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This was supposed to be a crafting blog too? I think I'd forgotten. Whoops! It's been a while since I posted anything crafty, so I'll do a picture post tonight.

Wire work rings

Wire work Christmas ornaments, earrings and rings

Paracord bracelets

Ribbon Christmas tree

 I saw so many of these on Pinterest I had to make one. Mine doesn't look that great, but from afar it looks good!

Christmas Wreath

We bought a ton of Christmas decorations after Christmas last year, because we didn't get a chance to decorate, so I made this wreath from left over stuff. 


If you've made it this far I'll let you know that I am holding out on you, but the rest of the pictures I have I want to go into more detail about so I'll save those for a later post. Thanks for stopping by! If you like something, leave a comment and let me know. 

Quick and Cozy Baby Boots

Quick and Cozy House Boots

Materials:

Leather for sole – Two 6x2 inch pieces

One skein Lion Brand Quick and Cozy

3mm Crochet Hook

Size: 12+ - These shoes are going to last quite a while.

Leather soles: To make the sole of the shoe I had Sylvester stand on a piece of paper and drew around his foot, both left and right. I then used that template to cut it out of a thin leather scrap. I punched holes around the whole sole about ¼ inch apart. For Sylvester’s foot there was about 40 holes per foot.

Begin crocheting: SC in each hole around sole of shoe, slip stitch in beginning SC.

Row 2 and 3: SC around, slip stitch in beginning SC.

Row 4: Decrease every 5 stitches around, SS in beginning SC. Cut yarn.

Row 5: Begin toe shaping, you will leave heel stitches unworked. Count 10 stitches from center heel, SC in back loop only, SC 20 stitches, CH 1, turn.

Row 6: Decrease every 4 stitches. 15 stitches remain.

Row 7: Decrease every 3 stitches. 10 stitches remain.

Turn wrong side out, SC toe stitches together closing top of foot. Cut yarn.

Beginning on left side of toe stitches, begin crocheting around heel stitches (approx. 20) and over tongue stitches. Number of stitches will vary.

SC in all stitches around for 3-4 rows to create ankle of boot, slip stitching at beginning of each row.

Repeat for other shoe. Admire adorable child in boots!

Side note, I thought about decreasing around the ankle ,but was worried about it being too tight to get on easily. If it looks loose, decrease a few stitches or run a ribbon/cord through stitches to tighten around foot.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions: LadyMienna@gmail.com. I have never written a pattern before so please excuse any mistakes. ©Holly Miniea 2011

Wire Work Ring

I am playing around with wire work and we had some left overs beads from making Moms bracelet so I decided to make her a ring too. It certainly didn't come out perfect, the first one took me about 15 minutes to make and this one took about two hours (off and on working of course) because I just could not get it to sit right. But I think in the end it came out well.

Chocolate colored metal is all the rage this fall, so I was glad to find it in the sizes I needed. Looking forward to making more jewelry! It's such a quick crafty fix... most of the time.

Soho Bracelet

I saw this Soho bracelet on Pinterest and really liked the way it looked, but I have a ton of other projects going on right now so I put it aside... Then I went into A.C. Moore and saw this Aunt Lydia's Iced Bambooyarn and had to make one. The AL's thread is thicker then what the pattern calls for, so I ended up using 44 sts, instead of the recommended number.

This yarn is awesome, it is pretty, with a little sparkle but it is not scratchy like a lot of yarn is that has tinsel. It is just as soft and shiny as you'd imagine any other bamboo yarn should be too.

I also made Mom a metal stamped necklace, like the one I'd made before, with Sylvester's initials and then my brothers and my birthdays. I still need a ton more practice making this, but this one was made in about 15 minutes. I rushed through making it, so I could finish it before Sylvester woke up from his afternoon nap.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! We're celebrating Sylvester's first birthday on Saturday, I will have lots of pictures come Wednesday next week!

Two scrapbook pages

I sat down last night and got not one, but TWO pages done. Booyah! I am now up to Halloween, and since I'm going in order, I have a little less then a year to catch up on! LOL. Here's the two new pages.

First time he got to meet his uncles after leaving the hospital.

And now our first Halloween as a family of 3.

My Little Pumpkin

I finally finished another scrapbook page! Yay! Maybe, just maybe, I'll get the 2010 album done before we hit 2012!

30 Day Photo Challenge - Day 14

As you can see, it's not a day for flowers. So I got what I thought was a good substitute - A rainbow!

 And a picture of Sylvester having breakfast. We had plums and prunes - and still no luck! Geez, poor kid. :(

Mom, Sly and I went to downtown Summerville to visit the Pink Poppy yesterday and picked up some beads to make bracelets. This is the one I made for my Mom:

After using this satin cord to make these, I think I like the leather more. It gives it more substance then the cord does. I also like the look of rounder beads, thought I think these would look good for it were two layers of them. She wanted only one layer, and she said she liked it! :)

Scrapbook Update

I have started meeting with friends on Wednesday's to scrapbook. We are going to cut it back to every other Wednesday, but I still think I'll get some pages done! I seem to get more done there, then when I'm at home and easily distracted.

Here's a few pages I have finished:

Double Goodies!

Look what was in my mail box today! 

I entered in a drawing for these at Knitting By Bicycle and I WON! Neato. I'm not sure what I'll make with it, any suggestions? 

I also made this last night - 

In the smaller pendant it has Sylvester's initials "SJM" and in the larger one is birth date. I also put a tiger on there, because he was born in the year of the tiger, which happens to be mine too. :) 

I saw some of these on Etsy and I loved them but I couldn't convince myself to drop $50 for one, when I could drop the same money and make my own and still have the tools left to make more. I plan on making one for a friend who is due very soon, once I have their little boys DOB. 

5 Strand Braid Headband

I made one of these today! Ok, I've actually had the pieces cut and waiting since Tuesday of last week, I think, but that's beside the point. Once you get the basics of the braid down, it's simple as can be. I've already got pieces cut out for a baby version from the left overs of this one.

Please excuse the pictures, I wanted to snap a couple before running out the door.

Whoops!

So, I wrote a post yesterday and I guess I forgot to publish it. Here's the paci clips, as promised.
You can see how easy these were to make. It took maybe 5 minutes? Less time then it took to find a paci to put on it.

I like them a lot. He can't pull them off his clothes, like the store bought kind. It totally defeats the purpose if your child pulls them off his clothes and then throws the whole thing in the floor. I'm thinking of making some longer ones for toys and such to use in the car. Hmm, ideas, ideas.

Home Made BabyLegs

Sylvester has been rubbing his knees raw with all the crawling around! So, after seeing a couple Moms on the Ravelry group I'm in make these, I had to make some for my poor little man.
Action Shot:

Here's the group of them:

Tomorrow I will show off the paci/toy clips I made! Super cuteness.

Tracy's Baby Shower and More

We went to Tracy's baby shower today. I had nothing to give her, so I made these this morning, wish I had had time to make more but, I will give them to her later.

Mom made these, they both came out beautiful if you ask me!

I won't post pictures of the baby shower itself, as I don't know everyone there and I have no idea if they'd be comfortable with that. Sorry! Needless to say, it was a lot of fun and great food.

Then we went to the Community Thrift Store and we got quite the jewelry haul! Three pendants and the necklace are all sterling silver, the others are costume jewelry but pretty none the less! We paid $38 between the two of us.

When we got to the thrift store, Sylvester was oh so tired! He crashed out snuggling with Mommy.

Soapy Thursday

Today was my kind of day. I got up and spent time with my little man while Dad slept after his last night shift, then Grandma came over and we played for a while and then Grandma and I got down to business and made a bunch of soap. The house smells delicious! After we were all soaped out, we went to grab a bite to eat, came home and Sly, Sylvester and I hopped in the pool. Came in and put Sylvester to bed and now I'm sipping on a Strawberry Daiquiri and goofing off online. Life. Is. Good.*

Here's the soaps we made today:

1. "Creamsicle" made with a Goats Milk base,
2. A lovely Lavender soap, with a bit of a shine. Also made with Goats Milk,
3. Rain Fresh made with a Avocado and Cucumber base, 
4. Sage with Olive Oil and Goats Milk layers,
5. Eucalyptus and Mint in a Almond and Goat Milk base,
6. Lavender Bath Salts,
7. Eucalyptus and Mint in a Olive Oil soap,
8. Cucumber, Basil and Melon in a Avocado and Cucumber soap.

I used my green soaps for my project spectrum this month. Just in time!

* I didn't even get out my PJ's until we went to dinner, then got right back in them. THAT makes for a good day.

Happy Father's Day!

I want to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there. There is nothing like a relationship between a father and child. It took me a long time to realize how much my Dad meant to me.

This year I decided to make Father's Day gifties, here's the ones I made for Sly and my Dad.

For Sly. We stenciled the "dad" and then my Mom wrote the rest.

For my Dad. Four coasters. They're 4x4 tiles with pictures of Sylvester on the front. 

They're backed with cork board.

Clean/Dirty Sign

Clean/Dirty sign for the dishwasher. We were often hearing the question "Are these clean??" So, here's the solution!

I thought our dishwasher was metal and put magnetic tape on these, turns out it 's not. So the cheap solution was to use the sticky velcro I had on hand. Not as pretty, but it works!

Scrapbook Layout - L&D

Full layout

Stats - I didn't want to glue this down, so I got clear photo corners,

Little story

Hands & Feet detail