Yes, I Am Still Here

So, it's been quite some time since I last posted to my crafty blog. About 8 months to be exact. To say my life has been busy is an understatement. We recently added another addition to our family. Casey was born on October 29th. He has been a great (although somewhat fussy) addition to our family. He certainly has added to the chaos.

I am still able to keep up with my love of crafts whenever I can find the time. I finished a lot of things over the summer while I still had some time to myself. Below is a list of some of the items I finished. I hope to post a few pictures the next time I can actually find the camera, it has charged batteries and I can find the projects I completed. That will be a miracle in itself.

1. I finished Riley's Christmas stocking. Yes, she is two, but it is a counted cross stitch stocking that kept getting put aside throughout the past 3 years while other projects took over. I still have to actually stitch the backing on it to make it into an actual stocking, but the hard part is done.

2. I made the girls Halloween skirts and shirts. They are adorable.

3. I made the girls matching polka dot corduroy jumpers. They had their 3 and 4 year pictures taken in them. They didn't turn out as cute as I had envisioned, but oh well.

4. I finished the drapes for the toy room/formal living room. Eventually toys will not rule our home and we actually will have a formal living room. I have visions of a huge comfy chair that sits in front of the fireplace that I can knit or read in front of. M...a...n...y Y...e...a...r...s from now.

5. I made new drapes and a crib dust ruffle for Casey's room. It is very difficult to make drapes when you are pregnant. Why I felt the need to not only make drapes for the toy room, but also two different drapes for the nursery is beyond me.

6. I knit Casey three different winter hats while we were on vacation at Edisto Beach, South Carolina.

7. I made the girls ruffle skirts and tank tops to match for the summer out of strawberry fabric. Very cute.

8. I made the same ruffle skirts out of some pink and brown fabric. Very cute also.

9. I am about halfway through monkey murals in Casey's room. He has the biggest room of the kids, yet it doesn't feel very cozy. I am all about coziness. I decided to paint some murals on the wall to try to get a more cozy feeling. I think it is working.

That's all I can think of right now. I'll add to my list as I think of more. Maybe pictures too.

Sydney's Easter Dress

My main goal for Spring Break was to get Sydney's Easter dress made. It's a fairly simple dress, so realistically it shouldn't take long to make. The girls typically take 2 hour naps at the same time so I didn't think it would take long to get it done. I was wrong.

Monday Sydney decided she just didn't want to take a nap. I tried to sew while she was supposed to be keeping herself occupied, but that just didn't happen.

Yesterday Riley decided she didn't want to take a nap. I worked with her for an hour and a half trying to get her to nap so needless to say not much sewing got done.

I think I'll try to get them busy with toys and cartoons this morning so I can hopefully get some sewing done this morning.

Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have a completed dress to photograph and post. I don't think I'll hold my breath though.

Cute Buttons

While looking through the many blogs I visit on a daily basis I came across these cute buttons:

They look super easy to make. I think they would look cute on the kids sweaters I sometimes make. I came across the pattern/instructions while looking at a blog called Yarn on the House. The writer of the blog gives away yarn to people who post comments on her blog. What a great way to get people to read your blog. I hope one of these days I will win some yarn. With my luck, it will be yarn I already have or don't like.

Great Idea for the Girls' Rooms

I have quite a few craft blogs I look at regularly. I've gotten some great idea of some things I would love to do.





This is something I really want to do for the girls' rooms this summer:

They look super easy and I think they would look fun in both Sydney and Riley's rooms.

I also want to get some drapes finally made for Sydney's room. Although this summer it will become Riley's room. They sleep in the opposite room so I decided when I change their clothes over this spring I'm going to swap their rooms. Sydney's room is done in Dora the Explorer which Riley absolutely loves now. Sydney is into the Disney Princesses now so I thought I would make over Riley's plain jane room into a Princess room for Sydney. Nothing much, just a few Princess accents here and there. Of course, by the time I finally get it done Syd probably won't like the Princesses anymore.

New Bathroom Curtains

There is a great fabric store in Springfield, Missouri called the FM store. It's a whole in the wall, but they have the best home decorating fabrics at dirt cheap prices. Since my sister, Ginger, lives in Springfield I go to the store every time I am in town. I've never really bought any fabric, just drooled over it.

We spent the Thanksgiving weekend with her family so this time I went with a mission. My birthday was at the beginning of November so I had some birthday money burning a whole in my pocket. I set out to buy fabric to make drapes for our formal living room (currently the toy room) and the bathroom in my room. I found some great fabric, brought it home and it has been sitting every since.

It's not that I haven't had the time to sew. It's just that my craft room/guest bedroom is freaking cold during the winter. Over the past couple of days I set up a space heater and faced the elements to get my drapes done.

I've finished the drapes for my bathroom.

Here's a before picture:

And here is the after picture:

This is how they look closed.


And somewhat opened.

I think I will get some kind of tassels or tie backs to pull them back over on the sides. They won't stay open on their own and look the way I want them to look. This way they look kind of sloppy.

I love the fabric and the results.

Riley wanted to be in the picture, so here she is with the new drapes and part of Sam, our dog.

Piggy Mittens

Throughout my blog searching I came across a website called Ravelry. It's kind of like a Craigslist for knitters. You can sell knitting supplies, articles that are hand knit and knitting patterns. One of the patterns I came across was one for piggy mittens. The best part was that it was a free download. So...I downloaded it to my computer and have been working on making Sydney and Riley piggy mittens.

They don't take long to make. The hard part has been knitting with five needles. I have knit with four before and it wasn't hard. Five isn't so hard either, it's just that they are smaller needles and the finished product is small. It would be easier too if I wasn't interrupted constantly by a 2 and 3 year old. I really should learn to knit harder things AFTER the girls have gone to bed.

I have one pair complete. These are for Riley. I think when I make Sydney's I will changed the cuff. I don't think these mittens are going to stay on very well, but they are cute!

Welcome to My New Crafty Blog

For the past month or two I have spent a great deal of time looking at people's craft blogs. I have some great ideas of knitting, painting, sewing, home decorating, and food making projects. I have a list of 5 blogs I check and daily. Only one of them is updated daily. The others update periodically.

I decided as I was looking the the blogs that maybe I should start my own. I doubt there is anyone out there who will find all my various projects interesting, but you never know. I'm sure when Pioneer Woman and the Yarn Harlot started their blogs they had no idea they would become as popular as they have.

I have no special talents to share. I just like a variety of crafty hobbies and keep myself busy in the evenings by knitting, cross stitching, blogging, etc.

So...here's my shot at my crafty blog. We'll see how it goes. Who knows, maybe I'm a Yarn Harlot or Pioneer Woman in the making.