Patio Paver Crafts

It has been awhile since I last posted, and this is the first time attempting to do so on my tablet.
Last month I did a couple of painting crafts both on my own and with my grandson.
The first are some ladybug pavers that will be crawling around one of the trees in our yard.

I got the inspiration here.

Here are hers.

And here are mine.

I had one patio paver left, so my grandson and I worked on this one together. At first he wanted a cow, but when I showed him a picture of a tractor, he decided on that.
I drew the shapes we needed and outlined it, and he filled in the colors. He placed his in his mother's (my daughter) garden next door.

He did a great job!

Just this last week, I did a couple more painted paver crafts.
The inspirations came from here and here.

Their versions...

And Mine.

So, here's the method I used for these painted pavers:

First the individual ones.

1) Clean the pavers and brush off most of the dust.

2) Paint a base coat of your main color with acrylic craft paint. (actually, I painted the caterpillar with spray paint, Rustoleum 2X, but I think the acrylic paint may end up a little cheaper to use and easier to fill in the crevices.) You will probably need 2-3 coats to cover well, depending on the color you use.

3) After the base coat has dried, paint on the faces, markings, etc. with the other colors. Again drying between any coats needed.

4) Allow to dry thoroughly. I usually let them dry at least overnight, but the tractor I did the same day and it went ok. Don't worry if it looks dull, the sealer will give it a good gloss.

5) Apply a coat of Concrete Sealer. I used this, which I got at Menards.  Let dry and repeat at least one more coat. This is the same sealer I used on my stamped patio several years ago and it has held up well. Even though the gloss is now gone, the acrylic paint has been protected and is still there. I still have about 1/3 of this left, as it is thin like water and a little goes a long way.

6) For the caterpillar, or any shape you come up with that needs to be glued together, the process is the same except that FIRST you will glue the pavers together with landscape adhesive. Again, I got this at Menards. I had asked one other blogger what she used to glue hers together and she said she used E6000 glue. She said it worked well, but after a couple of years they fell apart and had to be re-glued. We'll see it if this lasts any longer.

It did not say on the tube if it was paint-able or not, but I contacted the company and they said it is. They suggested waiting 24 hrs. before painting and using acrylic paint, so it moves with the product. My Bad, I sprayed it before finding this out (Too impatient to get my project started!) I did wait 48 hrs., though, so I was good there. Once the adhesive has dried well, sand or grind off any "ooze outs" and again brush off the dust before painting. It's probably best not to use too much, because any "ooze outs" on the bottom side are going to be flattened and smooth, as opposed to the crevices in the paver.

Here are pics of my creations in their ?final? (who knows) resting places.

Guarding my grill flower cart

Crawling through the weeds

After a couple of rains

Around the box elder tree

P.S. I may have started this on my tablet, but finished it on the desktop. Things just did not move around the way I liked on the tablet, but the pics uploaded easier, so I guess a combo of the two worked pretty slick.

Enjoy!

BEDROOM INSPIRATION

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I really like getting feedback and respond to every comment or question.

So please, won't you leave me some footnotes!

@www.decoration.luxury-ideas.com

Do you think a bed in the corner takes up too much space.

Interesting headboard  @www.houzz.com

No headboard, just stencil on wall @ www.houzz.com

eclectic bedroom design by other metros interior designer Catherine Sands

Another cool headboard @ www.houzz.com

Check out these "painted on" headboards found here:http://exoticinteriors.wordpress.com/category/bedrooms/page/2/

Wow, a room divider as a headboard.http://exoticinteriors.wordpress.com/category/bedrooms/page/3/

And the next one at the same page.

That is so cool.  A tufted headboard that's not a headboard.  I like it.

Crochet Hat {P}inspiration

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So please, won't you leave me some footnotes! 

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Girl's Hat With Lacy Earflaps

This is the hat my daughter put on one of my Pinterest boards for my granddaughter.

Cute, but no pattern. 

Not even a link to the page the image came from. 

All I got was redirected to different ad sites.

This is a hat that I liked the earflaps on.

Again, no pattern.

The link takes me to the LoveAndYarn site, but no amount of searching found me a pattern.

So, when the internet gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Or in this case make my own pattern.

A closeup of my version of the earflap 

So here's the pattern:

Girl's Hat With Lacy Earflaps

Supplies

 4-ply yarn - less than 1/2 a skein of the main color and even less of the contrasting colors *

*(this is not an exact science, I used yarn I had left in my stash from other projects)

This is the type I use

 Red Heart Super Saver

Size I crochet hook

Large needle to weave in any ends and sew on flower

Size

Child - I made it to fit big on a 5 year old, so I would imagine it will fit up to a teenager, possibly. It fit the circumference on me, stretched, but did not go down enough to cover the ears.

Stitches used

ch - chain

sl st - slip stitch

sc - single crochet

hdc - half double crochet

dc - double crochet

dtr - double treble crochet

Pattern

Round 1 - With the I hook and main color, ch4. sl st into 1st ch, to form a circle.

Round 2 - Work 10 hdc into circle. (10 stitches) Mark end of round.

DO NOT JOIN

Round 3 - 2 hdc in each st around. (20 stitches) Move stitch marker.

Round 4 - * 1 hdc next st, 2 hdc next st. Repeat from * around. (30 stitches) Move stitch marker.

Round 5 - *  1 hdc next st, 1 hdc next st, 2 hdc next st. Repeat from * around (40 stitches) Move stitch marker. 

Round 6 - *  1 hdc next st, 1 hdc next st, 1 hdc next st, 2 hdc next st. Repeat from * around (50 stitches) Move stitch marker.

Round 7 - *  1 hdc next st, 1 hdc next st, 1 hdc next st, 1 hdc next st, 2 hdc next st. Repeat from * around (60 stitches) Move stitch marker.

Round 8 - 13 - Work even in hdc around, moving stitch marker at end of each round. 

Round 14 - 15 - Attach next contrasting color and work even in hdc around, moving stitch marker at end of each round. You can crochet your ends in as you go, or weave them in at the end. I prefer to crochet in as many as possible right away, so there's less weaving to do at the finish.

Round 16 - Attach next contrasting color and work even in hdc around, moving stitch marker at end of round.

Round 17 - (Earflap round) hdc in next 9 st. *sl st in next st, sk 3 st, 10 dtr in next st, sk 3 st, sl st in next stitch* (earflap made). hdc in next 24 st. Repeat between *. hdc in last 9 stitches of row. Move stitch marker.
Round 18 - Attach main color again and hdc in next 9 st, *hdc in sl st, 2 hdc in each dtr, hdc in sl st*, hdc in next 24 st. Repeat between * hdc in last 9 st. Move stitch marker.
Round 19 - hdc in next 3 st, move stitch marker (this is so your color changes end up in the back), then sc around to marker. sl st to next st and fasten off.
Weave in any tails you have left.

Flower

Large Petals:

Round 1 - Using H hook ch 4. sl st into the first ch to form

a circle, ch 2. *1 dc into the circle, ch 1. Repeat from the *

5 times. sl st into the top of ch 2.

Round 2 - ch 2, then dc into the same st.  2 dc into every st

and ch all the way around. sl st into the top of ch 2.

Round 3 - Ch 2, then dc into the same st.  dc into the next st. *2 dc into the next st, then dc into the next 2 sts. Repeat from the * all around. sl st into the top of ch 2.

Round 4 - Ch1. *sc into the next st, dc into the same st. In the next st 2 dc.  3 tr in the next st.  2 dc into the next st. 1 dc in the next st and sc into the same st. Repeat from the * all around. sl st into the top of ch 2.

Fasten off, and weave in ends.

Medium Petals:

Round 1 - Using H hook ch 4. sl st into the first ch to form a circle, ch 2. *1 dc into the circle, ch 1. Repeat from the * 5 times. sl st into the top of ch 2.

Round 2 - ch 2, then dc into the same st.  2 dc into every stitch and ch all the way around. sl st into the top of ch 2.

Round 3 - Ch 1.  *sc into the next st. dc into the same st. 1 dc into the next st, then tr, dc into the same st, dc in the next st, then sc into the same st. Repeat from the * all around. sl st into the top of ch 1.

Fasten off, and weave in ends.

Small Petals:

Round 1 - Using H hook ch 4. sl st into the first ch to form a circle, ch .14 dc into the circle. sl st into the top of ch 2.

Round 2 - Ch 2. *1 dc into the same st. 3 dc into the next st. dc in the next st, ch 2 and sl st into that same st. sl st into the next st, ch 2. Repeat from the * all around.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Finishing

Place small petals on top of medium petals, then on top of large petals. Going through all layers, sew to one side of the hat with yarn and a large needle. Before cutting yarn, attach a button to the center of the flower and secure on the inside of the hat and fasten off.

Braids

Cut (12) 36" lengths of yarn for each braid. Fold 12 pieces of yarn in half and using a large hook, pull the fold through a space at the bottom of each earflap from the backside, to form a loop on the outside. pull the rest of the tails through the loop and tighten. Split the tails into 3 sections and braid almost to the end. Wrap a length of main color yarn around the end of the braiding and secure. Trim ends of the tail to about the same length.

My grandson was kind enough to model this hat for me, but I'm afraid I did a poor job focusing. Darn this getting old and having to hold the camera farther away than my arms to see if I got a good pic or not!

Here's my granddaughter modeling it after her birthday.

And of course these two had to get crazy for the camera. Even though it's not a great pic, I decided to throw it in here anyway.

Creamy Tomato Soup

 

Creamy Tomato Soup

Yield 4 ½ cups

Ingredients

3 ½ tablespoons butter   
½ cup chopped onion
1 clove of garlic (minced or put through a garlic press)
3 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon basil
2 cups chicken broth  (I use 1 TBL of chicken soup base added to 2 cups water)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
2/3 cup half and half
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and basil and cook until onion is translucent. Add garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk to make a roux. Slowly add the chicken broth and continue to whisk as the mixture thickens. Cook for at least  1 minute, following the boil; then add the sugar and tomatoes and just bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for at least 20 minutes (longer for fresh tomatoes). Just prior to serving, add the half and half. Refrigerate leftovers and reheat as needed.

YUM!

Photo Book - San Juan, PR

I'm been gone for a bit.
1st - Getting ready for our trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico for our son's wedding.
2nd - The trip and wedding themselves.
3rd - Recuperating from the "vacation", plus another short trip to Chicago thrown in there.
4th - This is one of the projects I've been working on concerning our trip to San Juan.

It's a photo book of our vacation!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

I hope you enjoyed this book. I am currently working on another book of just Old San Juan, because there was so much to see there. So much, in fact, that we could have used another day at least to see more things and do more things. When that book is done, I'll share it as well.

By the way......I got a great deal on this book through Groupon. They had a deal to get an 8X11 book for $15 and an 8X8 book for $10. I got the 8X11 for this book and hubby is getting the 8X8 for the Old San Juan book.

               Have A Relaxed Day!