Bandana Bag

My husband has a huge collection of bandanas that he's acquired over the years and he let me peruse them for use in my new bag. I used the butt of two pairs of jeans for plenty of inside storage space. I love it.







I'm currently working on sewing a cloth diaper with the instructions from this book. I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to use it as a diaper, but they make the best burp cloths.

First Pattern

I recently completed my first knitting project following a pattern; a toddler cardigan. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned it out and thankful to my model for so graciously donning a girl's sweater for 30 seconds.

Hat Trick

I've been on a hat crocheting frenzy lately and thought I'd show you the results. Zane graciously took time out from his snack time to pose with Mommy for the first one. Which one is your favorite?

Recycling

It's time to put away those wool sweaters, or in my case make one into a pillow because I shrank it. Some simple hand sewing was all it took to turn this thrift store cardigan into a comfy addition to our living room! Oh, and an old pillow that had stains on it.

Z-A-N-E

I was feeling crafty one night and decided to try out my new found hobby of em-
broidery. Found some scrap fabric, got out
my hoop and thread, and framed the results. Zane loves it and is learning to spell his name!

Baby Has a New Bib

Well, he's becoming less and less like a baby, but that doesn't mean he's a cooperative model. Embroidering the bib was probably easier than getting a good shot of him in it. Here's the best I could do.


Any of you recognize this look of anticipation in seeing the picture on the camera that you're trying to take?


Ok, I'll try holding him and do the self portrait. Drat that didn't work either.


Better, but could we show some enthusiasm?


All right, enough is enough.


So, here it is. I received the bib for my birthday in a cross stitch kit (along with all kinds of other embroidery goodies). I'm not really a cross stitcher so I transferred a pattern from here and voila! It may be ruined in about a week, but it didn't take me that long to do and was good embroidery practice.

Hand in Hand

Thrifting and craftiness go hand in hand. I purchased a skirt from the fifty cent room at one of these stores because it matched my office/guest room. I covered an old pillow with the outside fabric (you can see it goes nicely with the pair of pillows I bought here for a buck). And my next project is to cover another pillow with the lining of the skirt.

A Cowl for Your Computer

My husband has been wrapping his laptop in a tee shirt during its transports. I noticed that this wasn't working too well and when a knitting project I was working on wasn't working out as planned, to save face I decided the project was now going to be a cover for his computer.







Upon finishing the project another idea struck me. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the new computer cover can double as a cowl, or as I like to call them, neck gaiters.



Great, now anytime I want to go outside in freezing cold weather and my husband is at home with computer in use, I'm all set. That is of course unless he's doing work with the computer on his lap; it also works great to put under the computer on top of your legs so that your legs don't get hot.

Featured Crafters

Today I want to highlight some of my favorite crafts on sale at Etsy. Can you see the theme?

pendant by missficklemedia

wristlet by EmiShimosato

headband by Frosting Couture

coasters by 12fifteen

pony tail holders by MaryMarsh

hat by Two Seaside Babes

If You Like Color...

I found these great instructions for crocheting a blanket full of hexagons. I suppose if that much color is too shocking for you, you could use the same 4 colors for each hexagon. Enjoy!

The Master Bedroom

Before. Oh darn it, I cut off the cat border.

After.

This dresser was given to my grandmother when she got married.

Her initials and the year she got married are on the front.

Zane in the womb, rocks from the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, Canada, and a doily my Great Aunt Lydi made.

Blankets

Tis the season for curling up in a nice cozy blanket, especially if you have a frugal, energy saving husband. My favorite kind are of the homemade variety especially blankets made by someone special. Here are my favorite.

My mom had me pick out all the fabric for this one. It took her 2 years to get to it, but then she completed it from start to finish in one week (the week before Christmas). Go Mom.

This is one my mom knitted when she was a teenager. She thinks it's the only thing she's ever knitted. Pretty impressive.

This one Jake's grandmother (Nana) made for Zane as shown below.

Librarian Perks

As I was talking to my brother-in-law about the perks of working at a clothing store, he kind of laughed at my feeble attempts at saying that free books and getting paid slightly above minimum wage to be surrounded by books, books, and more books could actually be justified as perks. Mainly because it's only a slight step up from what anybody using the library can take advantage of. Well, to add to my list of perks, I do not get charged with late fees, I can check out more than the 20 items allowed to "regular" patrons, and I can order more than 4 books at a time from other libraries in our system. What a life!


As it stands I have 47 items checked out which includes exercise dvds, a few episodes of the second season of The Office, board books for Zane, books on fig trees that my husband is studying, Anna Karenina, and these four beauties-

Also, I can suggest books for purchase and I'm in love with the Discover America State by State series from this publisher. Check it out.

Pillow Project

A finished project can be oh so satisfying, but sometimes the project can be so overwhelming that the finished product is a long time coming. Here's an idea that breaks up the project into small parts that you can feel satisfied about every time you complete a section and then multiply that satisfied feeling when you're all done!

What I've done is knit or crocheted 8 squares and then hand sewed them all together, four on front, four on back. I used a different stitch for each square. The stuffing is an old pillow I had as a child that is thread bare beyond repair, so it has sentimental value. This is also a good way to use up yarn that you don't have enough of for other projects.