March Madness! March 6, 2013

Time I think for some updates on what’s to be expected for March 🙂

Firstly Jano and I have made the decision that dear Davi needs another pup to run the property and play with here! We’ve been searching a lot of shelters both near and far recently in the search for the PERFECT fit. I know that my love of Shepherds is the reason we are looking at that breed in specific, and Jano is adament on getting a boy (being every pet we’ve had together has been female lol). I will definitely be keeping you posted with updates on how that search is going!

I finally did it – opened my own Etsy store to start selling some of my crochet goodies that I post on here all the time! I’ve had a couple sales through that and its corresponding Facebook page already, so things are going well 🙂

Just a quick picture of one of my latest projects, a baby blanket/teddy for a friend who just  had a baby girl! There will be a post coming soon with more of my projects and creative adventures in the near future!

Our church has started a new opportunity to serve our community. They have displayed at the church a list of items needed by local shelters and programs. This ended up presenting me with a perfect way to marry my love of crocheting and helping out… you see one of the items requested was blankets, so I have begun crocheting squares out of all my extra yarns lying around and will put together a couple homemade crocheted blankets to donate 🙂 I will be posting pictures as this continues to progress!

Anyone else out there getting crochet happy? Any fun pet stories to share? I have a good one involving dear Pippen but that’s for another post 😉

A Shoutout to All My Fellow Tea Addicts!!! February 2, 2013

I am a tea addict, I totally admit it! I have a larger selection of teas in my house than probably anything else, and I know I spend more than I probably need to on different flavours of loose leaf teas that catch my attention. There is one thing though that continues to perplex me… no matter how many I purchase the infusers always seem to be missing.

I have tried asking my husband before, but he apparently is never aware of where they went. I’m starting to wonder about the existance of an elf or gnome that gets his little rocks off on stealing my infusers… tonight was no exception.

We’ve had a rough day today, I will save the reason for that for another blog post. All I wanted was to steep a mug of this beautiful Stress Reliever tea that I purchased from a Steeped Tea representative. I had seen posts on Pinterest many times talking about the ways to make DIY tea bags before, but always skipped by not sure I’d ever care to take the time to do that. Why would I when an infuser worked so beautifully? Well here’s why… living in the middle of nowhere with a good drive to get to any store and just wanting a comforting mug of tea I went ahead and gave it a try.

The result? Something we should all know how to do!!!!! All you’ll need is your favourite loose leaf tea, basic round coffee filters, scissors, a stapler and string (optional).

First cut the top and bottom off the coffee filter in order to make it a long rectangular shape.

Take the recommended amount of tea per cup for your favourite loose leaf tea and place it onto the filter, divided into two individual piles.

Fold the bottom third of the filter up over the tea, and the top third of the filter down over the tea to make it into one long tube like shape with the tea enclosed, still in its 2 piles, in the middle.

Placing a single finger in the middle, between the two piles of tea, fold the tube up in half, keeping one pile of tea on each side.

Press it down flat. Focus now on the top where the tube is still open. Fold the top corners down creating a sealed off, pointed end at the top of your newly created tea bag.

Fold this triangular portion over, flat against the tea bag. If you are adding a string to remove it from your cup you would do so now. We didn’t bother. I couldn’t find string in a hurry and figured it would be easier to just fish it out with a spoon than to go running around the house trying to find one. Either with or without your string, staple this in place.

Voila! A completed tea bag! Drop it in your favourite mug, add water and you’re good to go! I’m sure these would also be a great addition to a DIY gift for a friend or family member. Adding string with a little customized tag would be a really cute touch!

Encouraging tea addicts everywhere! Enjoy!

Christmas Crafting! December 18, 2012

Its been awhile since I had a chance to post last – getting ready for the Christmas season seems to be keeping me uber busy both at work and at home!

I have however been getting some fun Christmas crafting done! I baked some adorable cookies and finished off a few Christmas gifts for various people and Secret Santa exchanges.

First the baking…. Melted Snowmen Cookies! Its something I first saw on Pinterest. They are just sugar cookies with Royal Icing for the melted snow, but slightly watered down. Then a marshmallow head (squished slightly), chocolate chip buttons and the rest is done in decorating icing.

 

Now onto the Christmas gifts! I didn’t do as many crocheted gifts as I would have liked this year, but I definitely did get a few done!

I made 2 of these guys for the kids of my exchange partner in a Christmas gift swap I took part in this year.

 

I also did some hat and scarf sets for a couple friends. They are both crocheted. The first is a basic acrylic yarn, in a cabled pattern. The second is 70% alpaca and uber soft.

Then I decided it was time to try something new. I had always wanted to work with Sashay yarn, but for some reason it intimidated me. I decided to bite the bullet. I started off crocheting, decided I was NOT a fan of crocheting with it, but had heard it was kind of fun to knit with. I am very much a novice knitter but decided to give it a try anyway… and LOVE the result! I picked up 3 more balls to make them for friends 🙂

 

So that’s what I have been up to in prep for the holiday season. Anyone else out there still working on some last minute Christmas gifts?

 

Around the House Crochet Fun November 25, 2012

Looking for some fun crochet projects that will add to your home but get your crochet or knitting fix in at the same time?

Recently I made a set of placemats and coasters as part of a gift swap that I was involved in, in the recipients favourite colour. These are 100% cotton and machine washable. What a fun way to personalize the dinner table!

This particular pattern was a little frilly but there are a ton out there. As always I refer you to one of my favourite sites – Ravelry!!

Not looking for something for the dining room? Place one placemat in the middle of a coffee table as a centrepiece and have matching coasters available.

Most importantly – Just have fun with it!!!

Btw that’s Pippen who is apparently really curious lol!