Snow Globe Christmas Craft

I have had an idea for a Christmas craft to make for one of my daughters in law. (My other daughter in law does not celebrate Christmas, so...)  She LOVES snow globes, and is obsessed with them. (Honestly, she has gotten me a little obsessed with them, too). I saw a Mason Jar Snow globe craft (well, I have seen a few of them). And I went to different stores to get the stuff to make one. (Sigh...) First, I went to Dollar General. I went there for something else, actually. But I thought I would see if they had anything I could use. They had some of the clear Christmas ornaments that you can take apart. I didn't get them. Don't ask me why. Because I had to go back later and buy them. Hobby Lobby didn't even have any that you can take apart, and the only ones they even had were in packs of ten and too much money. A two pack at Dollar General cost $1. So, you could make four snow globe jars for 25 cents. 

They had the exact thing I was looking for, though at Hobby Lobby. AND, it was half off. Bonus. I literally NEVER want to pay full price at Hobby Lobby. (But, I have before..)  

Then, I went to the dollar store...  They had these adorable mini Christmas trees. 

And, I was going to go to Hobby Lobby to find some "fake snow". But I found this at the dollar store and I thought, "That would work..."  

This is my finished snow globe jar. I broke it all down, how much I spent making this. I couldn't believe it- over $15? (With tax)...  But, it's a Christmas present. If you had a wide mouth mason jar laying around, and if you bought your candy at the dollar store, it wouldn't cost so much. I didn't spend $92 but... I showed my husband this, and he texted me back, "I want one". I was checked in the cupboard above the fridge (I know our son sent us a jar with candy in it for Christmas one year), and I found two big wide mouth mason jars. I have ideas for both of them. And, now I have all the stuff to make them (I *might* have to go get more glue gun sticks, though- I will have to see if I can find glue sticks at the dollar store).  Let me tell you, it is not as "easy" as it looks to make one. And I hate how the glue gets all glopped up around the edges.

Close up top view. I still think it is pretty dang cute!!! Even with the glue glop. 😝 This is the tutorial I used to make it.

I had an idea to crochet a "Snow Globe Picture Frame Ornament", too. I wrote it all down, but my notes are a MESS....  I think it's okay. 

I started another hat, too. This one is the same as others I've made in the past. It's for a Christmas present. I wasn't going to knit or crochet anything for Christmas this year. HAAA... You know how that goes. One I knitted for our son. Another one I knitted for a gift. I am using a big 16 oz skein (from my stash- I used some of it in other projects) of Caron One Pound (obviously), "Midnight Blue" 294010. The wrapper is about falling off and irritating me so I'm posting here what the yarn and color is.

I realized I don't have a close up picture of my knitted Christmas bell. I took a picture of it to post on Facebook in a group I'm in..   I don't remember where I got the pattern from, but here is one very similar. I love knitting them in variegated Christmas yarn. I only have one for my tree, and since we got a bigger tree, we need more ornaments. I might have to dig that pattern out. *Don't get sidetracked*...  

Also, in other news... It snowed in the middle of the night. 😭😭😭   I know, it's November. But, I don't want winter to be here!!!! I HATE winter!!! It's so brutally cold. At least I don't have the cold sensitivity like I did last winter. I wasn't even supposed to "breathe" the cold air. 🥶🥶🥶 I will have to take a picture of the snow (it's just now getting light out) and upload it later.

I took a couple pictures...  😭 Not only is it snowing, but the sky is totally grey. Back porch.

Front porch. 

I saw a poem on a group I follow (and it was from Michigan):

"November skies are black and gray, Thanksgiving comes a happy day".

Merry Birthday Happy Christmas

I got my husbands' hat out to compare it to the one I just finished, so you can see what I was talking about in my last post. My husbands' hat, on the right; was done with one strand of worsted weight. I did the hat on the left with two strands held together, like the pattern says to. See how the top is all pointy? I do not like that. 

My husband got me a cake and some "sparkler" candles for my birthday. 😍 They were pretty cool. But you had to let them go out on their own (they wouldn't blow out-I tried), and it burned the top of the frosting in some parts. The cake is half chocolate and half vanilla. And, is almost gone! I only had one piece on my birthday, and I had a small piece today.  It's a lot of sugar, though; and it's too sweet for me, anyway.

One of the other things my husband got me was a new cup for my tea. 😊 I said a while ago, "I am going to need a winter cup to drink my tea out of". The one I was using all summer has strawberries on it. (First picture). This is the one he got me. I love it. 

I woke up the day before my birthday and thought "Happy Birthday to me, I can put up my tree"...  LoL  I always want to put the tree up early. My husband wants to wait until the day after Thanksgiving. Ughhh..   I sung my new birthday song to my husband and we (I should say, "he") put up the tree on my birthday. HA. He put it up, and put the angel on top and I decorated it. Cosmo went right to his spot under the tree. 😻  When I was trying to put some of the other Christmas decorations out (my crocheted tree), I was fixing the beaded rope on the tree, and I saw a purple thing sticking out of it. Why is there a crochet hook in the tree???????  Crazy. No it wasn't the one I lost that I just posted about. But obviously I did lose it at one time. I'll probably find the other one somewhere stupid like that. :P

Since I finished the hat, I was in the mood (rare for me, so I have to take advantage of it while it lasts) to finish more things. I got the dinosaur out which is all done being crocheted, but I had to sew all the parts on (which I hate). I started doing that yesterday. I got everything sewn on, then I had to crochet the spots still and sew them on. Which is almost done, too. I have one more spot to sew on. Now I have two more things I crocheted/knitted, that I don't know what to do with.....  (Sigh).  Both the reasons I started both projects I don't think are going to work out.  And now, since we put up the tree (I forgot to mention, it's a new Christmas tree! And, it's about a foot taller, and wider than our old tree)... I think we need more Christmas ornaments! I don't know. So maybe I will crochet some more, or knit a Christmas Bell.  I usually put candy canes on the tree, too. But, no one ever eats them any more and I actually just recently threw out some candy canes that were about (probably) four years old that were up in a cupboard.    If this mood to finish things lasts, maybe I can finish up some of the doll clothes.

~Until Next Time~ 

My Second Tychus Hat (20 years later....)

 

I got this out one day and I was knitting happily along on it. I put it down to get up for something. When I came back, I was looking at it and I thought "Something is not right here.." I had done a bunch of rows. UGGGHHHHH....  I was happy I was on the last wedge, almost done... 

This is what it's supposed to look like. I couldn't wrap my brain around what went wrong..  🙄So I just put it away for a few days.

I got it back out a couple days ago, and said "I'm just going to start ripping it back.." I undid all the stitches until I thought it was right. Then I realized what I did. Instead of knitting up until two stitches less than the rest of the row (36, 34, 32...); I had knitted all the way, and picked up the two green stitches on the end. As if I was finishing the second half of the wedge. Duhhh... Well now it's finished. I had started this with the infusion center in mind. To make some "team colors" hats for guys? But...   I don't know. It's really stiff. I remember the first hat I made for my husband was kind of stiff. Then I just used one strand, instead of two held together. And, it looked too small. But, it softened up, and it stretched out as time went on. And it fits him perfect now. I don't know. Sigh......   

Also, there's this. I pushed it all the way inside out and it has a pointy top. I don't like that. If it was for a girl, I could sew a pom-pom on the top to camouflage the pointy-ness. I don't like this team. So, now I don't know what to do with this hat. Maybe our son or my husband will want it, for work?...  🙍 I haven't sent a box to Pine Ridge in so long...   I don't know what to do.    I was thinking about doing another one, already though. In navy blue and off-white. For our middle son. 

Okay, I googled Tychus Hat, Images... And I don't feel so bad. There's a lot of them that are pointy. 💁 And I saw one girl who had a pom-pom on hers. 

Oh. And guess what I found this week? While I was trying to do something else (of course). The other bootie. (Now that I have two made-UGHHHH) I still haven't found that crochet hook, though. :P

Cactuses, Chicken, and Caches

I was watering my plants the other day, and I looked at my cactus to see if it has any buds yet, and IT DOES!! Yay!!!! This cactus had not gotten any flowers in a long time. It must like the window I put it in. 

There's a BUNCH. This is not a Christmas Cactus. It's a Thanksgiving Cactus. Here is a post about the different types of holiday cactuses. It seems like they put the wrong sticker on a lot of them. I have another one, but it is from a cutting from this one. It's in a different window and I don't think it has any buds... I should put it in the same window maybe it will get some. I would have to move one of the other plants, though...  Hmmmm.  I'm afraid to move one because the animals knock over the cactus there as it is.  ~Anyway~

In other breaking news, I got all the strawberry scented wax out of my wax melt and put some new pumpkin vanilla something wax in there. It smells good. 

We went to Frankenmuth this past weekend. We didn't really want to. But.... We made ourselves.  It was a pretty day, the sky was blue. This riverboat was blowing its horn right before I took this picture. I made a video of it, and it turned out perfect. I was making a video of the little river waterfall, then I went over to the riverboat and it blew its horn right as I got it in the video. Like I planned it. 

How cool is that?

This is the bridge. I forgot what it's called. The Holz Brucke (I don't know how to make the two little dots above the u). I didn't know that it is the largest covered bridge in Michigan. 😲

Here's a miniature version. This one might be the smallest covered bridge in Michigan. LoL 😄 It's cute.  

This is the "reason" we went to Frankenmuth. For a geocache...  I had been looking for a good place to "drop" a trackable one of my pen pals sent me. I wanted to put it by a castle. But... The closest castle near us only has a "virtual cache". It used to have a geocache (but, it was a micro, not anywhere I could put an actual swag into anything..) (Sigh...)  I was reading the description of this one; and it is covered, so the elements (snow, rain) won't get in it. And, the owner of this cache lives there and checks it regularly. My husband actually saw it, and I said "You found your first geocache. Now you're a geocacher."  

The whole time we were in Frankenmuth, we could smell the delicious chicken from Zehnder's and probably from the Bavarian Inn, too. They are right across the street from each other. I said "They probably blast the smell out of vents so people want to come in and eat there.."   It smells so good. We almost did go in but we didn't feel like waiting in line, and we just weren't in the mood for the whole experience (and all the people...)  I must have still been thinking about it the next day. When I woke up I thought "I should make some fried chicken for dinner tonight." I went to the store and got chicken legs and gravy (I didn't want to make gravy, too.) I did make mashed potatoes from scratch, though.

I "cheated" and bought dinner rolls, too. I didn't feel like cooking all day! I said "Well, it's not Zehnder's, but.."     We always went to Zehnder's, but a year or so ago we said "Let's try Bavarian Inn"... The Bavarian Inn is pretty awesome in my opinion. One time if we ever have all our kids here again, I want to reserve a room to ourselves at Zehnder's. I don't think the Bavarian Inn has special rooms... I will have to investigate...

Infusion Center Hats and a New Hobby...

I finally took a picture of all the hats I have done so far for the infusion center. I had to gather the top of the last one I finished, to take the picture. I still have to weave the ends in on that one. (The bottom right hat). I tried to do "happy" or bright colors.. Except the top right hat- I made that one for a man. I think I've posted about the pink hat, it's the Basic Turban Crochet Pattern. With Simply Soft yarn. The other hats were not Red Heart. I think the yellow one was Caron? something? The pink variegated is Hobby Lobby something.. I Love This Yarn? It's not cotton.. 

I have been knitting a hat (last picture), I am on the last wedge. But, it is with Red Heart Super Saver. Although I have done hats for the infusion center before with this yarn (not supposed to, according to Knots Of Love), I don't think I will donate it to the infusion center. I'll probably see if our son wants it. I already knit one for my husband, it was the very first Tychus hat I ever knit. Technically I think the one I'm knitting is only the second one. But...  😉It feels very stiff to me. But, the hat I knit my husband is not stiff feeling now. I think after a couple washes and wearing it, it will soften up. But I still probably won't donate it. 

I thought I would post something that wasn't about dolls...   I haven't actually knit or crochet or made cards or baked at all lately.  😳   I started a new ?? activity ??   hobby? -- Geocaching. I need a new hobby like I need a new hole in my head.  I have actually been a "member" for three years. But, I haven't done anything. Or even gone on the site much at all. I did at first, to see what it's all about. Then someone sent me a trackable. And I started watching YouTube videos about geocaching.... I went and did one last Saturday. I couldn't find it at first. I was looking all up and down the side of the road, in the weeds...   I just went back home and thought, "That was stupid".  Then I tried looking at the cache description... I saw "hint" on there. (I was parked on the side of a road, and I felt like someone was going to come along the road, and hit me or my car..) Even though it's on a back road. The hint said "sign".  DUH.... "It's in one of the signs, I bet"...

This is the sign it's in. AND, it qualified me for the "Where's 25?-Locationless Cache" anniversary special for 2025. Way to start out geocaching. 😝 I didn't even know. I sent a picture of my very first cache to the person who sent me the trackable. (She is the one who old me about geocaching, and got me on the website three years ago..) Anyway, she told me about the 25 locationless cache. I went back and took a (horrible) selfie by the sign, I take horrible selfies...  

I took it into the car so I could sign the log...  As soon as I put it back and got back into my car, it started POURING rain! It was so weird! I sat there for a minute waiting for it to stop pouring so hard. 

I went back the next day to take the selfie by the sign, and I did two more geocaches on the same road. The road was all flooded with huge puddles and now my car is filthy dirty..    Three down. 280 to go... (In my town). There's a BUNCH (I think 30?), just on a trail. Which I don't know how to get to... The thing with geocaching is, it tells you where the location is on the map with GPS.  I'm still a newbie and don't understand everything..  There's lots of YouTube videos about it. I like "The Geocaching Blogger", "Halemeister", and "Heaven's Audventure", "Hullsome", "Mitch & Becca", "LanMonkey". 

Here's a video about how to get started geocaching.  

I thought geocaching sounded dumb, and like a waste of time. Especially when I could be knitting or crocheting instead. But the more videos I watched, and more I read about it, and after finally going and finding a few, I think it's kind of fun. It probably would be a lot more fun if I had someone to do it with who also liked geocaching. My son doesn't want to do it. I might have to try and trick him into it. There's a "virtual" cache by a castle here, which is also a museum... I asked him if he wanted to go to it the other day and he said no. (I didn't say a word about there being a geocache there.)  I'm trying to find a good place to hide the trackable.   Well stay tuned for more exciting (boring) news...  

More Doll Stuff...

 

Okay, I crocheted a bottle for the doll...   I just wanted to crochet, and drink tea and be lazy today. (I've been cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry all week..)  I found a pattern on Pinterest. (The pattern is actually on YT.)  But, I used an E hook, and the yarn I was using.. Also, the pattern is in UK terms I think. Also, you have to turn the subtitles on to read what she is doing.  

I think it's cute. I had wanted to crochet a doll bottle forever. So, I finally did it. I was looking for other things/accessories to crochet too.  This is the sixth post about dolls...  Maybe I should work on something different. 😜

The Doll Is Done

I found two packages of hooks and eyes, the morning I was going to go buy a new F hook..  So I didn't have to buy any. I've had that mint green thread forever.... It got a ring stain on it somehow. Anyway..

I sewed two of them on.. That was not as easy as it looks/sounds..They are so tiny, and my needle would not go through the yarn very easily.  

So now the doll dress is completely finished. Yay...  😍

The booties.  All the ends are woven in, too. Now I have about three more outfits to sew hooks and eyes on to. And the elastic into the waistbands of the ruffled panties. Sighhhh....

This is the link to the pattern I used for the dress: Peggys Shell Dress.   All my posts lately have been about dolls. 😐

In other boring news, look how big my plant is I got at a garage sale this summer. (First picture- look how small it was!) I'm going to have to replant it again.