greetingarts

angry crochet

The girls went to an Angry Birds birthday party last Saturday, and I had a lot of fun making the gift for the birthday boy.

 
Red Bird, of course.

 
Black Bomb Bird.

 
And the birthday boy's favorite character, Green Pig.

 
Here they are, all together.  Jessie wants a full set, with the yellow, blue and egg birds, too.  And now some of the other kids at the birthday party want them, too.  Thanks so much to the generous and talented Nikki C., who made the three patterns I used available for free on Ravelry.  I don't know her at all, and she has no idea who I am, but I so appreciate her willingness to share.

 
I became an Angry Birds addict this summer (a little late to the ball game, I know, but hey, I knew it would suck me in.  Don't even get me started with Plants vs. Zombies...!), so I got carried away and even decorated the plain red gift bag with a free printable from the internet.

Look at the birthday boy's pinata, and his T-shirt!

 
And I have to show you a picture of the cake... is that not amazing?

 
The characters are all marshmallow/rice cereal treats, covered with fondant.  And I absolutely, positively did not make that.  An incredibly talented co-worker of the hostess created that, and her made-from-scratch carrot cake was absolutely heavenly! 

crocheted notebook paper

Every year, on the first day of school, I send my girls with a little handmade token, something they can hold on to if they get nervous, to remind them that Mom loves them, misses them, and wishes them good luck.

Here's what I came up with this year, crocheted notebook paper to go with the pencils I gave them last year.  It's all made with just single crochet and some embroidery.  The trick is that there are two rectangles back to back, crocheted together to form a pocket that you can use to tuck a note inside.  I took two hearts that came from Build-a-Bear (my girls always ask for the ones that fall on the floor and the workers just let them have them), wrote little quick notes in ballpoint pen, and stuck them inside. 

Want the pattern?  You seriously don't really need one, but here it is, in all it's simplicity.

Crocheted Notebook Paper

Using white, worsted weight yarn (I used 100% cotton Sugar 'n Cream) and an F hook...
(Make 2)
Row 1:  Ch 9, sc in second ch from hook and in each ch across.  Ch 1, turn. (8 sc)
Row 2-10:  Sc in each sc across, ch 1, turn.  (8 sc)
Row 11: Sc in each sc across, fasten off.  (8 sc)

Using embroidery floss and a tapestry needle, turn your sheet of plain white copy paper into a piece of notebook/binder paper.  I separated my DMC floss and then used two strands of #817 (red) and #3847 (blue) for the lines.  I used mini scrapbooking brads for the eyes, but you can use French knots or puffy paint or beads.  I only embroidered one of my two pieces of paper, but it might have been nice to do both.

Join, wrong sides together, by attaching yarn at upper left corner with a sl st through both pieces.  Sc evenly down the left side, make 3 sc in the bottom left corner, sc evenly across the bottom, make 3 sc in the bottom right corner, and sc evenly up the right side, ending with a slip stitch to the top right.  It's not rocket science, you're just attaching the two pieces together and leaving the top open so you can put in your cute little note.

Hope it's not too confusing or too simple, and that you got a smile out of my design.  The girls did.

back to school

First day of school!

 
The teachers, past and present, all got red apples in crocheted apple cozies (used to be a free pattern, I think, but now it's $3.50).  I made a leaf-shaped miniature card wishing the teachers good luck, letting the new ones know I'm available to help and looking forward to the year with them, and reminding the old ones not to forget I'm still around.

This summer was the first one where I didn't feel like I needed a break from the kids, even though I'm with them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  We went camping, hiked, visited relatives, crafted, swam, finished the summer reading program at two different libraries, picnicked at concerts in the park every week, sewed together, stayed up late every night and never worried about when to wake up in the morning.  I already miss their sweet company.

But now, it's time to switch gears and get back into the school routine... packing lunches, doing homework, and the early-to-bed, early-to-rise thing.  That last bit really isn't going to be easy!

four out in five

The tooth fairy has been really busy at our house lately.  Between the two kids, we lost four teeth in five days.  They were popping out all over the place!

 
One of the gifts left by the Tooth Fairy was this cool box made from two super-crispy one-dollar bills.  Jessie wrote her a note asking if she could please have her tooth back again, so she put the tooth back inside.

 
I love the gap, front and center.  I'll be kinda sad when the permanent teeth come in.  Summer is over, and the babies go back to school on Monday.  I am going to miss them, it's been a wonderful few months.  We did a lot, but it went by too fast and there is still so much we want to do.  Lazy days are over, no more going to bed late and sleeping in even later.

 
But look!  No training wheels for Rebecca.  Such a huge accomplishment. 

Goodbye, summer 2011.

paint play

All this week my girls and I have been absorbing Regina's wonderful e-course, The Art of Giving.  The posts are thoughtful, the message important, and the homework is pretty fun.  Regina has some great videos (with nice music!) that show her creative process and they're really fun and magical to watch.

 
I definitely need to do this more often, and learn how to let go, let loose, be free with the paints and play.  Instead of worrying about mess, waste (that's a biggie for me), or precision.  My girls are really good at that part, I'm terrible at it.  Although it helps that I had all of this stuff on hand already - some materials are at least a decade old.

 
And pushing and scraping paint around with the side of a credit card sure is a better way to use them than to rack up more debt! 

I hope to show some finished pages and some of my girls' creations, too, along the way.