Can it be Advent already?!  My time flies!

One of the things I love about having children, is they remind you of how you used to see things when you were little.  Everything is exciting again!  Searching for pumpkins around Halloween, and now being on the hunt for Christmas lights and trees whenever we are out.  One of the things I would like to make for the boys is an Advent calendar of some sort.  (Advent=basically the month of December when we wait and prepare for the arrival of the Baby Jesus on Christmas–the Savior of the world!  Party!!!)   I put some ideas I ran across on Pinterest on my Advent board.   (Pinterest is awsome!  Come follow me–I’m Ingrid Barlow, duh, on there!)

This idea is cute, but maybe a bit time consuming to make.

I like this idea for “action” activities or Bible verses or quotes, or family conversation starters…

This is darling, but limits you to what kinds of items you can use.

This is the one I am leaning towards making–Advent bags.  I like the idea of them opening something each day.  Yippee!!  I don’t want it to be food everyday–I don’t think we need to encourage that.  I want some of the items to be for them, but also some to be for other people, or “actions” they are instructed to do for other people.  Some of the items may be new and for them, but other things will be items that are reminder gifts.  Like maybe a baby Jesus from our home that they don’t necessarily get to keep.  The bags allow me to do small items or chunkier objects.   And I like that it has an old/rustic yet modern feel to it.  I think the kids will love it year after year!

After seeing this rug on Purl Bee, FREE pattern, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that I needed another rug.  Geez, I’ve been making a lot of rugs around here, but when you have hard wood floors it really is nice.   Plus, look at that rug!?  It looks like you could just curl up on it and go to sleep–I love it!  Cozy Perfection.

Thus, when Tony was home and the boys were down for a nap, I scooted to the yarn shop.  (The yarn pictured is $124.00 a ball!!!  Yes, I do think Tony would consider doing something drastic if I purchased yarn at that price!)   I found this super bulky yarn and a giant S size crochet hook for a wee bit cheaper.  Don’t worry Tony–a LOT cheaper.

Wound it up on my borrowed swift from my grandma-in-law.  She’s sweet to let me “store” it at my house.

And here’s the ball all pretty.  I used 2 balls to be exact.

About 2 hours later and here is my rug!   My guess it is about 34″ across.  Interesting how when I purchased the yarn, I thought it was going to be mostly the cream/white color with just some hints of the gray/blues.  It is much darker than I thought it would be.

It does match the wet bag I just made for Espen’s room–nice when things just happen.  I guess it was meant to be, right Tony?  :)

I do still love the one from Purl Bee pictured above, so maybe next week I will have to try some strips of tweady white/cream wool.

A friend recently contacted me about swapping some cloth diapers for a few handmade items.  She had cloth diapers that she wasn’t using and wanted to pass along and so instead of paying for them, she asked that I make something for her.  How wonderful is that?!  It was a fabulous idea!  She sent me the diapers a few weeks ago and I finally got my projects in the mail to her.  She asked for either the Noodlehead Clutch or Anna Maria Horner’s Quick Change Trousers for her daughter, June.  (What a sweet name!)  I couldn’t just make one since both are so fun to make and she was generous with the diapers!  So she gets both!  (Terrible pics in this post…it’s called being in a hurry.  Bad excuse.)

First up–the trousers.  I really liked this quirky print.

These fabrics seemed girly, without being over the top, and also reminded me of the mama.  I will say that upon looking at the final product, I probably should have used fabrics with a little higher contrast.  It’s amazing how fabrics look so different once you chop them up.

And the reverse option.

The Noodlehead Clutch.  Again, I used fabrics I thought the mama would like–I hope she does!

I had a friend recently mention crocheting the “Cheri Hat” and so I just had to google it since I have been enjoying hooking lately.  Once I saw it, I knew I would have to make up a boyish one for Elias.   I took some brown Cascade 220 from my stash and my size I crochet hook–pattern calls for size G, but I just used what I had and hoped for the best.  I’m a beginner crocheter and this pattern only took me about 3 hours with a few online video how-to look ups.  Here is the FREE pattern!    You can also find it on Ravelry or just by googling it.

Here’s my boy who’s always willing to wear a hat if it gets him outside.

I did add a little wire in the brim to help it stand out.  Buried the wire in the yarn on the bottom and you can’t even see it!

A fun pattern because you can wear it with the brim straight or off to the side.  The girly version also has a flower that you can make for the side of it.

A great hat for my little guy as the weather starts to cool and we begin thinking fall!  My favorite time of year!

Meant to have this project done before Espen arrived, but…you know how that goes.

I took little wooden hoops–available at your local craft store–and fused each letter of his name in them with fabric scraps.  I used different size hoops, placed the screw in random positions, and wonkied them up when I hung them.

After I fused the letters to the muslin background, I used the free-motion foot on my sewing machine to “scribble” around the edges.  This step is not necessary since you already fused it, but it adds some interest and texture.

This was about a one hour project…a good thing with 2 little ones!

With peaches being so good lately, I have made 3 of these peach cobblers!!  Thank you Paula Deen!   Here is this easy scrumptastic recipe! Check out the video too!