Easter, Hope, and Neurofibromatosis

Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.
We had a great time,  just the three of us. The Easter bunny made his visit and gave Brenda candies, coins, a book, and nail polish.
My decor was nearly the same from last year,with very little changes.
While Spring cleaning,  I found an old Easter basket that I made for Brenda when she was almost two years old.
The cute flower buttons were recycled from one of Brenda's baby dresses. I added a bit of felt, ric-rac,  and hand embroidery.  Here are some pictures I took just before Easter.

And here is baby Brenda with the basket in 2006. She got a delicious Brazilian Easter egg that year :)  How I miss the Easter eggs from my country!

I just love these pictures! But that was a difficult Spring for our family.  It was when Brenda broke her leg for the first time.  She had just started walking some months before.  We knew very little about her condition that time,  and were even accused of child abuse.  It was very scary.
Anyways, back to this year.  We had a delicious Easter dinner and appetizers.
Brenda and Daddy made Deviled Egg Chicks from Family Fun and Pinterest .
The green plate was my birthday gift, a set of two.

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For dessert I made Brazilian  Pineapple and Cream . So good!

Springtime is so special.  A time of growth and renewal, and Easter is a time of hope and faith for Christians.  We are very different from the Spring of 2006.
It has been quite a ride for us since we found out about Brenda's Neurofibromatosis.
We are more mature now, and have learned a lot about NF.  Our faith has improved over the years.  We have found great doctors and some amazing families that live with NF like us.  It give us hope and support.  Brenda is doing very well.  She is a sweet little girl that has great faith in Jesus Christ, and we are very proud of her.

We are on Spring break this week with lots to do. We are doing Spring cleaning, gardening, a play date,  and going to the movies to see Mirror, Mirror.  I have some projects to share,  but it will be for another post.
Have a wonderful day!

Ana Paula.

Crochet and Lady Bugs

Hello!
I am really interested in crochet lately.   Probably is because I see so much pretty stuff some talented ladies make all over blog land.
The problem is that I never learned to crochet...but I am trying to fix that :)  It will take some work!
My Mom and aunt both know how to crochet, but I never had the desire myself when I lived in  Brazil.   Now, miles and miles away from them, I will have to learn it on my own.   I did some things on the past, like this Crochet Fabric Basket , but I never went further.  I dream on making Granny Squares and Crochet Snowflakes...  The good thing is that with so many crochet  tutorials and out there, if I persevere, I  may learn something.
Anyways, months ago I  saw some gorgeous  Crochet Stool Covers.
I decided to give it a try. First one for Brenda's room. I choose an Ikea Marius and yarn in pastel colors.

It was surprisingly fast to make.
I liked it so much, that  decided to make another one.  I got a bar stool at Target, to add an extra seat to the kitchen.
Here is when I started.

I am very happy with both of the finished stools.  They look so bright and pretty.  Now, I just need to keep challenging myself and carry on.  Should I try a granny square now ?

With the arriving of Spring, many lovely things happen.
Look what Brenda brought home last week.

As every little girl, she loves lady bugs. She takes very good care of them.

Now they live happily in our garden.

I just love Spring. Beautiful gardens and some lovely holidays.  We had a little Saint Patrick's dinner and cake. Grandma and Grandpa joined us .  Brenda told some Irish jokes and we watched Darby O' Gill and the little people. We had sparkling lemonade to drink and mostly green food.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great week.

Ana Paula.

Heart Sachet

Hello! My last post was a little over a month ago!  I have being busy with a million things, including  organizing my home and and trying to do a little clean-up on the blog. 
Blogger gives me hard time, I took forever to fix some problems.
Today I was finally able to make this Cross Stitch sachet and write a post.

I stitched this bird on the early ninety's. It was stitched on a blouse I used for years.

I saved the bird and now I finally turned it unto something. I used denim, blue polka dot fabric, and lace trim. I like how it looks, not bad for a piece of cross stitch from an old blouse, don't you think?
The bird pattern is from a Verena Burda magazine in German.  When I moved to America almost ten years ago, I was not able to bring my collection of Cross Stitch magazines with me.
 When I went back to I visit my family in Brazil four years ago, I ripped off my favorite pages from the magazines I left behind, and now I keep them in binders.

They are old, but have many lovely patterns!

Anyways, after over a month without posting I have some other photos to share.

A couple of CTR towels.

Valentine's Day.

 

And the early Spring on my little garden.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Ana Paula.

My Cross Stitch Goal for 2012

Hello!
Some months ago I was able to get a great bargain on e-bay : Lizzie Kate's flip-it stamps.
My goal is make one a month.  I just finished January.

I changed the colors to mostly blue, inspired by this ornament .  The trim is ruched ribbon.
The pattern came with 3 tiny buttons but I decided to use snowflakes instead, like on  the ornament  I was copying :)  But, I was not able to find such small snowflake buttons like hers. I had to use just one.
I finished it as a flat ornament, and the fabric on the background is the one I used on the back of the ornament.
I love this design and I am so pleased on how it looks after finished. I love it!

This has been a busy month, and I am happy I was able to finish it before January is over.
The plan is to display a new ornament on a little easel every month.  Eleven more to go!
Thanks for stopping by!
Ana Paula.

Cleaning, an old project, and a Cookbook

Hello!
Not much crafting going on around here.  All I am doing now  is cleaning and organizing.
We took lots of stuff to Salvation Army and I still have more to take there.
I am working on a little cross stitch on some free minutes. I will share it soon, I hope.
Since I have no new projects to share today, I will show something that I made in December but never posted.
I am keeping it out because I love it.

It is very simple to make. You will need :

A bag of moss - I got it at Joann's.
2 plastic deer - You can find at Michael's.
Small toadstools - my friend Jodie made mine from wooden knobs in different sizes.
A pretty container - I found this one at Home Goods, but Tai Pan Trading has lots of them.

To make the little meadow scene, you  cut a piece of moss to fit the container you chose and tuck it in.
Now you just have to place the deer and toadstools over the moss and you are done!

Since I don't have any real deer near by, these ones are good enough for me!

Now, on a complete different subject.
I got this on the mail this week.

I sent a recipe to Gooseberry Patch and it was published in this book, Fresh from the Farmstand.
If they publish your recipe, you get a free copy of the book.
My recipe is "Berry Sweet Trifle" on page 215.
I love their cookbooks and it was very exciting to have my trifle recipe published.
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by!
Ana Paula.

Christmas "Paper" Dolls

Hello, and happy new year everyone!
I am late here again, there is never enough time, but I wanted to share something I made this Christmas.

The inspiration for the paper dolls set comes from here.  Make sure to check it out, this girl has the cutiest blog.
I found the fabrics on e-bay, for a very good price.
I made some changes on my set (in reality I made two sets - one for Brenda and one for her best friend).

Here is one set with all the parts. Five girls, seven outfits and nine hair accessories/hats.

A close-up of some of the girls and some more pictures of the set.

I used spray starch and heat n' bond ultrahold to make the fabric stiff enough to cut all the parts.
I used a normal iron on by the yard for the case. I got everything at Joann's, including the polka dot fabric. Only the two paper dolls fabrics were from e-bay. I got one yard each, one with the girls and one with the clothes and acessories.  I believe I have leftover fabric enough to make another set with less pieces.
I think it came out pretty cute, and the girls love it! Paper dolls are really fun!

Since I am talking about Christmas, I will share some new ornaments we got this year.

I finally have Elvis!

 We got a Fancy Nancy ornament too. I made it from a fabric scrap and some fancy trims.

German toadstools.

A gnome.

A dessert stand.

We gave Brenda a piano ornament to celebrate her first year taking piano lessons.
That's our tree. From baby Jesus to annual pictures of Brenda,  we have it all. It is a tree of memories and things that we love.

And here is my girl, waiting her granparents to arrive for Christmas dinner.

 And here reading a Fancy Nancy book to her great grandma.

And opening a present.
Well, that's all for now. A big Christmas post in January!
Thanks for stopping by!

Ana Paula.