Star Piñata

My latest creation is this semi-traditional Mexican star piñata...

I'll be posting a tutorial on how to make this star piñata soon. 

A few months ago, I made a donkey piñata (see it here) and was asked to make another one for a Doce de Mayo themed fundraiser (Cinco de Mayo was already booked). I thought about doing another donkey...or a sombrero...but couldn't resist the vibrancy of the star.  I used a picture from Google images for inspiration and a guide to the colours and then got to work cutting, taping, and gluing. It took some time, but was fairly easy and loads of fun to make! I love how bright and cheerful it turned out. It ended up being raising quite a bit at the fundraiser which made me really happy! :-) 

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

What to do on a rainy day? Paint faces and make cookies! 

Here's our simple recipe for easy peanut butter cookies:

Ingredients (preferably all organic):

1 cup of smooth peanut butter

1 cup of sugar

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350ºF / 180ºC.

Put the three ingredients in a bowl.

Mix.

Use a fork to criss...then cross. This flattens the cookies. 

I always dip the fork in sugar before I criss-cross so that it doesn't stick to the cookie.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

After you remove them from the oven, let the cookies remain on the sheet for a few minutes before placing them gently on a cooling rack. This will help prevent them from breaking.

Eat.

Enjoy!

Friday Foto - Grasshopper (18 of 52)

Grasshopper that grows when submerged in water for 3 days.

Crochet Baby Hat

I just finished a crocheted baby hat for a friend who has a new baby girl.

The baby hat crochet pattern is one I've had for years. I can't remember if I found it and shared it with my mom, or if she found it and shared it with me, but it's been a favorite. It's the Stretchy Crochet Hat from Loving Hugs. I'm glad I was able to find the link when I searched Google today because I've had the pattern for so long without the information of where I originally found it. 

Oh, I just remembered! I found the pattern and shared it with my mom. Ah, yes...nice memory. About four years ago, a good friend of mine had her first baby. We visited her, her husband & her new little baby girl in the hospital. They asked us to bring them dinner and a few things they had forgotten, including a hat for the baby. I did a quick pattern search and whipped up a pink hat in a few hours (above). It was a favourite of theirs and fit their little girl for two years (hence the name Stretchy Crochet Hat)...which is why I made one for my little girl a year later, and passed the pattern on to my mom who made another for my little girl (above) and then later one for my little guy. Phew!

Since the one I finished today was white, I wanted to make it a little more exciting, girly, and feminine with a flower embellishment. I used a free flower pattern from JJCrochet. I love how it turned out and hope it gets as much wear as the first one I made four years ago!

This last part is totally unrelated to crochet or hats, but you should take a look at my mom's blog - Jerry&Kay - she made two absolutely adorable little piggy pillows for my kids from a 1967 Simplicity pattern. So cute! I just read her post a minute ago so I'm really excited about them. :-)