Hello June

I forgot to post on the first day of June. It's June, yay! Summer time.. There are some things I don't like about summer here, though. The humidity, the bugs, and the storms and tornadoes!  I am so happy winter is done though.

I finally went to Hobby Lobby and I got some more stuffing. I actually didn't need a lot to finish it. This is the little mattress (and the pillow) I have been wanting to try and crochet forever.. I finally just did it when my back was out. Wait. My back still is out...

Another view. I will try and write up the pattern soon.

Here's the doll I made it for. It fits perfectly. An 8 inch dollar tree doll.

And here it is all covered up. I think I like the other blanket I did, better. It's a little smaller. I used baby yarn for that one. I couldn't walk downstairs and get the purple one to compare it to, though. 

We planted some flowers the day after Memorial Day. (This actually was not one of them... (I just bought this on Sunday.) When I say "We" I mean, my husband planted some flowers. I did do some seeds, and put the Dahlia bulbs in. We planted: Dahlias, Zinnias, Hollyhocks, and my Canna Bulbs. And nothing is coming up yet! 😌

We have lots of toads here, though. 😁 I was out watering the flowers and he liked it.

 

Not Much To Blog About..

I've been working on finishing up this. (Sigh...) My back has been hurting so bad, since Tuesday. I think it "went out". But, it's more like my lower back/hip and my leg??? I have no idea...  Well, I had this all figured out and was crocheting it together. And I ran out of stuffing. (Story of my life, running out of things..)   It's a "mattress". I could have sewn the little eyelet clasp thingies on the back of the nightgown. But, I didn't feel like going down and back up the stairs again. 

I also tried to write some letters. And I thought about "happy mail" I could send, that was flat and wouldn't jack up the cost of a letter. I made this little purse. The only thing that would make it cost more is the tiny little gem. I used Craft With Jayne's YouTube tutorial to make it.  

~That's All For Now~

Hodgepodge BlogPodge

I'm making up words now, too... BlogPodge. 👀 I have a bunch of random pictures so...  I know I already posted about my new strawberry tea cup from Home Goods. Well on Sunday we went back to Ann Arbor. I wanted to go to World Market. And get some good tea. I was just walking around in the tea pot/cups area and I saw this strawberry tea rest. 🤯 I had to get it!!!  My tea rest I have is looking pretty cracked and stained... Plus, strawberries...   

This was the day I went to Hobby Lobby. I wanted some purple washi tape. Then I saw the flower punch. (Sigh...) I have been trying to not buy more stuff!! Ugh!!

But it's hard when you have hobbies... I wanted some purple/lavender cardstock to match the lavender piece I was making the tea cup card with. 

And, I got these one day at the dollar store. It was the day I went for my CT scan, last Tuesday. I know it's dollar store crap. But, I would have LOVED to have this when I was a kid. I just realized that there's two different color tea pots, and cups/plates. Hmm.  

I went for my "check-up/Survivorship Care" appointment yesterday. (Sigh.....) Now I have to go back for MORE labs, another PET scan. OMG....   🙄 I just went and did the labs right after I left the hospital, to get it over with. Vampires. Anyway, I don't know WHAT I did. Or if it was that I was more stressed out than I thought, and my back went out kind of thing? But it's not really my back. It's my hip/leg. What the...   And, I have a headache. And I need to lose 40 pounds... 😭 I said something to my NP and she said "Your body is probably in fight or flight survival mode from everything you have been through." Well I need to get out of it.... How do you do that? (I've been doing everything they say online... Breathing, stretching, walking...) I think I know what else I can do. Crochet! 😁🧶 I did start another little doll afghan. I can't decide what dolls I like better, the American girl/14 inch dolls, or the "baby" dolls (dollar tree dolls).  I like to crochet things for the dollar tree dolls, better. 

Strawberry Street

 

Yesterday my husband and I went out to dinner. Our son had given me a gift card for a restaurant, so we used it last night. Then we went to JCPenney and Home Goods...   My husband wanted to look for a shirt. I wanted to just look. At everything.😜 I have been wanting a new comforter set. The one we have (that fits the new bed) is over 10 years old, ripped and the pillow shams are missing since we moved. We're missing a few things, since we moved. This afghan. (The last picture in the post. I don't know what happened to it.)I don't know what else, off the top of my head. ~Anyway!~  I actually got this cup second.  At Home Goods. I could not see the little thumbnails when I was trying to upload the pictures. Now I have two strawberry tea mugs. The name on the bottom of this one is Strawberry Street. 

I wasn't actually planning on getting a new comforter set. And, I didn't know what I wanted. But I just wanted to look. And I ended up buying this one. I don't like a lot of what is out there now.  But this was on sale for almost $100 off, it was only $50 for the whole comforter, two pillow shams, a bedskirt and a whole sheet set. Then when we went to Home Goods, I saw that picture and thought "That would go with the comforter." I haven't had a comforter and picture(s) since the boys were little. You can see Cosmo and Jaxson claimed it already. 

I made a card a couple days ago. Maybe it was yesterday, actually. I went to Hobby Lobby to get something to add the embossing powder to the edge of the tea cup. I used to have an embossing pen. Now I don't even have an embossing ink pad. I just bought some "Fine Line" glue. I saw a picture on Pinterest. My card doesn't look exactly like it. But I'm not going to keep wasting money trying to make cards to save money....  

I Wasn't Wrong...

I got all the dolls that I have out...

So I could count them...

And I wasn't wrong- I have OVER 20 dolls-22 to be exact. 😯I have gone off the deep end. I am going to have a lot of crocheting to do. I got these to send to Pine Ridge Reservation for Christmas presents for little girls. I might keep a couple, for in case we ever get a grand baby. I found the little colored bottles that I couldn't find, too. Yay....  Plus the ones I ordered online. I feel like I have another package of bottles somewhere else, too.

This is one outfit I finished crocheting. I was given three of these dolls I cannot remember who sent them to me, but it was someone in a Pine Ridge group on Ravelry. I'm almost positive she sent me some crochet cotton, too. To crochet things for PR. 

I used the Crochet Basic Top for 14 inch dolls pattern. And the Crochet Simple Skit for 18 & 14 inch dolls pattern. I did the 18 inch doll skirt pattern, though because this doll is really tall. The 14 inch didn't work. And I just crocheted until it was wide enough. 

Here's the back of the skirt. I still need to sew some snaps on the top. It is a little too wide so I didn't do the button hole. 

I crocheted a little AG purse for her, too. But, I think it's a little too big? I don't know.

 I also crocheted my Barbie Tote/Purse pattern and it works. I think that is only the second one I've ever done with my own pattern. 👀 I want to try a little bit bigger weight yarn and a bigger hook. I bet it would work for an American Girl doll, too. (Or, an 18 inch doll-not everyone can afford an American Girl doll). I want to sew a little snap onto the flap of this purse, too. I have been looking for little accessories to put in the purse. Like a brush, a little cell phone, I don't know what else...  There's a lot of ways you can make your own but I have enough damn hobbies! So I am going to see if I can find any at the store...

Here's a better picture of it.

 

A New Doll and Other Stuff...

Don't ask me why I ordered a new doll.... I think I have 20 now. 😟 I haven't actually counted them all. But, I have been crocheting doll clothes... And, I crocheted a top and it was wayyyyy too big for the 14 inch doll I was trying to crochet clothes for. (SIGHHH.....)  

This is the top. I thought it was so cute. 

Here it is on the Chanda Doll.  This is the pattern for it: Crochet Ruffle Cutie Top for 14 inch doll. There's a pattern for a skirt, too. I haven't done that yet. Focus!! This is how I get so sidetracked...  I just wanted to crochet outfits for the dolls I have. For Pine Ridge, for Christmas presents...  Now I have another doll. Anyway. I am almost done with a top for the 14 inch doll, there's a skirt for her too. I haven't started the skirt. I'm trying to finish the top first. I also started another doll outfit, another Sweet Pea Outfit. We went to Frankenmuth last Sunday. And I brought something to crochet with me. I just went downstairs and thought of something quick to grab...  The one I am working on is in the same green as the other doll I did.

I also finished a card. I already sent this one. I had made two of the mason jars, and I decided to try and make a card with one. It didn't turn out exactly like the Pinterest picture. But I still think it's kinda cute. Our printer was not working.... So I used a "word" piece I had in my drawer.

And, we saw a turtle!!!!! 🐢 We were sitting there eating dinner one night and my husband was looking out the living room window. He said "There's a squirrel out there. Or a bunny." I got up and went over to the window. I said "That's a turtle". And I grabbed my phone and went out in the back yard. It was a snapping turtle. I didn't get too close.  There's a lot of marshy swampy water around here. There's one ??? marsh or swamp in our back yard behind the garage. And there's another big one on the other side of the house down the hill. He was probably headed for the big one.  I saw two turtles in the road yesterday when I was going to the doctor. There was too much traffic I wanted to stop but there wasn't anyway to stop...  I hope they didn't get hit. They were both on different roads, not in the same spot. They are all waking up from hibernation. 

Scrap Strip Squares, Ironing Boards, and More on Doll Clothes

My husband also bought me a new ironing board cover. I had texted him saying I need to do something with this ironing board, the batting I had in it somehow came out... I don't even remember where or when I got this ironing board. It was probably when we lived in Nevada, and I joined the quilt group there. And I probably got it at the Goodwill there, or a garage sale. I miss my quilt group friends... 😔

~Anyway~ This was the old cover. It was pretty stained, and it was just the fabric, there was nothing underneath it except the quilt batting I had cut and put under there. My new cover is so padded and nice!  A new ironing board with a cover is around $80. The cover cost $14 ish. So...

I've finished two more squares. I had to iron a bunch of fabric and cut out some of the new fabric I had bought...  I still don't think I have very much in the way of scraps.... I feel like I have to wrack my brain coming up with the next strip, every time.

I can't remember which one I did first. I think I put them in the correct order they were finished. This one, I used a strip of navy blue (towards the top left corner) that was pretty thin, one and a quarter inch wide. I didn't know if it would work. LoL But it did. I guess I will try not to go that narrow again.  

I laid out all the squares I have done so far, on the bed....  I thought I had five squares done. But... Apparently not. 

Look who keeps trying to "help" me sew..... Sigh...... Cosmo keeps trying to help me, too. Ughhh. The whole basement, and they have to lay right on the things I am trying to do. 😻

I was looking for my quilt rulers, everywhere.... I know I had a few. But, I found a Jo-Anns bag in one of my bins. It had some stuff in it. I told my husband "It's a collector's item now, since they closed." LoL   That's actually sad...    Anyway! I swear I will be looking for one thing and I don't ever find it But then when I'm looking for something ELSE, completely unrelated, I find it... Well, that happened to me again yesterday. I was looking for some crochet cotton someone gave me, and some 14 inch dolls someone gave me, (I think it was the same person for both things-it was for a Pine Ridge Indian reservation group I was in on Ravelry)...What was I saying? Oh I was looking for cotton and dolls, guess what I found????  ALL my missing quilt rulers!! I literally ordered a 12 inch ruler (for my squares above) and it came the DAY before yesterday. Then I found all my rulers yesterday. Guess what the first ruler I found was? A 12 inch ruler. I forgot I had even bought one....  🙄 Well, now I have two I guess...   I did find the dolls, last night. I have been looking for crochet clothes patterns for 14 inch dolls. There aren't very many out there. 

Wellie Wishers Doll Autumn Lace Dress Pattern

That site does have a few, here are all of them.

Here's one with an adaptation to make a 14 inch doll outfit.

Here's one, I think there might be more on this site, too.

A skirt from the same site.

There's some paid patterns for 14 inch doll clothes, too.

I guess there's more than I thought...  That gives me some more options.

This is some apple butter we bought a few weekends ago. I had bought some biscuits in a tube, but they weren't very good.  Maybe I will try to make some homemade biscuits. They never turn out super good though. 

That black cat has been coming around here more. Or maybe I just haven't seen it, and I'm looking outside more. I feel bad for it. But I felt really bad for Spuds, and it got me bit bad and scratched bad... I don't want to start feeding it. The one place we saw it about a week ago, was down by the rocks in the front yard. There's a bunch of chipmunks that live in there. There's chipmunk holes all over the place. So maybe it is hunting chipmunks.