Tuesday, August 3, 2010

My Most Cherished Handmade Possession




The blog question this week from the Create Crochet Team asks what your most cherished handmade posession is. I have been blessed with a very crafty and creative family, so this question is particularly hard for me.




One thing that immediately comes to mind is my baby blankie. I used that thing for years, until it started to fall apart. It is crocheted, and it is a huge cranny square. I used to put my fingers through the holes and that is what comforts me. I was irrationally upset when it started to fall apart because of how much I used it. Luckily, I learned how to crochet and made myself a new one. I've worn a few out from the stresses of college... but I can always make another one.




A couple years ago my mom started collecting grandpa's jeans, flannel shirts from grandpa and my uncle, and flannel pajamas from my great grandma. She also had some of her old jeans and a few pairs of flannel pajama pants of her own. She cut all of it into squares and made quilts for all of her kids, her brother and sisters, and a few other lucky family members. This quilt means more to me than almost everything because it is made from things that my family members wore for years. The squares from Great Grandma's pajamas are some of my favorite. For my quilt, my mom used a set of flannel sheets that I slept on for years for the backing. I didn't realize until I left home for college that I couldn't sleep on anything other than flannel. Having those sheets that comforted me for so long on a quilt means so much to me. So many people ask her how much she would charge for one of these quilts, but she won't make them for anyone but our family members. To us, they are priceless.




There is one more thing that is worth mentioning in this post. Last January I began to make my first quilt. Mom made her first quilt when I was in middle school and she took me with her to pick out the fabric and the pattern. I knew then that someday I wanted to make my own quilt, and I already knew what colors I wanted to use. Ever since I was little I've loved the colors of the rainbow, and I knew that my quilt had to have all the colors of the rainbow in it. Last winter I began to buy the fabric. I had all the fabric for the top of the quilt, I just needed some flannel to go on the back and a fabulous pattern. Mom and I knew that this quilt had to be special, which meant the pattern had to be spectacular. One night we were at Hobby Lobby and I came across some flannel that was on clearance that was absolutely gorgeous. I told her that was what I wanted for my quilt. We began to look through the pattern books at Hobby Lobby, and came across the perfect pattern. We spent hours at the store that night, and then I spent the next four days cutting out the fabric pieces and sewing them together. Finally I had the whole thing put together. When I saw how amazing it was I knew that I had to hand quilt it. So, needless to say, this quilt is not yet finished. I am just praying that I get the time to finish it sooner rather than later. This quilt is something that I want to pass on to my kids and grandkids, and on to further generations when I'm gone. This is the peice that I want to be my legacy. (this quilt is in the picture above)

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Buffalo Chicken Cheese Dip!

Tomorrow is superbowl Sunday! I have only been an NFL fan for two years now (GO STEELERS!), and I am super excited to watch the Superbowl with my family and friends. What is better than family and friends, food, football, and awesome commercials? NOTHING! So I thought I would share this awesome recipe with the world. I know that where I'm going tomorrow, we are going to probably make a couple batches of this. I have also just emailed this out to two people, and I'm sure that my boss, the person who gave me this recipe, will be making it as well. So, here it is!

Take a block of cream cheese and put it on the bottom of a 9x13" pan. Mix two big cans of canned chicken, some ranch dressing, and some hot sauce in a bowl. I dont really know exactly how much ranch and hot sauce you use, but I just keep adding it til it tastes good. It usually looks like orange puke. Ick, but it tastes good. Spread that on top of your layer of cream cheese. You add more hot sauce on top of that, however little or much you want. Thats the part that makes it spicy. Put a bag of shredded cheddar cheese on top. Bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Enjoy!

This dip is really good with Tostitos, but I think it would probably be good on crackers too. There are many people in my family who don't like spicy food but they love this. I made it 4 times over Christmas break alone. I hope you all like it! Have a good Superbowl Sunday and Go Saints! :)

Friday, November 20, 2009

Coasters!


I have been pretty busy for a couple days now. I am making Flip Flop Wine Glass Coasters for people for Christmas. The only problem is... I don't really know these people. They are Kameron's (my boyfriend) family and I have only met them a couple times in the last three years. At first I felt overwhelmed. How could I possibly make these for people I don't know and still incorporate their interests into the coasters. It's pretty hard.

So I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a TON of charms. I have all different knds. Some glass beads, some flowers, some flip flops, and other random things. I got so excited about these new charms that I couldn't wait to let my imagination go and be inspired and just do some new things. So thats what I've done. Currently, I have 11 pairs of coasters. But I have a lot more to go. I am so excited to share these with everyone because they are ideas that I've had in my head and they are just pouring out of me. I hope you all enjoy this picture and the others that will soon follow. :)

Thursday, November 19, 2009

First Ever!


Hello! I have never posted a blog before so lets see how this goes! I have started this blog because I would like to reach as many people as possible and share my crafts and the adventures I go through while I am making them. I dont know if everyone would call them adventures, but I would. I have been crocheting for about 10 years. I started off doing only afghans. I say that like it was easy. They would take me months to complete. But, I think I have done about 10 of them, so thats quite a few in my opinion.


I didn't have any plans for spring break my freshman year of college, so I decided to go visit my Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma had told me that my childhood babysitter had cancer, and she had learned how to make hats on a loom. Carol (my former babysitter) had made about 800 hats at the time, and she was giving them to cancer patients. Grandma and I went to Carol's house and she taught us how to make those hats. Grandma and I left there, and went to WalMart, bought yarn, and went home and started making them right away. I think we made about 5 hats in one day. We took them to Carol to give them to cancer patients. This was the beginning of my love of making hats.


I continued to make hats on a loom for almost a year and a half. But I wanted to do something more. So I looked up a pattern for a beanie, read it quite a few times, and then started crocheting. It was exactly what I wanted, and on the first try! So now I'm crocheting hats, and scarves and many other things. So this has been my journey so far. I wanted everyone to be able to start from the beginning, and now we can all continue on together.