wreaths

I have a few wreaths up around my place right now, I still have a couple I want to try and make before the season is up. I'm actually going to hit up Wal Mart tonight to get some supplies for another one.

This first one I'm sharing is one I made last year but I added some granny stars to it.


These next two, I whipped up really fast one night. I cut out some wreath forms out of a diaper box, then took some tinsel and wrapped it around. I added the granny stars because everything seems to have granny stars around here this year. I really like the look of them, so far they are my favorite decorations here.

christmas ornament swap #1

I can finally post about the Christmas ornament swap I was in over at Daisy Quilts now that I know my swap partner Donna got hers in the mail.



This is the ornament I received from Donna, how cute is that patchwork star? I love it! Right now it is residing with my granny star garland that's up on my fireplace. I really love the center button, it's adorable!



This is the ornament I sent. I didn't have any end result in mind when I started, I just crocheted until I got something and I actually really liked what it turned into! I used two pieces of yarn while I crocheted to make it bulky (both were a sparkly yarn from Bernat) and made a circle. Then by weaving the green and red yarns through, I made it a wreath ornament. I think it's a cute and fun ornament.

i ♥ faces: sweet dreams

I've only participated in I ♥ Faces once before but when I saw what the theme this week was, I knew I had to get in on it again! I wasn't sure what type of picture I should choose because I have so many of my kids sleeping in such strange positions and just plain sweet looking ones.



I chose to go with a sweet one. I love this picture of Lizzy! She's always fighting her naps and then falling asleep somewhere. This was a time where she was on the couch, a nice comfy sleep for her. Her naps aren't usually this comfy, she's usually twisted up, on her face or standing up against something. I would share one of those pictures if she wasn't just in her undies. Too bad because they are some of the funniest pictures I have of her!

happy birthday

My oldest Sami turned 5 yesterday, she now believes that she is too old to be called a kid now. I asked her what she is now, she thinks she will be a mom soon. She's a funny kid that one. It was a quiet birthday, all the kids are really sick right now. I made some cute little present cakes, I wish I could have gotten a picture because they really were cute. Sami loved having "Happy Birthday" sung to her, this girl loves to be the center of attention.

We have a few birthdays in December, it seems like a lot of our family was born this month. My second baby's birthday is tomorrow too. It makes for a crazy busy month for sure. I don't think my kids get ripped off in the present department just because it's so close to Christmas, I almost wish they would, they get a lot of new toys this month. It's a good thing we go through their toys before their birthdays to give to kids who don't have many toys.

All these birthdays have had me thinking back on my birth experiences with the girls. I might post about them soon since I never had this blog when I had them, so I don't think I've shared them before. Once I get my hands on some pictures, I'll get those posts up. It wouldn't be a good post without pictures of the new babies in them.

Now I need to go make some more cakes for Lizzy's birthday tomorrow.

christmas tree

Curious about how my Christmas tree looks now that it's decorated? Well, it's not going to knock your socks off or anything like that. I'm not too happy with it but I thought I should still share anyway. I'm using it as a holiday card holder instead of the advent idea Sarah suggested.



PS. I broke my camera the other day, so I'm not sure how or if I'll be able to get more pictures of Christmas decorating I've been doing. I'm really bummed out about it because I did make a couple things last night that I can't wait to get a picture of to show off! My place is slowly becoming more Christmas-y and I love it. "Granny-chic" is most definitely the theme around here.

crochet blocks

Not too long ago, Amy from badskirt started posting about a book called 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans by Jan Eaton. She's working on different squares from the book and they are turning out great! It gave me the idea to work along with the book also, I think all the different types of squares would look interesting in a big blanket.

I haven't been able to get my hands onto the book just yet but in the flickr group that Amy started, she posted a link to corrections from the book. So, those are the ones I'm going to start with first.


This is block 79, Baltic Square. I wasn't sure how this would turn out, I did mess up in one spot, if you look close enough you'll see it too.


This is block 47, Queen Anne's Lace, I like this one the best.

I used Bernat cotton yarn to do them. I planned on using that same yarn for the whole thing but it's pretty hard to find that yarn in pleasing colors unfortunately. So, I'm considering these two just a little practise run, maybe I'll make them into potholders or something. When I start making more of them, I think I'll use the Vanna White yarn, I used it for the Christmas tree I made and I found her yarn to be quite soft. I've seen it a lot at Michael's, so I know there are a lot of colors I can use. I'm not sure how into this I can get just yet, I may have to wait until after Christmas to really get going on this.

advent calendar

Last year I never actually finished an advent calendar and it made me so upset! I didn't think I'd get one done this year either but today I sat down and made myself finish it. I got the idea for this from here. It didn't turn out as pretty as I wanted but it will work. Next year will be something new though, that's for sure. I cut up some Christmas note cards that I bought last year from Michael's. There's stickers and chocolates inside, I'm sure my kids will be very happy with the contents.

Grace in Small Things: part 32

1. a babysitter who lives 2 minutes from me.

2. not waking up to snow, where is the stuff anyway? not that I'm complaining.

3. catching a store's mistake and getting ornaments for $2, regular $29

4. catching up with friends


Grace in Small Things is a daily reminder to take notice of the positive things we tend to overlook.

So, I haven't written a GIST post in quite some time. It's getting much harder to write these things every day now with hubby sitting at the computer almost 24/7. I'm lucky to get on here even once a day. I'm now just going to write up these posts when the mood strikes I guess, definitely should make them easier, it's been hard thinking of good things lately. Just a bad week though, next week will be better.

oh christmas tree!

I'm finally getting around to posting a picture of the November mystery project that I did from Sarah London, it's a Christmas tree! I ran out of green yarn so my tree is one square less than the one Sarah did. She made hers into an advent which I thought was a super cool idea! I'm already making a different Christmas advent, so mine will just be for whatever Christmas cards I receive.

I'm making some ball ornaments to hang on it, I'm going a bit slow with those, but hopefully early next week I'll have a new picture to show you. And on top, I made a yellow granny star, the color was hubby's choice, I think it looks good.

I had a couple people email me asking if I had a pattern for the granny star, but I am no good with writing out patterns so I'd be zero help. Sarah London has a PDF pattern for sale at her site, it comes with variations to make them too. You can also find a free tutorial over at The Royal Sisters, it's a bit different than what I did but looks the same. There's also a tutorial there for grandma trees, I'm going to give those a try soon, they are so cute!

Grace in Small Things: part 31 of 70

1. finishing a crochet project

2. kids going to sleep easily

3. Hubby ordering dinner tonight so I didn't have to cook.

4. crisp air

5. phone calls from friends I haven't spoken to in awhile

Grace in Small Things is a daily reminder to take notice of the positive things we tend to overlook.