Baby, it's (getting) cold outside

My daughter has poofy pony tails every day. EVERY DAY. And since we live in Michigan, it's getting cold. (Of course as I write this, it's sunny and almost 70 degrees, but since it's Michigan, the weather will be below 50 degrees in just two short days. Gotta love it.) Anyways, since she has the poofy tails, finding a winter hat has been a complete chore. I've tried many, many, many hats on her, and of course, she has hated it every step of the way. I finally decided to just wing it and make her a hat...without a pattern. Yep. That's me. I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kinda crafty girl. :o) I used some malabrigo yarn that I received in a swap last winter. I've never used this yarn before but I now know why so many people love it. It's sooooooooo soft and the color variations from the kettle-dying process is just beautiful. Now I want to make myself a sweater...ahem...but of course that's going to have to wait since I just might have 4 sweaters waiting to be made...and I have the yarn for those 4 sweaters upstairs in my craft room waiting for me. So...yeah. I'm just going to have to wait before I buy a sweater's quantity of malabrigo. Drat.

I used the heart design from this sweater that I found on knitty.com. Luckily for me the design repeat was 12 stitches, and the hat was 84 stitches around...woo hoo! I didn't have to manipulate the design. I love when that happens.

Now if I can just get her to keep it on her head we'll be all set. :o)

and baby makes four...

So we're becoming parents again! This time around, the adoption went even quicker than it did with Madelyn. We got a call last tuesday letting us know that a birth family had chosen us to

be the parents of a baby boy that was born on Sunday. !!!!! We were shocked and excited and speechless and nervous and happy all at the same time. We had so much to do within a very limited amount of time, but of course I was able to find some time to make the little guy something special just for him. I found this pattern while searching for ideas on Ravelry. I was able to make it in 2 days...perfect in the amount of time that I had. I really, really, REALLY like how it turned out. I used size 5 needles instead of the size 6 suggested in the pattern since baby Andrew is so little. I think this is just what he needs to wear when we're able to bring him home, which will hopefully be in the next few days...we're just waiting for the judge to sign the papers. Then our busy little house will get even busier! But, you know, I wouldn't want it any other way. :o)

Pumpkin Hat

I know, I know, I'm a dork. I think we've already established that when I made this bunny hat when Madelyn was first born, or the turkey hat for Madelyn's first thanksgiving. Well, why not keep up the tradition of making crazy hats? That's what I say.

I found a really cute pumpkin hat pattern last fall at my local yarn shop, The Knitting Den. I knew I already had way too many projects going on (but what else is new??) so I bought it so I could make it for this fall. I decided to start it Wednesday and I finished it yesterday, so it only took 2 days! If I'd known that when I bought the pattern, she would have had one last year. I used some Vanna's Choice yarn, which is very out-of-the-ordinary for me. I usually like to use wool but the price couldn't be beat. Plus, it's a kid's hat that won't get worn that often, so Vanna's Choice it is.

Do you think she likes it?

Here is my ravelry link.

where has the time gone?

My little girl turned 1 last week. 1!! I can't believe it. She's growing so fast!

I had tons of project ideas for her party. One of them was to make a happy birthday banner. I used this tutorial as a guide. I changed the shape of the flags and didn't add extra embellishments to them. I thought the fabric I chose was busy enough. I used an Oh! Cherry! Oh! charm pack and layer cake. I love this fabric line so much that I bought some yardage to make Madelyn a dress (I still need to make it. Hmm.).

For her party, I also made layered jello and a watermelon bombe from justJENN. (I love her blog. You should check it out.) In all of my party-planning craziness, I forgot to take a picture of them. Our 50 guests loved them though, along with my strawberry cupcakes. All in all, it was a great party and I'm so happy to be a momma to this little girl. :o)

Watermelon Dress

So I had this great idea one night a little while ago while I was trying to go to sleep. I pictured this way-too-cute a-line dress that looked just like a slice of watermelon. I knew I had to make it. I was heading to visit a good friend of mine on the other side of the state and she also has a daughter who is just a few months younger than Madelyn AND she's a big crafter too, so I told her about my dress idea. She loved it! We decided to go to the mall and we went into a children's clothing store and then I saw it. The dress. MY dress. I was so bummed! But I knew I could make it for a lot less money than what they were charging. Plus, I'd be able to make it how I wanted. :o)

So, here's what I ended up with. I didn't use a pattern. Nope. This one is all from my noggin. It's fully lined and it snaps up the entire back.

At first, Madelyn didn't know what to think.

But then, she liked it! I had to fight to get it off of her! I'm so glad she likes it!

What? Organization? Me??

Yep. You read that correctly. I, Amy, have made something that is kinda sorta organizational. Whoa! That's totally not me! But I'm tired of stepping over Madelyn's toys in the living room so I thought it would be a good idea to make a fabric box with my leftover curtain fabric. I found this tutorial from all buttoned up, which is another really fun blog (seriously, how many fun blogs are out there?? I find tons each and every day! And I'm loving it!!). I had to change the dimensions A LOT to make it functional for a toy box, but otherwise I followed to directions pretty closely, which is another thing that's weird for me to do. :o) It was a fun project and I was able to complete it in 2 hours, or a whole naptime for Miss Madelyn.

She had fun helping Momma put her toys away. See? Ahhhh. My feet are happy! No more plastic-y landmines in the living room!

Madelyn's new best friend

I don't know why I haven't blogged lately. I guess I've been busy getting ready for Madelyn's birthday party. Eeeeeeeeeeeeek! She's going to be 1 in less than 3 weeks! Where has the time gone???

One of the many projects that I have been working on is Molly Monkey from one of my all-time favorite blogs, mmmcrafts. Larissa has soooooooooooooooo many cute ideas! If you haven't checked out her blog before, you really need to. Did you hear that? YOU REALLY NEED TO! Especially since she has most graciously offered the pattern for Molly for FREE!!!! The pattern is really well written and very easy to follow. I was hoping to give it to her as a birthday present, but since the pattern was so easy to do, I made it in under 2 days. And being as impatient as I am, I just had to give it to her early. She loves it! When she sees it, she starts kicking and clapping and laughing. It's too cute!


I haven't sewn the beret on yet, mainly because it covers up the little sprout of hair I added. When Madelyn plays with it, of course the first thing she does is take off the hat. Oh well. Molly is cute with or without the beret!