February Update- Baby Props!

February Update- Baby Props!

This month I have been busy crocheting props for a photographer friend.  She has been getting a lot of baby shoots and needed a few things for her pictures.  It's been fun making things on a smaller scale.  While they may be smaller, they are not always quicker to make than the full-size hats.

First hats to be made were a newsboy type hat.  Used 3 different patterns trying to find one that made a hat that I liked. I tested 3 different newsboy hats.  They all came out in different sizes even though the patterns all said they were for a newborn baby.  

But- newborn babies come in different sizes as well.  So... all is well!

  

Using the first pattern, I made a hat in Barley so that it would look like a tweed hat.  Using the second pattern, I made a hat using Eggshell.  Then so that the hats would have more functional options I made an attachable flower.  The flower was made so that it could be used alone as a headband or attached to the hat.  Think they turned out pretty cute!

Teri's next baby shoots were for boys.  So for these shoots we added a swaddle sack in addition to a few hats.

Can't wait to hear how these worked in her photo sessions!

I didn't have time today to 

track down all the links to these patterns.  I will try  and get back and add them to this post.  If you need them before I put them here you can email me and I will send them to you. 

January Hats

Welcome 2013 with all your crochet and craft possibilities!

In January, I found myself LESS motivated to crochet than I had been during the holidays!  70+ degree days (30 degrees above normal) left me totally unmotivated to crochet hats that were supposed to be for cold weather!  But hats had been ordered and people were waiting for them. So, I forced myself to pretend it was cold outside and crocheted the month away!

First, I made this cute shell stitch hat by Grow Creative.  The pattern can be found on her blog here.  I used Lion's Brand Homespun-Montana Sky.  Think it turned out really cute!  Added a wooden button to the center for contrast. 

Next, I worked on this LEGO Blockhead Man hat.  I bought the pattern for $4.50 from Craftsy here.  I used "I Love This Yarn" from Hobby Lobby. I really like the texture of the stitch used to make this hat.  I am not a fan of hats made in the round but this pattern was very easy to follow. I did have some problems when trying to attach the top part of the hat. Since the hat was made in rounds instead of rows, it was very difficult to get the added piece on top of the hat to come out in an exact circle. I ended up having to loosely stitch a circle of black yarn around the top.  I was then able to follow the circle for attaching the top to the LEGO hat. After crocheting the added piece I carefully removed the black stitching. 

An additional problem I had with the hat was that it ended up being too small. (This is a problem with any pattern that does not give a gauge for testing before beginning) I made the child/teen size for a 4th grade boy. My finished hat was too tight around and needed a few more rows for length.  

Finished, the hat measured 18 1/2 inches around and 7 1/2 inches from top to base. I am going to remake this hat again using a larger hook and make rounds 1-5 in rows(instead of rounds).  That way I will have a well defined circle to work from when attaching the top of the hat. I will probably add 3 more rows of yellow at the end as was well before changing to the base color. 

In spite of the quirks of working with a new pattern, I think it turned out really cute!  This one is for sale for $15 local pickup and $20 with shipping and handling.

Now.... back to crocheting!

Valentine Hand and Heart Crafts

I miss my little preschool darlings.  Holidays are the time when I miss them the most.  I loved doing art projects with them- especially any project that involved painting their hands!

Today I am sharing 2 Valentine ideas from 2004.

The first:  I Hand You my Heart  ...  My son made this when he was 5.  His hand is small then compared to his hands now.  To make: Print the hand on white paper.  Cut out a red heart to lay underneath.  Print up the saying, cut out and mount on colored paper.  Be sure to include a space for the date and one for them to sign it.  Glue all of that onto a big paper circle.  I had access to a laminator so I laminated ours.  This was done for color brightening as well as protection.

The second: Heart Candy Yarn lacing project.

Cut our two medium size red hearts of construction paper or card stock.  I laminated my hearts to provide added strength while lacing. I printed and laminated the small poem as well.  I punched holes evenly around the edge of the heart about 1 in from the edge.  Starting at the top, the children laced their heart all the way around.  Just before getting lacing the last of the holes the children filled their heart with Hershey chocolate hugs and kisses.  I helped them put the poem on the yarn and then tie it with a bow.  Parents loved these.  Kids did too!

Here is the poem:

This laced Valentine is just for you
I made it with my fingers without any glue
Hugs and kisses it will bring
When you tug on the heart's string.

Happy early Valentine's Day!

Fighting the Flu...

Keep seeing posts from friends who have the flu.  I also keep hearing that they got the flu shot and STILL got the flu.  Wishing they all get well soon!  Legoman and I did not get shots this year.  So far, no flu here.  Using essential oils and other ways to see if we can avoid it.  Read Maria's Farm Country Kitchen blog post today.  She posted 9 Natural Ways to Prevent the Flu this Winter on her blog today. Click here to see her blog post.  Going to be adding several of her prevention ideas to what we are already doing!  Sharing her post so that you can heal from or avoid the flu in your family.  Stay well!

5 Little Snowmen

Once upon a time,.......... a long, long, long time ago in what seems like another lifetime, I taught 2-year old preschool.  I LOVED it!  Those kids were so funny and so FULL of energy.  I enjoyed everything we did but, I especially LOVED doing the hand/foot print art projects with them.  If you were to follow my Pinterest Hand/foot board (found here) you would see that I love all things related to printing of a child's hands, fingers, and feet!  I think they make the most special of art projects for friends and family!  They are definitely the keepers of a child's art projects!  Wish I had done more with my own children when they were younger!!!  Don't think my 14 year old with his adult size 14 feet would be very cooperative! But,... one day I will have grandchildren and we will have LOTS of printing fun!

One of my favorite projects we did way back when was a white hand print that we decorated as snowmen. I have seen several examples of this on many blogs but have never seen one with the poem we used with ours.  Not sure where the poem came from (If  yo know, please share with me as I would like to give the author credit).   I wanted to share the poem as I think it is so cute with the snowman hand print. Our class printed our hands on bright blue construction paper.  When the prints were dry, my aide and I decorated the fingers with different colored Sharpies to make our colorful snowmen.  We then attached a printed copy of the poem.  Here is a picture of our project.  I only had an old photocopy to share, so please forgive the poor photo quality.  Enjoy the Five Little Snowmen and make some of your own!

And...... here is the poem:

FIVE LITTLE SNOWMEN

Five little snowmen watching for the sun:

The first one said, "Let's have some fun!"

The second one said, "Let's race and run!"

The third one said, "Hooray, I've won!"

The fourth on said, "Look out! The sun!"

The fifth one said, "Uh oh, we're done!"

The last few stitches of 2012.....

January has been having RECORD highs in the South this year!  It has been in the mid 70's here for the first few weeks. So warm in fact that we have actually turned on the AC just to deal with the humidity.  So warm that the thought of crocheting warm, winter hats has been almost nauseating!  So thought I would take the time to post the last few hats crocheted in 2012.

My friend wanted me to make minion hats from Despicable Me.  I got the pattern from lizzziee .  You can get the pattern here for $3.99.  She designed a really cute and easy to follow pattern!  My friend wanted the hats to be matching but the options of goggle eyes and hair are numerous!  

Think they turned out REALLY cute!

Not only are they really cute and will be nice and warm once the weather cools off, they are just in time for the release of  Despicable Me 2 !  You can go here to watch the trailer for the movie which releases on July 3, 2013.  After watching the trailer, I'm going to make a lace headband to go with my next minion hat for a minion maid!  It's going to be so cute!

The same friend wanted me to make the same Bulky Skullcap that I had made in blue earlier in the month. I used the free Bulky Skullcap pattern from BirDeli's Handmade. I used Lion Brand's Homespun in Candy Apple.  The pattern worked up easily.  Seemed too short for me so I added 3 rows. I completed row 7 and then repeated it 3 times.  Then I picked back up at row 8 and finished as written.  Definitely need to use markers on this pattern. This pattern was quick and easy.  Used some of my husband's pottery clay to make the button that was used on this hat!  

Hardy Original Chex Party Snack Recipe

Had a scare this weekend.  Thought I had lost the Hardy family recipe for the Party Snack mix from the 1970's.  This recipe is not like the "Original Chex Mix" recipe that currently is printed on the Chex boxes. It is the original recipe doctored for the "Hardy" clan.  The present day  recipe for the "Original Chex Mix" box uses bagel chips and soy sauce!  Soy sauce?  NO! And bagel chips? Not for our family!  We are a Worcestershire loving group.  Don't want to misplace my recipe again or my family will revolt!!!!! So, posting it here for safe-keeping.  

Hardy ORIGINAL Chex Party Mix

6 Tablespoons margarine

4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

3/8 teaspoon garlic powder

3/8 teaspoon salt

6 cups of any of the following (corn chex, rice chex, stick pretzels, and nuts (fresh pecans are our nut choice)

  If you want it evenly proportioned use 1 1/2 cups of each.  

Heat oven to 250 F.  

Measure our chex, pretzels, and nuts.  Put in large mixing bowl. 

Melt margarine in glass measuring cup in microwave.  Stir in Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and salt.  

Pour this mixture over dry ingredients in large bowl.  Gently stir to cover all of the dry ingredients.  

Pour into 9 x 13 inch baking pan.  Heat in oven for 1 hour.  Stir every 15 minutes during the hour.

   end of 1st 15 minutes-stir,  

   end of 2nd 15 minutes-stir, 

   end of 3rd 15 minutes-stir, 

   end of 4th 15 minutes-stir and  remove from oven)

My further tweaking to the family recipe is to use at least 1/2 teaspoon each of garlic powder and salt.  And I always double the recipe so that we can share with my father-in-law!