day 349: crocheted may roses

a may rose complete with leaves ... yip, i even got game enough to hook up some leaves :)

day 349 and i am sitting at home with a bit of time to play with crochet hooks and yarn ... ahh, the joy of having time to play and try something new.  i found these may roses on pinterest from attic 24 and desperately wanted to have a go at them today.  the roses are also pinned to my crochet board on pinterest.

i have fallen in love with attic 24 and her gorgeous, amazing, stunning crochet designs ... the colours are just so cool!  any ho, the other wonderful thing about her patterns was the stitch descriptions at the top of her tutorial ... lo-ve! for every stitch i knew exactly what i was supposed to be doing.  so off i went with my hook and yarn, a cup of coffee at my side, attic 24 in front of me and i spent the evening crocheting and i didn't yell once ... didn't even throw the hook in despair.  and a may rose i did create.

this evenings happy place ;)

it looked right and i was starting to believe!

it even twirled around like it was supposed to ... my only issue was the flash backlash!

pride in the finished product!

outcome:  after today's endeavours i am really starting to love crochet.  its been a rocky start and a long road of learning stitches but today i got it so much better and really enjoyed seeing my flower take shape ... insert little face of pride ;)


my sincere thanks to the lovely lucy of attic 24 for making my crocheting world a much happier, stressful place ... love her designs and i will be trying SO many more of them :)

day 348: cake box cookies

strawberry cookies

day 348 and it's a busy, busy day in our household .... lots on, lots of errands, lots of hockey, and somewhere in there are hours of learning for the peeps!  luckily, the peeps are always keen to get their work done on a thursday as we have hockey practice and get to see their friends ... somehow they think if they do their work fast hockey practice will  come sooner (yeah, i'm not going to tell them any different!).

i manage both the peeps hockey teams and we always put on afternoon tea if one of the team is having a birthday during the week.  today we have a special little person's birthday to celebrate and i wanted to try a new recipe to feed the masses ... but it had to be quick and easy, cake box cookies seem to fill those requirements~!

the ones i found on pinterest come from taste and tell blog and are strawberry cake mix cookies.  i need some pink sweets to take to a breast cancer fundraiser on sunday so figured a group of 30 peeps were bound to tell me if they were ok to bake for others or not :)  nothing like having a research group on hand to taste test new recipes.  while i was at it, i figured i would also try the vanilla cake mix and throw in some chocolate chips to see if this type of cookie would also be approved by the test team ;).

first up, the strawberry cake mix was mixed with eggs, oil, and coconut then teaspooned onto a cookie sheet.

the ingredients

sweet and delicious :)

second on the baking agenda was a vanilla cake mix that had eggs, oil, and chocolate chips mixed together before being spooned onto a baking sheet and slid into the oven for ten minutes.

ingredients

the final cookie ... really good :)

outcome:  they were gone ... not in 60 seconds but very close :)  peeps all loved them, the strawberry ones are more of an acquired taste, toffee sweet, but still good. my favourites were the vanilla chocolate chip ones because i don't have the biggest sweet tooth, it's growing after the last 300+ days though ;)

my thanks to taste and tell for testing the recipes taking the risk out of trying them for such a large research group who were bound to be vocal on their opinions re: new baking!  i will be back to recreate many more of the successful recipes from taste and tell with pleasure.

day 347: getting ready for winter with some cool looking subway art

the framed subway art with the happy snowmen!

day 347 and we are continuing to count down the days as we draw close to the end of 365 days of pinterest creations.  at which time it will also be winter and i need some festive winter décor to warm up my heart for this cold, rainy season :)

i found the perfect winter subway art from funky polkadot giraffe (such a cool name for a website!) that completely matches the scarf colours of my snowmen i made on day 315.  the free subway art is also pinned to my winter wonderland on over on pinterest.

i then found a frame (its an 8" x 10" print) and put it in ... ahhhh, i am done and i have made something pretty and it only took 10 minutes ... really no excuses for not having a bit of subway art up in your home when it's this easy and beautiful ;)

print and frame ... 

and done ... but it's so impressive for so little time ;)

outcome:  really, what's not to like, the time it took was tiny, the effect (because i love subway art at the moment) is gorgeous, and on top of all that my home looks like i am starting to enjoy the coming changing of the seasons even if that means its wintery and cold.

many thanks to funky polkadot giraffe for this sweet piece of FREE subway art that has made a great addition to the winter decor starting to appear around the house ... and fantastic colours to go with my happy snowmen :)

YAY ...

thanks pinterest for no longer considering me spam ... i can pin again from my blog and so can you ;)

love you guys at pinterest for sorting it so quickly :)

i have only a couple of weeks left to complete 365 days of pinterest creations ... any ideas on what i should be doing/making/creating over these last days .... anybody?

day 346: crockpot roast chicken

the crockpot roasted chicken, it was so very delicious!

day 346 and i am making a roast in the crockpot.  i have been wanting to try a chicken roast in the crockpot for ages but have just never got around to it.  today i did and i was so pleased i did ... trust me.

the recipe and inspiration comes from busy mommy and is pinned to my recipe must do's board on pinterest.  the lovely emily of busy mommy has a rub for inside and outside the chicken to make it like a bought rotisserie one.  sounded good as i love purchasing cooked chooks because they are such an easy dinner on busy days :)

the rub has garlic, dried onion, paprika, cayenne, salt, pepper, and these are made into a paste with water.  i put the chicken rub all around the insides and outsides, turned the crockpot on high and walked away for 3 hours ... then i came back to the most amazing smell, honestly the smell was so good i started salivating!

the rub ingredients plus i added a little peri peri seasoning ;)

rubbed and ready to cook ... sorry jenny, more poor food photos!

another terrible photo but the smell was so good, we couldn't wait to taste it so it was the only one i got!

outcome: i will never cook another chook in the oven, this is way too easy and doesn't make a mess in my oven with splatters!  the taste was divine and the meat was beautifully moist and actually falling off the carcass ... so good, the whole family loved it.  i'm going to make one again this week as it was that yummy i wanted leftovers for sammies but this one didn't survive to see the fridge ;)

the biggest thanks to emily of busy mommy, you have saved me from cleaning my oven from a chicken roast and given me another perfect dinner go-to for busy nights .. truly awesome, try it yourselves!

day 345: feltie owl friend

meet oscar owl

day 345 and i have reached the mystical realms of having a blog that has had so many repins i am now considered spam .... THANK YOU to you all for repinning!  and as soon as pinterest take me off their spam list you will continue to be able to repin.  at the moment i can't even repin my creations to my 365 board, i am hoping they will get it sorted before 365 days are up :)

on with today's creation, yes i am back to the felt and sewing.  you know when you have really enjoyed or are so happy with a project you have completed you want to keep doing it?  that's where i am at with felting at the moment, i am loving the little trinkets i have made from felt over the last week or so and just want to keep making more.  this cute little owl spoke to me and i figured as polly had a babushka or two recently join her in her bedroom ben could do with a new friend too ... i am thinking oscar is a name that will stick with this wee owl.

the owl tutorial comes from home life, a great website out of australia for home décor.  the tutorial is also pinned to my sewing diy board on pinterest.  good news for those of us who can't draw, the tutorial also comes with a printable template ... yippeee

start with some felt and fabric scraps

do a whole lot of cutting

an hour and a half later you have a fine looking oscar owl :)

outcome:  cute ... took a little while with to come together with all the hand sewing but it was definitely satisfying once oscar was all put together :)  the pattern was easy to follow along with the template and i plan to take some time (once i find some!) to look around home life and find other projects to fill our home with :)

my thanks to home life for the tutorial and all the good advice that was incorporated into it.  i love when something you see turns out just as well in reality!

day 344: crochet butterflies

my happy little (flock/school/herd) of butterflies

day 344 and those who have been following since the beginning will know i have no crochet skills but it was my new years resolution to get some this year ... it has been a slow process but i am getting there thanks to my dear friend dee and some lovely tutorials i have found on pinterest.  today i had some time so i thought i would give pattern reading a go :)  ...  hope you are proud dee, i am taking your advice!


i found these sweet little butterflies on little birdie secrets, they were too cute and looked like the perfect size for a weary crafter to tackle today.  the blog offers tutorials and patterns for several different sizes of butterflies so you can make them to suit your needs.  the tutorials are also pinned to my crochet ... my new years resolution board on pinterest.  i used a 100% viscose type wool as it had a little shimmer to it i thought would be perfect for my little butterflies.

my lovely mum photographing me trying to crochet!

the first one ... then you add the body and antennae by just wrapping a wool around the middle ... 

and she was done ... i was really pleased with my first attempt .... 

... so i made another one ...

... and then they just started multiplying!

outcome:  the little beauties are multiplying :) as a beginner crocheter even for me these only take 15 minutes to make including adding the little body and antennae.  i love them, definitely have made a heap today so i am going to attach them to all sorts of things over the next couple of days including polly's bed pillows, a card, a frame, and anything else i find lying around that needs a butterfly to brighten my day ... hehehehe

my sincere thanks to little birdie secrets, the patterns were so easy to use, i will be back to pin more of them to my boards to make some other crochet beauties as my skill develops!