Petite Snowflakes

A couple weeks ago Mr. T. and I were going to watch the extended version of "Fellowship of the Ring". I wanted something to work on since I knew I was going to be sitting there a while. I found this book that I bought many years ago and had never done. I grabbed my thread and hook and got started. I had no idea how little they were going to be. The biggest one is just 2 1/2". They were fun to make because they only took a few minutes each. I finished all 35 during my recent trip to CA while riding in the car. Now I just need to starch them and add hangers. I bought the ribbon at Michael's for 90% off after Christmas sale. My plan is to get a little tree for Christmas and decorate it with the snowflakes and ribbon. I started making bigger snowflakes on the car ride home yesterday. I'll post them when I get a few more done.

Cute Coasters

This past week I spent in CA with my parents. My mom is an avid quilter and has more fabric than most stores. I hadn't sewed in several years and wanted to do an easy project to get back into it. I'd seen her make these coasters several times before including most recently as Christmas presents. I thought I'd make some as birthday presents for some of my friends. I ended up making several sets out of a couple different sets of fabrics. Maybe I'll send some to you!

Green with Envy Crocheted Socks

So the other day when I was searching around for patterns for slippers I stumbled upon this pattern for crocheted socks. It was the free pattern du jour on the Annie's Attic website. I'd never crocheted a pair of socks before so I thought I'd give it a try. It was pretty easy although I'm not used to keeping track of rounds when they are continuous and you have to mark them so I'm not sure if they are exactly even but pretty close. This was an interesting pattern because you change hooks to make the sock bigger. I used f, g and h hooks. Of course by the time I got to the part to use the "h" hook I couldn't find one around the house so I went to my local Wal-Mart and then the Hobby Lobby that just opened and then another Wal-Mart before I found one in stock. The socks fit me perfectly through the foot but since my ankles are so tiny they are huge around my legs so I ended up folding them down. I was thinking about giving them away as a present but since they took me so long (and I'm wearing them right now) I'll probably end up keeping them. I'd never used sport weight yarn before either. Of course I had to buy the red heart brand since I'm die hard red heart yarn brand loyal. I wasn't really wild about any of the color choices but thought this green was pretty interesting and would match some of my old navy pajama pants so it was the winner. Now Mr. T. wants me to crochet him a pair to wear around the house. I'll have to see about that.

Mary Jane Slippers

Even though it's been getting up to the 70s briefly in the afternoon it's still getting down to the 40s at night so it's a bit chilly in the house in the mornings and evening. To keep my chronically cold feet warm I've been almost constantly wearing these Mary Jane slippers I crocheted many years ago. I recently was reunited with them after going through some items in storage at my parents house. I got the pattern from my cousin in law and crocheted this pair for me and several additional pairs as gifts. Since they are crocheted with 2 strands of yarn they are super thick and warm. The pattern was from Annie's Attic but I couldn't find it online anywhere. The patterns I found weren't as cute because they don't include the socks. Most of the shoes in my closet are Mary Janes so these are the perfect slippers for me. Maybe I'll dig out the pattern and make some more.

Framed Valetines

I have oodles of borders leftover from my days of working at Westrim Crafts. These came out of their scrapbooking kits back in the day. They were also sold separately. Not sure if you can still get them or not. I use them in all sorts of papercrafting projects but probably have enough to last a lifetime.

I had so much with my previous framing project that when I came across these fun Valentine postcards in the Feb./March 2005 issue of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion Magazine that was mysteriously in my box of decorations I knew exactly what I needed to do with them. I looked in my box of frames but I didn't have 4 that matched to I headed off to the store and found 4 black wood frames that were absolutely perfect. I used some double stick tabs I had to attach the postcards to the middle of the paperbacking that came in the frames. Then I just made a matte around each postcard with the borders, tacking them down with the tabs. So easy!

Here are the finished products. I love how cute and colorful they are! They will brighten up my living room.

Cowley Cousins

When we returned home from our Christmas vacation we were blessed to have a whole stack of Christmas cards in the mailbox. It was so fun to hear from so many family members and friends and receive their pictures and letters. In a couple of the envelopes we got school pictures of some of Josh's nieces. They were so cute I knew I wanted to frame them to have them on display. I gathered up my supplies and got started. Luckily I found this great 5 x 7 all natural wood frame. I'm pretty sure I picked it up from a dollar store somewhere along the way. First I trimmed the pictures with my paper trimmer to make sure they were pretty much the same size. Then I attached them to white cardstock and cut around them with my favorite pair of decorative edge scissors - torn edge. I use these all the time since it's uneven and it's easier to hide your mistakes with them. I searched through my pile of decorative papers for quite a while before I found one that I liked. I picked this one because it brings out the colors in the clothes the girls are wearing but since it's striped it's not too girly. Important since this will be sitting on my husband's desk in the office. I trimed the background paper to 5 x 7, attached the girls' pictures and placed it in the frame. Fast, easy project that we will enjoy seeing every day!