It's one of the most wonderful times of the year!

The first most wonderful time is Easter...then Christmas. The third most wonderful time of the year is back to school. Parents, you know you totally agree, ha!

The next most wonderful time of the year is Holidays in July at Crochetville. I love the randomness of this swap and that its all done anonymously. I sent out a few this month, including two crochet hook rolls. No pattern used, just winged it and hoped for the best, haha.


Had to take these pics at night. Sorry for the terrible lighting.

I forgot to hem the pink flowered material on the top roll. I didn't realize it until I'd finished the whole thing. Oops. It looked fine though, so I decided to leave well enough alone.

All the fabric is leftover from other projects. I made shirts out of both the blue and the pink for Pipster. I have a fair amount of that blue leftover. I like it so much, I might make myself a purse out of it.



I also made two of these crinkly ribbon baby toys. One went to a lady who is pregnant with her first little girl and the second went to another woman who just started fostering medical-need babies. The pattern was simple and fast and it turns out so cute. Pattern is here.



Another woman asked for a cell phone holder. I used more of that blue fabric I love so much. I measured my cell phone and guesstimated from there. I made some mistakes, but it still came out pretty well. I used elastic and a button for the closure.



My mailbox has been getting surprises too. Someone sent me 1 1/2 skeins of Patons Grace. I've never used this yarn before. Any suggestions on what to make? Since the yardage is small, I'm thinking something knit?



I also received a really sweet Christmas card and a thread crochet bookmark. I can really never have to many bookmarks, since I'm usually reading 99 books at once.



And and...how awesome is this...someone bought me the City Tote pattern from Keyka Lou's etsy store! I'm hoping to try this one out before I move, but it depends on how the packing goes.

Well, back to sorting and packing. Fun! :X

Spring Ruffle Shirt

Sew Mama Sew had posted the Spring Ruffle Shirt tutorial from Made by Rae back in April and I loved it. I didn't think I would actually be able to make it, but Karen made a beautiful one and gave me a little nudge to try it.

I started making it for myself out of this blue flower fabric that I picked up in Philly back in March. I didn't have much trouble with it, but it was much too big on me. I did some waist shaping and it was still too big. The shirt fit fine around my girls, but the waist made me look like a tent.

So, I did a little more waist shaping...then a little more. Still too big...so one more time. Well, that last time proved to be too much shaping and now I had Pi sized shirt.


She's looking more and more like me everyday, no?

Gah! She, of course, is very happy I made the shirt too small. I was annoyed with myself at first, but seeing how she looks so cute in it, I got over that really fast.

When I asked her to take a picture in the shirt, this is how she initially posed. Silly girl! Love that kid.

Yeah, we use old crates to sit on the porch. Don't judge...my husband is a DJ. :)

I'm going to give a Christina-sized shirt another shot after the move.

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

I've got some big happy news and some small happy news.

The small happy news is that despite our gardening woes this spring, we have tomatoes! Wooooo! They've sprouted and we're just waiting for them to ripen.

The big happy news is that we're moving on September 1st!!! To Jersey!!! In the suburbs!!!

Bye bye Mickey Yucky Mice! Bye bye slumlord! Bye bye Brooklyn! Ok, I'm a little sad about the last one since I've lived here all my life, but I'll get over it quick. We're only going to be 45 minutes away from the city, so we'll be able to visit my family on a regular basis.

Wwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

Almost there...

Sorry to be so MIA this week. Hubby and I have been apartment hunting in Jersey. Without a car, that means lots of NJ Transit traveling. We've been to parts of Jersey that we've never seen before, and man, there are some really beautiful places!

The upside of not driving are lots of crafting time on the train. Another 4 toys came flying off the hook this week, making a total of 18 so far. Only 2 to go before I can pack these up and mail them out.

These are another Sleeping Sarah. She works up so quickly that I had to make another one. The bunny is from a pattern in the May/June Crochet Today issue. Her oversized head and ears are what sold me on this pattern.



This past week, we've had a lot of birds visiting our backyard. A mama bird had some baby birds in the yard and she was extremely protective since they couldn't fly yet. We couldn't step foot in the yard without getting swooped on.

Piper was worried the birds wouldn't have any food, since the mom wouldn't leave the babies, so she broke pieces of soft bread and threw them to the mom, who would then bring them to the babies. Pi was pretty proud of herself for helping them.

The point of that whole story is that I came across a bird pattern in the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of crochet today and I just had to make it.



Aren't they cute? I love them!

Today is going to be that stay-at-home-do-nothing day I've been craving. Maybe I'll even pull out the sewing machine and watch crappy girly movies. :)

Weekend Wrap Up

Let me start by saying that I don't want to bake for a long time....at least a week, haha!

Inky Binky saw cupcakes decorated like strawberries and wanted to give them a whirl. Inky and her boyfriend came over on Friday night to bake with me. The cupcakes looked easy. I mean, how hard can some red and green frosting and little yellow dots be?

Let's just say they were harder and messier than we expected. Just look at Inky's hands as proof. That's not even all of it...the kid had frosting all over her arms too.



Inky's boyfriend turned out to be really good with the yellow frosting. I'm not sure he wants me to publicize his frosting skills, but he was pretty good.

Here's the happy couple with their finished strawberry cupcakes. He looks hungry, no?



But not as hungry as me...



Saturday brought more baking for Pip's bowling party. We made ice cream cone cupcakes. Super easy to make....not so super easy to transport in a car.



Awhile back, I asked you guys for some ideas for party favors. Karen came up with beach pails filled with summer goodies and we loved the idea. The pails were filled with water guns, water balloons, flip flop key chains, bubbles, candy bags, wiffle balls, kazoos, and random other party stuff. The kids loved them!

Pi's party was great and went smoother than I could have hoped for. The kids had a blast and I didn't have to cook or clean up. Win win for sure. All the kids went home with coupons for a free game of bowling too.

I'd love to show you more pics, but they all have random kids in them and I don't want to show other people's kids on the blog without their permission.

I'm so ready for a stay-at-home-in-bed-all-day-order-a-pizza kinda weekend.

P.S. - Laura, none of my sisters have kids, so I'm not an aunt. Pi's cousins are actually my cousins, making them her second cousins. With 7 aunts and uncles just on my mom's side, they have kids of all ages. Since the little ones are all so close in age, that we just call them cousins.

D'oh!

I forgot to post the pattern for the Itty Bitty dress.

Here it is from Made by Rae.

Enjoy!

Itty Bitty Baby Dress

This really is a small world.

Last year, my sister became friends with a girl at her college. The girl mentioned to my sister that she looked familiar and asked if she had any sisters. Inky Binky told her that she had an older sister. They discovered that I had gone to elementary school and college with the girl's older sister. I'd gone to lots of their family parties and that's why she though Inky looked familiar. Small world, eh?

Fast forward to this year and my sister's friend was pregnant with a little girl. The baby shower was supposed to be in late June or early July, but she went into premature labor.

The Itty Bitty baby dress seemed like the perfect thing to make for a baby that small. The pattern was straightforward and even a newbie like me had no problems with it.



I'm not sure what the fabric is, but Lesa had sent it to me awhile ago to practice on. There was enough left over for a matching bib, using this pattern from Chickpea Sewing Studios.

I asked my sister when she was going to make me an aunt. Oh boy...if looks could kill....

Handmade Birthday

Well, mostly a handmade birthday. Here's just a peek at some of the stuff hubby and I made for Piper's day.

Hubby and I usually decorate Pi's bedroom while she is asleep the night before her birthday, so she'll wake up to something fun. I'd bought a Happy Birthday sign but misplaced it and was frantic about not having decorations for her room last night. So, at about 10:30, I pulled out the sewing machine, grabbed fabric that I hoped coordinated and made a fabric pennant banner.

Not too bad for a last minute, desperation project!



Ice cream cone shaped sugar cookies. We made five dozen to share with family!



Cupcakes for Pi's camp troop.



Don't forget the chocolate lovers!



Two dresses for Pi's American Girls. After making the pink one, and having loads of trouble with it, I couldn't bear to make another one just like it, haha! So, I opted for a simple pillow case style dress. She loved that they were different.



And...sleeping bags for the American Girls. Pi had been eyeing some on Etsy and they looked fairly simple, so I gave it a whirl with some scrap fleece I had lying around. These were a big hit.



Even with cupcakes, there still has to be a birthday cake. Pi requested a black and white cake, no sprinkles. The flower candles are from Crate and Barrel. Just a tip if you buy candles from them...light them at the last possible second because they melt insanely fast and drip all over.



Hubby surprised Piper with roses and 9 balloons. I didn't get a picture of them, but it was really sweet and she felt like such a big girl to have received flowers.

Man, I'm tired. I'm not going to even think about baking....until Friday when I have to make more cupcakes for her Saturday bowling party. LOL

Happy Birthday Piper!!!

My baby is 9 today! I can barely believe it. Happy Birthday sweetheart!

Take a trip down memory lane with me....

Pi, I want you to know how much I love you and how proud I am of the wonderful young lady you're becoming. You've brought so much joy, laughter, and happiness to my life. You truly are a blessing!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Friday Night Fireworks

Since our July 4th attempt to see fireworks was a bust, hubby and I took Piper to see the Friday Night Fireworks in Coney Island. My camera wasn't quick enough to get pics of the actual fireworks, but they were amazing!

The famous Wonder Wheel and Dino World rides.



As hubby calls her, here is "No Fear Piper" on some crazy ride that had her spinning in the air.



She's the pink blur somewhere in here too. This ride has ear splitting loud music and my daredevil was dancing in her seat, ha!



Here she is rope climbing. Other than the girl running this game, I didn't see anyone complete it successfully.

A fire-throwing woman outside of the freak sideshow tent.

Who can go to Coney Island without stopping at the original Nathans? Mmmm, cheese fries!

Whoever though Coney Island would be quiet without Astroland was sadly mistaken. The place was packed tighter than sardines.

Pip had so much fun and was so tired out, that she fell asleep as soon as we got home. Now that's a successful night if I ever saw one!

Card Carrying

Bezzie over at Random Meanderings started a new meme all about Library cards. She wants us to pimp our library cards.

The white card is Piper's. She got that one while she was in daycare. The green card is my updated one. Both cards can still be used, but the green one has some neat features, like being able to add money to it to use the printer without having to fumble with change.

Ignore the really bad paint job. I have no idea how to blur stuff out.

Our cards were free, but I'm not sure if they are free for everyone or just Brooklyn residents. I also had my library card from kindergarten until just a few years ago. No idea where it went, but that one was green and yellow, if I remember correctly.

So, do you carry?

She's 83 again and she got my first quilt!

This past weekend, we celebrated Dirty Grandma's 83rd birthday again. We thought she was 83 last year, but we were wrong and apparently, she's 83 THIS year. Oops!

Dirty Grandma says "Thanks for coming t'mah party holmes." That Dirty Grandma is so badass!



After getting the ghetto out, she was feeling sweet enough to take a picture with me. She posed for so many pictures with so many people, it was like the paparazzi were after her. I think it must have been her American flag birthday star headband. Like I said before...badass!




Here are just a handful of cousins. Starting at the top left is Jeannie, Crystal, Nikki, Steven and me. When I was in the sixth grade, an eighth grader was bullying me. Jeannie (who was in 7th) kicked that bully's butt for me. Talk about love!



Grandma's cake was the little one on the right. There's a bakery here in Brooklyn that makes sugar free, diabetic friendly cakes and cookies. Its awesome that Grandma can actually eat cake on her birthday now. The other was a sugar filled, teeth shattering badboy from Costco.



She claps for herself when singing Happy Birthday. Oh, it makes me giggle.

She opened presents, including a quilt from yours truly. Its my first!

That skinny person is not me, its Jeannie. I only wish I was that thin!

Even a badass Dirty Grandma can get worn out. She conked out in her chair after all the excitement. The nap did her good though...after she woke up, she partied til 10pm, which is past MY bedtime.

Here's a flat pic of the quilt. The yellow is an old flat sheet that I'd never used and some blue fabric my mom had never used and gave to me. The squares are 8" across, making the quilt 40" x 48" (lap size) and they're not lined up perfectly. I need to learn to cut more accurately, but even so, it turned out really well, methinks.

I stitched in the ditch, although I might have veered off the ditch one too many times. The binding wasn't as hard as I imagined. It really is one of those things you just have to do, because it looks more scary on paper. I machine stitced the binding, using a blanket stitch, but will probably just edge stitch it with a straight stitch next time.

Overall, I love it. Look at the crinkly goodness!