Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Infinity Scarf...

Well, my weekend project was fun and easy and it's finished. I started it friday night and by monday night I was done. I am really happy with how it turned out. I wore it to work today and it is so warm and soft. 

Below you will find the video tutorial for it. 

{hugs}
Laura






Saturday, January 19, 2013

Weekend Project...

I love this yarn...

It is so soft and the color is beautiful.

My friend Lisa found a really interesting video tutorial for an infinity scarf (which she has started for herself). It is my weekend project.


I figured, with a three day weekend, I should be able to get it done. (Fingers crossed)

On a side note - I finished reading The Kite Runner. It was fabulous and wonderful - I loved it.
Now, to watch the movie...

{hugs}
Laura

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Books I Love...

I had a lot of time to read this past week and wanted to share with you two books I love.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. She wrote another of my favorite books, The Time Travelers Wife.

I picked The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is up at a thrift store and it's what I am reading now. It's really good - I can't put it down...

I love to read and wish I had more time for it. I have wanted to buy a Kindle but can't bring myself to do it yet - I just love real books and keep finding them at really good prices...

{hugs}
Laura


Friday, January 11, 2013

Mountain Trip...

We took a trip to the family cabin at the beginning of the week. There was lots of snow still on the ground and cold air. It was fun and relaxing, even with the outhouse (yes, outhouse) and the skunk that we knew was spending the winter under the cabin. We had beautiful scenery, lots of time to read and play cards, lots of snacking, a nice warm fire 24 hours a day, snowman building and sledding and fun walks. I love family vacations...

{hugs}
Laura

What the mountains across the valley from us looked like the day we got there...

Beautiful scenery...




Lots of firewood...

Sledding...

Winter flowers...


Me and my hubby...

Fun walks...

My sons snowman...

Card games...

Beautiful sunsets...

S'mores every night...

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Crochet Flower...

I just saw this tutorial video to make this cute little flower and wanted to share it with you. It's from Mollie Makes.

{hugs}
Laura


Saturday, January 5, 2013

Rice Bag Heating Pad...

I posted earlier about making Rice Bags. They are wonderful. I use mine every evening to keep warm and then at night in bed. And, if you have an ache or pain and need heat for it, it's perfect.


I made a lot for family and friends this Christmas, and have had fun doing it. So, I thought I would do a tutorial on how I have been making them. It's really very easy and I have done them all by hand too (my sewing machine is not working right now).

Below you will find pictures and instructions of what I did. But, there are many ways to do this and you can modify what I have done to better suit you. Have fun and enjoy your rice bag.

{hugs}
Laura


You will need these supplies for your rice bag.
- Fabric. 100% cotton works best, you can get a fat quarter or just a 1/4 yard of fabric.
- Heavy duty thread.
- DMC Cotton Perle 10g.
- Whole grain white rice.
- Scissors, straight pins and a needle (I used an embroidery needle).

For this bag, I cut my fabric into a 14 inch by 9 inch rectangle. I wanted it to be more long and narrow than square. But, for most of the rice bags I have made, I use a fat quarter and cut it into two pieces for two rice bags.

Fold the fabric in half with right sides together. Now, fold over the two long sides and pin the fold in place. I folded mine over twice so there is no chance of any rice getting out.


When you are done pinning the sides, use your heavy thread, doubled up and tied with a good knot, to sew a running stitch down each side.


When you get to the end, back stitch a couple of times and tie a really good knot.

When both sides are sewn, turn your bag right side out and you are ready to fill it with rice.

I fill my bags about 2/3 full with rice.


Now, fold the raw edge of your fabric in about 1/2 to 1 inch.

And then, fold it over and pin in place.

Sew along the edge with nice small stitches. I even stitched up the small sides of the fold.

When you get to the end, tie a good knot.

This is what the back of mine looks like...

And, the front...

Gotta love a rice bag.

I found this fun fabric for my daughter...

And this Star Wars fabric for my son.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A New Soup Recipe...

I love Pinterest - a lot.

And, I love to find new recipe's. We eat dinner at home every night and very rarely go out to eat (like once every two or three months). So I am happy to share with you a soup recipe that I found on Pinterest and tried last night.

This is Mom on Timeout and she has a wonderful recipe for Olive Gardens Zuppa Toscana Soup.  I did make a few alterations (ground turkey with Italian seasonings instead of Italian sausage) but it was delicious and I will be making it again, a lot.

{hugs}
Laura