Goody, Goody, Goody!

Wordy start, but stick with me!

As part of my make it as memorable as possible birthday party I made goody bags. I made them even though I do not care for it when my own kids receive a goody bag. I am happy just to help the person celebrate and do not need anything to make it feel like it was worth my while for going. There has even been some recent press regarding goody bags and how they can get out of control or that they can be filled with junk you will just throw out when you get home. All this aside, I had a kid who was hell bent on having goody bags to hand out, so if I was to stick with my intent (you know making the memories) goody bags were a must

On the flip side of all the negative, a nice way to think of it is that giving is better than receiving. The goody bag kinda helps the birthday person experience this. I knew I didn't want to have bags bursting with dollar store trinkets and penny candy, but what to do?

Here is what I came up with:

I thought it was important for Loki to have a hand in the making of the bags. First he made a painting and then we cut it up and he signed the bottom to use as thank you notes.

In each bag we put a favorite toy we always get when we go to the zoo.

These are the size of a penny which I should have included for scale...Oh, well!

We closed each bag with a little button. I love these and all the cute sayings. I though it would be something the kids could pin on a jacket or bag to always remember the party.

Also should have used coins to show scale..these are a bit smaller than a quarter.

Last but not least the bags also had a mini Star Wars fruit roll up per Loki's request (no photo of those). I put all but the buttons inside a wax paper bag that I sewed up in the birthday boys favorite color, pined them shut and voila! not too terrible, kinda lovely goody bags.

 I love, love, love sewing paper but let me warn you wax paper, not so much. It is a pain. I would use parchment instead if I were to do this again.

At the end of the party we had a goody bag "egg" hunt (also Loki's idea) because it was 80 degrees in March. 

Five

How is it that once you have kids time seems to speed up and years fly by. With all these people telling me to cherish every moment you think that you could slow things down and take a second to enjoy your baby, toddler or new five year old but no... time flits past and where you once had a squishy tiny newborn now stands an adorable seemingly huge five year old.

Every year I take a picture just as they are waking up (they pretty much all look like this)

Up until now we have not had a party (well not counting his 1st birthday) but I remember my fifth birthday so I felt that it was important to help make his very memorable and thanks to Pinterest I hope I did. In fact it was Pinterest's fault that I had so much work to do what with all its good party ideas and stuff. Thanks A LOT Pinterest.

Homemade pixie sticks, adorable paper straws, tiny milk bottles (really cleaned frappaccino bottles), rainbow fruit kabobs and my own touch of a fabric scalloped fabric bunting and homemade goody bags. I'm tired just remembering all of it.

Ready to party!

With the exception of the pixie sticks (more on the big FAIL later), all was a success! I am so happy with how everything turned out and plan to use the bunting for every party we have since I worked so hard on it. Who new that round would be so time consuming a thing to sew and iron, but boy I love the look better than the pointed kind.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my sweet little guy!

Elfish My Selfish Hat

Last summer I knit myself a new winter hat. Unfortunately the yarn I used was not a good fit for the pattern which is kinda stretchy and the yarn is all stretched out and now the hat is big and it doesn't cover my ears.

I turned to Ravelry for inspiration and ideas when I stumbled across a kids hat pattern that I loved. My ears and head are now gloriously toasty all the time!

The low down
Pattern: Quynn by woolly wormhead
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran that I got I on a whim because it was on sale. It's super soft and the color is lovely. So far it's wearing very well with not a lot of pilling.
Mods: extra increases to fit an adult head and ears and changed from garter stitch to straight stitch after 5 garter ridges.

This was joy to knit and such a great way to seamlessly make a hat with earflaps. It knit's up fast too! I used my leftover yarn to make the same hat for my friends daughter.

Gifted Knitting

I have to admit I'm a very, very selfish knitter. I love knitting. I knit everyday if I can. I want what I work on to stay with me. Of course if I really kept to this I would have a house bursting full of knits and not enough kids or days or me to wear them.

So on that note and to keep my mind and fingers busy with yarn I knit this lovely sweater for my mom. I gave it to her for Christmas unfinished. In years past I have given people unfinished knits and, well, they have remained that way.  Not so with this one!

The Low Down
Pattern: Cardigan Bay Jacket by Carol Feller
Yarn: Mirasol Yarn Ushya colorway 1706 or greenish (the same yarn I used in my Cardiff Coat, just a different color)
Modifications: Less waist shaping and did snaps instead of buttons.

My mom had asked me to knit her something with boucle yarn, to which I cringed and searched and told her NO. I continued my search for a sweater (and yarn) I wanted to knit that she would also like and came up with the Cardigan Bay. It had texture that I though oozed comfort and cuddly.

When I gave it to her I did not have the snaps on yet and was hoping that she would be fine just using the belt. Not the case...so I added the snaps I had planned for thinking it would be less of a pain then buttons. NOT THE CASE! Snaps are a huge time consuming pain that I had to force myself into getting done. Overall it was worth it because I really like the clean look of the snaps with the belt but next time I think snaps I may think again.