Granny Square to Granny Hat

Here's a cute granny hat for newborns!  I made one for my little boy for his dedication.  I made the beanie hat in choco brown, almond and chili red.  If you want to make one for yourself or your baby, you can easily do so because it's a free pattern.

Trinkets for the crafty heart

I recently purchased this beautiful pair of scissors from an online shop called Bits and Pieces. It's going to go be a pretty addition to my blog and will work well as a prop. :)

She also has a wide array of vintage jewelry, boxes and stickers.  You can visit her shop and leave a message if you have suggestions or would like to request a new set of trinkets!

Senna's Dedication

We held a simple celebration for a little boy Senna yesterday at Stacy's in Capitol Hills, Quezon City.  Been busy the weeks preparing for it and coordinating with the guests.

I'll be back to my "regular" blogging schedule this week. :)

Bacon Rice and Home-Made Iced Tea

Being a stay at home mom has a couple of perks.  First and foremost, is being able to spend more time with my little boy.  Second would be catching up on my crochet, crafts and reading.  Third and probably not my biggest point would be learning how to cook.

Today, since I was being lazy as usual in cooking lunch, I decided just to cook a really simple lazy dish for myself.  It's my favorite Bacon Rice.

Bacon rice and my home-made iced tea

Here's a simple recipe on how I did my bacon rice.

Ingredients:

3-4 slices of bacon
1/2 cup leftover rice
2 cloves of garlic
one small onion
1 tbsp olive oil
ground black pepper

Leftover rice that has gone cold usually are in clumps so to make it all fluffy and easy to cook, mash it a bit free it from itself.

Chop the garlic and onion into small pieces, small enough for sauteing.

Cook the bacon accordingly in the olive oil.  I like mine crispy so I let it cook for a little longer.  Drain the excess oil so that we keep the cholesterol to a minimum.  Set aside the bacon.

In the remaining oil, saute the chopped garlic and onion until brown and transparent.  Put in the rice and  saute it together.  Put in the rest of the bacon and mix well.  I let it stand in minimum heat for 2-3 minutes so that the bacon fat coats the rice well. Not really healthy but it tastes wonderful, so I only do this once in a while. 

Be careful not to burn the rice because cleaning the pan is going to be a nightmare.

My version of Iced Tea

Ingredients:
2 tea bags of Lipton "Brisk" Tea
2 whole lemons
1 liter of water
Honey or brown sugar to taste

Slice the lemon and set aside

I boil 1 liter of water and soak the tea bags until the water goes lukewarm.  (You can soak it less if you don't want to have the strong tea taste that it produces when you soak it for too long)  I place the warm tea in a pitcher, put in the lemons and set it over night in the fridge.

If you can't finish up the tea by the next day, remove the lemons and store the tea by itself.  The lemon slices would be all soggy and yucky by this time.

You can add honey to the mix or brown sugar.

Cats and crochet

I've noticed that people who love crochet are also in love with cats.  Or maybe that's just a common thing among the people I follow on Instagram.  I have two dogs and two cats but I am particularly fond of the always pan-faced Jack.  Jack is a Siamese cat given to us as a house-warming gift from friends who are also cat lovers.

He's either pissed or indifferent.

Back when I was still pregnant, Jack would be my constant companion while I was doing my crochet projects.  He would either be asleep beside me or on my yarns. But mostly he'd be asleep.

Jack before snuggling next to the yarns to fall asleep.

As the work week is coming to a close, I'll probably spend my weekend finishing up on my projects, taking care of Senna and watching Jack fall asleep in front of me. 

Update: Finished Baby Blankie!

I just finished my first baby-related project.  And here's the blanket with my baby boy as the model. :) He's sleeping in a DIY cradle that my brother-in-law made for me.

Don't mind the hair. ha ha ha

Why hello there, July!

A lot of things will take place this July.  There's the handicraft fair, my birthday and Senna's Dedication.  Busy month indeed!

So far, I've managed to add a few more ponies to the bunch and will make more in the coming days.  Since Senna's been sleeping more constantly than before and I've adjusted to his sleeping habits, I've been able to schedule my crocheting during the day.

Crochet roses with vintage buttons

Besides the fair, I'm celebrating my birthday in time with Senna's Dedication or Christening.  After the fair, we need to go check the venue and decide on the menu.  Now that I think about it, the fair and the dedication is only a week apart. Ha ha ha but no worries, I'll probably make a way to fit everything.