Giving Crochet Another Try

~What I Learned From My Grandma~

My Grandma Sylvestra (Beta) had many talents. 

The thing she will be known for the most is her crocheting.

She was the best out there. She can take something as simple as a ball of yarn and spin it into something beautiful. I was fortunate enough to have spent some evenings with her and trying to learn anything she would teach me.

When I look back at my life so far, those are the simple moments that I cherish the most. I enjoyed learning to crochet with my Grandma, but I grew up, moved away and she passed on.

It's been almost 20 years, but I thought I would give crocheting another try.

I'm starting with some very simple projects like beanies and scarves to get the hang of it. Then graduate to more complex projects.

This was the my first attempt at a beanie for me.

It would fit me, if I were still 9months old.

Moving on!

This was my second attempt. SUCCESS!

Here are the beanies I just made for my sisters
The red one is for Vanessa and the white for Yolanda. I know the flower on hers is super big, but I was practicing flowers and wanted to try making a big one. It's not on permanently.

More size proportionate flower.

Here are the Mommy and MJ matching camo beanies

I love my little guy, he's too cute for words sometimes.

Ladies beanie w/pom-pom. The things I make MJ do.

This is what I will be working on in between

A basket weave scarf.

Well, this is what I have been doing with my time these past few weeks. If I can crank them out this quick, I might sell them (I'll have to get better tho).



¿What's In A Name?

Person Unknown?



I noticed something about Mark the other day. He very seldom calls me by name. No Olivia, no hun, no sweetie, nothing. If he wants my attention he will simply approach me and start talking. When he calls me on the phone he starts out by saying, "Hey" (is that what now passes for a pet name?) or "Can you...." (meaning he has a favor to ask of me). This isn't something that just started, he's always been like that.

Kinda weird huh!

He does use my name when he is talking to others and referring to me. So I know he does in fact know what my name is. That's a relief.

Well my first thought was something must be wrong if he can't use my name in a sentence.  I asked him about it and he was stymied too. He said he never noticed it before. Then I did the dumb thing every broad does, I asked if there was something wrong. Yep, I went there.  He, of course, said no.  Then I proceeded to lightly grill him on why he didn't use my name in any form. Then I stopped myself and thought about it for a minute and remembered. He's a man and I'm a woman. We are not wired the same, we don't think the same and don't put importance on the same trivial things. Men really are more simplistic than us women (not to imply they are simpletons, because they are not). They simply don't over think things the way we sometimes do.

I am a person that has always said and firmly believes actions are more important than words, or lack there of in this instance.  His actions speak volumes in regards to what I mean to him and my place in this little family of ours.

So he doesn't call me by name, What's the BFD? I am the only other person in the house. If he is talking, he is obviously talking to me, right? He may be talking to MJ, but I doubt MJ knows where Mark set his phone down.

Mark asked me if I would like for him to use my name more often. He was very sincere and said he was sorry if this hurt my feelings. I said there was no need to apologize and it really didn't hurt my feelings. I was merely curious on why he didn't.

Besides ladies, when does a man use your name? They call you when want something.  Honey, what's to eat? Sweetie, where are my car keys? Love, did you pick up my dry cleaning? Darling, have you...... You get the idea.

So I remain the unnamed person in our home and that's totally fine with me.

Me 3rd Birthday Pirate Party!

Arrh Mateys!

MJ's THREEEEE!

Having a January birthday in Spanish Springs has its challenges. If you're an adult it's no problem at all, but when you have a little one, problem.

January is cold and snowing, so you are left with only a few options for a party. I really didn't feel like spending hundreds of dollars just for a venue to have a party. That's just for the room! Not too mention adding food, cake etc.

I thought if I kept it small I can do one indoors in my home.

So that's what we did for MJ's 3rd Birthday.
We (meaning I) decided a pirate theme would be fun. I know it's been done
a million times before, but this is the first time I have done it.
So that makes it okay, right?

Here is the cake and goodies table.



~Cookie Pops~
Red tissue paper and a red plastic cup was all I
needed to display them.

 Made some pirate cookies and cookie pops, They were really fun to do.If you make them yourself you can really save a fortune over buying them from a baker. It does take some practice and you really have to like doing this.
Look closely at the cookies. I used an ornament cut out to make the pirate boy faces. Just turned it on it's side and now it's a bandanna!
 

  




For the cookies, I used a paper goodie box treasure chest.  I lined it with red tissue and got a treat box.



I wrapped a couple of boxes and set them on the table and used

then for the cake/cupcake display. A lot cheaper than

a cake stand.

Cake is covered in fondant, I added the little pirate figures and

the pirate candles. I dyed some fondant black and cut out the

tracks for the treasure map on the cake. I also make the "MJ and 3"

out of fondant. Added the gold coin confetti and it cake out great.

 The pirate ship was a pinata I bought at the party store and the treasure chest are the same ones I used for the cookies.

This was a chest was a gift I received for Christmas

and thought it would make a great treasure chest.

I put all the paty favors in it with the loot bags and let the

kids pick out what they wanted.

MJ Posing Before the Festivities!

This is his friend Sara. She was so CUTE in her pirate costume.

Let the Birthday Party Begin!

This is Captain Jack Spareribs. I wanted to do something a little different. Getting him for the party was definately different!

 

                   MJ and Captain Jack performing a magic trick.

 This is Maynard the Monkey. Yeah, he did a ventriloquist act too! The kids really liked him. I thought he did a great job keeping the kids entertained.

Maynard the Monkey singing Happy Birthday to My Monkey

This kids watching Captain Jack to his thing!

 

 Group Shot!

MJ and the Captain

HaPpY BiRtHdAy My LiTtLe MoNkEy!!!

It was really a fun day and a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to the kids and moms

that made his day extra special.

I am truly fortunate to know each and every one of you!





Monster In A Bag

Craft for Toddler Busy Bag Swap

One of the Mom's in our play group (Helen!) had a great idea for a toddler busy bag swap.

The idea was to get a few moms to make a kids craft project to swap with other moms.

The craft are all handmade, reusable and portable.

I chose to make the Monster In A Bag.

This was a little time consuming, but turns out it's a hit with MJ!

Here are a few of the supplies I picked up at Michael's:

A few different colors of felt

Pipe cleaners

Non stick back eyes (so they can reuse)

small pom-poms

The first thing I did was cut out the body of the
Monster using brown felt. I next cut out some teeth
and used the non-stick eyes.

Pipe cleaner works great for the arms and legs

Then you just start cutting our various shapes to
use on the face. Any color you wish and any shape
that suits you. A little shredded paper to make some hair and put extra eyes is fun too! There is no set method and very inexpensive.

I had some felt stars from another project and that worked

out great for a Star Monster.

Then the Big Guy decided he wanted to get into the act!

I did not know he was so crafty!

    This was the Big Guy's Star Monster

complete with a Coors bottle cap hat!

Lots of fun, inexpensive and very easy to do.

I spent a total of $8.50 for the supplies. I made only 12, but had enough to make a least 20.

Not a bad for a couple of hours work!