Birthday fun

I know, I've been missing in action. Had a lot going on here. I went out of town for a few days with my daughter and some cousins. Had a decent time. But I was so glad to get back home. There's no place like home. I had a birthday while I was gone, and so did a distant cousin. We had cake!

Mmmmmmm, I love cake!

My daughter got me the coolest plant holder. A big huge coffee cup! I just can't take a picture to do it justice. I have a fake fern in it at the moment until I decide where to place it and what to really put in it.

My son knows I love to do crafts and paint stuff. He got me this painting kit, little planters and a tray to keep them on. For ages 6 and up. I qualify, LOL!

Such cool gifts! But wait, there's more! My sister got me the cutest little bird decoration to keep in my yard. We just love cute yard stuff.

Tweet, tweet! Isn't it cute! I love it. She also got me the cutest bookmarker with kitties on it. We also love kitties.

My other sister got me a bag full of goodies. First off, I did get some fat quarters while out of town, and she got me one too. That one is the one in front. Such a cute old fashioned pattern on that fabric. The others are from my trip.

And look at this . . . I've been wanting a teapot for the longest time. I don't really drink tea, but I wanted a teapot so I can knit tea cozies for it! Now I have one. But it's so cute, I don't want to cover it up with a cozy. But eventually I'll make one for it. And she got me the cutest little rolls of ribbon.

And lastly, she got me the cutest snowman pattern. She knows I love snowmen! I can't wait to make this.

So, it has been fun getting gifts, it's been like Christmas in July! And I love eating cake. I'm always in the mood for cake.

A rainy lazy Sunday

It's cold. It's raining. It's dreary. A very lazy Sunday. So I played in my kitchen and made Red Velvet Cupcakes. I got the recipe in email from somewhere, can't remember where. It's a Paula Dean recipe. They are so RED!

I ran out of red food coloring. I wonder how red they'd be if I had enough to use the whole amount. I had some cute Easter cupcake papers that I got from Joann's that I used for them. But it's real hard to see the paper.

I ate one. Yummy! I want another one.

Yesterday I bought a book I've been wanting. Love those 50% coupons at Joann's! I really haven't had time to go through this book yet, but I will. My sister gave me the other pamphlet. I'm so dying to make that snowman on the cover. It's so cute!

I discovered the destashing group on Ravelry. Oh lordy! I. must. quit. looking. This yarn came yesterday. I got both skeins of yarn and shipping for $8. Yes, $8!!! It's such an unusual color. Pumpkin. I'm loving it!

I'm still plugging along on the Clapotis. I'm almost to the dropped stitches. I'll have a picture next time. Right now it's just bigger than the last picture I posted.

And now I guess I'll go make some dinner now that I've had dessert!

Ah-Choo

I raked the stupid frikkin leaves the other day and now I'm sick. I hate all that stuff mixed in there, mold spores, pollen, yucky stuff. This happens every year. I always have hope that it won't happen. So far, no luck. So here we go again. Pass the tissues please.

My daughter came home again for the weekend. It was a nice relaxing weekend. We didn't do much. We did have fun playing with Sculpey clay! It was such a nice evening. So now we have another crafty hobby to do. See what we made . . .

I made the snowman on the left, the stocking and the mini pumpkin. She made the other snowman and the deer. Lots of fun. I never realized how hard it is to make little teeny things with clay, like those eyes, and the carrot nose. I think we did pretty darn good for our first attempt.

Now it's time to go rest and hopefully get rid of this dumb cold real soon. I've got jury duty on Tuesday and I sure don't want to have to go there carrying a box of tissues.

Fabric and Yarn

It was such a rainy and humid weekend around here, just miserable. Good weather for staying in and doing crafty stuff. I fooled around with this collection of stuff:

What is it you ask? It's going to be a doll. See, I got her cut out. She will be very pink. The pattern is from Bowls & Annies.

I haven't started sewing her yet. Maybe tonight I'll get a burst of energy and feel like sewing.

I bought some snowman fabric that I just fell in love with at Walmart. It was just so cute I had to have it and I made some pillowcases for it for the extra pillows on my bed. They make me smile.

I love snowmen. I collect them and have lots. Have to rotate the collection at times.

Last night was knit night with friends. We have a thing going on called Dishcloth Tag. It was my turn to be tagged and I got all this!

Lots of fun! Now I have to knit a dishcloth for the next person on the list and replace the two balls of yarn with yarn of my choosing, throw in any little goodies that I want and pass it on. We've had a lot of fun with this. And I love all the stuff I got in my bag! Didn't the person who knit that round dishcloth do a beautiful job!

On a side note, I still haven't heard from my friend in Houston. I'm hoping he's OK and it's just a matter of the power being out.

Treasures

My cousin has been cleaning out my Aunt's house after her death in April. She gave me these boxes of fabrics and yarns that she came across. So precious to me. I keep wondering, "what was she going to make with this stuff?" All kinds of fabs, some old, some newer, the yarns are more of the crafty type yarns. Good for making oddments and things. Even some knitting needles and a couple of crocheted projects that were started. All of these are very precious treasures to me.

I went to a garage sale yesterday and found these little snowmen plates. So cute! I just had to have them since I collect snowmen. More little treasures.

I did fix that little matroyshka doll ornament. I took the white beads off from the bottom portion and re-sewed them on with clear thread. It looks much better.

I went to an estate sale a few weeks ago and picked up this shelf unit. $5! Just had to have it. I'm keeping some of my little treasures on it at the moment. I'd like to repaint it but haven't decided on a color yet.

Are you watching the Olympics? I wasn't home for the opening ceremonies, but saw some on the news. Very spectacular! I do enjoy watching some of the games, such as gymnastics, swimming, diving. I have been keeping the Olympics coverage on the TV even if it's not an event I particularly enjoy as I like hearing about the background of the various athletes, and learning their history. Fascinating to me. I do hope the USA does well and brings home a lot of medals.

And lastly, my most precious treasure, my daughter, will be leaving to go back to college in two and a half weeks. So we've been busy getting some shopping done to get her ready again. The summer has flown by.

My little ornies!

Now that my sewing room is nice and organized, I'm inspired to sew. I've been in the mood to sew something fun. So I made some little ornies. I used this pattern I got from Attic Raggedys dot com. Such cute stuff there!

I just love snowmen and I have some I keep out year round. The special ones. Here is my snowman ornie coming to life. First I had to cut him out.

Then I got the body parts sewed and stuffed.

It was quite tedious stuffing those little arms and legs. After that it was time to sew the body parts together.

Then I made his little clothes. In honor of the upcoming 4th of July holiday I made this one in red, white and blue colors. A very patriotic snowman!

Then I added the finishing touches, such as face, hat and trim, etc.

And before I knew it, I had him all put together and decorated and he was done! So cute! In the end I changed the little pompom nose for a carrot. Much more snowman-y.

This little snowman was so much fun to make, I decided to make another one. I made a snowgirl next. She turned out really cute too!

Next up is a snow angel. Can't wait to get started on her. So that's what I've been doing with all that calico I've been buying. I still want to make more and since I'm in the sewing mood again that's what I'll be doing. I've set the knitting aside for a little bit until I can decide what I want to knit next.