like you use for floral arrangements (if u use the sucker sticks, which were easier to use).
Melt chips in the microwave, get mallows ready by stabbing with sucker sticks. Dip mallows in chocolate just up to where the top of the mallows show. Drip off excess chocolate and place mallows, stick side, into foam to dry. Before dry sprinkle with jimmies or your favorite decorating sugar.






The next thing I made was white chocolate popcorn from eighteen25 (you can find their blog off to the side). This is for sure going to be a very addicting treat!






And the last homemade gift is homemade cocoa mix with French vanilla snowman mallows on top of the mix. I found this recipe on martha stewarts website and is the only cocoa we drink now. The recipe is simple, 3 1/2 cups sugar, 2 1/4 cups baking cocoa, and 1 tablespoon salt. Mix up in a ziploc bag and store either in that bag or glass jar. You can mix either with hot milk or water, and it only needs about 1 tablespoon per cup.

If your wondering about what I used for my cute little, very easy, tags here ya go... I used winter wood friends from www.pccrafter.com and my print shop program and the business card template. Any graphic will work, try some of the totally cool graphic designs from Lettering Delights. You can get there by clicking on the banner at the top of my page.

Let me know what your homemade gifts are this year!

Juls :)
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Christmas Decor under $5! Christmas Vinyl Cling Picture

I was surfing around the net and came across a great idea using a picture frame and vinyl clings.

I made this picture using a 8 1/2 x 11 document frame and vinyl clings from walmart. The total price for this was $3.50! All I did was take the back of the frame off and attached the clings to the front of the frame. I wish there would have been more of a selection of clings, but I do like what I picked out. It would have been better if I would have splurged and bought the huge 13 x whatever frame for $12, then I could have used all the clings on the sheet. But I wanted to keep this decoration under $5.

I can't take credit for this totally fa la la idea. Go to Craftily Ever After and see how awesome her's turned out! I would love to have the frame that she used!
I'm thinking that I will keep the frame out and use the different clings that come out throughout the year.

Crochet Christmas Cupcake Ornament & A Fun BSU Bronco's Scarf

I've been super sick with a cold, and when I finally got to the doc on Thursday I found out that I have pneumonia. So needless to say I am going stir crazy around here, so I've been crocheting up a storm!
Today while I was watching ELF, I came across this fun ornament pattern on the Red Heart website. I used Lily Sugar N' Cream for the yarn, and it worked just fine. If you would like to hook this cute ornament for your tree go HERE.

Last night I finally finished my BSU GO BRONCO'S scarf I've been working on. I got the pattern off of Ravelry, and you can also find it HERE. The pattern was originally for a special olympics washington scarf, which I am going to make and send off in the red and white specified. I used Lamb's Prided Worsted in Orange and Blue that I bought in the mill ends section of our local yarn shop. I love the way it turned out, I did have to rip out and start again on a few rows because I was off, probably because of the codine cough syrup!

Not sure what I will be making next, I'm kinda flying by the seat of my pants, as they are planted on the couch getting better, and just going with what looks cool. Lucky for me I have a pretty big stash that I need to burn through!

Today's the day! Check out my guest blog spot.

Today's the day for my guest blog spot at Marie's Cozy Corner!

I'm so excited about this honor, and all I'm going to tell you is that my blog spot, so to speak, will be about a vintage craft.
So please go check it out!

Guest Blog Spot!!

I was recently asked to do a guest blog spot on december 1st for marie at http://mariescozycorner.blogspot.com/
I'm so excited about this honor, and all I'm going to tell you is that my blog spot, so to speak, will be about a vintage craft.

So please go to maries cozy corner on the 1st to see what happens!!

Crocheted Candy Cane Pattern

Since we are siting here, waiting for it to snow, I decided to figure out some Christmas ornaments for this coming year. This pattern was actually a mistake, but turned out perfect!

THE PATTERN:

This is so simple to make, and takes only maybe 10 minutes.
Materials:
1 ball Red Heart Holiday in Red
1 ball Red Heart Holiday in White
G Crochet Hook
Darning Needle
White pipe cleaners
Ribbon of choice
With white, Chain 33
1st Row: Work 1 DC in the 3rd CH from hook. DC in each chain across to the end of chain.
2nd Row: Join red. Work 1 SC in each DC across. Fasten off.
Wind crocheted piece around white pipe cleaner. Trim pipe cleaner at ends if needed, bend top of Candy Cane to form a hook shape.
Tie a ribbon in a bow around the candy cane to add that special touch.
I can’t wait to see what you all come up with. Have fun with this, use different yarns and experiment!

What are you making this year for ornaments or other decorations? 

Cold, Rainy, and warming up with Zuppa Toscana

Yes, the boys thought I was nuts to be taking a picture of our dinner last night :) But I am a little crazy, as we all know! This recipe was extremely close to the olive garden version, and oh so good!! I found this recipe at eighteen25, totally awesome ideas there, you must go check them out! This will be one of our go to soups for winter, the boys couldn't tell there were onions in it, and didn't even mind the kale!! Sweet, I won a food challenge vs. the men in the house for a change! With leftovers of this soup in the fridge, I'm thinking some for lunch is in order on this rainy day.

Olive Garden Copycat Zuppa Toscana Recipe
4-6 servings
Ingredients:

1 lb Italian Sausage
2 large russet potatoes, sliced in half, and then in 1/4 inch slices
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 bag Oscar Meyer bacon bits
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups kale, chopped
2 cans chicken broth
1 quart water
1 cup heavy whipping cream








Directions:
1. Cook sausage in a 300°F oven for approximately 30 minutes.

2. Drain sausages on paper towels and cut into slices.

3. Place onions, potatoes, chicken broth, water, garlic in pot, and cook on medium heat until potatoes are done.

4. Add sausage and bacon and salt and pepper to taste.

5. Simmer for another 10 minutes.

6. Turn to low heat and add kale and cream.

7. Heat through and serve.

SPOOKY! Garland made with my cricut.

This was so much fun! I got the idea from Dittle Dattle. I made the letters from the Winter Woodland Cricut cartridge. I used BoBunny paper, purple velvet ribbon, and attached the letter blocks to a black iridescent ribbon with mini safety pins. I used used the doodlecharms cartridge for the spiders.

Here is a close up of the spiders. I took purple glitter glue and highlighted their eyes and legs. I also used black glitter glue around each letter square.

Let me know what you think, I love your comments!

Paper Pumpkin from Martha Stewart

I was watching Martha Stewart today and saw the show where Martha made this cool pumpkin.
For some reason I had mommy brain fade out and only used one sheet of 12 x 12 paper instead of two. I might make another one tomorrow with 2 sheets to see what I think.
I also used the cricut and the stamping cartridge to make the leaves, and I used a scrap piece of bamboo felt to make the stem.
So if you would like to make one of these totally cool pumpkins go HERE and get all the specifics, I would love to see your pumpkins when you get done.

Check back tomorrow, I was working on another fun Halloween garland this afternoon, but didn't quite get finished. I will be posting this project tomorrow, kinda cute and I used the cricut again.

Vintage Halloween Garland

This project was so much fun to create! And making it also inspired me to clean the house and decorate for Autumn, and my 2nd favorite holiday, Halloween.

Since it's such a rainy day here in North Idaho, and I have a yummy chuck roast cooking in the crock pot, I'm going to make some more of these fun garland, and some other vintage things.

Halloween CAL!

Halloween CAL... Let me know who all wants to be a part of it. As you get them done post pictures so we can all see.
I found the cutest little Halloween decoration that we could all do together. It's the cutest little BOO, and the pattern is free....
http://www.pixiekitten.com/Item.aspx?Item=Boo

I'm also working on trying to figure out why the comments won't work! Hopefully one day soon blogger will get back to me!!! 

A new Yahoo Group!

  
  Click to join cozyathomecrochet

I decided to make up a yahoo group for all of us to share crochet, and all the at home things we love about this blog. This group will be the same things as I share on here, but more crochet :) So please join so that we can all make this new crochet/cozy at home group really successful!!

I love ya all!!!!

A new shop & blog

Hey Everyone! Well I am going to try and pursue my love of paper again. I am working hard at filling a shop on etsy call Buttercup Cut Ups... buttercupcutups.etsy.com
Please e-mail me and let me know what sorts of things you would like to see. I'm also going to be changing my crochet pattern etsy shop to a different shop. I think the name is what's wrong with the low sales, so I have some ideas for a new name and a new shop.
Please stay tuned to what is to come.......

For some reason a lot of you have been trying to leave comments, and aren't able to. I have put an e-mail into blogger for help with this problem. If I can't get it resolved I will probably move my blog to wordpress or typepad.

Thanks for all your support and continued reading! I love you guys, you make my day so much brighter.

Natural Little Acorn Bag, Waldorf Inspired

I really liked the big acorn purse that I made a little while back, so I decided to make a very small version as fall decorations or little gift bags. The little Tomtie was made for me by my friend at Rainbow River Designs.
I've been really busying making things for my etsy shop, hoping that now that fall is coming my shop will get busy. I've put up a variety of things today, Baby beanies, patterns, french press cozy, apple cozy, and more. I also have a new pattern for gauntlets that I will be putting up as soon as I get it written.

I've also been making these fun little apple cozies for some friends. They are so much fun, and I think they will look great as a decoration in a bowl of apples.

Acorn Purse Crochet Pattern

My latest creation, an acorn purse! I had so much fun making this pattern to sell in my etsy shop, and there are so many things you can do with it. Besides a purse, I am going to make one fully out of 100% wool and felt it down as a door hanger! I made this one out of Lion Brand Hometown USA, And I'm so please with the way the colors have turned out. There are so many color combos that you can use for this, it can get so creative!
I'll post when I make one and felt it, I'm really excited about all the ideas from this one pattern!

So you go Clucks, Cuddles & Crochet and check out this and other patterns I have.

Canny Women

Cannywomen

1. Cautiously shrewd; prudent; wary (our eyes are wide open).
2. Frugal; thrifty (always).
3. Skillful; clever (absolutely).
4. Gentle or quiet (sometimes – huge grin).
5. Pleasant; good; attractive (of course – wink wink).

Wouldn't you just love to be "canny"? I would!
This new and totally awesome website http://cannywomen.com/ is the best frugal finance and family website I've ever seen. So many tips and tricks to make life simple and frugal. Please join me in using this website to, as Cindy says.... Do instead of Buy, Shop and home first, and Procrastinate.

So my first feat on trying to save money, be more frugal, "Shop at home first!", and get out of debt, I've made up an inventory of what we have on hand for foods in the freezer, pantry, and fridge.
So far I have 37 meal ideas put together with the food we already have on hand. I also used www.allrecipes.com to use up some things in my pantry... this awesome website lets you put in your ingredients you have on hand and it will bring up different recipes, it's so awesome!

My Garden is doing awesome! The cucumbers are starting to come in, and we have carrots, peppers, and lots of tomatoes that are coming in. It's been so nice to have fresh veggies from the garden, I have a lot of things that I'm going to change, but most of all I love gardening and have been totally bit by the bug!

NEW BABY HATS!!
I've put some new baby hats in my etsy shop, trying to make some extra money to go towards paying off our credit cards. Go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/coziathome to check them out, I also have teen hats up. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

Safeway, Hubby's Slippers & Herb Garden

The picture really doesn't do justice to how well I did at Safeway last week!
Our Safeway just did a remodel, so there were lots of cheap and freebie things to be had. I ended up spending $44.30 on $94.70 worth of food! Yes, I saved $50.70, and what a high that was!!! Free 24 pack of water, $1 pineapple, $1 clam shell of mixed salad greens, free peanut butter, free apple juice, free eggs... I could go on but I would be here all night! I also found some great deals in the clearance meat section, and I stocked up on whole chickens for .99 a pound, we love drunk chicken on the grill in the summer. So needless to say, I was giddy when I got home and unloaded all of my groceries and figured out what I saved, how many meals it would make, and so on.... Very cool.

Well, one slipper done for hubby's fathers day gift! This is my hubby's slipper compared to my flip flop, what big feet he has, size 13! The kiddo is catching up quick too, at almost 15 (less than a month :( ) He is up to a 12 1/2.
I'm making these out of universal yarn worsted, and the colors match almost perfect to the colors he painted his motorcycle last year. The pattern is the greatest, I see a lot of these in my future for gifts and for the boys to slide up and down the hallway in! I got the pattern from Bev's country cottages: It's called Bev's Quick Slipp-ers and you can find it at http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/slippers1.html
They are a blast, and very fast!

My herb garden is growing very well with all the rain and sun we've had. I have catnip, parsley, dill, and chives going, also basil, but it's looking pretty sad right now. As most of you know, this is my first year gardening so I need a little help with the herb section... Does anyone know exactly how you harvest herbs? I think the dill is getting to the point that I can start using it, but I'm not sure, so any help on this would be totally awesome!

So that's about it for now. School is out tomorrow, and I actually can't wait! Mostly I can't wait to sleep in, yes I do have my priorities! I'm also going to be making some new crochet and paper treats to sell in my etsy shop, so watch for those, and a free pattern on here as well.... WOW, it's gonna be a busy week!

Finally... A Brain Dead Double Crochet Afghan for Us!

I'm finally working on an Afghan for our bed. I decided on 3 solid colors, and one mutlti color, all in Red Heart super saver. I have never really liked working with red heart, but It's getting better and better, and is so much cheaper than what I have been buying. So, what I'm trying to say is, Red heart super saver, at $2.47 a skein, might become my new favorite yarn!

Here is what I am doing, very basic and very beginner... I love very beginner because I get do a lot faster, as most of you know I'm a "want it done NOW!" type of person.

Brain Dead Double Crochet Afghan:

What you need:

5 to 7 skeins of Red heart super saver in colors that you wish. I basically picked out a multi colored yarn and matched it with 3 other solid colors.
Size J crochet hook.

I'm making this for a queen size bed, and basically started chaining and took it back to the bed and measured the length of my chain on the bed. So adjust as to what you want to do.

Chain 300
Row 1... double crochet in 3rd chain from hook and in each chain across, chain 3 and turn.
Row 2  double crochet in each double crochet across, chain 3 and turn.
Continue with Row 2, changing colors after every 2 rows. Makes as many 2 color rows as needed to fit your bed size.

I will for sure post pictures when I am done, and it's laying pretty on our bed. My goal is to get it done in a month, but we shall see!!!

A garden update

I have been actively tending to my garden, and I have to admit it's getting addicting!

The red leaf lettuce is really growing, along with the strawberries, sweet peas & my herb garden. I did loose my tomato plants due to an unexpected frost, so just replaced them and also added a couple of tomato plants in pots on the deck.

I have a feeling that I have finally caught the gardening bug. I have always loved planting flowers and pretty things, but I am so excited to yield fresh fruit and veggies from my garden.

It may look kinda like a hillbilly garden, but I've been told that tires make the best container gardens due to the fact that the rubber keeps everything warm, makes the produce grow even bigger, and the biggest thing is that you are reusing instead of tossing, I love that one the best!

Here are some pictures of just a few of my flowers...

As you might remember a few months ago, I got into making fountains. Now that the roses are blooming, along with the salvia, it's making my wagon and fountain one of my favorite things to look at and enjoy. My very talented friend, Susan, made the star birdhouse, and I reused my frog in my fountain. It was all broken up on the bottom, but you sure can't tell sitting in a fountain.

Some new additions this year... can you tell I love the tire thing? I also put up a hummingbird feeder, hopefully they are using it, I've heard them buzzing around at least. I have to admit, I did have a motive to doing tire flower beds... This is gonna sound terrible I have a feeling.... I decided to do this to annoy the neighbor across the street. I guess I have an evil side, and kinda giggle at the fact of him throwing a fit at the hillbilly, street bike tire, flower beds. But everyone actually likes them, besides him.. lol.


So that is my garden progress, I'll keep updating as the summer goes on. I'm getting addicted to adding things, so you never know what you might see next.


CROCHET NEWS:

I've been finally working on an afghan for our bed, and I'm also making some fun fathers day slippers for the hubby.... I'll take some pictures and post them tomorrow for you to check out. I also will be posting a new pattern in a few days for you to have fun making. I'm also toying with the idea of a get ahead on Christmas presents challenge, with the winner receiving a great prize of yarn and such.

BLOG NEWS:

You will be seeing a lot of changes in my blog in the coming months. I will still be blogging about crochet and crafting, along with the norm, but I also will be blogging about my new adventures in reinventing myself and my life. We have had so many life changing challenges lately that I decided now is the time to reinvent, and jump in with both feet! So stay tuned for new things to come, and I hope that my trials will help you as well.

Getting ready for summer.

I've been working on the house lately and tending to my garden, so it's been awhile since I have been on my blog! I am planning on getting back into the swing of things with my blog and my addiction to yarn and paper! So check back this week for some new ideas, crochet patterns, and what I'm working on. 

I was just looking around online today and thought I would check out what Martha has been up to. I found this fun idea for decorating this summer and the 4th....

Easy Sand Candles

Pay tribute to the Stars and Stripes (emphasis on the stripes). Red, white, and blue bands of sand dress up votive candles to make flickering lights that are cheerful and fun. Sand is available in a variety of colors at art-supply stores; designing a candle is as simple as pouring layers into a glass. Make several, and create a patriotic centerpiece to coordinate with china or linens for outdoor dining.
To make a sand candle, fill a clear drinking glass with enough sand so that a votive candle placed on top falls just below the rim. Set the glass inside a clear glass vase or jar. With a funnel, fill the gap between the two containers with layers of colored sand, using enough to reach the rim of the drinking glass.

My first garden, and some deck improvments.

I was talking to one of my good friends about all these street tires that are in the shed. It costs so much to take them to the dump and get rid of them, so the hubby has been collecting them over the past few years. Anyway, she told me that she uses them as container gardens. She said that the heat from the rubber helps them to grow. I'm all for reuse and recycle, so I went for it. There are 6 tires in the garden area, and one in my flower bed. I also did two as planters in the front, I'll take some pictures soon to show you. My garden consists of tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, sweet peas, strawberries, and green peppers. I also planted herbs in the one I put in the flower bed area.
I will keep you all posted on the progress, I'm really liking the idea, and they don't look that bad!

With all the neighbor troubles, more like we have headed back to middle school, stuff, we decided to put up some panels to make our deck more private. I've had so much fun decorating them, and my new obsession is making little fountains. I love the sound of the water, It's really soothing to me. I'm sure I will be making more, and I will also be looking for more things to decorate the deck with.

The finished Swirling bag

I finally finished the Swirling bag that I have been working on for a little over a week. I didn't pick it up every day, I got a little boring for me just with working in single crochet. I used Patons Grace for the yarn, and instead of making a cord I used ribbon, I think it looks pretty with the yarn. I'm thinking I will just use it for a project bag, I really don't want to try and put handles on it so that I can carry it around. The biggest thing about this project was that I never thought I could do it, it looked so hard to me for some reason, so I decided that I had to jump in and just go for it!
If you would like to make one for yourself you can go to Crocheted Swirling Bag and get the full pattern for free, and they have a video which is what made me decided to finally do this project.

If you are on ravelry go HERE to see specifics on what colors of yarn, and all of that fun stuff.

HaPpY Mother's Day... Fingerless Gloves Pattern

Happy Mother's Day everyone! Here is a free pattern for you to make on this awesome day....

Rockin’ Crochet Fingerless Gloves

The look of knit, with the speed of crochet!
By: Julie Fox
www.coziathome.blogspot.com
juliefox1971@mac.com

Rockin' Crochet Fingerless Gloves
The look of knit, with the speed of crochet

Advanced Beginner.
As long as you can read a pattern, and single crochet, you can make these gloves.

YARN: Universal Yarn inc. Classic Shades, or any nice, medium worsted weight. Classic Shades makes the perfect striped pattern.
HOOK: G size

Here we go!

Chain 8

Row 1 :  Single Crochet in second chain from hook.  Then Single Crochet across row.  Chain 1, this will be your turning chain.  Turn your work.

Repeat row one until piece measures  7 inches, or fits nicely around your wrist. End your row.

Fold the piece end to end (first row to last row) and single crochet together, it's o.k. if you have a seam, you will be turning them
right side out when you are finished. Very cool, you now have your cuff.

Along top edge,  pick up and Single Crochet around your cuff, number of stitches depends on how big your cuff is.
Place a  marker at the start of the round if you like, this does help when your gloves get longer. Make sure you move your marker up with every row.

Continue to single crochet  around until the entire piece (cuff included) measures  5 inches, or measure on your hand from the
cuff to the base of your thumb. Have fun with these, you can totally make them yours.
 
TIME FOR THE THUMB

Single Crochet until you are four stitches before your marker.  Now with stitch still on your hook, insert  your hook into the fourth 
stitch after your marker and make a slip stitch.  This will create a hole for your thumb.  Continue to Single crochet  around the 
hand portion of the glove until the entire piece, including your cuff, measures 7 inches or fits your hand the way you like.  Finish off and weave in the ends. Turn glove inside out to hide seam, if you wish.

O.K. you've done it! Now repeat for your second glove.

Permission to sell finished items, GRANTED! Please do not sell actual pattern.

Beanie Hat Pattern

 I hope you guys enjoy making these as much as I do. You can do so many thing with them! I'm planning on making one with scrap yarn, a different color for every row. You can use a single strand of worsted for a lace look, just watch what the size looks like after the 5th row.

What you need:
K size Crochet Hook
1 Skein Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky yarn, or any other 5 bulky yarn. You can also use 2 strands of worsted held together.
You don't need to worry about a marker at the end of each round, and the round are wide so you can easily count them instead of keeping track. You can add more rounds at the bottom to make it longer and more slouchy.

What you do.....
Main Hat:
With Worsted Weight Yarn
Rnd 1: Holding 2 Strands of Yarn together, ch 3, work 11 dc in first 3rd chain from hook, join with a slip stitch to top of beg ch-3 (12 dc)
Rnd 2: Ch 3, dc in same st at base of beg ch-3, work 2 dc in ea dc around, join with sl st to top of beg ch-3 (24 dc)
Rnd 3: Ch 3, dc in same st at base of beg ch-3, dc in next dc, *2 dc in next dc, dc in next dc, rep from * around, join with sl st (36 dc)
Rnd 4: Ch 3, dc in same st at base of beg ch-3, dc in each of next 2 dc, *2 dc in next dc, dc in ea of next 2 dc, rep from * around, join with sl st (48 dc).
Rnd 5 to 7: Ch 3 (counts as first dc).DC in next DC.  DC in each double crochet around. Join with a sl st. (48dc) Switch to next yarn color if you wish, or you can continue on with the same color.
RND 8 to 11: Ch 3 (counts as first dc).DC in next DC.  DC in each double crochet around. Join with a sl st. (48dc)
Fasten off and weave in your ends. If you have a teenager in  your life you know that they like their hats longer now a days. So if you want to add 2 to 3 more rows after 11 it will really be a rockin’ ski beanie

All my patterns for free to my coolio blog followers.

I'm working on making all of my patterns free for all you cool peeps that follow my blog. Tell your friends, anyone that you think would like my blog.
I really want to make this blog popular, and I think with your help it can be.
I plan on developing more patterns, and from now on they will all be free.
So please check back soon, as I try to figure out the best way to make my patterns easy to download.

Crocheted Swirling Bag

Wow, it's been a long time since I have updated my blog! And it's been a long time since I've been crocheting. It seems like I search for patterns on Ravelry more than I crochet! This winter I did learn to knit, and my first project was a cool felted back in just the knit stitch. I'm hoping to do more knitting, but I really love crochet, and want to explore the Amigurumi (I just know I spelled that wrong, but you all know what I'm talking about, lol) sector.

Right now I am working on a Crocheted Swirling Bag from the book Crocheted gifts by interweave. I'm almost done, and glad of it! It's a really fun bag to make, and a lot easier than I had expected, but it's all done in single crochet, so gets a little boring. If you want to check out the bag, and get a free pattern, go HERE. I always looked at this bag as being too hard or time consuming for me, but after I watched the video of how it worked, I just had to try it. It also has opened my eyes to doing more of the projects I think, "might" be a little on the hard side, instead of being lazy and sticking with easy patterns. Here are some pictures of my progress so far.

So there you have it, so far. I'm hoping that I will get it done this weekend, and I will post it as soon as I'm done. Then it's on to the next project, who knows what it's going to be.