After a Long Break....

 It's been eons since my last post. Poor neglected blog.

 Well, we survived our first official year of homeschooling! And it was awesome! We're not "officially" done for another week and half or so, but we've finished all books in the main curriculum. We're still reviewing and practicing a lot of the same things we covered this year, and will continue to do so over the summer, just to keep it all fresh.

 I've taken a break from my Etsy shop for a while to focus on some personal projects, learning new techniques, and learning cross-stitch. :-) I've also committed to finally typing out some patterns. Yes! Finally. It's only taken me a year! It just wasn't something I was able to do while maintaining the shop. Every time I'd sit down at the computer with my yarn and hook, I was reminded of all the crocheting I still had to do to get orders out on time.

 I also took two weeks to repaint four rooms in the house. I completely redid the guess room, with exception to the furniture. The laundry room saw a complete overhaul as well.

 There are so many pictures of all of my projects, but here are just a few for now...

"Up" inspired cross-stitch

Sign for the guest room wall. The quote is from John Irving's "The Ciderhouse Rules"

Doctor Who cross-stitch

Crocheted collar/necklace

Part one of a three part quote from Alice in Wonderland. I'm almost done with the last one. I'll post the finished project once it's done!

That's all for now, but I'll be back with more. And a lot sooner than last time!

Bedroom Makeover!

This was Emmy's room in New England. When we moved, we promised her we'd paint her new room however she wanted it. She was adamant that her new room would need to look exactly like her old room. 

Her room was an odd peachy-orange when we moved in. Not a horrible color, but so not *her.* 

But, we finally redid it!

You can't see it in the pictures, but the ceiling has a glitter finish over the clouds. Emily and I both LOVE it!

A Domesticated Dinosaur.

 It all started quite sanely. I've been doing one of the photo of the day things on Instagram and once again had forgotten until just before bedtime that I needed to hurry up and snap a pic. It wasn't going to take too long to take a picture of a chair. That's a pretty easy topic. I thought I'd have a little fun with it and take a picture of a dollhouse chair or two.

Cute, huh?

Then it all rounded the bend....

You see, one day, the TARDIS appeared...

And a dinosaur escaped.

He brought muffins!

And lemonade!

T-Rexes just love pizza.

Look at the fluffed pillows!

AND they're great babysitters.

Oh, and I was wrong. After all this awesomeness, the topic was "Under." Chair is tomorrow's topic.

And now it's time for me to go to bed. Probably should have gone about an hour ago...

The Lost Blog

 Last night, I painstakingly typed out a post on my phone. This is no easy task for me, as I have the very long fingers of a pianist, but without the elegant coordination. Think baby giraffe taking it's first steps. That's how I live life. It's a wonder I'm not a walking bruise. But this is beside the point. The point is, I wrote this long, long blathering post about home-made marshmallow pops, and it was all lost. I think making the marshmallows was easier than writing the post. At least I got a sweet little snack out of that. Which I couldn't eat. Because I've been on a diet...


Oh, mommyhood.

My Little Pony Hats

 I know I've mentioned this before, but Emmy LOVES horses. Lately there's been a shift from really horses to the fantasy sort- unicorns pegasuses (Pegasi?) multicolored ponies. My Little Pony. Seriously, I walk around everyday with that song stuck in my head. It was only a matter of time before I busted out the yarn to make some pony hats.

 Of course, there are six mane (hahahaha, aren't I clever??) ponies, so I couldn't really stop at just one, could I? No, why that would be normal and not OCD at all.

                                                                             Rarity

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle again

 I made a Fluttershy hat too, but the hair is all wrong. It really needs to be a lot longer. So, I'll post pictures of her when she's done. Next up will be Rainbow Dash and if I can find the right shade of orange, Applejack.

I think I overused the word "pony" in the post. 

Pony.

Halloween Wrap Up

 I probably should have posted this before Halloween. Ah, but that is why I'm not a famous blogger, I suppose. Anyway, I made our costumes again this year.

Emily was The Flash!

And of course, The Flash would need a really awesome matching Trick or Treat bag...

Her friend Wonder Woman got an awesome bag, too.

And I went as Amy Farrah Folwer. ... Not sure you want to see that.

Pottery Barn for Less

 I was crazy about this canopy the moment I saw it in the Pottery Barn Kid's catalogue. Emmy's bedroom has a sort of whimsical garden theme going on, so I immediately started imagining how oh-so cute her bed would look with this little woodland canopy hanging over it. 

Then I saw the price tag.

$99. Plus shipping. It's since been knocked down to $58, but that's still a lot of money for a wreath and some tulle.

So I went out and bought my own wreath and my own tulle. Two five-yard pieces of tulle to be exact. In total, it cost about $12.

I broke out the glue gun and glued A LOT. 

I used ribbon and an eye-screw to hang it from the the ceiling.

 (Pay no attention to the walls. We haven't painted them yet!)

And there you have it. A $99 wreath for twelve bucks. Not too shabby!

What's in a Name?

 Happiness is Homegrown wasn't this blog's original name. It used to be Heather in Wonderland. I renamed it last spring, after I left my job to be a full time stay-at-home Mama. I had these big plans to grow a garden in my half-acre yard. The "garden" was already there, a large triangle fenced in long ago by a previous owner. It was so overgrown, we hired someone to rotorill it for us. Oh, how beautiful it was when it was done. The smell of freshly turned New England dirt is a smell like no other. And soon, I told myself, it would be full of vegetables.

 Then we went to DC for a month. We came home to a flourishing weed patch. But we went out there and ripped a lot of them out and planted zucchini, green beans and tomatoes.

 I learned that summer that I do not have a green thumb. The zucchini grew and we made some delicious breads with it. We did have a few bowls fills of beans, but those tomatoes never stood a chance. Some little critter ate every little green tomato. Our neighbors had a garden box, no fence for protection, yet they had beautiful tomatoes. Of course, I'll bet the little buggers was too full after eating all my tomatoes.

 This year I bought a small barrel and stuffed some herbs in it. They're grown, and all but the tarragon are in good shape, by some miracle.

 I've kept a fish alive for 2.5 years. Maybe livestock is the way to go....

 This blog was never intended as a business blog. It was supposed to be ablaut all things domestic and related to homemaking and raising little ones. Somehow, somewhere, I got derailed and the vast majority of my posts have been focused on my crocheted stuff.

 If my blog was to ever have a place in blog-history, it's for my LalaLoopsy inspired hat. Particularly the first one I ever made. It's pretty ugly compared to the other hats I've made since; the hair is too heavy, the eyes too far apart, and yet such a large percentage of my page views have been for that post. Go figure.

 Anyhow, I digress, running the risk of yet another post being about HeatherDoodle Designs.

 We started Kindergarten yesterday. Our first official school year! My hopes and goals for this blog are that it becomes a place to not only document this first year through words and pictures, but also to share ideas with others.

 On that note, we're off to the craft store or Wal-Mart to buy planters, soil and seeds, as Emily has asked that we grow a real "Kinder garden." Hard to say no to that!

Horse Hat

Emily LOVES horses, so I'm surprised it's taken me this long to make a horse hat. I was going to leave it as just a hat with ears and hair, but when Emmy saw it, she asked me "Mommy, where's his face?" That settled it, and now the horse has a face.

Mermaid Tail Photo Props

 Oh, if only I could still cram my baby into cute little things like mermaid tail cocoons. I designed this photo prop set this past week, and I'm really happy about the way it turned it. I could improve on the flower's beading, but that's a simple fix. :-)

Where the Wild Things Are

 I'm not quite sure I'm going to put this Etsy. Maybe as a photo prop, but I'm not sure yet.

RAWR!!

Homemade Clay

  It was two ingredients. Three if you count the food coloring. I wouldn't. That was just a big mistake. Every time I find a recipe for play dough, slime, modeling clay on Pinterest, I just want to try it. So I bought some clear glue, added cornstarch, and made a huge mess. The recipe was as follows:

1/3 cup glue
1/4 cup cornstarch.

 Mix together. Add glue or cornstarch as needed for consistency.

At first, it was horrendously sticky. So added cornstarch. Then it was stiff and sticky. Then it started to dry and crumble, so we threw it away. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

Fluffy Bunny Hat

 I made this hat for my little niece-outlaw. ;-) I LOVE working with this yarn!

Christmas in July

Who likes a sale? July 10-August 10, when you like my Facebook page, you'll get 15% off one item! :-D

"Up" Inspired baby afghan

                                                             Adventure is out there!

Still here!

Hello, all! I'm still here, I'm just behind on blogs and emails! I had surgery the other day, so I've been kind of out of commission. I have lots of pics to post and emails to send in the next few days.

Homemade Sloppy Joes

While leafing through a Williams Sonoma catalogue this weekend, I discovered "Sloppy Joe starter." For $13.95 a jar. Really?? For years, I've been making sloppy joes from scratch, and can make twice the food for half that price! And personally, I think it tastes better than anything out of a can or a jar. (Thanks, Ma!)

For starters, we don't start with "starter," we start with ground beef! (or ground turkey!) At least a pound, but use as much as you need, there are no specifics in this recipe. Brown it and drain as needed. Sprinkle in some garlic salt, pepper several dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and just a tiny tiny bit of cumin. Stir it all up very well, then add A LOT of ketchup. For one pound, I'd say at least a cup. But, eyeball it. It should look like the sloppy joe in the picture.

Homemade sloppy joes are delicious with homemade French fries, as seen in the other pic below. They're so simple! Add three inches of vegetable oil to a large frying pan and place over medium-high heat. Now slice your potatoes length-wise, then into French fry shapes. Add to the oil in small batches and sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown, gently flipping with a spatula occasionally. When they're done, transfer them to a large plate covered with paper towels and add salt to taste.

DIY SLIME!!

We made slime today! On purpose! (Lol!) I found this recipe through Pinterest, pinned from http://domesticcharm.blogspot.com/2011/10/glow-in-dark-slime.html?m=1

She explains that the less Borax mixture you use, the runnier the slime. We had a great time experimenting with that!

Sorry about the photo quality - these are from my phone!

Yo Gabba Gabba Hats, Part 2

It's Foofa!