Twenty Months Old

Whew! It sure has been a while. I've been meaning to come back and post a little more regularly, but between the end of the school year craziness, getting custom orders done, making items for the upcoming craft show and taking care of Little Bub, I just can't find the time or the energy. Even my household chores have been a little neglected. And definitely my time in the kitchen has been almost nonexistent. Salad for dinner again, dear? Oh well, it's good for us, right?

I'm definitely enjoying my time home this summer. Mostly. We have our days where Little Bub pushes my patience, but overall we are having fun and I've been getting a lot of stuff done for the craft show. It helps when Little Bub takes a 2-3 hour nap. :)

This is how we are spending our time this morning. 

Trying to get away from the TV. Little Bub has been on a Cars kick this past week and brings the DVD case over so we can watch it. Again and again and again.

I just can't believe he is 20 months old today. He is turning into such a little man. He still loves a lot of the same food (he had a whole large slice of pizza to himself last night!) And blueberries are a new favorite. He goes to the fridge and pulls them out for lunch everyday.

He has learned quite a few signs now and regularly signs thank you, even without being prompted most times! We're still working on please. ;) He is talking a little more too. Still words and not phrases, but he does well with the "oo" sound like blue, balloon, shoe, moo, boo, etc. They mostly sound the same and we have to look at what he's pointing at before we can figure out what he means.

He loves Mickey Mouse and Chuggington, and of course Cars. He still likes to be read to and look at books. And magazines like This Old House. Ha. His absolute favorite books are Wake Up, Little One and Why I Love My Daddy. Those often travel up and down the stairs with us throughout the day. He just got his first trike this week and he's already figured it out even though he can't quite get going on his own. He loves to go for bike rides in the pull behind trailer though! And his very best friend is Teddy. 

I am not ready for him to be two years old yet. It's only 4 months away now. Eek!

Happy Easter!

 

Happy Easter from this sad little bunny! He loved the peeps but hated the bunny hat.

 

 

See? All better! :)

Photos from Lissa May Photography.

Itty Bitty Easter

Here are some little quick projects I've been working on in between orders. They are super quick and easy to make, especially when you follow the great tutorials.

The first item is a little bow. I found this tutorial at craftiness is not optional. I can't say enough about this little tutorial. It's super easy and super quick. I literally made this bow in about 15 minutes. If you are a beginner, than this tutorial is perfect because it has step by step pictures to help you through the process. If you are a little more seasoned, then it just has the pattern at the top. Perfect!

 

This bow was for a Dr. Seuss set I made, but I thought I'd give it a try as a hair accessory. So cute! You could just bobby pin it in place or sew it to a headband. Or you could use them as I intended for this one and make a little bow tie (you just have to add a strap with a little button to go around the neck). I will definitely be making more of these.

 

Next up is the bunny applique. This is another great picture tutorial. I found it at Love the Blue Bird. Again, this is great for a beginner or an old pro. I love how it's a backside view of the bunny. The little tail was really easy to make!!

I thought these might be great for sewing on a hat, headband or blanket. I even thought some people might like to attach it to a pin for Easter! If I had enough time, I would make them in lots of bright spring colors for a garland.

 

 

Finally, I whipped up a little mini Easter basket. I shared a picture before of how I was inspired by the basket pattern I found at Craftsanity. The pattern was pretty easy and it didn't take very long. I've been thinking about upgrading and trying to make a bigger basket for Little Bub to collect Easter eggs. It would be lightweight, but big enough to hold a few eggs. 

 

If you have any time before Easter, these are three easy and quick projects that will make your little ones smile. Have fun!



St. Patrick's Suspenders

Just popping in to say I hope you enjoyed your St. Patrick's Day celebrations yesterday. In honor of the occasion, I made Little Bub his own bow tie and suspender set.

 

He doesn't much care for either, but he was content to let me put them on him if I let him play with the sewing machine. ;)

 

I used the tutorial from Make It & Love It for the suspenders. Super easy to follow directions with pictures. The only trouble I had was that I wanted to include snaps on the front so I could lengthen the straps for next year. It took quite a lot of banging and extra snaps. Oof.

 

For the bow tie, I found another great tutorial at Paper & Stitch. Again, lots of pictures and detailed instructions for a beginner like myself.

 

I hope to have enough time to make a set for Easter. I'm still looking for the perfect fabric to go with the little blue and white seersucker blazer I bought for Little Bub. I can't wait until his Easter pictures!

Inspiration Boards

I have two favorite places to search for inspiration for future crafting projects. I can easily get distracted for a few hours searching through all the tutorials, patterns and ideas out there.

One addicting site is Pinterest, which has been a great source of many free patterns or ideas of patterns to make up myself. I wish I had time to try out all the things I've found! I'm always looking for something new for my crocheting, knitting or sewing boards.

 

 

The second place is Etsy. I love looking through other people's work and combining the things I see into something new. I just started creating treasury lists. I just get inspired by a color or a theme and a treasury list is a way to keep a collection of things together. Here are the lists I've posted so far.

I try to only include things that I would use or love to have. So a lot of the items end up being crafting supplies, or crochet items. :)

If you like what you see, I'd love to have you follow me on Pinterest or on Etsy and get inspired!!

Fantastic Fringe

For me, the best part of crocheting is finding different things to make while testing and expanding my skills. When Lissa May Photography asked me to make a fringe blanket for her, I was pretty nervous because I thought it would be a huge undertaking. She wanted one with spring colors that could be used for both boys and girls.
I was inspired by the fringe blanket here, that I found on etsy. I did end up buying the pattern from Sunset Crochet. It has the option of making it into a hammock for newborns, which is pretty cool.
I bought 7 skeins of yarn to use in this project.

Here is the shopping list:

• Lion Brand Homespun: Hepple White
• Lion Brand Hometown: Daytona Lemon
• Lion Brand Fun Fur: Ivory
• Sensations Beautiful: White
• Sensations Wave: Turquoise Lime
• Tizzy: Sweet Green Pea
• Red Heart Pomp-a-Doodle: Fluff

After making the blanket/hammock part with the white homespun yarn, I was ready to start cutting the pieces for the fringe. It was actually easier and faster than I thought. I just wrapped the whole skein of yarn around the back of one of our dining room chairs. I started with what was left of the homespun and did the same for all the skeins. I cut down along one edge of the chair to make the long strips. This is what it looked like when I was done.

 

Then I took one piece of each different kind of yarn and looped and knotted it through the end of each row all the way around the blanket. I have to say I was so proud with how it turned out. I even had a few skeins of yarn that I didn't even use!

 

I think the best part was buying and using yarn that I have never used before. I hope to make another one soon!

Little Leprechauns

A couple of weeks ago I had a sale in my shop for leprechaun hats. It is one of my favorite hats because it is adorable and so quick and easy to make. Last year I made one for Little Bub.

This year with the sale I made 4! One customer wanted a little bow tie to go with it. I love how it turned out! This picture from Cortney Rowley Photography is wonderful!

Since I made Little Bub a leprechaun hat last year, I wanted to make him something a little different for this year. I was inspired by the color block hat from Micah Makes. I followed the directions for her versatile earflap hat and then added a large, dark green shamrock to the front. It came out exactly like I pictured it.

 

I finished it just in time for Little Bub to wear for a few weeks. It's a little big and keeps slipping forward and covering his eyes, but he is too cute!

 

I'm not sure if I'll be making an Easter hat for him this year. I'm running out of time and I have no ideas. Any suggestions?