More Crayons and a Bright Knight

While I was working on the first crayon blanket, I had a friend at work happen to see it. She told me she was hosting a baby shower in September, and wanted to know if I could make a crayon blanket for her gift to her friend. I was thrilled because I think the crayon pattern is just so damn cute.

This one I made on traditional crayon colors, unlike the last one which was fun pastels. I am in love with the way the standard colors came through. I think I might be making another one as a gift for a teacher friend...but we'll see. I hate making too many of a particular pattern one after the other.

To go with her blanket, my friend also asked if I could make her one of the knight helmets that I made for Happy Hats at work. She was a part of that event and loooooved the way the hate came out. She asked that it be made to match the blanket instead of in traditional colors (like grey to simulate armor). I was fine with that, and I think it came out adorable.

 Here is another pic with the visor up on the forehead. I didn't make this one with a button, and instead just sewed the visor on at the corner. I think it looks fine that way. Also, the little baby is going to outgrow it quickly, so I didn't think that the buttons made a ton of sense.

Had a lot of fun with this project. Both the blanket and the knight's helm are some of my favorite patterns, and I enjoy getting to make them for friends and little babies.

Crayons & Hippos and a pattern review

One of my mom's employees is having a baby, and she asked me to make a baby blanket to give to her. I had, just that day, stumbled across this pattern on pinterest, and I knew I *had* to make it for the new baby.

As you can see, I chose pastel colors instead of traditional basic crayon colors (although I have an order for another crayon blanket, which I very well may make in standard crayon colors...stay tuned for pics in September or October). I love the way this one came out. The crayons were simple to make, and I sewed them attachment style with 2 rows of sc around each piece. After it was finished I added another row of sc all the way around (doubling back on the bottom for a total of 3 sc rows along that edge). Otherwise, I used the pattern as written. No modifications.

US Instructions

Row 1: In red, ch 27, hdc in 3rd ch from hook, hdc in next 24 ch, turn. (25 sts)
Rows 2-8: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Change to Black.
Rows 9/10: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Change to Red.
Rows 11/12: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Change to Black.
Rows 13/14: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Change to Red.
Rows 15-30: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Row 31: Ch 2, hdc in next 9 hdc, hdc2tog, change to black, drop red, 2 hdc in next hdc, hdc in next hdc, 2 hdc in next hdc, change to red, drop black, hdc2tog, hdc in next 9 hdc, turn.
Row 32: Ch 2, hdc in next 8 hdc, hdc2tog, change to black, drop red, 2 hdc in next hdc, hdc in next 3 hdc, 2 hdc in next hdc, change to red, drop black, hdc2tog, hdc in next 8 hdc, turn.
Rows 33-58: Ch 2, hdc in next 9 hdc, change to black, drop red, hdc in next 7 hdc, change to red, drop black, hdc in next 9 hdc, turn.
Row 59: Ch 2, hdc in next 8 hdc, 2 hdc in next hdc, change to black, drop red, hdc2tog, hdc in next 3 hdc, hdc2tog, change to red, drop black, 2 hdc in next hdc, hdc in next 8 hdc, turn.
Row 60: Ch 2, hdc in next 9 hdc, 2 hdc in next hdc, change to black, drop red, hdc2tog, hdc in next hdc, hdc2tog, change to red, drop black, 2 hdc in next hdc, hdc in next 9 hdc, turn.
Rows 61-70: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Change to Black.
Rows 71/72: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Change to Red.
Rows 73/74: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Change to Black.
Rows 75/76: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Change to Red.
Rows 77-80: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Row 81: Ch 1, hdc2tog, hdc in next 21 hdc, hdc2tog, turn. (23 sts)
Row 82: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Row 83: Ch 1, hdc2tog, hdc in next 19 hdc, hdc2tog, turn. (21 sts)
Row 84: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Row 85: Ch 1, hdc2tog, hdc in next 17 hdc, hdc2tog, turn. (19 sts)
Row 86: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Row 87: Ch 1, hdc2tog, hdc in next 15 hdc, hdc2tog, turn. (17 sts)
Row 88: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Row 89: Ch 1, hdc2tog, hdc in next 13 hdc, hdc2tog, turn. (15 sts)
Row 90: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Row 91: Ch 1, hdc2tog, hdc in next 11 hdc, hdc2tog, turn. (13 sts)
Row 92: Ch 2, hdc in each hdc, turn.
Row 93: Ch 1, hdc2tog, hdc in next 9 hdc, hdc2tog, fasten off and sew in ends. (11 sts)
Work 2 Rows of sc in black evenly around the edge.
Make 5 more “crayons” in different colours and sew them together.

I had a little bit of yarn left over from the blanket, and I decided to make somethign else with the scraps. Sorry about the crop on his nose. But this is Happypotamus (as the pattern calls him). I actually purchased this pattern  from ravelry. It was only $6.50, and worth EVERY penny!! The instructions are marvelous, with pictures for every step. Not one thing about it is confusing. I highly recommend that if you're interested you purchase this one. I will say, though, that Mr. Happy came out HUGE! I was expecting maybe a 1 foot hippo. Using a "g" hook, this guy in the photo came out to a whopping 25" long, or just over 2 feet! I think he's a little big for a baby, lol. But hopefully mom likes him any way.

All in all, though, I couldn't be happier. The hippo came out great and matches the blanket very well. I think it is a successful gift :-)

Freezer Frenzy!

Recently my little sister finished her master's degree and moved back home. She starts her new job this week, and wanted to make several freezer meals to help ease the transition from student to adult with a job :)

I've been trying to make extra when I cook and freeze it as I go so that on days I don't have time to cook I can just pull something out of the freezer. It has been working pretty well for me, but I was open to doing a marathon cooking session, too.

We decided that, as we are both married with no children, a "typical" family recipe for a family of four would feed each of our small families for two dinners, we could make a month's worth of dinners and only need 2 pre-made dinners per week (we do a family dinner on Sunday, so no cooking, and we figured the other two days could either be a date night or spaghetti/taco nights) for a total of about 10 dinners each.

We picked several dinner recipes we liked, put together a master grocery and prep list, and removed items we already had (ex. I already had some chicken breasts and a gallon of milk, etc) then went shopping. In total, we spent $210 (split two ways to $105 each) including non-food items we needed, like foil, gallon bags, tupperware and jars. We ended up with 20 dinners, 15 lunches, and 15 breakfasts for a total of 50 meals!

Here's what we made:
Breakfasts were simple. My sister made her and my husband kolaches by taking sausages (the ones that look like hotdogs) and rolling them in crescent rolls. Then she topped them with fajita seasoning and baked them until crescents were done.
I'm not a kolache fan, so I just made some quick wildberry muffins (from the mix) to eat this week.

For lunches, 15 jars of cheeseburger soup. We doubled the recipe, traded 1lb of beef for ground breakfast sausage, and put into jars. We're going to eat them this week, so into the fridge they went.

Dinners were:
Easy Cheeseburger Sliders x2 (made per the recipe)
Beef Stroganoff x4 (kind of sort of...we couldn't find any cheap roast or stew meat, so we got a couple of extra lbs of ground beef and made meatballs...so they are kind of a hybrib of sweedish meatballs and beef stroganoff. Hubby and I are trying it this week, so I'll let you know how they turned out).

Country Club Chicken x2 (this was a pain in the behind, and I may not be making it again...also, forgot to get an apple, so we didn't add it)
Taco Soup x4 (made per the recipe...note! the linked recipe makes 2 gallon bags, so if you want 2, only make 1 of the recipe. We actually double the recipe and ended up with 4 freezer bags)
Beef and Bean Enchiladas x4 (We used corn tortillas...because who uses flour tortillas in enchiladas????? Also, her recipe called for WAY too much refried beans, so we cut it in half and used 2 cans for 4 lbs of meat. We also didn't include the chiles, and added a little bit of cheese to the beef/bean mixture before filling.)
Pesto Chicken Alfredo x5 (made per the recipe...OMG THIS WAS AMAZING! lol. Because it called for cooked chicken, we were able to taste this one. It was super simple and so omg good. I can't wait to heat it up this week!)

I also made 1 cheeseburger soup for the freezer. We cooked the meat and chopped the veggies, then added the seasonings to the bag. On the day of I'll have to add all the other stuff (chicken broth, milk, cheese and sour cream) but I won't have to brown the meat and chop the veggies, so it helps!


This was my grocery list. Note I'd removed items I already had, like milk and seasonings.

Master shopping list
Meats
15	Ground beef (lbs)
2	ground sausage (lbs)
12	stew beef/chuck roast (lbs)
8	chicken breasts
1	bacon (lb)
8	cups chicken
Produce
15	onion
4	carrots (cups)
4	celery (cups)
2	potatoes (bag)
38	mushrooms (oz)
32	frozen corn (oz)
6	fresh baby spinach (cups)
Cans
4	crushed tomatoes with chiles (cans)
2	crushed tomatoes (15 oz cans)
4	black beans (cans)
4	kidney beans (cans)
3	cream of mushroom soup (cans)
6	enchilada sauce (19oz  cans)
3	refried beans (16oz cans)
2	alfredo sauce (15 oz jars)
2	prepared basil pesto (5-8 oz jar)
liquids
6	beef stock or broth (cups)
1	dry white wine (cup)
dairy
1	velveeta cheese
1	sour cream
32	cheddar or colby cheese (oz)
8	italian blend cheese or other white cheese (cups)
dried
4	taco seasoning
2	penne pasta (16 oz pkgs)
bread
	large pack of corn tortillas
utensils and pans
	crockpot bags
15	wide-mouth jars
8	9x13 foil pans

I cleaned out my freezer before we started, and this is how it looked after.

We actually made more than my freezer could hold at first, so until little sis took her food home, we overflowed into the fridge.  

So, all said and done, we spent $210 on 50 meals for an average cost of about $4.20 per meal. We'll definitely be doing this again.

Earth Day Craft!

Hello everyone!

I know I have been gone for a while, but things have been a little crazy around here. We had a really nasy hail storm out of the blue, and my car took some pretty serious damage. So, we've been dealing with insurance and body shops and rental cars...what a nightmare!

On top of that, my work does a huge Earth Day event every year, and I've been pulled in on several different committees to help with things. One of the committees involves a Recycled Styled Fashion Show (fun!!!) and I'm the committee seamstress. Which means mostly consulting and helping groups get their outfits together. I've also been tapped to make the men's costumes (we are going for a rat pack theme with fedoras, and vests [because suit jackets made from paper were pretty hard, lol]). So, I'm working on those right now, and may post a few pictures when I finish them.

Another organization I'm involved with is doing a recycled art silent auction. This is an idea I'm absolutely in love with, and another thing I've been super busy with.

I wanted to share one of the crafts I made for the Earth Day Art Auction (which sounds a lot fancier than recycled crafts show, haha)

 

 This piece of art uses old magazine ads/junk mail to create a really cool layered look. My pinspiration comes from this blog post. At first, I was really upset because my piece didn't come out as nice as her's did (even though I think mine looks great, and, like most art pieces, looks wonderful from futher away, haha). After I had finished, I really started looking at her pictures, and I'm pretty sure she cheated. If you look at her stain and paint brush strokes, you can see where they continue behind the magazine scrap image. Once I explain how the craft is made (if you haven't already read it on her blog) then you'll see how this doesn't make any sense. I think she painted her canvas and then glued down her magazine scraps to make it look nicer, which is fine because it looks great. But, if that if what you are going to do, then blog about how to do that. Don't set up unrealistic expectations for a craft that you yourself couldn't even do. All of my crafts are 100% real the way I explain them. The only liberties I take are photoshoping to brighten the colors because my shitty camera phone makes it hard to see the details sometimes. I don't edit away parts I don't like, or lie about my process. What you see from me is totally real.

Okay. Sorry about the rant.......

Let's talk about how to make this recycled piece.

What you're going to need is:

A canvas (of any size)

An old magazine or a pile of junk mail (probably about a week's worth, if you get as much as I do, haha)

Mod Podge

Scissors

About half a bottle of paint (depending on your canvas size) (I used some leftovers from another project)

Stencil paper (like this I picked up at Michael's for another craft) 

A silhouette of your choice

First, cut your magazine pictures up. We did strips, but you can also do blobs or whatever you feel comfortable with. You want to pick bright colors, and cut out any white spots. You should also avoid colors that are the same as whatever paint you are using, because it will hurt the image later.

Next, start glueing them down with the Mod Podge. I found that if I layed down a thin layer of Mod Podge, then put down my strip, then put another thin layer on top of that, it worked great. Cover the entire canvas this way. (note, my sister, niece and I made 3 of these. The first one we randomly glued the strips down. The second and third we tried to mostly stick to straight lines, and this worked much better. However, the pictures are from the first canvas where everything is glued down randomly)

Also note: the strips are going to pucker up. This is totally okay. Do not worry about making them lie flat!!

Set aside and allow to dry. (the first one died over night because we were tired, haha. The next two we did within 20 minutes I think. As long as the Mod Podge has turned clear, you are good to go for the next step).

While drying, print out a silhouette you like. We just googled "bird silhouette" because we knew we wanted to do birds.

This was the silhouette we picked, and I love how pretty it is. =D  We actually ended up using two different ones because we had a large canvas. But we basically just flipped this one upside down and stracedit from a different angle to get the two different branches.

Then, trace onto your stencil paper. It doesn't have to be perfect, mine obviously wasn't. (ignore the stuff in the top left corner. I made a mistake the first time and just reused the sheet, haha). Note that I did not like the way the heart-shape leaves looked when I traced them. Even though I loved them in the silhouette, they just weren't working, so I decided to go with more traditional leaves.

And cut it out. (I think this picture is actually the second tree branch we did. The above pic is the flipped image, this is the original image. If you look, you can see they are the same tree branch, just upside down from one another...I'm all about the easy way)

By this time your Mod Podge should be dry, and your canvas is ready to paint. The reason I chose this stencil paper is because it is adhesive. So, peel off the paper backing and stick the stencil down on your canvas, making sure to go back over and rub out any air bubbles that you see. Leave a little bit of the base of the branch hanging off for easy peeling later.

Once your stencil is pressed down nice and tight, paint over it. It took 2-3 layers of paint to get a good cover on the canvas. On the first one, we only did 2 layers, and we had some magazine color show through. I loved it! On the other two we wanted a more striking image, so we did 3 coats, which completely covered the magazines.

You can see where the permanant marker we used to trace on the paper started to rise up through the paint. I thought that was kind of neat (easily amused, lol).

While the paint is still damp (not wet, but definitely don't wait until it dries!!) peel the stencil off.

Touch up any areas that may have had problems, and you're done. Note that on one of my birds, I didn't press the stencil down enough, and I had a little leakage. So, I killed the bird, so to speak, and painted over it after I was finished. I also had the problem that I didn't press one of my branches down enough, and paint obscured part of it. So, I took a few different colored permanant markers and filled it in with color blocks. You can barely tell. I bet you can't identify where on the canvas I did it... lol

On the first canvas (the one pictured above) we also went back in with some sandpaper and sanded over the wrinkles. It gave it a little more of a distressed look, which I love!





These are the next two that we did.

For this one, we actually did another one first, and my sister HATED the way the image came out. So, we decided to start over and junk the whole thing. The problem was that we felt guilty just throwing out a canvas, so we stripped off all of the magazine strips. They left behind some color reside from where they were glued down, and I loved the way it looked. We decided not to glue down new strips and just paint over it the way it was. While the red was still wet, I added some paint splatters in a cream color. This one is, easily, my favorite... I'm glad I decided not to trash the messed up canvas!

I like that this one gives you a sense of how we glued down the strips after the first canvas. If you look closely, you can see that we started in one corner and then fanned out our strips from there. It gave the image a really cool striped look that I think gives it some character. It is very different from the first one, and still very beautiful :)

So now you have it. An easy earth day project using recycled magazines or junk mail. This one can easily be done with kids, and comes out really beautiful (I think).

Newsboy cap

One of my good friends recently requested I make a hat for her kiddo. She wasn't really sure what she wanted, so I set up a pin board for her with a few ideas, and she picked the one she liked. Well, I also really liked it, so of course I had to test it out for myself first ;-)

The original pattern calls for a K / 6.5mm hook, but I have a giant head, and have learned that I need to use a bigger hook to make hats fit me...so I used an L / 8mm hook and it came out near perfect.

Here is the original pattern with my minor changes marked:

Bobbi Hat: Adult Pattern (this is just the pattern for the actual hat, I will talk about the detailed finishing towards the end of the post)
Modified from Everyday Handmade

Round 1: Chain 3 (counts as stitch here and through out), 9 Double Crochet, Slip Stitch to second chain (top chain) of your first stitch on this round to join. Pull Loop Tight, do not turn (10 stitches) I did a Ch 3 and 9 DC in a magic circle.

Round 2: Chain 3, DC in same stitch, *2 DC in each stitch around * Repeat, SS to join round (20 stitches)

Round 3: Chain 3, *2 DC in stitch, 1 DC in stitch * Repeat, SS (30 stitches)

Round 4: Chain 3, DC next stitch, *2 DC in next stitch, 1 DC in next 2 stitches * Repeat, SS (40 stitches)

Round 5: Chain 3, DC next 2 stitches, *2 DC in next stitch, 1 DC in next 3 stitches * Repeat, SS (50 stitches)

Round 6-10: Chain 3, DC in each stitch, SS to join round, Fasten Off I did not fasten off. I simply sl st around the 14 sts for the brim. I hate stopping and starting like that when there is no real reason to.

Brim: Count 14 stitches to the left from where you joined the rounds

Row 1: 2 Single Crochet in this stitch, SC in each of the next 18 stitches, 2 SC in next stitch, chain 1 and turn (chain 1, counts as stitch here and through out) (22 stitches)

Row 2-4:1 SC in each stitch across, chain 1 turn (22 stitches)

Row 5: SC next 2 stitches together, SC next 16 stitches, SC next two stitches together, SC, chain 1, turn (20 stitches)

Row 6:SC next 2 stitches together, SC next 13 stitches, SC next two stitches together, SC, chain 1, turn (18 stitches)

Row 7: SC next 2 stitches together, SC next 11 stitches, SC next two stitches together, SC, fasten off(16 stitches) I had a problem here because with the L hook, the brim came out HUGE! (as in it looked like a baseball cap) So I modified the brim pattern to this:

Row 1: SC in this st and in each of next 18 sts. ch 1 and turn

Row 2: SC in each st across. ch 1 and turn

Row 3: sc2tog, sc in next 16 (or so) sts, and sc last 2tog. ch 1 and turn.

Row 4: sc2tog, sc across and sc last 2tog. ch 1.

Finishing: SC in each st around, working 3 sc in each corner. Fasten off.

Another thing I like about this pattern, is that there was a child's size modification included on her site. My older sister saw the hat on my pin board and wanted one, too. She has a normal sized head, so I thought about using the adult pattern with the recommended K hook. But, I really liked how the big sts came out on my hat, so I decided to try using the child's pattern with the L hook. It fits her like I measured her dang head!

Bobbi Hat: Child's Pattern

(for an adult with a normal sized head, use L/8mm hook. For a child's head I used an H/5mm hook)

Round 1: Chain 3 (counts as stitch here and throughout), 9 Double Crochet, Slip Stitch to second chain (top chain) of your first stitch on this round to join. Pull Loop Tight, do not turn (10 stitches)

Round 2: Chain 3, DC in same stitch, *2 DC in each stitch around * Repeat, SS to join round (20 stitches)

Round 3: Chain 3, *2 DC in stitch, 1 DC in stitch * Repeat, SS (30 stitches)

Round 4: Chain 3, DC next stitch, *2 DC in next stitch, 1 DC in next 2 stitches * Repeat, SS (40 stitches)

Round 5: Chain 3, DC next 2 stitches, *2 DC in next stitch, 1 DC in next 8 stitches * Repeat, SS (50 stitches) Basically, you are doing the adult pattern, but only doing every other INC.

Round 6-10: Chain 3, DC in each stitch, SS to join round, Fasten Off

Brim: Count 14 stitches to the left from where you joined the rounds

(this is my modified brim pattern, again)

Row 1: 2 Single Crochet in this stitch, SC in each of the next 18 stitches, 2 SC in next stitch, chain 1 and turn (chain 1, counts as stitch here and throughout) (22 stitches)

Row 2:1 SC in each stitch across, chain 1 turn (22 stitches)

Row 3: SC next 2 stitches together, SC next 16 stitches, SC next two stitches together, SC, chain 1, turn (20 stitches)

Row 4:SC next 2 stitches together, SC next 13 stitches, SC next two stitches together, SC, chain 1, turn (18 stitches)

Finishing: SC around, working 3 SC in each corner.

On the picture above, you probably noticed that there was ribbon and flowers on it.

I learned after my test hat that the ribbon should meet at the edge of the brim, and the flower should be sewn on to cover the joining. I just wove my ribbon in, and when it got back to the meet point, I sewed it together with yarn and my large-eye needle. Nothing complicated, and no messy hot glue. Then I tied an extra piece of ribbon in a bow and sewed the flower down on top of it to hold in it place.
For the flowers, I just used the accent flower I put on almost everything, and simply changed colors for the 3rd row.

On two of the hats, I also added a leaf to the flower. I think it came out super cute. On one of the hats I sewed the leaf all the way down to the side of the hat. On the other, I only sewed down the base, and let the end stay loose, which made it curl in a little. I thought it was adorable.

*~*NOTE*~*
For the hats with the leaf, I attached the leaf after the ribbon band, but before the flower. It was easy to sew down before I added the flower because half of the leaf should be behind the flower.    :-)

Leaf Pattern

Found at Crochet with Raymond (which you can see in the background of the above pic, lol)

Hook used: G/4.25mm

Ch 10.  dc into 3rd chain from hook, htr into next ch, tr into next ch, htr into next ch, dc into next ch, hdc into next ch, sc into last 2 ch.  (You should have run out of chain here!)
Make picot by ch3, slst into 3rd ch from hook.
Now working along the opposite side of the leaf, sc into first 2ch, hdc into next 2ch, dc into next ch, htr into next ch, dc into the next ch, sc into last ch.
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing.

And here I am, showing off my new hat. As you can see, this is the test hat before I figured out that the flower needs to go further up towards the front of the hat. But I still think it looks adorable.

 

Garden update

Last weekend I posted about starting my budget container garden.

I did some home made seed starters and planted lavender.

As you can see, my lavender are starting to show themselves (they actually started poking their heads out on Friday, only 6 days after planting)

I also planted peas, onions, carrots, cabbage, strawberries, potatoes and tomatoes...

One week (and a thunderstorm) later, I have seedlings starting to sprout!

Cabbage (they are a pretty purple and green color that you can't really see in this picture)

Cucumber (again, sorry about the picture. I was just so excited I wasn't worried about quality of the pics, lol)

onion

Peas

Also, to update you on my sweet potatoes. I had taken 2 sweet potatoes, cut them in half, and had 4 halves starting in water. I guess they taste good because my puppies knocked 2 of them down and ate them while I was at work. And of course they took the only 2 that had started shooting out vines and roots :-/

So, now I'm left with 2 (and about to start another one, lol), one of which is just starting to send out a vine. The other hasn't done anything yet. Oh well. I have since moved them off of the porch and into the back yard so the puppies can't get into them (I hope).

Celery Update

*~*Update*~*

If you read my previous post, you know I am regrowing celery from a kitchen scrap celery. I forgot to read all of the directions, which said that I was supposed to set the base in water for a week or so (until roots started) then plant it in the ground. Instead I just dug a hole in a pot of dirt and put the celery in. I completely covered it and went on my way. Watered it every other day or so.

I planted it on February 25. The original blog post showed the progress on March 2 and how leaves had started to grow. This is how it looks 1 weekish later on March 11.

Not too bad for kitchen scraps, right?