Wool Arm Warmers Tutorial

I showed you how to take a shrunken wool sweater and make it into a sweater vest

Here: (Re-Fashioned Sweater Vest).  Now we are going to use the arms of the shrunken vest to make trendy arm warmers.

Arm Warmers:

1- Cut the sleeves off of a felted wool sweater. If you do not use a felted wool sweater you will risk the tragedy of having your arm warmers unravel. You could always hem the ends if you are not using a felted sweater.


2- Now let’s use those sleeves to make some fancy shmancy arm warmers. I liked the pattern of the inside of my sweater, so I decided to turn the sleeves inside out and use that patter for the outside.


3- Add embellishments: I added three vintage crocheted buttons on each side.


That’s it! Simple, Simple!

Re-fashioned Wool Sweater to Sweater Vest Tutorial

Well that day has finally come. I am officially the aunt who gives her niece a crazy Christmas sweater.


I had this sweater from my collection of sweaters that I have been wanting to do something with. Since the sweater is felted and has shrunk significantly I wanted to make it into a sweater vest for my niece who is 15.



Here are the steps:

1. Cut off the sleeves, leaving a cap sleeve on the sweater (save the sleeves, we will use these for another project)

2. Find the center of the front of the sweater and cut that puppy right up the center. If you are working with felted wool, you won’t have to worry about un-raveling. Other sweaters, this might present a problem.

 3. I used a vintage looking lace and stitched it to both sides of my opening. You could use a sewing machine, but I decided to hand stitch it on.

 4. After adding the lace I attached a large vintage button from my button collection.

5. Lastly I added a hook and eye closure under the button to finish the vest.

I thought it turned out cute. I am not sure of my fashion conscious, teen-age niece really liked it, but her 12 year old sister thought it was cute, she was my fashion model. Thanks Tay.


Happy Creating!

DIY Canvas Photos Helpful Hints

 I was introduced to producing your own handcrafted canvas photos through Pinterest. I have done several and they have all been so fun to hang in my home and give as gifts. There are some awesome tutorials out there for doing this, so I am not going to write a complete tutorial, but here are some helpful hints:

-If you want the photo to “pop” paint the sides of the canvas.

I prefer black for the gallery look, but you could use color.

-If you are printing on tissue paper, make sure your paper is really flat.

The fold and creases will show through. I have tried ironing the paper and that helped, but the best bet is to use a piece that is really flat to begin with. Also be very careful when applying your paper onto the canvas, I have experienced tears.

 -I have used both glossy modge podge and matte modge podge and I like both. When I used an actual photo printed from a lab I used glossy since the photo was printed on glossy paper. I usually prefer matte, but for some reason I really like how the glossy turned out, go figure!

 -When putting the modge podge on the picture I like to made it look textured by making circles or waves or a weaved pattern. It gives it a canvasy feel.

Happy Crafting!

Grandma's Baby Blocks

I had a crafty idea up my sleeve for my mom’s Christmas present. I call them baby blocks.


I hosted a cousin sleep over party over the Christmas break and had all the local cousins spend the night and do a craft for grandma. Each child brought a newborn picture of themselves and their favorite color of acrylic paint.

 I cut a 2x4 in to square blocks (or semi-square, with my dinky battery powered saw). Each child prepared their block by sanding and then painting with their chosen color.

Then after the block dried, we pasted their trimmed picture to the block with modge podge and covered the remainder of the block with modge podge as well to finish it off.

The following photos were taken from my mom's blog here:

The kids also brought an engagement picture of their parents which we also pasted to a block.

On the back of the blocks I put a label that indicated where they fall in the birth order of all the grandchildren and their birthday.
 The blocks could just be used for decoration, or they can be used for the grandkids to play a matching game. Which baby goes to which parent? Or guess who this baby is? I thought it was fun to use baby pictures rather than current pictures so when new babies come along in the family mix, we can just add to the “game”.

Happy Playing!

Spinach Kiwi Salad

In the summer I love to make strawberry spinach salad. I wanted to make this salad and checked out the strawberries at the store the other day, the price was sky high and they didn’t even look good. I decided it was time to mix things up.

Spinach Kiwi Salad

Bag of spinach
2 kiwis sliced
1 orange sliced
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup fresh orange juice


Place spinach in bowl. Make dressing by whisking together oil, sugar and juices. After well combined add dressing to spinach and toss in kiwis and orange slices.

Delish, Enjoy!

Chocolate Lovers Trifle Delight

My husband is a lover of chocolate. He loves it more than even me, and I am rather fond of the substance (unless I am pregnant, then I loath the stuff and it makes me sicker than a dog).

The hubs birthday was last week, Christmas Eve to be exact. We celebrated by going to Chuck E. Cheese and let the cousins run wild, we had a great time.

After our pizza lunch we indulged in this beauty!

Super rich and hit the sweet spot for sure. When else would one indulge in soo much chocolate??? Birthday + Christmas = perfect.



Here is the crew singing the Happy Birthday Song!

 Of coarse you can add your favorite goodies, but this is what I whipped up…

Chocolate Lovers Trifle Delight


1 9x13 pan of your favorite prepared brownies
1 cup M&M’s
1 Snickers bar chopped
4 snack size Reeses Peanut Butter Cups chopped
5 Cashew Sandies Cookies chopped
1 tub of chocolate Cool Whip


I prepared my brownies and used parchment paper so I could easily remove them and slice them on the cutting board. I used a pizza cutter, which did better than my knife attempt and chopped the brownies into 1” squares.


Arrange a layer of brownies in a trifle dish or glass bowl, then add a layer of Cool Whip. Then add the following layers: cookie crumbs, brownie, Cool Whip, brownie, Cool Whip and top off with candies and a dab of Cool Whip and a brownie square.


Wowsers was it sweet and rich, but perfect for my chocolate lover!!

Happy Birthday Hubs!

Candy Cane Dipped Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe and I have wanted to try it out: Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies.
I am swearing off sugar and all goodies of the sweet nature for the month of January so I had to get these made before then. They are as yummy as the reviewers said! I had some left over crushed candy cane on my counter top from the holidays so I decided to dip the dough in the candy cane. Let me tell you it didn’t disappoint!

So here you are the recipe with my slight alterations:

Candy Cane Dipped Chocolate Chip Cookies


1 cup (2 sticks) butter softened
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
1 small package Instant vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 ¼ cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup crushed candy canes


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat the butter, sugars, pudding mix, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat until creamy and fluffy. Then slowly mix in flour and baking soda. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop the cookie dough and dip the tops of the dough in the crushed candy cane. Make sure you do just the tops or you may have a difficult time removing them from the pan after baking! Bake for 13 minutes and allow to cool before chowing down.

Yum, yum. Happy New Yearing!