Baby wears black?

I've been told that babies should not wear black.  What do you think?  There is something about black and white with a splash of color that I love. 

Homemade Powdered Laundry Soap

My friend shared with me the recipe for Homemade Powdered Laundry soap, so I made some this morning.

The original recipe is: 1 Cup Borax, 1 Cup Washing Baking Soda (must be washing) and 1 Bar of Ivory Soap shredded. 

We added 1 Cup of Oxy Clean also (because we love it) and I went a little extra and added a little bit of Fabric softener crystals (because I wanted the smell)

Stir it all together and use 1 TBSP per load of laundry.


Cost???  I bought a 4 lb box of Borax for $3.36
                                1.3 lb tub of Oxiclean for $3.86
                               55 oz Box of Washing soda for $3.24
                               3pk of Ivory soap for $1.50
                               28oz Purex Crystals for $3.97
          I've only made one batch, so I haven't broken down exactly how much this will all make yet but the cost is much lower than what I had been paying.  I also have the recipe for the homemade liquid laundry soap.  If you are interested in that, leave a comment and I will post it.

Mohawk hat

Back to crocheting!  A friend of mine loves all the funky crocheted hats that are out there.  She purchased a pattern from etsy and asked if I would be willing to make it for her to give as a gift. 

I've made the cute little hats for preemies and even hats on the loom for humanitarian projects but nothing like this.  She had the pattern for a silly hat, but wanted the mohawk - I didn't think she should buy another pattern, so we just used the base of the silly hat and added our own spikes.  It worked out and is bright enough that this little boy will not be missed!

Now it's off to the store to stock up on some more yarn for baby dresses.  I have some requests for long blessing dresses and dresses for a little older babies.

Happy Friday everyone!

Style Find Bzz Campaign

The 3rd and final Bzz Campaign I'm in right now is for Style Find.  To be honest, I'm not much of a shopper, so I wasn't sure how I would like this one.  Now, after checking it out for a while, I really like it.  I receive emails of great deals on clothing and shoes and accessories.  At first, I was bummed because it seemed like everything was still really expensive even though they were at SALE price.  Then, I noticed  a bunch of stuff from places like Old Navy...Ok, I can deal with that.  And the shoes - oh how I wish I had a ton of money to just blow on shoes!  Check out this link and let me know what you think
<img src="http://img.bzzagent.com/image/styleFind.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=7651681814&Campaign=9169591276&Uid=1212185&token=917b2fcf5e7231596903b01ffb74202b" alt=""/>

Burt's Bees Bzz Campaign

The 2nd of 3 Bzz Agent campaigns I am lucky to be in right now is for Burt's Bees Natural Skin Solutions.  Prior to joining this campaign, I didn't know that Burt's Bees had facial products.  I was just use to their lip stuff.  I received a full size bottle of both the cleanser and moisturizing cream to try.  My daughter has sensitive skin and breaks out easily, so she was really excited when we received the package and claims they are only for her.  They have worked really well for her and I will be purchasing more in the future.  For more information, check out this link
<img src="http://img.bzzagent.com/image/burts.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=8693751420&Campaign=6466804197&Uid=1212185&token=266e24137d950fe571d7ca2a4888da16" alt=""/>

Bil Jac Dog food Bzz Campaign

 As some of you know, I am a Bzz Agent and occasionally I receive free products from companies to test and give my opinion on.  One of the campaigns I have recently been in is the Bil Jac dog food campaign. <img src="http://img.bzzagent.com/image/bil-jac.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=1960507928&Campaign=5847563306&Uid=1212185&token=acc16824659e5afcccc96d8a1718632d" alt=""/>

I received a free 6lb bag of dog food to try out.  A few weeks ago, I purchased a bag of Purina dog food and was surprised that the dogs didn't want it when we put it out for them.  So, when I joined this campaign, I was curious to see what the dogs reaction would be.  It took me a while to get it, since the local stores don't carry it, but I made a trip to Pet Smart and was able to get some.  The dogs reall liked it.  It seems to be a really good quality.  It's a little on the spendy side, but it is worth the money.

Sunshine Daisies

While searching for dress pattern, I came accross this beautiful lacy dress on this site http://sarahsweethearts.blogspot.com/2011/04/little-white-dress.html

#34 Lacy Shell

It is Beautiful!  I tried it that night, but was confused, so I put the pattern away.  Last week, I decided to give it a try again.  The skirt on mine doesn't seem quite as full, but the dress turned out ok.  I'm not sure if I like the spacing on the top.  I need to try it on a baby to see how it will sit.  To me, it looks like the arms will sit on the edge of the baby's shoulder and that just seems odd.  Maybe I'm wrong and it will fit perfect.  Only time and trial will tell.

I started making baby dresses on August 15th (just 2 months ago) and have 35 within that time.  How addicting is that??? I love it!  Here are the 2 Dresses I call Sunshine Daisy.  The first #33 is using the Snapdragon stitch and the second #35 is using similar stitching to the dress above, but I used my top pattern. I think my next dress will be similar to #35 only all white and long for a blessing.  I just need a trip to the store first. 

#33 Yellow Sunshine Daisy

#35

Thats it for now, so go out and have some fun!

Left over Yarn

It's funny how I never have just the right amount of yarn.  There is always to much, or not enough and then you have to buy more and end up with left overs anyway.  I had some extra Blue left from the Cobble Stitch afghan I just made, so I decided to make this baby dress with it. Pattern for this dress can be found here: http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/angel-wings-pinafore.html

Even after the dress, I still have some blue yarn.  I gues I will be making a diaper cover or headband.  Hope you are enjoying your week :)

Sand & Water Baby Afghan

Months and MONTHS ago, I wanted to try a different crochet stitch and came accross the "Cobble Stitch" on this blog http://goodtimesithinkso.blogspot.com/2009/09/crochet-cobble-stitch-pattern.html.  I wanted the puffs to show better, so I chose to use 2 colors of yarn instead of the 1 shown in the blog picture. 

This pattern is extremely easy!  All you have to do is chain the length you want in mulitples of 2 and then 2 extra.  The first row is just Single Crochet and the second row you SC then TR alternating those 2 stitches to the end of the row.  Repeat Rows 1 & 2 until you get your desired height. 

Simple...Right?   It really is, but I seem to get bored easy with single crochet because it takes forever to reach the desired size.  Needless to say, this is one that sat on the end table and I would pick it up here and there and crochet a row or 2 and put it back down.  This week, I decided that enough is enough and I just needed to get it off the table and finished it this morning. 

Christmas is in the air!

The season is definately changing.  It has been raining here for the last few days and it snowed in the mountains (which isn't that far away).  Oh how I'm wishing a had a baby girl in the family to spoil with dresses! 

This first dress has 100 clear beads on the skirt.  It reminds me of snowdrops melting.

#29

I have always loved Red and Black and Cream!  I think it is such a rich combination of colors.  For a while, that is what my wardrobe mostly consisted of, but luckily, I have branched out.

I wanted some red dresses out for Christmas and noticed the black ribbon in my stash, so Naturally...I couldn't resist.

#30

#31

That was my week's work of crochet.  Off to try out a boy's sweater pattern.  Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!