Heaven in our Home

I recently made this printable for a neighbor and thought I should share it.

You can download here

Heart Oversized Cross-Stitch

Lately, I've been seeing oversized cross stitch on tennis rackets, cane chairs, pegboard, etc... I wanted to try it out but didn't know what I could make It finally occured to me that I could use plastic canvas. Since Valentine's Day was coming up I decided to try a heart. Luckily for me I just started stitching and it turned out perfectly. I was thinking about trying to chart it, but if you look closely you can figure it out yourself. Initially, I was going to make a set of three different designs but I ended up making 5 hearts identical to this instead. haha. I gave them out to my Visiting Teaching Companion and the three sisters we visit for Valentine's Day. My goal was to deliver them on Feb. 1st so they could enjoy them for a few weeks but I ended up passing them out at church on Valentine's Day. I have such great intentions but with two toddlers I rarely see my plans come to fruition. Anyways, all you need is a 5x7 frame, a piece of plastic canvas, some scrap yarn and a yarn needed. I've been collecting frames at garage sales so I had a bunch to spare but had to paint them black. (that was my main hang up)

I have some ideas for some other cross stitch project so I'll tackle those as I find time and I'll work on posting more. I have been crafting from time to time even though formatting generally keeps me incredibly busy.

Gratitude Journal Giveaway

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Gratitude Journal

I published a book.  So crazy!  About 10 years ago I had a gratitude journal that I wrote in fairly frequently.  Recently I remembered about it and wanted another one but couldn't find one to my liking so I thought I should just make one being a formatter and all.  It took longer than any book I've ever done and didn't turn out exactly as I'd envisioned it but I love it.  I've been writing in one for a few months and it really helps to keep a better perspective on life.  You can order one here or if you are local I ordered a case and will be selling them for just $5 until Christmas.  I have an idea for another book so I'll work on that when I have the time.  If I can publish a book anyone can!

Operation Organization: Basement Bathroom

We picked up this dresser for FREE on a local facebook group.  When we got to the house we were surprised to see it was our dentist.  haha!  We've had a lot of dentist bills this year so we've seen him a lot recently.  Anyways, the dresser was your standard light veneer.  The trim on the top left was missing and it was also missing a knob.  The knobs it did have were sports balls and were pretty faded.

So this dresser has been hanging out under our carport all Summer as we were trying to decide what to do with it.  Eventually we spent $$$$ on some power tools and my husband made a new trim piece for the top.  I spent hours searching for the perfect knobs and finally decided on these beauties.

I wasn't sure where we were going to put it.  I told my husband to pick up more paint like another project we did but he didn't check the name before he went to the lumberyard and ended up getting a different color but I love it.  Very cheery!

I finally figured out that it would fit perfectly in the basement bathroom.  This room only gets used a couple times a year when guests stay with us but I needed somewhere to store towels in there and I thought we could use the rest of the drawers to store our swim gear since we won't need it for a while now.

The top drawer has extra towels in it.  The second drawer holds beach towels.  The third drawer contains our swimming suits and the bottom drawer holds the swim floaties.

I'm so happy to get this in the house before winter hits and so glad to have a few more things in the house organized!

It's so nice to have places to put them items that were previously homeless.

Infinity Scarf - Free Crochet Pattern

After crocheting my first infinity scarf a couple weeks ago I wanted to make another one with a slightly different pattern.  I searched high and low and could never find the pattern I was looking for so I made one up.

Supplies:
H hook
Red Heart "With Love" Yarn

To begin: Loosely chain 25 (use an I hook if you want)

Row 1: dc in 4^th ch from hook, ch1 dc twice in same space.  *Skip two chains, 2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc in next chain.  Repeat from * 4 more times . skip 2 chains, 2 dc, ch1 1dc in next chain ss to first space of beginning chain. = 7 double clusters made.

Row 2: Turn.  Ss over to first ch 1 space. Ch3 dc, ch1, 2dc all in same space.*2dc ch1 2dc in next chain 1 space.  Repeat from * to end.

Repeat row 2 to desired length (I used the whole skein of yarn)

Ss both ends of scarves together and weave in loose ends.

Wear and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Even though I made this pattern up I’m sure there’s someone else who has figured this out and there’s probably another pattern just like this out there somewhere.

This is my first time publishing a pattern so if you find any mistakes please let me know.  I have a lot more patterns in the works that I will share as I find the time.

Sock Monkey Hat

A childhood friend of mine sent me a message on facebook and asked me to crochet a sock monkey hat for her grandson who is expected to make his appearance in June.  I found this pattern and went to work.  The pattern was pretty easy to follow.  It took me all day to crochet (in between taking care of my little ones).  Not difficult but just time consuming to make all the different parts and sew them together.  I don't think I'd made a pom pom since grade school but she had a link to a tutorial for that as well.  It turned out so cute that it was hard for me to mail it away this morning.  My little guy was quite enamored with it and was disappointed it didn't fit him so I might have to make one for him.  The pattern has sizes from newborn - adult.  I made the 6-12 month size so it will fit the new baby his first winter.

Peppermint Sugar Scrub

Sorry about the terrible picture.  I made a bunch of these over the holidays to use for Christmas presents, Birthday presents and neighbor gifts.  The little container is a baby food container.  I used up all that I had unfortunately so I will have to try to find someone to give me more.  Anyways, the label I got from skiptomylou but I just searched and couldn't find it so maybe she took it down?  I'm a big fan of using 12x12 paper to make gift boxes so that's the little box bottom you see there.  I also included a spa washcloth.

Here's a blurry picture of it.  Ugh!  The pattern is from the Lion Brand website  I just use a cone of cotton yarn from Wal-Mart and an "H" hook.  It's pretty thick.  I've made a couple of dishcloths in this pattern and they are really nice.  I'll post some pics of those here soon.

There are tons of recipes for the sugar scrub out there but the one I used is this:

2 c sugar

1/2 c coconut oil

20 drops peppermint essential oil

The coconut oil I got from costco and even though I made a ton of these for presents I didn't even use half a jar so I still have 1 1/2 jars left.  Need to start researching other uses for coconut oil!  Used a bunch of sugar but luckily I had just bought a giant bag and still have a bit of peppermint oil left.

I need to use it more.  It really does help my extremely dry hands that tend to crack and bleed easily in the dry weather.

First I scooped the coconut oil into a glass bowl and melted it in the microwave for a little bit.  Then I added the sugar and mixed it really good and then added the oil and stirred it a bit more to get everything blended together.

Since I don't bake these were the perfect gift for me to make.  I've actually already made neighbor gifts for this Christmas coming up but probably shouldn't blog about them until I give them out?

Crocheted Face Scrubbies in Bowl

This was a project I did back in June.  I'd crocheted some face scrubbies for a friend a couple of years ago and she decided she wanted a bunch more.  I can't remember how many I made.  30 maybe?  Once I'd crocheted them all I thought it might be handy to have a little bowl to keep them in so I made the bowl.  (Just made it up as I went) I thought the scalloped edge is pretty.  Hopefully she agrees.

Christmas Stocking

My friend that I crocheted 5 Christmas Stockings for in December 2012 had a new baby December 2013.  She needed a stocking so my friend asked me to crochet one more.  She wanted pink.  When I went to the store to find yarn I decided on this bright pink and this variegated yarn to go with it.

This is the pattern I used.  I'm not sure why it's called "Quick and Easy" because it takes me all day to make it.  Maybe I'm just slow!  I did change the pattern up a bit.  I crochet in rounds instead of back and forth as it suggests.  Doesn't seem like it would be strong enough to be sewn together and I'm not a fan of that step so I eliminated it.  Also I make the stocking shorter and attach the band to the top of the stocking instead of having it fold down over the top.

I can't find that I blogged about the original 5 that I did a couple of years ago so here's a picture of them.

I love how different they are and that they are the favorite colors of each of the kids.  So fun!  I still haven't decided on stockings for my own family.  Since we randomly spent Christmas Eve in a hotel this past year I guess it didn't matter but I should decide what I want for this year and make them while I still have the whole year to get them done.

Four more t-shirt bags

Made four more T-shirt bags from some t-shirts I found on clearance at Wal-Mart for $1 each!

Close-up of rosettes on the girl bags.

I will share this bit of advice: Stick with boys shirts or adult sized shirts.  Three of these were actually girl's dresses and so the shoulders on them were really narrow. Oh and when you cut the sleeves off it's easier if you turn the shirt inside out.

TShirt Bag

I've been seeing these for a while now and wanted to try making one so I finally did.

Here is the t-shirt.  It's a little on the short side.  I usually only wore it under jumpers but those went out with the 90s right?  (I haven't re-made the bed in the guest room so ya that's the mattress pad.)

I'm a big fan of using a walking foot.  I just turned the tshirt inside out, lined up along the hem and sewed on.  I think this might be the first time I ever sewed on knit fabric.  Went better than I hoped. 

The shirt was rounded on the bottom but I like the bottom of the bag like that.  I of course had to make a rosette to embellish it with.  I didn't take any picture of cutting of the sleeves or around the neckline but that is pretty basic.  They are so easy to make.  I have a whole bucket of shirts I don't wear so maybe I'll turn them all into bags.  

Purple Heart Crayon Roll

inside of crayon roll

front

I'm on a roll!  Made four of these in the past couple of weeks.  Need to stock up on crayons next time I go into town so I can make a couple more and then I'll be out of felt!

Bucket Labels

flour, sugar, rice

close-up of rice

Since I had my cricut out to make star and heart patterns for the crayon roll ups I'm working on I thought I'd cross another to-do item off my list.  We have these buckets to store some of our dry goods in but they weren't labeled.  I designed these little labels this morning and applied them.  Now it will be easier to tell what is in each.

Star Crayon Roll

After my post yesterday I had a friend order a couple of crayon rolls.  She wanted a blue one with a star so this is what I came up with.  Cut the star out with my cricut.

Custom Order - Crayon Rolls

 I had an order for two crayon rolls for Easter presents.  These are what I came up with.

I used washable crayons because I thought those are safer for kids.  I really like the ribbon I used across the top of the crayon pocket and to tie the crayon roll.  I hope my client and the recipients like them and that they get a lot of use.

Crocheted Owl

I've been wanting to crochet an owl for a while now but hadn't found a pattern that struck my fancy.  For some reason when I saw this pattern pinned a couple of days ago I knew it's the one I wanted to try.  I just used some yarn that I had laying around upstairs but I really liked how it turned out.  The only changes I made were just doing two rounds for the eyes instead of 3 and I sewed the nose under the eyes instead of on top.  Oh, and I didn't add legs.  It was an easy pattern but took me a couple of days to do since I just worked on it a little at a time.  I really like the button eyes.  I have a couple more pair so maybe I'll make a couple more owls to use them up.  Each kid needs one right? (and one for me!)

Laptop Cover for me!

Finished this up recently so I thought I'd post it.  I started this about a year and a half ago.  We bought a laptop on vacation and I needed something to protect it in my bag on the return flight so I crocheted up the "sleeve" part.  Finally went on another vacation last month so I got this out to use it and actually worked on the flap for a while in the car but it wasn't easy since I was in between two car seats in the back seat.  Finally finished it up after we returned from the trip.  Found the buttons in my stash.  I randomly had a piece of round black elastic so I used that to tie the buttons on instead of sewing them on.  I decided not to put my usual flowers on for decorations so I did a scallop across the flap so it's not too plain.  It seems rare these days that I actually crochet something for me.  I'm glad to have this done and hope it's not another year and a half before we go on another vacation and I need it again!

Redneck Baby Present

I picked up this yarn a couple of month ago and after making a few dishcloths I started looking around for other things I could crochet out of cotton yarn.  My friend was expecting a boy so I made this set for her baby shower.  I made up the pattern for the hat.  The pacifier clip is inspired by this pattern and the teething rings are from this pattern.

I've made three sets now.  Two have been given away and I'm about to mail the third to a lucky recipient.  I have to say that the binky clips are the best.  I wish I would've had one with my oldest baby but am glad to have one with my new baby.  It's so nice to be able to wash it after a day or two of getting drooled on and they are essential to help keep that binky off the floor when they spit it out.  My baby enjoys playing with the teething rings as well.  And babies look ever so darling in hats but I'm pretty sure my friend's 11 lb baby was too big for it.  Oh well.

Operation Organization: Pantry #1

For some reason there are three coat closets in our house all in close proximity to each other.  One is off the kitchen, one in the dining room and one at the beg. of the hallway.  The previous homeowners had already put shelves in the closet off the kitchen.  We are using the closet in the hallway for coats and the one in the dining room was just piled full of misc. things.  (Sorry there's no "before" picture!)  We finally installed shelves yesterday and I quickly filled it up.  I love how it looks and know it's going to be so handy having it organized.

We left the closet rod in there just because it was easier than ripping it out.  The bottom of the closet had been covered in shag carpet.  It's slanted because the stairs to the basement cut into the space.  We ripped the carpet up, pulled out the staples and painted it white.  Now it's a great shelf.

The shelves are just 12" deep.  The other pantry has really deep shelves and things get lost on them.  I had picked up these baskets on The Dollar Tree to use in this space.  The baskets are just shy of 12" wide so three of them fit perfectly on the 36" wide shelves.  I labelled each of them with some tags I picked up a garage sale over the summer.  For now they read "pasta, beans, snacks, paper goods, drink mixes, crackers, chips, baking and other".  These categories work for now so we'll see how it goes.

The cereal sits on the shelf that was already installed above the closet rod.  I convinced my husband to add a shelf up high for additional storage.  These baskets are from IKEA.  We used them at our wedding and keep them stocked with "napkins, knives, forks, spoons".  We only use these for parties so it's nice to have them handy but out of the way.

It's so nice to have this space organized.  You can probably tell that there's no closet door for now  We took them all down when we were fixing up the house before we moved in and haven't put them all back up yet.  I think it would be fun to paint it with chalkboard paint so we can write on it.  Will probably have to wait till Spring to paint it and rehang it.