I recently started crocheting again.
I used to crochet, but the projects just took too long. I didn’t have the patience, I guess.
Then I decided to try crocheting with bigger hooks and/or open patterns, which cuts down on time.
I am addicted.
I will post some projects soon, and a couple of crochet book reviews.
Speaking of which, I also have another book review to post of a youth non-fiction book that I was sent eons ago.
In the meantime, I have a blanket to finish before a baby is born.
I saw a lovely piece of crochet lace and decided to look into how it was made. I discovered that particular style is called “filet crochet.”
It turns out that it is rather simple to do and, best of all, inexpensive.
I had $6 left on the Michael’s gift card that my parents-in-law gave me for Christmas, and I was able to buy every thing I needed to get started with that.
The Beginner’s Guide to Filet Crochet was $3.50, but I used a 40%-off coupon, so it was only $2.10. The string was only $1.99, as was the steel hook. Total cost: $6.08 + tax. (Okay, so I had to chip in a bit.)
There is enough string there to make a few practice pieces and a complete project.
And the only expense for future projects will be the string.
Not bad!
Here is my first practice piece. It is not crooked, that is the angle of the couch cushion that it is on. It actually came out pretty well for my first try.
I have had that song in my head all day, since we made our little Love Shacks.
We used graham crackers, royal icing, and lots of candies.
(To make royal icing without the hassle of raw eggs, try meringue powder. I used Wilton, which I bought at Michael’s craft store in the cake decorating aisle.)
You can cut triangles to close the front and back of the roofs, but I was not feeling well, so I took the shortcut way. No one seemed to mind that our roofs were open.
With out further fanfare, here are our houses.
That is Big E’s in the front. He is the artist in that family. That roof is just beautiful. He did that with no help at all.
Here is The D’s. It is hard to believe that just a couple of years ago, this boy had no interest in anything creative.
That’s mine on the left and Little E’s on the right. I did the front for him. He got tired and wanted to go watch Cyber Chase on PBS. (Yes, he’s only 4. He is our budding math genius.)
A few pointers to share… make the icing about toothpaste consistency and they should set up pretty quickly. Little kids do not have much patience when it comes to waiting to decorate candy houses. Fortunately for me, mine did not have to wait.
If you want to make white, pink, and red (or dark pink), make one big batch of white icing. Take 1/3 out and put it in your icing bag. Add a small amount of red coloring to make pink. Take out 1/2 of that and put it in another icing bag. Finally, add more red to achieve desired shade and put the remaining icing in a third bag.
Last year, I was really into Knifty Knitter. Really into it. I made hats, purses, neck rolls, scarves, booties. You name it, I Knifty Knitted it.
But for some reason this year, I am not that into it.
Maybe it was the lack of challenge. Once I learned to make all those things, it got kind of boring.
Or maybe it was the repetitiveness.
Whatever it was, this year I decided that I didn’t like the hat I made myself last year at the end of winter, before I had a chance to wear it.
My hat modeled by Little E
Since the yarn was new and I didn’t want to waste it, I decided to rip it out and crochet a new hat with the same yarn.
Here is my new hat, modeled by Big E, who was gracious enough to model, but not happy enough about it to actually smile. That, and he had a mouth full of Life cereal.
I made it from this Crochet Hat pattern from the Lion Brand Yarn website. (Free registration required to view pattern.) I omitted the pompom, though.
The hat uses Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick and a size P-15 hook.
Back in October, I mentioned that I was learning embroidery, so I could make something for my parents-in-law for Christmas.
Well, even though it took me until February to post the picture I took, I did embroider a towel for them.
Here it is.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. I wanted to post a Christmas message, but I was busy with family, which I rightfully decided was more important than blogging. Not that I don’t love you all.
This Christmas was really great for me. For whatever reason, it helped me put in perspective some struggles I have been having with my faith. I am going to post about that and some other things that have been going on with me - including an update with The D’s situation - but for now, here is a song that really spoke to me this Christmas.
Relient K, Celebrate the Day
And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You’ve touched my life
Because here is where You’re finding me, in the exact same place as New Year’s eve
And from a lack of my persistency
We’re less than half as close as I want to be
And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever
And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever
And so this Christmas I’ll compare the things I felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might really live
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever
And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever
And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life
Pray for You to save my life
Pray for You to save my life
The kids and I made some cute Christmas cookies (or are they candies?) today.
To make these adorable Christmas Mice, gather the following ingredients:
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Hershey’s Kisses
Oreo cookies
Maraschino cherries, with stems
Sliced almonds
Melt the chocolate chips, using whatever method you prefer - a bowl over a pan of hot water, a microwave-save dish, or the really cool chocolate melting thingy the kids got me for Christmas last year.
Meanwhile, separate the Oreos and un-wrap the kisses. (This is a good kid-friendly step).
Drain and rinse the cherries, and spread on paper towels to dry.
Once the chocolate is melted, dip a cherry in, holding it by the stem, and turn to coat. Let the excess drip off, then press an unwrapped Hershey’s kiss bottom-to-bottom with the cherry and set it on the creme-side of an Oreo half. (Use picture as a guide.)
Next, take two almond slices and place them between the cherry and the kiss, to look like the mouse’s ears.
Once chocolate is set, you can make eyes using red decorator gel or, as I did, put the left over melted chocolate in a ziplock bag, snip the corner, and pipe on chocolate eyes.
This was a fun treat for the kids to make. I can’t wait to give them to our relatives on Christmas.
Little E looked at the large group of mice on the table and said, “It looks like a whole army of mousies!” (He does know the word mice, since we have three as pets, but mousies is just so much cuter, so I don’t correct him!)
So, here we are with only 10 days left (after today) to get ready for Christmas. Or in my case, I only have 7 because my mother- and father-in-law are coming up next Saturday to celebrate with us.
::sudden overwhelming feeling of panic sets in::
I have found that the best thing to do when planning for a big event is to take some time to sit down and write out some lists.
Here’s what I am going to go do, after I post this.
Whew!
That may sound like a lot, but once I make my lists (and check them twice?) I know I will have some serious peace of mind.
I wanted to share a craft project with you that I learned how to do at a local craft store.
I decided that the easiest way would be to make a short “how to” video.
Please excuse the low-quality video equipment.
The project is a magnet. It is made using pictures, decorative paper, or photo-copied pictures. The image is decoupaged onto a craft stone (like these).
My kids love to make ornaments. This year, the D asked me to buy some of those clear glass ornaments that they sell at the craft store. I did, but I wasn’t sure what to do with them.
One idea is to paint them with stained glass paint. That is a pretty project, but the paint is expensive and Little E is really too young to use them.
Instead, I bought small bottles of fabric paint. It was a project that all of the kids could do. Easy enough for Little E, but the older boys could use it to make more advanced designs.
The ornament on the left I painted and filled with an iridescent tinsel. I had some from years ago, but I am told that they no longer sell it. I think crumpled tissue paper would look nice inside, too. We just left most of ours empty, which also looks nice.
Another fun idea is to fill the ornaments with feathers and glitter. This one I made years ago used pastel feathers, but you could also use red or green to make it more festive.
These ornaments are a fun thing to do because the possibilities are endless and the project can accommodate all ages.
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