Pine Cone Craft

Yesterday after preschool the little man and I grabbed some pine cones at the parking lot and this morning we got to use them for crafts. The kids made a few different styles of Christmas trees.

They painted one green, the next was made with a string of yarn and beads (I think that was their favorite) and the third one they glued little pom poms to the pine cone. Everything was easy, they had a good time, so that was a success in my opinion. ;)

Ice Wreath

I am so pleased to say we had a good day today, oh I am. I promise I can't tell you the same thing about yesterday because we were all cranky, grump, grouchy… I got up determined to make today a better day, mostly because I don't think I could take another bad mood day without exploding.

Eggs benedict for breakfast, pot roast sandwiches for lunch, then my husband put the little lady down for a nap and the little man and I went to a Christmas fair, full of handmade vendors, crafts for kids, Santa, music, got to meet a few friends, just had a good time. 

After we got home we put up the ice wreath we worked on this morning - you can see the pictures I took. We used a bundt pan, I first sprayed it with cooking oil spray, put some water in the bottom of the pan and put it in the freezer to make the first layer of ice, at the same time I made some colored ice (I used a fish shaped ice tray I had). When both became ice, we added the colored fish to the bundt pan and covered it with cooooooold water and put it back in the freezer. Once it got all frozen, we tied a ribbon and brought our wreath outside. I am curious to see how long it will last. ;)

In the afternoon I watched "Brave" with the kids while my husband and his dad watched the football game, then we all had a nice dinner together. Good day.

Just another week

It was just another busy week, I sometimes close my eyes and I can't even believe how many things we were able to do, but I won't talk about the boring stuff like taking the car to get an oil change, I much rather show you pictures of cute stuff. 

We went to the Victorian Country Christmas, which is a huge Christmas bazaar that we go to every year and get a new ornament for each of our kids and also to get a picture of the kids with Santa and we also went to the zoo at night to see the zoo lights.

We baked (the yummiest brownies), we drank hot cocoas, we painted our little hearts out, too. Oh, I also crocheted my little heart out, I made coffee cup sleeves for the ladies on my table at MOPS and for the ladies that watch the kids while we attend MOPS using a quick pattern from Frayed Knot.

My little man painted Seahawks players, one for his dad and one for his best friend and the little lady painted the most colorful peg doll.

See the peg doll in the red shirt? That is Liz, from Playin' Hooky Designs - didn't she turn out cute??

Well, I better get going, there are some picking up that needs to be done, dinner to be made and crafts in the wish list for today, too.

Have a great weekend!

Be inspired: Crochet Elbow Patches

I have wanted to make elbow patches to add to my kids sweaters for a long time. I don't know why, I just think it is cute and it adds a cute flair to a simple sweater. I bought my sweet pea's sweater on clearance at Old Navy and decided to match the oval patch red to match the heart in the front. My little man's sweater is royal blue and it was also a clearance purchase, but at H&M - for his sweater I intend to add mustard patches. {hopefully soon}

You can find a lot of tutorials on how to make ovals on the internet, I started with 8 chains and worked 3 rounds for my daughter's 2T sweater and sew it with matching thread. You can see a good tutorial here.

If you end up adding elbow patches to your kids' clothes, share you pictures, I would love to see what you come up with!

Mini Wreath - Free Crochet Pattern

These mini wreaths can be used as ornaments, as an embellishment to make your Christmas gift wrapping pop or you can even make several of them and make a bunting!

Supplies:

- 2" Rings 

- Crochet Hook US size H/5.0mm

- Worsted Weight Yarn (I used Red Heart Soft)

- A small amount of red ribbon or red yarn for the bow

Skill Level:

Gauge:  

Not crucial for this project.

Pattern Key:

- Ch = Chain

- Sl St = Slip Stitch

- Sc = Single Crochet

- Sk = Skip

- FLO = Front Loops Only

- BLO = Back Loops Only

I bought these Boye Cabone Rings at Michael's:

Round 1: Start with a sl st, 36 sc around the ring, sl st to the first st. (36 sc)

 Round 2: Working on the FLO, ch 5, sk 2 sts, sl st in the next st - Repeat around. (12 "leaf loops")

 Round 3: Working on the BLO, ch 6, sk 2, sl st in the next st - Repeat around. (12 "leaf loops")
Fasten off. Weave in any loose ends.

Make a small bow with ribbon or with a piece of red yarn. Sew or glue it to your little wreath and you are done!

Enjoy!

Cornhusk Dolls

My little man started saying he is *bored* a lot lately, which really bugs me because I feel like there are so many toys, we have a backyard, art and craft supplies, so in my opinion there is no reason for a 4 year old to be bored.

With that in mind, I decided we should make some cornhusk dolls last night {that is why the lighting is so bad, I apologize} with the kids and was trying to explain to them that some kids have no toys, no TV, no electronics or even electricity for that matter and that people get creative to make their own little toys out of unusual materials. 

The little man thought those were great, the sweet pea didn't understand what I was talking about… LOL. I get frustrated sometimes, I hope I am teaching my kids the right thing, it is so darn hard being a parent. *sigh*

Anyhow…. I better get ready for the day, lots of things to do, it is going to be one busy day!

Happy Monday, Happy December! 

Electric Art and Thankfulness

I can't believe Thanksgiving already came and went, we were so busy getting things ready {house cleaning, cooking, keeping the kids happy} that my idea of writing a blog post about things I am thankful for totally slipped away.

Today I did the rest of the second round of cleaning - you know, there is the cleaning before you have your friends and family over and the cleaning after, so today I finished the "after" cleaning, went to the post office and to barnes and noble to get a new cord for my tablet, but other than that we had a mellow day that didn't include any cooking, but instead lots of leftovers have been eaten, we did a an "electric craft" by using a battery powered toothbrush {Pulse} and some finger paint. I am still hoping to sit down to crochet for a little bit and perhaps finish the cowl I am making for my son's preschool teacher (one is done, I am working on the second).

But before I go, I would like to make a little list of things I am thankful for:

- my husband for being so supporting, loving and simply a great man;

- my kids for brightening up my days;

- Skype for allowing me to talk and see my family in brazil for free 

- my crochet work: I have made some wonderful friends through my work and it has also allowed me to provide little extra fun activities for my kids with the income I make;

- Pinterest, for all the craft inspiration;

- a warm and comfortable home;

- MOPS, my wonderful friend Karen invited me to join it and I have had a great time in every single meeting;

- ladies nights out: being able to be myself and have friends that I enjoy being with;

- painting: it relaxes me and puts me in a good mood;

- coffee, I just enjoy it so much;

- manicures and pedicures: I try to go at least twice a month, it feels and looks good;

- easy recipes;

my list goes on and on, but that's it for now.

I hope you had a great thanksgiving!