Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! May your day be filled with joy and the people you love!

Originally Posted Here

Christmas Pictures

Traditionally today would be Yarn Along and WIP Wednesday.  However,  I don't have that much going on in terms of what I'm working on.  I just started another cowl.  I'm not working on any jewelry although I did finish my beaded wrap crochet bracelet that turned out to be a little too large after I added the clasp however it makes a fantastic necklace.  I'll be sure to post the final picture of it soon.  So today I am going to show you some of the pictures we took over the weekend.  Every year the dogs and cat have Christmas pictures taken.  They are not thrilled but it's been fun to look at them over the years.  It's like taking pictures of kids, you just keep snapping away and sometimes some of the best pictures are pictures that were candid and not the ones that we were setting up for.

(That shot is one of my favorites.  Allie hates anything on her head so having the hat fall over her face was terrifying for her hahaha)

We take a picture of Diesel in his Jingle This hat every year.  Every time we put this hat on him he gets grumpy and it just fits so perfectly that the hat says Jingle This.  

The pictures below are the "photoshoot" we did with our cat.  She's going to be 18 this spring so we try to make sure we get as many pictures of her that we can.

Diesel was such a good boy and sat there with the antlers on over his eyes for forever! 

Yarn Along and WIP 12/11/13

Good Morning everyone!  

Just some quick housekeeping in case you don't follow the blog regularly.  Handmade by Jen is not being used anymore.  Long story short I was keeping a separate blog for personal stuff and then a separate one for the shop and the shop blog was never getting updated.  I created a whole post about it here.  I'm working on labeling all my posts so you all can read exactly what you want to read.  There's tabs for patterns, tutorials and recipes (which I just posted mint chocolate cookies that are fabulous! In case you are looking for Christmas cookie recipes)

To say thank you to you all for listening to my plans for the last 6 months I've created a coupon code YARNALONG for 10% off if you spend 5 dollars.  My goal is to get some resin cabochon jewelry listed this weekend.  Right now it's only hair ties so once that stuff is listed the 5 dollar mark will be really easy to hit!  This weekend all the Christmas hair ties will be going on sale for 15% off so check back over the weekend! The coupon code is active until December 31st.  So again thank you for bearing with me!

Now onto what I'm working on...this is a quick post with semi bad pictures because it currently looks like this:

So the light is awful this morning.  Ignore the fact that my Christmas lights decided to turn on as I was taking the picture.  The timer sensor is ridiculous.  But it's still snowing so it's going to be a fun ride into work.

My first project this week is a crochet wrap bracelet that I started last night while I was watching Home Alone.  These will eventually be going in my shop but I wanted to test my pattern out to make sure I don't drop beads everywhere and what better way to incorporate a little bit of Christmas in my outfits for the rest of the holiday season!  Once it's done it should be able to wrap around my wrist 3 or 4 times and be long enough to wear as a necklace if I want to.

My next WIP is an ear warmer that I just started this morning to match the cowl I made last week that was originally going in the shop but I liked so much I decided to keep for myself!  Whoops.  Once the snow moves out today we have a wind chill advisory so I want to try and finish this on lunch since it'll only be 4 or 5 rows.

My last WIP is another cowl that I started in the round.  I'm not as comfortable with in the round and I feel like I twisted it somewhere. but this yarn is a beautiful plum color!

I'm linking up with Ginny and Tami  head on over and check out what everyone else is working on!

Chocolate Mint Cookies

 

 

Hi Everyone!  I saw that Kelsey over at Poofy Cheeks is hosting a Christmas Cookie Exchange.  These cookies were made last night before I realized she was hosting the exchange so the timing was perfect!  Now this is not my own recipe.  It's actually the recipe on the back of the baking chips by the manufacturer.  Their website is here. I love Andes mints and when I saw these I wanted to make something with them but was unsure of what so I went with the recipe Andes provided.  I thought I would share because they turned out fabulously!!!!

 

Ingredients:

 

1/2 cup salted butter

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 package (10 oz) Andes Crème de Menthe Baking Chips

2 2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

 

Directions:

 

Beat butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until mixed.

 

Stir in Andes Baking Chips then flour.

 

Chill approximately 1 hour in refrigerator.

 

Measure out approximately 1 oz. dough.  form ball and slightly flatten. (I used an ice cream scoop)

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

 

Cool on baking sheets before serving.

 

 

 

Enjoy!!!

 

I will definitely be buying more of these baking chips!

 

 

 

I was not compensated or contacted for a review for this post.

Bubblegum Chevron Pattern

Bubblegum Chevron Pattern

 

I received a request for the pattern so it is below.  This is my first time writing a pattern for others to use so if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask questions!  Now this is not a completely original pattern.  Last year I had wanted to make my friend a ripple blanket and used Google to learn how to make them.  I looked at so many websites and cannot recall which one I used for my original pattern.  This time around I winged it and made it up as I went based on the websites I looked at because I wanted this one to be more of a steeper/sharper chevron rather than a ripple.

Here are the stitches you will need to know in U.S. terms:

Double Crochet (DC)
3 Double Crochet In One Stitch
3 Double Crochet Decrease
2 Double Crochet Decrease

My blanket was made using worsted weight yarn and a 6.00mm crochet hook.  with a 2 round border my blanket ended up being 36 inches across.  You can adjust the blanket size by chaining different amounts than I did.  You would need to chain in multiples of 22 plus 2 stitches.

Chain 112

Row 1:  Double crochet in the 3rd chain from the hook.  Double crochet in the next 9 chains. 3 double crochet in the next stitch to create the ridge.  Double crochet in the next 9 stitches.  3 double crochet stitch decrease.  *Double crochet in the next 9 stitches. 3 double crochet in the next stitch (creates the peak). Double crochet in the next 9 stitches.  3 double crochet stitch decrease.* Repeat until you have 2 chains left and complete a 2 double crochet stitch decrease instead of the 3 stitch decrease. Chain 2 and turn.

Row 2: Skip the first stitch and double crochet in the next 10 stitches. 3 double crochet in one stitch to create the peak. Double crochet in the next 9 stitches. 3 double crochet stitch decrease. *Double crochet in the next 9 stitches. 3 double crochet in the next stitch (creates the peak). Double crochet in the next 9 stitches.  3 double crochet stitch decrease.* Repeat until you have 2 chains left and complete a 2 double crochet stitch decrease instead of the 3 stitch decrease. Chain 2 and turn.

Repeat row 2 until the blanket is as long as you would like and end.  In order to change colors start the 2 stitch decrease and once you have 2 loops left on your hook switch to the new color and complete the decrease.

You can crochet a border around it.  I chose to do one round of double crochet and one round of single crochet.

Comment below or email me at bellabydaisy (at) gmail (dot) com

Bubblegum Chevron

The bubblegum chevron is finished! I apologize for the shadow in the picture.  It was a cloudy day and my shadow as I was standing on the dining room chair was caught in the picture.  I will be back tomorrow with the pattern!

Yarn Along and WIP Wednesday 12/4/13

Hi Everyone! How was your Thanksgiving?  Did anyone do any shopping for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday?  There were some pretty good deals out there with Etsy shops.  I didn't see anything that fantastic in the major stores so I didn't brave the crowds.

 

I apologize for not joining in last week.  It's been quite busy around here.  I finally opened the Etsy shop.  Link Here and I also set up a Facebook page and I have a giveaway open for when I hit 50 Facebook Likes.  I'd love it if you hopped over Here and liked the page to help us get to 50 likes and the possibility of winning a 5 pack of hair ties.

 

Then within a couple of days I got sick and took forever getting over it so the shop sat neglected with only a couple items listed that are all hair ties.  While I have a million things in progress.  So this post will have tons of items.  Some crocheted items and some will not be.  I don't have any major plans this weekend so I want to take advantage and get some ready to ship items (or quick to make) items up for Christmas shopping.  Once I get everything listed this weekend I'll be posting a coupon code for you all since you've had to listen to me talk about my shop plans for months!  So be sure to check back next week!!

 

So onto what I've been working on!

 

 

The first is a thick chunky cowl that just needs to be sewed together and it will be finished.  The camera didn't accurately catch the color.  There is more of a beigeish cream color in it.

 

 

 

The next item is another cowl (different pattern) that I just started.  I think it's so festive for the season and it's super bulky yarn so it works up quick.

 

 

 

The next item is an ear warmer that I need to sew together and then crochet the flower to go on it.  I'm up in the air on whether I should do a white flower or a different color.   Which do you think would be the best...white or a pop of color? and any color suggestions?

 

 

 

So now onto the non crocheted items....the first is a really simple glittery felt bow that I just love! I'm planning on pairing it to a green glitter headband.

 

 

 

The next item is an Over The Top bow.  It has multiple ribbons used and a piece of feather boa.  Great for pictures.  I'll probably attach this to a red glitter headband.

 

I apologize for the bad pictures.  It's kind of gloomy here so there wasn't any good light.

 

Head on over to Tami's and Ginny's to see what everyone else is working on!

 

Have a great week!