Friday, February 27, 2009

Rosary Beads and a Pouch


A woman my husband works with just learned that she has an aggressive brain cancer. His office has been filled with both shock, sadness, and now hope. It's amazing to see people come together during a trying time. My husband brought her a prayer shawl I knit to her home the day before her surgery. He let me listen to a phone message she left on his message system at work. It truly brought me to tears. Her gratefulness was obvious, but more than that, the meaning of the prayer shawl came through. All the prayers that were knit into it were felt. As I type this, I can still hear her voice... and again, it's very moving. Knitting the prayer shawls brings me so much peace and a connection to our Lord. I feel so blessed to be able to do that small thing for someone hurting so much...
All the co-workers decided to do something for her while she goes through chemo. They made up a basket of funny, old movies that they thought she would enjoy, because, afterall, next to prayer, laughter is the best medicine. In the basket, they also included a pair of rosaries my daughter, Kaleigh, made along with a little pouch I whipped up last night. The rosaries came out so beautiful... I hope Candy finds them comforting.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Baby Washies Directions


I made a few of these baby washies to give as a gift. I like them so much I'm going to make a few sets for my own kiddoes. Here's what I did and you can, too:
Cut a piece of flannel and a piece of toweling fabric in a 6"x6" square. Round the corners.
Cut a piece of ribbon about 4"-5" long..........
Put the two pieces of cloth, right sides together with the folded end of the ribbon placed inside the fabric sandwich with the two ends sticking out. This will be on one of the corners.
Pin with one pin on each side so the fabric doesn't slip.
Sew around, leaving a 3" or so opening for turning. Clip the corners.
Turn.
Iron flat and tuck in and iron the unstitched opening.
Top stitch the edge all the way around.
If you make them assembly-line style it goes much faster!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Booties for a Little Girl


Are these cute, or what? My friends friend's son's wife (can you follow that?) is having a baby girl soon. She wanted a little something to give and this is what I came up with. She wants me to make another pair in yellow. A girl can never have too many pairs of shoes, right?

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Tea Carrying Thingee


Remember I made one of these for my friend's birthday about a month ago? Well, she liked it a lot.

So much that she asked me to...

make a bunch for her so she can give them to her in-laws. As a mom of eight, she's got a lot of 'em! My pleasure; I love making them.

Friday, February 20, 2009

It's Maple Sugaring Time


Hmmm... which trees should we tap?
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This one looks good...

This one does, too. Altogether, we tapped three maples.

And drip, drip, drip... nature's sugary water will be made into nature's sweet gold. We always tap the trees right around Valentine's Day, check the sap buckets each day, boil down sap more and more often as the sap flows, and call it quits on St. Patrick's Day. It's a short, fun season that we look forward to every year. I'll let you know how fruitful of a year this year turns out to be.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Noah's Ark BOM Embroidery Complete!


The embroidery is all done! All I need to do now is sew it up and do a bit of quilting on it. I can't believe a year has gone by since I started this project. It's been very enjoyable! I ended up making it a baby announcement sampler for Caressa. I'll post another pic when it's totally done.
Click on the picture to enlarge... if you don't you won't see the pretty pictures :(

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

A Dotee Doll For Debbie



I made a few of these last year. Tons of fun! Debbie's (Kyle's girlfriend) birthday was the other day and along with her gift I made her a Dotee Doll. Kyle has been with Debbie for nearly four years now, and she's like a daughter to me. When she comes over to go swimming or we go to the beach, I always tease her about her bathing suit.....ummmm... or lack of coverage, and her belly-button ring. It's all in good fun and she knows it. If any one could or should wear a bikini and belly-button ring... it's Debbie. She's tall, slender, and pretty. But don't let the looks fool you... she's quite smart, too. And nice. Gosh, I can't forget that!
So anyway, I made a doll that took on her assets in the looks department. What do ya think?
For a pic of the 'real-life' Debbie, scroll down a couple pics and she's making some candles.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Happy Candlemas Day!


Seeing today is Candlemas we decided to dip some candles. According to Mrs. Sharp's Traditions Book, it is believed that February 2 was the day (during the Victorian era) that families put away the last of their Christmas decorations and took inventory of their depleting stockpile of candles. This is the day they spent replenishing their supply. First we melted some parafin wax along with a few Yankee Candles for some light scent. We did this on top of the wood stove.

Then we began dipping...

and dipping. Even Kyle's girlfriend, Debbie joined in.

Here is our end result... two tapers and a few poured into glass votives. I've got another little Valentine project lined up for those. Perfect for the kiddoes. Easy and gooey... with a very pretty ending!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

A Day of Sledding!

Who doesn't love to go sledding? And you're never too big or too old, right? We took advantage of the beautiful warm 30(ish) degree temps today and headed out to a nice, little slope... Come along and have some fun with us!
The pictures are taken at a distance, but just give them a click to enlarge.


Me and my girlies on the taboggin. Lots of girlie screamin' going on here!
Poor Kaleigh, it looks like I'm choking her! She's fine... honest!

The ambulance house is quite close to the elementary school where we were sliding in East Granby, Connecticut. My oldest son is the chief (yes, a very proud mama here... please let me have my moment!) and he was there cooking his chicken wings for tonight's game and party. Well, the wings were in the oven so... he decided to come over for a bit and join in. See, that's me and him going down for a ride. Weight definately plays a role in getting down faster and farther! That was a fun ride~!