Last Week

What a busy week it has been! I got a lot of stuff marked off of my "to do" list, and yet as soon as I mark one thing off, another takes it's place. That doesn't seem right! :)  We got a tiny, tiny bit of snow last week, much to the kiddos delight. We usually don't see too much snow around here, so even the smallest amount is cause for celebration. Raleigh is ill prepared for most mild harsh winter weather, so a two hour delay was in effect for the schools.  I let the kids out of the house to romp around in the bits of fluff that stuck to our walkway, and they had a blast in the 15 minutes or so they were outside before deeming it too cold!

 3/52

Saturday night was a laid back movie night, and I got to use my new (old) hot air popper! It was a gift from my parents for Christmas, and I was very excited to use it. We had one when I was a child, and it was such fun! The kids loved seeing the popcorn come spewing out into the bowl! Air popped popcorn is so much tastier than microwave popcorn! Just add a little melted butter and some salt, and you're in business. When I was a kid, we used to add some jello powder for a fruity kick. We may have to try that next time!

Ahh, memories.

My ripple blanket journey continues, albeit a little slower than I had imagined. Life and other projects keep getting in the way, but I'm crocheting a row or two whenever I can. I'm really liking it so far, although part of me wishes I had separated the green/pink rows with another row of white. Oh well, too late now!

Pinterest Cooking

Tonight's dinner is going to be another Pinterest find- Teriyaki Chicken cooked in the crockpot! I adjusted the recipe a little to include carrots & onions (the actual recipe site is apparently different from the picture on Pinterest, but I wanted to make sure to add the veggies as it looks so good!), and decreased the amount of pepper it called for, and so far it smells AMAZING! I plan on making some Jasmine rice and sauted cabbage to serve with it. Yum! I have a crochet class to teach tonight, so I needed something quick and easy that I could eat with the kiddos before heading out. I've made several crockpot meals from Pinterest recipes before, and rarely have I been disappointed. Here's  hoping this one is tasty!

1 & 2/52

I am excited to take part in the 52 project this year- a portrait a week, for 52 weeks. I think I'll take photos of the kiddos every week, it will be fun to see how much they grow in a year! Since I'm a week late getting started, here is this weeks pic, as well as a snapshot from last week :)

1/52 Playing Just Dance 4 together

2/52 Say cheese!

Baby Girl Ripple

This blanket is so addictive! I managed to get quite a few rows done after the kids went to bed tonight, it seems to be moving along quite nicely. It doesn't have an intended recipient for sure yet, although my sister is expecting her second child. If she has a girl, I'm set! :)

Baby Shower Love

When I first learned to crochet (and for many years after) I had almost zero interest in making blankets. I wanted projects that were finished much faster, and didn't require as much of an investment in yarn. Baby blankets have been a nice compromise, as they were obviously much smaller than the average adult sized blankie :) A coworker of mine recently had a precious baby girl, and I made her an adorable blanket for her baby shower. I found out her favorite colors were purple and green after I had already started making the blanket, so that worked out well!!

It was make using Caron Simply Soft, and I just made up the pattern as I went along. Easy-peasy! I also made cupcakes for the baby shower, complete with little fondant buttons dusted with some edible shimmer powder. They were super yummy!

I love baby showers!! :)

Deco Mesh

Have you ever had a chance to work with Deco Mesh? It's really fabulous stuff, I urge you to try it out as soon as possible! So many crafty uses for it! I got the chance to train in the floral department of the big box craft store I work for this past Christmas season, and really got to know the mesh well :) One of my favorite designs I came up with was the Deco Mesh Christmas tree- Just an upside down tomato cage, some lights, a few rolls of Deco Mesh and some ornaments. Top it all off with a nice fat bow, and you have yourself one mighty fine Christmas decoration!

Here's a shot of one that is almost done being meshed!

It comes in 21"x10yd rolls (which I used for the trees) or you can get the ribbon, either 2.5" or 4". I really like using the 4" for making some awesomely fat bows on my wreaths :)

I had SO much fun working with our floral designer, and I hope I get to do it again next Christmas!! :)

A New Year, A New Blog

I have been itching to get back into blogging for quite some time, and have finally jumped back in! I want to start sharing my fabulous crafty endeavors, my patterns, little snippets from everyday life again. I love almost every craft there is out there! My absolute favorite is crochet, followed closely by knitting, cross stitch, mixed media collage, sewing...the list goes on and on! I teach crochet classes at the big box craft store where I work, and I have been lucky enough to have a booklet of my designs published with Leisure Arts! More on that later :) I am currently working on my first crocheted ripple blanket, after being inspired by all the great ripple fun being had by Lucy of Attic24! She is one of my favorite bloggers to follow, her posts are always full of vibrant color and fun! Here is a current shop of my ripple, just started this morning:

It's going to be a striped affair, each color going for 4 rows before switching to the next. I originally intended for this to be a baby blanket, but it's a little too wide for that! We'll have to see how it turns out in the end. It's great fun so far, and it seems to be moving at a nice pace. I have the day off tomorrow, so there will be plenty of crochet time while my 3 wee people are at school!