For a long, long time I have craved a Faberge Egg or two, or three. *hahaha* Yes, that's a champagne diet and a beer budget, so to speak. I will never have enough money to purchase a Faberge Egg (as shown at Horchow's website). I do enjoy looking at them and looking at the Russian Glass/Crystal Eggs (shown on the St. Petersburg website). Their beauty is why I enjoy creating these little jewels.

Each ornament begins with a 3" styrofoam filled, satin covered, ball. Each one has a hand crocheted top, a tiny little doily really, which I crocheted with a size 30 thread and that is just a little bigger than two strands of sewing thread. By using a large magnifying glass suspended around my neck I can see the tiny stitches. Once the doily is finished then it is stretched and pinned into place over the satin ball. Magic is the last thing to occur. Bits of ribbon, beads, lace, crochet embellishments and fancy pins twirl their way onto the ornament. All of that decorating brings the contented-grin-factor. *wink and nod* Yes, this is almost as nice as a Faberge Egg.

I have ordered some glass jewels and a few plastic cameos. Now that I have figured out the basics, I will try my best to rival, perhaps surpass, the famous Faberge!!

One more "shrug" to go. This one will fit RiLeigh (4) and the next one will be for her sister Aaliyah (7). Their two crocheted purses are on top of the shelf. Christmas 2009.

Here's all the gifts, handmade and ready to be shipped in early December 2009. Each granddaughter, RiLeigh and Aaliyah, will have 1 shrug, 1 purse, 1 washclothe, 1 eyeglass case with sunglasses inside, many head bands and ponytail holders, and fuzzy flip-flops. The teddy bears are store-bought.

Since Paul has reestablished a proper dining area, and we have proper Sunday dinners, complete with a well-laid table, it seemed only right that we should have some nice Placemats. Maybe I've gone overboard, but our largest gathering requires accommodations for eight.

I have a head-start on Christmas 2009. This 'baby blanket' for 16-year old Danny, is a major accomplishment as the original pattern had to be structurally modified to accomodate a near 6-foot "baby". Well, I was told the Nanna's can work magic. Seems it's true.

Simple Christmas bead garland, with thread crochet shells to give it a finished look. These beads come in many colors, even Mardi Gras colors of green, purple and this gold color. Complimentary thread colors are abundant for the #10 (bedspread weight) crochet thread.

This type of crochet thread garland has been made for years, possibly a centruy by now. I used an old crocheted garland to figure out the pattern. I may not have it right, but it looks pretty good. Help yourself to my meager pattern, in PDF format, for this thread Crochet Bead Garland.

It's Nov. 9, 2007 and I'm making progress. The blue satin ball is finished. With a three-day weekend beginning tomorrow, I hope to have a half-dozen satin balls finished. ;-))

Daniel Jacob Milligan's 8th Grade Graduation Gift

In this photograph you can see the "D" and "N" monogrammed in the bear's feet. Of course, this bear was crocheted and hooked with love.

On the left side of the photograph is a shadow box in which there is a gold filled Wahl-Eversharp mechanical pencil. It was given to Willy S. Correll, my maternal grandfather, in 1913 by his 8th grade school teacher after he passed his 8th grade exams. Now, Danny has this family heirloom to keep safely and to share with the next generations.

A special pair of 17" crocheted teddy bears.
2nd Place Prize - Nevada County Fair - August 2007

RiLeigh's bear on left -- Aaliyah's bear on the right.
Christmas Gifts 2007

Pattern available from e-PatternsCentral.com.

A few years ago I made these folded clothe pinecones. They have held together quite well as they are now 15 years old.

And then, I decorated Thom's a bit more, and made one for Paul and myself. *whew* The colors, from left to right, are forest green, wine red, and dark brown. Now it's on to the crocheted Christmas balls. You'll see!

Christmas Project: 2006
Mom gave me this pineapple cushion many, many years ago. I'm using this one as a visual pattern, as I use the trial-and-error crochet method. With each success, the instructions are written down. Hopefully, I will have recreated three 2-ribbon cushions, one for each grandchild, Danny, Aalyiah and RiLeigh. Two will have pink color ribbons, and one will have blue ribbons.

The new crocheted pineapple cushion has been created and it looks nice. However, it is proportionately longer than the original pineapple cushion. Original measures 10"W x 12"H. New version measures 12"W x 16"H. I have adjusted the pattern (3-Ribbon Pineapple Cushion) to keep the new pattern's width/height ratio the same as the original.

Christmas 2008 will let me give some of these handmade shopping bags to loved ones. It takes about 6 hours to make one bag. This is a photo of the first one and I am pleased with the modifications that I made to an online pattern found at this blog.

Click here to download a PDF copy of my modified pattern.