Pinned It & Did It: Mug Cozy Crochet

My crocheted mug cozy...

Crocheted mug cozy I pinned...

                                          Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

I love how pinterest tells me exactly when I pinned something. I originally pinned this crochet mug cozy 22 weeks ago from my mom's board Crochet and Knit. She's always finding great projects to crochet, knit, and sew. She shows quite a few of them on her blog, Jerry and Kay. Yesterday, I needed a quick, relaxing project and thought this mug cozy would be perfect...but I couldn't find the original pattern for it anywhere! So, after studying the picture above as well as some others, I attempted to make my own mug cozy without a pattern.

It worked. It's not exactly the mug cozy pinned, but I love that I got inspiration from my pin. Making this mug cozy made feel very productive, even though it was a small, quick project. And I  really enjoyed taking a step forward in my crocheting ability by making something without a pattern...something I've mostly been scared to do.

So, another successful pinned it & did it attempt has been made! ...and I think I'll be crocheting more of these mug cozies soon. And if (when) I feel up for another challenge, I might even attempt to write a mug cozy pattern!

**UPDATE**

My mom found the original pattern (click here for it) for the pinned mug cozy. Thanks, Mom!

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Zucchini Bread

One and a half courgettes in the fridge and no plans to use them. Hmmm...they won't last another two days. Let's make zucchini bread...or should I say pain de courgettes? Either way, it's delicious. 

I used my favorite zucchini bread recipe called Mom's Zucchini Bread found on allrecipes.com one or two years ago. It's got 5 stars out of 5 from over four thousand reviewers. Not bad.

The only change I made was to leave out walnuts because my little girl won't eat them and I wanted her to enjoy the zucchini bread...especially because she helped make it (along with my little guy).

And everyone helped eat it!

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Pinned It & Did It: Braided Scarf

My braided scarf...

Braided scarf I pinned...

                                                                    Source: nettevivante.blogspot.co.uk via Jessica on Pinterest

I absolutely loved this braided scarf when I came across it and pinned it immediately. I love the color and the style.

I've been on the lookout for some great fabric to make this scarf, but haven't had any luck (slim pickings where I am). However, I did have a few stained, ill-fitting shirts stored away to make something on a rainy (or sunny) day. I thought I'd use them to make something for my little girl or guy. Instead, I made something for me! Wow...I can hardly believe it. I made something from my actual "things to make for me" pinterest board that has been more of a place to dream than a place where dreams come true. When was the last time I made something for me??? Maybe this hat. That was a while ago.

Nette describes how much fabric she used here and gives some sort of instructions here. I had to do some fiddling since I used a shirt instead of purchased fabric. My adjustments included adding two seams in order to make long enough strips to braid. I used lace like Nette, but wrapped it around all the lengths in two spots instead of one so that all my stitches would be hidden. 

Another difference was the type of fabric: mine was cotton and hers was viscose. The cotton worked well, but doesn't seem as full as hers. Next time I'd try to make my unbraided length wider but couldn't here because I was limited to the amount of fabric in my shirt.

Overall, this was a success! Hooray! It was easy to make, I got to reuse a lonely shirt, and I now have a new cute scarf to add a little bit excitement to a plain shirt any day!

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Taggie Blanket

 By the time I discovered taggie blankets, my kids were both too old for them. But there are always new babies being born and yesterday I had just enough time to make this taggie blanket as a baby gift for a friend.

 I took a look at two taggie blanket tutorials (here and here) and then used my favorite parts of each to make my own.

What a cute baby gift taggie blankets make and they are so easy to make!

 It was a great way to use up scrap fabric and ribbon to make something beautiful.

Peek-A-Boo!

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