Let's Go to the Farmer's Market

It took me an entire year to finish this project. I know, kind of ridiculous. I started it using a different pattern and something about it wasn't going right. I ended up putting it away and not until mid-February of this year did I decide I needed to get it done. It was to be for my sister-in-law for her birthday . . . last year. Alas, "better late than never?" It turned out super cute and I am hoping to make a few more at some point. I picture this as a great bag for the farmer's market and picking up fresh produce or flowers. I found the pattern HERE.

She Loves to Color . . .

So I thought it would be fun to make a gift for her aunt and uncle using her drawings. I had Alice color on tissue paper, then I cut the paper into small squares and decoupaged it to a glass candle holder. It was fun, a little messy, but turned out fairly cute. It's a little crafty cheesy, but my brother has told me it now has a prominent place in their home :) They live far away, so I thought it would be fun for them to have something in their home that she helped create. Here are a few pictures of the final product:

Foxy Little Lady

In the last few months I've been mostly making gifts. I finally got around to crocheting a fox hat for our dear friends who just welcomed their daughter this past weekend. At the time of it's creation, we did not know the sex of the baby, so I thought a fox was something that could easily work for a baby boy or girl. It turned out so cute! I may have to make one for Miss Alice for next fall and winter. Here is the final product:

I used the same standard earflap hat pattern I've been using and found a picture online of another hat and copied it. Easy peasy :) Can't wait to see their little girl wearing it in another 6 or 8 months!

Valentine's Day Part II

I almost forgot to post this. Here is Alice's full outfit for Valentine's Day. I made the hat, shirt and leg warmers. She was a big hit at daycare. It was fun putting it all together and she's gotten a lot of use out of the hat. I have St. Patty's Day plans in my head. Lots of leftover green from our Christmas stockings :)

I also made heart garland to decorate the mantel. The little hearts are so fun to make and so easy. Still debating Shamrock garland for March . . . oh, and maybe a bunny hat for Easter . . . too many fun things to make!

Hats, hats, hats!

I've been making a lot of hats in the last six months. Here is a collage of some of the owl hats. I'll post a few of the others soon. Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Part I

Alice is still too young to have an opinion about Valentine's, so I went all out and crocheted little owl pins for her daycare friends. It was so fun, but I realize it may be a bit overboard for a 1 1/2 year old. Too bad! Next year she will probably have an opinion or she'll want to make them herself, so while I still can, I'll go ahead and get crafty before she cares.

I crocheted pink owls for the girls and red for the boys. I used the owl pattern found HERE. I then took a tree illustration I created a while ago but never used, added the lines "Whoooooo thinks you're special?" and "Happy Valentine's Day!" I printed the cards on my printer, cut them down then affixed the pins in place. I used some clear cellophane bags I had in my enormous craft supply stash and slipped each card into a bag, sealed them and they are ready to hand out. 

I also made Alice a hat, leg warmers and an applique shirt. I am hoping to get a picture of her wearing it all on Thursday and will try to post it here. Happy Valentine's Day!

Holiday Card Designs

The holidays are right around the corner. I've been working on a new product line for Lilly Jean Creations and finally have something I'd like to share with you. Please visit the "Shop My Card Designs" link above to see a collection of holiday card design templates I've created. I can customize any of these designs with your photo/s and signature for a small fee, then email you a file that you can print on your home printer or with your favorite online photo printer (or I can coordinate the printing for you). There are more details on the page, so please take a look. I'll continue to add designs in the next few weeks. 

I know there are a lot of options for holiday cards these days. I hope you'll consider letting me take some of the stress out of the process for you :)

Cheers!

Owl Hats

Our friends are getting ready to welcome their first baby (a girl) this week and I was itching to do some crafting. So, I went back to the pattern I used for the monkey hat, but this time I made it into an owl hat. It turned out so cute, that I decided to make one for Miss Alice as well. You can find the pattern HERE. It is super easy and fast. The instructions include how to make monkey ears. I made the eyes and beak for the owl myself after looking at similar hats online. The tassles for the ears are made from yarn scraps as well as the braided ties. So cute, so fun and SO easy. I will probably make a few more, as we have more friends with little girls and winter is approaching . . .

I made this one for our friends:

And this one for Miss Alice:

One year, three dresses

So, in less than a week she'll be one year old. Hard to believe. Even harder to believe how little sewing and knitting I've done in the last year. I miss it. Terribly. I took the occasion of her first birthday to MAKE the time to sew her a dress. Of course, I couldn't make just one, so I made three. Now to decide which one is the winner. Friends have suggested a dress change halfway through the big day. That may be the answer. All of these were created using an Old Navy tank top, cutting it and sewing the skirt to it. I put elastic on the inside so that it would still have some give to it, which is a good thing because when I tried on dress number one she needed that give to get it on her. Once it was on (it wasn't all that hard to get it on) it looked super cute and fit her great. I'll have to test out the other two tonight and decide on the order for the party. I also haven't decided if I should make some hair accessories. She's not all that into hair accessories, but maybe for photo ops? I sure hope I can do more blogging in the future. I'm working on a couple of knitting projects and of course have so many pinned and in my head for the future. It's okay, though. I love being a mom and if it means not having as much time for other loves, I'm okay with that.