Crochet Earwarmer

I love headband/ear warmers. They are great when riding, cleaning stalls or pastures, or just being outside in. I prefer them over beanie hats because, well, they dont mush down my hair. Plus, I have enough hair to keep my head warm with, I just need the protection for my ears.

But back on track, I decided to make one of my own, since I am a crafter and crocheter, and came up with my own simple pattern.

Works with hair up...

I really like it and it fits perfectly (as it should, I made it myself!! LOL).

Works with hair down.

Want the pattern? Because Im nice, and well, its super easy you could probably figure it out on your own, Im giving it away for free! Any questions, just give me a holler and Ill 'splain a little better...maybe.

Linkin' to free pattern HERE. :)

Happy crocheting!

Auction Find!

The Boyfriend and I attended a benefit auction for a friend of the family's son. At the silent auction were lots of neat things, but what really caught our eye was a beautiful Mule-Deer photo and gorgeous wood frame, as well as some 7x7 elk antler sheds found in Montana. We really liked both, but as the auction was nearing an end, a decision had to be made from one to the other. With the rarity and uniqueness of the elk sheds, we went for those - and won the silent auction! We paid what they were worth but didnt feel bad as the proceeds went to a great cause.

I couldnt wait to get the new babies home and find the right spot for them. The only problem was going to be how to mount or hang them....

Boyfriend blinked, apparently. And as they are heavy, they came out a little blurry from movement.

We could put them up in the vaulted opening where the saddle is...

But for now, we found two other good places for them. One in the master atop the electric fireplace...

Which leaves me wondering where my ribbons and buckles will go that were previously displayed on the mantle.

And the other antler is in the kitchen, next to one of the geese, among other things.

I just love this one here - it so perfectly fills up the empty space that was previously there.

Hooray for elk sheds!

Crochet Newsboy Hat

A friend at work found out that I have some crafting ability, and asked if I might make a "beanie" for her. We discussed design options, and I got to work.

I searched ravelry.com to find the perfect pattern for her. I took a little bit of a creative leap with the pattern I selected. I had her blessing for a bit of free rein after our discussion, and other details that I might ask her about I was free to decide on. So I hoped the pattern I chose would represent her style.

I set to work one evening and finished the majority that night. The following night I added the button embellishments instead of the zipper flower. Here's how mine turned out:

I surprised her with it at work, and she loved it! I took a risk with the pattern design with the front post double crochet lines on the top, but she said she loved it and in fact was thinking about something similar in her mind. I also guessed on the right size, going a bit smaller than my own size but estimating she was a smaller than I. She put it on and it fit her perfectly! Finally, the button sizes were a little smaller than we discussed, but all I had on hand. She loved the two buttons accenting each side of the brim. All three guesses I went for paid off in the end and she loved it.

Knowing how happy she was with it totally offset any cost I had put into it (just the purchase of the semi-wool yarn and the cost of the pattern). Then she surprised me with a gift card for Starbucks and hugged me profusely. Definitely worthwhile.

Now the other gals at work want hats (and even hand painted signs) for them too!

The New Home Decor

Anyone who knows me in "real life" is acutely aware that I (and my Boyfriend) are heavy in the western/hunting/horses and outdoors in terms of our lifestyle as well as our home decor. For a while I have been keeping my eyes out for an awesome vintage-y old western saddle to use in the home. Monday I was taking some horse items for consignment to the local tack consignment shop, and naturally took a look at the saddles available. I was looking for something within my price point (under $50), but I wasnt floored by anything .... until I took one last look. I found one tucked underneath some other old dusty saddles, and turned over the price tag: $35. Hallelujah!


I pulled the saddle from it's dusty and dark crevice and piled it next to the purchase counter. I was able to swap the not-needed girth attached for a single stirrup. As the saddle did not come with any stirrups, I much preferred to have at least one versus the cheap-o girth included. Luckily, the shop owner swapped me the lonesome single stirrup for the girth, which was perfect because I knew only one stirrup would be seen anyways.

I trucked the saddle home and it sat in the living room for a couple days until I could bring some oil home from the barn. (My new laptop doesnt have any photo editing on it yet, so sorry for the less-than-stellar image qualities)

Saddle before cleaning

Cleaned and in it's new home greeting company as they walk in the door ... ignore the mess...I have yet to have my own craft room

I love the look of the saddle sitting up there. 

Sweet 'lil consignment saddle. Your tree might be broken and therefore you are deemed as "not safe to ride in", but you look fabulous sitting in the entryway.

Vintage Paper Wreath

I bought this used up and stained book from GoodWill, planing to use it for some type of wreath. What came first was an inspiration from Martha Stewart.com:

I used the same leaf trace offered from the website, but also formed a maple leaf version of my own. With no other cardstock available for color depth, I gathered some yellow leaves from the yard and pressed them in said book for a week.

The first step was to cut out the many, many leaves from the book pages. Martha's wreath calls for 100 leaves glued back to back. I cut 50 of each leaf type for a total of 100 leaves.

I watched Netflix while doing this.

It took a long time.

I didnt get to come back to the project for another week until my next day off. But throughout the week I stopped by Joann's and purchased a 12" wire floral wreath to attach the leaves to. Next I just started hot gluing leaves onto the wire frame and to each other.

As I glued the leaves in place, I had some pieces of twine wrapped around a pencil to start forming spiral "sprigs" to add onto the wreath.

I got closer to the end and tied a leaf-printed ribbon to the top.

I then removed the pressed (real) leaves from the remains of the book, and glued them into place as well as the twine spirals. I hung up the new wreath and stood back and enjoyed.

This is my favorite leaf with the lack of words on it. :)

I'm pleased with my Martha wreath knock-off!

My Kitchen Window Decoration

I made this cute sign in May sometime during my time of unemployment. I really love the way it turned out and I think it looks fabulous as an accent for our small kitchen window.

Sorry for the lack of photos, when I made the sign I didnt take step by step progress photos, and now my camera seems to be eluding me. But it was a super easy project.

I started out with an old weathered, beat up board. My Boyfriend, who works at a lumber yard, snagged the awesome piece for me (among some others) and after holding it up to the window I saw this particular piece was just the perfect sign.

With funds limited and not one who likes to spend money on projects, I scrounged around the house for some sort of excess paint I could use to slather on for the background. It needed something else besides just letters painted onto the board. Fortunately, there was a half gallon paint can left from the previous homeowners of our house (we have lived here over a year, by the way, so the integrity of the paint was yet to be seen), and after stirring the displaced paint, I discovered that it was just the perfect off-white color I was looking for. Without a large paintbrush (only small intricate ones), I used a stick to scoop some paint from the can and onto the board, then selected the largest brush I had (which was about half an inch) to smear it across the board.

Once I was satisfied with the paint coat, I let dry and took the dog for a trip to the lake. Upon returning I found the board was dry and ready for the lettering. I hand drew the lettering and stenciled it onto the board, then hand painted each letter with acrylic craft paint. I stenciled out the design for the chicken as well, and painted him in the center.

After all dry, I screwed some hangers to the back and hung the beauty on the wall. It was only at this time did I realize the "Kitchen" on the board was not straight.

I nearly wanted to paint over it and redo it. But I decided to let it stay in it's askew fashion, only adding more charm to the piece, right?

Boo Spider Wreath

From my latest Dollar Store, Wal Mart, and Good Will adventure, I had a whole lot of Halloween inspiration and ideas floating around for cute Halloween decoration. I am not very into the gory, creepy, or dark side of Halloween, but I do love the "cute" pumpkins and ghost side. I suppose, the more child friendly decor.

What items were used from the shopping binge to make this?

The blogosphere has been teeming with Halloween wreaths, and I took a few ideas from them all to come up with my own design. I started by cutting a cardboard wreath form from an old frozen pizza box. I free formed (didn't trace a plate or anything) because I wasnt too concerned with a perfect shape knowing it would be covered up. I then wrapped it with spider webbing I nabbed from the Dollar Store.

I had multi colors of tulle fabric from my scrubbers (post for them to come), and snatched the purple, orange, and lime green strips for this project. I ruffled up a tuft from each color, and glued it onto the wreath form.

I only had wooden letters for my "BOO", and wanted them to have a little more flair and just painting them black. So I used a sharpie to color the edges...

And traced each letter onto Halloween scrap paper, then cut out the letters and got glued to the wooden base.

I hot glued two googly eyes to the base of each O, then glued the letters into place on the wreath.

Now it was time to decorate!

Glitter spiders adorned the tulle fluffs, more googly eyes were attached to ribbon,  and shiny pumpkin "convetti" were included in the mix as well. My favorite thick spider ribbon was used as a hanger, and the wreath was done!

I found a doorway at the entrance of the hallway and easily seen from the front door for this season's "haunting" location.

                     

                     

Googly eyes adorn the festive ribbons.