What to wear.. Red Heart & Double Stitch Twins Patterns

I'm a huge fan of the Double Stitch Twins, and the new patterns they have up on Red Heart are so cool! This Multi-Wear Poncho is really neat, I wish I was more of a poncho wearin' girl. If you are, you can find the pattern HERE

Now here's one that I would love to make, and might just do it! Webby Sundress or Skirt. This will be one that I will maybe make after I get my summer clothes out, and see what fun sundress might be just a little bit more fun with this over it. Then it's a matter of yarn shopping for the right colors... OH NO! Pattern for this cute dress... right HERE

Here is one I have all printed out and ready to make, just need to figure out what colors I want use. When I saw this pattern I new that it would be something I would love to wear, and making it might bring some spring/summer to this very dreary winter! If you would like to make this fun camo corset you can find it HERE.

Here is another one that looks like it would be super fun to make and wear. I'm hoping that after the corset I will be in the mood to make this cute little Happy Days Halter. HERE is the pattern.

And, of course I have to end this blog post with a very cool Flapper Hat! I love the button that they used, and I am just going to HAVE to make this one. The pattern is HERE if you are interested.


So, I'm sure you know where I'm headed with this. These are the projects I've picked out that we might possibly want to do as a CAL. So please comment on which patterns you would like to do as a CAL, or if you want to do all of them that would be totally awesome too.
I need to get out of the easy peasy patterns that I love to make, and make somethings that I see on sites or in books and say... "woah, that is so cute, I need to make that!"

But, the first one that I am going to make has nothing to do with what to wear, it's for my new ipad that my loving hubby gave me for my birthday and christmas this year......

I have on hand the pink camo and a plain pink for the heart. If you would like to make one with me please go HERE and get the pattern. It would be kinda fun to post in the comments what colors you are using. I will make sure the Flickr group is working so we can all post pictures of our projects.

Alice Cullen Loom a Long

My friend Kimmie and I are going to start making these tomorrow at the yarn shop.....

 

I'm so excited!!!

Jar Candle Cozy

I've been wanting to make a cozy for my jar candles for a long time. I wanted to be able to change them out for the seasons and holidays. Well I finally got this accomplished, yay!!! I modified my french press cozy just a little bit. You can find the french press cozy on ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/beginner-french-press-cozy. If you don't have a ravelry account let me know and I will email the pattern to you.

I used sugar and cream for this one, I love the way the colors turned out. Basically all I did was make it shorter than you would for a press, I also had to sew it together and then sew the buttons on top because the buttons I picked were too big for the double crochet holes, but if you have some normal sized buttons you wouldn't have to do that. You could really make them for any sized jar candles.

Can't wait to see some of these finished, hopefully you will all share with me.

Buy One Get One Free Pattern Sale!

I just started a Valentine Day special on Ravelry where you can buy a pattern and get one free. Click on the find me on Ravelry button on the right to get to my store. If you aren't a member on Ravelry and you want to take advantage of this sale go to my etsy shop, I will be putting the same sale up in just a few mintues.

Thanks so much everyone! Remember, I do have my new hat pattern available for sale!!

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Yummy, don't these look good? And totally Gluten Free! I was searching for goodies to make for Valentines Day, and I came across Macaroni & Cheesecake's white chocolate peanut butter cups.... Here is here recipe for these sure to be sinful treats..
And make sure to click on Macaroni & Cheesecake above to visit her blog... Yummmmm!

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Source: Erin Cooks adapted from Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cups

For the base:

1/4 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

For the topping:

12 ounces white chocolate (not white chocolate chocolate chips)

Directions:Place all the ingredients for the base in the bowl of a food processor. Blend the mixture until the mixture takes on a sandy texture.
Place 12 cupcake liners into a muffin tin. Using a medium ice cream or cookie scoopplace 1 scoop of the base mixture into each cupcake liner. Press the mixture down into the cases to form an even layer at the bottom of each cupcake liner.
Melt the chocolate over a double-boiler or in the microwave. Using your scoop, top each peanut butter filled cupcake liner with 1 scoop of chocolate. Smooth the tops of the Peanut Butter Cups with the back of a spoon.
Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

Rainbow Hat & Scarf

I finally got my rainbow scarf done last night, whew! It took 2 skeins of poems new silk yarn, and with one to spare I decided that you just can't make a scarf without a hat to match!
I decided to make my beanie with a single crochet and an h hook. Basically I did this in a spiral, doing 8 hdc in a magic loop, then doing 8 increase rounds in dc, rnds 9-18 in dc. Round 19 dc until u get to 5 dc from end, then 2 hdc in next two and 2 sc in next two, slip into last and fasten off. It turned out awesome, and striped perfect.

I'm still working on a giveaway. I know that the giveaway will be for one of my patterns and the yarn to go with it. So stay tuned to see whats up with that :)
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Mixed feelings about writing this blog anymore

I'm thinking about just giving up on the whole blog thing. I have a feeling that people just really don't get anything out of it. I get maybe one comment every few months, and that's just not enough to show me that people really enjoy my blog. So I'm thinking it's time to just shut it down and not do it anymore.

It's funny that I am thinking like this today because I had the strangest dream last night. I was walking in a dense forest with my hubby and dog and all of a sudden they were gone. It kept getting darker and darker to the point that I couldn't see anymore, and all I kept saying was "I'm lost, I can't find my way.... I'm lost, I can't find my way..." And lately I have felt exactly like that, I'm lost, not sure what I'm suppose to be doing with my life, and I'm thinking since I'm not seeing that anyone really enjoys this blog It's time to move on to something else.

Thanks for reading, if anyone really is.

New Simply Shell Beanie

I am so excited! I finally had a break through and wrote a new hat pattern!
I used universal classic shades for the hat, and I think that you would be able to get a pair of my
fingerless gloves out of a skein besides the hat. Great matching set for valentines day, which is right around the corner! The gloves are beginner/advanced beginner, and the hat is easy, so it would take you one evening for each.

So I'm on my way to etsy now to put up this new pattern, I am so excited, it's the best one yet I think!

10 Tips for Inner Confidence- Beliefnet.com

Lately, I'm talking the last 2 years lately, I've been really struggling with what I'm suppose to do with my life. I feel like I am in this huge black hole that I can't swim my way out of.

I seem to always struggle with how to get organized, and how to balance everything. I also have had some MAJOR life changing events happen over the last 2 years. At first they seemed life ending, but some of them have actually been for the better, a lot better.

So I've been reading a lot of things on beliefnet.com and wanted to share with you this link....10 Tips for Inner Confidence- Beliefnet.com

I'm working on trying to figure out a homemaker "plan" at the moment, and I'm hoping to be able to share it with you soon. I know that there are more girls just like me that need help, just like I do, and I'm hoping that I not only help myself, but also lots and lots of others.

Please leave your comments, I love to hear about them. And stay tuned for some new things I'm working on.... A little taste? I'm toying with the idea of picking a crochet book and making all the patterns in that book and showing you how they turned out.

I am also going to be doing a giveaway as soon as I can figure out how to do a give away, LOL!

So please.... Feedback means the world to me right now... What do you want to see on my blog, what ideas do you have?

Bulldog Valentine

I just got done making the cutest valentine for an etsy customer, and can't wait to make more. In fact I know I am going to make one for our son.

The customer wanted a bulldog valentine for someone. Being that her special person is a bulldog, just like my sons high school mascot. I had the cutest bulldog paper, and little paw ribbon, the heart buttons I also had, and thought they were so cute on the card.





I made the inside pale pink with a little piece of card stock, so you can write your own sweet message inside.
I printed out the message from one of the graphics I have on my computer, too cute subway art.

If you are interested in purchasing this card, I have them for sale in my easy shop. I only put one up to see how they did, but as the sell I will keep relisting them.

Thanks everyone for all of your kind words and support!

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Super simple crocheted scarf

My wonderful friend, Patty, gave me this new poems silk yarn for my birthday. I've been learning how to knit, but for some reason I keep messing up just on a simple knit scarf. So today at the yarn shop I decided to just start crocheting a scarf instead.




I'm using a j hook and doing a simple back and forth half double crochet. I started out chaining 20, but it was way too long, so instead I did a chain 15. So far I really love it, and it's going super quick. I have two more skeins of this yarn, and think I will make fingerless gloves and a hat to match the scarf.

Thanks everyone for reading. I am going to be doing my first give away on Friday or over the weekend, if life gets in the way, so keep reading!
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My fingerless gloves

It's been so dreary around here, lots of rain instead of snow. So today I decided to use some wool variegated yarn that was in my stash for my fingerless gloves pattern (you can find this pattern in my etsy shop).
I love the way this yarn, universal 100% wool variegated, made the stripes totally perfect! This is a very simple pattern, perfect for a beginner or advanced beginner, so go check it out!

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Valentines Day Cupcake

I thought I might change this little cupcake ornament up a little for Valentines day. I used red heart for the brown cake part, and the multi colored top part. Then I used lion brand jiffy in white for the frosting, and universal Papier for the cherry. The cherry turned out a little too big, so I will probably make one with some red heart burgundy I have. So if you would like to make this fun cupcake for valentines day go HERE for the pattern on red hearts website.
If you saw my blog the other day you probably saw this cupcake on my new repurposed charger plate that I have sitting in the middle of our dining table...

Repurposed Christmas Charger

When I went to bed, bath and beyond the other day, they had all of their Christmas decor 80% off. I decided to take a look around to see what I might find that I could use for something other than Christmas. Ta da, a red charger was sitting there marked .45 cents.
I was in a total craft mood today, forget the dishes and laundry *grin* so I worked on repurpose of different Christmas decor.

Here is what you need for this project:
One red charger
Valentines card stock
Mod podge
Sponge brush
Zots to attach ribbon
Medium wide ribbon
Wide ribbon.

I drew out a circle that was the same diameter of the center of the charger, using a bowl as my template.
Adhere mod podge to the center of the charger and place your circle of card stock the way you want it.
Paint mod podge all over the top of the card stock and up the sides of the charger, it will dry clear so make sure you really stick it on good.
Once dry, attach medium wide ribbon in a loop fashion around the inside of your charger, on top of the card stock with zots.
Take wide ribbon and make a pretty bow, attach it with zots to where the medium ribbon begins and ends... Ta da, you have a great valentines piece for your dining table, this is what I did with mine......




I will be posting the crocheted cupcake tomorrow.
I know this isn't really date night related, but is all about love!

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Recycled Sweater Valentines Ornaments

I've noticed recently that one of my older posts on how to make recycled sweater ornaments has been very popular. Since it's almost time for Valentines day I decided to make up some heart ornaments to decorate the house with.


Materials:
Old sweaters, can be felted. Or scraps of material.
Pipe cleaners, any color works because they will be covered by the material.
Twine or ribbon, whatever you have on hand to keep the cost down
Buttons
Glue Gun
Heart shaped cookie cutters

What to do:

To make your heart you will need to wrap your pipe cleaner around the outside of your cookie cutter. When you get to the end where you started, fasten ends of your pipe cleaner together and slide your pipe cleaner shape off of your cookie cutter. You should have the shape of your cutter.

Cut 1/2" strips of your sweater or material and start at the top or bottom of heart. Put a drop of hot glue on the beginning of the strip and start wrapping, adding a little bit of glue every few wraps. Finish off at the end with the last bit of hot glue.

Tie twine or ribbon at the top of your heart for hanging and glue on button or buttons.

Here is an idea of what I did with my heart....

The perfect addition to a pic of my hubby and mom in law.

Please show me what you make, I'd love to see them. And make sure you become of fan of the cozy at home facebook page, I will be making a link on the side today.

8 Ways to dress up a marshmallow from Living Lucurto

I'm a day late on my recipe wednesday, and this really isn't a recipe, but it looked like a lot of fun! I was over looking at Living Lucurto and found this article on 8 ways to dress up  a marshmallow. This is the coolest idea and I can't wait to try it out for valentines day. As most of you saw, I made yummy chocolate dipped marshmallows for cocoa stirring at Christmas, My Son loves them so I decided to make some for valentines day too.

So go check out 8 ways to dress up a marshmallow, totally cool!

A couple cards

I was hoping to bring you something more exciting than just a couple cards today. But I ended up going and doing shopping today since we are suppose to get this huge storm tomorrow.
I did find some ideas at michaels and bed bath and beyond today, so you will see something exciting soon. I also had my cricut blade housing totally come apart, so have been trying to fix that.
I am working on a valentines cupcake ornament, just have the bottom left to make and will be posting it soon.


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Valentines Day Goodie Ideas

Monday: Blog pick of the week

Pleasant Home

I have been thinking about Valentines Day, and looking for ideas online for goodies, cards, craft projects, you name it. Today I was looking around at different blogs and found these really cute heart suckers made out of small candy canes over at Pleasant Home (click on the link to find the recipe).
I have 2 boxes of these little canes that I never even opened, and I was wondering if they would be going to waste or to my waist! What a great way to use these up, I've decided to make these as little gifts for friends and family just to say "I love you."

I also found these yummy jello popcorn balls at pleasant home, you can find the recipe HERE. I'm planing on make these also. I love the way she packaged these in cute little paper cups like you use for ketchup at the local burger places. Now since I really can't find these where I live, I think I will use the mini cupcake liners that you can find at the craft store (like michaels, great way to use the 40% off coupon if you can't find anything that isnt' on sale!) and at wal-mart.

Exciting new changes

New years always seems to have me thinking about how I can better myself, and better the things I do. So one of the things I am going to try and do is blog every day. I love the way a lot of stay at home Mom's have made blogging into a great career and I would really love to do the same.
Besides blogging about crafts and crochet that I do myself, I am also going to feature different blogs and ideas that I am going to make or try myself. I also want to try and do a certain themed post every day of the week. Here is the though process so far...

Monday: Blog pick of the week
Tuesday: Crafts and Crochet- hopefully a new craft idea or crochet pattern that I have made or would love to try.
Wednesday: Menu planning and recipes
Thursday: Crafts and Crochet Too
Friday: Date night and Family Ideas.
Saturday & Sunday will be random things, could be a new awesome recipe, a great family activity, a craft or crochet project, or a great idea or blog I found.

So please check back often, and help me with any ideas you have, crafts or crochet projects you are working on or want to do, and any great recipes or family fun ideas.

Let it snow garland

I had so much fun yesterday playing with my cricut. I used the winter woodland cartridge to make the snowflakes and the "Let it snow" saying. The snowflakes I actually made in different sizes and then layered to give them a little more. The paper I used is by bo bunny, very neat snowflake paper.

Here is a full picture of the garland......

Hope you find this inspiring for your to make your own winter garland.