DIY Valentine's Day Bunting Tutorial - Perfect for Kids

Princess, my now 5 year old daughter, is all about Valentine's Day. I would say it's her second favorite holiday after Christmas.  She has been inspired by Fancy Nancy's Heart to Heart, a super sweet Valentine's Day story in which they explain what happens on that day and the sister receives a card from a secret admirer. She has to solve the mystery. 

Her first craft for Valentine's this year has been a a heart bunting. 

Materials:

• heart foam shapes
• 3/4in glitter ribbon 
• low-temperature hot glue  (crafting glue should work too)
• glue gun

Procedure:

This was Princess' first time using the hot glue gun. Ahhh! So I went over the guidelines on how to use it safely. She has seen me use it before so she was quite familiar with it. I recommend adult supervision at all times while using hot glue. 

Here she is arranging the heart shapes to lay them out in the way she wants, which ended up being glitter red, soft pink, glitter pink, and so on. 

The brown paper is her 'work station' where she put glue on the ribbon. 

Real-quick after putting the glue, use your hands to press the heart shape on the ribbon.  It's really important to do it right away before the glue dries up. 

Final product: 

What kind of crafts are your children making for Valentine's Day? How are you decorating your home?  I'd love to see it! Send me a picture here in the comments or post it to my FB page so we can see it! 

Happy crafting!

~ Fabi

Best places where to buy yarn online

Shopping for yarn is an important decision and a necessary one. After all, the quality of the yarn is what makes the project achieve the desired look. 

Although you can shop for yarn at local stores, there are websites ONLINE to shop for yarn.

There are hidden gems online that I am going to  share with you. 

Check this post to find out what supplies I keep in my crochet bag.

(This post contains affiliate links.)

My Favorite TWO places where I go to shop online for yarn is Craftsy and Amazon because of their: 

Variety of Yarns,Great Prices,FREE Shipping  

Where to Shop Online for Yarn?

      1.  Craftsy: 

          They have everything from yarn to classesall available with a click!  I've used their site several times and it's fantastic. They constantly have sales going and classes. They are currently having a Flash Sale on yarn. 

2. Amazon yarn shop: You can use your Amazon Prime to have most yarns delivered straight to your door with free shipping in two days. This sounds delightful to me. 



 3.  MyCraftLife:  

         Anita Gibney located in the UK has been selling her yummy colors from the UK through Instagram. She is so sweet, so willing to show all the varieties of yarn she has available. She will work with you to help you find exactly what you are looking for.   Her reviews on Instagram are outstanding as she ships all over the world, especially the US. 

        She has acrylic and cotton available. 

        
        She offers the best colors!!
       
        Talk about eye-candy.

        I. want. to. order. EVERYTHING.

        
        ***Find her through Instagram MyCraftLife or her new Facebook page:  MyCraftLife.  

       4. Little Woollie Yarn: 

       Online Shop based off Australia. Fantastic colors. You would  recognize her for her Star Tutorial which  has a colorful pattern. 

       Visit her shop here:

    5.   DROPS Design Yarn:

        This is my favorite website to browse through yarn and patterns.  They've got everything. I often see  other fellow bloggers from Europe who use yarn from Drops.  I hear they are excellent quality too.    

        Find their amazing site here.

     6.  Darn Good Yarn: 

         Hand-Spun, child labor free yarn. This store has                yarns, free patterns, notions available. They also have reclaimed silk yarn available. So many options, colors.  When you purchase from Darn Good Yarn,  you are also contributing to helping families in India and Nepal who would, otherwise, receive lower than minimum wages. Darn Good Yarn pays a working salary to their workers to bring high-quality products as well as income for their workers.
   

  Check their website or email           Nicole@darngoodyarn.com      

    7. Purl Soho

        Have you heard about the Purl Bee's blog? Ya know, where the basic granny square pattern or the fun Granny Square Slippers pattern comes from.
        

        The best part about this site is being able to shop by color. Oh. Yeah. 

       Find their goodies here.


   8.  Lion Brand Online Shop

       Here you can find: Angora Merino, Cashmere, Baby Alpaca, Pure Wool, Silk Mohair, Cotton Bamboo, and Organic Wool.

        Find their website here. 

  9.  Red Heart Online Shop:
        Red Heart with Love has a great variety of colors and feels great on blankets. I have used it for my son's blanket I made him (almost) two years ago.  You can see read the whole post about the birth and our trip home at this link. 

My Sweet Baby Boy at 1 day old with his chevron blanket.

              Find their website here: 

   

Trust you find everything you need through these shops! Let me know which is your favorite in the comments and what kind of yarn is your favorite.  If there's another shop you would recommend share it below in the comments. 

***As always, come by and join our yarn, WIP, crochet/knitting life over at my facebook page Fabi Makes.

Let me know if there's any other information you would like me to help you with! 

~ Fabi 

Top 7 Free Granny Squares Pattern

Happy New Year ! 

2014 has already started and has come in full force in thanks to @mummy_stacey on Instagram (IG). She had the fantastic idea of starting a crochet mood blanket made up of 52 squares (1 per week) or 365 squares (1 per day).  Each person can choose their own colors and their own style of square.

Stacey's idea has been very well received at IG that has gone viral.

Follow along in any of the following ways:

Facebook Group: Crochet Mood Blanket 2014 

Instagram (IG): #crochetmoodblanket2014

                                                              follow my blanket @fabicreates 


Below I am sharing with you ideas you can use to make your squares for your very own blanket that will represent what 2014 will have meant to you by the end of the year.

I am personally super excited about this project. I need to get my supplies ready and join the group!

Let's get started!

1. Sunburst Granny Square: This type of square has been one my favorites for several years. For printable directions check Priscilla Hewitt's pdf.

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2.  Cocoa Puff: Square by Melissa Green is available to download free through Ravelry.

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3. Hexagon Square: Pattern available here.

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4. African Flower Granny: Full tutorial available there. 

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5. Retro Circles: Easy to work pattern, tutorial found here.

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6. Simple Granny Square: The Purl Bee has done a great job posting a tutorial for this basic square. Find it here. 

My granny square blanket - WIP

7. Daisy Granny Square: This is an absolute eye-candy pattern found at Dada's Place. Original pattern by Color 'n Cream.

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Happy Crocheting!

~ Fabi

{Raising #Bilingual Children} Documenting Bilingual Life - Day 1

I'm going to call this post, Day 1, although I have been raising my children bilingually since they were born. If I may say so, since they were in the womb. I simply started by just talking to them in my first language, Spanish. 

While my husband and I were engaged we were in complete agreement that we needed to raise our future children bilingually for a variety of reasons. First off, because we wanted them to be able to communicate with my family in Chile, to have good job opportunities, and so that we can share our background culture with them. 

I'd say this has been quite the journey. A journey I couldn't have told you how we were going to accomplish our goal exactly. But one in which our hearts and minds were set on it. To me, that was the first and foremost step. The conviction and the commitment for passing on a language and culture. 

Initially, we used the  one language - one parent methodology. My husband spoke English to our only child (back then) and I'd speak in Spanish. Later on, we decided that my husband would speak to them in English and Spanish and I'd stick to Spanish.  I speak English around them when we are at out or with other family / friends who only speak English. 

I'll never forget the first time my daughter heard me speak English. We were at a public library in Lansing, Michigan for a baby-toddler activity. There were so many moms there with their young children, everyone speaking in English, of course. So I spoke English there too.  She looked at me, puzzled. She understood what I was saying, but I'm pretty sure that was the first time she had really heard speaking to her in English. 

Now my daughter is 5 and she still prefers I speak to her in Spanish. Sometimes at home I'll switch languages and talk to her in English and she tells me  "noooo, say it in Español."  She also prefers I say "Te quiero" rather than "I love you."  When Daddy - Papa says I love you, she smiles and says I love you too. But when I tell her "I love you", she says no, don't say it like that. So I say "te quiero". She responds "te quiero, mama." 

Thus far my journey towards raising bilingual children has been a learning experience from which I have come to the realization that young children can:

• hear they are being spoken in different languages
• recognize what language they are hearing
• respond in the language they are spoken to
• learn more than one language naturally

My plan is to share with you what works for us, anecdotes, and encouragement towards raising bilingual children. 

I'd love to hear from you and your experiences. Leave me a message below or join me at my fb page to engage with other readers and hear more about your experience. 

~  Fabi