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I've been on a web-stalking spree. I've been finding so many treasures too, all at once! It's like Christmas! (It is almost Christmas!) So, because I know I am not the only one who will be excited about this, I'd like to direct your attention to the sidebar! If you've been paying attention (I know you're out there, reading this, breathing away), you'll notice that I have a new list over there, dedicated to tutorials and patterns, or lists thereof. A lot of these I came across from Whip Up, which has everything for the crafty minded, from book reviews to interviews with successful crafters, from patterns to blog links. It doesn't look like too much, admittedly, but that's probably because it is jam packed full of content. Amazing, wonderful, inspiring content. If you do any kind of crafting, head over there and give them some love! They deserve it!

Little Things...

I love that we have snow now...It snowed all day yesterday and the night before. Not great clumpy flakes either, but those large, fine flakes that glint and shimmer as they fall and make the whole world sparkle.

I love the snow...and I love what snow does to the light, especially in the early morning. For some reason, the frosty early morning glow always warms my heart.

I've also been fawning over my new cushion cover...made to cover one of two old scratchy tweedish cushions that I inherited from a neighbor along with a matching couch when I first left home. They've followed me a lot of places, and seen a lot of my life, so I don't have the heart to get rid of them. So I prettified them instead! Here is the "before" picture:

See? Just not nearly as prettyful.

I didn't mean for this to be posted in the same entry as the cushion, since I made them at different times, but it's kind of suiting since they match...

My new cork board!

Recognize that fabric? Hahaha! I wanted to recover this old corkboard my mom had kicking around her house so I could use it to hang my favourite patterns and other little bits. When I got that orange fabric, I realized it was perfect for the job, probably more perfect than any other fabric I had.

All I did was cut a piece of fabric slightly smaller than the frame, and then poke it in under the frame with a butter knife (mine doesn't come out of the back like some, which would have been easier, because the frame actually wraps around the board and holds it in).

Isn't it wonderful?! I just love it. It does something to the space that just makes me smile. It actually attracts me to my craft room...which has thus far been something of a task, since it has been serving as half craft room and half storage room and is therefore not the most inspiring space ever.

Speaking of inspiration, though, how about a closer look at the first two patterns up?

Aren't they delicious?! I love them to bits. I've had a serious problem trying to find the big balls of Handicrafter to make that blanket, but I am thinking I can maybe adapt it to a scarf and just make do with the smaller balls. I think that pattern'd make a charming little scarf. Very fun and bright.

If you would like the patterns, the blanket can be found here (you might have to make an account or sign in if you have one) and the dishcloths can probably be found somewhere on the Michaels website (here)--it's acting up for me right now, so I can't look them up.

Thanks for popping in!

Is this a problem?

I have seen so many blogs--seriously, my blog list keeps getting fatter. And so many of them stick to the same template and style and rarely if ever change it up.
I, on the other hand, have the most bizarre compulsion to change mine around every 6 months or so. I don't know why, I guess I like change. I move things around in my house too, when I can. It's the same thing with my blog-- one day I just look at it and say "It's still pretty, but let's change it up!".

Today I decided I need to try giving something new a change...I stumbled upon Shabby Blogs and was just smitten with some of the stuff on there...perhaps I'll do some spicing?

At least with the blog I don't have to haul furniture. :D

New! AKA--Why I love thrift stores and making stuff

I had a couple of very productive days late last week, and am still very excited over the results. If it wasn't for the fact that I am not really in need of any new groceries, I'd be at the grocery store this minute, flaunting my makings.

Last week, my boyfriend came home with the bunch of green onions we needed for supper in a plastic bag (oh, horror!) because the woman at the supermarket scolded him for not using one. Apparently the conversation went something like this:

"SIR! You need to put those in a plastic bag!"

"But they're already tied together...I'm only getting one bunch."

"SIR, that is not hygenic. People put all sorts of things in the baskets, and touch them."

At which point he just grabbed the bag and ran.

Maybe not ran, but you get the point.

I laughed so hard when I heard the story. What on Earth do people do at that grocery store with those poor baskets?! I mean...I put groceries in my basket. Then I take them home and wash them before cooking them. Not hygenic? I'm afraid I just don't understand.

At that point, I decided to take on the project I had been putting off in hopes of finding the perfect fabric: reusable produce bags. I already have my grocery shopping totes, which I use everywhere, but those flimsy little whisps of plastic in the produce section get me every time when I am trying to buy more apples than I can carry with only two hands. I made four of them, one specially long and skinny for things like, say, green onions. ;) They're rather flashy, since the only really light fabric I had was some atrociously, wonderously tacky stuff I fell in love with a while back and haven't found a good use for yet.

While I was working, I had a brilliant inspiration for a well loved t-shirt my friend got me for my 18th birthday. It was the most wonderful, comfortable cotton, and I adored the silly innuendo on it. In short, I wore that shirt until it almost fell off of me. So it's been sitting in my pajama drawer, not really being used, but I still love it too much to get rid of it.

So, with some help from some polka-dot cotton...my shirt is now a charming little tote bag with a dirty sense of humour!

On Saturday, we went on a little adventure in a town nearby.

We stopped off in the Value Village to explore and see if we could find some materials for making soap. We found an old cake pan that would work, as well as a fantastic flour canister...

and the prettiest cup in the world, with some cute sidekicks!

I also snagged two Vonnegut books (Cat's Cradle and Mother Night) and Plato's Republic, some super fine yarn and some cute lemon yellow gingham print fabric.

After, we parked at the mall and headed downtown with the intention of just exploring, when we saw a sign for a "garage/estate sale". So we wandered in. Oh wonders! The woman of the house, sadly deceased a few years back, was a skilled crafter, and had a room full of crafty things--yarn, crochet threads, tatting threads, buttons, beads, fabric, knitting needles, embroidery floss...you name it, she had it. Her husband recently passed also, and her daughters organized it all beautifully, because she had always wanted to do so. I found some beautiful supplies there...

lots of delightfully coloured crochet threads...

some tatting thread...

a couple of pattern books (is that edging book not AMAZING?!)

a gorgeous stack of vintage fabrics...

some wonderfully light, bright fabric I have hopes of making into more produce bags for friends and family...

some quaint old buttons...

two charming little saucers and a bright blue bottle (that's one of the saucers holding two of the heart-shaped whole-wheat tea biscuits I made yesterday! Complete with homemade local crab apple jelly, mmmm!).

I also brought home two unfinished potholders that I found while snooping through a box of granny squares. I thought they were adorable, so I am going to finish them and hang them in my kitchen. Her daughters, who were incredibly sweet and friendly, seemed happy that someone was going to finish them. I hope I can make some beautiful things from everything I adopted. I'm planning on teaching myself to crochet with thread, so I can start putting edges on pillowcases and handkerchiefs (which I am planning on making and replacing disposable tissues with). I just love crocheted edging on pillowcases, and have fallen completely over for some of the ones over at You Go Girl!

Look at them! Aren't they just the prettiest things you've ever laid eyes on?! I just adore them, and I definitely want to learn how to do that.

Well, this has been a positively gargantuan blog post...thanks for stopping in! X3

Current Book Obsession...

A while back, in my most favourite local bookstore, I noticed this odd-titled book while perusing the enviro section. "'Sleeping Naked Is Green'?" I thought, "What an odd title. What does nakedness have to do with anything?" I read the back, and it sounded sort of interesting, but definitely not interesting enough for me to coax my bank account into regurgitating the funds for it, being in the middle of text-book shopping time and all.

I kept bumping into this book though, and the more I read about it, the more intrigued I became. Recently I caved and bought it, and the feeling since then has been "OMG!!!! WHY DIDN'T I DO THIS AGES AGO?!"

I love it. It's one of those can't-put-it-down-laughing-like-a-loon-while-sitting-all-alone types of books. I may have worried some of my coworkers, or boyfriend, or just people around in general with my random snickers and giggles. Vanessa Farquharson has a brilliantly witty, dry style of writing that keeps you entertained, while dealing with very real concerns for the "green" lifestyle. For someone who has likewise struggled to keep the smug out of the hippie while greening their life, I feel relieved that some of the frustrations and confusion (and yes, sometimes obsession) aren't limited to me.

In addition to the general awesomeness of the book, there are tons of great ideas for simple (and sometimes not-so-simple) green changes one can make.

If you want to see what the hype is about, but don't have or want to spend the cash for the book right know, stop by at http://www.greenasathistle.com/, which is the original blog the book is based on. It's worth it. Pinky swear.

Back in Business!

Alas, my poor little blog's been sadly neglected again, this time because of being in a state of perpetual transition all summer--moving back and forth between places, packing up one on the weekend, spending the week in another, moving everything to a totally different third place at the end of the summer. The joys of being a military girlfriend. :)

Thankfully, internet has been blissfully restored to me! Lacking anything better, here's a peek at what I was up to while I was in internet hiatus and unemployed in September.

Tada!! I made these from empty and cleaned jars (pickles, tomato sauce, etc...) and some scrapbooking paper. I buy a lot of things in bulk, and instead of storing my stuff in plastic bags that can be torn and are difficult to store, I put my stuff in jars.

I ran into a little difficulty when I realized it was almost impossible to tell the cornstarch, baking soda and baking powder apart without opening them up and feeling them. So I made pretty labels! They were super easy to make, and are covered with packing tape so I can wipe them clean if they get dirty. If I need to change the labels, I can just peel them off. I save the bags in a safe place and reuse them when I need to purchase more stuff.

I've also been doing a fair bit of crafting. Here is Dora the Fail Cat posing it up beside the black eyed susan flower and start of a stem I was making for my bouquet (it's not finished,  but I'll share when it is!)

I'm almost through making the hexagons for my hexie granny blanket. I'm so excited! I have all 240 I planned to make, and though I may need a few more to even things up, it's near to finished! You can see all my hexies hiding in the basket under my yarn balls, beside my ones in progress there.
They look so cool all together!

See? And naturally, Dora needs to be on top of everything. It's a scientific fact that cats need to be on top of things. Bizarre compulsion they have. :)
The blanket will be a little bit fatter than it seems in the picture, hence needing the extra few hexies.
Oooohhh, how I am dreading the task of stitching all those hexies together. Next time, it's definitely join-as-you-go.

This is just some additional proof that cats need to be on top of everything. I don't have my things spread out here, so she's settled for being on top of my crochet hook case (you can just see the black and white checks peeking out from under her belly)...

I have a little plan for something forming,  but I am not quite ready to spill the beans, so I think I'll keep it to myself just a bit longer...

Thanks for reading! :3

New stuff!

After making the adorable apple cozy last posted, I decided to try and work one up that wouldn't have the large hole in the side (my bag is a dangerous place!)

Here's what I came up with!

The cupcake ribbon was a gift from Julie, and it happened to fit perfectly into my treble crochets!

To make it, I followed the same instructions as for the first apple cozy (it's on Ravelry as a free download, if you're interested!), just basically a small hat shape, except that I didn't leave the space, I just continued working around (not in a spiral, I would join and chain up every round). Once I got to a size I liked, I worked a row of trebles (to fit a ribbon in) and then a row of single crochet followed by a bit of a border. The whole thing is worked in single crochet, with the exception of the very start and the end. It didn't take very long to make at all!

When I went to visit Julie, she also gave me some new books! The book above is one of them. Apparently there's a metric version as well (not "yards"), but it looks identical other than the system of measurement used. The book is adorable! It has the cutest ideas, all to be made with a yard of fabric or less, and even includes the pattern pieces and instructions so clear even a beginner could dive in! I positively love the little lunchbag featured on the cover.

And the "Wash Me!" bag featured on the back. There's also oodles of adorable patterns for children, from aprons that turn into art totes to little smocks. Tons of purses, too, naturally!

I also splurged a little while back (perhaps during a fit of self-pity spawned book shopping?) and got myself two absolutely beautiful books. While the flower book requires fairly specific colours of yarns to recreate the flowers featured inside, the Crochet Motifs book is amazing. Beautiful full colour photos, super detailed instructions and even beginner tips and different joining techniques explained clearly in the front. And the colours they use! The book is so inspiring to look through, just a whole book of eye candy! Yum yum yum!!

I also decided to make something pretty for my hair, and the headband above is the result. I couldn't tell you how I made the leaf at the end, I basically tinkered until I had something resembling a small leaf. The end of the "vine" (behind the flower) is actually a small loop where the leaf fits through to attach the ends for the headband. The little loop is hidden, so you only see the flower and the little leaf. I made it just a touch too big for my head, so I have to secure it with a bobby pin, but it still looks adorable. It could also probably work as a necklace, if you made the vine part shorter!

Finally, when cleaning my room, I found a ton of small change. I decided I needed somewhere to put it, and so I opted to turn an old alfredo jar that I had cleaned and saved (my sister is always complaining that our kitchen is full of empty jars, because I reuse them as holding containers for my bulk barn purchases that can fit) into a spot for my random change! I decided to call it the Rainy Day Fund, because it will be nice to save the money for something special. :)

Hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying the beautiful summery weather we're finally getting again!

Awesome website!

I've been tinkering for the past couple days on Ravelry, an online knitting and crocheting community where people can post patterns (both for free and to purchase), projects, ideas or just chat in the forums. I'm absolutely smitten with some of the ideas and the creative energy of the site. There's some wonderful free patterns, and some great groups where you can share ideas and inspiration.
I'm absolutely smitten!

I followed a pattern from Theresa Grant to make my own little apple cozy, which will hopefully prevent some of the bruising my apples seem to inevitably suffer when rolling about in my bag. From the "test run" today, it seems to work! I am in the process of designing one that doesn't have the large side opening, for maximum apple protection. I'll see how it goes :)

Everything and anything!

Ahh, the procrastinator's curse--having to catch up on all the things that were put off!

The little seeds featured in my last post are now fairly decent sprouts, I can't wait for them to start flowering!

I also tore out my front "garden"--for years I have seen the apartment that I now live in and thought "That place looks so seedy! Can you say 'crack house'?" The front was FULL of weeds. Weeds up to your waist. Horrible dead vines full of spiders. There probably was a witch living in there somewhere, or ought to have been. So, with the help of my boyfriend, we ripped all those weeds and vines out and discovered that, once upon a time, someone took the time to make it a nice garden. The rocks from the rock border were still there, so we recreated it. Then I planted most of the seeds I had in the garden, with my sunflowers right beside the big ugle telephone pole in the middle, so there's something for them to lean on. It looks much better, and not so much like a "crack house".

For Mother's Day, my mom came up here to our place. It was a nice girls' weekend, with my two sisters and my mom! We hit the Farmers' Market, which is finally starting to heat up with the warmer weather, and got some beautiful family pictures done. Besides getting the pictures, I also made her some presents: crocheted washcloths, a button bracelet with matching earrings and a bookmark.

For some reason my blog won't accept any pictures of the washcloths and bookmark, though, so the bracelet is going to have to do.

Thanks for reading, and hope all the moms out there had a great mother's day!

Every cloud waters a flower

I've been feeling down this week.
Really down.
Just sort of tired and moody and blue. I don't really want to do anything except moon around the house.
So I thought I needed a little cheering up...and maybe something to look forward to.
So I got flower seeds! :)

I am pretty broke...but these were pretty cheap at the dollar store and so I decided to give them a shot. A flower is a flower in my world. Right now, just looking at the little packets makes me smile. Unfortunately I only have one free flower pot right now, so I had to choose. It was tough! In the end, the snapdragons won out. Let's face it, any flower that you can make bite you is pretty awesome. :)

I planted them in the little pot, now I just have to wait until I start seeing some life!

Just a little burn

So, yesterday the pot I use to boil water for tea in decided it hated me. So, since it lacks the verbal capacity to communicate its dislike, it just decided to heat up its handle to scalding temperatures, wounding my unwary flesh when I went to grab it.

Dramatic retelling aside, I burnt my hand yesterday. And--for some unknown reason--I do not own an aloe plant or even a bottle of aloe gel. So, with the advice of my cupcake-obsessed friend Julie and some internet scouring, I came up with this:

1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon (or therabouts) of vitamin e oil
A few drops of peppermint essential oil

I know! Sounds sticky.
After cooling my hand in water for some time, I put my concoction on the burnt parts and wrapped my hand up in a rag. I left it all day, and reapplied at night before bed. Today my hand feels great, even though there are still very obvious marks from the burn.
While I don't reccommend this for an all-over sunburn (since slathering oneself in honey sounds like some silly college prank), it worked really nicely for a small contact burn.
Hopefully this will come in handy for someone else someday :)

The little things

I just got finished the academic part of my teacher's college career and have a little bit of time on my hands for a change! It's also spring time, and the melting snow and daffodils I have in my window are making me feel a little bit brighter than I have in a while. Lately I have just been appreciating the little things in my world...the bright colours, delightful smells, appealing textures that surround me and make me get that warm glowy feeling.
Probably from this I finally decided to tackle the task of making cushion covers for my plushy but somewhat atrocious couch cushions. This is only the second time I have attempted to do anything quilted, and I think that I did pretty well...overall, the look of my cushions just makes me smile now :)

I made one for the second cushion after I realized how much I adored the first one...Now I love them both. The back is overlapped material like a pillow sham with buttons to close...

I think they just look glorious, sitting on the couch together like that...and of course they just look marvelous with the crocheted throw Julie made me!

Another thing that made me smile lately was the success of my ginger snap cookies--the first time I have ever made them!

Don't they just look marvelous?! And the whole house smelled wonderful when they were baking. They even tasted great! It was definitely the best success I have ever had with baking. I think even Martha would be jealous of my amazing cookies. The recipe was from here, if you're interested in making some of your own!

Today I also made sugar cookies. These didn't turn out near as well...they're sort of odd looking, but they taste great and that's really all that matters. I was impressed with how my royal icing turned out, though!

Hopefully I'll have some more adventures in making things before I have to go back to being busy all the time...

Bags, bath bombs, hats...oh fun!

Over the holidays, I got down and dirty with the crafting stuff. I even made myself a whole new batch of deodorant and shared it with my family (although my mom insisted she didn't need deodorant because she doesn't normally wear it...I think she's just suspicious of my natural stuff).
The first thing I did, actually before the holidays, was crochet my first hat! It's not the best hat in the whole world, but I am pretty pleased with it. I'm currently in the process of making one for my mom now, although I am playing with a different texture.

Once I was all done my placement (which went well!) I set to work finally sewing together the tote bag I have been prepping to make slowly. I don't have an actual school bag and thought that making one would mean I get everything I want, for a fraction of the cost. All of my fabrics were on special, so the bag probably cost less than $10 total to make (including EVERYTHING). I was pretty pleased with the final product.

That said, I will NEVER make a bag like this again. Perhaps similar in appearance, but I would never go through the same process to make it that I did this time. It caused a lot of complications and made things more difficult than they needed to be.

 Gathering supplies for the bag and cutting out parts...

Measuring for the pocket that I didn't make big enough anyway.

This is the inside of the bag.The pink patch is actually a large pocket for smaller books.

There's also a pen-holder pocket (the blue patch under the pink)

This is the front of the bag. There's the large purple pocket and the small blue.

A view of the pocket flap. It now has a snap to keep it shut.

Ready for the finished product?!

You can see my crocheted hat in the last picture...the yellow blob with the purple flower. It looks huge, but it actually fits over my monstrous hair. The bag is also larger than it seems to look in the pictures. It'll be a good schoolbag, and when I am all done school, it will make the most wonderful yarn bag!

I also made some delicious smelling bath bombs! I think they smell like orange creamsicle, but others thought they smelled a little different. The general concensus was it was a good stench, not a displeasing one.

To mold them, I just used a silicon ice cube tray that I got from the Goodwill for $0.50. I also used a silicone mini-cupcake pan and mini-cupcake wrappers, but they didn't turn out as pretty as the hearts did.

The recipe was really easy:

1 C baking soda

1/2 C Citric Acid

1/2 C Cornstarch

2 1/2 tbsp sweet almond oil

3/4 tbsp water

1/4- 1 tsp of essential oil

molds

squirt bottle with water (or witch hazel if desired)

Mix the dry ingredients together first, making sure they are well mixed. In a seperate bowl or container (a clean jar with lid is best), blend the wet ingredients (if in a jar, you can shake it!). Combine the two carefully, mixing with your hands. The citric acid will fizz a little bit. If it is too dry to shape, spritz lightly with water until it is damp enough. Don't pour water directly in or it with trigger the fizzing reaction with the citric acid and your bombs won't go "boom" in the tub. Pack into the molds of choice. Once packed, leave for a couple hours. Once they have dried out a bit, remove from the molds and wrap in an old clean towel or tissue and store for about a week to make sure they are completely dried out. After that, spread the love!

The recipe actually makes a LOT of small bath bombs. If you need help finding citric acid, let me know.

I haven't tried these out yet, but I am hoping to soon!

I would love to source my recipe, but I can't seem to find the link anymore! I adapted it a little bit, but there are similar recipes on Cut Out & Keep if you want to check them out (see the link at the right hand side of the page). I will post the site as soon as I can track it down again.

Happy making stuff!