Merry Christmas!

I love Christmastime.  I love the smell of cinnamon and pine boughs.  I love the peppermint candies and Christmas lights.  I love Christmas carols and giving gifts.

But most especially I love the reason we celebrate.  I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to celebrate the birth of our Savior at this time of year.  My heart is so full of the blessings that I have been given, and for the gift of the Atonement, from my Savior.

I love these new Bible videos that have been made by The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-Day Saints. They depict passages taken from the life of Christ from the Bible.  They are sweet, simple, and heartfelt.

I hope you'll take a moment to watch this beautiful depiction of the very first Christmas.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!

Things to Make: Crochet Brimmed Shell Beanie Pattern

Thanks to my wonderful testers I was able to finish up my latest hat pattern!

My Crochet Brimmed Shell Beanie Pattern:

YOU CAN FIND THIS PATTERN ON MY NEW SITE BY CLICKING HERE!

I love this hat because it's really fast to make...and looks super cute with or without the brim!

Feature Friday: Sewella

This week I've chosen to spotlight Sewella from my Handmade Holidays Shop Guide!

Here's a little bit about her in her own words:

"I am a person deeply and incurably in love with crafts. I sew, knit, crochet, make jewelery, spin tales and many other things. 
Everything you see in my shop is made by my two hands, my creative whims and my imagination. 

I love using fabric to create my accessories and gifts of nature to create truly one of a kind jewelery or jewelery with an organic twist."


I LOVE her fantastic use of color...and her creative and fresh approach to crochet...such wonderful pieces!  And her prices are fantastic!!!

Just take a gander at these lovelies:

Crochet necklaces

Royal Crochet Headband Pattern

Anemone - a crochet brooch

Crochet tube necklace - going tribal

You can find out more about all of Sewella's treasures on her blog, HERE.  Also check her out on PINTEREST and FLICKR!

Things to Make: Crochet Holly Berry Pin

Here's a little guest post I did over at Good Knits!

Holly Berry Pin

THIS PATTERN CAN NOW BE FOUND HERE!

THIS PATTERN HAS BEEN MOVED TO MY NEW SITE!  YOU CAN STILL GET THIS FREE PATTERN BY VISITING MY OTHER SITE HERE!

Hope you all have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Feature Friday: Oh My GOODKNITS!

This week I'm featuring one of my favorite crafty ladies...Lisa Gutierrez from Goodknits!!!

Here's a little bit about her, in her own words:

"I am Lisa, mama to two boys. Nathan is 6 going on 16. He’s smart, sassy, defiant, and loud. He’s also very funny and shy around new people. Andrew is my baby, born May 2008 on a sidewalk. He is responsible for the most amazing day of my life, thus far. He’s squishy, talkative, and has the most amazing cheeks. Keeping me sane is Jason, daddy extraordinaire.

While I love to knit, I also crochet, sew, cross-stitch/embroider, and dabble in the paper crafts (card making, stamping, etc). I’m pretty much a grandma trapped in a 20-something year old body. I prefer making gifts over buying them. Cheap? Maybe. But if you saw the price of good wool, you’d think twice.

Wool is my yarn-fiber of choice. My craft table looks like a craft bomb exploded overhead, and the floor underneath looks like it took the brunt of the disaster. I’m going to try to be more organized and neat, but it’s kind of hard when you have too little (or too much) space and two boys vying for your attention.

I love love love taking photos. Like, really love. Here are a few of my family-favorites. Check out my flickr stream for more. Add me as a contact! Let’s be friends."

Lisa is SUPER talented!  She crafts, crochets, knits, does cool photo stuff, and is also a great mommy!

She has a cute Etsy Shop, chock-full of yummy knit and crochet goodies...

Nell 01 - Knit Slouchy Hat

Custom Doily Blanket

Dory 06 - Crochet Shawlette in Watermelon

...and she just published this awesome pattern book, Lace Love, (available in her shop as a printed book!)...

Lace Love

She shares great printables and patterns on her Blog, too....

Christmas Cross-Stitched Signs

Simple Statement Ornaments

Mary Jane Slippers

(I have the honor of being one of her sponsors this month!)

Take some time to go get to know Lisa...Check out her BLOG, ETSY SHOP, and be sure to follow her on PINTEREST, TWITTER and FACEBOOK, too!  You won't be sorry you did!

Things to Make: Simple Upcycled Teacher Gift

In case you missed it here is the guest post I did over at Two Girls Being Crafty a couple of weeks ago!

My husband is a teacher.  He teaches the 5th grade.  Over the years he's brought home a lot of interesting gifts from students during the holidays:  body wash...candy...coffee mugs...hair gel...cocoa...and even a stuffed animal or two!

But guess what?  The best gifts he's ever received are the ones he can actually use in his classroom.

I asked him once what the best thing to give a teacher was and he said, "A raise."

But after that he said, "Hand sanitizer...and tissues."

He knows all about germs.  He's surrounded by them all day long...especially at school.

So when I was trying to think of a teacher gift for kids to give their teachers this year that's what I immediately thought of.

But how to make it cute...and something that the kids could actually help with?

Well, here's what I came up with!  It's soooo simple, and the kids can help with most of it (unless you don't want them to come anywhere near a permanent marker...which I completely understand, believe me.)

Here's what you'll need:

-  A Smallish container of some kind...I used an empty French's Onions can, because it was already white and had a lid...plus I have three of them left over from Thanksgiving meal preparations!
-  a couple packages of pocket sized tissues
-  a couple of sample size hand sanitizers
-  a bit of Christmas-y ribbon
-  a sharpie marker

First, remove the label from the container, and wash it thoroughly...you don't want it to smell like french fried onions, after all.

 Next, use your sharpie marker to draw eyes and a smile on one side of the container...

 ...and to color the lid black (like a hat).

 Next, tie a piece of ribbon around the base of the container.  You might want to secure it with a dab of hot glue or a couple of glue dots if you feel so inclined.

 Lastly put the hand sanitizer and tissues into the container, and snap the lid back on!

I included a note on the back of this little guy that reads:  "We TISSUE a Merry Christmas, and a HANDY New Year!"

There are so many cute ways to dress up a simple gift like this, but my kids loved that this was an upcycled project that they could REALLY help with!

Thanks again to Tristin for inviting me to be a part of the fun!  Happy Holidays!! :)

Feature Friday: Little Amara Designs

Today I'm featuring Little Amara Designs.

Lizette Natalie, the owner of Little Amara Designs, has a degree in Graphic Design and loves to create things!  Here's a little bit about her, in her own words:

"I also enjoy everything from photography to arts and crafts and anything else that will allow me to use my creativity. My love and passion have always been in the creative arts. For that reason you will often find listings in my shop for items such as crochet items, bows, accessories, etc. and I can't say that I don't put all my love and care into everything I do. I pay close attention to detail, customer satisfaction is my main goal."

Lizette makes and sells beautiful accessories like this...

Felt Dahlia Hair Clip

...and this...

Ribbon Rosette Headband

She also designs super fun invitations, party favors and cards, like this...

Personalized Printable Holiday Card

Lizette also has a darling blog, where she shares more of her creative talent, like this cute Cameo Sweatshirt...

Cameo Sweatshirt

...and these adorable printable straw flags...

Printable Baby Straw Flags

SO. DANG. CUTE.

Go check out her shop and blog...I'm sure you'll find something wonderful there for the holidays!

Guest Posting at Two Girls Being Crafty!

Hey!  Head on over to Two Girls Being Crafty to see my quick little tutorial for their 12 Days of Christmas series, on how to make this little guy as a teacher gift!

Don't forget to tell her I sent ya'!

Pinterest Inspiration: Men's Shirt to Peasant Blouse

This week's

was inspired by...

Peasant Blouse Tutorial from madebylex.com

Isn't it so stinkin' cute???

Here's what I used:

I picked this baby up at my local thrift store for fifty cents.  The guy at the register said something like, "Wow.  This'll make a great Halloween costume, huh?"  When I told him that I was actually going to wear it, he looked at me like I was completely nuts.  Which, maybe I am, but I digress...

I loved the fun paisley pattern and the colors on this shirt...but let's face it...that collar and those cuffs.  Not so much.

And here's what I made:

Waaaaay better, don't ya' think?  Oh, yeah.

Instead of adding a cuff to the sleeves I simply added another turned under casing and elastic, to give them a loosely gathered look.

I love the way it turned out!  The tutorial was easy to understand and had great results!

If you happen to have a spare button-up shirt lying around I recommend giving this one a whirl!

Feature Friday: Maybe Matilda

This week I'm featuring one of my very most favoritest blogger buddies, Rachel, from Maybe Matilda.

Here's a little bit more about Rachel, in her own words:

"My name is Rachel (not Matilda, sadly) and I'm a chiropractor's wife, new mom to a darling little boy, and an obsessive crocheter. I'm a New Yorker who started crafting while my husband went to chiropractic school in Iowa, and we're now living in the Salt Lake area of Utah (I just keep moving West! I'm learning to pretend to be a country cowgirl).

I joined etsy while I was pregnant and Matilda was on the "maybe" name list for a girl. Once we learned we were having a boy, I had to use it on something, and here we are! Along with crochet, I also love to sew, quilt, and alter/upcycle clothing."

Rachel has such an incredibly fun and creative blog!

She always has such fun how-to projects.

Painted Doily Tee

Button Earrings

She's quite a seamstress.

Button-Up Cardigan Cowl

Pleated Necktie Necklace

She's full of great advice and tips for Etsy sellers.

Photography Tips 

Packaging Tips

She shares really fun crochet projects.

Ruffles and Dot Baby Blanket

Knotted Crochet Headband

She's also hilarious.

Rachel sells her stunning crochet patterns and handmade crochet items in her Etsy Shop!

Baby Owl Hat

Crochet Rose Headband Pattern

If you are looking for a fun DIY gift idea for the holidays this year go check out her patterns...you won't be sorry!