Crunchy Catholic Momma

Eggs everywhere

2012-02-13T22:27:00.002-05:00

Today when the girls brought in the eggs from the coop, it hit me that I had run out of places to put them. We do eat eggs mind you, lots of them but these girls have been crankin em out faster than we can eat them. I counted 54 eggs and that means its time to cook lots of egg recipes.

I can tell who layed which eggs and the Auracanas (the green and blue eggs) are definitely in the lead. Cold days, hot days, and even a scare by a coyote at the coop door does not stop the Auracanas from laying. You see the dark brown eggs in the front, that one was laid by my one lonesome Buff Orpington though she has no clue she is the only blond in the pack. The lighter brown eggs are provided courtesy of our Rhode Island Reds, they lay less eggs but slightly bigger ones.

My first stop was deviled eggs. Not my favorite thing to do (though it is my favorite to eat) because unlike store bought eggs which are 1 to 2 weeks old, farm fresh eggs do not peel easy. Even after shocking them into cold water they do not peel super easy or pretty but they are so yummy.

I do not wash our eggs until its time to use them. Yep, thats right, my chickens lay them and we put them away as is. I was told by an old farmer that eggs should never be washed until ready to use. They last longer that way. Thats how we do it around here and if you are only used to store bought bleached eggs I am sure you just fainted at the thought my dirty eggs in my fridge lol.

This week three people have asked to buy eggs from me. Every day our gals get a bucket full of veggie and fruit pulp from our juicing at every meal, they get every scrap of food that we do not eat (we waste nothing) and if they need it they are given gmo free feed. I need to call these people back but honestly I have no idea what to charge for our free range, thick shelled beautiful eggs. Any suggestions?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Stash Bash

2012-02-09T11:12:00.001-05:00

I've never met a crafter without a stash of some kind. This year my goal is to use up all the craft supplies I have spent money on that are taking up mental and physical space in my life. Join me here every Thursday for a Stash Bash.

So I am super late today getting the Stash Bash posted. I have now officially killed another laptop (which I desperately need to get all of my pictures out of) and had to buy a new one which also had some problems so I had to take it back the Geek Squad guys for them to redo and so here I am....computers hate me! On top of all of that Blogger keeps wigging out on me and flipping my pictures no matter how I flip them on picnik or picasa and save it. So I could have had this post up by 10 this morning but every picture took forever and there were some pictures I just had to give up on : (

I am aware that I promised the felt bow tutorial on Tuesday but just had no way to do that so I will have it posted tomorrow : )

This week I am sharing the dress I made for Livie's party. Usually when I have a theme and need to make a dress I go out and find the perfect fabric but having to stick to my stash made that quite the challenge. Since the theme this year was candyland and I did not want a candy looking dress per se I though of making her a candy striper dress. After almost giving up I decided to look into the bins of clothes waiting to become something else and found this very large womans dress which has double sided fabric...perfect! I think I have had this dress for a few years. I beleive I wanted to size it down into a dress for me but I hope you agree it was meant to be a candy striper.

before

after

I love recycling clothing because if you are smart about it you can use the hem that is already there, the button plackets and that saves a lot of time sewing. I did plan on using the hem at the bottom but after the dress was done I thought I still wanted to show more of the green side of the fabric so I turned up the hem an inch and resewed it. That made it match the pockets and made me happy.

A double sided headband finished out the outfit. It turned out a teeny bit big but was also very comfy and well, what can I say, I am not a professional.

If you notice on the candy table, the lollipop topiaries were also covered with remaining fabric.

To see the rest of the party go here

So what did you get done this week, I can't wait to see! I love every one of your projects from last week, you all inspire me! Thanks for stopping by this weeks Stash Bash. Below is the linky list for you to add your project.

Here's what to do. There are no rules.
Just use what you have and try to not buy new supplies, unless you need it to complete a project that you are making from stuff you already have in your stash.
Take a picture of your project or progress and blog about it or post a picture to flickr.
Then come back here on Thursdays and post a link to your post.
Don't forget to link back to the Stash Bash so others can find us and get encouraged too.
Fair enough?

P.S. Its so nice to hear from other stash bashers so if you visit some of the links don't forget to leave them a quick little comment.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Awakenings

2012-02-06T19:18:00.000-05:00

We have had a strangely warm winter this year. Warm enough for it not to feel like winter but too cool for even the grass to grow. I have been so tempted to get my spring plants in the ground but I know that one or two more hard freezes will sneak my way and kill my newly planted seedlings so I wait and start seeds indoors. This weekend I hope to get enough work done in the way of weeding to get most things planted but things like tomatoes will have to live indoors. I have lots of seed saved from last year but am finalizing my seed order for what I am missing. I've been romancing these seed catalogs since November, you would think that I would have been done by now...so many seeds and so little budget hee hee.

As I walk around I see the signs of spring coming, a new bud on what looks like a dead fig tree, lots of growth on our mulberry trees

Even the herbs I have growing on the windowsill seems to be trying to bend their way right out the window. They look pretty puny right now but once they get their roots in the soft warm earth outside, they will take off and then from these 3 little plants, I will get lots more. Enough basil to put up lots of pesto. Enough Cuban oregano to dry, grind and fill my big jar of it for the rest of the year and thyme, well I guess you can never have enough of this when its fresh.

I love spring...it's my favorite time of year. Everything is awakening and being renewed. In a few weeks it will be hard for me to be inside and I will get to spend every morning and evening in my favorite place, the garden.

I will be back tomorrow afternoon with the promised tutorial on the felt hair bow. See you then.

The best part of my day is settling down to read your comments. If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Party in Candyland

2012-02-05T00:15:00.000-05:00

ignore those pots of bare earth on the right. The chickens found out that I grow herbs in there and had a snack but forgot to leave some for us.

Another birthday party has come and gone. All the planning and creating and one hour after the final party guest is gone you can hardly find one reminder that we had a party today. Poppa got us all going and in 2 hours the entire house was clean as a whistle (I wonder who started that saying? do whistles get clean that often?). It feels good to have everything clean but it was hard to keep myself going when all I wanted to do was collapse on the couch.

Looking at these picture of Olivia, I can hardly believe she is really 3. In one way it feels like I hard her a life time ago but on the other, I can't believe how fast time is going by. She woke up this morning and asked me if she was the birthday princess today? As we put up decorations and got all the goodies in place, she kept asking me the same question.

We usually have everything picture perfect for parties but this time, one of our friends showed up on time (but we were running late) and it was so awesome to hand some party decorating responsibilities to someone else while I flitted about getting everything else done in time for the rest of the guests arrived (thanks Helen Ann).

The kids spent the morning creating the candy land walk way from duct tape and then sliding on it in their socks. I think it may be my favorite party decoration. I was pretty sure the kids would inhale all the candy before I could get a picture but even after everyone left, we put away 5 bags of candy. I have no idea what we will do with all this candy expect that it may resurrect in some Easter baskets. I do not offer our kids candy very often but once in a while I let them have it and boy did I let them have it. Not surprising, they were just as interested in the fruit as the candy (except for Olivia).

The cake is admittedly not my best work but it was still too warm to ice,which I had to do anyway because guest were arriving. I wanted the icing to look rustic as a backdrop to the rock candy but it came out a little too rustic (code word for sloppy) and by the time I got a picture, a few fingers had been dipped into the cake.

The thing I liked most about the cake was watching Olivia's unsuccessful attempts at blowing out the candles. It took about 5 puffs to take the first candle out and the next puff took out the rest. She looked so big to me in her candy stripers dress (more on how I made it on Thursday's Stash Bash) and somehow even after playing down by the pond, the dress still looks kind of clean.

When the last guest had said their goodbyes, I sat in the dining room staring at the confetti on the floor and thought about how fast Livie is growing up and then she came to me and said "Well Momma, I guess I'm not the birthday princess anymore". As I stood their looking at her dirty face and dress, I could not imagine a more perfect birthday princess.

Thanks for stopping by to see her party and also for all the encouraging comments and emails this week.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Stash Bash

2012-02-02T00:02:00.002-05:00

I've never met a crafter without a stash of some kind. This year my goal is to use up all the craft supplies I have spent money on that are taking up mental and physical space in my life. Join me here every Thursday for a Stash Bash.

So so busy getting ready for Olivia's party on Saturday, won't you stop by on Sunday to see how it went?

This week I did manage to sneak in a stash buster that was not party related though she may end up wearing it to the party. I few years ago, I made up some super easy and fast felt bows and every time my girls wore them I got compliments. That turned into making for my shop at Farmers Market and Etsy which of course burned me out on them and so I stopped making them. My girls were in dire need of something to put in their hair so I pulled out my wool felt basket and made a few. These are a great use for those strips and bits of wool felt (or any felt) and they are so easy you can make them in every color of the rainbow.

I will post the tutorial on Tuesday in case anyone else wants to make some, I promise, you can make one too.

So what did you get done this week, I can't wait to see! I love every one of your projects from last week, you all inspire me! Thanks for stopping by this weeks Stash Bash. Below is the linky list for you to add your project.

Here's what to do. There are no rules.
Just use what you have and try to not buy new supplies, unless you need it to complete a project that you are making from stuff you already have in your stash.
Take a picture of your project or progress and blog about it or post a picture to flickr.
Then come back here on Thursdays and post a link to your post.
Don't forget to link back to the Stash Bash so others can find us and get encouraged too.
Fair enough?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Preparing for Candlemas

2012-01-30T21:18:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas tree is now ashes in the bonfire pit down by our pond. Once Poppa threw the match into the pit, it only took 3 minutes before there was nothing left. Likewise, all the Christmas decorations have been carefully gathered and put away but in the final week of January the nativity displayed on our piano is still there. In our family, we leave it up until the Feast of the Purification of Our Lady ( the day Mary was presented in the temple for purification, 40 days after she gave birth) also known as Candlemas. It is also considered the beginning of spring, the return of light and renewal of life, a time when the ground awakes and becomes fertile once again after a long winters rest.

The crocheted table cloth which the nativity is displayed on was made by my grandmother, Rosa Eva. I have blogged about her in the past but in case you have never read about her, she was the mother of 14 and she crocheted every day of her life. That I know of I am the only one of her decendants who inherited her love of crochet and as you guessed I am the only one with a big family though not as big as hers.

the beeswax candle next to the nativity is on one of my favorite belongings. It is a cast iron candle stick holder and I found it at an antique store. I need to clean it and take off the little bit of rust that is on it but I am afraid that it will take off the pretty little hand painted flowers. Do you think that just washing it and oiling it would be enough?

If Candlemas be fair and bright

Come winter, have another flight,

If Candlemas brings clouds and rain

Go winter and come not again

On Candlemas we will begin the daunting task of beginning the weeding of our very overwintered garden and prepare it for spring plantings. We will then return inside where it is nice and warm and make beeswax candles. These will be the candles we light for birthdays and special occasions for the following year. At suppertime we will make pancakes, because crepes are traditionally served on Candlemas but I have yet to make a successful crepe so pancakes it is.

Will you be celebrating Candlemas? I would love to know how you do it.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Stash Bash

2012-01-26T09:48:00.000-05:00

I've never met a crafter without a stash of some kind. This year my goal is to use up all the craft supplies I have spent money on that are taking up mental and physical space in my life. Join me here every Thursday for a Stash Bash.

I was hoping to have post up by sun up but my model fell asleep super early yesterday and did not want to wake up until 9 AM today. Next week I promise to have the Stash Bash posted by the time the sun wakes up.

This week I am sharing another crochet project. I have been working on more fun projects but they are all for Livie's birthday party next Saturday so I can't show you just yet but I will give you a hint...the theme is Candyland.

This pair of keyhole flats is a pattern I wrote about 2 years ago when Livie started to walk. I made them for a friends little toddling girl and they aren't much of a stash bash because they take up so little yarn. They are made of bamboo silk yarn and are lovely to feel. I usually like to buy antique buttons when I make these but since I have to use stash materials I used these little clear buttons that I saved years ago from a little shirt which went into the rag bag. Do you save buttons or elastic from clothing that is getting tossed?

So what did you get done this week, I can't wait to see! No projects to share yet? Take a picture of your stash and some of your plans for your stash and post that! Below is the linky list for you to add your project.

Here's what to do. There are no rules.
Just use what you have and try to not buy new supplies, unless you need it to complete a project that you are making from stuff you already have in your stash.
Take a picture of your project or progress and blog about it or post a picture to flickr.
Then come back here on Thursdays and post a link to your post.
Don't forget to link back to the Stash Bash so others can find us and get encouraged too.
Fair enough?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Spatterdashes

2012-01-24T23:56:00.000-05:00

I have gotten very little done this week in the way of yarny stuff or reading (zero on the reading). Between Grandma visiting, cleaning this house with Eddie and planning Livie's birthday party, there has been little time for anything else so I have only been knitting in bed late at night.

Do you recall this yarn I got when I visited the Purl Soho?

I woke up two weeks ago with the idea of making the girls some spats to wear over their boots. I wanted a fun color and in keeping with my Stash Bashing resolution I pulled out this wonderful wool. It is so hard for me to use yarn that I really like. For some reason I always feel like I will regret using it?? Am I crazy or does this happen to anyone else?

I keep putting away this project and twice when I pulled it out of the bag, I ripped out a bunch of stitches. I guess thats what those little stopper things are for.

I feel I finally have the hang of ribbing and can tell if a stitch is a purl or a knit. I know that sounds retarded but I was having a hard time getting confused when working on ribbing. I think I will have these done by the weekend so I hope to have pictures of them on the girls for next week. I can't decide on buttons that would look good running down the side of the spats so we will see. I will try to put up the pattern on Rav next week which means I still need to learn to write a knitting pattern instead of crochet lol.

I am joining in for Keep Calm Craft On with the most talented Nicole at Frontier Dreams and yarning along again with Ginny of Small Things and all the amazing women who play along every week. See you here tomorrow for the Stash Bash.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

A visit from Grandma Yoli

2012-01-24T17:07:00.001-05:00

This weekend we had the pleasure of a visit by Eddie's momma, Grandma Yoli. We do not get to see her very often (2 to 3 times per year) and having her here was the best. There was laughter and even tears. We went out to our favorite sushi restaurants where there were as many laughs as dishes. The evening ended in roaring laughter due to the generosity of my mother in law (who is generous to a fault) to the waitress. It was a wonderful evening.

the guest suite

Saturday, we headed out to The Raid. Many of the battles that were fought in Florida during the Civil War happened here in our little town. The Raid is a reenactment of one of those battles and one of the largest reenactments in Florida. Grandma Yoli is a history buff and has a big interest in the Civil War.

enjoying a lesson on the history of all the different flags of the Civil War era

One of my favorite things about The Raid is the food and the amazing homemade sarsparilla. Each year we bring back our bottles and enjoy our root beer. Anyone ever made this at home?

I was in awe of this little sewing machine. It worked by turning the handle and of course on does single stitch. I am not sure I am devoted enough to sew much when each turn of the handle would make just one stitch.

deep conversation between grandmother and grandson, I'm sure

Grandma Yoli with the Blue's

I did not get any pictures of the actual battle. The smoke was too thick to see thru. Surprisingly all the cannons firing and the shotgun blasts did not bother Livie at all. This is her first year actually paying attention to the battle. She kept asking me which horsie was winning the race. The boys spent the battle looking for "dead" soldiers who would move or twitch while they were supposed to be dead on the ground.

It was a great day followed by a night of wine and great conversation. We can't wait until the next time Grandma Yoli comes to stay and hopefully she will come to the Raid with us next year again.

See you here at midnight with my yarn along for this week : )

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Stash Bash

2012-01-19T12:38:00.001-05:00

I've never met a crafter without a stash of some kind. This year my goal is to use up all the craft supplies I have spent money on that are taking up mental and physical space in my life. Join me here every Thursday for a Stash Bash.

Thank you all soooo much for the birthday wishes yesterday! You have no idea how much it means to me and each one of your messages made me smile and laugh.

I spent the day (all day) in bed. I was served three wonderful meals (all favorites) and had time to read, knit and of course, computer time. It all worked out so perfectly. Yarn along day is my favorite day to check out what everyone else has been up to and yesterday I was able to visit so many of your blogs, it was great.

Onto the Stash Bash. This week I worked on some some new shopping bags and bulk food bags. This is one of the first products I made when I opened my first shop on Etsy back in 2006! I can't believe so much time has gone by since then. These were one of my best sellers back then and mine were in need of being replaced. I found this beautiful sheet that I must have purchased to use as fabric because I like plain sheets on beds. I still have so much rip stop nylon left from when I used to sell the bulk food bags. So I picked a color which matched the sheet and got to work. In my ribbons pile I found the twill tape to use for the handles and viola, now I have new shopping bags.

I am only showing a few since they all look the same, for the pictures sake. The bag and 6 of the bulk food bags fold up and they tuck away in the front white pocket of the bag. It all folds down to the size of a piece of bread and takes no room at all in my purse.

Rainbow ripple blanket and UFO's

2012-01-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday. When Eddie asked what I wanted, the only thing I could think of was a whole day in bed surrounded by yarn and perhaps a bon bon or two. Does that sound like a total waste of day? To me it sounds like heaven and I plan to work on projects, read and relax

This week I am yarning along again with Ginny from Small Things. To keep with my resolution to only use materials from my stash as well as complete my UFO's (unfinished objects), I pulled out my crocheted rainbow ripple blanket from last summer and bag of rainbow colored yarns and got back to work on it. A few rows were ripped out while being stored in a basket under the coffee table so I am now back to where I was when I stored it but hopefully it will go fast. I hope to have it on the couch by spring but for now the happy colors are helping me through winter.

Yesterday I woke up thinking how cute some knitted spats would look and casted on a new project. I have changed my mind twice (ripping out the entire project) but now have one almost done so hopefully I can share it with you all next week. I also need to learn how to write a knitted pattern. I wrote out the pattern as I went along creating the spats and it looks alot like a crochet pattern to me lol.

I cleaned out my closet yesterday (part of Eddie's honey do list for me) and got rid of lots of stuff though I set aside much more than I should have to upcycle into something else. It is so hard for me to get rid of clothing because I see it as fabric. I really need to work through my pile of refashion projects. The problem is I will see something and think "I am going to make xyz with this" but then I add it to the pile and when I come back to it, I can't think of what I saved it for. Maybe I should write down what it will become on a sticky note and putting it on the item next time. Then I might change my mind on what to make with it but not forget my initial idea.

I am working on my project for tomorrows stash bash and can't wait to share it with everyone joining me....won't you join me too : ) We had lots of fun last week and I got lots of inspiration from everyone who linked up, thank you!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

vintage childhood

2012-01-16T20:10:00.000-05:00

I have mentioned my disdain for plastic toys...with the exception of vintage Fisher Price. I am a 70's child and these are the toys of my childhood and when my kids were little I started locating and purchasing all the ones I had when I was little as well as the ones I played with at cousins houses. These toys are friends, they speak to my heart and make me happy. They are very loved by my children which makes me equally happy.

These toys have been played with for many many hours by my kids and I hope someday by my grandchildren. They still lend themselves to imaginative play and we have been lucky enough to find enough to fill walls of shelves.

On any given day, Livie will talk her older brother to "pway wittle people" with her. This time they only pulled out a few and when I came around the corner I grabbed the camera.

Livie has deemed the little boy in the school chair to be "in twubble". In little people land it doesn't matter what age you are, you can still play and have fun.

These are the moments I am thankful for. The moments when my children can enjoy the simple pleasures of a simple childhood...the childhood of a 70's child.

Did you play with little people? Which sets did you have?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Sunday Brunch: Pecan Cinnaroll pancakes

2012-01-15T21:13:00.001-05:00

I realize I have not shared any of my meals with you all lately and while thinking of what to make for brunch, which is what we always have on Sundays, I came across these pictures I made last year sometime in Spring.

These pancakes are unforgettable, I promise! There is a little prep time but nothing too daunting and your family will ask for these for ever and ever more. These are very filling, and no need for syrup : )

Pecan cinnaroll pancakes:

2-1/2 c flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp each of baking powder and baking soda
2 eggs
2 c milk
1/4 c yogurt
5 tbsp butter
1 c raisins
1 c pecans chopped

Cinnamon swirl mixture:

1/2 c butter softened
1 c brown sugar
2 tablespoons Korintje (Makara) ground cinnamon (this is cinnabons secret ingredient) or regular cinnamon will do too.

Cream cheese icing glaze:

4 tbsp butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt the butter and set aside to cool. In a bowl mix flour, sugar, baking soda and powder and salt.

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs well then add the milk and yogurt. Whisk well then add butter and wisk again.

Add the milk mixture to the flour and add the raisins and pecans. Do not over mix!

Mix together all the ingredients to make the cinnamon swirl mixture. If it is too runny add more sugar, you want to get a gel like consistency. Put into a baggie or piping bag.

Now lets make the icing. Heat the butter and cream cheese until melted. Mix until smooth, whisk in sugar and vanilla and set aside to cool. Once cool enough to handle put into a baggie or piping bag.

Heat a large skillet and put a bit of butter or oil. Pour some batter on the griddle and let it sit for a few seconds, snip the corner off the baggie with the cinnamon filling and swirl some filling on top of the pancake. When bubbles appear on top of the pancake, flip it carefully. Cook on the other side for a minute or two and transfer to a baking sheet you have in the oven on low to keep warm.

When the pancakes are all done, snip the corner off the cream cheese icing baggie and drizzle over the pancakes. Enjoy! My favorite part of these pancakes is how the sugar caramelizes and gets crunchy on top followed by the sweet creamy icing. If you try these, please let me know if you feel the same.

Do you have a favorite pancake recipe?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Stash Bash

2012-01-12T23:58:00.000-05:00

I've never met a crafter without a stash of some kind. This year my goal is to use up all the craft supplies I have spent money on that are taking up mental and physical space in my life. Join me here every Thursday for a Stash Bash.

I have a pile of possible first projects for todays Stash Bash and as I was looking through bins for some fabric to make what I thought would be this weeks project I found a bag full of half finished crochet projects with half written patterns pinned or stuffed into them. This is me... I think I have C.A.D.D (craft attention deficit disorder). I wake up to an idea which I must bring to fruition so I start crocheting and writing and scratching out, followed by ripping out, more scratching out and writing, some minor bad language, frustration and then I stash it away where the guilt of giving up won't find me.

So, now I have added to my challenge of using up my stash, the challenge of working on my unfinished patterns. I have written over a hundred patterns, no lie. I have only finalized and tested a handful : (

Here is a picture of my binder full of unfinished patterns and of course each pattern has an unfinished project to go with it...I am in deep trouble! However, I remind myself that I did not get into this mess in one day and I am not going to get out in a day either. I plan to slowly work on each one, in the order of my favorites and will share my progress with you as I get them done.

I did get one of those crochet projects done this week. It is a baby papoose that I started writting when I was preggers with Livie (who is going to be 3 this month). I never got to the point of typing it up so I was working with 3 year old chicken scratch on pieces of paper, backs of envelopes etc. It was hard to remember where I was going with my idea so I just winged it and am happy with it.

Just as I was getting somewhere with this pattern, I realized I would not have enough yarn to complete it and I got this yarn such a long time ago that no way would I be able to match it. That turned into more digging through bins until I found a project which I made from that yarn and I did not mind sacrificing to get my papoose done.

This papoose is not for giving away, I am hopeful that we will be blessed again someday and if you just fell off your chair after that statement, sorry but that really is my hearts desire. I am super happy with it. It is super soft and warm and hopefully will keep a tiny one content someday. Now I need to type up the pattern and get it tested.

So what did you get done this week, I can't wait to see! Below is the linky list for you to add your project.

Here's what to do. There are no rules.
Just use what you have and try to not buy new supplies, unless you need it to complete a project that you are making from stuff you already have in your stash.
Take a picture of your project or progress and blog about it or post a picture to flickr.
Then come back here on Thursdays and post a link to your post.
Don't forget to link back to the Stash Bash so others can find us and get encouraged too.
Fair enough?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Knitting on the sly

2012-01-10T23:54:00.000-05:00

Yarning along this week again with Ginny from Small Things. This week getting any knitting done (or anything other than cleaning or organizing) was difficult. Poppa is really keeping me busy doing more of the things I should be doing when I am knitting, sewing or getting crafty. I think in another 2 weeks I will have the cleanest house in town lol.

However, the knitting must get done hee hee, so I have been knitting on the sly! Any minute I can get I pull out my little project and get what I can done.

I am working on this little football beanie I found on Rav. It was for a very dear friend of mine who is having a baby soon and I wanted to surprise her. Then as I was reaching the part where the decreases start when I found out she is having a girl. Oh I am so shtoopid! I must have brain damage or something. So now I am too far into it to stop and am really looking forward to seeing it finished. I also learned a little more kntting terminology with this pattern. It turns out that SSK means slip slip knit (I can hear you ladies laughing mind you! Remember I am a new knitter) SO I SSK'ed and learned a new way to decrease, yippee!! I am also happy to say I made it from yarn in my stash to continue with my stash bashing resolution this year.

Speaking of stash bashing, won't you join me tomorrow, Thursday, for this weeks Stash Bash? Just blog about a project you made or finished from your stash or post a picture to Flickr then come back to tomorrows post and link up. In case you missed the details last week you can find them here.

This week, I am planning meals from The Organic Family Cookbook again and reading to the kids from one of their favorite book series of my childhood. Have you ever heard of or read The Happy Hollisters series. When I was little I would not get my homework done because I would get sucked into these books. Their family had so much fun and I guess looking back I always wanted to have a big family just like the book (though they only have 5 kids lol). Throughout the years I have found many of the books from the series and my kids can never get enough. The adventures I went on with the Hollisters in my childhood....oh to be a kid again!

Hope to see you tomorrow!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Friends are the family we choose for ourselves

2012-01-09T11:57:00.000-05:00

Goodness, it has been a week again since I have blogged...I have a good excuse. Poppa is here 24/7 now since he is looking for a new job and he is keeping me so busy. Did I ever tell you that he is a super clean freak? Yeah, I am not! We have been cleaning this house night and day...or at least it seems like it to me and I have had almost no time to do anything else but I have snuck in some evenings to get some knitting done (I will post what I have been working on tomorrow) and of course I have had a few stash bashing projects going (join me Thursday for the Stash Bash). We also had to buy a new computer which is kind of like buying a car...no fun! We did buy a new one but I think I am taking it back because it is slow even though it is supposed to a great computer. NOT!

Anyhoo, onto what I wanted to share with you.

My husband has an ability to forge friendships that last. I can't think of a single person whom I went to school with (with the exception of my cousins) that I am still friends with. When I married my husband, he came with a handful of friends who have until this day remained a very intimate part of our family. They are sometimes closer to us than our real family is (barring our parents who are irreplaceable)...they are the family we chose for ourselves.

One of those friends is Uncle Ron. He has been friends with Poppa since their first day of military. They actually met at the airport on the way to boot camp! Uncle Ron is Veronica's Godfather, he is the reason we named her that and the reason her nickname is Ronnie. Our kids love Ron and his wife and since they had kids our children now have extra cousins. Get togethers are always fun so we were so excited when they invited us to spend New Years day with them. We packed up the van and traveled a quick 3 hours to be there. Coincidentally, Uncle Ron's is one of the few places we will let the kids sleep over (we decided when we started having babies that sleep overs were not going to happen, we are protective of our children and unapologetic about it) and when we announced that the boys could stay the night, they were jubilant.

Good friends, friends with whom you can just laugh and not worry about what they may or may not be thinking of you, are what makes life sweet. We were only able to spend one day (which is hard to do because we are all so busy and we know it may be a while until we see each other again) but are already looking forward to get together again sooner than later. It was a wonderful way to start a new year.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Stash Bash and a frogged sweater

2012-01-03T22:34:00.000-05:00

Oh I am so excited to get going with this Stash Bash. In case you missed it, I am hosting a Stash Bash to encourage all of us (I've never met a crafter without a stash of some kind) to use up all the craft items we have already spent money on and are taking up mental and physical space in our lives.

Here is what I wrote about it last week and a picture of one of the cabinets where I keep a little part of my stash.

So if you are in come back here every Thursday and I will be posting how I am bashing my stash and you can link up to your stash bashing on your own blog or Flickr picture. I can't wait to see what you are all doing so put it on your calendar. My goal is to use the cabinets and cabinets of fabric and 6 bins of yarn along with lots of my crafty stash in 2012.

There are no rules.
Just use what you have and try to not buy new supplies, unless you need it to complete a project that you are making from stuff you already have in your stash.
Take a picture of your project or progress and blog about it or post a picture to flickr.
Then come back here on Thursdays and post a link to your post.
Don't forget to link back to the Stash Bash so others can find us and get encouraged too.
Fair enough?

This week I am yarning along again with Ginny from Small Things. I have been working on a knitted football hat for my football loving son and a new hat for Livie but have no pictures yet. I have been reading seed catalogs at night in bed, which get too excited for spring and then I can't seem to fall asleep. To me, that counts as good reading lol.

To stick to my goal of using up what I have I remembered this wool sweater I took apart to frog someday into yarn. I got out my seam ripper and scissors and ended up with 2 very large and 2 smaller balls of 100% wool yarn. This yarn is a teenie bit scratchy so I will wash it and see what comes of it. It is a sock weight yarn so I am planning to turn it into a few pairs of felted house slippers for my kids.

Perhaps next time I frog a sweater I will post a tutorial so you too can frog and harvest yarn from a sweater you no longer need. This time I just seized the moment and got it done before procrastination creeped up on me.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Stash Bash

2011-12-29T19:09:00.000-05:00

I am working on a new challenge for the new year and wanted to run it by you but I did not want to bring it up last week during the commotion of Christmas. I don't know about you but my craft stash is out of control and everytime I look at it I feel guilt which keeps me from doing or making anything with it. I never met a craft I didn't like and you can tell by walking into my creative space. Last year I lost my wonderful studio loft because my boys needed more room so I was demoted to the garage and while it is a nice big space, I have too much and too little space to put everything away.

I have 3 cabinets FULL of fabric, bins and bins of yarn, wood pegs and wood toys waiting to be painted and created into something else, fabric notions, about 100 tubes of paint, tons of wool and acrylic felt, wool sweaters waiting to be turned into longies or whatever, cases of embroidery floss, zippers, spools of sewing thread, craft books galore, tons of elastic in every color you can think of and worst of all bins and bins of clothing that I want to upcycle or just plain use the fabric from.

and keepin it real, this is just what is not so messy that I can take a picture of it. To get a accurate picture you need to times this by 5.

I have decided that in 2012 I will do my best to use what I already have and not purchase new supplies until I have used what I have already invested money into. I think my exception would be if I needed a special trim that I absolutely do not have or if I run of of yarn to finish a project or something like that but for the most part I am going to try and be creative with what I have....kind of like what Laura Wilder would have done. She didn't have a gourmet yarn shop or Joanns to shop at afterall.

It would be so great to have some partners to take this challenge with me and keep each other going. I am thinking I would post whatever projects I have made using my stash materials and provide a linky so you could add yours? If so what day of the week do you think would be good to post the challenge every week? It would be like a big stash bashing party every week so I am going to call it Stash Bash!!

Are you in?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

A puppy for Christmas

2011-12-27T23:31:00.001-05:00

Some of our children make a wish list for Christmas, do yours? I never did as a child but I also don't think my parents could have gone out and just gotten me whatever I wanted with paying for private school for 4 children. Our kids know that they may receive something from their list or they may not but they still make them anyway and are always happy and grateful for what they receive.

This year Ronnie made a special request on her list and has been asking me for weeks if I think there might be any chance that she might get what she asked for, so......we have a new member to our family. It's not a baby but you can still cuddle and love it and we still have to potty train it. His name is Gizmo and he is the sweetest little boy ever. The look on her face is priceless. I was so happy that we could make it happen for her.

Poppa picked him up the day before Christmas Eve and we sprung the surprise on her though it seems more like a surprise for everyone, me included. We had everyone stand in the front door and close their eyes. The look on her face was priceless. I was so happy that we could make it happen for her.

I am yarning along again with Ginny from Small Things this week again. I can't wait to see what everyone has made. Here is a question. Since I started yarning along I feel the need to visit as many posts as I can since they took the time to blog and share it. If someone leaves you a comment, do you feel compelled to leave one at their blog post?

On the knitting front, we are getting ready for New Years and to add our new puppy to the fun I knitted him a bowtie! I had this one ball of black Alpaca yarn which I have not been able to use because it is not enough to really make much so it was perfect for this little project and I could probably make a dozen more since it takes so little yarn.

As usual if you want to make one just shoot me a line and I will send you the pattern but seriously its so easy and only takes about 10 minutes to make.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Christmas is arrived

2011-12-27T15:48:00.000-05:00

Christmas has finally arrived! For most of the country Christmas has come and gone but for us it has just arrived. There is so much to share but I don't want to make this post 2 pages long so I will spread it out to the next few days.

We do not start celebrating Christmas until advent is over. We spend advent preparing for the coming of the Christ Child by doing penance and offering little sacrifices to empty a space in our hearts for the baby that is coming. My kids all get together and they each decide to give up a little something to offer Him. This year I had a few kids give up sweets and one gave up using his pillow (which made me suffer for him but I dared not discourage him).

The only sign that Christmas is coming around here for the past few weeks were all the projects (some secret some not) that are scattered in all my stashing spots for those on my list and the nativity missing the Infant Jesus until Christmas Eve. All the decorating around here happens on Christmas Eve making for one fun and busy day.

I have learned from previous years not to wait until the last minute to get our tree (one year we had to purchase a display tree from Michaels because all the real trees were gone). We get our tree the week before and keep it in water on the porch which makes the porch smell lovely. This year I asked the manager of our supermarket if they had clearanced the few trees left. She recognized me as the lady with all those kids and said "I don't know, lets check it out". So we went outside over by the trees left. She asked me which I wanted and I said I would love the huge one depending on the price. She said "Well, its yours Merry Christmas" That was such a great surprise and another reason I love living in a small town.

This Christmas has been so crazy with Poppa losing his job and a few major things that have happened to me. I have honestly had the blues and the more I try to break out of it the blue-er I feel. I had a list of so many wonderful things I wanted to accomplish. So many projects to get done and looking back I did none of them... Then I realized that the most important thing that would happen around here was not on my list of projects. It would be the meal we would eat together, the preparation of the tree and decorating on Christmas Eve, the majesty of our choir at midnight mass and the anticipation in my childrens hearts for the magic of Christmas morning.

On Christmas Eve we cooked and laughed and put up all the lights and manger outside. We ate dinner and then decorated the tree just as we do every year and it was so wonderful. New pajamas mark the first of the 12 nights of Christmas presents and they were given to each child right before we headed out for midnight mass. When we returned from midnight mass with a few little ones asleep, they headed up to bed with the happy nervousness of what the morning may bring. Then Poppa and I as well as my brother (who brought my nephew and niece and spent these days with us) put all the treasures under the tree and I hung each stocking and put little goodies in each one and finally headed to bed a few hours before the children woke us up again.

Christmas morning came and everything we needed was in place, a few gifts for my babies, my husbands strong arms hugging me and the love we each have for each other. It was all just as it should be and the rest of those projects may or may not get done in the next few days and weeks because Christmas has just arrived.

One of the things I did not get to this year was my childrens favorite sugar cookies (and I am sorry that I promised my sugar cookie and icing recipe a few days ago and did not post it). I am hoping to get some time to bake with the kids this week and will definitely post the recipe then. The other major thing that did not make it under the tree was the girls Waldorf dolls, everytime I tried to work on them it seemed like climbing a mountain and I realize that the blues can even stop you from doing those things you really enjoy. I decided to give them as Epiphany presents so I need to get back to work.

I hope your Christmas was and is wonderful and that you got to spend it just the way Baby Jesus planned for your family. I am including a linky at the bottom of this post in case you would like to share how you spent your Christmas Eve and day celebrations.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

A Christmas pickle...crochet pattern

2011-12-21T12:56:00.000-05:00

Today I am working on sugar cookies (recipe long overdo will be posted tomorrow), cooking up presents in the kitchen and working on some ornaments.

My children are big on traditions, just as the daily rhythm of our lives keeps their world feeling just as it should, the rhythm of our traditions does the same. They however are not big on changes to our traditions but this year I am pulling a fast one on them. For a few years I have wanted to add the tradition of hiding a Christmas pickle in the tree. It is the last ornament to be put in the tree on Christmas Eve and the first child to find it in the morning gets a little extra surprise. I am thinking that would be a little handmade toy or a sweet.

The tradition of hiding a pickle is a medieval tale of two Spanish boys traveling home from boarding school for the holidays. When they stopped at an inn for the night, the innkeeper, a mean and evil man, stuffed the boys into a pickle barrel. That evening, St. Nicholas stopped at the same inn, became aware of the boys' plight, tapped the pickle barrel with his staff, and the boys were magically freed.

I could not find a pattern that looked like a pickle much to me so I made this one and though it does not look exactly like a pickle it works for me. I have not tested it so if you find any mistakes please let me know. You can make one of these in about 20 minutes so perfect for last minute new traditions : )

Christmas pickle pattern

I used a chunky wool blend yarn and a size I crochet hook. You also need a stitch marker to mark the beginning of each row.

Row 1: Make a magic ring, 5 sc in ring

Row 2: 2 sc in each st around

Row 3 to 8: 1 sc in each st around

Row 9: sk 1st st, sc in next st, sk next st, sc in next st, 2 sc in next st, sc around to last st, 2 sc in last st of row

Row 10: repeat row 9

Row 11 to 14: sc in each st around, stuff with wool or fiberfill, bits of yarn or whatever

Row 15: sk next st, sc in next, repeat around

Row 16: repeat row 15 until the hole at the top is closed, ch 8, sl st to next st. Fasten off and weave in end. Hide your ornament until Christmas Eve then hide is really well in the tree and don't forget to have a little something to give the child who finds it.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Rush

2011-12-20T00:07:00.000-05:00

Right now I am doing exactly what I said I would not be doing back in October... working like a mad woman to finish Christmas presents. I am still working on my 3 daughters Waldorf dolls, they will hopefully and probably be done 2 seconds before they are given to my little ones. I hope to share pictures with you after the big day.

The next few days around here will be busy, busy, busy. Tomorrow I will be making some salted caramel apple butter to give as gifts in between sewing projects. We will begin getting all the decorations together to put up the tree on Christmas eve. Oh and yes, if you caught that, we do not put up our tree until Christmas Eve. We prepare our hearts during advent for the birth of Our Lord and so we do not do very much Christmaswise. We do watch our favorite Christmas movies but that is about it. This is just the way our family does it, if you celebrate differently, please share! I love to hear how others celebrate this time of year. We usually also do a Jesse tree but this year it just did not happen and that is OK.

I am yarning along again this week with Ginny at Small Things. I am done with all the knitting that I had planned. I only need to weave in the ends of this one last cowl and ear warmer for my niece (Marv, if you are watching do not continue!). This was super easy to make in the round and did not take much yarn at all. I used a wool blend to make it easy for her parents to clean them.

I have a pile of projects I really wanted to do and still hope to sneak a few in before Christmas and I have decided that if they don't get them done in time I will still make them because Christmas has really just begun.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Beignets for breakfast...a recipe

2011-12-19T23:00:00.000-05:00

With Christmas hot on my heels, I wanted to share a family favorite of ours, Beignets. Pronounced ben-yays, these are a New Orleans staple and means fritter. These are wonderful on Christmas morning or any morning but let me warn you, you can't eat just a few. They are wonderful and make me smile.

These are traditionally fried and that is how I make them. It is not something we have all the time, just about once or twice a year so I don't feel bad about indulging and besides its Christmas and they bring out the kid in you. You could skip the powdered sugar and just drizzle honey over the top or whatever else you like and you could fill them with jam or pudding though we just make them simple and delicious and a big powdery mess.

My kids like to steal them when I turn my back so I make plenty!

2 1/4 tsp yeast
3/4 cup warm water (110 F)
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg beaten
1/2 c evaporated milk
4 cups all purpose flour
1/8 c shortening softened
oil for frying
Powdered sugar to dust over the top of the beignets

In the bowl of a mixer, combine the yeast, water and sugar. Let sit until frothy (about 5 minutes). Add the salt, egg and milk. Mix on low speed using a dough hook. Add half of the flour and then the shortening. Once the shortening is all mixed in add the rest of the flour little by little.

Turn your dough out onto a floured counter and knead by hand adding just enough flour to get a smooth non-sticky dough. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp tea towel and let rise.

After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down. Flour your countertop again and roll out the dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. With a sharp knife (or a sharp pizza cutter), cut into 2 inch strips then cut the strips into 2 inch squares.

Let rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes. Once the beignets have risen, heat 2 to 3 inches of frying oil to 350 degrees. Carefully fry a few at a time, flipping them over when they turn golden brown. Do not leave them or they will go from golden to burned in no time.

Drain on a tea towel to absorb excess oil (I keep a tea towel that is used just for this purpose since we do not buy paper towels). Dust with plenty of powdered sugar and enjoy.

Makes about 2 dozen.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

This moment

2011-12-16T09:59:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I have been gone for 10 days : ( So much has happened and most of it I cannot blog here but please if I could beg a few more prayers they are so appreciated. I also want to thank everyone who sent me messages while we were sick (you have no idea how much it helped me).

Part of the reason I was gone was I had to travel to Miami to attend the celebration of my parents silver wedding anniversary. With everything that is happening around here it was so nice to hug my mom and dad and see lots of family. I was really naughty and hardly took any pictures at all but my brother will be sending me some pictures to share with you.

This Friday I am playing along with Amanda at Soulemama: {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Why is he crying you ask?

Now do you see it? He took it upon himself to start on his haircut without me. In his defense I should have cut his hair a week ago... You would be surprised but out of 8 kids he is only the second to ever attempt this.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Saint Nicholas Day and the knitted wood peg gnomes

2011-12-06T22:13:00.000-05:00

Body ache, fever and chills oh my! As I write this I am in my bed under the covers cuddling with a hot rice herbie pack. I really do not have time for this, there are presents to make and we have to be getting ready to go to my parents wedding anniversary celebration this weekend. Ughhhhhhh!

I love this Ruth Elsasser print. It makes me happy.

I got alot of knitting and crochet done this week but I wanted to concentrate on sharing the gifts my kids got for the Feast of Saint Nicholas. One exciting thing did happen though this week on the knitting front...I learned to use double pointed needles.

Last week it seemed every other project I visited from the Yarn Along was knitted on double pointed needles. I kept telling myself that I will never be able to knit with them. Then my baby saw these as I was visiting this blog and that night I took out my set of size 10 bamboo DPN's and saw a bunch of tutorials on Youtube and learned how to cast on (which as so easy and I thought it would be the most difficult part) and getting used to the circus act of keeping all the needles going. Thank goodness for youtube! My decreases are horrendous but I am super happy anyway....and I love knitting with DPN's.

So I made my little version of these knitted gnomey peg dolls. I had a few wooden pegs left over from years ago when I used to make these. Her eyes lit up when she saw them this morning and I was so happy. I think I will glue on the hats though or they will last about another 10 minutes.

Here are the other gifts I made for my babies, the wooden disks are buzzers. My kids had so much fun playing with them at Pioneer Day so I made them some and put there initials on them. My woodburning skills really leave alot to be desired : ) It was a lot harder than I anticipated. They also received some lacing cards, a kaleidoscope, some Lego blocks and a felted wool mini soccer ball.

and for a bit of a holiday treat, they each got a rock candy stick

Did you do anything for Saint Nicholas day?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Keepin it real

2011-12-06T14:52:00.001-05:00

I am sooooooo sick today! Poppa got sick on Thanksgiving and the kids have all gotten it but yesterday, I started feeling kind of shivery, drippy nose and just not right but I had to finish all the Saint Nicholas presents for this morning (more on that tomorrow) so I was not going to let it take me down but sometime during the night, I woke up feeling blah! and much more than blah.

If you will humor me, I have the worst sinus pain and pressure on my face, my eyes hurt, left eye socket, left cheek bone and my upper left teeth are all hurting. I can't breathe and the homeopathic stuff is for some reason not doing much so I broke out the old Vicks...ahhh. I don't want to know what is in it I just want to feel better. The kids have been bringing me lots of water and soup and bread and hopefully this will pass soon because I am also tired of *ahem* running to the bathroom : )

Side notes:

1. From seeing these pics I realize that I need to decorate my room and put up some pictures.

2. Tiffany, those bamboo tissues I got from you are heaven!

So here's to keepin it real.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

all i want for Christmas

2011-12-04T21:00:00.000-05:00

I meant to share this last week but so many things got in the way and if I could ask for a favor, I promise to reciprocate. My husband was notified a few weeks ago that after 15 years of working for the same company, his position will no longer exist as of the 27th of this month. We have raised our family while he has worked there and there are so many decisions to make right now.

We have been blessed with other offers but they all consist of making a move and the thought of leaving our home, our Moss Flower Farm, friends, our church community and the beauty that surrounds us is just heart breaking.

Could I ask for your prayers and I will in turn of course pray for you also.

Right now, there is so much I want but none of can be purchased at a store.

I want

to know where we will live

what the immediate future holds for our family

if I will get to plant my spring garden

if this will be our last Christmas here

will we have to be apart if he has to move while we settle our home issue

to know if I can start the kitchen redo

most of all I want to feel settled again.

All I do know is that where Poppa is, there is my heart. And in his heart is my home.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

round the fire

2011-12-03T23:37:00.000-05:00

Cool and cold evenings are here finally! This means it is bonfire time. During the cold months we are out stoking up a fire whenever we get a chance. Tonight the weather was perfect. It started out cool enough to need long sleeves but by the end of the night all the girls were pointing our freezing toes towards the fire.

We roasted hotdogs, ate baked beans and chips. We ended up with a few belly aches in the pursuit of the perfectly roasted marshmallow. The kids were all blackened with soot and plenty dirty by the end of the night. It was a wonderful night full of laughs and singing and a few charades. These are the nights that I hope they will remember and thankfully we have had so many of them. I am so thankful for this little space in which to capture all of these moments on our path as a family.

What did you do this weekend. Come back Monday, I will be posting the tutorial on how to make the crocheted Santa Lucia crown which is the same way we make our advent and Christmas wreaths.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Matching crocheted pinafores for a waldorf baby and her little momma

2011-11-29T23:54:00.001-05:00

Feverishly working on Christmas presents, night and day! Right now my list is so big that every little mistake I make seems to make my list bigger : ( I am taking it in stride because in the end they will love and remember whatever I made them and my need for perfection will be for not.

I have been working on anothe gift which is part of the Knit along over at Frontier Dreams but I am having such a hard time with my terrible knitting skills that I could not bear to take a picture : ( To see what it should look like visit the most amazing Nicole.

Please allow me to apologize for my pictures today. Truth is I forgot to take the pictures during the day and the lighting in my house is terrible (did I ever tell you to never take pictures at night, they come out sucky).

On my list for Ronnie and Livie are a pair of new Waldorf babies and I thought I would make some matching crocheted dresses for Livie and her new baby (in all the spare time I have right?). I really like the way it is coming out though I writing and rewriting the pattern which means ripping and ripping out my stitches but in the end I will have hopefully a pair of dresses that my babies love and a pattern to make more in the future. I am thinking it would be cuter to make the top of the pinafore crocheted and then add fabric as the body of the dress starting under the arm pits, what do you think?

Yarning along with Ginny again this week. I am reading Little House Christmas, which is one of our favorite reads during advent and Christmas.

I am sneaking in one last picture down here because the lighting is so supermarketish in the pic but it does show the top of the dress better, so sorry!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

very thankful

2011-11-28T13:01:00.001-05:00

The past week has been one big blur... So much is going on around here, so many things to do and decide.

It seemed as though I came home from New York and three days later it was Thanksgiving. Our Thanksgiving was wonderful, full of lots of food and music, surrounded by Poppa and our children. Can we as mothers really ask for anything more? I did not pull of any new Thanksgiving outfits this year but we were all together, safe and warm and enjoyed each others company for the day. Lots of movies on the couch and casseroles, pots and pans covering every inch of counter space.

I wanted to share two little parts of our Thanksgiving celebration with all of you.

The first is our sage sausage and berry stuffing which I promised to share with a friend.

1 pound ground pork sausage

1/2 cup total of chopped onion, celery and green bell pepper

1/2 cup dried berries (raisins, cherries, blueberries, whatever you like)

1 large Granny Smith apple

1 tbsp flour

2 tsp dried sage

1 can chicken broth

6 ounces cornbread stuffing

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Crumble sausage into pan and sautee, add onion, celery and bell pepper and then the berries. Cook until the sausage is well browned. (This tastes pretty good without the sausage too for my non-meat eating friends ; ) While the sausage mixture is cooking, peel and chop apple into small pieces.

Stir the flour into the sausage and cook for a few minutes. Stir in the apple, broth and stuffing mix until all blended. Grease your baking dish and transfer the stuffing to the baking dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

The second I want to share is our Thankful Jar.

The thankful jar is a little tradition that we keep from year to year. Everyone is to write at least 5 things they were thankful for in the past year. They each write them on a slip of paper and put them in the jar. This year Erica decided to cut them with a fancy scissor which made it hard to keep them from jumbling up together. At dinner we remove the previous years slips and that brings forth so many memories and little things that we may have forgotten about, then we read this years and put them in the jar. I keep the slips of paper from all the previous years together in a box to read someday when everyone is all grown up. You could also do this for New Years and I think it would be great.

The day after the Thanksgiving festivities were over, Poppa and I had to leave for a meeting in Miami

(more on the tomorrow) and it was so hard leaving my kids behind but I did get to spend the night at my parents house and that was wonderful though much too short. We got back yesterday and crashed in a bed. I am hoping to have a much more productive week this week. I hope to share my advent preparation sometime this week and the rest of the photos from my New York trip.

What have you all been up to?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

A knitted dish sponge and my trip to Purl Soho

2011-11-22T23:59:00.000-05:00

Yarning along with Ginny again this week. I have not time to read anything lately except Little House to the kids (does that count?) I suppose I could have read while I was on the plane but honestly I was so nervous I probably would have gotten sick. I worked on another shawl just like this one for my two other little girls. I got half way through so I need to hurry up since I was hoping to have the girls wear them in our Christmas pictures.

This week I wanted to share a little project for the kitchen. I love everything handmade and since I was in need of a new dish sponge I whipped this one up and you can make it really fast too.

You need size 7 needles

Cast on 18 sts, stockinette stitch for 22 rows then bind off

It is made of sisal and stuffed with bits of wool string that I collect. (am I the only one who keeps left over bits of wool yarn from projects and frogging sweaters?) Next time I will stuff it with a cheapie dish sponge. I miss the spongy action but other than that it scrubs really well.

With a size G crochet hook, fold the square in half and single crochet around stitching both layers together around two sides, stuff the sponge with wool or a sponge, finish crocheting around to the end, fasten off, weave in your ends. Voila!

Thank you to everyone who left a comment or sent me an email while I was visiting NYC. It was so much fun but very exhausting. I will be posting more pictures of my trip Friday but for now here is my trip to the Purl Soho in New York. OK so this is probably the only place I could say that visiting the Purl was my favorite part of the trip and not get the "are you crazy" look.

I loved, like really loved being at this store

I was in a sea of yarn and all of a sudden all my plans and ideas went out the window! I could not remember what projects I had thought of, not one! I just walked around touching every yarn, hugging and squeezing skein after skein.

I mean look at these yarns, aren't they irresistable?

amazingly enough I was able to think clearly (for 3 seconds) and these were my choices. No clue what I will make at the moment but make I will.

and so I sat and waited for the skeins to be swifted into balls for me : )

What would you make? Don't forget to join me tomorrow for the Handmade Christmas Craft Along!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Keepin it real

2011-11-22T11:35:00.000-05:00

With my being gone most of the week last week it was hard to find something to keep it real with you all since my hubby is a clean machine but just as I thought I would not post this week, I put something down on the piano and saw this

haha apparently my kids have noticed my lack of dusting the piano skills so here is the rest of it

care to play eye spy with me? yeah I know I really need to dust under the piano too. Honestly we sweep under there at least every other day but pictures don't lie so something did not happen here (I was in NY so...not my fault hee hee)

I spy a sweater, some paperwork, a few leaves, ball of yarn and knitting needles (my younger girls learned to knit while I was gone and they are obessed) the girls statue of Our Lady

one of the hats I bought the boys on my trip found inside the piano

a few orphaned playing cards on the piano bench

these silk flowers are for my mom, I got them at a friends wedding a few months ago and since my momma likes silk orchids I brought it home but have not had a chance to take it to her

and while I was gone, all the diapers got dirty so they panicked and bought a pack...plus wipes???? FYI Honey, Livie's chunky bottom does not fit in size 4 : ) They did wash the diapers by the way but no one in the house but me really likes cloth diapers so there you go.

Alright, so now its your turn. Are you brave enough to post pictures of your reality? Just take a picture and upload it to your flickr or your blog and then post the link in the linky list.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

New York trip Part one

2011-11-21T00:17:00.000-05:00

I can't believe i am back and my trip is behind me already AND that Thanksgiving is right in front of me. The trip could not have been better and I'm sorry I did not post while I was there even once but I would get home everyday and just collapse on the couch or bed. I really owe such a debt of gratitude to my family, they tirelessly made sure I had a good time and accomplished my goals there.

I am so happy to share a little of New York with all of you.

a little mile high knitting to keep me calm (did I tell you I was scared of flying)

my families home

The Plaza or as my cousin likes to nickname it "Home Alone". This night was cold and rainy.

I know this is a terrible picture but I had to share one of my favorite people, my cousin

aren't those leaves just gorgeous

there is a little funny story here. I saw the beautiful colors of the trees so we pulled over for me to get a picture. Then I looked down and noticed that the leaves I was standing on were just as beautiful. Little did I know I stepped on a little surprise (a stinky one). So did you know its supposed to be good luck to step in dog doodie?

my cousin Julie, I had not seen her since we were children

my cousin and I (I am the one at the top of the picture and she is in white below me) Isn't she adorable?

so back to the trip

Saint Patricks Cathedral...very dark inside so sorry for the pictures

the details inside were breath taking but with almost no light it was not possible to get many good pictures

Everywhere you look is now decorated for Christmas

Thursday I will post the rest of the pictures. I took so many but my computer is taking for ever to load them up so I hope to see you back here Thursday for the rest of them as well as tomorrow (Tuesday) for "Keepin it real" pics.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Apple sweaters and excitement

2011-11-15T20:54:00.000-05:00

At 6 AM I will be on my way to New York, I can't believe it. I am nervous about the plane ride.... very nervous. I have packed a knitting project (the cowls for my other two little girls) in the hopes that it will keep my mind off of things. I know I am being silly but still.

I am not reading anything this week but to do lists and packing lists for my trip. I am yarning along along with Ginny again this week with these cute little apple sweaters I designed a year or two back after seeing a few on Etsy that I was too cheap to buy : ) These will be presents for the Sisters that teach at the school at our church. I hope they don't think I am bonkers.

If you are smitten with them too and would like to make some, leave a comment and shoot me an email and I will send you the pattern.they work up soooo fast with very little yarn and I love them so here is my little gift to you...the pattern (when I get back of course).

I hope to write from New York, I got my old laptop fixed since it will fit in my purse and it was great to finally have it back along with everything that is in it.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Martinmas

2011-11-11T23:27:00.002-05:00

Happy Martinmas to everyone! We did not have time to make any paper mache lanterns with so much going on around here but we did decorate our walking lantern with some leaves cut from water color painted tissue. We also had some hot cinnamon apple cider and sugared croissants (I left them in the oven two minutes too long and the sugar burned a little). They tasted amazing though you can't really tell from the picture. The kids asked if they were getting a little treat bag this year (usually a little fabric bag with tangerines and nuts or sweets) so I promised them it would come this weekend.

Have you ever celebrated the Feast of Saint Martin? In case you do not know the story of Martinmas.

St. Martin of Tours was born in Hungary and grew up the son of a Roman military officer in Pavia, Italy. He joined the Roman army and was sent to Amiens, where, on horseback, he met a starving man begging alms at the city gates. Moved by deep compassion, he tore his red, woolen his cloak in two with his sword and gave half to the beggar. The next night, he had a dream in which he saw Jesus wearing the half of the cloak he'd given away, surrounded by angels. In the dream, Our Lord asked him to look at it and to see if he recognized it. He did, of course, and realized that he must convert and devote his life to Christ. St. Martin's remaining piece of cloak became a very revered relic. In fact, the building where his cloak -- "cappa" in Latin -- was preserved was known as the "cappella," the root of our words "chapel" and "chaplain."

the leaves on the lantern where made by the girls. They painted some white tissue with some water color paints in orange, burnt umber and yellow shades. Once the tissue was dry, they traced leaves onto it and cut them out. Then they applied watered down glue to the leaves and smoothed them onto our lantern glass.

A nice warm Saint Martin Sugared Croissant with a hot cup of cinnamon apple cider to warm us up from the inside out on such a chilly night.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Handmade Christmas Craft Along Week 3 : Gifts from the kitchen

2011-11-10T01:00:00.000-05:00

This weeks gift ideas all come from the kitchen which in my home is the heart of our home so these are gifts from the heart : )

Gifts from the kitchen are so special. Spanish women love to feed people, it is how we show our love. Anyone who has ever eaten at my parents house knows this. They will feed you until you cry uncle. If you do not eat they take it personally, kind of like you don't like them. In my world, food is love. I love to make food for those I love and even those I just kind of like too.

Do you remember my hunt for the perfect granola bar, well a few weeks and many many batches later I finally came up with a recipe that my family loves. I took a bunch to park day and everyone there liked it (at least they said they did). In one day my kids and friends ate 40 bars!

Some of this years goodie bags will have these granola bars in them so I am sharing the recipe with you in case you want to make them too. I wrapped them in parchment paper with a strip of brown paper bag from Whole Foods which I turned to the blank side then tied it with embroidery floss.

Chewy granola bars

2 c oats
1 c wheat bran (this stuff is really inexpensive in the bulk food section)
1 c sunflower seeds
1 c puffed millet
1 c raisins
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c honey
4 tbs butter
2 tsp vanilla bean paste (substitute extract if you don't have paste)
1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 F. Toast the oats and sunflower seeds in the oven for 10 minutes.

In the meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring to a simmer the sugar, honey, butter, salt and vanilla. This will be the glue in the recipe.

Put all the dry ingredients in a nice big bowl

pour in your "glue" and mix it all up really well.

Grease a baking pan (or line the pan with parchment paper). I did not use the parchment paper but it does make it easier to pull out the granola from the pan. Press it all into the pan really firmly with the spoon then cover it with some wax paper and press down really hard all over.

turn out granola onto a counter and slice into bars

Wrap them in parchment or wax paper and don't forget to keep some for yourself.

Ok, so onto other peoples ideas:

I love gifts in jars. Here is a super easy one.

and here

to top off your jars, labels

Now imagine you open a pretty little box and inside you find homemade Twix bars. Check out the tutorial here.

I had many more ideas but my computer is taking an hour to upload each picture : (

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

A cowl for whom it may fit and finished longies

2011-11-08T23:22:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for your emails on my Keepin it Real, I hope more of you can link up your Keepin it Real post next Tuesday.

Yarning Along with Ginny again this week. Thank you Ginny for having a weekly yarn along, it keeps me on my toes. So I have been working on a cowl for my upcoming trip to New York next week. I knitted it in the round out of some butter soft wool cotton blend yarn I had in my stash. I really loved the way it came out, but then I saw it on Ronnie and it looked like it was made for her so now I need to make a new scarf for myself : ) This is my first completed knit project and I am falling in love with knitting. I will always love crochet and I understand it so it is easy to create patterns but knitting, the rhythm, the needles, oh how I love it. Now I need to learn some other stitches other than knit and purl ; )

I have written the pattern for the cowl I made as I was working it up so that I can make a few more for my other girls but I have never written a knitting pattern and so it is written like a crochet pattern would be. Is it just me or are knitting patterns written totally different than crochet? Anyhoo... I worked it in the round and then finished the top and bottom edge off with single crochet. Very easy!

On the longies from last weeks yarn along post, I finished them just in time for Pioneer Day and it was wonderful. It was a chilly day but my baby was toasty warm. I have started a new pair in a super light blue but it will have to wait until I get through making myself a scarf and hobo bag for my NYC trip.

The next pair will definitely have more room in the bum area. I had to rip out the legs the day before Pioneer Day because her thighs had gotten a bit chubbier and it took every free second to get them worked up again in time for her to wear them.

I hope to see you here tomorrow for my Handmade Christmas Craft Along Week 4! Please come back and share whatever you are working on for gifts this Christmas.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Keepin it real

2011-11-08T10:07:00.001-05:00

Keepin it Real on Tuesdays.

Take a picture of one of your rooms (the way it really looks when no one is watching). Blog about it or post a picture on your Flickr, then link to this post at the bottom linky link. Lets stop pretending our lives are picture perfect, reality is more fun anyway and we can all share in the fact that we are not super heros we are women with real lives who make awesome stuff but forget to scratch off a few things on the To Do list.

I woke up today thinking I couldn't think of what to post for Keepin it Real (my house is pretty clean right now) and then I walk into MY bathroom. The bathroom which is everyone's favorite. Why is it that my bed, my room, my closet, my bathroom is always the best in the house? Does this happen at your house.

Anyhoo....here it is. Again, if no further post happen on this blog, then Poppa must have killed me for posting it. This picture is not only keepin it real but pushing me to get this sink clean again. Refinishing this sink has been on my to do list forever. The wall behind it has some strange hole which someone filled with caulk before we lived here and it bothers me to see it but if I fix it then I also have to repaint that wall because this paint is impossible to match.

To cover what is going on in this picture, we have of course half the toothbrushes in our home in this bathroom (my kids have two other bathrooms they could use you know) a pair of woolen socks that need to be hand washed, someone must have been playing cards and left those on my sink along with the screw driver from my installing a new no slam toilet lid. Livie's shoes and sunglasses. A hemp tissue, some bum balm, and other usual bathroom accoutrements.

Thank you to all the wonderful ladies who linked up last week (with no notice too : ) I can't wait to see your reality post this week.

A few things to remember:
1. Make sure the link you post is the URL to your actual post and not to your main blog. To do that just right click on the post heading of your Keepin it Real post then paste that into the linky link below.
2. Please include a link back to this post in your blog post.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Dreaming of New York

2011-11-07T11:38:00.001-05:00

I have amazing news!!! No, its not a baby : ) In 9 days I am heading to my first home New York!!! I am flying solo which is seriously freaking me out (just a bit but I will get over it). I have not been there in so long and Poppa is sending me. It would be so great to take the kids with me but just not economically feasible right now.

I have to take a deep breath if I think about it too long and I need help!! To get you in a New York frame of mind, here is some Pinterest inspiration.

Central Park in the fall...squeee

Central Park South

I have basically no winter clothing so I am going through everything I own and trying to put together a fall cold weather wardrobe. I am packing boots, lots of wool, shirts to layer on, umbrella and we will see what else I can come up with. What else should I bring? What would you pack?

I will need some sort of big bag I can comfortable carry with me everywhere to hold my camera, money and goodies. I don't own one so I am searching for a tutorial on one I can make. Any suggestions?

Where to visit? This is where I can really use your thinking skills. Where would you go? I do not plan on stopping at any tourist traps except maybe Ground Zero and I cannot think of sitting through any shows with so much to do out there.

I miss The Village, Saint Patricks Cathedral is a must, Central Park,

Purl Soho, A most amazing yarn and quilting shop. I have been dreaming of going there for a longggggg time and can't wait to see all the yarn. This is probably the place I have the most chance of getting in trouble but I have little money to spend so I hope to get something special and not expensive to make a new project out of.

Magnolia Bakery. As a baker, I HAVE to go and have a cupcake

The Garment District. I have always had a love of textiles. My own Poppa managed a textile warehouse when I was growing up and I would go to work with him and just get lost in the remnant room in the bins and bins or fabric. Anyone have a favorite or least expensive place to go and get lost there?

Anthropology Seriously, this is on the top of the list. Do you remember my posting this.

Well, I got my camera instead for Mother's day so I am bringing it home with me.

Brook Farm General Store Such a cute shop for the perfect little home.

I will be there on a Saturday so of course that day is Farmers Market day!! Where is your favorite Farmers Market in the city? I am thinking Brooklyn or Union Square, but I will wait for suggestions.

I have to find time to ride the Staten Island Ferry (its free!) walk the Brooklyn Bridge and then pizza at Grimaldis and we will see how much I can do before I drop.

I am from Queens and my family is there so I will be visiting all the little digs in the boroughs. The best part of this whole trip is going to be hanging out with my cousin Angel : ) Always fun!

What is your favorite thing to do, eat or visit in NYC? I can't wait to hear. See you here tomorrow for Keepin it Real on Tuesdays. Take a picture of one of your rooms (the way it really looks when no one is watching). Blog about it then link to my post tomorrow. Lets stop pretending our lives are picture perfect, reality is more fun anyway and we can all share in the fact that we are not super heros we are women with real lives who make awesome stuff but forget to scratch off a few things on the To Do list. See you then!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Pioneer Day

2011-11-06T00:04:00.000-04:00

What a great time we had at Pioneer Day. The weather was cool but not too cold, just cold enough to bring out the wool sweaters : )

I was able to finish Livie's longies (again) and making the thighs wider worked like a charm. It took every second of spare time yesterday to rip out the legs and redo them in time but I am so glad that I was able to finish them because she was nice and toasty the entire day.

making peg dolls

playing with buttons and string

toys of yesteryear

by the time it was time to leave, he could walk around the park without falling

wooley buns

making rope

making hand dipped beeswax candles

they smell so wonderful

we have decided to use our candles for our dinner table

I was no good at archery, now looking at it, my elbow is way too high

two man saw...to think houses were built this way

Livie was in love with this calf

I could have parked myself at this spinning wheel for a few hours

this man taught me how to make scrub brushes from palmetto wood

Livie getting a little play time in while we wait for the shuttle to take us back to our car

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Keepin it real

2011-11-04T13:53:00.001-04:00

A dear bloggy friend of mine yesterday blogged about how other bloggers seemed to be able to do so much more than she ever could(believe me, its not true, she is an amazing momma)while keeping everything in life organized and all the to do's done. After reflecting on my own blog, I have decided to periodically just pick a room and take a picture of the reality. No straightening or picking up to make it look better, just brutal honesty. The brutal truth is that even though I do get alot of projects done, the ones that don't get done are so much larger. Behind every pretty picture of a finished project or recipe is a pile of laundry waiting to be washed or folded and a sink full of dishes. I wish for this blog to be a place of refreshment and inspiration, not a place where others will ever feel less that what they truly are.

So here it is. I walked into the livingroom and yikes, Poppa may kill me for posting this : ) I snapped a picture because I really care about my bloggy friend as well as every other reader who visits this blog regularly. You all make this blog possible and you inspire me to share and write about my little life.

Yeah,you guessed it, this is probably why that pile has not been folded but honestly, there is always a pile there because we do 3 loads of laundry a day everyday but Sunday and on laundry day it goes all day!

I am adding a linky link in case you want to keep it real with me. Feel free to take a picture of your reality and post it to your own blog or flickr then post a link here. I am thinking of making this a regular thing, maybe on Tuesdays, whadda ya think?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Handmade Christmas Craft Along Week 3

2011-11-03T00:20:00.000-04:00

Another week has gone by and a few more gifts are started but not yet finished. This last week was so hectic with Halloween costumes to make followed by All Saints Day costumes, phew! I am pretty happy with everything they came out but also glad it is over.

Alright so here is the question. Is there any interest from anyone in crafting along with me on Christmas presents? I have done the handmade challenge for the last two Christmas and had such a great response and then I added on the craft along this year and nothing : ( I tell myself, well maybe no one else has started presents yet but if you have please feel very welcome to link to what ever you might be working on whether it be on your blog or a flickr picture. It does not even have to be a current post, OK now that sounded kind of desperate don't ya think : ) Seriously, even if you don't blog, please do leave a comment with what you are working on. We can all use some inspiration.

My list seems to somehow be getting bigger? Does this happen to anyone else? I really don't mind though, I just want to get them all done with as little stress as possible. Here are my picks for this week, I hope you like them.

this one is so easy and I am thinking of adding in some flowers, leaves or herbs in the wax. Here is the tutorial

I can't believe I had not thought of this, can you? These men's shirt apron is perfect for the basket of Poppa's shirts that I have collected. There is no tutorial but I think they are easy enough to figure out.

For the new mom of baby on your list, some easy peasy burp cloths

This will be in my babies gift satchel and here is how you can make one too

This apron is great for any gal on your list and a great hostess gift. Here is the tute

I don't post enough mens gifts though I am trying to get enough ideas to make one of the weeks just for guys. If you knit, how nice would it be to give these loafers? Here is the free pattern!! Yippee.

Ok, well thats all for now. If you have a project you want to link for others to see just put the url of the photo or blog post in the Mr Linky List under this post.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Little lamb ear warmer for my little lamb

2011-11-01T23:36:00.000-04:00

Yarning Along with Ginny again. On Saturday we will be going to Pioneer Day and it should be chilly out. I love Pioneer Day. There are usually knitters, spinners, weavers and lots of demonstrations going on all done in period costume they way they would have been done by the pioneers. I made this little lamb ear warmer for Livie to keep her cute and warm and I am almost done making her a pair of matching longies.

I am happy to see it on her. I designed this pattern when she was born and then never got it tested or finalized so by the time I wanted to make her another one, I had to resize the pattern so I now have a newborn pattern, sizes 12 months as well as 2T. Anyone want to test the pattern for me?

Hopefully the longies will be done in time for her to wear them on Saturday. I love longies! I never made them until I had Livie and I am sure that when she is finally potty trained I will keep making them for her until she looks ridiculously too big to wear such things anymore : )

I am still working my way through the kimono I started last week and hope to get it done in the next few nights.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Happy Hallowmas

2011-11-01T16:45:00.001-04:00

A Happy All Saints Day to everyone! We started the day with mass and then came home to a Momma made breakfast of oatmeal waffles with bananas foster sauce. The kids spent a good part of the late morning designing their pumpins and then pulling pumpkin guts and carving them out on the front porch.

We got first place this year at the Saints Day picnic at church. I have to admit that I probably did not deserve it since I totally procratinated and waited until the day before the picnic to start making my costumes then ended up working until 2 AM to finish all 7 saints costumes. (Never again...even though that is the exact thing I said last year).
.
For anyone who does not know what Hallowmas is all about you can read more about it here.

in case you are wondering, he is dressed as Saint Dennis of Paris who was beheaded

This is my favorite costume of course. Santa Lucia day is one of my favorite winter holidays. The Feast of Saint Lucia is coming up on December 13th so I will post a tutorial next week on how to make the crocheted wreath and candles. The dress was made from a thrifted womans shirt which happened to have the sweet smocking around the collar. All I had to do was detach the sleeves, cut the chest down to size and reattach the shortened sleeves then add some elastic through a casing around the wrists.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

all dressed up

2011-10-31T23:40:00.000-04:00

Happy Hallows Eve everyone! Just a few pictures...We are back from trick or treating and all very exhausted. The kids did not want to wear the costumes I made them for All Saints Day for Halloween night too, so I told them if they could make up a costume on their own, they could definitely wear it tonight. They all came up with some pretty funny costumes and had a blast walking all night and collecting candy. Unfortunately our camera died after just a few pictures so I only have pictures of Livie and I and one picture of us walking down our street before heading out to our friends nieghborhood.

We live in the country where the next house is a walk but we have friends who live in a development. The neighbors there take Halloween very seriously with many many well decorated houses and the best candy you can think of. There was even a house giving away hotdogs and beer!

Lots of our friends all met up there and we all went out trick or treating together. It is nights like this that we all tend to remember. I loved halloween night when I was a child and I hope my kids can think back when they are grown and remember tonight. We did not get to carve our pumpkins so that will be done tomorrow and I promise to come back and share all my Saints Day costumes with you.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

I miss you still

2011-10-30T16:03:00.000-04:00

Today makes a year that my beautiful friend passed away. It seemed so short and then again so much has happened in that short time that it feels like she has been gone from my life for ever. Last year I felt as though nothing could ever be the same but God heals and Our Lady wraps the sorrowful in her mantle and holds you tight.

I can do nothing but join my heart to her husband Phil's and all the precious Eastman kids. If you pray the rosary won't you please join me in offering your rosary for the soul of Mrs Amy Eastman and her family. If you did not know her or have not followed her life you can read last years post here.

Since you’ve been gone

by Tricia Gaitan

I’ve had to live
and work and breath,
see the beauty in life
and make time to grieve.

The bread must bake
the books be read
no time to lay down a tired head

Full of hope I must remain
for so many little ones to train.
but still the laudry must be done,
the children smile and laugh and run
they find the time to see the bees
collect the flowers, climb the trees

The dishes pile inside the sink,
I miss you ever more I think
and still the good days come often by
it's good to smile instead of cry

Amy, you know
I miss you still,
I love you dear
I always will.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Handmade Christmas Craft Along Week 2 and Winner

2011-10-27T18:35:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the delay, boy what a day. Something terrible occured (though I have no idea what it may have been) and my kitchen sink and solid surface countertop have some pretty big cracks in them making using them very tricky. I have been all over town looking for replacements, Lowes, Home Depot, HHGreg, Sears and last and most fun, IKEA. I also have children preparing for speach contests which needed to be finished tonight and I am half way through 6 costumes for All Saints Day....I am exhausted! The good part is, I will have some remodeling projects coming up to share with you in the near future.

Thank you so much for all your super kind words on my knitting project yesterday. Every comment left here is very special to me : ) With every comment I read I felt like "hey, I think I really can do this!" I can't wait to finish the baby kimono and share it with all of you. I also got so many great suggestions on patterns to try, Thank You!!!!

To begin this week, I want to announce the winner of the pair of earrings from The Clover Dilly is.....

Mandi @ Catholic Newlywed said... I love those earrings! And I love the idea of homemade Christmas gifts
Mandi, please email me so I can get your package out to you : )

I really love these earrings so much! I own a few pairs and they are so sweet. I am super excited to share a super good deal that Alex from The Cloverdilly has extended to my blog readers. If you order two pairs she will give you another of your choice for free. Yippeee!!! These are very well received as stocking stuffers or gifts for any girl (any age) on your list. You can visit her store right here. (Note* to receive the free pair, just leave the color you would like for the third and free pair in the comments section when checking out)

If you are joining in on the Craft Along, just leave a comment and a link to what you are making or made in the linky link or in the comments box. It doesn't have to be recent but it does have to be handmade. To see the challenge pledge click here
Here are my handmade gift ideas for this week:

I was not able to find a link to make this corner book marker but I am planning on making it from two triangles of wool felt and embroider the recipients name on it. I have a few book lovers on my list so this is on my list to make.

This next one comes to us from Skip to My Lou. The tutorial is very easy to follow. I plan to make from super soft cotton knit and with a yard I can make a few.

Isn't this knot tote so cute? I really can't decide whether I will make this to give or to keep but I will be making it! Jessica at Me Sew Crazy posted this project back in the summer and I tucked it away for just this purpose.

I love coasters! I found these on Flickr by NanaCompany and I believe she sells them on Etsy but you will have to check for yourself here. These would not be hard to make without a tutorial but again if you cannot make it yourself, buy it from someone who can.

Do you have someone on your list who runs on a treadmill (not I, but I am sure they are out there). This Ipod holder would be very useful. Find the tutorial here.

I could use these business card holders. Go on over to The Craft Cupboard to see how.

Of course on my list there are knitters and crocheters (in my same house really) so some crochet hook and knitting needle cases are a must. Here are a couple of different ones.

you can find the pattern here

and this sewn version also has some cute hand embroidery. This would make a very special present for any yarn lover in your life.

OK so that is it! What are YOU working on? Please share with us. If the Mister Linky Link dissapears, please share in the comments section and I will try to figure out the linky thing.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Giveaway, Yarn along & Handmade Christmas Craft Along

2011-10-25T23:41:00.000-04:00

If anyone missed me, I have been draggin my sick self around my house trying to keep everyone going while battling the flu. I have been snuggling on the couch with my herbie rice pack, putting eucalyptus oil in the humidifier and lots of herbal teas. I realized I have not blogged in nearly a week...yikes!

I will be ready for Thursdays Craft Along so please share your projects with me. I would love to see what you are making and excited to host this weeks giveaway. Seaking of giveaways, please remember tomorrow is the last day to enter the handmade contest for this week. Alex of The Cloverdilly is giving away some really sweet little earrings in your color choice, a perfect gift for any girl on your list. You can see how to enter here

One thing I was able to do while on the couch was work on my project for this weeks Yarn Along over at Small Things. Reading other posts for the past two weeks has inspired me to do something different. I put down my crochet hooks and picked up my dusty knitting needles! I have to say, after some very trying days, I am loving the rhythmickness of pulling yarn through my fingers, the swishing sound of the wood needles slding over each other.

This week, the flu has got me reading The Waldorf School Book of Soups. If you are sick, you want this book!

I am working on the easiest sweater I could find on Ravelry. It is a kimono sweater, you can see what it here. It is made for a baby but I am playing around with the pattern to fit my sworthy 2 year old. This will be the first garment I have ever made. I have not knitted in years and even back then it was just a sorry little scarf...nothing to write home about.

so far I have the back done

The first day of knitting I could not remember if I was purling or knitting or if the yarn went in the front or back or what to do next. I started out the first night making a blanket, but realized quickly that I would not have enough yarn. I ripped out my stitches a half dozen times and one time I even threw the yarn and needles across the room and went to sit in a rocking chair while feeling sorry for myself.

My stitches do not look anywhere near as nice or magical as most of the knitters I admire at my fave blogs..wink,wink, (you know who you are...hi!) I think I need to work on my tension but I hope they will improve with time.

In the meantime, I am enjoying the process. What is your favorite easy for a begginer knitting pattern? Please do share!

The blanket was not a total waste of time because now I know if I am purling or knitting : ) I am excited to see the sweater on Livie and hopefully will tweak it further to fit my bigger girls too. So what are you working on? Come back tomorrow and share your project at the Craft Along.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Handmade Christmas inspiration

2011-10-20T22:06:00.000-04:00

So I am having a problem with the Mister Linky Link. I have added it to yesterdays post twice. At first it shows at the bottom of the post and when I check back it is gone???? Does anyone know how to deal with this?

Here are some gift ideas I have collected from around the web.

I love this idea from Rosy Red Buttons, this picture clock can be made to fit anyone on your list. A newly wed couple, a sports fanatic, a grandparent or family member and it is pretty easy to do with supplies from the craft store.

Here is a great gift using all those wine corks you have stashed away for someday. It is a very simple gift to make and unique.

V and Co does it again with this adorable set of bracelets made from t-shirt or knit fabric. There are so many great ideas at her blog.

I am definitely making this next one even if only for me : ) A solid perfume pocket watch....I love solid perfume. I have two that I got at a Farmers Market and I love to rub a little patchouli here and there and when you wear solid perfume, only you smell like perfume not everything around you. You can find the tutorial here.

I guarantee this next gift will be a one of a kind not found in stores gift. It would be so nice for a teachers gift or just for a little cheer with a few Christmas type greenery in it. Find the instructions here

My last idea for today is chalkboard coasters, these are already on my list for a few people. Here is the tutorial

Remember to enter this weeks giveaway for a beautiful pair of earrings from The Cloverdilly. To enter click here.

Thats all my ideas for this week...so get to work : )

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Week one of Handmade Christmas Craft Along and Giveaway

2011-10-20T00:08:00.004-04:00

I'm so excited to get this years Handmade Christmas Craft Along going!! I hope to inspire you and believe me I am looking forward to being inspired by all of you so whatever you are working on, take a picture, blog it or upload your picture to Flickr and post the link at the bottom of this post.

(picture from a spoonful of sugar designs)

Feel free to post this Craft Along challenge and the pledge to your blog or Facebook and add a link back to the Craft Along.

Here are the rules:

1. Gifts must be handmade by you, or,
2. Purchased from someone else who handmade it, check out Etsy or Artfire, go to a craft fair, or,
3. Upcycled items such as thrift store, antique store or garage sale treasures. If this one is alarming to you maybe you should think about what it really costs to make something new, the energy to make it, ship it, house it and how buying something pre-loved is using a resource which has already made its impact. My brother asked me if buying someone a, basket counts, I said yes but buy a pre-owned basket, really could you really tell if you received a new basket or not and if it was new would that make it a better basket?

The point is to use your imagination instead of buying all the mass produced stuff at the mall which every store is going to convince us we need and will make our Christmas this year perfect. Shop at home first. If you are a crafter, you have a stash. Most of us crafters don't even know all the stuff that is in our stash so instead of heading over to the craft store, shop from your stash first.

Even if you do not have a blog or have nothing to link to, Please post your ideas or what you will be giving to your loved ones.

If you are game, here is the pledge:

I, state your name, pledge to:

To take a political stance against mass consumerism of Christmas
To give gifts that are unique, meaningful and full of love

Thank you so much for joining me in this Craft Along. Below is a linky list if you would like to add a link to your Craft Along project this week. You may add what you are currently working on or even an old project that you would make as a gift again this year.

To add your link, copy and paste from your browser the URL from your blog post or specific Flickr picture and not your main blog URL so we do not have to hunt for your post.

Please include a link back here, to the Craft Along, in your blog post or Flickr photo page.

Now to the giveaway!! This week, the handmade goodness is from Alex at The Cloverdilly

Alex makes the daintiest earrings and every time I wear them, I get comments or people just plain ask me where I got them. She is offering one lucky winner their choice color of earrings.

These earrings would be an amazing present for a girl of ANY age! Or you could just hog them all to yourself!

For a chance to win, just leave a comment

For additional entries:
1. Become a follower of my blog, come back and leave a comment telling me that you are now a follower or already were a follower.
2. Like me on Facebook (again, leave a comment letting me know) You can find the Like Me button at the top of the blog.
3. Blog about it on your own blog or Facebook, or both!
4. Go over to The Clover Dilly, leave a comment telling us which is your favorite pair of earrings.

Good luck and I can't wait to see what you are working on! This giveaway will be open until Sunday night so you have until then to link your project. Please make sure to check back in case you are the winner.

Since this post was already so long, I will be posting tomorrow my ideas for this week. Hope to share my projects with you then! Now get planning and get to work.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Yarn along, Handmade Christmas Craft Along and a handmade giveaway

2011-10-18T23:36:00.000-04:00

I'm playing along with the Yarn Along over at Small Things again this week. Ginny's yarn along has helped to get me working on presents early this year. For the past few Christmas I have hosted a handmade Christmas challenge but I always end up making all of my presents really last minute. This year I am commited to have them done early.

Tomorrow will be the first day of this years Handmade Christmas craft along. Would you like to join me? I would love to see what you are making for your loved one. If you would like to take the challenge,check back tomorrow and every Thursday until Christmas. I will have a handmade goody giveaway every week for those who craft along. You can see yesterdays post about it here

This week I have been reading, 10 Minute Housekeeping by Rose Kennedy and working on a cute little hat. I made this newsboy hat for a pretty little girl on my list. I made this pattern two years ago and I have played with it and changed it so much that it bears little resemblance to the first I made for Christopher when he was 3. I think I am happy with it now and the flower is detachable so it will hopefully match with more outfits for the recipient.

oh those eyes...

I should apologize for so many pictures but I could not pick just a few

After seeing it on Livie, I am going to have to make her one, don't you think? I love red on her and I should have known that making someone else a red hat would end up in my making another for her.

OK, so come back tomorrow for the first Thursday of the handmade craft along! The first give away is sooo sweet! In the meantime, get out a notepad and make your Christmas gift list.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Handmade Christmas Challenge Craft Along

2011-10-17T21:51:00.001-04:00

We have basically 10 weeks left until Christmas. Did you just faint? Yeah, me too! Now is the time to get organized, plan and make the gifts for those we love. For the last few Christmas seasons I have hosted a handmade Christmas Challenge. You can see those posts here.

This year, inspired by Ginny's Yarn along from Small Things, I would love to invite you to take the challenge and join me in a Handmade Christmas Craft along. On Thursday, I will post the first day along with a way for you to link any homemade gift you have made recently or in the past. The more ideas we share, the easier it will be to become inspired and make a handmade Christmas a reality.

Every Thursday I will post what I have made and you can link your gifts through a linky link on my blog post and share with everyone who reads this blog. Every Thursday I will also have a giveaway from among those who linked up and or left a comment (you must also be a follower of this blog or follow me on Facebook), so stay tuned for lots of handmade loveliness from many talented people. This will be a little handmade present from them (and me) to you.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, to take the pledge to have a handmade Christmas this year by giving those on our Christmas list a handmade gift.

Here are the rules:

1. Gifts must be handmade by you, or,

2. Purchased from someone else who handmade it, check out Etsy or Artfire, go to a craft fair, or,

3. Upcycled items such as thrift store, antique store or garage sale treasures. If this one is alarming to you maybe you should think about what it really costs to make something new, the energy to make it, ship it, house it and how buying something pre-loved is using a resource which has already made its impact. My brother asked me if buying someone a, basket counts, I said yes but buy a pre-owned basket, really could you really tell if you received a new basket or not and if it was new would that make it a better basket?

The point is to use your imagination instead of buying all the mass produced stuff at the mall which every store is going to convince us we need and will make our Christmas this year perfect. Shop at home first. If you are a crafter, you have a stash. Most of us crafters don't even know all the stuff that is in our stash so instead of heading over to the craft store, shop from your stash first.

Even if you do not have a blog or have nothing to link to, Please post your ideas or what you will be giving to your loved ones.

I will of course be posting some of my ideas and projects to inspire all of you too. (hey most of my viewers are probably on my list so gotta keep it hush hush)

Here is the pledge:

I, state your name, pledge to:

To take a political stance against mass consumerism of Christmas

To give gifts that are unique, meaningful and full of love

To promote, encourage and celebrate hand-made You may not have the time to make all your gifts but I know you will be out purchasing them. Why not purchase a handmade gift from someone instead of somewhere.

Tomorrow, I will post more so come back!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Thrift store Thursday - The mason motherload

2011-10-13T21:24:00.000-04:00

After morning mass I decided to have a little trip to the thrift store, after all it is Thursday. The first one was a bust. Luckily, 4 minutes down the road is another and boy did I have a good treasure hunt today!

I found a bag of 100% wool tapestry yarn. It feels the same thickness of a worsted weight yarn to me and it is very soft. I am sure that is it probably old but did not smell at all.
and the labels say it is "moth proof". Anybody know what process yarn is put through to make it moth proof? Anyhoo, I could not pass it up for $1.99.

these salt shakers were too cute to pass up. They go perfectly with our "drinking glasses". These were .40 cents a piece and worth every penny.

I think this is my favorite find of the day. It is a vintage Ball jar with a metal lid that just kind of pops on and off, it does not screw on but will be perfect to carry around a little snack for Livie when we are out and about and the magic price was .99 cents.

I think this glass canteen may get Poppa to stop buying all the stoopid little water bottles that I am always finding. If not then it will be mine! I boiled it just in case but it seemed to not have been used since the lid under still had the cardboard padding, price $1.

I should not have taken these pictures of my finds on our black piano, it makes my house seem dark! Sorry...

and this beauty would be my favorite but I already have a few and have never seen the little ball jar I said was my favorite so, yeah, that little jar is still my favorite but you can never have too many of these gorgeous vintage Mason Ball jars and this one has the original glass lid...swoon!

and the best part was the price... Woa baby. This jar would sell for about $20 at a vintage store.

and I was shocked to find all in the same store, these vintage Ball freezer jam cups. The ones that Ball makes now are plastic. Getting the price stickers that have been on these forever off was not easy but they all came off. These little cups will be awesome for making yogurt, that way the kids just have to pull out a yogurt and eat it, no mess.

it was so funny, I paid less for them than what they cost twenty years ago.

they all got a good scrub and are ready to make some yogurt, or what ever else I can come up with.

Have you gone thrifting lately , what did you find?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Thank you so much, Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

A cowl in October

2011-10-12T00:19:00.002-04:00

I'm playing along with the Yarn Along over at Small Things this week. I am starting on Christmas presents and this is the first. I won't say who it is for but this is such a yummy wool yarn. The colors are all washed out for some reason and tomorrow when Alex gets back I will get her to fix it but in the meantime here it is.

This is a cross between a cowl and a scarf but I am sticking with calling it a cowl. It can be worn a few different ways but for some reason I did not take those pictures. I love the leather button on it, I have been saving it for a few years and this was the perfect project to put it on.

Do you knit or crochet? Click on the link in the first paragraph and play along with Ginny from Small Things. If you don't do either I am starting a craft-along (inspired by Ginny's Yarn-along), more info on that tomorrow.

Right now my crochet basket is full of projects and if you want to do the cowl, shoot me an email and I will send you my pattern (er...right now it is just scribble scrabble but I will type it up and get it to you : )

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

a bunting we will go...a tutorial

2011-10-11T17:26:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who commented or sent me emails yesterday about the cupboard simplification. I love to hear from you all and I so appreciate it!! I also get a bunch of emails about the buntings I make for every single birthday party and especially the one I made for our Farmers Market booth.

I did take pictures while I was making the one for market (thinking it might be blog worthy reading) so for all of you who requested it, here it is.

This is going to be super simple.

You will need:
Double fold bias tape at least 3/4 inch preferably 1 inch
Different fabrics for the penants and a fabric for the back of the penant, here is where you can use the cheap muslin at Joanns.
Thread for your sewing machine
Scissors
Cardboard to make a template
Iron

Choose as many fabrics as you want to be in your bunting that coordinate with each other.

Next, you need to make a template. I use cardboard like from a food package to make mine. You can make your penants as wide and long or fat and short as you like. You can see my template, it is 6.5 inches wide by 7 inches long. The easiest way (at least for me) to make the template was to cut a rectangle, 6.5 x 7 inches then fold in half to mark the bottom center point. Then with a ruler, draw a line from each top edge to that center point and that will give you a perfect triangle.

Now it's time to cut out the penants. If you have a rotary cutter use it, if not just draw your triangles on your fabric and cut them out, no biggie.

next cut out the same amount of penants from the fabric you will use on the back. You could actually cut out this step and not line it but it will not last very long.

Now we are going to mozey on over to the sewing machine and putting two penants right sides together, we will sew around the outside leaving the top open. If you do not have a sewing machine and do not care about your penant lasting for ever then by all means, cut out your penants and using fabric glue, attach them inside the bias tape and you are done. This bunting that we are making will however last.

as you see I do not cut the thread as I sew each one, I just keep adding another set of triangles when I am done sewing one and cut them all apart when I am done with this step

cut off the tips as you can see in the triangle on the right. If you do not cut off the tip, you will not get a good point when we inside out these

at the top ends you will have these little points sticking out, cut those off too. Now inside out each triangle and press them with the iron. We are almost done

sandwich the triangles inside of the bias tape and pin in place. Take them over to the sewing machine and sew all the way across. I use a zigzag stitch in a coordinating color thread. Be careful to remove your pins as you go (ask me how I know this) you don't want to get a pin in your finger.

unfortunately I did not get any good pictures of the bunting, maybe I will remember to do that this weekend.

Buntings are so cute. Depending on the fabric you can use them for boys, girls, parties, weddings, you name it. I have even made them from paper which is really cute too. Have fun and if you make any, send me a picture. I love to see your projects!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

Simplified cupboard

2011-10-10T15:37:00.000-04:00

Simplifying our life is always one of my priorities. I am always redoing this or that, changing where things go or making new rules and ways of doing things. No, I don't have A.D.D., I call it tweaking and I am always tweaking.

I love it when I get an idea from a friend, in real life or in the blog world, that I can use here and make a difference. One of the areas of our home that I am always trying to work on, keep more organized, keep cleaner and uncluttered is the kitchen. We spend alot of time in the kitchen and compared to my kitchen in our last home, my kitchen now is small and with 10 people there is always alot of mess to clean, food to make and dishes to do. Dishes are my least favorite part!

In comes Nicole from Frontier Dreams with her always good ideas. Back in the summer she simplified her cupboards and gave me the inspiration to work on mine, albeit 4 months later : )

There is nothing worse that coming into the kitchen you last saw clean to cook a meal and finding a sink full of dishes (that I did not use). Our problems (as I'm sure is the case in many of your homes) is too many dishes. With so many cups, plates and silverware, my family can just use and use and pile them in the sink. It took some courage but I got out all the plates and cups out of the cupboard and left only one plate, cup, bowl and mug per person. That is it! I packed away, on a shelf in the garage, enough cups and plates to serve guests and got rid of the extras. I wish I would have taken a before picture (though embarrasing it would have been) but I was not in the blog sharing mind, but trust you me, it was hard to get anything in or out.

I then made some name bands for our cups, which are and have always been, at least since 1999, mason jars. I have always loved mason jars. In the year 2000, I got all the packaging out of my pantries and put everything I could into mason jars. I also took some cabinet doors off so I could see all my beautiful jars full of grains and food staples. Anyhoo...getting off the subject, mason jars are great because they are cheap and if one of my kids leaves milk or tea in their cup, I put a lid on it and put it in the fridge. Plus they are very trendy at the moment though we will keep using them far after they fall back out of favor.

the big one at the back is Poppas. It is the only one without the name band on since he said it got one his nerves and everyone knows which cup is his.

Now, as soon as we are done eating, each child cleans his own dishware. It has made my kitchen so much nicer. Thanks Nicole!

In case anyone wants to make some of the name bands, it is super easy and here is how:

You need:

Clear elastic string for making bracelets. I guess you could use anything but I wanted something that would not get moldy and would stretch. You can find this at any craft store in the jewelry making department.

Alphabet beads. I think I paid about $4 for a big pack at Michaels and I did not have a coupon. I still have enough beads to make a bunch more.

Measure around the cup and add 2 inches for tying the ends. String on the beads and tie the end (make sure it will be snug around the neck of your cup) and apply a drop of glue to the ends or they will come apart. I used hot glue.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

A blustery day at market

2011-10-08T21:48:00.000-04:00

I'm back from our first day at market.

Today started early this morning....early! We had all the cookie dough made in the afternoon, and the girls love to get in the action when we start baking for market. The littlest is always the most eager.

We made many batches of cookies, white chocolate almond, chocolate chip and raisin oatmeal. I made a huge batch of pumkin spice douhgnuts and vanilla ice cream as well as devils food snickers push pop cupcakes. We got everything packed up and headed out at 8:30 AM to set up at 9.

It was so great to be back... for the first hour. We got our booth set up pretty quick and honestly it felt we had never left.

An hour after market opened so did God's wind machine. A bad storm started coming in and though it never rained until after we left, the wind was so powerful that many booths almost lost their canopies and about every 10 minutes or so a big gust would get up under our tent and we would have to jump up and grab a pole. Many of the 70 vendors packed up and left and with them the traffic that had been coming in. We had no choice but to take our tent down and then just kept our tables up in the hopes we would sell our baked goodies. In the next two hours we sold out of our pumpkin spice doughnuts and most of the push pop cupcakes.

The highlight of the day was the food truck parked next to us, Zest of the Chef. Since there were basically no customers, he brought me over a sample of a savory blue cheesecake and oh my goodness, just thinking about it right now gives me goosebumps, again! It was so undescribably amazing. So much talent in our little town, I was so happy to meet him and his partner, she was so sweet. I know what I am having next week for lunch, oh I hope he has it again or I will surely suffer. You can see them here or like them on Facebook here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

outside please

2011-10-06T23:57:00.000-04:00

can you follow the ball?

it's blue, do you see it now?

It is fall, it really is. On my walk today I saw so many different colors of leaves on the trees (in Florida we don't get the glorious colors the rest of the country gets but right here in my town we get a little more than most Floridians.. I love it.

We want to just live outside right now. In a rocking chair, in the hammock or picnic tables under the oaks or playing baseball on the front lawn. Umm...you guys make sure you are hitting the ball towards the forrest and not towards our front door or windows please!

Our four rocking chairs on the front porch are constantly ocupado! Kids are in and out of the front door, baseball gloves, bikes and sneakers are strewn all over the front porch and gardens. Even the chickens have decided that front porch is their favorite place...that reminds me, I better sweep all the mulch they threw everywhere back into the garden before Poppa sees it.

Olivia (in her natural playing state of dirtyness) was enjoying her apple when she spotted Rooster and Hen (also known as Mr and Mrs Duck) getting in on the front porch action and had to go ~~investigate~~ pester the poor ducks and chickens. Those two really think they are chickens.

I have been preparing for our return to Saturdays Farmers Market so I had to force myself back inside to continue at the sewing machine (I promise I will share what I have made when I am done). The fall breeze calls me and taps on the kitchen window, I snap myself out of my autumn daydream and get back to work and then a child looks into my eyes with the question. Momma, can't you come outside for a little while?? and I realize

Everything I want right now is outside please.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

back to market

2011-10-05T13:16:00.002-04:00

Before Olivia was born I had a booth at our towns Saturday mornings farmers market. We sold organic cookies, cakes, pastries and lots of my crafts. We were there for about a year and then as the time came for Livie to be born I took some time off. I said I would be back in a few months which kept stretching out until they became years. Olivia is now 2 and a half and I am going back! I could not bring myself to leave her before because for the first two years she was nursing and does not like Momma to leave her, then it was one thing or the other.

Iam so excited but also a little scared! What if it does not go as well as before. What if people do not like our goodies anymore or we just don't do well??? I would not expect even one customer to still remember who we are though for a while anytime I went shopping at the farmers market customers and booth owners would always ask us when our cookies were coming back? Would you please say a little prayer for me?

So I had to get my booth back together. We used to sell under the name The Green Market but as I have said before, the word green makes me feel, well, green. It is so abused by every single person who wants to exploit it. After thinking for a while we are calling it ORANGE. Haha, its the new green! It stands for organic, renewable, artisan, natural, gourmet and eco-friendly.

Of course the orange also gave me a jump start on decorating my space with orange as the main color. I am sewing like mad and starting friday I am making lots of cookie doughs (secret to really good cookies is to refrigerate the dough for at least 24 hours) and lots of other things. I will try and share with you along the way as much as I can.

Here are the fabrics to make the aprons, tablecloths and basket covers and some other neat things.

I want it to be happy and cheery

some notions

bakers twine is my favorite (it is really expensive though so I am working on making it myself) stay tuned for more on bakers twine. I use it to tie around jams and packages.

and then as I was on my way out... I ran into this fabric

don't you think this would make the cutest dresses for my girls?

see you tomorrow

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