Crafts: Fairy Garden Globes

Fairy Gardens are all the rage!

I have a son who loves to play in the the dirt and gardens!!!

I gave him the choice between a dinosaur, gnome garden or a farm garden as he says fairies are for girls. I do not know where he comes up with these things, he has never been told this is for girls/boys.

Blaine being the animal loving kid he is picked to have a farm garden! Which is is just fine with me. As I make things I will post tutorials of each item.

What is even more exciting is I will be creating items for 3 other fairy gardens that are to be uniquely their own. Which means lots of creating for me and fun a long the way. 

My first things I created are boyish as well as girly for each garden. They are mini garden globes!

Supplies:
Golf tees
Glue (I used gorilla glue)
Marbles
Paint
Paint Brushes
Clear Coat

Instructions:

1) Paint your golf tees or have your littles one help you, let them fully dry

2) Clear coat them and then let them dry again. Clear coating them will keep them looking nice outside longer.

3) Glue the marbles to the top of the golf tees.

4) Let dry

Put in your mini garden and enjoy!!

Remember small parts can pose chocking hazards for small children and even older children depending on your child. You know your children best!


I would love to see photos of the ones you and your littles create together!

Crochet Cart Cover

I decided to make a crochet cart cover out of a bunch of yarn I have that I am not never going to use for much else. When my grandmother passed away a few years ago I got her yarn collection, sadly most of it is odds and ends or discontinued colours so I use it for small projects.

I got this simple pattern from my Crochet World magazine.

It turned out very nicely and I will make more once I get a chance!

Car Seat Crochet Blanket

I see people with these blankets all the time and they look super cute but they tend to be very costly so I decided to make my own with a crochet pattern. This pattern which is similar to the one I used but I got mine from Crochet World magazine.




It was super easy to make and only took about 4 hours total time!

Crochet Coffee Cup Cozy

I have a friend who used to crochet all the time, she now can't between her two busy twin boys and the carpel tunnel its just not possible, she asked me to make her cozies in exchange for yarn :) of course I will do anything for a friend. These are super simple and they only take me about 15 mins each. They can be made in any colour I just used what I had on hand at the time!


I got the pattern from a crochet magazine called "Crochet World", this pattern is close to what I used and it is a free pattern.

They turned out awesome and they fit on a Tim Hortons cup.

Been while! Bows

WOW how time flies when your so busy your not sure which end is up. Between the cake business, renos, the dogs and everything inbetween I haven't had a chance to blog. Nows my chance to pay a little bit of catch up.


Bows, I don't sell many of these maybe one or two a month but, I love making them!!! When I get a chance to sit and relax which is rare I make bows or I crochet.

They are sooo much fun to make and Keira loves them I did a bunch for back to school, Halloween and a couple of them for Christmas.

My facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LoveyBowsAndMore

Minnie Mouse Cake

A friend of mine orders cakes from me for her daughters birthdays. She always sends me photos of great cake ideas. This time is was for her youngest daughters birthday. She also knows I love to make bows for little girls hair. She asked that the bow on the cake in the photo be one that her little girl could wear.

This cake has one vanilla tier and one chocolate tier with buttercream icing.
The Minnie mouse figure, the ears and the hair now are not edible.

Beyond bows: Soother straps!

I decided to try my hand at soother straps as an item to sell within the bow business. At first I figured I would try material and see how it turned out. I didn't really like the look of the ones made with material I thought they were too big and bulky looking. Disappointed I decided to take a break and make a couple of bows. Digging through my millions of ribbon I come across "boyish" ribbon, looking at it I started to wonder what on earth I would do with this boys do not wear ribbons, as I tell nephew every day. Then it comes to me, what if I tried to use the ribbon instead of the material. I picked a few "boyish" ribbons and some girly ones and tried my hand at turning them into soother straps they turned out awesome!

They are a simple design I have a heavy duty clip at one end to clip to the babies clothes and then Velcro at the other end to look around the hand of the soother.

These are the ones I have made so far and I think they are super cute I can't wait to make more.

Ribbon Holder from hanger

With making little girls hair bows comes ribbon and LOTS of it. I have about 600 spools of ribbon and was keeping it in a tote. The problem with keeping it all in a tote is you never know what you have and digging to the bottom is a really big pain in the butt.

I searched Pinterest for ideas on what to do and the first one I came up with seemed like an awesome idea!!
It works great, but not so well for the larger ribbon packaging. It works awesome for bobbin sized ribbon and holds about 92 small spools.


What you need:

A hanger that is used to hold multiple pairs of pants. 
Star screw driver.
Ting spools of ribbon.

Directions:

Use the screw driver to put holes in the centre of any ribbon that doesn't already have a hole.
Insert ribbon onto rungs.
Hang where desired.

http://pinterest.com/pin/24347654207816811/

Hello Kitty Headband

With no party hats to be found in Hello Kitty theme for my niece's birthday, which she just "had" to have, I turned to Pinterest in hopes I could find something that would be super cute but easy to make. I made 10 headbands, the kids loved them and were excited that they got to take them home!


What you need:

White felt (about 3 sheets)
Pink felt (about 3 sheets)
Plastic headbands (I got them at the dollar store 4 to a pack)
Ribbon of your choice for the centre of the bows
Glue gun
Glue sticks


Directions:

Cut the white felt into long ovals so you can fold them in half for the ears. (Took me a few tries to get the ears the way I wanted them)
Cut the pink felt into bow shapes
Cut tiny bits of ribbon for the centre of the bows
Fold the ears over the headband and glue. (One per side of headband)
Fold the bows and glue the ribbon onto the centre of the bow
Glue the bow to an ear.


Pretty simple, super cute.

 

 http://pinterest.com/pin/24347654207358424/

Changing...Again

While lately I have been addicted to Pinterest it is a website that has millions (I am sure a whole lot more) of "pins" each pin is either just a picture or linked to a website with instructions on how to do or make a wide variety of items, or even just tips. Well it has pretty much everything lol. I have been trying different thing on the site and posting pictures and if it worked or not on facebook. I am happy to say that so far all but one of the "pins" has worked. I have decided that I am going to add this aspect to my blog. I know over the years I have added many things, Owen, crocheting, personal stuff, cakes etc. So now this is just one more thing to blog about and I am going to do my best to blog at least once a day. 

I have been having a blast trying new things from Pinterest there are so many great ideas and tips to try out.

I hope that those who started to follow my blog when it was mostly about Owen will continue to follow me. I will of course still post about my son whom I love with all my heart, think about on a daily basis and of course see as much as possible. He is growing and loves that I am his "special friend", I love that as well. It gives the special bond we share a name. 

Keira's 7th Birthday!!!

I planned, and did everything for my nieces 7th birthday. I was so excited for her. Of course she wanted Hello Kitty, which by the way you can not find anything Hello kitty for birthday parties in Sarnia I had to go to London to get everything for it!

She wanted it at the Movie theater; however, there were no kids movies playing at all on the date we wanted to hold her birthday, so the next choice was swimming at the YMCA well turns out you can not so a swim party at the YMCA unless you are 10+, in the end we ended up going with Hi-way bowl. I will never ever have another birthday party at the Hiway bowl. The staff was rude, the kids were not allowed refills on their drinks, no outside food or drinks expect for the cake, Richard was not even allowed to drink his coffee in the party room, and they played kids dance music, but got mad when they started to dance (BTW we had the bowling alley to ourselves so it was not like they were bugging anyone.

Keira loved her party, I made the cake of course, and her hair bows for the party! She had so much fun her only complaint was 2 hours was not long enough lol. We had an awesome face painter from the Painted Cat!!!

Baby Hats for Sarnia Hospital

I just finished 100 crocheted baby hats for the Sarnia Maternity ward. I decided to do this when I had my son because his head was very large they had a heck of a time trying to find a hat that would fit his head. So I decided that I needed to do something about that. Within the 100 hats I have crocheted there are Preemie, normal sized and then large ones lol that would have fit my sons head. Our hospital is always in need of things for new moms so I figured this would help. When I was in the hospital I had bought new born diapers (how silly was that lol) they were way too small for him so I donated them along with the formula I had brought with me. The nurse when came and picked them up from my room was so grateful she had tears in her eyes. She said she would make sure the items got to someone who needed them. I truly hope that those items helped someone else.

I got to about 90 hats and I ran out of scrap yarn so I posted on a facebook site called mommy market and asked if anyone has scrap yarn or odd balls that I could buy for these baby hats. Two women stepped forward and "donated" two large bags of odd yarn. I am so grateful to these women for helping me reach my goal. I plan to do 100 baby hats for the London hospital as well. Each year I will give each hospital 100 hats to keep their supply up!

Hats for the hospital

Memory Box Blanket

I finished the first blanket for the memory boxes on Tuesday I have been just so busy I have not had the time to blog about it. The pattern I used was out an old crochet world magazine. It is a simple small pattern and the border I got out of my crocheted border book. I am excited to have the first one finished and can't wait to do more. I also pulled two other small baby blankets out of a tote one is yellow and one is green I can not remember what patterns I used for them. Got some different shades of green and yellow I am going to use so I am not using the same colours over and over again. Also I think I am going to stick with the simple pattern and just do a fancy border for each one, but I am not sure yet

Crochet for the needy Aug 2011

This month I was a tad late getting things finished as I crushed my left hand in a pulley system and then I fell out of the backseat of our two door car and severely sprang my left arm. Well things just have not being going great for my left arm kinda sucks; however, I ended up being able to get it finished T3's seemed to have worked wonders.
I did 4 adult scarves one being different to switch things up a bit and I got the pattern out of an old Crochet World Magazine. It is a shell scarf. I did 4 baby hats one being a different one which I got out of this months issue of Crochet World its called a little fisherman's hat. I did 4 adult hats all of them are the same this time. I am glad to have it finished and within a days I will be working Sept. Crochet for the needy. I plan to keep up doing one unique one of each from now on it makes it less boring doing the same things over and over again. With Fall approaching I will soon be sending this batch of needy items off.

Hurt Hand

I may or may not be able to get the needy crocheting done for Aug due to the fact I have hurt my hand. A week ago I pinned my left hand between a metal piece and a chain that is used to open a garage door. I have done muscle, Tendent and Nerve damage. I have limited feeling in two fingers and a lot of pain when I use my hand, more so now that the swelling has come down. I go see a hand specialist in London on the 10th of Aug. It sucked for the first few days I had no use of my left hand at all and now I can use it a bit more but it hurts like the devil :S...Doing things one handed was hard, now that I have some use of my left hand with the pain it causes when I use it, it is very frustrating to say the least. In the short term I have four cakes that need to be done, crocheting for the needy that needs to be done. In the longer term I have school in about 6 weeks and it requires use of both hands. I can't wait until it heals. Until then I guess I am just going to have to make due and ask (reluctantly) for help when I need it. I hate asking for help! The ER doc said its going to be about 6 months until it fully recovers and that depends on how much I allow it to rest. I hope the specialist has better news for me. Me hating to ask for help and thinking I can do everything on my own is what got me into this guess I need to learn something here!

Crocheted Baby Shower gift set (Blue)

I found this wonderfully easy pattern in Crochet World Magazine I love those I get one every time a new one comes out. This pattern was so simple to follow and only took me 3 days real time and about 12 hours crochet time. The set includes 1 Large bottle cover, 1 Small bottle cover, a bib, and a burp cloth. I made this set for a friend of the family who is having a little boy with in the next month. I changed the bib a little bit I did a full one side to the other attachment as I feel with a baby/child its far easier and faster just to throw it over there neck rather than having to tie it up. I did the set in blue for the main colour and blue/white for the off colour. I hope she likes it! I am going to make a bunch of these in different colours to sell on Etsy and as gift sets.

July 2011 Crochet for the needy

So this month I did my normal stuff for the hats, scarves, and baby hats. As I was doing my final adult hat I decided to add a bit of bobbles to it and I think it turned out very nice. I plan to do with with at least one hat a month to add a touch of change to what I normally do. I find that it has been a touch "boring" doing the same things every time, epically with the scarves so next month I am going to try something completely different.

Paid for blogging?

I have decided out of curiosity more than anything else to see about paid blogging and what it’s all about. I like the idea of reviewing products, websites etc and writing about them. I think it will add to my blog rather than take anything away from it. In my quest to find out about paid blogging I found this web site: http://www.blogsvertise.com/ I submitted my blog for review and approval. I know that I don’t have a lot of followers (2 at the moment); however, there are a lot of people who visit and read my blog. I also think that if I can review something before my friends and family give it a go it will save them time, energy and maybe even some money along the way. My blog is nothing fancy just mainly a place for me to vent, keep track of crochet patterns and voice my opinions about all kinds of things. I still think it would be fun to give it a try, if I get approved or not I will let all my wonderful blog readers know! 

Oh and if anyone out there has tired it before let me know good or bad how it went for you!

Not a "Real" job

So this morning someone said to me that what I do isnt a real job, that I do not have any children (at home) so I should go find a "real" job. I was a bit upset when she said this to me, I was insulted and shocked that someone (who is now not on my facebook) that I considered a friend would say that. No I do not have any children at home, Yes I just finished and passed my first year of college completing both terms on the deans honor role by the way, No I do not work outside that home and Yes I am off school until Sept. Well I wanted to vent and rant even though the chances of them ever seeing this are slim to none still wanted to get it out. I work very hard everyday and yes I don't have children at home but I am still a very busy person. Heres my day in a nut shell of course is changes day to day but this is a basic day for me:
6:00AM: Get up drive Richard to work
7:30AM take Ace for his morning walk
8:00AM have a tea and sometimes eat something, Feed the cats, Dog, and Ferret work on some of my computer company stuff
8:30AM Head to Digital Friends Inc (My mother and her business partners business I love to help out there and it gets me out of the house)
12:00PM come home feed the dog have some lunch myself and work on some of my computer company stuff
1:00PM bake and Start doing housework (you would think that not having children in the house it wouldn't be so bad that is a LIE)
3:00PM (and yes it takes me at least 2 hours to do my house work) start dinner
4:00PM Do as much running around as I can get done before I have to leave to pick Richard up at 6:00PM
6:20PM serve Dinner and dessert to Richard, Len, Myself and Feed the dog his dinner
7:00PM Clean up from dinner and Make both Richard and Lens lunch
7:30PM Now here is where is where big changes happen from day to day if I have computers/laptops to fix for clients I do that, Sometimes if Richards up to it we do yard work and sometimes we watch a movie and I crochet for the homeless until. And what often happens is all of it at once :S
10:00PM I start to get Richard, Myself and The Dog ready for bed and yes I say Richard in there because as it turns out men have very little sense of time and I dont sleep well at night so I need to be in bed by 11:00PM
11:00PM Try and be in bed
2:00AM after being up about ten times because my one cat (Twister) is positive the only place on the bed that he can sleep in above my head The Dog now has to pee
5:00AM (If I am really lucky) The dog will need out again or him and the cat are fighting
6:00AM We start all over again
Now this is not just 5 days a week this is 7 Days a week and I know everyone leads busy lives and I am in now way saying mine is busier then anyone elses I am just ranting that I do more then sit on my butt everyday I work just as hard as someone who goes to a job everyday. Yes mine pays far less then min. Wage but does this mean its far less important?

I think most stay at home parents, wives etc work hard!

June 2011 Crochet for the Needy

So this month I finally made some pink baby hats I am not sure why I always make blue ones maybe its a subconscious thing might go along with everytime I go into a store that sells baby clothes I have to go look at them even though I know Owen is way to big for them now :S Anyway as always I did 4 adult hats, 4 adult scarves and 4 baby hats. This time the adult hats and scarves match in colour :) I used the same patterns as I always as they are quick and easy for the amount of out put I do each month!

  now I can start work on the requests for a baby hammock and a bunting bag!