Winter Wonderland Part 1

Let's back up to Christmas Eve...where the updating begins. We had been planning to leave about 1:00 pm to go to Tulsa for a long weekend, but as we all know, everyone's plans changed rapidly. Luckily Matt didnt have to go to work so he took me to work which wasnt that bad yet but was awful on the way back home. It took him 45 minutes to get to my work (4 miles) and 30 minutes back!! Since we weren't going to travel, we immediately began our snow adventures!! We thought it would be fun to go walking in the blizzard to the church with Lucy. Well it wasn't really that fun in the blizzarding sideways snow but at least we got to play some at the church.

Lucy loves pictures, cant you tell? If ever we get a good one of her, its because we tricked her or got lucky.

This is in front of the church on our way back home. It was a long walk to and from with the snow hitting our faces.

Christmas Eve night we pretty much just hung out and caught up on house stuff that I hadn't taken care of since I had some time. Also, we did Christmas with each other on Wednesday night since we thought we were going to be gone. Also, we watched my all time favorite Christmas movie and Matt's not-so-favorite movie, "White Christmas." He came up with a crazy rule this year that he is limited to one viewing per Christmas movie a year!! Sometimes Matt can be a bah-humbug about Christmas stuff :)

And also, we did a Christmas craft with our animals/kids. Last year, Deanna got me an ornament that you make in my stocking and I made it this year. See below:

After I molded the plaster stuff in the circle shape, Matt helped Lucy make her paw print.

Then I helped Jackie make his paw print. Then you just let it dry for a couple of days. I forgot to take a final picture but you get the idea. I might even decorate it more, I dont know. Anyway, I am sure they all loved it and will treasure the experience forever.

And the final fun activity of the night, we let Lucy play with her laser friend, Dottie, outside in the snow. Here is a video of all the fun:

Livin' on Tulsa Time

Well, I am super behind on posts so I will attempt to do some pre-posting this weekend and catch everyone up-to-date with the Meredith fam. Anyway, two weeks ago we went to T-town to hang out with Shay and my mom. This time we stayed at Shay's apt. She lives in the corner of a second story duplex and Lucy really enjoys hanging out in the corner and talking to all the people, dogs, cats, squirrels and anything that walks by. (I really like this picture of Lucy)

...and so does Sampson (Shay's dog)

Also, another favorite of both dogs is looking out the window above the couch.

I also finished up my newest sccarf creation. My friend at work had an Old Navy scarf from a few years ago on the other day and I thought it was super cute so I decided to try and make it. It looks exactly like this one below that I made. I thought I would be cool and trendy and take some pics of it in the outside settings as you can see.

I am really pleased with the way it turned out and actually kept it for myself. In a whole year of knitting and all the things I have made, this is the first one I made for myself!

And lastly, Shay got her first lesson in knitting and made a whole scarf in a few hours. She says she is "not crafty" but picked it up in like 5 minutes. I think she is just foolin me. It was a really enjoyable weekend filled with lots of lounging, a little shopping and good food. You can't beat that!

another scarf and hat combo

and this is my favorite so far...i think i say that a lot but it is. I think I tend to like the ones the most that I come up with on my own the best. I have had this pattern in my head for a while but just now got around to trying it out. I will make slight changes the next time I make it but in general, really proud of this one (in a humble way of course)!!

Pink/White scarf set

My most recent knitting project. I knit alot now during football on Saturdays and Sundays because otherwise I dont have very much time. But then I miss out on all the football.! THere needs to be more hours in the day! Anyway, I intended these to be for Matt's cousin whose name drew in the Christmas drawing but there seems to be some confusion among the family members about who drew her so I might keep it for myself!

New beanie/scarf combo

I hesitated to post this because this is likely a Christmas present for one of my readers but I am proud of this set and really like it so I wanted to show you all! I made it them today while watching football this afternoon and evening. My favorite is the hat because it was a pattern I thought of in my head a month or so ago and wanted to try. It actually is a variation of the pattern I want to make because of the yarn thickness but I really like it. All of the pieces are made of super soft almond colored acrylic yarn.

This buckle is for the scarf as a different option to cuffing it around your neck.

Utility Bags

I finally got around to making these things for my kitchen. I havent come up with a cute trendy name for them yet, so utility bags it is, for now. The idea for them came from an article in Country Living I think. Pam saw them and thought it looked like something I would make. I guess she was right :) The white fabric with yellow flowers is some old vintage fabric from a lady at church and the yellow flower patterned fabric were just some "fat squares" from Joanne's fabric. I like those things alot because you can usually get just what you need without a lot extra wasted fabric. And often times, like today, they are on sale for $1.00. I went to purchase just a couple of yellow ones and ended up buying like 30 of them for future projects.

I had actually made some last week but they were too short and the utensils were kind of falling out. Thats why I made more this week. These turned out a lot better. I am very pleased with them. I wanted them to hang above the stove but I forgot that there is some plastic back splash stuff that you cant screw into. Oh well.

And they can be multi-purpose as well. A few months ago I made some for Katie's nursery to hang on the side of her changing station to hold wipes, diapers, etc. They could also be used in a bathroom to hold curling irons and hair dryers and stuff. Although if you have been in our bathroom, you would know that it is WAY to small for something like that. I will have to wait on that for another house.

Baby Santa Christmas cocoon photo prop

Well, finally my new knitting needles came in the mail and I got to make this photo prop this weekend. I think it will work out okay but I will try and make some adjustments on my next set. It usually takes one or two tries to figure out exactly how you want to make something...or at least it does for me anyway. Here are the pics:

Now I just need to borrow a baby to take pics in for official posting on my website later. Maybe Katie will lend me Olivia for a bit!!!

knitting attack!

Well this weekend I was at it again with the knitting needles. Last weekend, I bought some knitting patterns for baby cocoon photo props and ordered some needles so I have been super-stoked about learning how to make some new things. I still havent received my new needles in the mail so I have only been able to make these hanging cocoons. But here is a sneak preview:

I dont have a hanging picture of this first one but you get the idea. A lot of people these days are getting these artsy, super-cute pictures of their newborns and often use pod/cocoon props like these. My friend Courtney suggested I learn how to make these and I am glad she did because they are fun and really easy to make.

I made this one also this weekend. Our first test subject will be baby Olivia later this week. I will be sure to post pics if they turn out well. Also, later this week I am going to make a Christmas/Santa themed cocoon and baby hat that would make super cute holiday pics or photographs. And you can bet I will be posting pics of those too!! I am so excited to make them :)

And in case you were looking for a more multipurpose craft, not only are they baby photo props, they can also be homemade mullets. For those occasions when you dont have time to grow a proper mullet and need one in a hurry. Maybe I should make a whole bunch and sell them at the fair! Just kidding...that was a cheap joke!

Tis the season for scarves and beanies

It is almost upon us, winter that is, and I am trying to get a jump start on my scarf and beanie stock. Whilst I was at Shay's house being one of her nurses, I was able to knit a couple of beanies. I found this great website with tons of knitting patterns for all kinds of projects and luckily I got to try a couple of them out.I am pleased with the way they turned out, even though it doesnt appear that way in the pics. They yellow/green hat is a roll brim hat with some cabling at the bottom and the red/blue hat is a cable at the bottom with a button flap on the side. It is kind of hard to tell the detail in these pics. These beanies go with the scarf I made about a month ago. Maybe they might be finding their way to you sometime soon!

Craftiness all around

Well I went to Waltonia with the intention of making at least two scarfs but only made one. However, it turned out well and if I dont give it away, I will keep it myself.

I wont let a little thing like the dirty river get in my way of knitting. It was too dirty for me the first day from the rain. Knitting was a better use of my time :)

And by request of Deanna, I brought my cupcake supplies and we made an awesome cupcake creation. I got the idea from my cupcake book. The gave the idea of making a family tree with cupcakes and that is exactly what we did. We also made a cupcake cake with the river and mini replica of the cabins and landscape of Waltonia.

The whole fam...

Grandma and Grandad

Margaret (who actually isnt related but a close friend and coworker of Matt's grandad for like 20 years. She comes to Waltonia every year).Aunt Mary

Trina (matt's aunt) and her family

Matt's Uncle and fam (he has one green eye and one brown eye in case you were wondering why there are two colors on there).

Andy (Matt's other uncle), Sally and Hudson
Our family (John, Monica, Deanna, Matt, Me)

The Waltonia landscape.

Hudson helped me draw all the faces ahead of time so I could get the features right and make the glasses and things.

Us eating ourselves, which sounds creepy.

And lastly, our annual picture by the sign. Until next year....