MSCE: Baby Visor Beanie

Finally! This little project has taken me several days and several tries. I got this pattern off of Etsy, and it was super tricky. It took me a while to figure it out. Once it was finished, it was seriously way too small to fit baby girl's head (big surprise). In fact, it probably wouldn't have fit a 1 month old's. Grrr. So, I spent a long while merging it with another pattern, finding a different flower pattern, and voila! I started and finished it while watching Ghost Town last night.
And it actually fits my baby's huge head. Hooray!


I don't really like how the visor part turned out, so maybe I will tweak the pattern some more once my fingers get a break from the hook-hold stiffness!
 

MSCE: Easy Chipboard Magnets

Hmm..I am sensing a cake theme to my crafting. I love my "girly sweets charms"! This time, they are in the form of super easy, homemade magnets. I found some scrapbook chipboard embellisments, backed them with adhesive magnets, trimmed them, and sprayed them with gloss finishing spray. Cute, easy, and fun!






 

 

MSCE: Bunny Cake Pops!

 Happy Easter! I am still attempting to make something cool everyday, but I have been a little frustrated by a few of my projects. Here's a successful one! Bunny Cake Pops! The idea and recipe is from Bakerella. My sis and I had a marathon session making these on Friday night. They were so fun!


 
We used strawberry cake mix and strawberry frosting for the cake part. Then, we dipped them in tinted candy melt coating, flavored with lemon zest. Yum! We discovered that they definitely taste better the next day.

Ichiban Website=Ichiban Suki!

 
Or "my new fave"! Hubby and I have been watching Heroes these past few weeks. Hooray for free TV on DVD rentals at our local library! Anyways, there is a character on there named Hiro, whose story line is all in Japanese. Watching the show, we have really started missing Japan. And bonus points for us that we can understand a lot of the conversation without using subtitles!

Some of the things we miss, we have been kicking ourselves for not bringing back to the U.S. I had planned on bringing back bento kits from the dollar store there for my kids. Alas, our suitcases just couldn't hold any more souvenirs.

I am a little crazy about bento boxes. Luckily, I found this awesome website that has super cheap bento boxes (I love this one)!

On top of that, it has some really fun rice molds! Like this one:


So, my dream of sending my kids to school with their own little bento sets can be fulfilled for under $10. Hooray!

For some bento inspiration, here is a picture of a traditional Japanese child's bento:


I loved to hang around for lunchtime in my preschool classes in Japan, because I got to see all of the creative bentos put together lovingly (or competitively?) by all the mamas.

If you're interested, definitely check out Vegan Bento Blog for more amazing bento shots!

Can you tell I'm a little excited?

Make Something Cool...

Every Day in April! That's this month's craft challenge hosted by Dabbled. Check out that link to learn more about it. Basically, the goal is to strive to make something creative every day, which should be fun. I am taking the challenge, because I have lists of projects and bags of materials laying around my house. I'd say that cleaning up by crafting more is definitely inspiring!

I am a late starter to the challenge, but I worked on these all last week...so I'm counting it! I'm addicted to making taggie blankets. They are so fun, soft, and colorful. I've made a few so far--my daugher loves hers!-- and here is the latest:



Yesterday's Craft: Kimono Booties
I have some random sushi-print fabric. When I saw this pattern, I knew how I would use the fabric. This was such a quick, fun project. If baby girl's feet weren't humongous, they would look great on her!



 

Fun Links!

Okay, one of the reasons I am re-activating this blog is to keep updated on all of my favorite blogs without checking all of the links or repeatedly checking my e-mail. So, to the right, you will see a list of my favorite, favorite blogs. These are great, and I definitely recommend checking all of them out at least once. Enjoy!

P.S. Well, don't check them out if you are not in the least bit interested in saving money, making crafts, or cooking. Those are my loves right now.

Update: Girliness is Overrated

The baby girl is here! Well, she is 4 1/2 months old now. The long-overdue blog update: the girliness is dispensed. I thought I would be so thrilled with all the girly things that came with having a baby girl, but I have discovered that I'm not quite down with the frilliness. Examples:

The cute baby booties: Yep, after hours of crocheting a cute little 3-6 mo. size pair like the ones in the previous post, my then 2-month old daughter's feet were waaay to big to shove into them.

Little girly dresses: Late in my pregnancy, I started on a cute newborn jumper...and finished it 5 months later. Needless to say, the baby girl by that time was too big for the dress. Also, trying to shove those huge feet into little tights after yet another diaper change is no fun for anyone.

Cute girly headbands: I made a few of these, and I still don't quite understand how to use them. Do you put the headband on the baby's head when you go out in pubilc? Wouldn't it be obstructed by the snow hood baby is still wearing, because it is still snowing? If you use them at home, wouldn't you just have to remove them repeatedly for naps and floor time? I know I wouldn't want my soft head being squeezed by a tight band, but I might go for it if people kept thinking I was a boy.

What I have learned is that your girliness most likely rubs off on your girl. I am definitely not an accessories-wearing, handbag-slinging, high-heeled fashionable lady. I am all about casual comfort. So, that baldish baby in the gray sweatpants and striped socks? That would be my daughter.