Intimidating Crafts.

I'm always looking for new things to do.

There's still plenty of things I could/need to learn with knitting, and I DEFINITELY need to up my crochet abilities, and...there's a lot of things I want to do. It's easier than listing it out.

One thing I always admired was resin pendants. If you don't know what that is, do a search on Etsy or DeviantArt. They look like glass, almost, but it's actually a clear epoxy. You can embed things into it, color it, etc. They look amazing.

But then I started reading up on the stuff. The dangers of the fumes, getting it on things, and I have a house with kids and pets. I can't do things dangerous.

But I found this stuff called Easy Cast at Hobby Lobby. It was around $14. And then..well...

"It felt French."

I love Friends. Too much for words. I could probably watch that show 24/7. It's always hilarious.

Anyway.

Kyle, Selena, Gabe, and I went with my in-law's to my father-in-law's mother's house.

Mouthful, huh?

This was..in February. She had made us some food, and part of it was this french bread with about a half inch of garlic butter in the middle. Kyle's been going on and on and ON about it ever since. And it's almost April. Sheesh.

I was making spaghetti the other night and decided to give a try at some french bread with garlic butter.

It came out amazingly.

Until I screwed it up.

I had to bake this bread twice in two days. It was THAT good.

Fat Kid Night.

The amount of stress in my life is still at high, and *gasp* I'm out of crafts to do at the moment to take my time off of it. So, tonight I claimed myself to a Harry Potter marathon and baking.

And these cupcakes are totally worth not having a craft to do.

I guess they're a craft in themselves.

You know your mouth is watering.

Quickie: Crafting Practicality

I have a hard time finding potholders that I like/go with my kitchen. So, needing a craft, I decided to crochet. Again.

My tension is still a bit wonky (it's HP weekend on ABC Family, excuse my words please) but that'll even itself out with practice.

These were crocheted using Peaches N Creme 100% cotton (I small ball at WalMart will make 1, and it's a little less than $2). You don't want to use ANY acrylic yarn, because acrylic is plastic. Plastic + Heat = Melt.

Pattern found here. And quite honestly, I won't be paying for new potholders anymore, unless it's the supplies to make more of these. These are the BEST potholders you'll get. They're double thick (I'll admit, I struggled with the pattern as a beginner crocheter) so NO heat goes through these babies!

I'm inlove with my potholders.

First Crochet Project - Done!

I can't believe it. I really can't.

Quickie: I'm A Hooker!

I never thought the day would come.

I really didn't.

I'VE LEARNED TO CROCHET!

My tension is still pretty off, but I'll get better as I go.

This ninja is super stoked.

I'm not built for the outside stuffs.

I'm really, really, REALLY not an outdoors person.

I don't do the whole camping thing. 

And here's why.

1. It gets freaking HOT in the summer. Pennsylvania wasn't so bad, but now that I'm in Missouri, it's like I'm walking outside to Hell. I prefer air conditioning.

2. There's no bathrooms when you go "real" camping. I'm saying "real" camping because Kyle, bless his heart, just gets into a tizzy when you bring up campgrounds. You should hear his rant. It's quite amusing.

3. There's bugs and things. Bugs are too icky for my taste. And skunks. And mountain lions. And armadillos. And possums. *shivers*

4. I'm a mosquito magnet, literally. If you want to walk outside with no bug spray on into a swarm of those things, take me will you. I promise that you won't get bit. They'll be too busy attacking me.

Now, camping food? I'm down with that.

Fire roasted hot dogs, I love. Jiffy Pop over the fire? Bring it.

And s'mores. S'mores are #1 on my fire food priority list.

In the summer, Kyle makes a fire in our yard to burn branches and random scraps of wood that I collect (because you never know what you can make from them!) and I can only stand about 2 minutes in the heat. And everytime I request a s'more, I hear the dreaded words...

"Make it yourself!"

*sigh*

But WAIT! I found the solution! Head over to Just Baked and find...

...THIS SUPER AWESOME RECIPE FOR S'MORES CUPPYCAKES!

^ Click above for recipe. ^

I'm serious. I don't kid about cuppycakes. Or s'mores. And these are as close as you're going to get to a s'more without having to fight the evils of being outside.

I'm not posting the recipe on here, but below are my photos of the process and end result. You'll drool, I promise.

Kyle and I are already fighting over them. :)

The Stash.

I'm always curious about what people have when crafting.

You might not be. But I know there's others out there like me. 

There's something about seeing the raw material they're working with and then seeing a finished product that is so awesome, it's hard to find words to describe it. Part of it is probably due to the fact that crafters know what kind of work goes into making things. 

So I thought I'd share pictures of what I'm working with, yarn, knitting, and crochet related.

This is my odd and end box. It's got my scissors, stitch markers, some embroidery thread, gauge reader/ruler, yarn bobbins, darning needles, etc.

This is my yarn. And it's constantly changing and growing or shrinking. It's made up of Red Heart brand (which I honestly don't like, I think it's too rough for much of anything) and I Love This Yarn! acrylic worsted weight. After taking this picture, I got two things of Peaches & Creme 100% cotton. My kitchen needs some potholders.

These are the only two sets of circulars that I have. They're size 8 and 10, both 29". Needless to say, I use a LOT of the magic loop method when knitting on these.

Theeeeese are my knitting needles. Thanks in large part to my best friend, Kristy. Her mom had moved into a house that had a mess of things left over, including a large amount of knitting needles. I've got a pretty good amount of 14", then a couple sets of 10", and then a few sets of DPNs.

These would be my crochet hooks. I had, literally, ONE before Kristy. I also have a big assortment of pattern magazines and books for crocheting, straight out of the 70s and 80s. My house would be retro-fab right now if it wasn't for Kyle stopping me.

And, you know, if I could actually crochet. >.<

So, that's my knitting and crocheting stuff. Not a lot, but it's mine and it works for me.

Hopefully one day I'll be able to show you my craft room.

If only someone could get it done...

(Kyle, if you're reading this, HINTHINT.)

Keeping The Husband Happy.

When my husband saw the finished piece I made for his mom and dad for Christmas, he wanted something like that for our house.

"I'M SICK OF ALL THESE PLAIN WALLS!"

The guy gave me free range of crafting and decorating.

And I. Got. Excited.

First, I started tracing my letters onto some scrapbook paper. I ended up getting the same type of letters that I used for the in-laws gift, but smaller.

Then I had to sit down and paint the board I got.

"VIOLET! You're turning VIOLET, VIOLET!"

I love Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory.

It always goes wrong at the dessert, right?

PIEEEEEE!

Who doesn't love pie?

Technically, I baked this for Kyle, but I'm the only one that's eaten any of it. >.<