Maria's thoughts on the little things in life.....: Feeling Crafty

In the next two months, I will have two beautiful nieces join this world. I say beautiful because I already know they will be and I can't wait to meet them and love them to pieces. Lately, I have had this itch to make things....from scratch, which is new territory for me. So, I decided why not make things for my nieces? Well, beautiful babies deserve beautiful things......I just wasn't sure that I had ever made anything that pretty all by myself. Crafty was never a word I would have used to describe myself in the past.....but I am a mom now, and isn't that what moms do? In the words of Barney Stinson from HIMYM "Challenge Accepted."

My first project is a knitted blanket for baby Hailee, which is taking way longer than I thought. I only know one way of knitting, which was taught to me by my mother (who is a PRO at knitting) and she considered this to be a 'beginner' stitch. I guess I bought really small needles, b/c I swear I've been at this for weeks.......this matches the color of Hailee's room and I have less than 4 weeks until her due date. So I better get on it. I think I need to set some time aside everyday to knit, otherwise, I lose focus on things such as sleeping, eating and housework. Or maybe I am the slowest knitter in the world? The look I got from a gal sitting next to me on the bus the other morning certainly indicated that I looked odd doing it......but I am not giving up Hailee! You shall have a blankey from your auntie M! I'll post a picture of it when I am less embarrassed by my progress, ahem.....

My other and also quite ambitious project was making felt rosettes for my sister in law's baby shower this weekend. Her name is Gioia and she is having my other niece, Estela at the end of April. She is so talented when it comes to making crafty things......so I thought I would try to make something in her honor by providing folks with a little take away that reminded them of Gioia. Here is the kicker: I was actually good at this! I stayed up making a bunch of them by cutting my little pieces of felt (iPhone in hand to keep checking the tutorial and making sure I was not messing them up). It was so much fun and I am so proud of myself:

First attempt......kinda ugly

With a pin in the middle....before I busted out the glue gun :)

After a while, it got addicting....

Each person who came to the shower got a hand-made flower and some tea as favors

I want to do more......I want to make sure that I no longer recycle my JoAnn Fabrics coupon books without looking at them. I got a great deal on the fabric last weekend (preparing for the flower project) and get this--I bought a glue gun people! I mean, if that doesn't say that I am "crafty", then I don't know what does. I want to learn more (I've been pretty addicted to artsy/crafty blogs lately) and have been amazed at how much you can do with a few simple 'tools'. Maybe I'll attempt nursery decorations next.....we do have another kid's bedroom to create in the near future.......and how fun would be to say "mom made that--all by herself!" :)