Crocheted Baby Slippers & A Chunky Women's Cloche

Over the last couple of days, I have been one busy crocheter.  I love to crochet as it allows me to sit and relax, but still get something accomplished.  After all, I can't just relax, I must be checking things off my to do list!

The first project that I have been working on are these cute baby slippers.

A friend of mine saw the other pair that I had made Anna (look here) and wanted to order two pairs for a baby shower she was attending soon.  I love making cute things and getting paid for it too!  That's a win-win and the hubby doesn't complain either.  (Little does he know that I will spend that money on more crafts, haha!).

My friend looked over all the colors of potential yarns and liked an Old Rose and a Sage.  She wanted one mostly pink with some green and the other mostly green with a little pink for two twin girls.  I love the color combination and how they turned out. (Both of these projects used the "I love this yarn" from Hobby Lobby.  It is my favorite yarn as you get a great amount and it is super soft.)

The pattern that I used for this slipper is called the Ava Slipper and it is by Mandy Sybrowsky of LittleBirdieSecrets.com.  You can purchase the pattern here.  Her directions are for a slipper of all one color.  I followed her directions through Row 3 for the sole, then I switched to my shoe color.  When I got to Row 8, I switched back to my sole color and did a SC (Single Crochet) around instead of a slip stitch.  Otherwise, I followed her exact pattern.

These first three pictures are of the mostly green slipper.

These next few pictures are of the mostly pink slipper.

I hope that she likes them and that her friend likes the gift for her twin girls.  I think I will be whipping up a few extra pairs for Anna in the two-tone combination.  I think that makes them look a bit more like real shoes.

*****

The other item that I worked on was a woman's cloche. The pattern is the Lizzy Cloche and is also by Mandy Sybrowsky of LittleBirdieSecrets.com  You can purchase the pattern here.

I have been wanting to make this cloche for awhile.  The winner of our 100 Blog Followers Giveaway, Stacy, requested an adult cloche in gray with a black flower.  This gave me the perfect excuse to try it out!

I have to be honest, I never follow a pattern exactly as I should.  I always find yarn that I want to use that doesn't match what the pattern creator suggests.  I wanted to use my "I love this Yarn" from Hobby lobby (super soft) and it wasn't the chunky yarn that I was supposed to use.  Therefore,  I had my patience tested at least five times. Yep, I was almost finished and tore it out FIVE times!  Ugh!  We all have craft fails once in awhile!

I was smart enough to start with two strands of this yarn (which made it chunky) and the correct size crochet hook.  I quickly figured out that my gauge was off.  I was supposed to be about 3/4 inch per row, but I was 1/2 an inch.  I made it just as the directions called for the first time (except for yarn) and ended up with a child's size hat (I noted for future creations).  Then I did a few more increase rows and ended up with a cloche for the biggest head know to man.  I tried to shrink the increase rows down a couple and that still didn't work.  Finally, on my fifth attempt, I just added a few standard rows and I hit the jackpot!  Now, I can make this cloche again in the future and not be frustrated by my inability to use the same yarns!

I think it turned out really nice!  I may have to make myself one for next winter.  I hope that Stacy will be happy with it!

Next week, I will be sharing some resources on how to learn to crochet.  Crocheting is very easy to learn.  My Mom even learned to do it!  (I love you Mom!) She wasn't willing to learn if it was going to be too complicated.

I know how to both knit and crochet.  I like knitting, but the supplies can be expensive and it takes a long time to get to your finished product.  Crocheting on the other hand is a very quick process.  The tools are dirt cheap too.  You can get one of every hook for about $20 total.  Then your yarn is only other cost.  Okay, enough on that.  Be on the lookout for those resources next week and think about taking up crocheting!

Don't forget that today is the last day to enter to win a $50 gift certificate to The Vintage Pearl!  Go enter here!



We are linking up this project to all these wonderful parties.  Go visit them for more great ideas!

Baked Spaghetti Carbonara

This is another yummy recipe that I wanted to share.  It has been a long time since I've had this, but I remembered it fondly.  I had some bacon that I needed to use up and I had just made Shannon's Potato Salad, so I needed something different.  The recipe came to mind and I knew it would be a good one to share with you all.  If you can't tell, most of my favorite recipes aren't the healthiest!  They sure are good though!  People wouldn't call me the "Little Paula Deen," if it weren't for these recipes.

Baked Spaghetti Carbonara

½ lb. bacon

12 oz. spaghetti

3 eggs

1 cup heavy cream

½ cup plus 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese (separated)

½ tsp black pepper

Bread Crumbs

2 Tbsp melted butter

Cook bacon.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Cook pasta.  In large bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, ½ parmesan cheese and pepper.  Add pasta and bacon.  Turn into greased 8 x 12 inch pan.  Top with bread crumbs and 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese.  Drizzle with butter.  Bake 12 to 15 minutes, covered with foil.

Great Things-The Vintage Pearl-A GREAT GIVEAWAY-CLOSED

We are so excited to bring you the first installment of our Great Things series.  Our goal is to share, with you, things we find AMAZING!  These are things that we think you will find Wonderful too.  We are beginning, with a truly great thing: The Vintage Pearl.

I (Shannon) discovered the Vintage Pearl on another website when they were doing a giveaway.  They sent us to their site and asked us to find one thing we'd like to win.  Are you kidding me?  One thing!  I'm the queen of personalized everything, especially when it comes to my daughters' unique names.  I couldn't narrow it down to just one thing and before long, I had a Christmas list!

So far, I've purchased the following things from The Vintage Pearl:

1. pearl drop earrings 

2. a cupped square with love necklace for my daughter's second birthday

3. a flower and a circle necklace for my friend, Amy

4. a simple "i love you" will do necklace for me

5. an eclectic charm bracelet for my mom, and

6. a chunky daisy cuff bracelet for me.

I have been so happy with these items and have a lengthy list of things I can't wait to order.

Every item I ordered is absolutely beautiful.  The customer service, at The Vintage Pearl is equally as wonderful.  When I placed my first order, I was ordering Christmas gifts and they had a special.  The pearl drop earrings were free if you entered the code.  Well, I was so excited ordering, I forgot to enter the code.  I wrote customer service an email, asking them for another chance.  They promptly replied, "No problem, we'll add the earrings to your order." They did!  Yeah!

When my bracelets came in, one was miss-sized.  I contacted the company, and they said all I had to do was send it back and they'd fix it and return my postage expenses.  Well, as soon as they received the package, they returned all of my postage expenses (including the box I bought to send it in) and had my bracelet fixed and sent back to me immediately.

When I was ordering my daughter's necklace, I was cutting it mighty close as far as getting the item ordered in time to arrive by her birthday.  They have a "rush" charge if you need things immediately, but since I was within a couple of days of the date, I was hoping to avoid the charge.  I contacted customer service.  The person I talked to was wonderful and assured me the necklace would be sent in time. It was and Mariella LOVES her little necklace.

So, you see, not only are their products amazing, but so is their staff.  So amazing in fact, that they are giving away a $50 gift certificate to one of our subscribers!  YEAH!!!  You just don't know how happy this makes us!  One of our followers is going to win a beautiful, personalized, piece of jewelry. 

Now, we know you are eager to enter.  Here's what you need to do:

*Leave a comment below for EACH entry!*GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED!

1. Like Our Seven Dwarfs on Facebook (MANDATORY entry).
2. Visit http://www.thevintagepearl.com/ and tell us what you'd buy with the $50 gift certificate.
3.  Like The Vintage Pearl on Facebook and tell us you do.
4.  Follow Our Seven Dwarfs by email or RSS feed.  Don't forget to leave a comment telling us you do.
5.  Follow Our Seven Dwarfs via Google Friend Connect (click follow on sidebar).
6.  Share this giveaway as your Facebook status.  Make sure to include @Our Seven Dwarfs and @The Vintage Pearl in your message to be counted!

That's a total of 6 comments you can leave!  6 chances for you to win!  Make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry!  Good luck to you all!  The giveaway closes at 11:59 pm (EST) on Saturday, March 19th. We'll announce the winner on Sunday, March 20th.

Cute Couple Mugs Tutorial

I have a friend who is getting married soon and I wanted to make her some unique and personalized gifts.  I've had wedding ideas on the brain for months.  Over the next couple of months, I'll share all the things I am making the wedding couple.

Tonight I made these cute couple mugs.

The other day, I was browsing at the Dollar Tree and came across two nice mugs.  Since they were plain white, I knew I could do something with vinyl on them.

Everyone has a favorite mug.  I decided to make a mug for each person so they will always know which mug is theirs.  Mustaches and lips are popular these days so I used those and added the Mrs. & Mrs.

I used my Silhouette to cut out the design.  Then I used the transfer tape to grab the vinyl and adhered it on to the mugs.

The vinyl I used is removable so these mugs need to be hand-washed.  I think they turned out nice.  I hope her and her husband enjoy them.

Next time you see a plain dish, cup or decorative item, get creative and personalize it.  You will have a unique item that you can't buy in stores!



We are linking up this project to all these wonderful parties.  Go visit them for more great ideas!

A "Lighter" Meal Idea-Sweet and Sour Chicken, Brown Rice, Sugar Snap Peas, and Yogurt Parfaits

Being expected to come up with tasty, healthy, meals my family will eat, seven days a week, is a chore!



Keeping It Simple posts a great recipe each Thursday. This week, they posted Sweet and Sour Chicken. http://craftskeepmesane.blogspot.com/2011/03/tasty-thursday-sweet-n-sour-chicken-and.html

Well, because I try to keep things healthy, I made one simple change to her recipe.  It was wonderful!  Here it is!

Sweet and Sour Chicken served with Brown Rice, Sugar Snap Peas, and Yogurt Parfaits.

Sweet and Sour Chicken
http://craftskeepmesane.blogspot.com/2011/03/tasty-thursday-sweet-n-sour-chicken-and.html
 *Instead of chicken nuggets, I used chicken tenderloins.  Here are the additional ingredients you'll need.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of chicken tenderloins, cut into chunks

1 green pepper sliced

1 clove of garlic

salt

pepper

Do this step first:

1) Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet.  Heat it on medium high. In the meantime, cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.  Using a garlic press, press a fresh clove of garlic into the chicken.  Sprinkle it with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Add to the hot oil.  Cook through.

 

Then, proceed with "Keeping it Simple's" delicious recipe!

Serve over brown rice.

A Great Side is Steamed Sugar Snap Peas. I bought a box of frozen, Green Giant ones.  They are easy, healthy, and really good.

Yogurt Parfaits

I used:

1 small container of Chobani Lemon Yogurt

1 small container of Chobani Mango Yogurt

blueberries

sliced strawberries

light whipped cream

I layered the ingredients and squirted some whipped cream on top.  Easy, healthy, and oh so good!

Visit us at Funky Polkadot Giraffee today!

Kyla at Funky Polkadot Giraffe is featuring our blog and one of our tutorials today!  Go visit to see our feature.  She has a great blog with lots of amazing craft ideas.  We are thankful for the opportunity to join with her!

We also want to welcome new visitors to our blog!  We have many crafts and recipes coming in the next few days that you will not want to miss. 

Plus, Shannon has lined up an amazing giveaway that will start on Monday!  I (Jill) am very jealous that I can't enter to win myself!  Check back to see how you can enter!

Have a great weekend!

An Easy, Inexpensive, Decorative Gift

I was given a frame and asked to cut out initials with my Silhouette.  These frames were going to decorate tables, at my daughter's school's auction.  Families donated money to sponsor tables and are recognized by these "signs" that they are then given as a thank you.

They picked up these frames at Hobby Lobby.  They're really nice and inexpensive.

The opening is 4x6".

I chose two complimentary cardstock colors.  I cut the chocolate brown to the full size of the opening: 4x6".  I cut the gray to a 3x5" so there would be a half inch border around it.

I glued them together and cut the initials on my Silhouette.  I used French Script MT.

I glued the initial on to the cardstock and put it in the frame. A simple decoration and great gift.

This same idea would be great for labeling food at a fancy buffet. You could use small frames, as place card settings for weddings, or other dinner events.  The possibilities are endless!

Easy Hawaiian Pizza

If you haven't noticed, I have been cooking quite a bit lately.  We are trying to stick to our budget and the Dave Ramsey plan.

My family thinks it is hilarious that I have to do a photo shoot prior to every meal lately (ones that are unique at least).  I forgot to do the photo shoot on this one, so please forgive the after-thought photo.

Many years back I went to a trendy pizza place and had Hawaiian pizza.  I loved it.  I read back through the ingredients on the menu and realized that I could easily make this at home.  If you are looking for a different pizza recipe, here you go!

Hawaiian Pizza

1 can of pineapple chunks
1 refrigerated pizza dough
12 slices of Canadian bacon
Mozzarella cheese
Honey (this is the key ingredient)
Cornmeal (optional)

Spray your pizza stone or baking dish with cooking spray.  Sprinkle cornmeal on stone (optional).  Spread refrigerated pizza dough out on stone.  Spread honey liberally over surface of pizza dough. (I squeeze the container in long strides horizontally and vertically to get a good coverage).  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over honey and dough to cover (as much as you like).  Place canadian bacon equally over cheese and then top with pineapple chunks.  Bake according to pizza dough instructions. 

Our family enjoys this pizza as it is a change from normal pizza night.  The kids love the pineapple addition. 

Happy Cooking!