NOCHE BUENA!!!

The phrase in Spanish for Christmas Eve is "Noche Buena". I like it better than the English one. It literally means "Good Night", and it makes me think more of the wonderful reason why we are celebrating this days. My Savior, the King of Kings was born. He gave me and you the ultimate gift. I love Him. Let us remember Him more often during the year 2012!!!!!

Warm and Cozy Scarf: Gift Idea #2

"Oh the weather outside is frightful..." Actually, today is a wonderful day with 51 degrees!! But I know the cold days are coming, like they always do in this side of the world. So what better gift that something to warm up those little necks when they are going to school and the teachers make them wait outside for the parents to pick them up.

This scarf, like almost all the things I have made, came to be because of my husband. Like the Purse, it was supposed to be a sock!! ja ja ja, I will tell you that story some other time.
Anyway, my husband said one day, as he was getting Estrella ready to go to school, "She needs a scarf, could you make her one?" I was in the middle of some other knitting projects, but my husband asked me so many times that I decided to make one right away instead of waiting until I was done with my other project.  It only took a weekend to make and when I was done, he said: " I think it needs some tassels."
So I put on some tassels, then he said, "why don't you put on a flower or something" So I did, you see, he is the one with the creative mind, I just make it.

The flower for this scarf is very different from my usual winter flowers. They look more full and puffy. I like them a lot.

So the following week, Estrella was wearing her scarf for school, she thought she looked fancy!!! I think it is a great gift for this cold weather, what do you think? Thanks for reading.

GIRLS LOVE PURSES!! Gift Idea #1

I love how the weather has been lately, not too cold and so SUNNY!!! I have been working on my little gift ideas for little girls. Here is my first idea. A little purse for those girlies! For some reason, since they are able to walk around, girls love purses. I don't like purses, but my girls love them, they could have lots of them and still, when they see another cute one, they want it.
Here is Isabella playing with one, she has dolls in it and clothes and who know what else.

I think I shared this purse before, but here is the latest, which of course Estrella thought was for her and wanted it so bad. She was sad when I put it in an envelope to ship to Kansas. :(

 This is an easy to make gift, but it takes some time because it has little details. the knitting part takes me about three days, knitting in the evenings after the girls go to bed. It is not that hard, I could actually make it faster but, you know how it is. Then the ribbon and flowers is a matter of minutes.

 The lining is the part that takes the longest. I put on the lining by hand. I like the combination of green and hot pink. It came to me last Sunday when I put on Isabella a green dress and then I realized that she didn't have a sweater to match except a hot pink one, I put it on anyway and it totally looked nice.

Well, I think the girls liked this purse and I hope that the little girl who got this one loves it as well. What do you think? Do you think your little girl would like one? Thanks for reading.

Tis the season to give!

The most wonderful time of the year is here!! The only thing I dislike about this is the weather, but the rest is just magical!! This year we have been trying to do lots of service with the girls. I want them to enjoy making others happy.

We watch a veggie tale about the story of Santa Claus and it talk about giving because you are happy of knowing The Savior. The girls liked it. We have talked about how we could make this season one of giving and showing that we were happy to know our Savior. I showed them some options, and I told them about how when I was a teacher we made hats for the kids at the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. We watched some videos of some patients at the hospital and they were hooked, they wanted to bring something to those kids that are at the Hospital.  So, I looked into it and found out that they could do a toy drive.
Here is the video we made, please watch it and email me if you would like to help. The girls will be so happy and grateful to you. Have a wonderful Holiday Season! remember who we are celebrating! We are grateful for Him and His great love for us! thank you for reading my blog!!




UPDATE: Thanks so much to everyone who has watched and responded- a lot of our non-Chicago friends were wondering how they could help- so we set up a place where you could donate a dollar or two : https://www.wepay.com/donate/193644

THE MARI BERET

I finally decided to change my style. I am into berets now. I think they look so adorable. This is my first one, and my inspiration was a sweet little girl who lives in Utah. Her mother wanted me to make a black hat for her with buttons. (this is not her by the way, this is Isabella's friend who had a birthday so she got the hat as a present, and she loves it!!)

 This was my first attempt at making what my friend asked me for her daughter. I used circular needles #2.5 for the rib. I cast on 52 and it was just right for this 3 year old head, which is not small like my teeny tiny 3 year old, this little girl has average head size for a 3 year old, I think I should use her always as my model cause when I used my girls the hats end up being smaller.

For the rest of the hat I knit seed stich with circular needles #10, I increase to 68 to give it that nice beret look. I did the crown the same way I do my other hats. I decided it needed a big flower which I made from ribbon and a flower button, I like it, do you?

And, here is the adult version of it. I used thicker yarn for this one and ended up casting only 48 and increasing to 58. I like it because it was a fast knit. (Well, fast once I figured out the perfect size for this kind of yarn) I used circular needles #10 and #13.

This one goes to a teenager so I thought it needed something different than flowers. I put two wooden buttons. It can be wore in so many different ways. 

I had a hard time finding free patterns for berets, so I did my own, hence the time I spent figuring out the perfect size. I will be posting the pattern for both kinds of yarn and sizes on my next blog so you won't have to figure it out. What do you think? are berets in or what?!! Thank you for reading!

The Fantastic 4 Team: Halloween Customes, Part II: Princess and the Frog...

The Fantastic 4 Team: Halloween Customes, Part II: Princess and the Frog...: Ever since Isabella watched the movie Princess and the Frog, she could not talk about anything else but Tiana, she just loves her, and I hav...

Halloween Customes, Part II: Princess and the Frog Dress

Ever since Isabella watched the movie Princess and the Frog, she could not talk about anything else but Tiana, she just loves her, and I have to say that out of all the Disney Princesses , she is my favorite, because she is not really royalty, she is a working lady with a dream, who happens to meet the right person at the right time and is humbled enough to go with it. Isabella wanted to be her since that moment. My husband got her the baby doll of Tiana for her birthday.

Here are the two princesses!! 

This dress was quite the challenge. the front is one yellow and one green blouse. Same with the skirt, basically is like sewing a dress over another dress. It was all new for me, it is probably something basic for experienced seamstresses.

I made three leaves for each sleeve. I made the flower with shiny, transparent ribbon with a little white ribbon flower in the middle, like the ones for my hats.                                                                                                                                                                    

I think the part that was hard was the fact that Isabella is so tiny, I had to resized the smallest patterns and still the dress is loose on her. I started on Wednesday 27 at 9:00 p.m. and finished on Thursday 28 at 1:00 a.m.

Anyway, she loves it!! even if nobody, not even one person knew who she was when we were trick or treating, sad!! I enjoyed so much making these customes for my girls!! 

The Fantastic 4 Team: Halloween Customs Part I: Rapunzel

The Fantastic 4 Team: Halloween Customs Part I: Rapunzel: Halloween is not my favorite, but I like to dress up as a family. Sadly this year, my girls wanted to be princesses, so they are going to be...

Halloween Customs Part I: Rapunzel

Halloween is not my favorite, but I like to dress up as a family. Sadly this year, my girls wanted to be princesses, so they are going to be the only ones dressing up. 

Estrella is going to be Rapunzel, so here is the model for the dress I made. They just got this barbie as a birthday gift. I got pink and purple cotton. My sister in law gave me some nice ribbon she used on her little girl's dress, she is going to be a Rapunzel as well!! 

Here is the result of four hours of sewing. Excuse my daughters face, she was not happy to pose for the camera. Again!!  I didn't follow the model exactly  of course and I switch the colors a little bit, but I think it still looks great.

I put some shiny ribbon in the middle so I could make the lace looking part, I made little hooks with the ribbon and then pass another piece of the ribbon through the loops to tie at the end.  I also added some ribbon on the waist and the collar because it was looking too simple and blah. The sleeves are my favorite part, I sew some ribbon to make the stripes, I love how they look all puffy. 

It is a little long for her, so the hem is quite big, but since it is also kind of loose, I figure she can use it for some years. It is a play pretend dress, but I think it is my best one yet, even better that the spring ones!!

 So, what do you think? it was pretty easy, (except for the zipper, that was hard) as I said, only four hours.  I started on Tuesday at 10 p.m. and finish on Wednesday at 2:00 a.m., I know, crazy, but better do it now than having to run the last day. If you are interested in the pattern let me know.

And here is a preview for Part II, Isabella's princess dress, can you guess which princess she is?

The Fantastic 4 Team: Estrella Looming

The Fantastic 4 Team: Estrella Looming: Here are the videos of Estrella looming the hat for her doll, unfortunately my video camera got wet and now the audio doesn't work, but you ...

Estrella Looming

Here are the videos of Estrella looming the hat for her doll, unfortunately my video camera got wet and now the audio doesn't work, but you can see how she is doing it. This is so super easy, try it with your kids!! If you have any questions about it, please let me know, I will be glad to help you!

If I remember well, in this one I asked her who was the hat for and she said "it is for my American Doll" then I asked her if she wanted to do another one and for who, she said yes, and Isabella. She also said she likes doing it. 

Estrella's first knitted hat

It has been so long since I wrote something on this blog, life has been crazy!! Summer of 2011 was so wet, brought mold to my house and lots of work, that I am still trying to catch up. But I have so many projects I want to share with you, might as well start!

Some months ago I decided that I was going to teach my girls how to knit and sew. Estrella turned 5 this summer so I figured she is old enough to follow instructions. I decided that looming was the easiest and fastest way to start knitting. I told her that we could sit together 30 minutes each afternoon while Isabella was napping and knit and talk. I told her that she could knit things for her American Doll, she was hooked!!!

I have always been fascinated with the idea of just sitting together with my daughters, by the fire, and a sewing/knitting project in our hands, and just chat the afternoon away! like girls did in Colonial Times! no TV, no internet, just mom and daughters sitting in a room sewing or knitting and talking. Doesn't that sound so inviting? Besides, knitting occupies idle hands and can broaden a child's attention span. Knitting provides a creative outlet for kids, helping them to relax. Kids can knit in the car on long trips too. They can experience the joy of creating something beautiful and unique with their own hands. Each project completed is something to be treasured!

So here is Estrella's first project, she was super excited, she started another hat right away, "for Isabella" she said. I have a video of her looming, which I will share as soon as I figured out how to! for now, enjoy the pictures of her very first knitting project. Let me know if you want tips on how to get kids into knitting. Do you think it is something worth the time?

Pies Descalzos!

What crazy week we had, a huge storm that left us with no electricity for the past three days, until today! I heard that big storm came from a real almost tornado!!! crazy!! it was kind of weird to come home at night and see just darkness in town. I am grateful for electricity, it is quite amazing how dependable we are of it!!

Anyway, I wanted to share this sleepers I made for Estrella, I still haven't finish Isabella's, and I think I will post a tutorial for them. They are quite easy, the only problem is that leather is hard to sew, but you can totally make them with fabric. This is a pink leather that Chris brought me, it is pretty soft, but it was still kind of hard to sew.

I like my girls to always have shoes on in the house, but it is not always comfortable, so I decided to make them some sleepers that would be comfortable and pretty. Estrella likes them so far, the only think she doesn't like is that they are "inside shoes" meaning, she can't walk outside with them, they will reap I think. 

See the point of my own sleeper? mine reap cause I don't follow the rule of not walking outside with my sleepers, I have even gone to the store wearing them!! now they have a huge whole on the sole. 

So now I don't have anymore "Pies Descalzos" (bare feet) in my house!! If I have carpet maybe we will have bare feet, but I hate carpet, or if my floor was heated, but it is not, I just don't like dirty feet! :) What do you think? am I being to crazy? too picky? Thank you for reading!!

A late Happy Father's Day and some other notes

The weather has been so rainy lately, it makes me want to sleep all day, if only I could! but it also makes me not have any desires to do anything but read whenever I have a free time, so I haven't been working on anything lately other than some skirts I made for the girls out Chris' T-shirts, ( the wrong ones by the way, he loved them, oh well!) I will put some pictures later and maybe a tutorial if I can figure it out, some crotchet sandals with Jute (they are a pain cause I don't crotchet much), a summer hat with raffia and a dress for a wedding. So I will keep you posted.
I apologized for taking so long in posting anything at all, but as I said before I've been in the reading mood, so far I have read "To Kill a Mockingbird"(loved it), "Cutting for Stone" (awful book) "The Inmortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (wonderful, super!!), "Let the Great World Spin" "Half Broke Horses" and "Olive Kitteridge" (currently reading). I am also working on getting my Interpreter License, and teaching Estrella how to read in Spanish, she can do it already so now we just practice!! she is so smart!!
On a side note, I have to say that I was a little disappointed for the lack of comments in my blog, but then I thought, well, it doesn't matter, I will keep sharing because I love it and because I know some people read it even if they don't say it, so there!! Thanks for reading!!

Now for the good part, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! very late I know, in Guatemala we celebrate on June 17th. My dad always went to the celebrations we had at school, the dances and all of that, it was quite fun.
My dad was amazing, I loved him so much, I was daddy's little girl, one time he walked all the way to where I used to work just to bring me some apples, I was so happy to see him and I felt so loved. That was one of the last times we spent sometime together. He died when I was 19, and I was mad, furious, because my brothers did not let me see him one last time on his bed at the hospital. He was a carpenter, one of the best ones in Guatemala, lots of people hired him because he was such a perfectionist in his work, they loved that, he could recreate a piece of furniture from a magazine just by looking at it, I guess that where my creation gene comes from. He was good at math, so amazingly good, he always helped me with my Math homework, I was a Math teacher my last two years of teaching and I discover how much I loved it, just like he did. He could make an equation on his mind super fast. I wanted to be a carpenter like him,but he told me that it was not a girl's job. He made me my first chalkboard, he said, "Vas a ser una gran maestra" (you will be a fine teacher). I was 6. How did he know that?? I loved walking with him to the wood store to buy the wood he will use to build his next project, sometimes I helped him sand the pieces he would next barnish. His hands were strong, always different colors for the many paints he used on his furniture. His greatest desire was to see me on my wedding dress, I guess he did from up there.
We did not talk much, but I learn so much from his great example, he was hardworking, he never gave up, when he set his mind into learning something he work hard until he learned it. He was really stubborn and he loved to dance, he loved to listen to marimba, and he never slept in, he went to bed at 7 and got up at 4! crazy!!! but he was so strong and athletic, I mean he could really walked fast, he walked all the time, hardly ever used public transportation. He was 81 when he died and he was still working as a carpenter!! I miss him a lot sometimes! Te amo papa!!

I CAN MAKE CLOTHES TOO MOMMY!!!

I think Estrella is very creative, I love how big her imagination is, she can invent the greatest adventures, the most marvelous fairy tales, the scariest mysteries, all in her room, with whatever she can find, she is somebody different all the time.

Today she was me. She decided that if I could create a pretty dress from one of her daddy's shirts, she could create a beautiful, red carpet gown from a pair of pants.

She didn't need to sew anything, she just used her best fashion sense, the best a 4 year old can have I guess!! and I was surprised with the outcome! This pants are part of a Dog Halloween custom. They are kind of big, and the fabric is very stretchy. So, she, being the skinny girls she is, slipped into one of the legs of the pants, put her arm through the other leg and THERE! she had made her own, nice gown.

She was really happy with it, she wore it all day, I told her she was ready to walk the red carpet now!!

Tell me about your kids creations lately. Thank you for reading!!

Andy's Sweater

It has been so long since I wrote something in my blog, I apologize! but I do have some exciting things to share with you in the following days.
Today I wanted to share with you this "sweater" (grrrrr!!) yeah, this sweater was a nightmare to knit, my worse nightmare, I have no desire to make another one, at least for a while. :)

 I have a wonderful, sometimes annoying brother in law, who thinks he is 16 but he is almost 30!! ha ha ha, I love him lots. He wanted me to make him a pink sweater, yes, you read that right, PINK!! for a guy?? well I guess, we are in the 2000's. Anyway, I found a pattern that I somehow followed, but the pattern did not include the hood, and he wanted a hood. He wanted the sweater to be big, cozy, soft, and pink!
It did not take me long to knit the body of the sweater but it was the first time for me to knit stripes, so I think I did it wrong because when I tried to sew the parts together I ended up with very chunky seams. I used chunky yarn, super chunky, and #15 needles, so I knew it was going to be chunky in the seams but not that much. So I undid the seams like probably 10 times. When I was finally satisfied with it I started the hood.

 I noticed in one of my sweatshirts that hood are really a big rectangle sewn together. So that's what I knit. I am very proud of the hood, in fact, it is the only part of the sweater that I love, and it has just the right amount of pink for my taste.



After I was done knitting the whole thing, he tried it on and it didn't fit!!!! :( I was so mad, sad, after months of fighting with this, I wasn't very fond of it.) So I left it on the side for the next two months until one day I thought, well, I am going to undo it and start over again. But I didn't. I just did a a row of crotchet to where the zipper goes, then I washed it with cold water and hung it up to dry. I forgot about it cause I put it in the basement, he he he. Anyway, by the time I remember I think it had grown like two sizes. chris tried it on and it fit perfectly!
The last thing was the zipper, my gosh, was that hard, it took me over a week, yeah, that's how hard this was for me.

My dear husband was my model. He actually really likes the sweater and he wants to keep it, he thinks it won't fit his brother, we will have to wait for him to come and try it on, cause this sweater, this sweater cost me more that I thought and somebody better wear it!!

Día de las Madres en Guatemala! & the story of why I like sewing.

Today is Mother's Day in Guatemala and I think all Central America. So I did call my mom early today and I am about to call my grandma as well. She will be 85 this year and still tends to her little farm in the mountains in El Salvador. She is an amazing woman, raised 11 kids and doesn't seem to get old, just wiser, I love her.

So, it is thanks to my mother that I like to sew.  Back when I was probably 2 or 3 or maybe earlier than that, my mom received her own sewing machine as a Mother's Day present from my dad. It was a Singer, manual, with a little yellow box that had yellow screw drivers, bobbins, oil, and I can't remember what else. My mom loved that machine so much, she kept it clean and shiny, it always looked new. She went to sewing school every afternoon, I remember that because I had to stay with my brothers and sometimes my older brother didn't want to watch us so he tied us to the post in the corridor.
My mom made so many dresses for me, she learned to make patterns in brown paper and I always had a new dress to wear. She will find this cute dresses on newspapers with instructions on how to make them and she will make them for me. I loved all of them and I do remember most of them, especially one that she made for me for church. It had a white blouse with ruffled red sleeves. The skirt was red and white checkers and had ruffles as well, I loved that dress. I was a little older when she made me that one.
When I was 14  she told me that I should go to sewing school with her. She registered in an embroidery class. I took sewing lessons for the next year. I made some nice outfits and my teacher was always so nice and patient with me. I made my mom a green dress, but the sleeves were to tight, I never like using patterns  which I think is a bad habit.
So that's how it began, I did not go back to sewing school because I wanted to do other things that teenagers like to do instead of being stuck one hour every night sewing things. That is why I never learned all the good stuff about sewing until now that I picked it up again. Although, I did make my best friend her dress for her sister's wedding and it was quite cute and it fit her perfectly, even though I did not use a pattern. I was always fixing and remodeling my outfits.

When I came to this country my sister in law let me use her sewing machine, which was a new thing for me because it was electric and portable, I was amazed by it, so I set myself into making all kinds of dresses. I made my graduation dress. It was white and the blouse was a little too small, I had to use a shawl because it showed too much!! I didn't use a pattern, I just cut it out using one of my other dresses and didn't measure quite right.

 I also made a red dress. I tried to use a pattern with this one but then I gave up and just made my own thing. I loved that dress. But after a while I thought it needed new life.

I turned it into a little dress for my daughter for her first birthday. Pretty cute don't you think? I did use a pattern for this one, but it came out too big. Still cute on her.

I remodeled a white dress that my sister in law had given me. It became the dress I used for my wedding at the LDS Temple, I only used it inside so I don't have any pictures with it on. That one dress made me hate sewing for a while!!! It was mighty hard. The fabric was just to fragile and nice, I was not used to sewing something so delicate.
After my first daughter's first birthday I didn't touch my sewing machine for about two years. Then I decided to make them some Easter dresses, but I didn't finish them, until  this year for  Easter, he he he! I love sewing, I am always looking into learning more.
My mom still sews and remodels her clothes, her last creation was some clothes she made for the girls' dolls out of socks!! they are not very fancy or even cute, but my girls love them! and I thought my mom was so clever.
So, thank you mamá for instilling in me the art of creating beautiful things with fabric and tread. It all started with a Singer Manual Sewing Machine!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

In Guatemala we celebrate Mother's Day on May 10th, so I still have two days to send a card to my mom, he he he!!! Happy Mother's Day to all women in the world, because of course every single woman we encounter have an influence on us and on our kids. I am grateful for all those great women who have been and continue to be great examples for me. I am grateful for my mother who, eventhough we differ in many things, loves me and will put her hands on fire for me.

Here are the three generations, daughter, mother and grandmother.

Here is my other mother, mama Millar, (my mother in law) I love her tons and tons and I am grateful for her and her wonderful influence, but especially because she considers me and treats me as one of her daughters. 

 Here is me with my princesitas, the firs one was about two years ago and the other one was two weeks ago. They are the light of my life and I am grateful to be a mother. This week I was feeling pretty bad about not working as a teacher anymore as I was sitting in a meeting at Estrella's future school. I thought, "man I miss being a teacher, I miss being important, now I am just a mother." I felt pretty down. But today I remember one time, a long time ago when I was still single and with not even prospects to get married, I was a successful teacher, had my own apartment, a nice brand new car, I was in a soccer team and had run lots of races, I was doing all the things I love. One day one of the other players in my soccer team, who was a mother of two little boys told me in a very sad way, "How much I admire you, you have everything, but me, I am just a mom." at the moment I just smile and said nothing but driving back home I thought, really? I am successful? I have everything? no, I should have told her: "No, you are not "just a mom", you are a creator, a nurse, a teacher, a scientist, an artist, a pillow, a dancer, a singer, an explorer, a pirate, a cook, a princess, and the most beautiful and important person for those two dirty face kids over there, you my friend, are Gods right hand in creation."
And that my friends is what you are, Thank you for being a wonderful influence on me. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!
I

FLOWER SHOWER HEADBAND AND BARRETTES!

I love Spring!!! So many beautiful colors, the rain, the birds, the flowers, the pink, purple and white trees!! It is amazing!!! We took a bike ride to the Chicago Botanic Gardens with the girls and we were so amazed by the beauty all around us, especially the tulips, we love tulips, it is our favorite flower. 

In the spirit of Spring beautiful colors, I made this headband with five different flowers. Each flower has a snap and there are two snaps in the headband. So you can mix and match the flowers.

You can use two reds, or pink and green, brown and pink, brown and green, maybe red and brown?? I didn't try that combination. I could make the headband in a different color with different color of flowers.  I was thinking a black headband, imagine all the color combinations with black!!

I am also been working on barrettes for the girls, i don't even know how many times I have bought the cute barrettes from the store just to use them once or twice and loose them, yeah that's what my girls do I don't know why! so I bought the plain barrettes, a really good deal, and started making the flowers on them, which for once, the girls don't loose them, (don't ask me why!) and I can make all the colors I want to match their clothes!!! I love that.

So what you do is wrap the ribbon around the barrette from one end to the other and finish with the flower. The flower is just like making a bow for a present with a button sewn in the middle. Takes me about 30 minutes to do a set of two barrettes.

I am still working on making more colors, at least this is one barrette Isabella likes to keep on. Thank you for reading!

FLOWER SHOWER HEADBAND AND BARRETTES

I love Spring, the colors, the rain, the flowers! We took a bike ride to the

MY FIRST GUEST!!

I always admire people who can create things.  Especially those who, with little to no experience take the risk to create something that turns out into something beautiful.
I decided to feature today one of my friends from when I was young, he he he. She is still my friend and not very long ago she sent me a message with a couple of pictures of something that she had created, she said that I inspired her to get into crotchet, I think she has so much talent.
This headbands are crotchet. She did such a wonderful job for being her first time, don't you think?

This blue one is my favorite, it looks so, I don't know, elegant! I want to try to make it. You can find the pattern HERE

The slippers look so comfortable and she even used two different colors! I love it.

Now, this little quilt here was her very first one ever and I have no words to express how lovely this is, I think she did such a marvelous job, it doesn't look like it was made by  a beginner. Well done Rosi! I love it, I wish I could make quilts, maybe someday.

Anyway, like the movie n Ratatouille said at the end of the movie, "not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere." She is a great artist! Thank you for sharing your talents with me Rosi.
Thank you for reading!