Eons' Pillowcase

...is done! I was only going to cut out the fabric tonight; but I ended up sewing it together, too. :)    He said "Can you put it on my pillow?"  <3  So I put it on his new pillow. (We had to throw his old one out when he was sick a while ago. It was so old, anyway..)  

Here it is, laying flat.  Not bad for an old sheet, eh?  :P

Although, I didn't realize... This sheet had a bunch of holes and rips in it. :(  I tried to get the part with the least rips (and stains-looks like someone spilled Kool-Aid on it or something). But I still see some holes in it.  I don't know if you can see the rip in almost the middle of the picture.  I'm thinking about making some "patches" and applique them on. I don't know what shapes, yet, though. There are holes in "odd" spots.    Oh well.  Not bad for a free pillowcase. :)

And, I'm making progress on my Christmas Stockings, too! #6 is done. All my "gift" stockings are all finished now.  And, I have the perfect idea of what kind of stocking to make for Eli now, too. 

My First Sewing Project

...with my new sewing machine, that is.  :)  I finally watched the DVD and figured out how to thread my machine. That's the hardest part for me. (Well besides getting frustrated so easily when something goes wrong with sewing...)  I finished a set of pillowcases. We have been needing pillowcases, badly. We only had about one set. So every time I would change the sheets; I would have to wash the old ones, so I could use the pillowcases again.  Well I got an email from my husbands' Aunt, telling me how to sew a pillowcase. She said you can use old sheets. Well, I have some of those (thank goodness for saving everything, lol..)  These are from a Full size sheet set I think (I'm almost positive) I had in high school.  When we got married, we got a bigger mattress than a full size. So I hadn't used the sheets in forever.  But they came in handy for fabric for pillowcases.  :)

Here is the new one, with the old pillowcase on the bottom. You can see how threadbare it is. (I will still probably keep it, though, until it rips and falls apart, lol...)    

I still have lots of other old sheets I can use; since we still need more pillowcases. I am going to cut fabric out for one for Eon next.  I also got some black fabric to make a pillowcase for Eli for Christmas (hopefully).  Using this video.  :)  I want to get some black and white print fabric for the edging, and plain white for the little strip.    I wanted to make an Angry Birds pillowcase for Eon, but I can't find any fabric for that anywhere. So... I might just have to make a colorful, kids pillowcase for him. :)  

Oh, to sew the basic pillowcases here; I cut out two pieces 40x32 inches. Then with wrong side facing you, fold down an edge 2 1/2 inches wide; pin, and sew along the long edge of fabric. (This is the pillowcase opening.) Then with wrong sides together, sew the long seam- then the short seam.  That's about it. Easy Peasy. Which is about all I can handle, when it comes to sewing. :P

Only 52 Days Until Christmas!!

I guess I can blog this, since Walmart has a Christmas Tree up the DAY after Halloween.... ??  I think that is kind of a little bit much. They had Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas stuff all out at the same time.  Weird... It seems like you used to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to put up your tree.. Oh well. I guess it's never too early to start getting ready for Christmas, right? I started crocheting for it, in July. :P 

Stocking #5 is done!  Here they all are, so far...   I am crocheting my Swap partners' Stocking right now. But, I would like to get a special yarn for her stocking. Which means I will *have* to go to JoAnns...  ;P Which I probably won't be able to do until this weekend.  I guess I could start another stocking, meantime.  I only have one more for "gift" stockings, then the rest are for us.  I still don't know what kind to make for Eli. He keeps saying "I don't even want one".  (Sigh..)  I told him "I have to make you one. What else am I going to put all the coal in?" lol....

This was my cake my husband bought me for my birthday yesterday.  He did the lettering himself. :P  Yup, I'm 42 now...  :(     Yes it was Carrot Cake. In case you wondering why there is carrots on it... :P
I got lots of birthday wishes and a wonderful eCard from Mimi~ Thank you, Mimi!  <3   

It's a Monster Mash...

Here are the boys' costumes before we went out Trick or Treating last night. :P  The Grim Reaper, and Frankenstein. :P  I think they had fun. Eli kept saying "This is boring", and "This is too much work for just a little candy"...  (Sigh... Teenagers)   They got a bucketfull each, and then we went home. Eli wasn't feeling good (none of us were, except Eon~ for once).

Jetta was pretending to be a real dog. (LOL...)  I'm just joking. I almost was going to crochet ~ or buy  her a costume. But 1. I don't think she would have liked it, and 2. We didn't have enough money to buy her a costume, and 3. I have enough on my to-do list to crochet, as it is. So I said to her, "Do you want to be a *real* dog for Halloween?"  :P   
She still has some issues... But I think she is getting better. She's only 9 months old; so she is still technically a teenager puppy, right?  :)   Our neighbors' dog was a cowboy. Hee Hee...  He had a Halloween bandana on; and she said he had a cowboy hat, but it kept falling off..    

#4 of 8 is Done...

I know, it was only 7~~ but the number keeps growing. I figured I was going to make one for my Step-Mom, so now it is 8. But I just remembered, I also joined the Stocking Stuffer Swap at Crochetville. So it actually is #4 of 9.  This is Eons' Custom Made "Red with black stocking"..   I used black boucle yarn for the cuff part. The picture is kind of dark.  I kind of combined two stocking patterns for this one. I started out with the Holiday Cheer Stocking, but only chained as many as the Stocking Bells Christmas Stocking pattern. (Both are from the Lion Brand Yarn site). I also did this one in rows, not rounds. (Like the Stocking Bells pattern.)  I probably confused things more but I wasn't sure if the heel and toe were done differently. Oh well. :P     
I am currently on Stocking #5, same red with white cuff thing. I'm almost to the heel part. If I keep going at this rate, I will get them all done with no stress.    There's only 56 more days until Christmas.   :D   Do you have all your shopping done? I sure don't!! I so far only have one thing for both boys, one thing for the puppy (an Angry Birds squeaky toy ball).   Which reminds me, I should probably make a stocking for Jetta, too...  So that makes 10 stockings. Ugh. (Sigh...)  Maybe I will buy her one, at the Dollar Store. LOL

Look what I got in the mail this week!! Three squares, and a potholder! From Lovin2Crochet. Thank you so much, Carole!! I just love the Teddy Bear Squares.  And the potholder is so cute.  Thanks Carole.   I have been trying to get some squares done, in between crocheting stockings. It's hard for me to not get sidetracked...  There is a Gingerbread House CAL going on, too. I have been wanting to crochet a Gingerbread House forever. And there's finally a free pattern for one. Sigh...    Too much to crochet, not enough time. :(   I also might finish Eons' Snuggie. I don't know if I should even bother?...  He had been saying forever that he wants a snuggie.  Every time I ask him (I just did :P) he says he still wants it. So. That's another thing I have to finish before Christmas.  :)   The snuggie is easy enough. It's actually just boring...  I should get it out and see how much I have done so far.  It should go quick.   Then that will be two gifts for Eon. :P   (Do you want to know what I got them? :D)  Okay, I'll tell you. Cuz my kids don't read my blog. (Unless they are standing right behind me.)  I got Eli an AC/DC throw plush blanket (he loves AC/DC). And he needs a blanket.   And I got Eon a Darth Vader Lego Alarm Clock.  :P   That's it so far... 

Last week was "Say No To Drugs" Week at Eons' school. Monday was Crazy Hat Day, Tuesday was Crazy Socks...  I forget which day this was. Pajama Day.  (I always wonder if kids wear the Pajamas they slept in.) Eon did not sleep in these, lol! He had the Spongebob PJ pants, and I went and got him the T-shirt- so he would have "matching" Pajamas.  So now he has a new T-shirt, too.  :)    And he has a Spongebob hat...   No he doesn't like Spongebob. Why do you ask?....  :P

And, here is a cookie that Eon made for his teacher....   He wanted to make Sugar Cookies this weekend. I was going to start them Sunday, but they had to refrigerate for two hours. And it was already like 8 pm. So I said I would do them while he was in school Monday, and we could make them tomorrow night. Well Monday my husband had off work, and we ended up going shopping (early birthday present for me :D).  So I had to do the cookies after dinner. Oh well.  They got done.  :P  (The cookie is a Pumpkin. With chocolate frosting and sprinkles, and pink sugar. LOL)  :P

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Don't throw those pumpkin seeds out! Make some Roasted Pumpkin Seeds with them.   They must be all right, the kids even like them.  :)  And they're healthy. High in protein, iron, and some calcium.  I found this chart, if anyone is interested. (Mine were made with butter and salt though...)  Okay, so maybe not so healthy with butter and salt added, but... Healthier than candy and junk food. :)

It's Pumpkin Time... The Most Wonderful Time of The Year..

Until Christmas Time, that is!..  Lol...   We carved the Jack-O-Lantern last night. Well, my husband did the carving. Eli drew the face on it. Eon and I did the "gutting".  :P  Eon got all the seeds out. And I tried to get all the pumpkin out, to save.  0.o   I don't know if it was worth it. But... Once I got started...       I cooked some of the pumpkin last night. The rest is in the fridge. I'll have to cook it today.   It didn't seem very ripe. It took forever to cook.      Once the seeds are dried out, Eon wants to roast them. :)  (Now I'm wondering if the seeds will be okay... I guess we'll find out.)  

Pumpkin Pancakes. I made these for breakfast yesterday morning. (With canned pumpkin~ We carved the pumpkin at night. So I didn't use it for the pancakes.)    They were pretty good. I haven't made them in a long time.  This isn't the recipe I used, but it's very similar: Pumpkin Pancakes  We didn't use walnuts, and we just used regular pancake syrup. :)

And; since I had almost the whole can of pumpkin left, I *had* to make a pie with it! :D  I don't think anyone minded.  I could have ate the whole thing. But I was good. I only had one piece. :P  I love pumpkin pie. Sigh... 

#3 of 7 is done..

I finished the third stocking yesterday. It looks smaller than the first one, but it isn't. I just didn't have the cuffs folded down the same.  I have at least two; probably three more of this same pattern, to do. 

Look what I got in the mail yesterday! Another friendship square. Yay..  :D  Thank you, Mary (karishema). And a lovely card, too.  The color looks off to me. The lightest color is a pale pink. Does it look pale yellow, or off white~ or is it just me?... 

Jetta is nine months old today!...   I tried taking her picture this morning. This is the best one I was able to get. She was being too hyper. "Ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball?..."   :P  In fact, she is laying here staring at me right now, waiting for me to throw her ball. (Sigh...)    I don't know if I mentioned it on here, but I got her fixed a few weeks ago. I already took her to get her stitches out. She was feeling back to herself after about four days, I would say. Then we had to keep her from wanting to run around. Or jump.  That was about impossible.  But she didn't pull or lick or bite any of her stitches out, and it healed up fine...

Look what I found in the fridge yesterday. I opened the fridge to get some coffee cream out, and just laughed...  :P  She's a funny dog. 

Friendshipghan Progress...

I have been edging the remaining squares that weren't edged yet, today; and crocheting another row onto the afghan. I feel like I actually accomplished something. :)  I just have a bunch of ends to weave in now. And get some more squares. :D  So I can finish it.  I think about 11 more should do it. But I can't figure out how many plain and how many mutli-colored/variegated. My brain is mushy today for some reason.

Eon was outside riding his bike yesterday and we saw a grasshopper. I said "Go see if you can catch it". Well...  I ended up catching it for him. One of it's legs were gone. :( (Which might be why it was so easy to catch.) I let him keep it in a jar for a while, to look at it. Then I let it go outside. He wanted to keep it as a pet; and put one of his hamsters in a different cage then put the grasshopper in the aquarium. (Sigh...)  I said we would have to find out more if a grasshopper would make a good pet or not. And that it would probably die if we kept it in the jar.  I think he fell in love with it. It did have a cute face. And it looked like it was smiling if you looked at it face to face. :P

Guess who was outside our back door this morning waiting for us?  :D  Mr. Grasshopper. (Or Mrs.?)   I haven't seen it in a while, so it must be off finding some food or something.      We googled grasshoppers, and grasshopper eggs, and then he saw some grasshopper desserts he wanted me to make: Grasshopper pie (that does look yummy), grasshopper pudding, grasshopper trifle, grasshopper bars... (Sigh..) This one little grasshopper is going to make me gain more weight!!..  (Oh yeah, it's Eon's fault, not the grasshopper's.)   :P 

You are probably wondering what in the world this is?....   When I was edging my squares & crocheting them together today, Jetta was in there with me. She found a Milk Bone she had hid, over by one of my bins. Then she put it over by my bookshelf, then (SOOOO weird!!) started trying to dig at the afghan (some of the squares were just laying there on the ground) with her nose, to "cover" her treat up.  It was so funny.  She probably thought she buried it. LOL!! She's so cute sometimes...

There it is. Hee hee... 

#2 of 7 Christmas Stockings is Done

Okay. Would it be "is" done, or "are" done?  Whatever..   :P  I finished this today. It's the Lion Brand site's "Holiday Cheer" Stocking pattern.  I am going to give this one to my brother. I figured I will get all the "gift" stockings done first, then I won't stress out so much about finishing ours.. (I won't have to hurry and ship them last minute, either.)  I am thinking about crocheting one for his puppy, too. (Max is the 5th picture down, so you don't have to read through the whole blog post.. :P ) He LOVES that dog. I have a bunch of ideas of what to put in Max's stocking. But only a couple ideas of what to put in my brothers'.  (What do you get the guy who has everything? Or can buy it, if he doesn't have it?...) 

I made some more Pickled Eggs. Apparently the last jar I made was just a little appetizer. :P  NONE of the kids like them, either. I sent a picture to the 19 yr old, and he said "YUCK"...  (So it's not like we all only got one, folks...) I did have two. So you can guess who ate the rest.  I used little cocktail onions for this batch. And doubled the recipe I used last time.  The cocktail onions are yummy! I am NOT an onion eater. I mean, I like onions. But to eat a plain onion? No way.. (My Dad will eat an onion just like it's an apple!)  But I love cocktail onions. (They are basically pearl onions in vinegar, so kind of like Pickled Onions?...)  You can see them floating on the top of the liquid.

It's a Monster! Ha ha...  The kids try on all the Halloween masks every time we go to the store. 

I have so many pictures of Eon with a mask on.  :P  You can see the little kid behind Eon is putting a mask on, too....   (This is probably one of the ways they get sick, so much.)  :/  

I thought I would post a picture of the sky one evening. There was snow on the mountain, and the sky was purple, with the moon...  This picture doesn't do it justice. The mountain looks much bigger in real life. And the sky was so beautiful...  But, I thought I would share it anyway.  :) 

The Santa Pillow Is Done

I finished this about five minutes ago.  It was all done, except for the little black felt circles for the eyes. I didn't have any black felt, though. And it took two trips to Walmart yesterday, to get some. I had it on my list; but the first time I went in, I forgot my list on the seat of the car. I didn't want to go back out and get it. And I didn't remember the felt until after I got home. Ugh! (I got everything else I needed, though.)  Anyway, it's done. :P  I think I put the pattern link in before, but here it is again: Happy Holidays Pillow. You have to be a member at the Bernat site, but it's free. (I love free)  :)   And, I think I mentioned it before as well, but I'll mention it again: The pattern is wrong. I had to increase two stiches each row on the white part, and decrease two stitches on the red part.  The rest I did just like the pattern. And I didn't take a picture of the back, but I just did regular sc's and did the "bobble" row, too; for the white part...  I think it's super cute.  

And here is another Christmas project I got done. Our internet was down the other day. (I wanted to finish the Santa Pillow that day, but couldn't- since the pattern was online.)  So I started looking through all my patterns (in books and magazines), to see if there was anything else I could get done for Christmas Crocheting...   I think I'm going to give this to our youngest son's teacher.  I might make one for us, too. And *maybe* one for my Step-Mom. I haven't decided if I'm going to crochet her a stocking or this, yet... (I'm crocheting one for my Dad. So...)   Oh, this pattern was in the Dec 2006 issue of Crochet World, btw...   :) 

I kind of want to do some Halloween Crocheting. But I think I'm going to skip it. There's a lot of cute things out there to crochet. But... I really want to finish all my Christmas stuff and so I. Must. Resist....   :P  I do have one thing almost done that I might finish up though (a scarecrow).   Have a Great Sunday, everyone... 

Pickled Eggs

I have been craving Pickled Eggs lately. My Grandma used to make them for the Holidays. It seemed like every Thanksgiving and Christmas, she would have huge jars of them. My Dad and Uncles were downright obnoxious about who got the first Pickled Egg. (It used to irritate me to no end..)  But I did like Pickled Eggs. At first I just ate one to make my Grandma happy. But then I would have to eat at least one every time.  She gave me her recipe for Pickled Eggs, years ago. But (can you believe it?) I have never made them. Ever. Her recipe, or any other...   I finally dug her recipe out yesterday and got some beets and vinegar to make some. But, I ended up using a different recipe (minus the extra ingredients that my Grandma's recipe didn't have..). Since my Grandma's recipe calls for three dozen eggs (I guess she would have to have a big recipe, for the whole family at holidays..)  There is no way we would eat all those. So, I used this recipe:  Pickled Eggs Recipe Simply Recipes.  Now they have to sit for a few days. (But I want one NOOOOW!!!) :P  I am going to have to find a recipe that uses like a dozen eggs. That would be about a perfect size for our family. (Especially with two boys who eat like there's no tomorrow..)

Santa Got A Makeover!

Okay, well maybe *Santa* didn't, but this Santa Pillow I was working on, did. :P Remember how badly Santa needed a beard trim? :P Thanks to hunkyscutie on Ravelry (she is making the same pillow). She told me to increase two stiches every row, and decrease two stitches every row on the way up.  It's on the Bernat site, which you have to be a member (but it's free) to get the free pattern. I am so happy it worked!!!! Thanks again, hunkyscutie. (I don't even know if you read my blog, but..)  :P    I decided for the back of the pillow, I am just going to do plain sc's.  That beard wasn't "hard", but...  I wouldn't want to do it for the second side.  It feels good to finally get started back up on Christmas crocheting. Hopefully I can stay on track now and get it all done in time. :)

I finished another shrug. This is the fifth one I have made. I think I might take a break from shrugs for a while.

I made the navy blue one (a couple posts back) for a girl I send things to on PR. I had asked if she would want one, and what color. But then I just made her the navy blue one, since it had been about a month, and no answer. Well about a week after I mailed the shrug to them, the Grandma wrote me and said she would like one, in light blue. Oh well. My own fault.  :)

I have been making cards (and envelopes), for the card swap in October.  I signed up for four. So, I am done making cards for that... I made two of the Pumpkin cards, this one, and the next one.. 

Nothing special. I just made it up. I'm kind of embarrassed to use it. Maybe I will save it, to send to a child...  I don't know.  

I was thinking about making some pillowcases. I really need some. Plus, I wanted to make some fun ones for the kids. I really need to figure out how to use my sewing machine. (Sigh..)  I found this video on how to make a simple pillowcase. She makes it look simple, but I know I would mess it up. :P    Well Happy Tuesday, everyone. :P  I hope you have a great day.  <3

Birthday Boy(s)!! :)

Well I haven't blogged in quite a while... But I'm sure you can tell from the title of my post, what I was busy getting ready for..  (Okay, not really. But it was worth a shot. :P )  I was pre-occupied with it, though.  Friday was our 8 (now 9) year old sons' birthday! And, my husband/Dads' birthday, too. Yup, they share the same birthday. (Incidentally, our nephew/kids' cousin has the same birthday, too. But they live in Texas.)   Here are the Spongebob cupcakes I took to his classroom.  :D

Here is Eon, passing out cupcakes to his classmates. They were a hit. His teacher loves Spongebob, too. :D  And the little Spongebobs were rings. So the kids all got to take home a little something, too. (I was considering getting a little something to give out, but I didn't. So. Bonus...)   :D  And everyone went home with blue lips! lol  :P

 I think this student was held back a few years... ;P   lol  I had to pick Eli up from school, and go straight to Eons' school; so I "forced" him to come with me. (I think he had a *little* fun..)

The cake and presents and balloons, waiting...  :) I was a little disappointed, by the end of the day, the balloons were laying on the ground. :/

Eons' balloons...

Hubbys' balloons... :D I have to give him a hard time, since he turned 41.  Hee Hee (I am a year older than him, so...)

The cake. Eon wanted a football cake; when we were at Walmart looking, one day. And my husband liked it, too. So since they both liked it, that decided it. This isn't the cake they picked out (that was about a week ago). But it was the best one available.  I did the "Happy Birthday" letters myself. (I didn't feel like waiting for them to do it.) I'm glad I took a picture of it, because by the time everyone got home from work/school, the letters were all melted and it just said "Duuuuuuh"... :(   Oh well.  (The little footballs are also rings, how neat is that?) P

Eating MORE cake.... This is at a friends' house, who also threw a Suprise Birthday party for my husband (they didn't know Eons' birthday was the same day, until I told them.) :P  My husband thought we were just going over to their house for a BBQ.  But they invited some co-workers (ex-co-workers, really) and their families. Only two, but it sure seemed like a lot of people with all the kids and noise! :)  It was really nice of them to do that. <3

My husband eating cake. (He would probably be mad if he knew I was posting this on my blog) :0

So, here is a better picture of him. :P

Eli had fun playing with their rat, Lilly.  I think we all had fun.  :)