Expressions of Fall Using Yarn

I was browsing online this morning for a few fun craft ideas to do for fall. I enjoy craft time with my girls so I was also looking not only for crafts to do on my own but also some to do with them as well.
The first autumn craft idea I found was this adorable yarn leaf mobile made by Jessica over on Two Shades of Pink.

I just fell in love with it's simplicity and how easy and fun this craft would be with the kiddos. And what a great idea to use up all of those extra scraps of yarn lying around.
The next idea I found also from Jessica of Two Shades of Pink uses the same concept of wrapping yarn but instead of wrapping to make leaves, you wrap pumpkins and gourds.

This yarn wrapped pumpkins and gourds craft might be a bit more advanced for children to do but I am sure they would be more than willing to help out.
This last autumn craft find was made by Bobbi over on Bobbi's Art.

I love this autumn garland. She even posted the pattern for those cute little maple leaves that you can find HERE. I really want to make this and hang it from my hutch this season.

Just in Time For Fall!

Tomorrow is the first day of fall! I just love EVERYTHING about fall. Hay rides, pumpkin pie, beautifully colored sunset leaves, and that wonderful autumn aroma that fills the air!

I just finished this adorable custom pumpkin drawstring purse for a beloved customer of mine. It turned out so cute.

I love it so much I added it to my Etsy store. You can view it HERE.
I think my favorite part of the purse is the leaf and the curly vine.



I wonder what special treasures a little princess would put inside?....a pretty leaf, maybe a pine cone, or maybe a few bracelets and necklaces.

Wordless Wednesday-First Day of Pre-Kindergarten

Zoo Inspired Hats

Happy Labor Day Everyone! Our Labor Day so far has been a relaxing one. The girls slept in until 10 in the morning so I got a little crochet time in and finished my last zoo inspired crochet hat for a customer of mine. Her son is celebrating his first birthday party in the next couple of weeks and is having his birthday pictures done in his zoo animal inspired nursery. She sent me pictures of the animals painted on his walls so I made the hats to match accordingly.

The first one I made is this sweet giraffe hat.

The monkey hat I think is my favorite. Just look at his cute little smile.

The last one is a lion. His mane was a challenge. I didn't want to hook yarn strands all the way around but instead make it have a bushy like appearance that was standing straight up all the way around. I think this design worked out the best.


I can't wait to see his first birthday pictures. I know they are going to be absolutely precious!

Wordless Wednesday- First Day of Second Grade

Wordless Wednesday- A Beautiful Storm

Wordless Wednesday-The Beauty of Summer

Projects in the Works

Since the weather has been topping out in the high 90's all week, I have been keeping busy with crochet projects indoors while enjoying our newly installed central air.
One project that has been taking up most of my time is an afghan I am working on for our living room sofa. I just loved this particular design I saw in a Spring issue of Crochet World in April, 2010. The colors really caught my eye and I really love the design as well.

I recently finished a custom order for an infant ducky hat.

Isn't he sweet? I think I shall call him Quackers.
I also want to share a few *SWEET* treasuries. The first is a Christmas in July theme. LOVE all the candy cane stripes! I am so honored that Iamblessed featured my candy cane leg warmers design. You can also view the treasury HERE.

The second one is simply yummy. After I saw it I seriously began craving strawberry cupcakes and had to make me a batch immediately to enjoy. Thank you glassdezignz for featuring my party cupcake top design. You can also view the treaury HERE.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July from my Independent Girls!

Wordless Wednesday-Yet Another Milestone

Wordless Wednesday-Strawberry Picking

A Lalaloopsy Birthday For My Love

Xiera's turned 7 years old on Friday which was also her last day of first grade. We celebrated on Saturday and the theme was Lalaloopsys.

For those of you who do not know who the Lalaloopsys are; they are these colorful little dolls with button eyes. They come with their very own birthdays. Their birthdays represent what their interests are for example Blossom Flowerpot enjoys planting and gardening and was born on Earth Day.
This party was slightly difficult to do since there are no Lalaloopsy party supplies currently out yet so I had to get creative.
I found the adorable Lalaloopsy birthday banner on etsy and am a bit sad I forgot to take a closer picture of it when it was hanging. Every other letter had a lalaloopsy character on it. I strung little buttons I had laying around in between each letter. You can somewhat see it in this angled picture of the party table.

I found out how to make the pretty tissue paper flower puff decorations from Martha Stewart's website. I actually originally made these for Zella's bird themed party earlier on this year but forgot to hang them up.

I placed a variety of candies on the table for our young guests to put into their goody bags. I also made the yummiest peanut butter button cookies to snack on. I found the easy recipe HERE.

The goody bags were filled with a variety of goodies that represented each lalaloopsy character. I put pencils in them for Bea Spells A Lot, flower rings for Blossom Flowerpot, star stickers for Dot Starlight, wands for Jewel Sparkles, and pinwheels for Peanut Big Top.

Bea supervised the goody bag table from her Ferris Wheel ride.

It was a pizza party so I was happy I could focus less on the menu and more on the decorations and the overall enjoyment of the party.
The girls played pin the tiara on Jewel Sparkles. I painted a picture of Jewel onto poster board and cut out tiaras from pink poster board. We used Xiera's sleep mask as the blindfold. The girls LOVED this game!!

Then it was time to color your favorite Lalaloopsy character.

Xiera opened up a lot of wonderful gifts. Her favorite was her newest Lalaloopsy, Patch Treasurechest, (who was born on Pirate Day.) Her beautiful Jewel Sparkle inspired dress was made by Charity of Twirlicious & Company.

This year I decided to take the easiest route and purchase her cake from the bakery instead of baking it myself.

It turned out beautiful and it tasted great!
Make a wish my love!

Happy 7th Birthday Xiera!! Hugs and kisses!