Monday, February 16, 2009

Hippity Hoppity Easter's on its way!





I enjoy doing a little hand sewing sometime during my day. It's very relaxing. I also like working with felt. It is so easy to use and very forgiving.

We have 4 Grandkids (DJ-11, Mariah-8, Jacob-2, Nathan-8 months) that live way up north in Connecticut. I wanted to make them something for Easter instead of buying bunches of candy. I'll let their parents deal with that. I was going to try and design some different bunnies and such until I came across this shop. I fell in love with just about everything they designed. I purchased their Easter set a few weeks ago. I have been doing a little sewing on them every day of so. Of course I didn't follow the directions/pattern exactly, but the grandkids won't know :) I made jelly beans and eggs instead of making them cookies. I don't plan on making the basket for them either. They all live in a tiny apartment and Mom doesn't need anything extra laying around. I like to give them something useful that they can store lots of things in. I'm not sure what I'll make yet but I'm leaning towards a fabric bowl or something similar. That way they can keep all sorts of treasures in it .

I'm sure Grammy and Grumpy will find some other goodies to add to their baskets too :)

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Bessie the Bunny


I am a pattern tester for Stormy'z Crochet and recently had the opportunity to test out a new pattern. Miss Bessie the Bunny.

I made her up in greens so she could be dropped on St. Patrick's Day for The Toy Society. There hasn't been any mention of a mass drop on St. Patrick's day but I know I will be doing one.



I just love that little poofy tail she has :) This is a great pattern that works up nice and fast. I just love being a pattern tester!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentine's Day drop



Want to join in the fun? Check out The Toy Society blog.



I just think these hearts are adorable :) They were very fast and easy to make. I don't remember where I found the pattern though :( ( found it over here )

These are drops 3 & 4 for us. They were both dropped at the Lee County Library in Cape Coral, Florida.



Even Suzi gets in on the fun! She was trying very hard to grab those hearts and EAT them. She loves to chew on yarn and fiberfil. Not a very good idea.


It was Mandy's turn to decide where to leave a toy. She liked the bike rack out front of the library. I think this is the most bikes I have seen at the library.


I let Hubby chose where to drop the other heart. I suggested the new release shelf and he liked it. If I didn't help, he probably would have been walking around forever with the little guy. He said he came back 4 minutes later and it was GONE. For some reason he decided to check with the librarian to see if it was OK to do this. Of course...IT'S NOT! Come to find out is is highly illegal to leave anything in a government building. I guess that's part of the new security after 9-11. I understand the reasoning, but still.... The librarian wasn't very nice about it Hubby said. Oh Well, maybe she will find a toy and it will bring her some happiness.



When we left about 45 minutes later, the one at the bike rack was gone too :)


I love how the whole family gets all excited when I tell them we are doing another drop.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Another taste test



Kid Essentials had a great promotion going on recently. When you signed up you received a coupon for a free package of Kid Essentials. We let Robbie test it out. He said it was DELICIOUS!! He has been drinking one a day since they came in. He said they are nice and creamy and don't taste like powdered yuck. If he drinks it.. it must taste pretty good. He can be a bit finicky sometimes. I always worry that he isn't getting enough nourishment with his eating habits. Sometimes he eats great, other times he goes without eating much of anything. If he can't find something good to eat, he skips eating sometimes. Now, with one of these a day he just might make it :)

Welch's Aqua juice


We received our Aqua Juice in the mail last week. It was from a give-a-way over at Just Pure Lovely. What a great prize! This is by far the BEST juice style drink we have tried! It wasn't overly sweet and syrupy tasting. It was so good, it was gone by the end of the day! Check out the Welch's site because they have a printable buy one get one free coupon.

Monday, February 9, 2009

The day after

Thank you to all who wished me a Happy Birthday!


I didn't get any quilting done this weekend like I had hoped. I did get to go through some of my scraps and cut them into some 2" strips for future quilting scrapiness though. On Saturday I had to run a few unexpected errands and take care of a few things. Plus make the pizza and hot wings. Both of which turned out exceptional!

I opened the fridge up Saturday afternoon and realized it felt awfully warm :( Not a good thing. I had to transfer all the stuff in it to the back up fridge in the garage. Formally known as the beer box. Nobody drinks anymore, so now it is just a back up in case of extra food or fridge troubles. I let the house fridge sit for 24 hours hoping it was just frozen. Luckily, I was right. Something must have happened and it was loaded inside with ice. Somewhere I couldn't see, but the puddles on the floor told the story. Good thing I though ahead to place some thick towels down just in case :) After it sat for about 24 hours, I plugged it back in. I was so happy to see that the temp was back down where it belonged when I checked on it a couple hours later. The other good part...I now have a very clean fridge inside and out! I vacuumed the coils and wiped the inside out all nice and clean. Fingers crossed, but it is still running nice and cold. I was hoping that would be the only problem. This fridge is less than 7 years old.

Now, I asked the family if they noticed if the inside of the fridge seemed warm at all that day. I'm sure most of you won't be surprised about the answers I received. Gee honey, I thought it felt a bit warm in there. Awe Mom, I was going to mention it to you but I forgot. Then they all watched me as I carried all the things from the kitchen out to the garage. Then came the "I was gonna help but you looked like you were OK " talk. Thanks guys!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY....

to ME!!!


I plan on spending my day at the sewing machine. I have been wanting to sit done and get some quilting done lately but just haven't had the time. I told my family that other than making pizza and hot wings tonight, that they need to leave me alone :) It's my day to spend as I wish and I wish to be sewing :)

still time...

There's still time to be part of my PIF....

http://rsislandcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/01/pay-it-forward.html

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

ATC Kid's Swap


I came across a fun swap for kids over at Wise Craft. I thought it would be fun for Robbie to do as part of his homeschool curriculum. Come on over and join us!

Monday, February 2, 2009

More baby things...

I like how quick these t-shirt hats are! I made two more for the new baby. Then I was trying to think of something else for the baby shower my boss is going to. Then it hit me, Pee-Pee Tee-Pees! These were quick to make also. I found the directions over at Little Birdie Secrets





Hopefully I can get some more sewing done before going to work tonight at 5pm....

Crafting on Superbowl Sunday

Luckily, I was off this weekend. I tried to cram as much into it as I could. Saturday was busy doing all those things I try to put off. Laundry, shopping, etc. I did make a really tasty chicken soup that will carry me through the week for dinner at work :)

On Sunday, I finished this blue hat. On Friday, I ran into one of the nurses (Ben) that took care of my hubby last year when he was in the hospital. He asked if I could make him 2 more hats like the thank you one I made for him last year. He has a rather large head and can't find any hats he likes. He likes to wear them when he goes fishing on the island early in the mornings. Even though we are in Florida, it does get a bit chilly a few times a year especially in the a.m. I also made him the red one on Sunday. These hats crochet up real quick. I think it took less than an hour to make the red one. The red yarn must be a bit thicker because it came out larger than the blue.















While I was baking these...

(pretzels, cinnamon/sugar bites, bread) I happened to look out my kitchen window to see this:


Not sure what happened, but after I took this picture, two more fire trucks and four cop cars, and an ambulance showed up too. You could smell a burnt plastic smell in the air every once in awhile. The renters in this house just moved in on Friday. Welcome to the neighborhood! Whatever happened, the fireman only took in a fire extinguisher and after a half hour or so, they all left. Then the maintenance company showed up and was there for quite awhile. We could only guess that when the new renters turned on their heat, there was a problem. No major damage that we could see and no one was hurt.

Later I also cooked up 5.5 dozen hot wings. They were really good. We had a nice tossed salad with them. Hubby had meatballs and sausages in pasta sauce. A little bit of everything.

I had to keep fighting with the dog to keep her out of the kitchen. She really likes to lay down in the middle of the floor and watch me cook...or wait patiently for a snack :)


On Friday, my boss told me she was going to a baby shower on the 7th. I asked her what she bought for the new baby. She said, "I don't know what did you make me? " Gotta love those that support my crafting. I have a few things already made up from my gift box, but I knew she wanted a blanket too. I made this:




I bought this fabric at JoAnn's last year around this time. I wasn't sure what I was going to make but I knew I just had to have this fabric! I think it makes a nice bright baby quilt. I also have enough to make 2 more. Yippee!

The backing is from some sheets I dyed on Thursday. I had three white sheets and a package of turquoise dye. Now I have three turquoise sheets :) I cut up one for the quilt back, and another for some 11" blocks for the BOMs I'm doing.

I also made a couple t-shirt hats for the new baby boy.


Then I put the finishing touches on an adult size viking hat. I also finished another felt Christmas stocking and stitched the back on.



So, how did you spend your weekend?