Girl's Night Out

I had been looking forward to this night for a LONG time...

at least 3 months and it finally happened!!

We (3 friends and I) went to Kil'n Time on 

Main street in Plymouth and we had a blast creating 

and laughing and working hard on our Master pieces!

 As you can see all the important things are here....

an easel, paint, brushes, water... more water, iced tea and chocolate!

Ta-da....  all ready to hang up and enjoy!

Can't wait for the next one!!

It's Only Two Months Away!

Christmas is only two months away!

I need all the help I can get when it

comes to getting organized!

 

This is the 3rd year that I've made

myself an organizer and it really has

been a tremendous help!!

 

 

CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE...

all your lists, receipts,

 

recipes, grocery lists,

and calenders ALL TOGETHER!

 

It's EASY to find in your purse for that

planned or UNPLANNED

trip to the store!

 

 

After Last year I knew I needed to add

a copy of November & December calendar

pages to help keep organized!

 

I decorated the outside of the folded page so

I could tell November's page from December!

 

Check out Printable Calendar Pages to

personalize and print your own calendar pages!

 

 

Before I printed, I added the main events from

our home calendar onto each page. Now, I can

keep track of where I need to be and when I can

plan a shopping trip, craft day or baking day! 

 

 

I added lots of writing pages for my

many lists and a few envelopes for

receipts, coupons, recipe cards and

one for miscellaneous!

 

Check back to  my first year of making these if you want to follow

links back to my original source & measurements!

 

SUPPLIES:

one sheet of card stock tri-folded,

decorative paper

bell punch

maple leaf & oak leaf punch

snowman & snowflake punch

10-12 pages from a writingtablet (cut down)

a few envelopes

scissors

double sided tape

ribbon

and my imagination

Shared on Simply Lives Thursday!
 



My First EVER Ripple Afghan

I wanted to make a lap quilt or a child's

sized afghan using the colors of the

rainbow! Bright & happy colors

for a little girl in Africa!



It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be!

I'm really excited to continue on and

make a larger one for myself!!

The next one will be using greens...

three shades of sage green

light, medium and dark and cream.

I'll keep you posted!



Mason Jars

My daughter says I am a 'jar hoarder'.

I say, "But there are LOTS of fun & practical

things you can do with jars. You can't

just get rid of them!!"

Check out this project!

 I bought the lids a few years

ago when we were in an Amish

community hardware store. My

original plan for the lids never happened,

so when I saw this idea, I KNEW I had all

the parts needed to make it!

Another GREAT reason to keep

mason jars!!

(and parts of the unfinished projects)

I found this beautiful quilt while looking

at Keepsake Quilting!

It's called "Blue Moon Bali".



I really like the stained glass window effect

that the black has around each of the blue pieces!

So, I thought I'd TRY to get a similar

effect using yarn.

Here are the pieces so far... 

three kinds of blue, with one row of black.

Not sure this will work, but I'm going

to continue! I'll post the finished product

and you be the judge!

Have a wonderful, windy Wednesday!

My Christmas Organizer

I found that "My Christmas Organizer" was

a very helpful tool for me last year and

decided to make another one for this year!

It is very simple to make...

Let's untie the bow and check it out!

The ribbon is attached on the back

only with double sided sticky tape

so I won't lose the ribbon when

I untie it to use!

 Simple enough to make... using one sheet of

colored card stock paper, I folded it to

accommodate the note paper I chose to use!

(Last year, I made a smaller one and cut down

note book paper.) This year, I didn't want to

be bothered so I used sheets from a

5X7 mini legal pad of paper!

 I have enough pages for lists of stores I need

to go to, page per person in my family for ideas,

family pages, crafts I'm working on and

shopping lists for them etc.

 Separate sections for food items for the

events that happen this month!

(Cookie Swaps, Tree Decorating Day,

Christmas Brunch, Christmas Dinner etc.)

I even included a page for "New Recipe Ideas"

that I may try this year....

 I included three envelopes! I folded the flap inside

and had to cut a little bit off the bottom so that

it would fit, but reinforced it with pretty paper!

There is an envelope for Store Receipts, Coupons,

and Misc. (maybe to hold a recipe card?)

These work great for section dividers!

Over all, I think it took me a couple of hours to

make, but it will help me keep all of my

Christmas ideas, lists, receipts etc. in one

place so I'm not soooo scattered all over!

It was fun to look back into last year's organizer

to see what I did, where I went etc.

I may even adapt a calender page to

 fit in it for next year!

Sprouting... I'm Trying It Again!

                                          I decided to give sprouting a try again! I found this

Easy Sprout kit and bought some organic seeds

for sprouting. These seeds are a 3 part salad

sprouting mix...   alfalfa, broccoli and radish!

 First you put about 2 Tablespoons of seed into the 

liner cup (it has holes on the bottom) and rinse the 

seeds, swishing them around a little bit.

Then, you put the liner into the outer cup and

fill about half way with water, up the cover on and....

 let it sit for 5-6 hours on the counter

out of the way of direct sunlight.

Rinse thoroughly... and now get at much 

water out as possible. (twirl the cup with your hand

in the sink.  The centrifugal force will 

pull the excess water right out!) 

It was amazing after soaking about 2 tablespoons

of seeds for 5 hours, you could really see them

swell up already!

You do this every 12 hours for about 5 days....

End of day 2

 End of day 3

Middle of day 4

Day 5 starting to green up

I'm not sure if I put enough seeds to make the sprouts
grow up to the top of the container.
But they are close!!

They are DELICIOUS on a salad and in a sandwich!
I'm amazed at how easy this was... 

Check it out on Youtube:
Sprout People
They make it look soooo easy! And
it really is!

I also have a plastic lid with screen to use on a
mason jar!! You really don't need to
spend alot of money on sprouting!

I'm also sharing this on Simple Lives Thursday!

Crochet Project Hex Squares Tote

I found a neat looking project online a couple of weeks ago.

It is one that involves making 'hex squares' instead of 'granny squares'

and them attaching them to form a bag.

Colors... well, the finished ones I found online had all sorts

of colors! Some were orange, yellow & brown, others were

reds, blues, yellows, greens etc...  I chose to go with

a bright & happy looking bunch of colors.

These were easy enough to make...  I've never liked

switching colors (I really don't like all the tails!)

but it worked out ok!

Attaching them was easier then I thought!

I'm not happy with the funky bottom, but I'll figure

that out with my next one...

                                                      The handles - straps were relatively

easy to make too! Now I just need to

pick out some fabric and make a liner

and it will be finished!

Below you can see the next one I'm working on... 

all blue with a yellow center! I think I'll make two 

different shades of blue... and see how that looks.  

LINKS for lessons on how to make this fun tote

can be found here:

Future Girl's Hex Tote

I think I will make myself a 'granny square afgan'

now that I know how crochet the squares together nicely!

New Project to Share...

Queen Anne's Lace Scarf

It looks hard but it really isn't!

I made the first one using Red Heart's 'country blue' and

the second one that I'm working on is Red Heart's watercolor!



Happy Valentine's Day!

 

I found an easy, EASY pattern to make these awesome little hearts! I'm not sure just what I'll do with hem yet... but they are fun and FAST to make! The finished size is about 1 inch tall and 1 1/4 inch wide. Check out Little Birdie Secrets to watch her YouTube instructions!!  Happy Valentine's Day everyone.....

This One is For You AMS! Tutorial "Chap Stick Holder"

A friend of mine wants lessons on how to make these sweet little holders! After taking a look at the one she bought for her daughter, Audrey & I determined that it wouldn't take too long to figure this out and soon started our own production! Start with an H hook and some acrylic yarn! (A perfect way to use up the leftover balls of yarn!)

1) Step one...    begin and chain 4, connect to make a circle using a slip stitch.

2) Step two...    8 double crochet (putting hook through the center of the circle)
                          connect the end stitch to the first one with a slip stitch.

3) Step three...   for the next 10-14 rows, 8 single crochets all the way around.
                          Continue 'round and 'round until it is the right size.

4) Step four...   10 rows should be enough for the standard chap stick... 

                         I made 14 rows for my tube of Carmex.

5) Step five...  After completing the rows, chain approx. 80 stitches
                        and attach to the opposite side from where you began the chain.
                       This makes the chap stick holder into a necklace.

Other options: Instead of chaining 80 for a necklace, chain approx. 20
and then connect. This can be used on a pocketbook strap, add hook and it
can be used on a zipper!  Add buttons or not... the ideas are endless!!
Have fun creating!

Winter Projects On A Snowy Day!

  Here's a peek outback from the living room window. SNOW... it is very pretty, and we are suppose to get LOTS of it today! The weather men were predicting upwards of 14 inches, but we may have gotten a bit more. So, what to do on a day like this....  make a cup of tea, turn on a good movie and pull out the crocheting projects that I have been trying to start or finish!!

So...  here goes!

 I found a baby afghan pattern late in the fall and thought it would be a fun to try it! I found a soft baby blue yarn to work with and then trimmed it in baby soft white! You can't see it too well, but the blue is really a pale blue & white twill! It is sooo pretty! I was wondering if I'd EVER get this done! The only time I really have worked on it is when I'm waiting in the van for someone! The stitches are sooo delicate and this is definitely one that  I'll do again!! I may even use regular yarn and make some of these for 'big people' ....  Hmmm, this may be a good Christmas project!!

After finishing the baby afghan this morning I decided to try this fast moving pattern!! When I found this yarn I fell in love with the colors!! I wasn't sure what I'd do with it, but I bought two skeins. (It was hard not to buy all three that were in the bin!) I'm not sure if this will be the final project or not, but I'm going to making the scarf that is on the package! Have you ever noticed that the directions aren't always very clear?! I even took the sleeve off the skein of yarn in the store to see if I would understand them once I got home. (SHHH, don't tell!) Well, the more I play with it, do some stitches and take them out again, the more I am understanding just what they are asking me to do! Don't you just LOVE the colors!?

Here's another beautiful yarn I found a couple of weeks ago!! It's called 'denim rag' and the name suits the color of blue! I think one of these may become wrist warmers (another new pattern...) but I'm not sure yet!! I want to go back to the store to get some of the Fisherman's Wool yarn that I opted not to get that day...  (bad choice on my part LOL)!! The soft wool will make up some nice wrist warmers for sure! I'll keep you posted on my progress!! SOOO many projects sooo little time to devote to them!