Bella Dia

Crocheted Neck Warmers

I've been working on these neckwarmers for my kids. They needed something between their hats and the tops of their coats when they go play in the snow and most of the scarves are just too bulky and awkward for lots of activity. I couldn't decide on how to finish them off so I tried three different styles.

This one is for my nine year old son and is kind of a buckle-style. The end of the neckwarmer slides under the little strap.

This one is for my 6 year old son and I finished it off with a little pompom and a button opening. I'm not sure how the pompom will hold up but I wanted something soft instead of hard like a button so we'll see what happens.

This last one is for my 12 year old daughter. It's more of a mini scarf and has an opening to slide the end through. She wanted fringe on hers too.

I used single and double crochet stitches on all of them and they were very easy and quick to make up. I used the softest yarns I could find without using baby blanket yarns. The dark blue is a chenille yarn, the dark green is similar to mohair, and the pinky orange is super bulky and soft but I'm not sure what you would call it ;)

Where oh where has my little garden gone?

Oh where oh where can it be?
It's hidden away under three feet of snow,
Oh, such a sad sight to see!

A Little Purse

I couldn't post this before because it was for my best friend's daughter and I wanted it to be a surprise. It's a simple, petite little bag with a mother of pearl button and an inside pocket.

Here's a close-up of the pocket. I embroidered a little kitten on it that I copied from some clipart I had in my files. I love this fabric and want to make a bag for myself too :)

Tissue Holder Tutorial

I finally put the tutorial together for the travel tissues. You'll find it with the photo albums. It's the first tutorial I've done so let me know if you have any problems. I created a pattern for it also but you'll have to change the dimensions if you use anything besides Puffs to Go® tissues. I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Wickedly Perfect

Did anyone see Wickedly Perfect? All I can say is "good riddance"!! How obnoxious can you get?! I was a little disappointed in all the projects, not much to ooh and aah about, but I'm hoping there will be in future episodes.

My Many Fears

I didn't know I had so many phobias!

Toxiphobia - Fear of poison or of being accidently poisoned
Taphephobia - Fear of being buried alive or of cemeteries
Taeniophobia - Fear of tapeworms
Pupaphobia - Fear of puppets
Nucleomituphobia- Fear of nuclear weapons
Helminthophobia- Fear of being infested with worms
Emetophobia- Fear of vomiting
Eisoptrophobia- Fear of mirrors or of seeing oneself in a mirror (only in the morning)
Coulrophobia- Fear of clowns
Bogyphobia- Fear of bogeys or the bogeyman
Ballistophobia- Fear of missiles or bullets
Automatonophobia- Fear of ventriloquist's dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues - anything that falsly represents a sentient being
Autodysomophobia- Fear of one that has a vile odor
Atomosophobia- Fear of atomic explosions
Arachibutyrophobia- Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth
Aeronausiphobia- Fear of vomiting secondary to airsickness

Banana Bread

I'm not big on cooking and it can be very trying when you have three kids asking you, "what's for breakfast? what's for lunch? what's for dinner?" over and over and over again. I'm just telling you this so you'll know that if I post a recipe it has got to be easy and very good! That's exactly what this recipe for banana bread is. Be sure to use very ripe bananas and the flavor will be even more spectacular. It makes 3 loaves and freezes very well too.

Banana Cream Bread

Makes 3 loaves.
Preheat oven to 325.
Grease and flour 3 loaf pans.

1 1/3 cup oil
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
6 ripe mashed bananas
1 cup sour cream (I've used fat free and haven't found that it makes any difference)
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix until smooth, then add:

4 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix just until blended - do not over mix.

Divide into loaf pans, filling 2/3rds full. Bake for 40 - 60 minutes until top is lightly brown and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Let cool for about 5 minutes before turning out onto cooling racks. Enjoy!

Marble Magnet Latecomer

One of the last minute gifts I made for my mother was a set of marble magnets. I know I'm a latecomer to this project but I have to agree with how easy and rewarding they are to do.

I made a copy of this picture of my brother, sister and I with my mom and her mother, father, and brother's family.

I used the marbles to trace around the different people in the picture and then cut them out. I glued the picture to the back of the marble with Aleene's Tacky Glue, then glued a 1/2" magnet on with E6000. They're packaged in an Altoid's tin. You can find everything you need at Michael's. The marbles are in the floral section packaged in a little mesh bag, make sure you get the clear ones. Once home, I had to cull through them to find the ones that had the fewest flaws (like air bubbles) so I could get the clearest picture. If you don't want to do this then buy them in the scrapbooking section, you'll pay more but there won't be any wasted.