Until next time,
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Introducing Belle
Just wanted to share my latest project with you. Introducing Belle:
My Belle sits on the shelf in my hallway watching over all that pass by. You can find her in my Etsy Shop. What have you been working on lately?
Until next time,
Until next time,
Friday, May 6, 2011
Friday Features
How many of you out there know about Ravelry and/or Crochetville? If you haven't ever been to either then what are you waiting for? Both offer tons of free patterns, but it doesn't stop there. There are communities within the communities with lots of people willing to answer questions, direct you to patterns and in general just help out and hang with a fellow yarn crafter. I have found myself (especially on Ravelry which features free projects and pictures!) getting lost on these sites.
So I have decided to put my project drooling time to use for you, my beloved readers. Every Friday I am going to feature a few of the new patterns that I would just LOVE to work on, as well as a link to the patterns so that you can work on them too. Hopefully you will find something to inspire you.
This week I am featuring projects from Larisa Glinchak's blog Розетка вяжет. Below are a few of her FREE patterns. Fair warning, the site is in a foreign language (sorry, not my best subject, but I think it is Russian) but there is an awesome translate button on the right side of her blog that will translate it for you.
Isn't this little guy great! Now, the translation isn't great, but combine it will all of the beautiful pictures and you should be able to complete this little guy!
And then there is this cutie!
Her neck, arms and legs are wires so she is completely poseable!
Aren't these guys to cute! I love all of the attention to detail: chubby cheeks, toe nails, the little smiles under the upturned trunks.
And this little guy has so much personality. I just want to pick him up and hug him.
Until next time,
So I have decided to put my project drooling time to use for you, my beloved readers. Every Friday I am going to feature a few of the new patterns that I would just LOVE to work on, as well as a link to the patterns so that you can work on them too. Hopefully you will find something to inspire you.
This week I am featuring projects from Larisa Glinchak's blog Розетка вяжет. Below are a few of her FREE patterns. Fair warning, the site is in a foreign language (sorry, not my best subject, but I think it is Russian) but there is an awesome translate button on the right side of her blog that will translate it for you.
http://rosetka.blogspot.com/2009/12/porosenok-amigurumi.htm
Isn't this little guy great! Now, the translation isn't great, but combine it will all of the beautiful pictures and you should be able to complete this little guy!
And then there is this cutie!
http://rosetka.blogspot.com/2011/04/promokashka-master-klass.html
Her neck, arms and legs are wires so she is completely poseable!
http://rosetka.blogspot.com/2009/12/slonenok.htm
Aren't these guys to cute! I love all of the attention to detail: chubby cheeks, toe nails, the little smiles under the upturned trunks.
Until next time,
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
making some changes
Most of my readers are here for the craftiness. (Not that there has been a lot lately. Sorry readers!) But I keep finding myself drawn also to sharing the things I put together to help my kids in their educational pursuits. Everything I read about blogging says to K.I.S. Keep it simple. In others words don't try to put everything in one place.
As a result I have started Sunflowers at School where I can share all of those ideas (some are nifty, some are not so nifty) and keep this blog primarily a crafty place to hang out. So if you notice some posts missing or some things turned around, please don't panic. I am just doing some spring cleaning and transferring.
And in the spirit of keeping it crafty, I wanted to share my latest simple (and I really do mean simple) project. It was inspired by Ashley over at Make It and Love It. She created an awesome back strap from scrap material, elastic, and snaps to attach to a pair of flip flops to help the little ones keep them on their feet. (You can see her creation here.) I love what she did but when I went through all of my fabric and notions I realized that I didn't have the right snaps (just the sew on kind here) which might have worked just fine. Shoot, I could have even just sewed them on as a permanent part of the flip flop. But my fingers were itching for a hook in them, sooooo I hit my thread basket and went to work creating these:
Not quite as fanciful as the ones Ashley created, but definitely serviceable and they have lots of potential for cuteness. Crochet a little bow for the back or add some crochet flowers to the sides and/or on the top of the strap. I made mine as a permanent fixture since they use so little thread and I only paid a buck for the flipflops.
Anyway, this isn't so much a pattern as it is a tutorial since I can't really tell you how many rows to do for your little ones shoe size. I can tell you my princess wears a size 8 shoe and these flip flops are actually a little big for her (they were the smallest size the store had) so I can give you details for that, but otherwise it really isn't hard to adjust.
I used a size 7 steel hook and bedspread weight crochet thread size 10
Start by chaining 5 and then sc in the second chain from the hook and the remaining chains.
ch 1 and turn, sc across.
That is basically it. If you want them to be interchangeable then begin with a chain of 9, join to form a circle, ch 1, and work 4 sc in the circle. ch 1, turn and sc in each sc. The loop then becomes your button hole. To attach them permanently, when your piece is long enough to wrap around the strap simply wrap it around and then sc through both layers on each stitch for next row. (I did 14 rows of sc and then joined them together on the 15th row.) continue chaining one at the end of each row and working sc in each stitch until you get the desired length. You want to try it on your child for this. Remember, crochet stretches quite a bit so be sure to pull it tight across the back of her foot. When you have the right length to go across the back of her foot and wrap around the strap then you can either finish off leaving a long tail or create a button hole by chaining 5 and joining it to the opposite end of the row. Wrap the crochet around the flip flop strap being sure not to twist it. Use the tail to sew the loop around the flip flop closed (for permanent attachment) or mark for button placement (for interchangeable attachment).
I hope this makes sense to you. If not, leave me a comment and I can create a step by step photo tutorial for you.
Until next time,
As a result I have started Sunflowers at School where I can share all of those ideas (some are nifty, some are not so nifty) and keep this blog primarily a crafty place to hang out. So if you notice some posts missing or some things turned around, please don't panic. I am just doing some spring cleaning and transferring.
And in the spirit of keeping it crafty, I wanted to share my latest simple (and I really do mean simple) project. It was inspired by Ashley over at Make It and Love It. She created an awesome back strap from scrap material, elastic, and snaps to attach to a pair of flip flops to help the little ones keep them on their feet. (You can see her creation here.) I love what she did but when I went through all of my fabric and notions I realized that I didn't have the right snaps (just the sew on kind here) which might have worked just fine. Shoot, I could have even just sewed them on as a permanent part of the flip flop. But my fingers were itching for a hook in them, sooooo I hit my thread basket and went to work creating these:
Not quite as fanciful as the ones Ashley created, but definitely serviceable and they have lots of potential for cuteness. Crochet a little bow for the back or add some crochet flowers to the sides and/or on the top of the strap. I made mine as a permanent fixture since they use so little thread and I only paid a buck for the flipflops.
Anyway, this isn't so much a pattern as it is a tutorial since I can't really tell you how many rows to do for your little ones shoe size. I can tell you my princess wears a size 8 shoe and these flip flops are actually a little big for her (they were the smallest size the store had) so I can give you details for that, but otherwise it really isn't hard to adjust.
I used a size 7 steel hook and bedspread weight crochet thread size 10
Start by chaining 5 and then sc in the second chain from the hook and the remaining chains.
ch 1 and turn, sc across.
That is basically it. If you want them to be interchangeable then begin with a chain of 9, join to form a circle, ch 1, and work 4 sc in the circle. ch 1, turn and sc in each sc. The loop then becomes your button hole. To attach them permanently, when your piece is long enough to wrap around the strap simply wrap it around and then sc through both layers on each stitch for next row. (I did 14 rows of sc and then joined them together on the 15th row.) continue chaining one at the end of each row and working sc in each stitch until you get the desired length. You want to try it on your child for this. Remember, crochet stretches quite a bit so be sure to pull it tight across the back of her foot. When you have the right length to go across the back of her foot and wrap around the strap then you can either finish off leaving a long tail or create a button hole by chaining 5 and joining it to the opposite end of the row. Wrap the crochet around the flip flop strap being sure not to twist it. Use the tail to sew the loop around the flip flop closed (for permanent attachment) or mark for button placement (for interchangeable attachment).
I hope this makes sense to you. If not, leave me a comment and I can create a step by step photo tutorial for you.
Until next time,
Breakfast Bar recipe
H is going on a field trip to King's Island with the school this week, which means an early day. She will have to be at the school by 6 am and will be eating breakfast on the bus. I was given the choice of either letting the school pack her breakfast and paying for a lot of preservatives and junk food (they are seriously packing "super doughnuts" to give the kids for breakfast!) or I could pack and send one with her. Guess which one I chose!
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not a health nut. I eat doughnuts and junk food on occasion. But I seriously think that if I am going to pay for a meal at school, it should be relatively healthy. Especially when they have put so many restrictions on the food that parents can bring in for parties. (I can't order pizza for a class party but I can order pizza through the school for a class party. I can't bring in cupcakes on my child's birthday, but they can serve super doughnuts for breakfast. No candy for the Easter egg hunt but I am expected to sell candy, cookie dough, and candy coated popcorn for school fundraisers. Makes LOTS of sense to me!) Any way, enough ranting. The point is that I had to come up with something that doesn't require refrigeration, was relatively healthy, tasted good, was portable, requires no utensils to eat, and I can pack in something disposable. What came to mind? Breakfast bars!
I love the ease and portability of a good breakfast bar. I also like that when you make them yourself you can throw just about anything you want to in them. So I figured why not share my basic recipe with you so you too can enjoy your own breakfast goodness.
Sunflower's Breakfast Bars
2 cups old fashion oats (these are the ones you have to cook, not the 1 minute or the instant variety)
3/4 cup milk
1 cup mashed fruit of your choice (this batch was 1/2 cup applesauce and 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of any add ins you want or leave this out. It's your breakfast bar! Some suggestions are raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, coconut etc
Here is the hard part. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray an 8 by 8 pan with cooking spray. Dump all of your ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour into the pan and cook for about 1 hour. Allow to cool completely and then cut into bars. (I prefer to make 3 cuts L to R and then one cut top to bottom down the center to get 8 bars)
I love "dump" recipes. They are pretty much fool proof. Let me know what you think if you decide to make a batch!
Until next time,
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not a health nut. I eat doughnuts and junk food on occasion. But I seriously think that if I am going to pay for a meal at school, it should be relatively healthy. Especially when they have put so many restrictions on the food that parents can bring in for parties. (I can't order pizza for a class party but I can order pizza through the school for a class party. I can't bring in cupcakes on my child's birthday, but they can serve super doughnuts for breakfast. No candy for the Easter egg hunt but I am expected to sell candy, cookie dough, and candy coated popcorn for school fundraisers. Makes LOTS of sense to me!) Any way, enough ranting. The point is that I had to come up with something that doesn't require refrigeration, was relatively healthy, tasted good, was portable, requires no utensils to eat, and I can pack in something disposable. What came to mind? Breakfast bars!
I love the ease and portability of a good breakfast bar. I also like that when you make them yourself you can throw just about anything you want to in them. So I figured why not share my basic recipe with you so you too can enjoy your own breakfast goodness.
Sunflower's Breakfast Bars
(YES! I took this picture on my back deck because the sun was finally out and
I could get a decent picture of something....finally!)
2 cups old fashion oats (these are the ones you have to cook, not the 1 minute or the instant variety)
3/4 cup milk
1 cup mashed fruit of your choice (this batch was 1/2 cup applesauce and 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of any add ins you want or leave this out. It's your breakfast bar! Some suggestions are raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, coconut etc
Here is the hard part. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray an 8 by 8 pan with cooking spray. Dump all of your ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour into the pan and cook for about 1 hour. Allow to cool completely and then cut into bars. (I prefer to make 3 cuts L to R and then one cut top to bottom down the center to get 8 bars)
I love "dump" recipes. They are pretty much fool proof. Let me know what you think if you decide to make a batch!
Until next time,
Monday, May 2, 2011
Preschool Bible verses
Trying to get back into the swing of things. The weather here has been nothing but rain so I haven't been able to plant anything or do much around the outside of the house. Then Mr. Sunflowers was on vacation for the week and we spent that time working on a few projects that we had been wanting to complete. (a canopy for his fishtank, roof repairs, mulching the flower beds, etc)
In addition to all of this I have been trying to do a lesson with Princess A 2 or 3 times a week. She sees H and J head off to school in the mornings and she wants to go to. This way we have our own little school at home.
In addition to learning about a calendar, weather, letters, numbers and colors I wanted to work on some Bible memorization with her. Which sparked me to bring back the scripture cards, preschool style. Here is what we are working on now:
This prints out business card size. Feel free to share, but please give credit and mention this blog.
Until next time,
In addition to all of this I have been trying to do a lesson with Princess A 2 or 3 times a week. She sees H and J head off to school in the mornings and she wants to go to. This way we have our own little school at home.
In addition to learning about a calendar, weather, letters, numbers and colors I wanted to work on some Bible memorization with her. Which sparked me to bring back the scripture cards, preschool style. Here is what we are working on now:
This prints out business card size. Feel free to share, but please give credit and mention this blog.
Until next time,
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