Patriots Hat/Santa Hat

Hey there! Yes, I'm still around. Been in a funk for a year. We will see if I can keep this up. 

I was looking for a Santa Hat last year and ran across the "Penny's Santa Hat" from the Big Bang Theory. 

Absolutely freaking adorable.  I decided to try my hand. I couldn't make it work. 

I decided to try again this year and found one that called for 16" cable needles (Megan Dodson's "Penny's Santa Hat" on Ravelry.com) Yay! I like that. Some of the directions were a bit confusing - to me. But I'm an idiot knitter. (When it says to k5 k2tog 4x, I assumed they wanted me to do the decreases all the way around the tail, but the way the pattern read, they wanted me to do it for four rows. And the numbers didn't add up. It may have just been my tiredness level, but there were a couple of things like that. Just read it carefully. It will make sense.)

When looking at the photos of completed projects, I saw one someone had done one in Steelers (boo!) colors with a logo stitched in to the tail. Brilliant! (Except for the Steelers part). I decided forget Santa!

I need a NE Patriots hat! 

 

Never having done color strand work before, I gave up on that midway, deciding on duplicate stitch. Nope. Too many decreases. The stitches went off in too many different ways from the chart.   So, I will order some Swarovski crystals and make this thing sparkly! 

365-photo project

I haven't really done much to stretch my wings photographically in a really long time. With the death of my trusty D80 and the upgrade to the d7100, I decided to do something about that in 2015. If I figure out how to link my Instagram to here maybe it will auto update. Otherwise I'll try to update when I think about it. 

Here is what I have so far 

Prism Candle Conundrum

So let's have a discussion about the Prism Candles that are all over Pinterest.
Everyone who knows me knows that I have a problem.  I can't stop making the glitter mason jar candles (see post 1) and I fell in love with the glass marble covered "prism candle".  This is the original tutorial and I have seen a few others since then. One with blue marbles - oooh that was lovely!  I've read so many versions.  The main one says to use E6000.  People complain that it takes too long, and to use a glue gun.  Nope.  That might work quickly, but they won't stay very long.  In the comments of this tutorial, someone says to use a two part epoxy - that's not even clear. 

I decided to use the E6000 since that works with glass and I know it will work.  Next you have to decide - do you want an even top or even bottom.  Some people suggest starting at the bottom and working your way up.  This tutorial has you starting at the top and working your way down.  I kind of mixed the two and started at the top and worked my way down the side and then around until I could see both edges and then started to fill in and work my way down.  I didn't want a ribbon around the top of my jar - that's just not me - so my jar had to be even all around the top. I can't see the bottom from where I'm sitting, so I don't care that it's not perfect.

Lastly - she says this project takes hours.  It takes days.  And scotch tape is your friend. Once I discovered that little trick - my life was so much easier.  I also jumped in and did a quart jar - not the cute little jar she's used in the tutorial.

I also didn't brush any glue on.  I just smushed glue directly onto the jar and then plopped the marble on.  It wasn't sticking with the brush and stick method. Maybe because my jar had decorations on it? I don't know.  But those suckers are STUCK ON.

So, enjoy a pictorial essay of what my journey to prism candle holder nirvana looked like!  There isn't a point to re-do the tutorial - you can just click on her page.

Start

 

After I discovered the tape trick

The final project!

And a fail...

I promised I'd share these.  I have a thing for candles (I swear. No more candles).  I wanted these cool glittered candles with the numbers 2 0 1 5 burning on my mantle to welcome the new year. 

I tried good old Elmers. Doesn't stick to wax. I tried to melt the outside of the candle with a lighter and roll it in glitter. Nope. Lastly I tried spray adhesive, thinking the propellant would etch into the wax. It worked the best, but it ran off and left me with lumpy glitter. 

Woo. Here are my candles in all their glory. 

Yeah. No vodka.

See? SEE? I told you I suck at this blogging thing. I forget. All the time. I meant to be crafty but it didn't happen. The holidays got to me and I had fun and didn't write about it at all. 

So now I'm all snuggled up on the sofa with my sweetie looking at this

And am quite content. 

And then there was light... or at least a sparkly little container for it

In the past couple of days I've had no fewer than five people say, "Do you blog? You should blog." with a few more, "just do it - don't stop. Just post stuff!" So here I am!  Here's my first post in... um... two years?? 

<crickets> yeah, that's what I thought.

So, basically I figure this is about my crafts, cooking, plants, yammering, friends,  what I think is funny, my kid, my husband, and... whatever else strikes my fancy.  Lest you think I'm good at any of this or this is going to be a "Martha Stewart" uber-mom kind of blog where the woman is always put together and perfectly groomed and has the perfect thank you note to pull out, or can put her hands on wrapping paper or craft supplies at a moment's notice.  THAT IS NOT ME! I know those women, and they are fabulous!  I can't keep my house clean.  I just did a project and tore my house apart to find a single paint brush.  I fail as often as I succeed.  But that's okay. I laugh in the face of failure, and like to share those too.

Now.  On to my project.  As many of you know, my mom passed when I was just barely pregnant with The Kid.  I haven't really been in a Christmas mood in many, many years.  It has slowly been coming back the past few years but this year.  HOLY COW!  It has slammed into me.  I had a somewhat tied together decoration plan years ago, but over the years it has all fallen apart (candles used up, things broken or worn out, random stuff bought... it's year 16 for Christmases for My Sweetie and I together).  I really need a refresh and a plan.  I've been stalking Pinterest.  That is such a great place.  It's a great bookmarking tool, as well as a great place to find ideas.  While I was there, I found this awesome idea from a blog called CakeryPapery.  

Now, I've been called a "sparkly woman" because of my love of glitter.  I knew I had to try it.  I love mason jars.  I love candles.  I love glitter.  It's a hat trick!  Could it be as easy as described? I mean for me. 

The squirrels in my brain decided TODAY'S THE DAY.  I found a mason jar.  After two hours of scrubbing, half a bottle of GooGone, a bottle of Advil and an hour waving off the fumes.  It was clean.  

Mostly clean. Good enough!  I had scrubbed long enough, and there was glittering to be done.  Seriously.

 A frantic search for a paint brush ensued, a struggle to open some strong glue (Elmer's super or some such), and glitter (I ALWAYS know where the glitter is), and I managed to acquire all the materials I needed to try this.

After the set up, it took about 4 minutes to do the rest of the project.  I mixed the glue and water to make a really light wash.  Swirled the glue wash around the inside of the jar with the paint brush, cleaned up any drips on the inside, then dumped the glitter into the bottom.  I stuck my hand over the top, went outside into the flipping cold and shook it all around to coat.  I put almost exactly enough in there. There was very little left over.  The coating was very thin, like I wanted.  I'll probably go through and brush some off when it's all dry.

A view into the mason jar - really a Wegman's Grandma's Sauce jar

I think it came out nicely.  I will probably hunt down some more jars now that this has gone so well.  Maybe do some in silver and a mix of silver and gold.

Next up - Cranberry Vodka!  No, I know I don't drink. It's still pretty!

Finished product - maybe I'll get pictures with a tea light in it eventually.  Don't hold out for too much.

(update - I rebooted all the way to a new name and started fresh.  Thank Cousin Kate for being clever). Don't fall over or anything, but I got a picture of it with a candle.  It' s gorgeous.