Project Complete: Letter T

In other news, I completed another project! Its been done a couple of weeks now but I haven't gotten around to posting about it. It was a project for the little baby I knit a baby sweater for, who I got to meet less than two weeks ago. Its crazy how time flies.

A friend and coworker of mine planned to do the same project for a baby girl born the same day as Tyson. I thought it was such a cute idea I wanted to do it myself. Who doesn't love something a little homemade? Especially when its easy!

I bought a large letter "T" from Hobby Lobby, probably twelve inches tall, from the home goods section. I originally planned to get an unfinished wood letter but the options they had in store were quite small and cheap looking, not very thick, so I opted for this instead, which cost only a couple dollars extra.

The letter is made out of some sort of pressed board I think. Maybe. It was heavier than a regular piece of carved wood would feel but sort of sounded plastic-y when you tap it with your finger. I guess that doesn't really matter much. I thought acrylic paint would cover well. I chose a white color. I also bought white and brown striped ribbon to tie around the top to hang it from (or make it appear to be hanging by the ribbon) but it didn't look as good as I thought it would so I left the ribbon off. Here it is after one coat of paint.

A few more layers of paint and a couple hours later it was completed. I think the crisp white will look great on baby Tyson's darker lime green walls.

Makes me want one for myself! Miss you little Tyse!

Project Complete: Vino Seat Cover

My scooter seat cover is fixed! I bought my Yamaha Vino scooter last fall and lets just say it needed a few cosmetic repairs, including a ripped seat. Rather than paying over what I'm guessing would be $100, I decided to recover it myself. Or with the help of others I should say. :) My plan was to purchase vinyl and sew the cover myself, then staple it on top of the existing cover. Simple as pie...

I expected to find vinyl from a fabric store for at least $10/yd. I decided to try my luck while at WalMart one day and luck was on my side! I found a piece of blue vinyl for $4/yd! Its not made for outdoor weather and will more than likely crack after it sits in the sunlight too long, but I figured I could try out my seat-cover-sewing skills on a $4 piece of fabric and if it didn't work I wouldn't be out too much money. I also purchased some heavy duty thread and sewing needle to poke through the thick fabric, which of course my mom advised me on.

Days of procrastination, two muslin patterns, a borrowed light-duty stapler, a trip to Ace Hardware for staples, one blue vinyl seat cover, a few gripes with Luke and no hard feelings
later, my seat cover is finished! What a beauty. Luke was oh so kind enough (for real, he didn't complain and I have to admit there were many many opportunities for him to do so) to help me staple the seat cover to the seat. He puts new seat covers on his dirt bikes all the time so he's kind of a pro like that. He did most of the work when it came to stapling because I'm pretty sure I was at my wits end and feared my cover wasn't good enough and a new one would need to be made.

The original seat had a chunk of foam missing from the front but we fixed it by shoving a plastic grocery bag into it. Now that's a cheap and green fix I was pretty excited about! Check out the pretty lady in all her glory.

She wouldn't look so nice or run so well if it wasn't for my bike-pro Luke! Vroom vroom, I'm ready for some rain-free weather!

Project Complete: Painted Frames

Two Project Completes in a row! I know. I'm just that far behind.

Back to the birthday weekend. Saturday was Katie's baby shower and Beth's birthday. We spent the day with Luke's family playing games, eating delicious food, and enjoying conversation, then ate supper at a supper club.

Sunday was my big day. April 17 to be exact. Luckily I only had to blow out one candle. Let it be known, however, that (according to my mom) it was an Advent candle. What?? Mom made a delicious homemade chocolate cake - from scratch! Along with homemade chocolate frosting. It was delectable.

Earlier in the day my mom, Luke and I finally painted the pictures frames that were in the trunk of my for two years! They are frames my mom had around the house or in the basement. We maybe bought one at a thrift store but we couldn't remember. They were originally gold, which I really liked, but when I first brought them to my apartment they looked too big and bold for the small space, which is why I loaded them into my trunk. I hoped I could paint them someday and also get glass cut to make them into real picture frames. Well, this was my lucky day. We painted them and I got glass cut. They are ready to go! Have I mentinoed I love how they turned out?!

We scrounged around for paint and mixed our own. This special concoction was made of brown, purple and white. It turned out just as I had imagined it would. I wanted something light greyish but with color to it.

After finishing the frames (and because it was such fun and turned out to be pretty darn easy), I thought it would be fun to go to the yard waste to look for a big ol' stump. More on that project later. Our yard waste visit was successful! There were plenty of large chunks of wood to choose from so we chose the piece below. Unfortunately, while running back to the car to join my patiently waiting family I stepped in a giant mud swamp-mess with my cute new shoes! Oh the drama. No worries, they washed up just fine and I survived.

For supper, we had T-bone steaks! Yuuuuuumm. Grilled to perfection by my dad.

The next day Dad and I installed his bicycle computer. What a weekend!

Have you noticed anything peculiar about all my projects? Well, my mom has. She pointed out to me that she is involved in all my projects! She helped me (start) with the big, huge yarn balls, the scarf was for her, she wrapped the knitted baby sweater, and now this! I say the reason she helps me with all of them is because she is so good at it. Who better of a person to help you do things than your mother?! I do love my mom. :)

Thank you Mom and Luke for helping me with these beauties. Your help is much appreciated and I obviously could not have finished this project in such little time without you. Can't forget Dad! He took care of Caboose while we painted. :) I'll post more pictures of the frames when they are on my walls, which will be another project in itself.

Project Complete: Katie's Baby Sweater

Way back when...ok a few weeks ago...I told you I had a busy weekend. Here is a brief recap: Katie's baby shower, Beth's birthday, dinner with Luke's family, my birthday, painting picture frames, cutting wood disks, steaks, and installing a bicycle computer! Whew, what a mouthful. Let's start with the baby sweater.

I have pictures! The baby sweater I knit for Luke's sister was finished mid-April and I'm finally sharing pictures. Its May, people! May! I need to work on project-to-blog timing a bit I think. Back to the sweater. It started as a small ball of yarn, or four balls rather, Cascade Cotton Club.

After a full Sunday and a few week days after work of knitting it turned into this (wrapped by my wonderful mom).

Mom-to-be, Katie (due any day now!!) and Luke's other sister, Beth.

The finished sweater! It is Trellis from knitty.com. I think its absolutely adorable and so easy to knit. Ok, easy as in I wouldn't call myself a very good knitter, mostly due to my lack of years of experience under my belt, but its possible for me to knit so its got to be pretty easy.

I will definitely be knitting this again. In fact, another one of my good friends is prego so I might have to start another sooner than I think. Geesh! Its all about the love.

Cheers to a finished project! Even if it is two months late... :)

Oops

I realize its the last day of March and I have no finished project. No worries! Its in the making and is almost done! Its the sweater for Luke's sister I told you about in my last post. I'm excited to share it but you can't see it until its all finished. I know, you can't wait, I'm sure.

In other news, I think Spring is here! For real this time. Or nearly for real. I guess it there is still a chance for snow a few nights this weekend but I'm optimistic we will only have rain.

In honor of Spring and the coming warm, summer days, wouldn't it be nice to be here?

 

 Don't worry, I'll answer. Yes! Ahh, fishing and relaxing together with those you love and enjoy.

All in all, March was a good month. Now, for the crazy rollercoaster April and May will bring.

Madre's Scarf Picture

Remember I said I would show you a pic of my mom's scarf I made for Christmas? Take a gander if you missed it or don't remember. I took a picture before the big reveal to mom and never loaded the pics onto my computer. Finally got to it!

I even tried editing the photo in Photoshop! (Maybe I shouldn't have said that...I'm definitely not a pro, nor have much more than hmm, maybe 20 hours of experience using it.) Critique my final photo edit all you want. I could use a tip or two. Or more!

Project Complete: Madre's Scarf

I finally officially finished a masterpiece! Well, not exactly a masterpiece but I did finish my January Masterpiece project. I knitted a scarf for my madre and its finally done. It was supposed to be a Christmas present. I'm glad she stills loves me even though its hmm, two months late.

I'll add a picture soon. For now, picture this: mustardy yellow, knit and purl stich, thick scarf with fringes. Just like that. Except cuter. :)

I decided I'm counting my home-styled picture frames and package of love my family and I sent to my sisters as my February Masterpiece. Maybe I'll try and get a picture of that, too.

Bring it on, March! I'm ready for my next project.

I Believe in a Thing Called Love and Project Complete - Numero Uno

Meal #2 of Valentine's Day weekend was prepared tonight. Shrimp and Chicken Jambalaya. Nearly as tasty as I hoped it would be. Mr. Luke even liked it. He's not a picky eater but is sometimes hesitant when it comes to trying new, home-cooked meals.

The peppers and onions smelled wonderful!

The recipe (from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything) didn't include chicken but Luke wanted to have more meat than just shrimp so we some.

The finished product. It looked better in person and definitely tasted better!

Caboose has been having a great Valentine's weekend, including trying to drink out of the water faucet. It didn't work out so well in the end so he gave up and just laid low.

Luke and I made cards for each other...but we didn't exchange yet. That's for the actual day, you silly. We (and by we I think I pretty much mean I because Luke probably doesn't care much either way) like to make cards for each other instead of buying them because it shows a little more love and effort when into picking it out/getting ready for whatever you are going to celebrate. And its cute to see what someone comes up with (except that my cards are not cute - they look like they were made by a 2nd grader).

My parents, Luke and I put together a little box of goodies for my sisters for the big day. Pictures, a semi-homemade picture frame, chocolate, candy hearts, nail polish and homemade cards made two girls pretty happy (so I heard). It was a lot of fun to put it together in hopes they would feel special. Something nice goes a long way. Just remember that. (I just might consider those semi-homemade picture frames for my one masterpiece this month thing...how is that cheating? Its not. Exactly.)

Valentine's day doesn't have to be mushy lovey dovey. It can simply be a day you let those you love and care about know you love and care about them. Remember? A little something nice goes a long way.

Hope you enjoyed the weekend. And the Grammys!

A New Month!

Wow its February already! You know what that means...I think I need to revisit my New Year's Resolutions. Remember? I shared them with you in my Resolutions post. Go read it.

What is my January Masterpiece, you ask? Well, it doesn't exactly exist (completely) yet. I am working on a knitted scarf for my awesome momma (yep, it was a Christmas present) that is in progress. I'm also working on making those giant yarn ball things - the kind that you can hang and use as a lamp, hang outdoors for something like a wedding or garden party, or make a smaller version to put on a charger for a coffee table decoration or in a large glass vase.

I started and planned on finishing the yarn ball project in one day with my mom but the giant balls didn't quite turn out the way we thought. They didn't get hard enough. No pun intended. You think this is bad, you should have heard my mom while she lubed them up with Vaseline... Anyway, the yarn is still wrapped around the balls and is awaiting some sort of glue or a Mod Podge coating to make them stiffer before the balls are deflated and removed. When the actual masterpiece is finished I'll share with you. For now, here's a pic of our work to hold you over.

As for the other resolutions, they are coming along pretty well. The Halffer: I have a regular running schedule in preparation for the Halffer and will start my 10 week training program in a couple weeks. Life and Friends: I just got back from a great Girl's Weekend with about 10 girls for a weekend getaway at Wisconsin Dells. We go to the Wilderness Hotel every year and this year was just as wonderful and entertaining as it has been in the past. Watching the Superbowl (eeek! Go Packers!) this weekend with my family and Luke. You can bet I'll be ready for that - see here for my past Packers playoff game preparations! Pictures: I'm working on this one. :)

Cheers to a new month!