Making a comeback!

Okay, so I have not been gone from here that long... but it sure did feel like. I am not really sure why I have not blogged for 20 whole days, but everytime I visited my little bloggy world it seemed that the energy and insperation drained out of me and I lost all motivation to write a new blog post in favor of looking at all of the wonderful blogs that I have tagged! I am sure at least some of you have been there...

So, I really have been up to quite a bit lately (on top of trying to get ready for our up-coming conferences!!!) I have made at least five more cell phone holders (these are a really big hit), I completed a Minnesota University pillow for a friend, made a car pillow for a very close friend, made a bunch of up-cycled furniture for my daughter's barbie collection, and made blankets and pillows for said furniture. So, I guess I have been pretty busy....want to see?

This is my daughter's doll bunk bed and how we made it...

First I took a small flat box and cut into two equal halves. I cut a second box into rectangles that were the height I wanted the beds and would wrap around the sides of the beds by about one inch. Then I covered all the pieces in duct tape!

 I taped the pieces to gether and this is what I got!

My little girl loves it and the dolls fir nicely!

 Of corse, I could not stop there! I had to make the bed some pillows and blankets! So tiny and fun!

We also made a smaller bed for her smaller doll, a couch, a chair, a table, and two kitchen chairs. Sorry, the table and kitchen chairs are not pictured, but you can see the smaller bed in the picture above, and the couch and chair in the picture below.

All this took was a little imagination and a couple rolls of duct tape!

 As I said, that has not been my only project over the last few weeks....

Here is the maroon side of the MNU pillow I made for a friend.

 Here is the yellow side.

I really like it. I think it turned out really nice, and better yet, she really liked it! Strangely enough, that means more to me than liking it myself!

Here is the car pillow I made for a close family friend. He is really into old cars...

The front...

 The back...

I made it with an over laping flap so that the pillow form could be removed for easy washing. I think it turned out really nice and it was immediatly enjoyed by its recipient!

Hope this post was not information overload! I also have some pictures from my son's second birthday which we celebrated last weekend, but I will save those for a later post. :)

Yum!!!

Busy, busy, busy....but that is not new! I have been up to some fun stuff with the kiddos as of late. For example, tonight we made puppy chow Alisia style! Want the recipe?  You know you do!

1 jar (18oz) Peanut Butter
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 and 1/2 bags of chocolate chips (15oz)
Melt in microwave for 1 min. Stir. Melt an additional 30 seconds to fully melt chocolate.
Add:
2 TBSP. Vanilla
Stir.
Pour 1 box (12oz) hexagon shaped corn and rice cereal into a large bowl and pour the chocolate mixture over.
Stir until well coated.
Pour one bag (approx 2lbs) powdered sugar over cereal mixture. Place plastic wrap over bowel and secure with tape (I used duck tape, but I LOVE duck tape). Shake until cereal is well coated.

Here comes the best part.......

EAT!!!!!

Can you tell that I am extreemly thrilled with my puppy chow?!

So easy, so good....So YUM!!!!

Happy Birthday Mama!

My Mother's birthday is on Monday. I wanted to make something special just for her, and have been thinking about it for awhile. I bought some Elvis fabric nearly a year ago thinking I would make her a pillow or a lap quilt using that...well, that did not happen. Instead I turned to my crafty passion of crochet and made her a purse!

Here are the photos:

Side View

 Inside View

The clip I added to easily find keys

Finishing Mom's birthday gift is not the only thing I have been up to today...I also made these!

Four of the six phone holsters that have been ordered.  I just need to find the perfect button for the one on the left...

Through it all, I have my cozy companion Max to keep me company (the kiddos are asleep). Max usually takes advantage of my empty lap while I blog. Smart cat! Sorry, but as soon as he saw the camera he refused to look in my direction. He is quite camera shy!

A Little Something for a Little Something

So, what do you do when you face a problem and can not buy a suitable solution to it? Well, if you are like me, you craft your way through it! What was the problem, you may ask...well, I am continuously turning on the internet or other random functions on my phone while it is in my pocket. Of corse these acts go unnoticed by me until the phone begs for mercy in the sound of an annoying beep that lets me know that the phone is going to die, and soon. Oh, by the way, I LOVE my phone! So I went on a quest to find the perfect holster for my phone, only to find that, well, I could not find one. Oh, there were some available, but they were so blah! So, what is a crafty person to do but make their own!

Front view...

Back view...

Side view...

I chose to make this holster out of 100% cotton yarn with a few stripes running through of fun fur. I added a loop and button for secure closure (I teach Preschool and one never knows) and a loop to the back to thread through my belt. I will also have a clasp that can be added to the back loop so this can strapped onto a purse handle or belt loop. I tried it out today, and I LOVE IT! My phone did not get accidentally turned on and it was near by (no hurried searches for it).

I showed this to some of my co-workers and they loved it. I already have orders to make three more! Not bad for a project invented to solve my own frustration!

Yes, it is another hat.

So, apparently I am not yet tired of making hats! My squeeze it in during the week; finish up on the weekend project has been a hat for one of my assossciates. It turned out really cute and is a design of my own, so I am quite proud of it. Her coat is the same shade of green, so I think they will go nicely together. This was also the second go for this hat as I miscalculated the size the first time around and ended up with one that is a perfect fit for my toddler. For his, I added a pom-pom to the top and left off the snowflakes.

Me 'modeling' the hat...

Another view (still me)...

I like this pattern so much. It works up fairly quickly and is quite warm.

Someone would like to say hello (Ok, a couple someones)....

This is Maxwell Smart. We call him Maxi. He is a 'Havana Brown' and I rescued him last year. He is a great help at keeping my lap warm while I 'work' at the computer, or anytime I sit down really! I do not think he was too impressed with having me take his photo.

This lovely "little" guy is Mr. Beefy. He is an old english bulldog and has been with us for eight years now. He loves to have his picture taken and will ham it up as soon as he sees me with the camera!

This is Frank or Franky as we call him. He is a Pug and has been with us for seven years. He is currently featured in his favorite spot. Nestled on my favorite blanket and 'guarding' my current crochet project! He looks sweet and innocent, but turn your back on him for a moment and he is into one form or mischief or another....reminds you of children doesn't it!

Speaking of children...

A picture of the non-furry variety.

He looks so grown up in this photo!

Little Miss painting her nails with the pretty polish brought by Santa.

I think this is his "please" face! Can you tell he likes pudding!

My Student's Gifts

So, although these hats have been finished for a while now and have been gifted to the children in my class, I am finally getting the pictures of the student's gifts posted to my page! I took a few pictures...

The perfect circle...

All fanned out...

Getting lined up... 

 Stacked up and ready to wrap...

I absolutely love the colors all laid out together! They were a lot of fun to make and I had the pattern memorized by the third one! It was really interesting to see how the different varigated yarns worked up. My personal favorite was the one that looked like moons. Now I just need to start thinking of what to make my new group of students next year. Hmmm.... perhaps scarves ot teddy bears... any suggestions?

Ready for Some Football!!!!

As promised, here it is! This pillow was a big hit at Christmas and I am making another one for charity!

This is the front...

Here is the back...

This pillow ended up being the perfect soluition to what to get for a 12 year old boy for Christmas! He seemed to really like it! I personally love it! Not too bad for a 'last minute' gift.