WIP (Work-In-Progress) Wednesday!

You know, every time I spell out "Wednesday" I have to say it in my head "Wed-nes-day"....

Anyways, on to my current projects!

Currently I'm working on Octopus #2 for a friend of mine. Instead of a yellow bow, this little gal will have a light pink bow.

Here is the head of the little lady Octopus

The light pink bow in progress.

On Monday, I decided I wanted to take up knitting. I love knitted garments. I bought a couple knitting magazines to look at while at work and after looking through them...I want to knit them all. /facepalm

Sooooo, since I need to learn how to knit (to make said garments)...I'm teaching myself! Here I'm working on a simple dishcloth because lets face it, I'm in Houston and it's hot as blazes. I don't need a scarf. Plus, I'd rather not knit just to...knit. I wanted to make something useful!

My only problem? I had to keep ripping it out because it looked super wonky! In the picture I'm only on the 2nd row(?) and I've had to put it aside to work on some other crocheted pieces for family and friends.

 I got silly with the camera and just started snapping away. I thought I would spare y'all EVERY picture I took. *grins*

And here is my Work-in-Progress cat. Does that count?! His name is Titan and he's a booger.

OH OH OH!! PLUS, I got this bad boy in the mail today. Can't wait to whip up some of these motifs and make an afghan...because I need more warm things in this tropical climate (super sarcasm).

 

What are you working on this week?

Alayna

New Home

So I sent this little gal to a new home today.

While making her, I gave her an extra tentacle. You can't see it in this picture but it's there (we are our own worst critic, right?!). She's just EXTRA special. :]

She went to live with my little green monstie I mentioned in this post.

I get a LOT of compliments on these little guys (and gals), so if you want to give this cutie a shot:

Octopus pattern: HERE

Bow pattern : HERE

Both patterns are easy to follow and easy to customize! 

Let me know what you think! I would love hearing from you guys!

Alayna

Munchkin!

Joe and myself went over to my parents house for game night last night. Our game of choice it seems is Munchkin! It's a ton of fun! No game is ever played the same so that makes it even more excited!

Munchkin is a role playing card game with snark. With weapons such as "The Boots of Butt-Kicking" or "The Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment" it makes game play funny. I cannot say enough about this game. It can be lengthy but my family is super competitive and we argue the rules at least once a turn.Our games last night ran about 2 hours or more. They have rules for a quick game play if your are looking for some quick Munchkin fun.

My parents own 3 of the Munchkin card game versions.

The Original Munchkin 

Star Munchkin 

AND

Munchkin Bites 

They all have their own quirks which makes each game interesting. We definitely will be buying more versions of these games!

Any of you out there played (or ever heard of) Munchkin?  Let me know!

Alayna

My (First) April Birchbox

What is Birchbox? It's pure awesome in a box. HA! Seriously, it's a box full of trial sized beauty products from name-brand companies and probably some brands the common folk (like me) have never heard of. It's only $10 a month and totally worth it. 

I first heard of Birchbox from Kate at The Small Things Blog. She has GREAT hair tutorials and beauty tutorials. So for a complete beginner like me, her blog is stinkin' wonderful!

In early March I decided to jump on the train and start getting boxes. I didn't realized they had a waiting list. Bummer. So I jumped on the list and figured it would be awhile before I got my email telling me I could sign up. At the beginning of April I got my email! (I did a little dance at work when I read it.)

So I signed up immediately and waited for my box to ship...and yesterday I finally go it! It's a small pink box and when Joe came home with the mail he dropped everything else and handed me my box. He went crazy and asked me "What did you order NOW?!" I calmed him by telling him it was only $10 and tried to explain what it was. He wasn't listening after determining I hadn't just spent all our vacation money (hehe).

 The cute little box.

Here's everything that is included, as well as a description.

All of my goodies.

The Vapour elixir gloss. I was a little hesitant to use it since it's such a dark red color. But it's totally buildable! YAY! I have really fair skin and it went on super dark. Joe didn't like it at first but I tried again and didn't put so much on and it looked fabulous! I went out to dinner with my parents last night and wore it out. I didn't feel uncomfortable in it at all!

 

 Le Palais des Thes tea. I don't normally drink hot tea. (Being from the South it's always sweet iced tea for me) but I'm going to give this a go.

 I was most excited about this little guy. I just got through reading my Cosmo and this product was mentioned in one of the articles. It's called dirt and it is a salt scrub. Salt is supposed to be grittier than other scrubs, meaning it should slough off more dull, dead skin. So I'm really pumped to try this bad boy out!

 Here is the Orofluido hair oil. It's got essential oils such as argan, linseed, and cyperus which are supposed to make hair super soft. 

I'm excited about these guys, too! I've been looking for a new face cleanser and moisturizer because what I'm using just isn't working. These guys are made with food! (that kinda blows my mind) I got two pouches of cleanser and three pouches of moisturizer. The moisturizer has SPFs in it which is exactly what I'm looking for!

So, for my first box it was a good deal to me! I'm determined to give all of these things a shot. I mean, isn't that the purpose of this box?! To try things you may have not tried before?

Alayna

 

What I've Been Up To.

So I've been pretty busy lately (I say that all the time!). I've taken up crochet again and I may have found my calling. I love crocheting! 

I recently signed up for a Craftsy crocheting class. Best money I've spent. I signed up for two classes Amigurumi: Woodland Animals with Stacey Trock and Amigurumi: Design Your Own Monster with Stacey Trock. I really enjoyed her classes! Before I took up sewing and embroidering I was struggling with my amigurumi. I would get all the pieces made, try to attach them and fail miserably. Stacey gave me some seriously helpful tips to make it soo much easier to assemble my little critters!

Since I loved making the critters so much I stepped into designing my own little monsters. As with her previous class, she gave some super useful tips when designing your own little guys. While sitting at work, I've been filling up a notebook with ideas. Annnnd since I'm on vacation until the 22nd, I have lots of time on my hands.

So, here are some pictures of what I've been up to the last month.

Here are the monsters I thought up.

 Here is Grrr, in bigger detail.

 The finished Grr. I still have to write the completed pattern.

 Here is Booger. I made him for a co-worker and she  named him Booger and sat her on top of her computer.

 Octi. A cute little octopus pattern I found online (click here for the pattern). Everyone loved him. He sits on top of my computer at work.

 A dragon I made for my dad. He was a struggle but I conquered him. 

(click here for the pattern)

And Sir Bear. He is my very FIRST amigurumi piece I completed. The pattern is from the Woodland Class I took online at Craftsy.

As you can see, very busy! But I love all my little guys. I have them camping out by my TV in our living room so everyone can see.


Alayna

Laundry Detergent!

So I just discovered a recipe for homemade laundry detergent!
I got the recipe from the Being Creative to Keep My Sanity blog. The directions were simple and I found everything I needed from WalMart!
I did tweak my recipe though. Instead of using the Fels-Naptha soap, I decided to use regular Ivory bar soap. For me it was more cost efficient and Ivory smells delicious! And since the detergent smells very mild I decided to add some more scent so I used some Purex crystals. I said what the hey and add the whole bottle and it smells GREAT!

Ingredients:

• (1) 4lb box of Borax
• (1) 4lb box of Arm &  Hammer Baking Soda
• (1)  4lb box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
• (3) Bars Fels- Naptha soap (Here I subbed 3 bars of Ivory Bar Soap)
• Oxy Clean, you will need about 3.5 lbs
• (optional) (1) large container of Purex Crystals, to add a more intense smell
• 5 gallon bucket
• Large container of your choice

Here's How You Do It: 

1. Grate your soap either with a cheese grater or stick it in your food processor to get a really fine grate.
2. Mix all your ingredients in your giant 5 gallon bucket. Make sure it's mixed evenly.
3. This step is optional. You can just store your detergent in your nice big 5 gallon bucket or you can transfer your soap into a large container like I did.

 There's my supply. Using about 2 tbs a load, this should last a very long time. Joe and I only do about 3-4 loads a week.
I'm super excited about this find! My next adventure with probably be the dish washing detergent recipe that she also has on her blog!



Alayna