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.

Crochet Fabric Basket

Hello!
When you have very limited storage space, you need to get creative.
I got a nice big basket for our board games at Home Goods. The problem was that it was not enough.
I needed one more basket to contain our ever growing collection , but the prices of big baskets are outrageous.
About a year ago someone gave me a big amount of craft supplies from a state. It included tons of scraps.
Most of the fabric I had no use for, until I had an idea... to make a basket.
So, I cut  long strips of fabric two inches wide.
I folded the the borders, so it would make a "clean" basket. If you want a ragged looking basket, skip this part.
I  made balls as I was folding. I think if I make another project like this one, I will sew the pieces together.
This time I just tied. With the big pieces of fabric I just left about an inch or two on each side making a long strip.
I am sorry, I have trouble expressing myself in English sometimes.
You can see this step here .
Anyways, I started to make the basket. Let me tell you, I am not a crochet expert. I had to call my Mom in Brazil.  Here is how it looked like after working a while.

And a little bit more.

It is pretty cool to crochet with fabric. Goes fast! :)

The boring part is to cut all those strips.
As I said before I am not good on crochet. I had some trouble shaping the basket, but at the end was not so bad!

I like the colors and the texture.

I am happy that I could use part of the scraps, and make it into something useful for my home.

It was really a fun project!

Thanks for stopping by!
Ana Paula.

Garage Sale Finds

Hi!

Today I want to show you something that I found some time ago at a garage sale.
If I remember correctly the lady of the house was going to a assisted living place and her nieces and nephews were there to clean up the house.

I looked around, was already very picked over, but them I spotted a pile of collectible plates covered with dust.

I am a huge Hans Christian Andersen fan.  So... there is no need to say how excited I was to find it.

Everything was very dusty. I started to pick up the plates.
I saw some vintage crochet doilies and a tablecloth.
They told me that I could have all 10 plates for 10 dollars...I asked about the crochet stuff and all was included on the deal. Nice!

I feel sorry for someone that collected these plates for all those years...she loved them, I am sure. I always think how sad is when you get old or you die and your family sell your treasures . These are my favorites.

 The little Mermaid

The little match girl. It is my favorite Andersen story.

I love this one too. I love all of them.
Looks like this plates were made until 1999. About 30 plates. I believe the 10 plates I got are from the first year they were made.
Now the crochet. I gave them a good soak.
The tablecloth has some holes, but the doilies are in good condition.
I will probably cut parts of the tablecloth to use in some Shabby Chic sewing projects.

Not bad for 10 dollars! What do you think?