I MADE BREAD!!

It turned out great!! And I already had a piece (ok, two pieces!) and it's so yummy too! Yum yum! The recipe was super simple to make, and the bread turns out super crunchy on the outside and warm and chewy on the inside. YUM!

I will definitely be making more of this kinda bread soon! Maybe tomorrow! Since I already have the ingredients in the house.. The recipe is here - http://steamykitchen.com/168-no-knead-bread-revisited.html
Go visit the site, make the bread, die from the goodness of it! =] I have to wait until Brian comes home to eat anymore of it, so I'm back to crafting! Working on a really great gift right now!

Finished 3, 3 more to go!

Maybe only 2 more.. I haven't decided yet..
I have finished 2 big bunnies and 1 little bunny. They are freaking CUTE!! I'm super excited about them! I have one more doll to do, a little bit more complicated than the bunnies, since this doll will have hair instead of ears. This one will probably be the most time consuming one to do, then I have 2 things to knit and I am done! And ahead of schedule so far, since I wanted to be done before vacation and we don't leave for a whole month!!
I'm going to take a break and get something to eat, then it's BACK TO WORK!! =]

Taking a quick break!

I have been busy busy! My wonderful husband went with me to the craft store today, so give me some advice about NFL colors for yarn. Once we got home, I finished a long and VERY VERY warm scarf for myself. It's not like I will need the scarf anytime soon, but it was close to being finished and I really needed the needles it was taking up. I will take pictures of it tomorrow, when I can have Brian take the pictures and use the outside light. I really love this new scarf!! After I finished that, I started working on the little bunny dolls I am making. I haven't decided if I'm going to post pictures of them or not yet, because they are surprise gifts. But they are coming out super cute so far!!
I can't believe we are going on vacation so soon! It's only about a month away!! WOOT! I'm so excited! Brian and I are already making plans of what we want to do up while we are on vacation and fun stuff like that!!
Once we get back from vacation, Brian and I want to start some new life goals that I'm also very excited about! I made the decision that I want to start making one meal a week (maybe once every 2 weeks) that we haven't tried making before. Already on the list are Shepard's pie and meatball sandwiches! I also want to start making all of our own bread, rolls, biscuits, muffins, cookies, cinnamon rolls, etc. I'm really excited about this!! We contemplated buying a bread maker, but decided that we would rather actually make everything ourselves. I'm going to start with just simple wheat bread, wait until I make that perfectly and then start to slowly branch out from there.
I also have a whole list of things, crafty-wise, that I want to make when we get home. I found an AWESOME tutorial for making flowers out of duct tape that I want to make and attach to headbands. I want to buy some cheap and colorful tulle, to try making a tutu. If I can make some really cute tutus, then I will definitely start making some for my favorite little girls!
But for now, I am working my little fingers with a bunch of knitting I have to do for the little dolls that I am making! And in the back of my mind, I also thinking of what crafty projects I'm going to take with me on vacation (I can't just be gone for over a week without something to keep my hands busy!!) and I have to start thinking of Christmas presents already!!
I'm off to get back to work, I will update more soon! =]

She's Back!

I was gone for a full week helping a good friend of mine by watching her little ones while she recovered from minor surgery until her mother-in-law could make it into town. I survived. I also wasn't able to craft AT ALL for a full week. It made me sad. But I was actually staying at my friend's house and taking care of her 7 month old and 2 year old 24 hours a day. So by the time they both went to bed, I pretty much collapsed into sleep every night, without a thought to any crafting. But I'm home now and I will be starting back up tomorrow with full-time crafting to finish what I'm working on before we go on vacation!! =]

One down, 3 to go..

Oh goodness! I have a month and a half to finish! And I probably won't be doing much of anything crafting-wise for the next week, as I will be watching 2/3 of my favorite girls while their mom recovers from surgery! Thank goodness they are the most well-behaved kiddos I have ever watched! I could be stuck watching a bunch of little hellions! Not that these little ones don't have their moments. =] I will try to craft a little during naptime and after I put them down for bed, but we'll see how that goes. Until next week, happy crafting without me!

Sewing together ears! =]

Since the only person I know for sure that reads my blog is my most wonderful mother-in-law, I trust she's not going to spill the beans about the gifts I'm making right now. So I'm sewing together pieces of ears for some bunny dolls I am making right now! I don't have any pictures, because I'm too lazy to get off the couch and find the camera and cord. So I will take more pics tomorrow about the progress I have made so far. =] I'm super excited! AND we are going on vacation in about a month and a half and I could NOT be looking forward to it more!! I'm super stoked!! =] Counting down!

Holy Moly!!

I just realized yesterday that I have only 54 days to complete 4 gifts before I go on vacation over labor day!! ARGH!! Craziness!! I'm making 4 dolls, each with their own theme. I know for sure 2 of them that I'm doing, but for the other two I'm at a complete loss for what I'm doing. But I just traced out the bodies of 4 dolls. I have to cut them out and then I will figure out the next steps.. =] Plus, on top of making these dolls, I've also been working a lot lately. Which is great for the bank account, not so great for finding time for crafting whenever the mood strikes.. It's going to be a bust 2 months!! =] I can't wait!

Alive! And sweating a lot..

Our a/c is on the fritz!! It's crazy! But Brian and I are an awesome team, so we are making it work! I'm channeling my inner Tim Gunn and have been saying "Make it work!" a lot lately, to myself, of course!
I had been working on a blanket for a friend of mine, for her baby shower. It turned out the wrong size for a blanket, a little too long and not wide enough. But then, it turned out to be the PERFECT size to cover the baby carseat!! I don't have any pictures of it yet, but as soon as I get some, I will post them! =]
As for my other recent projects -

I made this little bunny! She's small, I named her Jo. I don't really have anyone to give her to yet, but I'm sure she will make it into a gift sometime.. =]

I cut her out of some scraps of an old sheet, then sewed her face on with bits of yarn and an embroidery needle.

Then I sewed her together using embroidery thread and stuffed her with some stuffing I bought recently.

And I think she is super cute!! I made her dress, belt and hair-bow out of bits of yarn I had around the house. It wasn't enough to use as a bigger project, so I just had it around the craft area in the apartment. And now, she's sitting on our movie shelves until I can find her a home with someone else!

Besides that, I made myself an outfit yesterday out of things I already had in my closet! I took a sundress that Brian accidentally shrunk in the wash (it's 3 different colors of pink), and cut the top off of it and made it into a skirt. Then I got a white tank top (the only white shirt I have that doesn't have stains on it in the bust region.. for now..) and paired it with some bright pink flip-flops. TA-DA! New outfit!! It's super comfy and bright and very airy, so I will be wearing it a lot for the rest of the summer! I also have a blue sundress and a brown one, some type of dress, that I think will be made into skirts too. These 2 are as shrunk as the other ones, but they all are a little too tight around the boobs, but they make awesome skirts! Especially since I have been pretty much living in tanks lately. Compliments of living in the desert during the summer!

Here is the only picture I can find of my new outfit. I will have to take a better pic when I wear it again. This is from the AWESOME BBQ our friends Becky and Mike had yesterday. But the skirt is 3 stripes of pinks, with a white tank. Super comfy and breezy. I love it!
Next on the agenda are 3 gifts of dolls that I have just a couple months to make.I have to go tomorrow and buy a white sheet to make them, and maybe a little bit of extra yarn. Then I will be busting butt to get them finished before we go on vacation around Labor Day!! Super excited about that!! =] More posting to come soon! =]