Crochet Roses

Everybody loves roses. You can make your own with paper, scraps and ribbon, but I just made some with yarn.

As every one knows by now that I've gained a liking to crocheting. Ive been doing it since last November. Its relaxing sitting down to a good Life Time movie with a ball of yarn.

I mostly make little things because I do not have the patience to make something that will take me a while. So, most of the things I make will fit in the palm of my hand.

I'm going to attempt to type out the instructions below.

Here is how I did it.

Rose Calyx:
1. chain 5
2. sl st in 1st ch to create a circle
3. 5 sc in center of the circle
4. slip st in the first ch to connect
5. chain 3
6. sc in next chain from hook
7. sc one more in next chain
8. sl st in beginning of that chain
9. sl st in next sc
Repeat 5 thru 9 four more times (makes 5 points)
tie off.















Rose
1. chain 26
2.  sc in 2nd ch from hook
3.  sc remaining chain to end
4.  chain 3 turn
5.  skip two ch, dc in 3rd
6.  chain 3, skip two ch, dc in 3rd (repeat to end)
7.  chain 3 turn
8.  dc in chain loop 3 times
9.  chain 3, sl st in chain loop (=4 dc)
10.  sl st into next chain loop
11.  ch 3 , dc in next loop 3 times (repeat 8-10 to end and tie off)
12.  begin rolling into a rose while stitching the together to hold.

OK now that's done, I hope you understood.

Next, I bought some pipe cleaners from the dollar store and since I could not find green ones, I actually mixed some paint to make the green I needed and painted the pipe cleaners.

It took them over night to dry and I actually like the rough texture it gave them. They felt like a real rose stem with out the thorns.

Next I put the end of the pipe cleaner into the center of the calyx and knotted it to hold it secure and then I sewed the roses onto that.

Now I have this cute little bouquet of roses. I didn't make a whole dozen because six is about all the patience I had. I even made a couple little buds that are not yet fully bloomed.

Im going to put the hook down for the weekend and start on some new recipes I found on Pinterst that I cant wait to make and share with you next week!

I've shared this on:
craftionary
get-schooled-saturday at too-much-time
made-by-me at jaqsstudio
crochetboulevard

Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing

Ranch dressing is the salad soaker of choice at my house. If you ask my Daughter, she will tell you there needs to be a bottle at restaurants on the table right beside the ketchup. She puts Ranch on everything!

I decided to make my own ranch dressing and adding some zing to it. I found a recipe for this delicious new twist at teenagetaste.com .

The dressing turned out creamy, thick and delicious and since I love Cilantro, this was my taste pick of the day. You can find my recipe HERE or click on my recipe tab. However, if you take a poll in my home, nothing beats the Hidden Valley Ranch original!

I shared this on:
made-by-me-46-linky-party-and-features
tasty-thursdays at mandatorymooch
showcase-your-talent at whats cooking love
full-plate-thursday at mizhelens country cottage

Set Sail

If you have been keeping up with my blogs, you may remember me mentioning the Piece of drift wood  I found on the beach during my vacation.

I finally got around to creating the idea I had for it. A little sail boat.

My husband found me the perfect stick, and from some scraps of cloth my mom gave me, I was able to create the sailboat I had in my mind.

I love nautical themes and items. I guess that goes along with my love for the beach. This little thing really floats too. I like the way it turned out. I didn't want it to be perfect. I just added a sail to it and let it become what it wanted to be. I added the number to it of a special year.

"You need not sail unaided.

Give Jesus His rightful place,

And through the seas of life

You will be sailing by Grace"

Ive shared this at:

under-100-linky-party at beyond the picket fence
craftionary
make-it-yourself-monday
coastal charm

Dorm Room 1011

Well, Its that time of year. The time where we pack up all of my daughters clothes and school things and take her back to school. She is only 30 minutes away so its not all so bad but I still get that upset, lost and lonely feeling on the way back home from moving her in.

This is her last year of college so we didn't want to spend alot of money on new dorm room items and decided to just reuse what we had. She lives in an on campus apartment shared with 3 other girls. They all have there own room and share the common areas. We have to make do with fitting everything in a 9x12 room.

She likes to go with a color theme. The first two years of college, she used alot of pink.
For the 3rd year, she decided to go with more mixed citrus colors such as green, orange, pink and yellow.

Here is a look at last years room....

Its really bright. I liked this one the best and check out the peacock she drew to hang next to her bed.

and here is a look at this years room.

Since joining a Kappa Delta Sorority, she has grown fond of the color green. So we took out the fruity colors of last year and just stuck with mostly green. I love the pink and green monogram artwork she painted for this room.

She simply hung it with a ribbon.

She also got a little creative with her plastic drawer tower by using some scrapbook paper to cover the inside of the clear drawer fronts.

It added a great look to match her room while hiding the contents.

Here is what the common areas of the apartment look like until they decorate it a little.

Living room

 Dining room

Kitchen

A look down the hall that leads to a bath room, shower and 4 dorm rooms

I just wouldn't feel right moving her in without making some delicious brownies to share with the other three girls that will be living in the apartment.

We wish her the best this year and can't hardly wait til she graduates!

wait.....Did I just say that?


Ive shared this at:
nifty-thrifty-tuesday
Make-It-Yourself Monday

Vacation!

Wow its been a week since my last post. I have been on vacation and between poor internet connections and sharing a computer with the rest of the family, it was something I decided to put off until I have some time to myself.
It was a pretty good week at Myrtle Beach. We started our mornings off with long walks on the sand. The shells would wash up with the tide like little pieces of broken pottery while I would look for some sea treasures.



I never noticed how colorful the little muscle shells were until I got down to take a picture of them.
 


I found a piece of yellow sea glass and I also found a piece of drift wood that will work well with a project I have in mind.



We enjoyed a little hula dancing and fire dancing show from a Hawaiian family at the campground.

 

There were five sisters (one not pictured) and they did great! Now I want to learn to belly dance. Ha!

Most of the days were sunny as we sat on the beach getting our tan on and getting under the umbrellas at times for some shade. The ocean water was warm and calm. Perfect for some wave jumping and swimming.
 

We had to fight the weather in the afternoons as the clouds would roll in and thunder and lightning would run everyone off the beaches.


 

But that didn’t stop us from cooking out on the grill and relaxing under the picnic shelter at our camper.
 

I hated to hang it up and head back home but work comes Monday and then my daughter will be heading back to college on the weekend. Soon it will be time to prepare for Fall.

Have you taken a vacation yet? Where did you go?

Do People Really Pray?

[This is not directed to any single person and is completely my own opinions]

As I scroll through face book, I see many friends in need of prayer. Many reasons are for sickness, death, family problems, new job expectance, etc. Then comes the comments. “I will pray for you” say some. “I will keep you in my prayers” says another. I cant help to wonder sometimes, “Do people really pray? Do they think its suffice to just say they will? Every one wants people to pray for them, but do the people that ask for prayer really even pray themselves? I could be wrong in even questioning this but my mind wonders.

Prayer is valuable, prayer is powerful. It should not be taken for granted or underestimated. Prayer is real.

If people say they will pray for someone, they need to stop what they're doing and say a quick prayer. Make themselves a personal prayer list or add a friend on someone else's prayer list. God hears every prayer and there is no prayer that goes unanswered. I believe God answer them with either yes, no or wait.

I just hope if anyone says they will pray for me , they really do it. I need all I can get. LOL.  Oh and the “LOL”….I really did just “laugh out loud” , which brings me to another question…..hmmm?

Cinnamon Doodles

We somehow ended up with a lot of bags of flour tortillas. That's what happens when you have someone in the house addicted to cheese quesadillas. I love those things! Anyway, the other day I had a sweet tooth and wanted a quick and easy fix. So I took some of those tortillas and some sugar and cinnamon and made what my daughter calls “Cinnamon Doodles”. I couldn’t get them to make a twist,  and just a stick would be boring.

You start off by cutting your tortillas in strips. Then twist them and place them in a pan of hot oil. The oil does not have to be too deep, just let it cover the pan. They will not stay good and twisted. That's why they are called doodles instead of twist. 

Once you lightly brown them, place them in a bowl of a cinnamon sugar mixture. Toss them around a little bit and wah lah. There you have it. A sweet little snack. They are really good dipped in cool whip or honey. They are equivalent the the Mexican Sopapilla which is made the same way except you cut the tortillas into triangles insted of doodles and drizzled with honey, chocolate syrup, powder sugar, etc.

Try it. Its delicious.
Does anyone else have sweet ideas to make with flour tortillas?

I've shared this on
 get-schooled-saturday
tasty-thursdays at mandatory mooch