Heyyyy!!! My photos are actually uploading!  And this is after a few days of trying and giving up.  Ugh.  But now that I got it to work, I can show a couple of finished purses I've made in the last couple weeks.




Both of these granny square purses are crocheted and using up scrap yarn.  All in Red Heart brand.  The black one I used purchased handles (from Jo-Anns) and chose clear ones so they wouldn't distract from the colorful bag too much.  I didn't have a pattern, just made up squares and sewed it all together. 

This second one is with white outlining.  After I'd finished the black one above, my SO was looking at it and drew up an idea for a "lopsided" design for me to try.  So I did and this is how it turned out.  I love, love, love it!! It is big enough to hold something magazine-sized.  Even the handle (which is long enough for it to hang at your hip) is granny-square styled!  


Both of these bags are available for sale in my Etsy shop (they're already listed) if you're interested!  Pop on over and take a peek..there's also more photos. :)

Hmm...must try again later...

Well, I was all prepared to make a post but I'm having "technical difficulties" with uploading the pictures! lol...so, I think I am going to step away and come back this evening once I get that figured out. :(  Sorry about that!

Cream Cheese Banana Cake Bars (recipe!)

How many of us are really glad Spring has finally arrived?  Even though we still have the chilly morning temperatures and the occasional frost on the ground..Spring has definitely arrived.  The mid-day is sunny and almost-warm even!! Great time for making these bars as a special treat. :)

CREAM CHEESE BANANA CAKE BARS
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup vanilla yogurt (or plain)
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4  tsp salt
2 mashed bananas

for the cream cheese topping:
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
roughly 4 cups powdered sugar

In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, yogurt and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt; slowly add to the creamed mix.  Stir in bananas.
Spread into a greased 15x10" baking pan (OR use a couple of smaller cake pans). Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool completely on a wire rack in pan.

For the topping, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla.  Gradually add the powdered sugar and allow to beat until desired consistency.  Frost the banana bars. Store covered in the fridge any unused portion. :)

 

Monster and Bear Hats (crochet)

Monster Hat!!!!!!  Even though it's a monster, it's hard to not think of it as cute. :D  I was asked to make this hat for one of my nieces and I was more than happy to do it.                                                The pattern is from www.emiegracecreations.etsy.com and was well-written to follow and make it look exactly like the one in the Etsy.

I can see where it would be very simply to make variations on this hat for a million different looks. :)

And a bear hat!  This one is actually my own pattern/design.  I was asked to make a bear hat and although I have patterns for several different animal hats for kids, bear hat is not one of them.  When googling images of other bear hats to get an idea of what they look like, this is about what I was seeing...in various colors.  I like this one but I think I might like it even more if it was a dark brown with tan accents. (the opposite it is).  

This particular hat will be a give-away item on another blog soon- stay tuned for more info!! :D

Crochet Candy and Clay Gnome

Good afternoon! Wow two posting days in a week...I'm shocked at myself. :)  And I even have a bit of the flu going on today, so I'm amazed anything is getting done at all.

Well for starters, sharing a cute little candy...uh..thing.  I didn't have a pattern for this, just made it up.  It became part of one of my niece's birthday gifts last month and she can put it on a necklace or barrette or whatever she likes.  Or add it to her play kitchen foods! :)  One of these days I'll write up a pattern for it hopefully!

Another garden gnome pick to add to my growing collection! This time he actually IS a gardener, complete with watering can and a flower behind his ear. :D  I do wish I'd gotten a better picture of the back..he is one of the only ones I've made without a jacket because he is wearing over-alls with suspenders and I wanted to see that.  But anyway, he is living with the rest of the gnomes now and he makes an even dozen so far that I have managed to keep. :) I'll have to get pics of the whole set soon to share.

Pie Afghan of many colors (crochet)

 This is one of those projects I couldn't wait to share!  I bought a Leisure Arts book called "Great Grannies: 7 scrap afghans" from Amazon.  I want to say it was around $8 or $9 but definitely worth it because all 7 of the creations are now on my to-do list.  Not like some books you buy and only want to make one or two of the things inside. 


One of the best parts, aside from the wonderful photos and unique blanket ideas that aren't in every single other crochet book... is that they are all made using only small bits of yarn for each motif.  And you don't have to be an extremely experienced crocheter to do these!!

 The blanket I chose to do first is called "Piece of the Pie" and you can probably see why.  Instead of all squares, it is all triangles!  136 to be exact!  I didn't even care about which particular colors I put together, just used up every bit of scrap I had and then started in on make dents into new skeins.  The whole project is using Red Heart Super Saver yarn. Normally it would take me a while to finish a blanket, but I was so excited to see how this one turned out that I completed it from start to finish in only 13 days!

The only problem I ran into were making the white circles that attach the points together (in the center of each hexagon).  That part is done after the whole blanket is sewn together and for some reason, the pattern wasn't telling me quite right how to do it...so I just made up my own way and it worked out just fine.  Maybe the pattern was wrong...maybe I was.   ??  Either way, you do that, then add the outside border and voila! All done. :)  

It's just over 4' by 5' or so... great throw for the couch or use as a bigger lap blanket. :)  
Haven't decided wether to sell or keep this one yet...I suppose if the right offer came along, maybe.  But for now it is living comfortably in a clear bag (so I can still admire it) next to the couch. :D

Angry Birds, Mike Wazowski, and Beanies! (crochet)

Good evening!  I can't believe it was actually 62* outside today when just a couple weeks ago it was snowing and 15*! Crazy weather can't make up its mind.  No matter what kind of weather it is, it's always fun to make hats. :)

The pattern for this awesome Angry Birds hat came from a youtube.com user by the name of "tjw1963".  She has a video showing how to crochet it as well as links to the written pattern.  I made this particular one for one of my SIL's husband. 

These six were for family members.  I'd asked each of them before Christmas what their 3 most favorite colors were and here we are.  Now they all have their own custom colored hat!  Just basic beanies. :)

And finally for tonight.... an amigurumi Mike Wazowski toy (from Monsters, Inc. movie).  I don't know why the photo came out with him looking a mustardy-green color... he is actually more like lime-green.  Like the cartoon!  Silly camera!

I made him for one of my nieces who just turned 3 and is going through a "Monsters, Inc." phase.  Unfortunately I did not write down how I made him as I went along, though I really wish I had because he isn't from a pattern- I just made him up.  I do think if I made another one, I'd make his head/body bigger.  But for a first try, I think he came out pretty good!

His mouth, by the way, is crocheted grey underneathe, but the teeth are cut out of felt and craft-glued on.  I tried crocheting the teeth in several ways and it was just not happening....so felt it was!! What do you think of the final guy? :)


Off to work on more projects!! :)  Hope everyone enjoys the pictures above and maybe get inspired to make some as well. :)