I Finished It!! -- But I Can't Show You :-(

So... a tornado (the second one in my lifetime) ripped thru my town yesterday. Trees and telephone poles are all over my (normally) quiet and shady street. We are fine-- no worries there. Aside from being too hot, the only real damage we took was my boyfriend's car window was blown out by a falling tree limb. The interior was soaked and the window is totally gone but we are healthy and that is what is important.

This, of course, means that I cannot upload my pictures to my computer to show you my beautiful, finished steering wheel cover. I will, though. I promise! I will include the two sites where I found instructions to make one plus my own personal changes to the pattern. As you can see above, I made a pieced top of pinks and blacks to match my car named Hansel. 

More on all of that later as well.

Almost Finished

I have been working on projects for swaps that I joined--- so I can't post any of them until people get their gifts. I don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone but I am getting really antsy.

This past week I gave my final presentation for to get my second Master's degree. This one is a Masters of the Arts in Strategic Leadership at Neumann University. This coming Wesnesday is my exit interview and I will have graduated again for the 4th time!

I am excited to get back all that time I have been spending on presentations, papers, and research for crafting fun. Oh, what luxury time can be...

Back from the Hideaway

Just got back home from another cropper's weekend at the Hamburg Hideaway. It was a ton of fun, I hope to upload what I worked on when I was there... later.  I am so tired now I can barely type. I rarely sleep at the crops-- too much stuff to work on!

Sometimes I Fear I Am Overzealous

Cheers to the Great Owl Crochet Along!

It is not to late to join, people! If you want to be in the swap, you have to have your package in by June 30th. Trust me-- you have time. Each of these took me 2 hockey games to complete. :-) For "normal" people, you only have to crochet one to join the swap. Now I am trying to figure out what else I want to put in my swap package and get that puppy in the mail. Can you tell I am excited?

Christmas in July - Swap

Fantastic! I joined the Christmas in July swap at Craftaholics Anonymous... and you should too!! all of the rules are explained there on the blog but in short--
1. Sign up by June 9
2. Create a handmade gift for the preson you are joined with (does not have to have a Christmas theme)
3. Postmark your present by June 30th

So easy! Come on and join too-- there is still time left and it will be so fun to get some snail mail crafties!

Dropwaist Skirts - Not so hard!

Over the past two weeks, I took a class at the Viking Sewing club and learned how to make a tiered skirt and a dropwaist ruffled skirt. I then set out to make one for each of my sisters-- which sounds easy but was a bit challenging considering one was in her last month of pregnancy. Everything turned out really cute.

The basics are simple. First, you want to measure your waist. Cut your elastic to that size plus 4 inches. Cut your top fabric to your waist in length and 9 inches in width. Measure how long you want your skirt to be in total. Subtract 7 from that number and that is how wide you want your ruffle fabric to be. Leave that material as long as you can. You will end up piecing together two or three of these lengths to make the skirt in total. I used the gathering foot on my machine but there are other ruffling methods out there. After you create your ruffle and attach it to the top tier (or if you have the gathering foot, do both in the same step), you sew your bottom hem and sew in your waistband in a double folded fashion. I had each sister try on her skirt so I could cinch in the elastic before I finished the seams.

Land of Nod Floor Cushions

Today I made 3 floor cushions for my nephews-- one for my sister's house done in black and white and two for my mother's house in Americana theme. Why three and not four you may ask? Well, my younger sister said that she does not have space for something like this for her son in her apartment, so I only made Christopher one cushion to use at Nana's.

I found the tutorial at Living with Punks blog. There Susan, the author, refers to her 3 children as "punks" which I find completely darling.

Well, here are my cushions. My 4 year old nephew Dylan was very excited to have a special seat of his own.... 8 month old Christopher... well, let's just say they make great teething toys too!

Owl Crochet-Along, Sign Up!!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider is having a Crochet-Along (and optional owl swap) that is starting in June. If you sign up by May 30th, Karla will send you a copy of her owl pattern for free. (If you miss the cut off, you can purchase the pattern on Ravelry!)

Well what are you waiting for? Go ahead and sign up!

Hedgehogs on the Web

I have been doing a little research on plushie and softie making today. I want to make a humanoid one for a surprise I am making for my boyfriend.

While searching for ideas, I came across some really cute hedgehog patterns/tutorials that I would like to share with you!

Ruffled Hedgehog tutorial at Matsutake
Also, Lickin Lollipops used the same tutorial with some cute patterned fabric-- Too cute!



Hamie the Hedgie at LollyChops (in teal, of course!)


Sammy at Warm Fuzzies


Pinecone Hedgehog at Kiddley


Pom-pom Hedgehog at Zakka Life

What to do?

Looking for some suggestions-- my friend was remodeling his home and was pitching the scrap from the base boards and crown moldings. I snatched them up before he even knew what was happening (LOL). Any suggestions on what I can do with the pieces? I have some small ones and a few that are a pretty good size. I was going to cut one up and make a frame for the board I painted yesterday with magnetic paint but there is still a ton of material left here, people.

Google is failing me on inspiration! What do you think?

Recipe Swap!

They are having a Recipe Swap at Craftaholics Anonymous, so I wanted to join in the fun. Here is one of my favorites!

Cheeseburger Soup - Adapted from Sparkpeople.com
(Yields 6 servings)


1-1/2 cup water
2 cups peeled cubed potatoes
2 carrots, grated
1 small onion chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp salt
2 cubes beef bouillon, crumbled
1 lb lean ground beef
2 1/2 cups fat free milk
3 tbsp flour
1/2 lb 2% milkfat cheese, cubed


In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine water, potatoes, carrots, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Sprinkle with salt and bouillon.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until potatoes are tender.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef; drain. Rinse with water and drain again.
Stir cooked beef and 1 1/4 cups milk into potato mixture and heat through.
Combine 1 1/4 cups milk with flour.
Stir until smooth. Stir into soup.
Bring to a low boil and cook stirring until thickened. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cheese until melted.

Happy Birthday, Little Sister!

I think that homemade gifts are the best kind-- don't you? I made her a case for her Nintendo DS and a little cupcake with flowers. I had the HARDEST time trying to attach a zipper to the case, though. It was my first experience with zippers. I clearly did not succeed.

Any advice? The problem I was having was once I sewed the zipper to both sides of the case, it didn't line up and wouldn't zipper. I took it off and reattached it three times. After the third removal, I added a velcro tab closure and called it a day.

Baby Gear for a Phillies Fan

You may remember that I was making Flyers baby gear for my sister's shower. Well, one of her several pregnant friends at her shower last week spent some time ohhing and ahhing at my creations. My sister asked me to make her some Phillies gear for their baby girl, due a week after my niece/nephew in June. I was happy to comply, especially since I know how much she liked the originals :)



Here is how they turned out. What do you think? The one burp cloth I made out of a rally towel I got when one of the Phillies pitchers came to my office for a charity event a few weeks ago. Great recycling, I think. What does someone actually do with a rally towel after the game they received it at anyway?

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.