{free Printable} Chevron Christmas Stationary

Hi Friends!

How are you doing? I started off my day with a wonderful 2.5 km (1.2 mi). I got up early and took advantage of the weather and took off. Oh it was good. If you get the chance to walk, do it. I know it's hard in the North because it is extremely cold, but maybe find a mall or a shopping center where you could go walk.  It feels good and it was a great quiet time spent in prayer.

Christmas, Navidad, is around the corner. I love this season and I have enjoyed it so much (well, except for some ornaments disappearing....) but you get the idea. I decorated our tree with some super cute ornaments I found at Target in colors blue, purple, red, and green. Each color comes in solid and glittered. I love them. The kids do too. It's funny, because since I've had to make sure I keep all my ornaments at the top part of the tree it's got me thinking that there is 'plenty of room' for more ornaments, hahaha.

Our favorite Christmas song is 'Silver Bells'...You'll often hear me humming or singing to my Hubby this sweet song. We have some bells in our living room that make this place magical (in my four year old daughter's word).

Also as a Christmas gift to you, I'm sharing with you a stationary I designed this year to send to a couple of friends and family members. Hope you like it and get to use it.  Let me know how you like it! Or if you are in need of any last minute stationary, you can download the file from Dropbox.
Just click on the picture and it will take you to it. If for some reason you run into any issues opening the file, let me know and I'll get it to you some other way.  Everyone likes to receive handwritten letters... :-)

Have a Wonderful Christmas,

1. ~ Fabi

{amigurumi} hot cocoa with strawberry and mint flavored marshmallows

Tessa the Tea Cup has been made in baby pink with an aqua stripe near the rim of the cup. She is a delicate and tender tea cup that holds hot cocoa with marshmallow sprinkles in strawberry and mint flavors.

I found the pattern to the tea cup in an amigurumi book that my Mom gifted me for Mother's Day this year (2013). It comes with a kit she found it at Barnes n Noble. I've browsed through it several times and finally took time to read it more carefully yesterday afternoon while I was waiting at the doctor's office. I read the whole tutorial first (since i had time) and as soon as we got our three children to bed last night I began working on it. I finished up Tessa this afternoon during nap time with my baby girl's help. (okay, so not so baby anymore, she is almost 5 but she is my baby still :) ) She enjoyed cutting up some yarn and making suggestions. I wonder if she'll become a designer some day. As she went to bed tonight she said: "I liked the 'taza' (tea cup) we made together."

Tessa has been based off a pattern from the book called, so the book it's called Yummy Crochet - 12 projects too cute to eat! Ahhh! I'll so have to agree with that statement! The book is a collection of amigurumi crochet projects compiled by Kristen Rask. The book comes with a kit; ya know, pink yarn, hook, fiberfill for the stuffing, yarn needle, safety eyes, and thread. Everything one needs to get started on completing two projects from the book.

In addition to the materials above, I used the following:

Aqua yarn from my stash
Clover G Hook
Fiberfill
6mm safety eyes
tapestry needle
embroidery thread (aqua and pink to match yarn)

Ready to see some pictures? I am so ready to introduce her to you!

Everyone, meet Tessa.

Have you tried any amigurumi? What has been your experience like? Have you tried any of the patterns from yummy crochet ?

Happy crocheting and sipping on hot cocoa during this time of the year. 

~ Fabi 

How to Crochet Tea Bag Holder Pouch

I've become a tea drinker, yep. In Chile, I used to sit down with my Grandma to talk and so many times I ended up drinking her tea. I always thought hers tasted so much better than mine. Then I went through a coffee phase which lasted several years. Now I am a tea drinker again. Herb tea are some of my favorites because of their healthy value.  

I have made this crochet tea bag holder / pouch to keep my tea in place in my purse. Ya know, I carry toys and papers that is soooo easy to misplace my tea. BUT now that is not happening anymore. Bravo, me. Now my tea is in one place ready to pull it out. 

The holder is big enough that allows for several tea bags in it. 

Tea anyone? 


ps: Thanks, Mom, for the super cute owl mug you got me last year. My daughter and I take turns using it because she likes it so much, too. 

Here's my tutorial for the crochet tea bag holder / pouch. 

Pattern:

Cotton Yarn - Lily Sugar 'n Cream (this pack comes with so many different colors!!!)
Clover Crochet Hook G
button
embroidery floss
felt 
30 mins. 

Instructions:

1. Chain 16
2. Single Crochet (sc) on 2nd stitch from hook until the end. Chain 1 and turn.

1. Continue with Single Crochet (sc) until piece measures about 10in (or 25cm) Chain 1 and turn
2. Single Crochet 6 stitches, chain 3, skip 3 stitches, single crochet the last 6 stitches. Chain 1 and turn
3. Single Crochet 6 stitches, Single Crochet 3 stitches in the space from the previous row, this will create a buttonhole. 
4. Single Crochet all around your piece. Single crochet 3 times on every corner. 

How to Embroider on Crochet

Adding an embroidery sentiment to your crochet will make your project stand out and add even more personalization. You could use this technique to create personalized gifts. You could make different tea bags in different colors and embroider the name or initial or anything that you would like!  

If you do decide to embroider your tea bag holder, be sure to do it before sewing it together. 

How to Close your Tea Bag Holder / Pouch

Use the invisible hem stitch to sew your long rectangle into a pouch. 

Sew a button on and you are all set! 

Another option is to cut out any shape of wool felt and glue it to the pouch like the one that has the star. 

In this picture you can see the two different options used for personalizing your tea bag holder. The light blue has the word "tea" embroidered and the read one has a felt star glued. 

Do you drink tea? What kind do you like?

Happy Crocheting!

~ Fabi 

Read Aloud: Stuart Little and How to Promote Language and Retelling Skills

We start out our mornings with Reading Time right after breakfast on most mornings, except weekends when we have a more flexible schedule.  I use this time to build their reading comprehension skills in Spanish. As I read, my 2 year old likes to repeat short phrases that I read.  My 4 year old asks questions regarding meaning of certain words.

For the past few weeks, we have been reading Stuart Little by E.B. White. Some mornings we do coloring sheets, other times we talk about the story, and other times we use objects to retell the story.
This is the first chapter book I am reading to my children ages 4 and 2 (soon to be 5 and 3). If there are some complex words, I explain the meaning as we read. I do ask a lot of questions as we read to check for understanding. I also ask them a lot "What do you think is going to happen?" kind of questions.

So far their favorite chapter has been Stuart Little's adventure searching for his Mom's ring.

Today we read about Stuart Little's Boat Race.

Although this was a longer chapter, the kids were enthusiastic to hear how Stuart, such a tiny little creature was going to make it.

To make it more fun, I stopped reading at the section where Stuart fell into the water.

My daughter said: "noooo!" "He can't 'ahogar' - drown!"

Then she added, "he has to swim!"

Sure thing, Stuart made it safely back into the boat.

We used paper to cover the boats to show the clouds and upcoming storm followed by wind sounds they made.

When The Wasp and Lillian B. Womrath bumped into each other, my daughter quickly moved Stuart Little's boat into the finish line, which we marked with a red straw.

The people who came to see Stuart's race where their little toy figure and Minion, since it's bigger, became the police officer.

As I was putting the book away, the kids used the boats and pretended to be on a race. They also showed me how the police officer was being pushed by all the people who went to see Stuart Little at the boat.

I encourage you to read chapter books to your children. They will be interested in hearing the story and they will hear your excitement as you read the story. Be prepared to answer questions, but also be ready to ask them questions as well.

If you don't feel like reading, find audio books and play them while your children play. They are able to listen to a story while playing.

Hope you found this post useful!

Happy Reading!
~ Fabi   

From Amazon:

BBQ chicken with bacon pizza

It's no secret that my husband's favorite food is pizza. I've always liked pizza too, but I like it so much more now, especially because he likes to make his own at home. Yum, homemade pizza. We get to choose our sauce and the kind of toppings and combinations we want. Sometimes we try something we've had before at Papa John's or Marco's Pizza, other times we venture out and try new combinations. 

Our latest pizza, barbecue chicken with bacon was a hit! Our kids loved it too.  

My husband made it in the cast iron skillet. It kept the dough nicely shaped and the ingredients contained. 

Add the sauce and the toppings and voilà! 

The kids, my husband, and I loved it so much!  


We've also made Pepperoni Pizza, a real-classic we love. 

We want to try making a gluten free dough next time. We're thinking about using Craftsy's FREE Class on how to prepare gluten free dough.  I've heard it's really good and I can't wait to try it.  Sign up for a FREE Pizza Making Class through the following link: Free Pizza Making Class. 

Happy Pizza making!

~ Fabi




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Folder Game Free Printable

Folder Games can be real life savers! I use them while I am cooking, quiet time, or for those times when I just need a little bit of quiet. 

Here are two different sets of memory games. One has cars in different colors and the second one has monkeys doing different actions. 

Cars: It can be used as a memory game, teaching color names in any language. 

Monkey: Memory game focusing on details. 

How to Download: 

Right click each image and choose "Save image as". Save it to your computer and print! 

***Steps***

• Print on cardstock, paste onto a second cardstock to add a fun background color to your cards.  
• Laminate for durability at Staples, Office Max, etc.

Have fun! 

~ Fabi 

Crochet Whale Amigurumi Pattern Review

Amigurumis are the cutest addition to any nursery or play room. I was so happy my friend asked me to make an amigurumi for her! 

Crochet Whale Amigurumi Pattern Review

I bought this Whale Amigurumi pattern by SweetCarolyns to make a whale for a friend who was decorating her nursery with a whale theme. 

This Crochet Amigurumi pattern is very easy to follow, it works up really fast. You will need to sew on the fins and tail. You will also stuff it as you go.  The resulting whale measures close to 6 inches. 

See this post to find out what you will need to make an Amigurumi. 

You can purchase a copy of this amigurumi whale pattern here. 


Happy splashing!