Turn any crochet flower into a headband

I'm sure you've seen them...all of the adorable crochet headbands floating around the internet.

Well, I thought I'd show you that you can have one of your very own without spending any money!

This is something that even a beginner crocheter can do!

All you need is 1 crochet flower, a little extra yarn, your trusty crochet hook, scissors, and a measuring tape.

You may already have a crochet flower that you use as a broach or hair clip, but they are also easy to make.

There are so many resources online for fun, and easy, crochet flower patterns.

Try Youtube.com, or Ravelry.com for more free patterns than you can shake a stick at.

Once you have your flower, flip it over and find a good spot for attaching your extra bit of yarn.

Fasten on the extra yarn to you hook and then slip stitch it onto the back of the flower (it doesn't really matter where, there will be a lot of places you could slip the hook under, just make sure it is sturdy).

Now, measure around your head with the tape measure.

Chain until you have matched the length of your head measurement.

Once you have matched your head measurement, fasten the yarn onto the opposite side of the flower with another slip stitch. To create multiple straps for your headband, simply start chaining again, making sure to chain the same number of times as the first headband strap.

Each time you finish a strap, slip stitch it into place.

When you have finished, cut your yarn and fasten off with a knot, making sure to weave in all of your loose ends.

That's it! It really was so easy to do. And of course, I love adding little embellishments to my flowers, like the blue polka dot fabric button I got from HeyDayHandmade!

Frinstagram

A few Instagrams on Friday...

1. Yummy surprise last weekend from a husband who has been super busy with work/school/church calling lately 2. Brothas lovin 3&4. First swim lesson all week, a fun success!

  

summer bucket list accomplishment

We have been pretty good about remembering our summer bucket list.

We are about halfway done with all of our fun activities.

This past weekend, we spent a rare cool-ish morning on a lake near our house.

This lake has a great walking trail, which we frequently walk and bike on, but they also have paddle boats and fishing poles for rent.

Ande always begs us to ride the paddle boats, but we're always too tired from our bike ride/walk, or it's too hot to be melting in the middle of the lake.

This time, we planned ahead for a special paddle boat outing, and got lucky with the great weather.

We also rented a fishing pole and tried our hardest...

The other fishermen out there must have had some more tempting bait than our leftover pancakes.

inspiration

I have always envied how artists, designers, photographers, etc., seem to be so good at finding creative inspiration from anything in the world around them. For example, I had a dance choreographer in college who found inspiration for a dance from the instruction manual that she used to put together a desk. Yes, that's right...a desk.

For some reason, I just can't find any inspiration of my own. Maybe it's because I have been really tired lately and we've been passing a sickness around our house for weeks now...Maybe it's because we have been enjoying spending more time together as a family this summer...I don't know what it is, but I can't seem to get my creative juices flowing again.

Other than fulfilling orders from my shop, I hadn't done very much crocheting in months. Any other type of crafting has been almost non-existent. When we got home from our trip to Utah, I got an urge to finally crochet something, feeling inspired by the lovely candy apple shade of red from this yarn...

...but the result just wasn't quite what I was hoping.

So, now I'm on a mission.

A mission to find my creativity.

I'm determined to find something new that inspires me.

I'm ready to start creating things again.

I'll let you know how it goes.

...How do you stay inspired?...

pillow jump

...One of our favorite rainy day activities!

unconditional

I'm so glad that kids have the amazing ability to love unconditionally.

Like when my voice cracks while I sing their nightly lullaby's,

or when my hair has been in the same ponytail for 3 days,

or when I stay up too late and spend the next day losing my patience all too quickly.

No matter what I do, their faces still light up when I walk in the room,

they want me to hold them,

they want to be close to me,

they hug and kiss me,

and they snuggle their heads into my shoulder each night

with all the love and trust in the world.

They're like little pieces of heaven,

and I feel like they are the ones who constantly teach me,

instead of the other way around.

Cooling Off

The summer weather here is getting out of control.

At what point will our skin actually start melting in this heat?

We tried to cool off at the pool this weekend, but there was a swim meet going on.

Blast!

So we had to fashion our own water fun in the yard.

I can't stand having wet grass pieces cling to my ankles, 

but the boys definitely enjoyed the slip and slide action.

finally, the family reunion post

After being gone for over two weeks, blogging our trip (where we took over 1,000 pictures) seems terribly daunting. We spent our little summer vacation in Utah, attending two family reunions, and soaking up as much family play time as we could. Coming home to our little house felt really nice, but we were already missing everybody before we even walked through the door. 

Pictures from Lito and Lita's house (Curt's parents)

1. Ande giving his favorite pal, Bowen a ride 2. Aunt Anna getting chubby snuggles from Owen 3. Ande sharing with little June Bug 4. More with Ande and Bowen (and Cara)

Owen sneaking treats from Lita's baskets, with his out-of-control hair that refuses to lay down.

Cousin time at the cabin

1. kids lining up for a ride 2. cousin's at meal time

Another fun dirt biking-4 wheeling reunion. Curtis and I are now dying to get a bike of our own!

Front porch rocking with Owen.

Went 4-wheeling into the mountains and found some great scenery. Fallen trees, waterfalls, babbling brooks...

The Huge Haynie family reunion

1. Ande and Owen exhausted from the days Olympic activities 2. Ande enjoying the water and play time with cousins 3. Owen's new way to crawl, trying not to get his knees scratched up 4. splashing to cool off 5. Going bare to cool off even more