The Finished Product

I finished the play mat I was crocheting for my sister's first baby. I gave it to her this past weekend at the baby shower I threw for her at my mother's home. It was a great party and I am really glad she liked my gift so much.

I trimmed the blanket with two double crochet rows of green, white, and black in Lion Brand Homespun. If you would like patterns for any of the squares I made, just let me know. Most of them I found online :)

In my family, we are all about development. I made sure that this would give Baby D a leg up once he/she is born.

Congratulations, Col!

Penguins are OK as long as we aren't talkin' Hockey...

For my little brother's 2 year anniversary with his girlfriend Sarah, he wanted to make her a present having something to do with penguins, her favorite thing.

I thought this was totally cute and sweet and offered any artistic assistance that I could. I had quite a few different ideas for the project-- glass, yarn, fabric, wood, resin, clay.... you know. Crafty stuff.

Anyways, he chose the most time consuming option in stained glass. Devin having never used a glass cutter, I took that task for myself. Aside from that aspect, I taught him how to work the grinder, fit a pattern, copper foil, and soder the entire piece.



He did a really good job. Start to finish, it only took 2 hours too. Not bad, little brother! Look, so proud. Sarah will love it. <3

Baby D Progress

As you may remember, I have been working on squares for an activity throw for my sister's baby. I am making slow, but good progress.


This is the next square I will be working on. On top of the pattern is a skein of my inspiration yarn Premier Yarn's Serenity Garden - Gems. The pattern is one I have free from JoAnn Fabrics called Caron Simply Soft Multi-Petal Flower. I bet they have it on their website if you want to try it out too.


I have also been working on sewing her a few items. Here below, I have a Flyers Hockey wet bag with rubber sheeting lining the inside and a diaper changing pad with a pocket to hold a few diapers and a package of wipes. It was such a challenge to find any NHL fabric to use- believe me. That is actually knit material I have from the largest size men's pajama pants that I could find at Model's to use as fabric for the project. My idea is to make a few bibs, burp cloths, and other accessories for the baby. We all realize that my brother-in-law Ron will be the poor soul toting the diaper bag around anyways. Might as well make it something he likes!
The pattern for the diaper clutch is from Toad's Treasures. This was a great tutorial that I found that had some really great illustrations for someone just starting out with sewing. This was a quick project and I suggest you check it out so you can make a million yourself! The wet bag... unfortunately I do not remember where the idea came from (sorry!). I know I saw it somewhere online while I was looking for baby diaper bag accessories via Google but I didn't write down the site or really use any pattern. (Again, sorry!)

Springtime and Rainbows

For Easter dinner, I made this delightful dessert for my family.

Rainbow Cupcakes!
I wanted to share the recipe with everyone because though it was really easy to do-- I had never heard of it before!. I basically used the recipe at Family Fun, but with a few minor edits.

First, you need a box of cake mix. I went with white cake mix because it is easiest to get the colors you want. You will also need Red Blue and Yellow liquid food coloring and cupcake papers. I added icing to mine, but you don't have to really.

Mix up the cake mix as directed and divide your batter into 6 different bowls with 6 different spoons. Add in food coloring until you get the tint desired. I had to use different combinations of the colors to get my rainbow than the recipe calls for-- I like mine vibrant!

Next, add the colors mix to the cupcake papers. I did this in ROYGBV order for authenticity, but you don't have to. One think to note, it was really hard to figure out "how much" I needed of each color in each cup. The lesson learned-- it could be a thin layer in the middle as long as the color reached out to the sides. It will all work out, trust me. Also, I made 18 cupcakes-- the recipe says to make 16. I think you could even make 20-24, depending on how much you fill the cups. I had some minor overflows on half my cakes so it is totally possible to make more.= without scrimping.



Next, bake as directed. That's it! Again, I made icing to top them off but you do not have to. If you do and you are planing to travel, I suggest icing them when you get there. The directions say to remove the cupcake papers for presentation-- I didn't. Personal choice.

These were a big hit and very fun to make. Just be sure to give yourself an extra 15-20 minutes prep-time for batter distribution.

Enjoy!

Jimbo's Front Porch : Winner!

I am the very enthusiastic winner of one of Jimbo's hand carved beauties.



Here is Jimbo's description for the auction: Hook #1 I haven't made and Egg Hook for some time now but they're soooo comfortable for underhand grippers that I really should make lots more. The bulb fits in the palm of the hand, so the grip is pretty much by the ball of the thumb and the pinky, leaving the rest of the fingers to manipulate yarn is a very easy relaxed manner. This hook is a K (6.5mm), is made of Hard Maple and is 5 inches long (12.7cm). The largest diameter of bulb or egg shape is 1 1/4 inches or 3.2cm. A VERY comfortable hook for folk who are underhand (like you hold your toothbrush) grippers.

The hook arrived last week and it has been a dream. If you have never heard of Jimbo's Front Porch, you really must go visit his site. He makes beautiful hand carved hooks and auctions them off in his blog posts. All proceeds are going towards building a porch on his home. He has a great, poetic way about his writing which I enjoy. Also, if you are interested, he once posted a tutorial on how to carve your own hooks. I am in the process of trying to make one myself. I'll let you know of the progress after I get past the third step. Bark removal is really time consuming! With the weather getting better, though, I anticipate I will be able to spend more time outside where I don't have to fuss about the wood shavings getting all over the place.

Etsy Purchase!

Please take a moment to view the beautiful Ms. Sophie. Isn't she gorgeous? I bought her on Etsy at Kate's Cache. Usually, I would try to make this little cutie myself but... I am still a beginner at knitting and am in no way ready to make something so complicated. I am still working on making flat pieces!

Anyway, Kate made this little sweetie custom for me. I wanted her because she is a adorable little bunny in a bathing suit. I started a new diet on St. Patrick's day two weeks ago. It is a completely liquid diet monitored by the hospital. To be honest, the actual diet has been pretty easy. The hardest part is the lack in variety. I wish there were more options! But I digress. I wanted the bunny in a bathing suit to keep at my desk at work (where I am the worst snacker ever) to remind me that I too will look super cute in a pink bathing suit this summer, as long as I stick to the plan.

13.6 pounds down... many more to go.

Thank you for my new bathing beauty, Kate. My mother named her Sophie. I think the name suits.

Scrapper's Giveaway!

Taryn from the Hamburg Hideaway is launching a new site: Top Shelf Memories-- and she is having a great giveaway!

All you have to do to enter is to join her monthly mailing list to learn about new kits and products. This is a no-commitment club which means you have the freedom to pick and choose which kits you want to receive and if you want to participate that month. She will have two kits a month-- one feminine and one masculine. This one here is the boy themed one for April, which is right up my alley.