CSI Project Top 10!

I'm so lucky I got chosen as one of the Top 10 in last week's CSI Project!  They had a yarn-themed projects week, and so I linked a few of my projects to the competition for fun.  I'm so thrilled that the guest judge chose my owl and parrot hats as part of the Top 10!  Bragging rights are always fun. 

So, if you're not following this fun website yet, you should check it out!  The CSI (Creating Something Inspring) Project hosts new projects each week that are open for anyone to link up a project.  Then through the week, there are fun guests with tutorials that fit the project theme for the week, and on Wednesday the link-up party begins, with judging on Friday.  It's a fun one-stop shop for inspiration and new friends--and a little self-esteeem booster if you happen to get so lucky as being chosen for the Top 10 spot!

Elf Hat

Ok, I know I promised no more Christmas talk, but I really meant after today, because I have one more really awesome thing to show!  This was my top seller in my etsy shop over the holidays, and so of course it must have a feature on the blog, and it can't wait for next holiday season! 

My kids needed some fun hats to wear through the holidays, so I made these fun long-tailed elf hats!

These make props for holiday photo shoots and Christmas card pictures.  Did we get around to taking our Christmas card pictures this year, though?  Umm, I plead the 5th.  Again, by next Christmas, maybe I'll finish hats for my husband and me and then we can be a cute family of elves. 

If I can twist dear husband's arm enough to wear one.  But he loves me.  And supports my addiction to yarn and other craft supplies.  So he definitely will wear anything I want to make for him.  Right?  It's called true love!  

I'm sure I'll be revisiting these later in the year, but just wanted to post some pictures for now. 

I'm linking to the CSI Project

Some Ornament Fun

I know that everyone has put all the Christmas decor away, organized, and doesn't want to see anymore posts about anything remotely Christmas related for at least another 6 months.  What?  Christmas isn't for another 11 months?  Of course you all know that if you're cursed, ahem, blessed with a need to create, then Christmas planning and decorating begins well before you actually are ready to decorate... 

But anywho, I feel like I missed the boat by not having this blog set up before Christmas!  So despite the lack of enthusiasm for any posts of the Holly-Jolly sort, I just wanted to share these fun ornaments I made a couple months ago.  And then I'll stop and not say one more word about Christmas for a long time.  For AT LEAST 5 months.  You know, when we all feel that Christmas in July spirit coming alive again.  When you're so hot and melting in the summer heat and humidity that you retreat into your houses to hibernate in your frigid A/C temps dreaming of days of snow, ice, and hot chocolate.  Ok, the visual imagery isn't so great in the middle of February when it's altogether too much of a reality still...

So, back to the ornaments...  nothing fancy, just a bit of fun.  Poor little ornaments didn't even make it on the tree this year because I didn't quite get them finished in time. 

Here's Rudolph...

And Santa's belly (bowl full of jelly)...

And a poor little Frosty the Snowman who didn't get a face.  But he will!  Eyes of coal and a button nose.  Or maybe a carrot.  Maybe by about 6 months from now when I'm hibernating inside hiding from the blistering 100 degree temperatures.   Maybe.  Or perhaps he will remain the faceless snowman.  Or the top-hatted snowball?  Time will tell.

So, Merry New Valentine's Day!  I like to celebrate many holidays at once, apparently. 

 I'm linking to the CSI Project

For the Birds

I was very excited when a friend of mine asked me to make this owl hat for her darling little girl.  I've seen owl hats floating around, and it was great to have my own excuse to make one of my own.  I had a lot of fun creating my own little spin on the fun owl hats that are so popular right now! 

I had so much fun, in fact, that when another friend asked me to make an owl hat for her daughter, I made this second variation based on some of her requests. 

So, version A or version B?  I keep going back and forth on which is my favorite, but I love them both!  My own little girl chose B for her favorite.  Can you tell by her smile?

As for other birds, yet another friend (so now you know that I must have at least 3 friends in the world...) asked me to make a fun parrot hat for her baby boy for Halloween last October.  The parents dressed up as pirates, and he was their darling little parrot in this crochet hat!

 

You can find these 2 owl hats for sale in my etsy shop. I haven't added this next parrot one yet, but expect to see him closer to Halloween!

I'm linking to CSI Project

Valentine Baby Boots

Happy Hearts Day/Season! 

I had a lot of fun using this same boot pattern from this post to make these darling valentine baby boots! 

After making all the valentines, decorating for the holiday, and baking fun treats, making fun holiday accessories is a nice finish. 

My own babies are past the baby phase, so I make baby accessories for others.  I just can't seem to stay away from making the darling little baby booties and hats, even though my little kids can't model them for me!

 

I do, however, make lots of fun hats and other things for my own kids, and may or may not bribe them to let me take their picture.  I'm not alone in this, am I?

So, now the question remains, pink or red? 

I'm linking to the CSI Project

Sport Your Colors! Baby Rainboots

I'll begin by making it no secret about my true allegiance.  I'm a Cougar--I bleed blue!  I've been singing the BYU Cougar fight song since I was 4 years old.  My whole family lives for BYU football in the fall and Cougar basketball and March Madness (hopefully!) in the winter and early spring.  You know that totally awesome (and not in anyway crazy) family down the street who pulls out the ladder, climbs up on the roof, and sings the fight song every game day right before kick-off?  That's us.  Living states away from family now, we still sport our Y banner on game day with pride.

I found a wonderful crochet baby rainboot pattern by ebethalan on Etsy, and I simply had to try it out.  Once I had made a pair with cute little flowers on them, I knew that this pattern and boots were destined for more. 

Don't they look darling with cute little "Y's" on the side?  Love the blue and white!

How about in pink for those little baby Cougarettes?  Of course! 

Now, I had to pledge my allegiance to my BYU Cougar roots before I can go on and post this next pair.  In true sportsmanship, I made this red and white pair--every thing has an opposite, right? 

And as cute as they turned out, I think they just go a long way proving the cuteness of my good ole Y boots. 

Living in the great state of Texas, I'm learning fast to appreciate the local teams as well.  So I'm showing a little Texas A&M Aggies love when I made this pair. 

Now, of course, I'm needing more schools and logos to make!  I'm planning on making a UT Longhorns pair, but I need more after that!  What's your team?  What are your colors?  Do you have any you would like to see on these fun baby boots?

These pairs are all available for sale in my etsy shop:  www.sunshinenserendipity.etsy.com.  Check it out!

I'm linking to the CSI Project

Happy Hearts Day!

I absolutely love Valentine's Day.  Not necessarily only for the same reason that everyone celebrates it.  It's always nice to celebrate love and romance, but to me, Valentine's Day is much more than that.  I love the fun of giving and sharing valentines, sending little notes of kindness and caring, friendship, family, and otherwise. 
One of my favorite things in Elementary school was writing "to's" and "from's" on little valentine cards for friends and carefully pouring over each valentine deciding which friend to give which "Be Mine, Valentine!", "You're too cool for school, Valentine!", or "You're the Bee's Knees!".  The very best ones were when we were lucky and Mom got the box of valentines that came with fun riddles on each card: 
Q. What did the stamp say to the envelope on Valentine's Day?
A.  I'm stuck on you!
Every year, we'd sit down as a family and have one great big crafty afternoon/evening of making handmade valentines from construction paper, paper lace doilies, stickers, crayons, and glue to send to grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and close friends.  That is a tradition I'm teaching to my own kids, and every year I make sure I am well stocked on paper heart-shaped doilies. 
And then when I was 11, one of my little sisters was born on Valentine's Day, bringing another fun meaning to the day as a way of celebrating her life.  Valentine's Day forever more will not be complete without a pink heart-shaped birthday cake for dessert. 

Of course, Valentine's Day would also not be complete without some fun decorations around the house.  Paper hearts on doors, hanging garland, fun knick-knacks, etc.  I loved growing up around fun seasonal decorations, so I'm working on building my own decoration supply for our own home so my kids can enjoy it as well.  Which brings me around to my newest Valentine's decoration! 

When I saw this fun Christmas "Jolly Festive Bunting" at Attic24, I knew I would have to try and make my own!  I was too late for a Christmas one, but Valentine's Day proved to be the perfect opportunity. 

I love the Spring-y pastel colors!  So nice, light, and fresh after all the rich Christmas colors in December.  Despite the fact that Mr. Groundhog saw his shadow last week, I'm still dreaming of an early Spring, and living in Texas usually delivers just that.

 

I made this from yarn I already had lying around--it's the perfect project for leftover pieces from other projects, and it helped me finish up a few balls of yarn I'd had just waiting for the right project.  Then I printed the letters in a large font and size, used them to trace and cut out the felt letters, and stitched them on with a white yarn running stitch.  You could probably skip the stitching step and just hot glue them, or use fusible Wonder Under to stick them on each pennant.  I just loved the look that the white stitching gave it, so I used that method. 

I'm also toying around with the idea of turning it over and re-using this for an Easter banner.  17 little pennants, I'm thinking flowers around a "Happy Easter" would be cute.  Just loving the fun, fresh addition to my decor! 

This would be so fun as a birthday banner with bright colors, for other holidays, or spelling out names for kids' bedrooms, etc.  I don't think I'm done with this bunting idea!

So Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!  I hope you all have a fun time celebrating a day of love, friendship, family, etc.! 

I'm linking to the CSI Project

Hi!

Here I am!  Just a fun-loving, craft-making, yarn-crocheting, paper-cutting, mess(the good kind)-making, piano/flute-playing/teaching, fabric/material-hoarding, children-raising, home-making stay-at-home wife of 1 handsome husband, mom of 2 darling kids, with a few crochet hooks, gobs of yarn, some fantastic fabric scissors only allowed to be used by yours truly (you can do anything with a pair of really awesome scissors!), and a fairly consistent need for a creative outlet amid laundry loads, train-track and blocks building, kindergarten homework, and dishes.  That's where you come in!  This is my new outlet for pretty much whatever helps feed my spontaneous creativity craving of the moment.

I have a little etsy shop that is currently, but not necessarily exclusively, home to my latest hobby, crochet.  Feel free to visit and see what I've been creating lately!  There are crocheted rain boots--generic and school colors (I'm always looking to try a new school logo), baby/youth/adult sized hats of all kinds, and some fun seasonal things.

But the greatest fun is that I never know what serendipitous find or project may be had as time goes on--can't wait to find out myself!  Thanks for joining me--glad you're here!