I am so very excited about a project I have been working on, but shhhh, it’s a secret. I do hope to unveil it all after we get back from our trip, around the first week in June.

Hope all the mamas out there had a wonderful day yesterday!

making granola

doing a bit of crochet

eating wholemeal cheddar scones

chopping veg for supper

I’m starting a new crochet project. It’s one that I’m really not sure if I’m going to love it in the end, but I think I am so I’m jumping in. Worst case scenario, I rip it all out and use the yarn for something else. Either way, I’ll definitely show you when it is finished and more than likely ask you all for your opinions, unless I decide I can’t stand it already. Vague, I know, sorry.

Super excited as today my brother flies into town. We haven’t seen him in a while and we are all so excited to get a couple of days with him. The kids really can’t wait.

Also, it’s a winter wonderland out there again. It’s been snowing since the day before yesterday, and we got a lot through the night. Right now it’s beautiful and untouched, but soon it will be a big dirty, slushy mess, ugh. I am so ready for spring. I’ve received two seed catalogs in the mail the last couple of days and I’m really looking forward to the weather warming up and us getting back to being able to grow some food and flowers.

I’d better run, I’ve got a house to tidy, some food to make and of course lots of snuggles to give. Hope you guys have a great Friday.

This is my new iPod case, that I have been working on with my 20 minutes of crafting a day. I seem to have gone a bit mad about granny squares, they are so easy and so addictive. The lining is some fleece that belonged to some of the babe’s jammies that she no longer fits in. I am always a big fan of practical and pretty and I’m pleased with how this turned out.

My next project to work on is a little something for two of my kiddos that are restless sleepers.

Yesterday was full to the brim of baking and cooking with lots of help from my little ones. I’m excited about sharing the recipes with you soon. Even though it is not planned, it seems as though Monday ends up being our big baking/cooking day as we seem to run out of things over the weekend. Do you guys have planned baking days, or do you just bake throughout the week?

One reason I love shopping at thrift stores, is that if I am patient enough, I can usually find what I am looking for for much cheaper than if I had gone out and bought it at a regular store. Part of the thrill is the hunt, so to speak. Keeping my eye out for something, eventually finding it at a brilliant price, and then doing some work to it, if need be, in order to make my new treasure perfect.

I have been looking for a coat for a while now. A nice, warm coat in a neutral colour. I thought that instead of getting a coat in a different colour, I would find one that would last for years by just switching up accessories. If I get tired of the colour of my scarf, I can change it and update my whole outerwear look without changing the coat. Much more frugal, I thought.

Anyway, when we were down with Hubby’s parents, I visited their local thrift store and guess what I found? This little beauty, well maybe not quite yet, but it had potential, lots of potential. All of the clothes were half off that day so I took her home for just $5. I didn’t like the faux fur, the colour made it look a little dirty and besides, I wanted complete neutrality. It didn’t take me long to figure out exactly what I was going to do, and now I am done. I hope it doesn’t sound like I am bragging, I am just so excited. Are you ready to see my new, much improved coat?

Remember these little granny squares? I turned them into a new collar to replace the fur one. I absolutely love how it turned out.

I also crocheted strips of half trebles stitches to replace the fur on the cuffs and trim of the coat.

My favourite part is definitely the collar. I am so thrilled with my new coat. $5 dollars for the coat, less than $2 dollars for some natural coloured cotton yarn, and a little bit of time gave me a coat that is perfect for me. One of the best things about it? Not a single person on this entire planet has the same coat, it is a complete original.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

For the most part, I like winging it when it comes to crafting. Though I do use them, patterns make me nervous. I much prefer to tackle a project by figuring it out what needs to be done and doing it, minus a pattern.

I recently found an article of clothing at a thrift store that was fantastic in just about every way. There is one thing I want to change and that’s what these granny squares are for. Of course, the whole thing could be a complete failure, but I hope not. I should have it done by next week and I can’t wait to show you.

Oh, and after I laid these out, I noticed how cute they would be as a granny square wreath. I might have to work on some of those for next Christmas.

On a side note, my closet is almost done. Just one more stack to go through and then my clothes will be down to what I actually wear and love. Decluttering is so freeing, good thing, as I have lots more to do.

Which do you prefer, working from patterns, or winging it?

Most of yesterday was spent struggling with a migraine that just wouldn’t go away. By the time the kid’s bedtime came, I was really desperate for some quiet. After getting the babe to sleep, I curled up on the chair with a cup of tea and some cotton yarn and a hook.

I have seen different versions of tawashi (Japanese scrubbies) all around the internet lately. They are so cute, and best of all, practical. Washing the dishes is part of every day, so why not do it with something cute. This is the tawashi pattern I used for these. They are really simple, and I was able to make two of them really quickly. There are lots of other patterns and variations out there, and I am looking forward to trying out some other types as well.

These work up really quickly, and you can make them out of small amounts of yarn, so perfect for using up scraps. With Christmas around the corner, these would make fantastic stocking stuffers as well. Who doesn’t need to wash dishes? They could also be used instead of washcloths for the little ones provided that you use a soft yarn. There are so many uses and they can just be tossed into the wash when they need to be cleaned. Sounds like a win-win to me. I know that I will be working on quite a few of these in the next few weeks, aren’t they great?

Download Pattern (pdf)

Supplies you will need:

• fabric scraps for body and wings
• yarn for hanging loop
• yarn for birdy legs
• decorative button for loop
• two buttons for eyes
• two buttons for feet
• embroidery floss for wing
• poly-fil or wool for stuffing

Cut out two body pieces and two wing pieces using the pattern pieces.

Center the actual size wing pattern piece on the back side of the wing fabric. Fold the fabric around the pattern piece and iron. Slip the paper pattern piece out. I’m sure there are better ways of doing this but it is what I ended up doing, feel free to do this however you wish.

Place the wing on the right side of the body piece and using a running stitch, attach the wing to the body (I removed two strands of the embroidery floss and used the rest so that it would not be too thick). Make sure to leave a small opening in order to put some stuffing into it. Repeat for the other side.

Add a small amount of stuffing into the wing and then finish stitching it up.

Crochet a chain of approx. 40 stitches (you can make it shorter or longer depending on where you want to hang it) using your hanging loop yarn. When you chain your last stitch, using a slipstitch, connect it to the chain about 2/3 of the way down. Finish it off leaving a tail long enough to stitch your button on.

Using the tail, thread it through your decorative button and secure it to the chain behind the button.

Crochet another chain using your leg yarn (I was using a thicker yarn so I only needed four stitches) to the length that you want. Finish it off leaving a tail long enough to stitch a button on.

Thread the tail through your birdy feet button and secure to the chain behind the button. Repeat for the other leg.

Place bird bodies right sides together and sandwich the decorative hanging loop in the middle. You want the single chain (the bottom, not the handle part) peeking out the top of the birdy head. Pin around the birdy making sure that the hanging loop is in the middle so as not to be accidentally stitched when joining the two sides together.

Using a 1/4” seam allowance, machine or hand stitch all the way around the bird leaving an opening at the bottom big enough to turn and stuff the bird.

Turn the bird right side out and stuff. I used a small chopstick to make sure the stuffing filled out the beak and tail.

Take a needle and thread that will blend in with your main body fabric and start stitching up the hole making sure to add the legs in as you go.

Take a moment to breathe, we’re almost done. Grab your eye buttons and some thread that matches the buttons.

I stitched the eyes by holding both buttons in place and starting at one side, going through the button, through the head, and through the other button and just stitched them both on at the same time. When I was done I wrapped the tails of thread around the buttons to hide them. You are now done with your birdy. I hope you enjoy him.

UPDATE: The tutorial is now available here.