Handmade Christmas

Every Christmas I tell myself I'm going to make all my gifts but never find the time. Well this year, I'm proud to say I actually did! Handmade gifts are much more personal and thoughtful, and I get a lot more enjoyment spending hours in my craftroom than spending hours at the mall.

For my in-laws I made silhouettes of their two shih-tzus. These were my favorite gifts I made. I took photos of the dogs, outlined and printed off their heads in photoshop, then traced and cut out the silhouettes from some printed scrapbook papers.

My sis-in-law loves "The Big Bang Theory". After seeing this cross stitch on pinterest I knew I had to make it for her. You can buy the pattern from the wee little stitches shop on etsy.

I have a little niece who's crazy about Disney princesses. So she got a Rapunzel braid. It took one full skein of Red Heart Super Saver yarn in pale yellow, some pink ribbon and fake flowers. I followed the tutorial found at the blog seven thirty three.

The Tobinator

Another nephew had a birthday yesterday. He likes to wear a superman cape that my grandmother made for his daddy when he was little. I thought it would be fun for my nephew to have his own cape so he and daddy could play superheroes together.

I followed a tutorial from see kate sew for the cuffs

and got instructions for the cape from come on, ilene!

Viking Power

My little nephew turned one yesterday. I wanted to celebrate our Norwegian heritage by making him a viking doll. I love how it turned out - now the husband wants one :)

A few preliminary sketches and the large sketch I made the pattern from:

trying to decide on blonde or red beard

curly red beard and halfway done

And what viking doesn't have a battle axe?

Little E with his new viking! Love how it's almost as big as my nephew.

Movie Posters

A couple of posters I made of one of my favorite movies - Lost In Translation

convertible cowl

I've been eyeing some beautiful cowls on ravelry this year. I knit up a couple, but they just didn't look right on me. They were way too chunky, and I don't always like that much bulk under jackets. So I thought why not make a scarf with buttons that I can convert into a cowl. I used a horizontal herringbone pattern for the scarf and I love how it turned out. You can find the pattern and a video here.

I used Loops & Threads Cozy Wool (super bulky yarn if you want to substitute) yarn color - Thunder and US 17 (12.75mm) needles. I started out with US 13 needles like the yarn recommends but this stitch seems to knit tight so I upped my needle size. Here's some instructions for making your own:
cast on 14 sts
follow horizontal herringbone stitch until desired scarf length (mine was about 5' 9")
add two buttonholes to a right side row
work a couple more rows in pattern
bind off in wrong side row
sew buttons to other end of scarf
weave in ends
To make a buttonhole you can either yarn over where you want the hole then on the next row drop the yarn over stitch, or you can bind off a stitch where you want the buttonhole then cast it on again in the next row.

pumpkin carving

while walking

love song

lyrics from "love song" - Paul Meany

s'mores with a twist

Want a tasty treat?

Just layer peanut butter, chocolate and frozen cool whip in between graham crackers.

mmmmmm...so yummy!

Awreatha Franklin

I made a couple book wreaths recently. The Husband requested one made out of comic books. I didn't like it at first, but it's growing on me.

This one is for Husband's coworker made from a book of Shakespeare plays.

My plans vs. God's purpose

The husband and I have been going through a tough time the past couple weeks...a really horrible, no good, awful time. And the night before the most horrible, no good, awful thing had to happen I came across Proverbs 19:21 in my daily reading. I was reminded that this is happening for a reason.  I can be sad and even a little angry, but GOD'S PLAN IS BIGGER and good will come of this.

I made a little printable to hang on my fridge to pick me up when I start dwelling on the negative. Want your own reminder? You can download my printable here.

Crayon Art

There have been tons of melted crayon art going around the internet the past few months. You've seen the ones where you glue the crayons to the top of a canvas then melt them so they drip down. Well, last week this pin came across my pinterest feed. So cool! Jenna Brown makes crayons look like a watercolor painting. I thought this would be a neat project to do with my niece over the weekend.

First we peeled off the labels

I didn't want any burnt little fingers so we duck taped the crayons to wooden skewers and heated them up with a blow dryer.

It looked so fun both my sisters and I joined in.

N was a little shy showing off her finished project.

Her mom asked if I would maybe paint her monogram on it. I thought it would be nice with a verse instead. I had some chipboard letters that I painted white. Was missing a few letters so had to cut them out myself. Let me tell you, cutting a two inch o out of chipboard is not an easy task. The ones I cut look a little rougher, but hopefully, no one will notice.

I think it turned out pretty good. If you are doing this with children I would recommend using colors that blend well. Ours looks a little muddy where the complimentary colors run together.

Dolly ²

They're Finished!!!! And just in time. Florida niece will be here friday and Georgia niece's b-day is the day after. I love how they turned out. Might have to make one for myself :)

Brunette dolly went much more quickly. I doubled up the yarn and placed it along the hairline all around the head. Added bangs, gave it a little trim and all done!

Dolly and a half

Finished blonde dolly last week. The face wasn't that difficult once I got started. I stuck pins where I wanted each feature then embroidered them in. The eyes were a little hard to make the same size. They are still uneven but hey, it's handmade what can you expect. I found a great tutorial for the hair on the blog bybido. She explains the process really well with lots of pictures for help. Turned out to be pretty easy but time consuming. The second doll should go a lot faster now that I know what I'm doing.

*pay no attention to the crooked part :)

The hubby was busy this weekend so it gave me the time to sew up dolly #2. I think this one will have brown hair and blue eyes.