4th of July Fun

Happy Monday!! Hope everyone had an awesome 4th of July weekend! For as long as I can remember, the 4th of July has been my favorite holiday. When I was a kid, this was the time of year we always went to visit my aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents in St. Louis. My aunt and uncle would host this HUGE pot luck style lunch and invite family and friends over for the afternoon. There were games, baseball, and tons of conversation over some amazing food. When it started to get dark, we would pile into the cars and drive to a local park to see the fireworks...sometimes we would even drive all the way downtown to The Arch and watch them go off over it. 

This year was Sweet P's first "real" 4th of July. She was just barely 3 weeks old when we took her to see the fireworks last year (which she slept through!). Since she was a little bigger this year, I was excited to get her all dressed up and decked out in red, white, and blue. I had a BLAST getting this outfit together for her! The Tiered Ruffle Skirt from KT and the Squid has quickly become one of my favorites. Sweet P has this skirt and 2 others that I have made her!

Sweet P rockin' the Red, White, and Blue!

I used to be so afraid of crocheting clothes. In most of the patterns I had seen, I had to make the chest piece, sleeves, and then somehow sew it all together (BY HAND!!) and make it look nice and even. I bought some of Katy's patterns on a whim and am so glad I did! I am so excited to make more of these skirts in different holiday and team colors. 

We didn't have a whole lot planned for our 4th except for meeting some friends at the park to watch fireworks later that night. That gave this momma plenty of time to crochet! After seeing tons of Uncle Sam hats all over my Facebook feed from friends sharing patriotic statuses, I thought "Wonder if I could make one of those." I have this pattern from Sweet Potato 3 Patterns that I was able to use for sizing purposes and create my very own Uncle Sam hat!!

I want you to wear Red, White, and Blue!

Notice the vest? That is full on sequins with red and blue stars! It belonged to my Grams (who also loved the 4th of July) and I inherited it when she passed away last year. Sweet P and I wore our outfits to the park and weren't even there 5 minutes, when a photographer from our town's events magazine stopped and asked to take our picture together. The Hubs seems to think our "get-ups" will land us on the cover. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Hope everyone had as much fun this weekend as we did! What does your family do to celebrate Independence Day? Did you make any crazy outfits to wear to family get togethers? 

*If you are interested in ordering finished versions of either of these items, please message me on Facebook for details on sizing and prices!*

Update: The magazine that stopped to take our picture Friday night just added them to their Facebook page. A friend tagged me in this or I probably wouldn't have seen it until the magazine came out next month! Who says handmade can't be cute!

Let Me Hear You Howl!!!

It is no secret that we LOVE our Red Wolves in Northeast Arkansas. For those of you unfamiliar with my neck of the woods, the Red Wolves are our local college's mascot. A few years ago, Arkansas State University underwent a major branding overhaul and chose the Red Wolves as their new mascot. Ever since, it seems things have been looking up for our little school. ASU seems to be the hot spot for any up and coming college coaches. Over the last several football seasons, we have had our coaches leave and go on to coach bigger (and what some might say, better) schools. In spite of all the coaching confusion, the Red Wolves have gone on to be conference champs and played at the GoDaddy Bowl.

About a month ago, I was contacted on Etsy by a mom expecting her first baby. Both she and her husband attended ASU and had seen the work I had been doing, trying to develop a crochet hat that best represented our Red Wolves, on Facebook. She asked if there was any way I would be able to create an entire newborn prop set revolving around ASU's female mascot, Scarlet.

She sent me this picture as a reference and I began my work. It took a few days of searching and thinking but I was able to pull together several of my favorite patterns and make a set that, I have to say, I am pretty proud of.

 

 

I can't wait to see their little Red Wolf all dressed up when she has her newborn pictures in just a few short weeks (mom is due in April). Be sure to keep and eye on my Facebook page because that's where I'll be sharing them first.

 

After sharing Scarlet with my Facebook friends, I started getting asked "Where's Howl?". Howl is Scarlet's male counterpart and the original Red Wolf. It was back to the drawing board I went.

 

 

Since I had already done the hat once, that part was easy. I had just gotten a pattern for a pair of short pants that matched Howl's football pants perfectly and used my favorite baby bootie pattern (with some MAJOR adjustments!) for his shoes.

 

 

I already have 2 different friends, due this summer, waiting to get their hands on this set. Like I said, we LOVE our Red Wolves.

While these patterns are not my design, the use of them for these sets is. I am excited to see these on each new member of the pack. They have definitely been some of my favorite items to create.