I was in a crochet flower kick awhile back and I think I must have made about a zillion of them…so of course I have been trying to come up with some different things to use them for.  My daughter was invited to a birthday party and all I had was this really plain white gift bag {not bad, but still, it could definitely be improved}:

So, I got my glue gun out, some lace, and a nice pink crochet flower and this is what I came up with! I thought it turned out super cute, and it turned my $1 dollar plain bag into a bag that well, looks like it cost a lot more…but it didn’t & that my friends is the best part!

All I can say, is that crochet flowers make everything look better! {wouldn’t you agree!?! ha ha}

You can find the crochet flower pattern that I used HERE!

Wow, I can’t believe how much I have been missing my blog lately. Seems like I haven’t done a thing with it in for-ev-er! And I can’t even use the excuse that we are building our house because, well, we haven’t started yet! BAH! I am hoping, hoping, hoping that we will start in the next few weeks…but, who knows. really. ?. That little question mark pretty much sums up life right now…exciting huh! hmmm?

In the meantime I have been spending a lot of time practicing my new knitting skills. I am so happy because I really really really enjoy it! If I wasn’t a true blue through and through crocheter I might consider liking it better than crochet…but I’m not going to venture that far yet. I would feel like too much of a traitor…and besides both knit and crochet have their own ups and downs. For instance: crocheting is lots faster {take that knitting!} but you can make really cool patterns in knitting {take that crochet} hmm. Someday, I’ll make a definitive decision. maybe

Anyhow, the point is that I finished the scarf I was making for my little Emerson. This is the first knitting project that I successfully started…though I completed a few others before I finished it. {A scarf sure can take a long time when you are a beginner!} I am currently working on an army of washcloths. I’m going to put together an awesome post with some really cool crochet & knitted washcloth patterns…it’s in the works…but we’ll just have to wait and see how long it takes me to get it done. If I keep going on the way I have been…it could be years from now. oh dear.

Signing off. Hope you have a fabulous day.

k l/k0/..

/kll[=-=

{that was just my son saying bye!}

I can’t believe another year has gone by, and that I am now the mother of a 4 year old. Holy Moly! Life just seems to go by so fast…especially lately…seems like just yesterday Audrey was a tiny baby and now she’s sporting stick on earrings and ring pops and she is quite the big lady (or so she told me today… )

This year for her birthday, I made this cute butterfly M&M cake:

I actually got the idea from a recipe on the back of a package of some Easter M&Ms, which I saved…for 5 long months, just so I could make this cake! (believe me, I was tempted a few times to eat all that chocolate…but I resisted…)

Here is what you will need:

-2 big bags of regular M&Ms (you will need 2 bags so you will have enough of the same color to make a pattern, I used Easter M&Ms which is how I got such girly colors, but I also know you can order M&Ms in any color that you want if you go to the M&Ms website)
-1 round cake.
-1 tub of yummy white store bought frosting

How To:

Cut your cake in half, flip the two halves out and cut little triangles out for the notch in the wings. Use the cut out triangles to make the center (body) of your butterfly. Then freeze your cake for an hour or so, (which will make it easier to frost) frost your cake, and decorate with your M&Ms.

I then just added squiggle candles (that you can buy at Walmart) for the antennas…I added 2 more after I took the picture since my daughter was turning 4.

And there you have it….a fun, easy, beautiful butterfly cake. woot!

ENJOY!

You can check out a few of the other cakes I have made here, here & here!

My husband has always claimed that he could ride a 2 wheel bike (with no training wheels) by the time he was three.  I have argued that one with him a time or two because, well, I never 100% believed  him…until:

yup…that is my 3 year old daughter out mastering skills I didn’t even have until I was 8. (embarrassing thing to admit huh?  ha ha. ) I guess it is possible my husband was telling the truth…oh boy, don’t I feel bad. :-]

So, here are a few bike tricks (taught to me by my landlord) that ought to help your little one learn to ride a bike, in only a few days (no joke!)

***If you are trying to teach a fairly young child, make sure that they are comfortable with riding the bike with training wheels first. They should be able to steer, pedal, and most importantly break…once they have mastered those skills I think they would be ready to try to learn how to ride***

1. Take off the  training wheels AND the pedals. Yup. Using a wrench just do like I said and take  ’em off!

2. Lower the seat so that your child can touch the ground using flat feet. (both feet should be flat…not just one)

3. Let your child learn how to balance and “glide”. (Always, with a helmet…Audrey was just posing for me so she didn’t have hers on)Have them kick start down the sidewalk and try to lift up their feet while they ride…it took my daughter about 5 minutes to understand what I was trying to make her do…but then she just went off and did it.

4. Put the pedals back on. After you feel like your child has mastered the technique of balancing that is. I let Audrey ride her bike for a good 4 days without pedals before we put them back on.

5. Watch your child ride away…and realize that they don’t need you anymore. ha ha. just kidding. I’m still the one who makes lunch.

Over at a soft place to land, they are having a giveaway where you could win one of these:

Good luck to all who want to win (because there are a gagillion of us!) Go! Enter! And if you win, I will be very jealous…

I am so excited! I (yes me: the girl who does everything crochet, and whose brain used to actually shut off if you even mentioned the word knit) actually knitted these pretty little slippers for my daughter!!!!!

I’ve actually been practicing my knit skills for the past few months, I’ve been working on a little scarf for my son…but I was inspired when I picked up this little book at the library called Quick Knits (for kids—yup, I figured I should start out simple), and I decided to take a little break from the scarf and try these cute slippers out! They were soooo easy!!! YAY…I love knitting! How cool is that! (I never thought I would see the day when those words would slip so easily out of my mouth)

Anyhow, I am excited and I just wanted to share my joy! Wahoo!!!

like strawberry freezer jam! YUM!

(This was the first time I’ve ever made it…though I have spent lots of summers eating it! It was surprisingly simple and my daughter loved helping me cut up all the strawberries…I already know, I didn’t make enough! )

I know I haven’t been blogging much as of late…but I thought I should warn you that it might be getting worse before if ever has a chance of getting better. OH NO! And yet for me it is kind of exciting…

BECAUSE:

My little family has just been approved by Utah’s Rural Housing Development Corporation (RHDC) to build our own home. And when I say build…I’m using it in a pretty literal sense, meaning: my husband and I will be on the work site 35 hours a week building our own home. CRAZY! (am I crazy!?! I think I might be crazy…)

I’m hoping that I wont completely fall off the face of the planet for the next 8 or so months…but I know for sure that I’m not going to have much time for crafting and that perhaps this site (through no fault of its own) may go in a manly construction direction for a bit. I told my husband that surely I could find a little bit of time to blog about the proper way to hold a hammer (once I learn how of course )

I have to say that I am super excited to get started…and I feel so blessed that we will finally have a house of our very own! I must admit that I am a bit tired of living in a basement…. YAY for future windows that are above the ground!

Here is a video about some houses they built a few years ago in Provo…I think it is fun to watch….he he.

This past week has been pretty crazy. We spent the entire week camping, hiking, playing, swimming, boating, sunburning, and not sleeping. It was fun….but boy am I glad it is over, and that I get to just stay home for a few days and sleep…uh, I mean clean, and do laundry and put things away…. Summer is great isn’t it…but so tiring too…zzz. zzzz.. zz. z.

So while we were on our little camping trip we made these fun little campfire cakes in an orange. And believe me when I say YUM. =)

Here’s How:

1. Cut the top off of your orange, hollow out the inside (making sure to eat all of that orange goodness so it doesn’t go waste), and keep the top of your orange to use as a “lid”

2. Fill your orange(s) about half way with nice,yummy, delicious, scrumptious, chocolate cake batter (that has been made according to package directions) then place your “lid” back on your orange and wrap the whole thing up with tin-foil.

3. Bake under nice hot coals for about 40 (ish) minutes… and make sure you make a few extra because they are sooooo good you will definitely want more than one!

(oh, and don’t be tempted to fill your orange too full, or your’s might spill out like mine did…but don’t worry, it was still YUMMM EEE!)

Enjoy!

This post is linked at:

Made by you Mondays @ Skip to My Lou

It has been 10 days since my last post, so I thought I should sit down and write something to put on my blog. I’ve been sitting here for much too long, and not really coming up with anything to say…am I getting out of practice? OH NO!

Anyhow, the past few weeks I’ve been busy crocheting washcloths. My aunt has been coming over a couple times a week for “crochet pattern reading lessons”, and we’ve started quite a few projects: bookmarks, afghans, washcloths, pot holders…anyhow, we’ve been having fun, though we’ve got so many projects going I must admit to feeling a tad bit overwhelmed. The pressure is building to finish something….and so today, I completed a set of matching washcloths, tied them up with ribbon, and put them in a box ready and waiting for Christmas gift giving. (AHHHHH….”so much time so little to do. Strike that, reverse it” ha ha)

My aunt came up with this simple pattern on her own…and I absolutely love it. It makes for a nice scrubbing washcloth, that isn’t too thick, and in my opinion is just the right size.

The pattern:

SC: Single Crochet

BLO: Back Loop Only

Chain 30 (or more if you like big washcloths). turn.  *In the 2nd chain from hook SC in BLO, continue to SC in BLO in each stitch across. Ch 1. Turn and repeat from * until you have achieved your desired length. Finish off.

happy crocheting!

This post is linked at:

Made by You Mondays @ Skip to My Lou
MomSpiration Mondays @ Moms By Heart