Free Amigurumi Patterns

I think some of the amigurumi crochet patterns are so CUTE!  I've seen patterns for them in books but I did not realize that there are quite a few free patterns on the web.  Michaels has a list of free crochet patterns to make 26 these cute little critters.  Here are some pictures from their site.  These are free patterns rated very easy.

Soothing Warm Beverage

picture from the web

We still are not well at our house!!  Can you believe this?!-  The stomach flu is long gone.  However, it has been replaced by a bronchitis type cold- I'm naturally a homebody but this is getting ridiculous.

I tried making a warm drink to soothe the pain in my chest and it really helped.  The recipe is from a Southern Living Cookbook.  I altered it a bit.  This beverage is yummy and the honey, lemon and vitamin C encourage healing.

Ingredients


1 12 oz. frozen apple juice concentrate
3 juice cans of water
1/3 can of frozen orange juice concentrate
1 juice can of water
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup honey
9 whole cloves
1 (2 1/2-inch) cinnamon stick

I mixed all of these and put them into the crock pot.  I let them warm up for about an hour and then began sipping it (obviously- don't drink the sticks).  I just left it on warm in the crock pot all day.  Dipping up a cupful and sipping as desired.  It was delicious.

Recovering the Cracked Plastic Highchair Seat

Thanks for your good wishes.  We aren't really well yet.  In fact, pneumonia (in the five year old) and some other lung crud is working it's way through the family.  Poor little grand baby is at the doctor's office right now- hopefully his congestion isn't pneumonia too! He's back now and gratefully it's just crud.

Before I succumb to whatever is burning in my lungs I thought I'd recover the old highchair.  The plastic chair cover was cracked and icky.  I found some heavy 100% cotton (washable) decorator fabric at Hancock's.  I think I spent about $5 on the fabric.  I used sew perfect Make It Green Cushion foam in the 1" thick variety.  It was easy to cut with plain old scissors.

 I've never done this before but this is how I did it:  I just cut around the old chair cover, leaving a generous seam allowance.  Sewed around, leaving an opening at the top. 

Put the new cover on the foam and cut around it- making it slightly smaller then the chair cover.  I slipped the foam inside the cover and sewed a little flap onto the top to hold it in place on the back of the chair (exactly how the original cover was made). 

Since little man is sick you get the pose with the Easter bunny- not as cute- but now I can go act sick again....

Sick of being sick-

We interrupt this irregularly scheduled blog due to stomach flu- the worst case in years-ugh!

Product Review- bumpits

My daughter and I tried Bumpits- and they worked on our thick hair.  They make it really easy to take a plain old hairstyle (like a ponytail) and make it special in minutes.  (I don't recommend them on extremely windy days though)-

3/5/10 I've had one reader say they didn't work so well for her hair- see comments- thanks for the info!

Scrapbook Embellished Headband

This headband was made with a purchased headband (Target, 2 for $4) and a set of Spare Parts scrapbooking brads. 

Just pick the three brads you want to use- open the brad as you do when you have attached it to paper- then push the brad gently into the counter so that the backs were flat.  Then hot glue them onto the headband- a quick and easy five minute craft!

The Bed is Made

Yeah!  Yippee!  Hurray!  The bed is made!!!!  My hubby made this bed, adapting these free plans slightly to accommodate our height & width preferences. 

The foot board matches the headboard- it is a little tricky for this photographically challenged person to get the king sized bed all in the photo- any by the way my walls are a dark cream- not yellow- in this room.

I did the painting and finishing.  Hint:  Save yourself bunches of time and aggravation by investing in good paint- I don't recommend Rustoleum or Ralph Lauren paint- too thin and too runny. 

I do like the Ralph Lauren finishing glaze that I had tinted with Crosby to make a nice antiquing glaze.  Home Depot is closing out their Ralph Lauren line, so mine was on sale. And FYI- in spray paints I like Krylon- my hubby says I was a tagger in an earlier life (eye roll).