No Sew Lace Rosary Roses

I'm sure there are plenty of ideas for this sort of thing around the 'net, so what's one more? This idea was inspired by this post by Kimberlee at Pondered in My Heart. I am not too in practice with my crochet hook these days, so I decided to do a no-sew version with lace, flannel, and hot glue.






I made up a leaf pattern and traced it onto flannel, then cut them out. I made 13, ten for Hail Marys, one for Our Father, one for Glory Be, and one for the Fatima prayer.








Using scraps of mostly thrifted lace, I just cut them to similar sizes and then rolled them up starting at one end.








With the hopes that the flower would not be pulled loose, I used quite a bit of hot glue and pushed the bottom of the lace rose in it. I then went back and put a dab of hot glue on to hold the edge of the lace on the outside.







Goose and I gave it a trial run this morning, and I was pleased with the outcome. It is my hope that we can incorporate some prayer together during Lent, and perhaps it will be a habit to continue on afterwards.




See lots more ideas for Lent for little people at Catholic Icing and see what everybody else is making here:

Link Roundup - Little Mermaid Edition

Today I'm sharing the joys of the Little Mermaid with Goose. Except instead of utilizing the time to get things done, I watched it with her. Good times! We had a brief glimpse of spring here with beautiful temperatures that melted almost all our snow. We're back to winter again, though, and I'm sure it'll stick around for a while yet. You may have noticed that I'm way behind on links again. So let's get to it -

MAKE
Upon reading the post at MADE about Understanding Bias and Making Bias Tape, I was quick to confirm that my mother-in-law indeed has bias tape makers in varying sizes. Yup, I married well! :>)

I am so in love with this idea to make DIY Fabric Wall Decals at Frugal Family Fun Blog! The comments are great, too - one suggests adhering flannel to the wall for a felt board. Of course, I'm going to have to wait until we have a new house without plaster bumpy walls, but I'm tucking the idea away for sure. Also at FFFB is this Easy Icicle Craft with few supplies and little mess.

These DIY Eye Spy Books at No Time For Flash Cards are a great & inexpensive idea for keeping little ones occupied. Similarly, here is an I Spy Mat from I can teach my child!

I am cracking up over this Bunny Bowling with The Long Thread tutorial found at Etsy. I don't have a hallway for it, but seriously, how fun!

Since Goose loves all things rainbow, I know she'd be a fan of this Rainbow Crochet Zipped Coin Purse Tutorial from Sparkle Petal. Oh, and I think it goes without saying that she's also a fan of money. :>)

Creative Jewish Mom has a fun tutorial on Weaving Fun Summer Placemats with T-Shirt Yarn (yup, I'm missing summer today!)

This Toddler Poncho Tutorial from An Apple and a Tree seriously is making me want to snuggle in somewhere.

Hmm, I'm not sure if the line from my now-defunct retractable clothesline would work for this, but regardless I love the look of Yarn Love at Family Chic.

If you want to purchase some sewn bean bags, let me know. Otherwise, check out these No Sew Duct Tape Beanbags from Frugal Fun 4 Boys. (Somewhere I have a post on bean bag games, but I guess it'll have to wait.)

How fun are these Rockstar Toddler Suspenders at Danielle Daniels? It's a good thing I didn't have the page up when Hubs walked by a minute ago or I'm pretty sure I'd be making him a pair...

EAT
When I lived in Colorado Springs, I had a friend named Margaret that made amazing butternut squash soup and I never got the recipe from her. I feel a little like a lost soul, wandering around trying to find "the one" :>) - maybe this Amazing Butternut Squash Bisque from Hallee the Homemaker will be it?

Laura at Heavenly Homemakers (who in a coincidental side note left Colo Springs about the time I moved there and now lives a few counties away here in Nebraska!) is teaching us How to Stretch a Chicken to Make Six Meals. She also explains how to make Homemade Tater Tots that freeze and reheat well!

It's not too often that I make a recipe before posting about it, but that happened this time with Our Lady of Lourdes Chicken Soup and Dumplings from Catholic Cuisine and let me tell you... it is GREAT!

Only the disappointing numbers on the scale have kept me from making this Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Pie for which I just *happen* to have all the ingredients... (my rear end does NOT thank you for reposting this, Amy @ Finer Things!)

DO
The Artful Parent shows us how to do a Rubber Cement and Watercolors Resist for young artists.

We're still chugging away with "Goose and Mama" preschool here at our house, so I bookmarked this Doctor and Nurses Preschool Pack from Homeschool Creations. (Note to self - click around over there and see what else is to be found!)

More natural cold remedies at Naturally Knocked Up - Staying Healthy or Getting Over the Goobers Quicker. (I'm full of parentheses and side notes today, sorry, but with this breath of spring, is anybody else having spring-like allergy flare-ups? Goose and Hubs and I are all snuffly and sneezy but thankfully not coming down with anything...)

Very interesting kitchen cabinet update project - using fabric to cover the doors! (@ Tres Chic Veronique)

This Monthly Fun Pack as seen at Chasing Cheerios would be a fun and easy way to nudge myself into doing those fun projects that I always mean to get to but don't seem to make the time for.

Here's a great roundup of audiobooks for kids at Faith & Family Live: Book Listening.

Admittedly I'm still focused on how to prevent spilling, but I really like this Salt Box Tactile Penmanship Practice at Mama Jenn.

I think I posted this before, but I had forgotten about it, so maybe you did, too? It's Quiet Time 1, 2, 3! from No Time For Flash Cards. Goose has done pretty well transitioning from nap to quiet time, and I even shoot for 90 minutes. I know many other mamas are not so lucky, though, and this is a great thing to try.

Another fun magic trick (anybody remember the toothpick star?) from How Does She?

PRAY & PONDER
With Lent coming up (which seems to be a difficult time for me during the Liturgical Year), I appreciated this post by Elizabeth Foss on the Cheerful Pursuit of Joy.

Also from Elizabeth, I would do well to apply this filter to my thoughts, words, and actions: Is it True, Kind, Necessary?

A great post by Kate Wicker at Faith & Family Live - Empty Yourself and let God fill you up.

Happy clicking! (thirty-some links down... fifty-some to go!)

Link Roundup - Holy Cow, It's COLD Edition

I just checked the outside temperature, and it's five degrees. And dropping. And very windy. And snowing. Guess what has two thumbs and a sore neck and rescheduled a much needed chiropractor appointment for today to stay curled up next to the corn stove? That's right, this girl.

So, let's peruse some links and dream of spring, eh?

MAKE
I'm tempted to get one of these Helping Towers at Ana White made for Goose in the kitchen, considering she fell off her chair THREE times the other day (messing around, sigh). Best of all - they fold flat for storage!

Hubs' t-shirt drawer is stuffed to overflowing, so perhaps I could do something like these T-Shirt Yarn Braided Coasters from homework with the rejects.

So I'm a bit late in posting this, but I like the looks of these Sailors Knot Bracelets as seen in a tutorial on Etsy.

These Beaded Picture Hangers at Inside BruCrew Life are so pretty.

rhythm of the home has instructions on how to make some very sweet No Sew Rag Dolls.

Perhaps it's the current winter storm warning that has me intrigued, but I like the looks of this How To Make an Oil Lamp tutorial at Down To Earth.

Can't you almost smell this Candy Cane Playdough from Artful Parent through your screen? From the same site, check out Rubber Cement and Watercolors.

The possibilities are really and truly endless with this Craft Foam Bath Murals found at Filth Wizardry. Though I'll admit I don't even really let Goose kneel in the tub too much, let alone stand up!

Check out My Kind of Baking over at Frugal Family Fun Blog for a neat suggestion on pretend baking with felt. Looks like a lot of fun!

I love this Bread Making Kit from Saltwater Kids as a very useful gift.

EAT
There happens to be a double batch of this Quick and Easy Crockpot Caramel Apple Cider from A Year of Slow Cooking on my stove right now (didn't feel like dragging out the crockpot). I must say, the cinnamon seems to form a sludge in the bottom, but maybe that's because it needs to cook and be stirred longer? Still, it's delicious.

These Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites from Two Peas and Their Pod have been calling my name since I found the link.

Head over to Kitchen Stewardship for a great post on Katie's Basic Bread Baking Techniques (or Lack Thereof). :>) Lots of excellent info there, plus more in the comments.

I can't think of lemon anything without thinking of one of bubbly little niece saying "I can't belive Uncle [Hubs] doesn't like this... it's sooo-ooo good!" :>) Smile about that as you check out this recipe for Whole Wheat Lemon Pound Cake from Heavenly Homemakers.

DO
There is plenty of humor and a lot of truth in 10 Ways to Be a Lazy Housewife at The Crimson Covered Farm Life.

I am certain that Goose would eat more marshmallows than she'd stick together, but it would still be fun to try Boredom Buster: Marshmallows & Toothpicks as seen at Under the Sycamore.

Catholic Icing explains how to find religious items among a Dollar Store Haul. (and that post led me to another on Make a Giant Rosary - love it!)

We're starting to think a bit more about building a house someday, so I love to find things like 10 Lessons Learned from Building a Kitchen at Centsational Girl.

I'm betting it'll be cold enough tomorrow to try this Fun With Weather trick as seen at Faith & Family Live.

If you have an "older" Amazon.com account (I don't know how that is defined), please check out an article from Wired about an Amazon Password Problem. I logged in, changed mine, and then changed it back - since that makes it a "new" password, it is now better protected.

Not sure how Goose would react, but I'm kind of intrigued to find out what she would do with Hole Inspiration from the Artful Parent.

Ugh, I had forgotten that I intended to do this - How to Clean Your Dishwasher, from Apartment Therapy. I think Hubs' love for a ton of cocoa mix in his coffee (or just a nice cup of cocoa) has led to an overflow of cocoa powder in our dishwasher and it looks yucky. Guess I'd better get to work!

PRAY & PONDER
St. Francis de Sales is one of my favorite saints, and I learned several new things about him from A Friend in St. Francis de Sales at Catholic News Agency.

Happy clicking!