Christmas Gifts!

This year, we decided to do 100% homemade gifts (all but Santa's) I am learning about patterns and having so much fun.. mostly I like to change patterns or make my own but here are a few of the presents I have done. When I started, I started making blankets for everyone. I got bored fast and had to move on!
These are in order of what I have done.. learning as I go... These blankets I made before the longies, though.
(Caden's..just learning the SC! covers his crib)



















Tommy's (covers his twin bed)


















We have a tradition in our house, every Christmas eve we let the boys unwrap one presents.. always PJ's. This year, I decided to MAKE our jammies. Here are Caden's wool longies... I still need to make a shirt and slippers to match.























I made these fish from Susie's pattern. They are color counting fish. I decided to play a lil using different textured yarns, different sized hooks.. I still need to make a bag for them.


















One of Ty's hats (still need to make him one using his school colors with a basketball on top!)


















Hat and scarf for Tommy.. he wants MANY hats so this is only a start!
























Nieces hats, scarfs, and purses: ( I am planning on putting those heart crayons we made in the purses!)

Caden, modeling his cousin's hat!






















































































Nephews hats and scarfs: (I need to make some lil drawstring bags for the boy's star crayons)
Chicago Bears colors (scarf and two hats)























Chicago Bulls colors (scarf and basketball hat)

Crocheting fun!

Ok, so I got soo tired of making nothing but blankets and dishcloths, I posted in Diaper Swappers.. HELP for a pattern.. I had never done a pattern and only had been crocheting 2 months but I gave it a try! I posted my very first ones in my Halloween bog, so here are my second and third ones! They are the dragonfly pattern from ladybugz.ca but I did change them a lil here and there.























And my third pair! I became addicted real fast! He has been wearing these for awhile now, so they may have a lil pillies on them and need to be re-washed and blocked, but here they are!

Halloween costumes!

I am soo behind! Sorry this is late, but had to show them off!
I wanted to go as frugal as possible. I spent about $10 TOTAL for both of the boys' costumes! (this includes make-up!)
I bought black and orange fleece and red and black material on clearance at walmart. I took an old maternity shirt (shhh..lol) and cut it down to fit Tomas. I took a silky nightgown we got at the thrift store, (another shhh) and cut it to look like a vest. I used glue for that as I didn't have red thread. So, for Tomas I made fleece pants, a cape, a shirt with an attached vest, and a bow tie for him!
For Caden, I crocheted longies (my first!) using the dragonfly pattern from ladybugz.ca I made my first hat, and made a stem for it! Duane made him a poncho out of some of the fleece we got on clearance! Of course we had to make trick-or-treat bags to match! We both had so much fun making them! Of course I forgot to take pictures before we went to the zoo's Halloween night, by then.. what was the point.. sigh. So, I decided that pics of them in their outfits was as good as it is going to get!

Tomas:
























Caden in his costume and close-ups of his hat and longies:


















































And of course, can't forget my Tyler! He went Goth this year so he let me do his make-up!

My first sewing in 20 years!

Mom taught me how to sew, when I was about 6... she taught me using her Grandma's old machine. I took sewing in 4-H but HATED it!!! I stopped sewing at about age 12...
When I decided to cloth diaper, it brought mom and I closer. We made wipes together, she made me some soakers and shorties out of her old sweaters that my lil sis had shrunk. We turned onesies into t-shirts.. My mom was a professional seamstress back in the day, but hadn't in years! It was so awesome to see that spark in her eyes! After she passed, I inherited her sewing maching, her serger, and her crafting stuff. I decided it was time to learn how to sew again!
Mom's sewing machine had some major problems and Dh decided to buy me a new one!
My first project I upcycled! I took an old fleece sweatshirt of Ty's, and made pants, shirt and a hat for Caden! I am still working on slippers and mittens.. just limited time here!
I need to take pics and when I do, I will post them!

My first crochet project

I had some shorties that had an elastic band, Caden LOVED strings, so I asked mom how I could do draw strings so she told me to go and get her yarn and a hook, and the next thing I knew, she was was teaching me how to crochet! She talked me through it, and some of her stitches were totally missed named.. must have been the drugs talking, but this was the last craft she taught me.. she passed a week and a half later.. I just had to share with you all.. my first wash cloth! Two layered, just like ma taught me!

Anyone want some Slime?

I got tired of hearing "I am soo bored mama!" SO.. the boys made slime!
Took 1 cup corn starch, 1 cup water and food coloring.. we used the neon colors
mixed them in a plastic bag.. then added more cornstarch to thicken it a lil.. just had to share!

Recycle your crayons!!

I was looking for something to go inside the purses and bags I crocheted for my nieces and nephews.. why not crayons!
Well, we didn't quite recycle.. but we found some cute lil tins at the dollar store, and found a huge bag of crayons at the thrift store. So, total cost for us to make these, was $2.80.. and we still can make a TON more(pic didn't even show half of them!)
We peeled the labels off the crayons, broke them into lil pieces, put them in the tins.. melted them in the oven on 250 degrees F.. let them cool and look what we made!!

Canning

Growing up, it was always a summer "have to" in my house. Mom would can and freeze everything she had and more so that our family could make it through the winter. I can remember making trips to Utah and to the Bitter root valley just to get things to put up. We always ate what she had canned that day, and pancakes for dinner.. lol.. no matter what it was! I can remember cucumbers in the washer most of the summer.. lol.. and the time we had to take her to the hospital as she had cut the top of her thumb off with the corn slicer!
As an adult, I had only canned with mom a couple of times. Funny how things just don't seem as important as they should at the time. Mom use to make the best zucchini relish, salsa, fruit syrups and chili sauce. We decided to grow a garden together this last summer. Gardening always put my mom at ease and put a spark back into her eyes! Sure she had helped me put in a couple over the years when she would come to visit, but she hadn't had one in years! We got our graft paper out and went to town! I so wish she would have been here to help me can like we had planned but I decided to do my best to remember what mom had taught me and try my hand at it alone this year. I was able to get a lot out of just a small amount. Of course mom turned Tyler into a peach lover early in life so I also went looking for peach recipes! Ty helped me with them and he was so proud! I am so thankful mom taught me so that I could pass this on to my kids. Here are our family favorite recipes!

Peach Butter:








































http://www.pickyourown.org//peachbutter.htm

http://www.recipezaar.com/Banana-Butter-Canning-Recipe-69038

My banana butter, in the crock pot: (notice the different pretty dark pink color!)























My banana butter cooked on the stove.. so light pink and pretty!:














The banana butter was so easy, cheap, and yummy!! The first batch we did, I let it cook most of the day in the crock pot.. this made it such a pretty pink color. I had also followed the recipe with the sugar. Ty and I decided it was so yummy, that we had to make some for dinner so we hurried up and made some using the on the stove method as in the recipe. I cut down the sugar to only 2 cups and wow.. it was sweet enough!! I didn't worry about running them through the hot water bath as the jars didn't even last that long! Tommy was loving those banana butter and peanut butter sandwiches! And Ty just loved it over ice cream!
We made some of our yummies in 4 oz jars..they are going to become Christmas presents with a loaf of bread from a the last recipe mom gave me. I am planning on making some cute lil toppers for my jars and will post a picture when I am all finished! So note to all you 'non-canners' out there.. SUPER EASY!! Don't be afraid!!!