This And That

I want to share my cute little thing I did for the kids for Valentine's day. I made them coupon books. Do you remember making coupon books for your parents when you were little? Like, redeem this for me to wash the dishes and all that good stuff. :) Well, because we homeschool, I spend a lot of time with the kids reading and doing school, but don't often spend time with them doing things they want to do. SO, I thought of a bunch of stuff that they always want to do with me but I am always saying I can't right now because I have such and such to do and made a coupon book for them. I feel like it will help me to get in the habit of devoting some time to doing things with them that they want to do! They were excited about them and then Daddy came home with a Wii. Haha! Who cares about Mommy's coupons when Daddy brings home a Wii!? :) Nah, they like them still. 

Next order of business. Logan turned ONE yesterday! Oh my goodness! I can't believe it has been a year already! I gotta tell you, I am still pretty smitten with him. He really is such a cutie and does the funniest things. I'm quite attached to the little fellow. :)

 Lastly, we made pin dolls today! This is mine. :)

Carson made a Peter Pan pin person on the right there. He had a little lego sword stuck in his belt for a dagger. He also plans on making a jedi and using a tiny dowel rod to make a lightsaber. Madelynn's is on the left, she said it is her. :) These were really so much fun. I saw them on pinterest and was dying to do it. I think I could get quite addicted to making these cute little things! I'd like to get some teeny flower stickers or something to put in their hair, maybe some little cupcake beads to glue in their hands. Seriously do a pinterest search on pin dolls, there are some ADORABLE pin dolls out there. Here is a tutorial for them. I was able to find everything I needed at Hobby Lobby. :)

I also finished the zigzag baby blanket from the last post! I just have to weave in all those pesky ends. I started on Madelynn's blanket too. I decided on doing a granny stripe and am planning on making it big enough to lay on top of her twin bed. I will post a picture of the progress of it soon. I think it will look very charming atop a white comforter. I can't wait until she has her own room for me to make all girly! :)

Work in Progress

I finally got some new yarn last month! When the box came, there was much squealing and jumping. :) Right now I am working on a baby blanket for an expectant momma at my church. It is a little different as far as baby blankets go, but what do you think?

It seems as if it will be a little bigger than a regular baby blanket too, but I think that is okay, easier to snuggle with and use when they are older too! I really love this Bernat Softee baby yarn. Not many baby yarns come in such nontraditional baby colors!

AND, I also got some yarn to make a blanket for Madelynn! Figured it is about time I made my kids blankets. Ha! These are the colors I picked for Madelynn's blanket. I'm trying to decide if I should throw some light blue in there too, suggestions?

I still don't know what to do for a pattern yet. I have been trying to decide between the african flowers, granny squares, ripples, granny stripes or granny ripple. I haven't a clue what I am going to do yet!

Chai Recipe and a Mug Cozy

I make some pretty good chai tea. Tim and I love having a cup together and I thought I would share how I make it so you all can enjoy a nice cup of chai! :) I also thought I'd share my super simple version on the mug cozies I have been seeing popping up on Pinterest. This is a super easy beginner project and can be made out of a small amount of yarn. The one I have pictured is my first attempt at one and I think it turned out rather cute!

Chai

Cover a chai tea bag with a little more than a cup of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Cover and boil for 5 minutes.
Add about one and a third cups of milk and bring to a simmer, stir and simmer for 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Stir in about 1/6 cup of sugar. (I know this is an odd measurement, I just fill it to the halfway line in my 1/3 measuring cup).
Pour into two mugs, top with some homemade sweetened whip cream and sprinkle with cinnamon.
To make enough whipped cream to top the two cups of tea, just use about 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream. Pour it into a bowl that you have chilled in the freezer and use a hand mixer to whip it until there are stiff peaks. Super easy peasy!
If you are doubling the recipe for 4 servings, just be sure you add another tea bag in addition to doubling the other ingredients.

Mug Cozy

Make a chain for as tall as you would like your cozy to be, do one more chain and then single crochet in the second chain from hook and in each chain to the end. Chain one, turn and single crochet in each sc to the end. Repeat until it is long enough to go around your mug from one side of the handle to the other. Fasten off.
Join yarn with a single crochet or slip stitch along side of  work in the middle and single crochet around, when you get to the end of the piece, make a couple of chains and then resume single crocheting along the edge until you reach where you started, join and fasten off. Make sure the cozy will slide up over your handle and fit snugly, then repeat on the bottom. If you have a mug that is wider at the top like the one pictured, you may want to do a chain more on the top than the bottom when you are doing the edging.