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.