Make your own rose stamp

I was amazed to see how Maureen from Maureen Cracknell Handmade had her children use celery (yes, celery!) to stamp pretty roses. I have seen people use potatoes for stamping before, but never this! And apparently you can also use bunches of leafy lettuce. So clever!

This is one of the pictures from her blog:

Go here to read more about it!

Easy Baby Blanket

I think this has to be one of the easiest baby blankets that you can make.

Part of the reason is that I cheated a little bit...

Originally I was planning on using flannel on one side, and that really soft fluffy fabric on the other side. But, before I actually bought some of the soft fabric, I happened to run into a simple, plain and very soft brown baby blanket. It was very cheap, too. And that is how it got started...

It turned out to be very simple, since one side of the blanket was already done.

As I made this blanket, I took pictures, and I wrote up this tutorial. 

Hope you'll like it!

Easy Baby Blanket Tutorial

Supplies

* Soft baby blanket, any size

* Flannel, the same size as the blanket

* Matching thread

Prewash your materials. 

 This picture shows the backside of my original blanket. 

Very simple, just seamed around the sides. 

These seams will come in very handy, though!

Cut off all labels.

Put the 2 fabrics, wrong sides together, on top of each other. 

Temporarily pin the corners.

Make sure the original blanket is fully covered by the flannel. 

That is why you pinned the corners.

Now, following the original seam of the blanket, start tucking the flannel under, pinning as you go.

Work your way around the blanket.

Starting in one of the corners, sew the flannel onto the blanket with a straight stitch.

When you get to a corner, stop, make sure the needle is down (or use the wheel to let it go down), lift the presser foot, and turn the blanket 90 degrees, so that you are ready to go for the next straight line. 

Put the presser foot back down, and you're good to go again.

Repeat till you're done! 

Enjoy the end result!

 I just love this blanket, and how easy it was to make this.

If you happen to try it out, please let me know, I would like to see what you come up with.

My entertainment

 There is something very relaxing about watching the birds in our yard. I find myself staring at them, as they take turns using our bird feeder. My girls love to watch it as well! 

The only drawback is that they eat so much that I find it empty quite frequently. Oh well...

Flower Baby Hats

 We are expecting our third little girl! (And that's why I haven't been blogging as much as usual during the previous months. This time I have felt very tired and nauseated for months, way longer than with my other 2 girls. But the nausea has finally disappeared, and I am not as tired anymore. Hurray!)

I am excited to have another girl, and lately I have been LOVING these cute crochet flower hats that you seem to see everywhere. 

So, of course, I had to give it a try, and I have to say: it is pretty addicting!

I am still a beginner, but I can handle some basic stitches. I used this pattern, but I have to say that I have the feeling I am doing something wrong, since I seem to end up with more stitches than I should. 

Also, I wasn't quite sure how to make the ruffled edge the way it was done in the pattern, so I just did my own thing. But that didn't keep me from having fun...

I hope she likes to wear hats! :)

I linked up to:

Valentine inspiration

I got inspiration for a couple Valentine crafts that I'd like to share, from a blog called Family Chic. I like how she uses yarn to make these nice decorations.  The following 2 pictures come from this blog:

Yarn love

Yarn hearts

Aren't they pretty?

Crochet Hook Holder

I made this Crochet Hook Holder a while ago, 

and unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the process. 

But it was pretty simple, I used the idea for a basic crayon roll, 

there are several available online.

I just made it up as I went. I left a big pocket on the left side, 

where I can put some embroidery floss and small scissors. 

I don't have that many different hooks anyway, 

so for me there was definitely no need to have that many pockets.

Also, I used felt for the backing. That way it is padded, which makes it more firm, 

and I also can stick some normal needles in there, and they will just stay where they are at.

With the floss, needles, scissors and hooks all together in my holder, 

I have everything I need to crochet some cute flowers, right at my fingertips.

If you are interested in making one for yourself, you can buy the pattern in my
Etsy Store No time to be bored: The Etsy Store.

Owl Hair Clips

I bought some cute owl fabric.

So I thought I would make some owl hair clips to match the skirt I am going to make.

They are very easy to make.

I cut the pieces out of felt, stitched the tummies by hand, used seed beads for the eyes,

and then I used my glue gun to glue all the pieces together.

I wish the skirts came together as quickly...

I linked up to: