Failed Attempts

When you aspire to make things that you haven't made before, you are bound to have a few mishaps. This week I have had two crafty ideas gone awry. Both dealing with Valentine's day. I feel the universe maybe telling me not to celebrate this holiday of love. 

Fail 1:

The first was my attempt to make my own version of heart ornaments that the lovely owner of What No Mints (shop and blog), Sasha makes. She is as science teacher and I thought it would be cute to make her something adorable with a science edge. So I wanted to make her a heart with serotonin molecule on it (seen on WNM's sun below).

But sadly, sewing is a stretch as it is. Even mild embroidery was a fools attempt for me. My string knotted three times just trying to get the first two lines of the molecule sewn in, I couldn't seem to cut two sides of a heart that were the same size even when I held them together, and when I attempted to draw on the molecule the ink bled through the felt. It was an utter failure and I wasted so much felt in the attempt alone. I am hoping to still have some cute valentines to share after the big day, but so far it's not looking so great. I wish I had a picture to share of the mess, but I didn't think to take a picture of it in my frustration.


Fail 2: A while ago I made the cutest crochet hearts, 21 in total, in a big and small size. I used this tutorial at Skip to my Lou to make them but only used row one and two. (both to make the bigger size and just the one to make the mini hearts).

Big Heart and Little Heart

21 hearts!

So I was planning to make a garland, like that from the tutorial. But, grabbing my dusty purple yarn and going to work to string them all together...things went awry.

I first tried just threading the yarn through the top, like the tutorial does:

But, it just wasn't working. It was pulling the hearts together so the looked more like a circle than a heart. So then I tried threading it through the back which worked, or seemed to, until 5 hearts in I held it up and realized they all were going to fall forward so they faced the floor instead of people. 

So that failed. I think I may try to turn them into hair pins. Perhaps that's the best course of action at this point in time. Or ornaments. Or maybe I will be able to turn them into some sort of cute valentine for my loved ones yet. My mom already sent me her lovely crafty valentine, a homemade card! Isn't it wonderful!?

Do you have any lovely valentines that you've made? Send me a picture or link! I'd love to see what crafty things you all are doing for your valentines.

Stay Lovely,
Katelin

Apartment Wish List: Cloth Napkins/Tea Towels

I will be getting an apartment soon, so I have been looking around for some things that I would really like to have to use once I do. One thing on my list is cloth napkins/tea towels. I've been looking around to see if I can find anything great. Here are a few I've found so far:

Little Birds Boutique

Hampton Jewels

JAQS Studio

Atelier LZC Guirlande and Oiseaux Tea Towels

Weekly Menu Printables

In a lot of ways I am a big on planning. And meal planning seems to be a big one for a lot of people...except me. That could be because it feels like a lot of effort to think that out to me, or it could be because I am currently still living in a dorm (last semester of college!) and don't exactly have a kitchen to use for planned meals. I think the latter is the real issue.
I do see the benefits of planning out weekly menus though, grocery shopping for one should be much easier because you will know exactly what you need for each day of the week. No more running out at the last second to get an ingredient for something you really want to make. So in honor of my future plans to make weekly menus I have gathered up some free printables of weekly menus:
Olli Bird:
Shown is just one of Olli Bird's two great prints based on cookware.

Artsy-Fartsy Mama:
Artsy-Fartsy Mama offers the printable below in a variety of colors. You could have a different color for every week of the month and if you are like me that's exciting (because color coding is excellent).

The Project Girl:
Below is one of two great printables. Both have the added element of a shopping list that is separated out into food groups to make your weekly shopping even easier!

Tip Junkie:
I love the printables over at Tip Junkie and this one is no exception. Another example with separated colors! Yay color coding!

Hopefully one or more of these seems like a good fit for you. As an additional option/tip is to pick one you like a lot, print it out and put it in a glass frame. That way you can write on it with a dry erase marker and not print out a separate list each week. Super easy and eco-friendly!

Stay Lovely,
Katelin

Hat Sizing Chart

I have been doing a lot of crochet in the past few days, and I realized one of the things I really need now is a size chart I can pull out whenever I want to make a specific sized hat or headband. So, I did some research and put one together! The head circumferences listed are very standard across all the sources I found, but I can't say for sure how accurate the hat heights are as there were only a couple sources listing them, but they sound about right (measuring from the base of you neck to the start of your crown).

Hope this helps you in your crochet or even knitting needs:

Keep an eye out for a foot sizing chart for booties, slippers and socks! Soon to come!

Stay Lovely,
Katelin

Flavored Cocoa Mix Recipe

Several years ago my mom came across this fantastic drink recipe and I fell in love. It is a basic cocoa mix that you add cinnamon and a flavored dry creamer to. If you can find Irish Cream creamer that's the best, but it's hard to come across (I've only found it once, years ago). Vanilla works particularly well as well. But choose any flavor you like! Enjoy!

click on to enlarge and print!
Add whip cream and chocolate shavings for a cafe taste and look! Plus extra yumminess!

Let me know if you find a creamer that works extra well! Perhaps a mocha/chocolate flavor?
Stay Lovely,
Katelin

Apple Pie!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which means preparing delicious food! In my family desserts are made more than anything else, so today I made an apple pie with my mom! She was gracious enough to both teach me how to make it and help me photograph the process, which meant it took a little longer to make.

We used a recipe from Taste of Home called Delightful Apple Pie. My mom made a few adjustments however, including eliminated the walnuts and apple butter, adding oats and caramel topping, and changing the amount of butter used. Here is our revised recipe:

  

click on the recipe cards to see them bigger and print!

And here are some pics of the process:

 

And The Final Delightful Apple Pie! I think tomorrow I will have to  eat my dessert first!

 

Stay Lovely,

Katelin

Hello Lovely!

I'm back with another blog. Keep an eye out for coming posts about everything from crafts, crochet, diy, etsy, fashion, food, music (yes I did put that in alphabetic order, congrats to those who noticed) and more. I have quite a few ideas that have been floating around in my head and will be coming soon to Hello Lovely.