New Crochet animal hats!

After getting so many hits on my shop that was closed, I decided to take it out of vacation mode again. That 3 day break though was very nice. I am selling my crochet animal hats in a local children's boutique, and the hats that I listed today I dropped off in the boutique this afternoon. My children do not need any more hats, as they all have about 3 each, so from now on when I make new designs I will take pictures of them to list them on Etsy, and then drop them off in the local boutique to sell. I am also excited to start making some dresses to drop off there as well. I will probably make several peasant and pillow case dresses, as I think those would do well here.

With that said, I made this hat for my children's piano teacher who ordered a neutral color owl hat for a contest he is going to be holding at their piano recital. I liked it so much I decided I would make 2 one for him and one for the children's boutique...

Here it is listed in my store..

Also, don't forget to head over to my facebook page to enter the crochet owl hat giveaway pinned to the top of my page!!

Old Friends, New Friends, A Giveaway, And A Break.

                       I have decided to put my shop into vacation mode for one week, and will reopen on November 23. I had a heart to heart with my daughter (5) the other night and she told me that she didn't get to spend that much time with me and then started crying. That prompted me to close my shop up for a week to focus more on the things that my children love and want to learn more about. We made a list of of things that each of them would like to learn and we are going to be spending the next week pursuing those interests. Last  night they wanted to learn how to do origami, so I looked up some simple kid origami and we made swords, and pianos. I am intentionally trying to have special bonding time with my children at home so for the last couple of nights we have all gathered on the sectional sofa like a passel of cats, as I read from the Little House on The Prairie series before bed. I plan on doing this every night until we read the whole series. We read about 2-3 chapters a night, and after that we will find another wholesome and classic series to read...Any suggestions on a good one? It can be a series or a book.

My ship of learners.

                            Also the weekly owl hat giveaway is going great, and I am having people entering the contest from all over the world. I did not specify that it had to be from the US, and I am perfectly fine with shipping overseas, as I have done that several times in the past. I was kind of dreaming up something as an instrument of blessing from my shop too via my facebook page...I would like to host some type of giveaway for a needy and deserving little girl. Like, people would enter the giveaway on behalf of that child, and the child would receive a beautiful custom dress made just for her. I would want children represented who have lost a parent or sibling, who is sick, in foster care, or just overall in need to be told, that YES YOU are a princess, and so special that someone has made a beautiful dress just for YOU. It could be overseas, or stateside....I am not sure of how I would go about all of that but in the meantime I will continue to hold the owl hat giveaway's every Friday until Christmas, so make you sure you sign up for that on my facebook page to enter the contest.

                            Yesterday was an exciting day. A friend of mine started a playgroup that meets once a month in our town. We had planned to get together outside, but it was pretty cold, so I offered to host it at my house..I am always up for a big party. My house is not big, but it is very child friendly. It was a bit of a large crowd, and I saw a lot of old friends, and met some new ones as well! It kind gave me a feel for what the Mustache Bash is going to be like that  I am hosting later this year for my husband in which 19 families have RSVP'd to come.


Play group starter on the right, who is due any day with #2!



old friends



new friends

The mommies posing

                                             

The playgroup's player's

 

 

 

That is all that I have for now, if you have any ideas for a good series to read my children, or a good way to go about the princess giveaway, please share in the comments below. Thanks!

Fun times giving away!

A couple of things, I really appreciate the encouragement that I got from the last post. It meant a lot. I have been searching for way to promote my shop and fan page, and thought I would try and host a giveaway on my facebook page. Well, it worked, and I had so much fun with it. I really have no idea how to do a fancy giveaway so I did the drawing old school style. I wrote down everyones name on a piece of paper and put it in a bowl. I had one of my children draw the name so  that they could feel involved in the contest. I really want to include them as much as possible in the workings of Sweet Home Boutique. I know if they feel like they are vital in important things, they will have no desire to rebel and run away as they get older. I mean who wants to leave a place where they are so desperately needed. I do find it hard though to include them in everything. Like, my girls really want to sew for the shop but they are not quite ready yet :-)...I tell them to keep practicing, and pretty soon they will be doing everything.

So, on to the contest. I asked my husband to take a couple pictures of me preparing the drawing for my blog, and here is what I got..lol..

Afterwards I took the camera over and snapped a picture of the bowl of names!

 I then had miss America pick a name!

 YaY, my first contest winner (excuse the greasy face, I had not washed up yet)

 I was so excited  doing this that I am going to be giving away a custom crochet owl hat every Friday from my facebook page, so make sure you go over there and sign up!


I also got to working on some new things to my shop.  I actually cut the fabric for this dress a couple of weeks ago, but just had the chance to sew it together last night. We have some really pretty red roses in our yard so my daughter and I grabbed one and headed out to the backyard behind our fence to snap some pictures. My children are actually very enthusiastic to model for me because I pay them $1.00. Not every time they model, but every month or so we go shopping with their obedient jar money, and I put the dollar in there with it.

 I didn't actually use this picture in my shop,  but I really like it.

 I also crocheted a love bug hat for my hats collection. I like the colors, and I had to replace some other hats the I took out. Even thought the Mickey and Minnie, Hello Kitty, and Captain America were popular in my shop, they are licenced characters, and I want my shop to be above board on everything. If I want Sweet Home Boutique to be a strong company it has to be built right from the bottom up.

So, what do you think about the cherry dress, and the love bug hat?

Also, make sure to head over to my facebook page to enter the giveaway for the crochet owl hat.

 

This and That.

So, where to begin. I have been so busy here with everything in general. I have a horrible habit of spending WAY to much time on the computer. Just ask my family :-)...I think I need to work on that but it is hard when I have an online boutique, and yes facebook IS my daily social life with my friends. Now that I have both clothing and crochet items in my shop I get a bit conflicted...I really want to crochet new projects, but I also want to add some more clothes. Instead of going for it and doing one I just stand there a bit stunned, then  hop on the computer instead..Not Good for business!
I justify it by promoting when I am online. I am in the process of a promotion on my facebook page now. It is going well, but I should have added more requirements...I will be doing that on my next giveaway that I will start on Friday, and host from my blog. Not sure of what I am going to be giving away yet, so if you have any suggestions of things from my shop, you can leave it in the comments below. I am very open to input.

On motherhood, gosh, sometimes I feel like such a failure. I mean, I know I try my best, but I of course always fall short. The hardest part of motherhood I believe is always being a good example to my children. They watch everything I do, how I eat, my habits and attitudes..I always need to check myself because I really don't feel like I can do much if my child is acting out, and I am seeing myself in that particular behavior. The only thing I can do is of course tell them they are wrong, and then check myself and work on it. Like all moms, I want my children to be everything that they can be.

Back to my shop again, I have been able to get out some more things in between sending out orders from a big rush to my shop last week. Here are some new things that I listed. Please tell me what you think of them. The picture in the yellow skirt I took myself with a continuous timer, so I am not really sure about them. Also, I was going to wear a really nice brown ruffle shrug over the top, but I couldn't find it so I wore a short hoodie instead. Not sure that works so much either, but I think it gives it maybe an edgier (or dirtier ) look..

                                                                  

 

                    

I also listed a crochet frog hat.

 I was actually pretty happy with the frog hat because I just put it together without looking at any patterns.
What are your thoughts on the new listings, and how about the edgie, grungy hoodie?  Does it work or should I redo those pics?

Decoupage, my first experiance with Mod Podge.

I was totally inspired by pinterest to do some modpodge projects. I wanted to start small, so that I didn't ruin something. I decided to make my daughters 5&6 some jewelry boxes for the big clip on earrings, and beaded necklaces. First I gathered my supplies. Folk Art paint, sponge, paintbrush, 2 pieces of pretty cardstock, a plate, blank jewelry boxes, and of course....Mod Podge

 

 

The first thing I did was prime the jewelry box by painting them...

 My next step was to paint the inside with modpoge. Because cardstock is already hard I did not have to prep that with it. .

 I then placed the pretty paper on the inside of box boxes, and on the top..I covered the paper with a coat as well to secure it to the boxes and give it a protected surface.

And, Ta Da pretty jewelry boxes for my little girls. After seeing these my sons 2&4 decided that they wanted boxes as well. So, I am going to be on the lookout for some cool cardstock paper to decorate them with. My 4 year old wants to use his to store Lego's and I thought that was a great idea.

These would make great Christmas Gifts as well!

Crochet Owl Hat Giveaway!!

I am hosting a giveaway on my facebook page for a FREE custom owl hat, you pick the colors and size! This would be a great Christmas gift.

 

   Head over to my FACEBOOK PAGE to enter in the contest, drawing will be help on Friday!

Peanut Butter Play dough recipe

        Before having children I worked in the university preschool and the main teacher would make this for the children. I thought it was a great idea, fun and lunch all in one.
Here is how to make it..

Gather your supplies...Peanut butter, powdered milk, honey, raisins and pretzel sticks.

 Mix half peanut butter and powdered milk according to the batch size you would like. Then add about  1/4 cup of honey..more of less depending on your batch size

Stir it up at first, and then knead it with your hands. If it is super sticky add some more powdered milk.

 Give each participant pretzel sticks, and raisins and a ball of dough and see what they come up with!

Enjoy lunch and have fun!