Blankie for a Gift...Not!

I found this pattern from Lion Brand, and I was way excited to try it out. I used Lion Brand Cotton-Ease yarn (which, as I've mentioned before, is awesome!). I loved the way the blanket turned out. The only issue I had was with the little zigzag stitching to connect the different colored strips. If I did this blanket again, I would just switch colors and continue that way, instead of making each strip separately, and connecting them together.

Now, when I first started making this blanket, I was doing so for one of my new nephews that will be born this summer. But I kind of fell in love with it, and so I decided to keep it for my own soon-to-be (hopefully) new baby! Sorry nephews! You are getting cool stuff from me anyway, so no worries!

This is a great, lightweight blanket. Because of the different colored stripes, it would be awesome for a boy or a girl, and you can of course change the colors to match your own scheme. I love that!

Never enough time! (Warning: LONG-WINDEDNESS AHEAD)

So I often (often meaning like one or two times total) get asked how I am able to do everything I do. I mean, I don't feel like I do any more than any other mother (probably a lot less in reality), but I honestly do have a lot on my plate. Maybe next week I'll say I have a super easy, cushy life with not too much to do, but after pulling an all-nighter for work last night, I am definitely not saying that today. 1. I work from home, which is a GIGANTIC blessing that I will never deny was divine intervention. Never. For the most part, it's not too bad. But I do have deadlines, and when I choose another part of my life over work (which, in all honesty, is more often than not), I have to make up for it in the form of lack of sleep. 2. Until a couple weeks ago, I taught preschool once a week. I don't have to worry about that anymore, but I do have a first-grader who needs help every day with his homework. I also know that as my kids get bigger, I will have more and more responsibilities in regards to their schoolwork and after-school activities, etc. 3. Being at home while the husband is at work 40 hours per week puts the majority of the housework on me. This most definitely is the absolute bottom of my priority list. Always. Laundry RARELY gets folded. And by rarely, I mean never. Really. I suck. I have gotten better at everything else - like, I wash the dishes every day now! Anyway, I didn't mean to ramble on and on and on (and ON), but I don't want people to think I have all this time to do everything I want. I just pick and choose different things each day, and the next day, I have to make up for what I chose not to do the day before.

With ALL that said, here're a couple of new flower-ish things I've done:

I used a doily pattern for the brown one, and just stopped when I felt like it looked how I liked. I might sew this on a onesie or little T-shirt. I found another tute on YouTube for the reddish one, but for some reason, my blog doesn't want to let me link stuff. So see the bottom of this post for the links to the doily pattern, a cute doily onesie, and the flower tutorial.

Husband's bro is coming to stay with us for a week this Saturday (excited!), and I will be sending the red one home with him for his beautiful wife! She asked me to make a flower for her a couple of months ago, and I finally made it. Sorry, Melissa! I love you. I sewed a safety pin on to the back, so it can be used on a hat, jacket, dress, whatever!

Thanks for sticking with me for the long-windedness (I get it from my mother). :D

Doily: http://pandacrochet.8m.com/beauties/centers3-4.html

Onesie: http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2009/02/doily-onesie/

Red flower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4fKxBAR66I

Birthday!

My first born came into our little family 7 years ago! I can't believe how much he has changed my life, and all for the better! Funds are a little low this year, so we couldn't have a party, but we did have a mini-party with just us, Aunt Kirsten, and Grandma and Grandpa via Skype! It was pretty awesome.

Firstly, Dylan's birthday is May 6th, and I got paid on May 5th. So, I had a limited amount of time to purchase gifts. Luckily, Sydney and I were able to go to Target while he was at school on Friday, and got everything we needed in one trip (rare)! Oh, wait. I didn't have any wrapping paper. I figured that out exactly 30 minutes before it was time to open presents. No time to go get any, so I had to make do with what I had. I also forgot wrapping paper for Sydney's birthday this year, and ended up "wrapping" her presents in the Target bags they were purchased in. I am the worst mother. Well, Dylan mentioned that fiasco, and hinted that he would not be happy if he had grocery bag-wrapped presents, so I had to think of something else. The last time I was using my allowance at the fabric store, for some reason I decided to get a big bunch of felt sheets. So I had those laying around, as well as some random big pack of tissue paper (I know, no wrapping paper, but a whole unopened pack of white tissue paper, right?). And I always have yarn, of course. So...

I love accidental successes! I used a Sharpie marker to draw simple block letters on my felt sheets and cut them out. Then I wrapped each present in about 5 sheets of tissue paper (so it wasn't completely see-through), tied white yarn around the package, and tied my little felt letter to the top. Dylan LOVED his wrapping paper. I brought down the pile of presents before we had dinner (mostly for incentive to eat dinner quickly), and Dylan insisted on laying the gifts out on the floor in the correct order before we ate. Then he just looked at them for a minute. I was so happy!

The 'A' was my fave.

After dinner, opening presents, and the Skype party, we had these awesome little treats. Dylan wanted me to make these for his entire school class, and I was reluctantly willing. Then after purchasing all the things I needed, I double-checked with the teacher, and she said we could only bring store-bought treats. Oh, joy...er, darn! So I ended up making them for just us (and only having to make six instead of 24). They turned out SO incredibly amazing! They really weren't that hard, and they were super cute and delicious! Here's the recipe: http://www.bakerella.com/fast-food-fun/

I love it when things don't work out how you expected, but end up way better!

Bittersweet

One of my dearest friends (who I only met 2 years ago - one of the reasons I know we made the right decision in moving to Utah), Kristi, is having her 3rd baby girl in just a couple of weeks! Until last week, Sydney had been attending her preschool, and I had been co-teaching there once a week for the last 2 years. It was kind of a relief to be done with that big committment, but very sad because I wouldn't be seeing those 12 amazing 4/5-year-olds and Kristi every week anymore. So I cried - A LOT - and made a baby present!

I used this pattern for the hat, and this one for the booties. I used my favorite crochet flowers on the booties, and modified a pattern for a lace pillow with 3D flowers out of this book for the flower on the hat (you can see the light pink lace pillow on the front cover of the book). "Modified" is a strong word, as it implies some sort of skill, since I just crocheted the flower section and stopped before the lace in the pattern.

I also found some really cute fairy print fabric at Jo-Ann's, and used some Heat n' Bond and a tight zigzag stitch to applique one fairy onto a onesie. So sweet and homemade!