Two pretty dishcloths

Recently, from a friend on a craft forum I like to visit, I learned about some dishcloth patterns that are new to me.  These dishcloths are round and resemble flowers.  They have a charming retro look.  I had picked up some cotton yarn previously with dishcloths in mind, and was pleased to find that the colors I had picked up (plus one that I had in my stash) worked perfectly for trying out these dishcloths. 
 Here are the links to the patterns: Daisy Wheel Dishcloth

Daisy Wheel Dishcloth

 and Primrose Dishcloth.

Primrose Dishcloth

They are so pretty -- and easy to make, too.  I've already started another.  These will be great to have in my stash for giving, with a fabric-trimmed dish towel.  I think they would make wonderful hostess gifts!

Spring-themed book page banners

I seem to use the terms "banners', "garlands", and "buntings" interchangeably  when referring to these pretty strings of decorative paper crafting.  Not sure which is really correct, but they are so pretty and such fun to make.  There is something very therapeutic, especially for an adult, in playing with paper, glue and scissors.

If you've been visiting my kitchen table for awhile, you know that I made some heart-trimmed book page banners back on Valentine's Day.  You can read about it here: simple Valentine bunting.

One of the Valentine banners

I found the basic directions here: simple book page bunting.

After making the heart-trimmed banners, I had it in mind to make some flowery ones for spring/summer.  Finally I found the time to make them and put them over the dining room windows.

This pretty blue paper came from an envelope containing freebie greeting cards.  I centered the flower on these and did not use buttons on them.

I was so pleased with how they came out that yesterday I made one more to put above the window over the kitchen sink.  This window is smaller so I made the banner shorter.

The fourth banner in progress on my glass topped crafting desk

 Now I have all sorts of ideas running through my head: patriotic banners, autumn leaf banners, and so on.  If I actually end up designing/making some, I will post about it!

Worth the read (and the re-read)

Graphic by Little Birdie Blessings

When I find blog posts that speak to my heart and encourage me, I love to share the links to encourage others.  Lately I have read a number of posts that blessed me so much, I want to share them with you all.  So here goes!

 I just read this one yesterday: Resting and Singing.  It's by Cyndy at Daily Musings on the Hill and I know it will bless your heart, speaking as it does of the beautiful season of spring. 

Speaking to Ourselves is another one by Cyndy that has challenged and encouraged me in recent months.

Abby, at Little Birdie Blessings, always has thought-provoking and beautiful posts, especially on Scripture Thursday.  She also has gorgeous vintage graphics which she will frequently share, free for personal use.  Wait on the Lord is today's post, and was such an encouragement to me.  I'm sure it will bless you as well.   Be Still is another post of Abby's that was recently a blessing to me.  It's so important to take time every day to be still before the Lord.

Mrs. Smith, at Sweet Tea and Simplicity, is another talented writer who never fails to encourage me spiritually.  Two of her recent posts were a huge blessing to me: When the Storm Clouds Roll In and
Facing Difficult Relationships.  Maybe these uplifting posts are just what you need today, too.  They surely did speak to my heart.

Last but not least, I am always blessed by Susan's posts at By Grace.  I consider her post Building an Effective Scripture Journal to be a must-read.  It will be that helpful to your Christian life!  On the homemaking side of things -- or, really,  just life management in general -- her post
The Miracle of 15 Minutes has the potential to be equally life-changing.


Hope these links help you all as much as they have helped me.  Enjoy the read!

A great grilled chicken recipe

(Photo by Taste of Home)

As I mentioned yesterday, I tried a new marinade for grilled boneless chicken breasts on Saturday.  Years ago my mom found a good marinade recipe and for the longest time it was the only one I used.  But it involved honey, which has become so expensive (unless you happen to have your own hives), and so I gradually stopped using it.   Over the past few years, when I marinated anything, it was usually just in Italian salad dressing.

Then I spotted this recipe in a back issue of Taste of Home: Grilled Chicken with Salsa.  I didn't have the ingredients on hand for the salsa, but if I'd had them I probably would have tried that too.  It has great reviews on the Taste of Home site, so next time I find fresh pineapple on a good sale, I'll try making this salsa.

The marinade looked simple and easy, and it uses ingredients I keep on hand all the time.  There's only 1 teaspoon of sugar, and only 1 tablespoon of oil, so it's quite inexpensive.  We loved how the citrus flavors enhanced the grilled chicken.  If you're looking for something a bit different to add to  your grilling repertoire, give this recipe a try!

Bacon Chive Potato Salad

Photo by Taste of Home

On Saturday evenings, my dad always comes for supper.  We generally serve homemade baked beans, which he loves, and usually some sort of grilled meat, along with salad and so on.  This week I wanted to give this meal more of a festive, Memorial Day type aspect, so tried a couple of new recipes, one for a potato salad and the other a marinade for grilled chicken which was quite different from my usual.  Maybe tomorrow I can get around to posting the marinade recipe. 

For today, I wanted to share this recipe for Bacon Chive Potato Salad. I don't know why exactly, but this recipe seemed much easier than my usual quick, no-real-recipe version.  For one thing, this contains no eggs, so that step of hard-cooking eggs is eliminated.

I had a little bit less bacon bits than the recipe called for; I probably used between 1/4 and 1/3 cup bacon bits.  I have chives growing nicely in my garden (actually getting ready to flower!) and so I easily got the necessary amount of those.  The only other thing I changed was to cut the red potatoes in cubes rather than wedges.  It may not be as pretty, but it seems easier to eat. 

I was very pleased with the flavor of this salad.  The dressing ingredients are so ordinary that I wasn't expecting it to be so flavorful, but that ground mustard really makes a difference.

The salad days of summer are approaching!  Hope your family enjoys this yummy salad as much as we did!

Goals for week beginning 5/27/2013

Yesterday, Mr. T and I went off for a picnic on the shore of a nearby lake.  This photo was taken several years ago, but this was basically the view from our picnic bench yesterday.

Yes, I'm a day late posting these.  I have so many posts rattling around in my head, and hope to do at least one more today.  I've tried several new recipes I want to share.  Without further ado, here are this week's goals:
*  Begin a Back on Track challenge; I am severely off track in some areas
*  Spend time in 2 Samuel Bible study
*  Finish Sunday School lesson 2
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook
*  Memorize Psalm 104:33-34
*  Read 2 chapters in A Woman's Call to Prayer
*  Exercise or go for walks as often as time allows
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays, Christmas, and finishing UFOs
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post once or twice in my Christmas blog and at least five times in my regular blog
*  Complete homemaking goals for Zone 2, the kitchen, including decluttering, and Zone 5, the living room
 *  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do.

And here's how last week went:
*  Spend time in 2 Samuel Bible study -- DONE!
*  Work on Sunday School lesson 2 -- DONE!
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook -- DONE!
*  Memorize Psalm 104:33-34 -- only finished verse 33
*  Read 2 chapters in A Woman's Call to Prayer -- DONE!
*  Exercise or go for walks as often as time allows -- managed a couple of walks
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays, Christmas, and finishing UFOs -- DONE!
*  Keep up a good water intake -- DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night -- didn't manage this every night
*  Post once or twice in my Christmas blog and at least five times in my regular blog -- not done
*  Make a simple spring banner -- DONE!
*  Complete homemaking goals for Zone 2, the kitchen, including decluttering, and Zone 4, the bedroom -- DONE! in Zone 4, but not the kitchen
 *  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do -- DONE!

Although I didn't accomplish all that I hoped to, I'm fairly pleased with how the week went.  As always, I'm hoping this week (which is already well underway) will be more productive!

Happy Memorial Day!

Image courtesy Vintage Holiday Crafts.com

I hope that all of you have been enjoying a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  As we enjoy family, friends, cookouts, parades, picnics, and more, let's be sure we take some time to remember those who have given their lives that we might live in freedom.  And let's take a moment, too, to pray for those brave men and women who are currently serving our country, some in very hard and dangerous places.  We owe them much gratitude for their service to America.

Enjoy your day -- but don't forget to remember!

White Beans with Rigatoni

(Photo from Taste of Home)

I'm always on the lookout for good meatless main dishes, and this one. which I found in my 2005 Annual Light & Tasty Recipes (a book I got free for having a recipe published in it)  is a keeper.  Here's the link: White Beans with Rigatoni.

About the only changes I made were to use brown rice pasta (I used the rotini style, but in retrospect, elbows would have held up better) and to use more chopped kale than the recipe called for.  I think I used about 4 cups rather than 2.  I like to buy the large bags of chopped kale in the produce section.  Frozen chopped spinach would also work well.  I also didn't have any fresh sage, so I used 2 teaspoons of the dried rubbed sage, using the rule of thumb that 1 teaspoon of a dried herb equals 1 tablespoon of a fresh herb.

This dish had a very good flavor and we enjoyed it very much with salad and gluten free cornbread on the side.  If you enjoy a good meatless meal, give this one a try!

Goals for week beginning 5/20/2013

From my personal collection of antique cards

I'm not sure where last week went, other than it was a very busy week with a lot of time spent out of the house due to appointments and such.  I never did get back to my blog to post anything more, even though I fully intended to.  I am certainly hoping that this week will be less busy.  Here are my tentative goals for the week:
*  Spend time in 2 Samuel Bible study
*  Work on Sunday School lesson 2
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook
*  Memorize Psalm 104:33-34
*  Read 2 chapters in A Woman's Call to Prayer
*  Exercise or go for walks as often as time allows
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays, Christmas, and finishing UFOs
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post once or twice in my Christmas blog and at least five times in my regular blog
*  Make a simple spring banner
*  Complete homemaking goals for Zone 2, the kitchen, including decluttering, and Zone 4, the bedroom
 *  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do.

And here is how last week went:
*  Spend time in 2 Samuel Bible study -- not done
*  Finish Sunday School lesson 1; start on lesson 2 -- DONE!
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook -- DONE!
*  Memorize Psalm 104:33-34 -- not done; ended up memorizing Psalm 48:14 instead
*  Read 2 chapters in A Woman's Call to Prayer -- DONE!
*  Exercise or go for walks as often as time allows -- not done
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays, Christmas, and finishing UFOs -- not done
*  Keep up a good water intake -- DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night -- not done
*  Post once or twice in my Christmas blog and at least five times in my regular blog -- would you believe once in each?
*  Proofread kids' devotional book for summer 2013 and send to print shop -- DONE!
*  Make a simple spring banner -- not done, although I have started it
*  Complete homemaking goals for Zone 2, the kitchen, including decluttering, and Zone 3, the bathrooms -- DONE! for Zone 3, but not for Zone 2
 *  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do-- DONE!

Here's hoping for a more productive week ahead!

Goals for week beginning 5/13/2013

A vintage card from my collection

I didn't get around to putting up a Mother's Day post yesterday, but hope that each of you had a wonderful day and that you were able to celebrate in some way.  Here are some goals for this week:
*  Spend time in 2 Samuel Bible study
*  Finish Sunday School lesson 1; start on lesson 2
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook
*  Memorize Psalm 104:33-34
*  Read 2 chapters in A Woman's Call to Prayer
*  Exercise or go for walks as often as time allows
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays, Christmas, and finishing UFOs
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post once or twice in my Christmas blog and at least five times in my regular blog
*  Proofread kids' devotional book for summer 2013 and send to print shop
*  Make a simple spring banner
*  Complete homemaking goals for Zone 2, the kitchen, including decluttering, and Zone 3, the bathrooms
 *  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do.

And here's how last week went:
*  Spend time in 2 Samuel Bible study  -- not done; I have been very busy in Bible study for my new Sunday School lessons.
*  Work on Sunday School lesson 1 -- DONE!
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook -- DONE!
*  Memorize Psalm 104:33-34 -- not done; memorized Psalm 40:5 instead
*  Read 2 chapters in A Woman's Call to Prayer -- DONE!
*  Exercise or go for walks as often as time allows -- not done
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays, Christmas, and finishing UFOs -- DONE!
*  Keep up a good water intake -- DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night -- didn't manage this every night
*  Post once or twice in my Christmas blog and at least five times in my regular blog -- DONE!
*  Finish kids' devotional book for summer 2013 and send to print shop -- book is finished but still needs proofreading, and I am waiting on the cover
*  Make a simple spring banner -- not done; hopefully this week
*  Keep up with homemaking goals for Zone 2, the kitchen, including decluttering -- did a few things but still need to complete the kitchen missions
 *  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do  -- DONE!

This week looks busy, with several appointments, but I am hoping it can be productive and fruitful.

Fabric trimmed tea towels (and a dishcloth or two!)

I'm still trying to post links, tutorials, etc. for the recent crafts I've made.  Today I want to share the links for the fabric trimmed tea towels (or dish towels, if you prefer that term) that I've been sewing.  I absolutely love Sew4Home.  They have the best and most professional sewing tutorials I've seen, plus they feature projects I can actually make even with my less-than-great sewing machine.  I've made the fabric trimmed tea towels from a couple different tutorials, but this one: Fancy Border Tea Towels is my out-and-out favorite.  It is SO easy yet comes out so cute.

Love the fruit print on this one!

I had so much fun making that one, I made a couple more.

Same towel as above, just folded

Then I made one for myself!  I found that one of the flour sack towels in my stash had a little stain on it.

I couldn't use a stained towel as a gift item, of course.  But I can use it in my own kitchen.  I love this print!

A fall-themed set I made for a giveaway

And I have also made these:  Triple Border Dish Towels in the past.  They are fun and simple too, but the Fancy Border ones are definitely my favorite.

Sunflowers

With a Coke® theme

Brown and pink

Often when I give a gift of dish towels, I also like to include a crocheted dishcloth.

A gift for a homeschooling mom

 Here is one I have made many times:  seed stitch dishcloth.
 
(Incidentally, the pattern doesn't call for an edging, but I  add one by simply single crocheting around all four edges.)

This time, I only had 2 dishcloths left in my stash, so the I chose the green one on the right to go with the dish towel I had made for my granddaughter:
 
 This is made using another favorite dishcloth pattern.  I've made loads of these as well, and they are so pretty.

Now it's time to crochet a few more, and I have a couple of new dishcloth patterns I want to try as well.

So there you have it!  Why not whip up a few of these easy items for your own gift stash?

Popsicle Memory Game

I'm still sharing links, tutorials, printables, etc. from the recent birthday gifts I made for some of my grandchildren.  This Popsicle Memory Game from Eat Drink Chic is one I've wanted to make for quite awhile.  I actually printed out the popsicles and cut them out last year, but when it came time to glue them together I was too rushed to do a good job.




We have grandkids of various ages at our house a lot, and they do enjoy playing games.  But I had noticed that sometimes they would sort of cheat at games -- for example, in Old Maid, our cards have been used so much that some of the cards (the Old Maid being one of them) are creased or torn in a way that makes them identifiable even from the back.  (I know, I know, it's time for new cards!)  And we have a set of wooden tiles with various animals.  Sometimes the kids like to play Memory with those.  And one of the tiles has some sort of trademark on the back.  By this time we all know that the picture on the other side is the bunny!


So I knew that in constructing these popsicles I would need to take care to make them as exactly alike as possible on the back sides of each.  Not something I could rush with.  So this year, I carefully scored and creased each fold, and I put a measuring mark on each popsicle stick so the exact same amount of stick was showing on each.  I knew the kids would still eventually find the matching up to be easy, but these siblings would also enjoy using the popsicles along with all of their other play food.


I made a simple label for the game
 
and packaged it in a small plastic latching container from the supermarket or Walmart, I forget which. 
 
That should make it easy to keep all the popsicles together.


I was actually wondering if the game was a bit too young (the kids turned 5 and 7), but I needn't have worried.  We played the game several times that first night, and even their older brother wanted to get in  on the fun.  They had a great time with it, and they also have some truly mouthwatering popsicles to share with their stuffed animals and friends!

Felt tea bags, pancakes, and toaster pastries

 
Sounds like a sort of unbalanced meal, doesn't it?  I'm trying to keep up with my promise to share links to instructions, tutorials, and so on for some of my recent crafting.  So here goes.

For the tea bags, I just cut small squares of white felt (mine were about 1-3/8" x 1-5/8"-- so, not exactly square).  You cut 2 of these for each tea bag, and then a smaller dark brown square (mine were about 7/8" x 1-1/4") for the "tea" inside.  The first time I made these I cut the white squares with pinking shears, which was cute, but I honestly thought they were just as cute without.  So you sandwich the brown square in between the 2 white ones, tucking a length of cord (I used yellow and white bakers twine) into the top, and you machine sew all around the edges.  Then you take 2 small felt shapes (I used hearts of different colors) and sew them together by hand, slipping the other end of the cord or twine between them.  It almost takes longer to write this out than it did to sew them!  Cutting out the small pieces does take a bit of time.

I made a dozen tea bags for each girl and packaged them just in simple plastic food storage containers from Walmart.

I made a label for each using cute printables from The Cottage Market.  An easy way to access just what you want from this site is to go to their Pinterest boards and find the one labeled Cottage Market Freebies (or a similar name -- I can't remember just what it's called -- may be Cottage Market Free Printables).  From there you can easily find the link to the printable you'd like.  Or you could design your own label as I've done for some of the other foods.

For the felt pancakes, I used this tutorial: :Felt Pancakes from Turkey Feathers.

These are easy, easy, easy!  All done by machine except for the butter pat.

And for the toaster pastries, which I failed to take pictures of, I used this tutorial: Felt Toaster Pastries from Treasures for Tots.  I'm sure these could be done by machine too, but I think the blanket stitching around the edge makes them look more real.  The ones I made for the girls were intended to be strawberry flavored.  I used pink felt for frosting and a variety of pink beads for sprinkles.  This picture is of some I had previously made with white frosting and multicolored sprinkles.

I should add (this is probably a no-brainer, but I'll add it anyway) that when I make any felt food involving a simple, generic shape like a rectangle or circle, like these, I'll make a pattern out of newspaper or tracing paper and label it (like "felt pancakes, small circle, cut 2 tan") and so on.  That way, when I want to make that particular food again, I am all ready.  I keep all of my felt food patterns together in a zip-top quart size bag within a folder of the various felt food instructions.

I also like to package my felt foods in plastic zip-top bags with a label.  I like to think this helps to keep it corraled when the kids aren't playing with it, but that may just be wishful thinking.

Trying to hunt up all of the links for these felt foods made me remember something I've been wanting to do for ages: do an entire post with links for ALL of the felt food I've made over the past 5 years or so.  People often ask for specific instructions/patterns but I have never taken the time to get all of the links in one place.  It's going to take awhile, but hopefully I can put a post like that on my Christmas blog in the next week or two.  Stay tuned!

Goals for week beginning 5/6/2013

Doesn't this vintage iced tea  tray look refreshing?  It's warm enough to enjoy iced tea right now!

Another Monday!  They do roll around so quickly!  Here are some goals for the week:
*  Spend time in 2 Samuel Bible study
*  Work on Sunday School lesson 1
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook
*  Memorize Psalm 104:33-34
*  Read 2 chapters in A Woman's Call to Prayer
*  Exercise or go for walks as often as time allows
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays, Christmas, and finishing UFOs
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post once or twice in my Christmas blog and at least five times in my regular blog
*  Finish kids' devotional book for summer 2013 and send to print shop
*  Make a simple spring banner
*  Keep up with homemaking goals for Zone 2, the kitchen, including decluttering
 *  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do.


And here's how last week went:
*  Spend time in 2 Samuel Bible study -- DONE!
*  Finish Sunday School lesson 14 -- DONE!
*  Start new Sunday School lesson 1 -- DONE!
*  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook -- not done
*  Memorize Psalm 104:33-34 -- not done
*  Read 2 chapters in A Woman's Call to Prayer -- DONE!
*  Exercise or go for walks as often as time allows -- not done
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays and finishing UFOs -- DONE!
*  Keep up a good water intake -- DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night -- DONE!
*  Post once or twice in each blog -- DONE! for my regular blog, but not the Christmas one
*  Continue work on kids' devotional book for summer 2013 -- DONE!
*  Make a simple spring banner -- not done
*  Keep up with homemaking goals as much as possible, including decluttering several closets -- did well with Zone 1, but no real decluttering of closets was done.
 *  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do  -- DONE!

Obviously I am hoping for a more productive week ahead.  We'll see how it all goes

Book-page name banner

I'm back today with tutorial/printable links for  the simple book page name banners I made for 2 granddaughters.  These were so easy and turned out so pretty.

I had made several simple Valentine banners back in February using instructions linked to here:simple Valentine bunting.

So, when I stumbled across these gorgeous alphabet printables at The Cottage Market, I knew just what I wanted to do with them -- book page name banners.  I tried to go back and locate the alphabet on The Cottage Market site, but it was taking me too long to find it, so I ended up going to Pinterest and looking on Andrea's boards there.  She has one board dedicated to The Cottage Market
 free printables, so it was easy to find from there.  You will probably want to do the same if you decide to make a banner.


For my banners, I wanted to use a vintage girls' book for the book pages.  The one I used was The Girl Scout Pioneers, by Lilian Garis.  It wasn't in the best shape and didn't seem like it was a classic or anything, so I had no qualms about using it.  However, as I worked with the pages, I found myself getting caught up in the story and began to wish I had read the book first before I cut it up!

 
It probably goes without saying that if you make a book page banner, you will want to make sure you choose a book that doesn't matter a whole lot to you, but you'll also want to be sure it's an edifying    book with no profanity, vulgar language, etc.  People (especially children) often read the words on these, so it's best to be careful what you use.  

I still have my Valentine banners up (hearts are always in season, right?)
 
but I want to make others with flower motifs and buttons for spring and summer.

Happy paper crafting!                                                                                                                                                                         

Ruffly scarves

I promised that I would take a few posts and share links, instructions and so on for the recent simple crafts I showed yesterday.  Since a couple of people had asked me about the scarves, I thought I would share the info about them first.

I actually had no intention of making a scarf like this.  I had seen people wearing them but had assumed the scarves were purchased.  Even had I known they were handmade, I would have thought them beyond my abilities.   When I came upon a tutorial for these, I had actually been searching for a different style of scarf which uses an entirely different type of yarn.  But I saw these and was intrigued, plus my local Walmart carries Sashay yarn, so I decided to give it a try.

The scarves I made are crocheted, but there are tutorials for knitting them as well, and I have even seen one tutorial for sort of finger-crocheting these.  That one showed scarves made by a ten-year-old girl, and they were beautiful.  But I'm a little intimidated about trying that method.  A hook seems easier somehow.

Here is the tutorial I used: New and improved Sashay scarf pattern.  There is a similar pattern on the
Red Heart web site -- that is, it produces a similar looking scarf, but the two patterns are quite different.  The one on Red Heart is called Frilly Crochet Scarf and it downloads easily as a PDF.  I encourage you to take a look at the Red Heart site because their pattern offers a link to a YouTube video on crocheting with Sashay yarn, which I found really helpful.  I had to watch it a few times before I got the technique down, and I still don't think I have it down perfectly, but fortunately the ruffly nature of this scarf hides any mistakes quite nicely.

One more note -- the pattern I used suggests winding the Sashay yarn onto something like a toilet paper tube before beginning to make the crocheting go faster.  I did do this for the first two scarves, but didn't take time on the third one, and I really couldn't see that it made a whole lot of difference.  But the lady who wrote the pattern makes the scarves by the dozens, so she ought to know.  So do whatever you think best!

Happy crocheting!

Recent simple crafting

Over the past few months, I have made loads of simple little crafts for March and April birthdays, mostly for grandchildren.  I don't have time today to post all of the links to the project instructions, printables I used, and so on.  My plan is that over the next few days, either here or on my Christmas blog (since these are handmade gifts), I will blog about the various projects individually and share the links.  For today, just a potpourri of pictures!

Name banner for Julia

A close-up of one of the letters

Felt pancakes -- I made six of these in all

A container of felt tea bags

One of the individual tea bags

The assortment of tea bags

Popsicle memory game

Lid for game

Game in its container

Crocheted ruffled scarf

Purple ruffled scarf (I made 2 in purple)

Fancy trimmed tea towel

The same tea towel with a crocheted dish cloth

Lego sack

Lego sack opened as play surface

 And that is it for now.  In the next few days I'll try to share specifics, links to tutorials and printables, and so on.  For now, hope you enjoy this look at a few recent simple crafted gifts!

(Today I'm linking up with Suzanne at Blueberry Cottage for Let's Get Stitched.)