I'm back! Lots to update!

Ok, Ok....I'm still here.  I just have a hard time keeping up with facebook, blogging, instagram etc.  sometimes.  I am trying to figure it all out but it doesn't come easy for me.

I have been busy being a mommy and working on orders.  I just haven't had much time to sit down and blog.

Fall is here, my favorite time of year.  I am busy preparing for our upcoming photo session with the lovely Nicole Renee (Nicole Renee Newborns).  It is always a fun, fun time for me, making new hats and accessories for my kiddo's to model during our sessions.

Here is our picture from last year.  This year we are doing pretty blues, oranges and gray. 

Logan has recently joined cub scouts.  He is having a blast with it and so am I.  We just went on our first cub scout weekend camping trip.  It was his first time camping and I had the best time having that one on one time with just him (and his pack of course).

Gloria has also started girl scouts.  She is officially a Brownie scout.  I am also her troop leader.  It is a lot of work but also fun.  Looking forward to many new adventures with her troop.

For my most recent update...my youngest, my baby started preschool today!  Hard to believe, he is almost 5 years old and will be in Kindergarten next year.

He was very nervous today but end up walking in and joining the class like a champ.  Can't wait to hear all about his fun day.

Now, I am off to enjoy a little more quiet time before heading to pick him up from his first day :-)

More Oogly's

My good friend Alessandra from Just be happy helped to test the pattern for me.  I just love the ones she came up with.  She didn't have the safety eyes so she crocheted the eyes for one and used the glue on googly eyes for the other.  So many fun ways to make these guys! 

Then, I got the idea to "add stuff" to them, to make them more then just a cute little pair of eyes.  I was so excited, I HAD to do it like right that second!  LOL

So, I would like to introduce: 

 Oogly Owl

How to make Oogly Owl:

- add one small strand of yarn to the top of each eye, spread apart with tip of needle
- embroider beak
- Make two small circles and sew to the sides.  (magic ring, ch 1, 6 sc, join, FO)

Oogly Butterfly

How to make Oogly Butterfly:

- Make two chains at the center of the eyes for the antennae.  You can slip stitch and chain or braid...up to you.
- cut out the shapes for your wings out of felt (or anything you want).  I cut out two and joined them together by wrapping yarn around them.
- sew to the back

Want to make your very own Oogly friends?  See my free pattern HERE

Oogly Eyes Puppet Pal - FREE pattern

I decided to go ahead and write up how I made the little finger puppets.  They were so simple and fun to make, I wanted you all to be able to make them too.

Oogly Eyes Puppet Pal 

Crochet Pattern by Melanie Pizzini
Copyright August 3, 2013

Please do not sell this pattern or use the pictures.  If you sell what you make using this pattern, please link back to my blog, giving me credit as the designer.  THANK YOU

Materials:
- WW Yarn
-  Two 15mm safety eyes, googly eyes or buttons
-  US G/4mm crochet hook
-  Yarn needle



Eyes (make 2)

Start with a magic ring, ch 1

Rnd 1: 6 sc in the ring (6 sc)
- Close up the hole but do not pull it tight. Leave a small hole to insert the safety eye 
- DO NOT join.  Use a stitch marker or just keep count of your stitches for each rnd. 

E

 

Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc around (12 sc)

Rnd 3: sc in each sc around (12 sc)

- Insert the safety eye now

Rnd 4: sc dec around (6 sc)
- Stuff the eye.  You will only need a TINY amount of fiberfill.  Scrap yarn would work well also.
Rnd 5: sc dec around (3 sc)
- Secure hole and FO

Finger hole/ring

Step 1: Join with a slst around any st from rnd 3 of the first eye.  Slst around one more stitch.

 

Step 2: Join to second eye with a slst around any stitch from rnd 3, slst around one more stitch.

 

Step 3: Chain the length needed to fit your (or the person's you are making this for) finger.
Step 4: Join to the first eye with a slst in the same spot as first slst

 

Step 5: ch 1, sc evenly around the chain.  

- If you chained 8, you should have 8 sc around the chain

Step 6: Join to the 2nd eye with a slst

Step 7: Leave a long tail and sew the eyes together in the middle to secure.

Have FUN

I have added some fun variations HERE

Big eyed finger puppets

My oldest son received this little plastic, big eyed, finger puppet at a birthday party months ago.  Since then, all 3 kids have "enjoyed" fighting over them!  Not so much fun for me.  haha

So, I decided it can't be that hard to crochet a pair.  After all, I have plenty of eyes!  So, here is my crocheted pair next to it's inspiration.  I think it is pretty cute!

Now, they each have their own pair.  I even did each pair in different colors with different eyes so there is no mistaking which one belongs to each child.  

They are a big hit!  

Bracelet Fun....

I had a special request to make a crocheted bracelet for a friends little girl so I got busy.  I had a few ideas and looked for some others on the internet.

This is the first one I created.  I LOVE this one the best.  It is easy to put on but give the look of multiple bangle bracelets.

 Next, I found a little tutorial and it was so simple I had to try it.  Unfortunately, I didn't save the tutorial and now I can't find it to link :-(.  It is just a longer bracelet that wraps around the wrist about 3 times and buttons on.  Simple and cute! 

 I wanted to do something a little different so I looked and found this really great tutorial for a button bracelet.  See the tutorial HERE.

This one requires no crochet skills but would be great paired with one of the crocheted button necklaces I make. 

Have fun!  I am some ideas for several more, more dainty bracelets using beads and cotton thread :-)!!!

Dragonfly art

I must admit that we have been slacking on the crafts so far this summer.  We have just had so many other things going on, lots of swimming and a few "lazy" days thrown in.  

So, I had two choices today, 1:  Clean my house or 2:  Paint with Gloria

I definitely chose to paint with my baby girl.  She already had a little wooden dragonfly she has been wanting to paint so she started with that.  

While she was painting, I was looking for something else fun to do and I stumbled across THIS blog post from Repeat Crafter Me.  Her example is an owl but we changed it up to suit what we wanted to create. 

We started by printing out this template, cutting it out and then tracing it onto our 8x10 canvas

Next we started to fill in the spaces with paint, just to give it a nice base/background color.

The hard part was picking out all the buttons and working on placement.  We started to be real particular about it but in the end we just started gluing and buttons ended up wherever they ended up. 

So proud of our creation

The Dragonfly Door

We recently have experienced a great loss in our family.  My father in law lost his battle with cancer and passed away last Sunday.  He was a great man, wonderful father and amazing Pop to our children.

As we sat next to his bed on Sunday, holding his hand as he took his last breaths, we saw two dragonfly's come right to the window next to his bed.  We all took comfort in this peaceful reminder.  We hadn't seen any flying insects of any kind throughout the days we had been there but at that fleeting moment, as he was taking his last breaths, these beautiful symbols of life were there to comfort us.

For those of you unfamiliar with the symbolism of the dragonfly here is a great story:

Dragonfly

The Dragonfly story is one of the best poems for funerals involving children as it explains in simple terms the Christian hope of life after death.

Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle in a community of water beetles. They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond with few disturbances and interruptions. Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened; their friend was dead, gone forever.

Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However, he was determined that he would not leave forever. He would come back and tell his friends what he had found at the top. When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that he decided he must take a nap. As he slept, his body changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying.

So, fly he did! And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never known existed. Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking by now he was dead. He wanted to go back to tell them, and explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been before. His life had been fulfilled rather than ended. But, his new body would not go down into the water. He could not get back to tell his friends the good news. Then he understood that their time would come, when they, too, would know what he now knew. So, he raised his wings and flew off into his joyous new life!

There are several great books also explaining death using the dragonfly as a symbol of comfort and faith.  A family member bought the kids two books, "The Secret of the dragonfly, a story of hope and promise" and "The Dragonfly door".  I have read both of these books to the kids (through many tears) and they are a great help during this time of mourning their Pop. 

I made my niece and my daughter their own dragonfly toy and I can only hope it will continue to be a source of comfort for them. 

Anastasia with her new dragonfly

Gloria with her new dragonfly

Send me off with love

And please don't cry

It's my time to become

Like a dragonfly

Our wonderful memories

Are tucked in your heart

Though now you can't see me

We are never apart.

Love,

POP