Double Take

This is another Christian chick-lit, this time by my favorite author, Melody Carlson. This book is about two girls with very different lives. Madison is a rich New York girl who is tired of the stresses of her life. Anna is an amish girl who wants to know what "modern" life is about. So when they meet at a coffee shop and discover that they look almost identical, they switch places for a week.

I loved reading this book. It is one of those relaxing reads that you know will have a happy ending, but is still super interesting the whole time. I read this one in a weekend, which is pretty impressive considering I work 22 hours a day. I would recommend reading this if you are looking for a great (young adult) summer read.

Here it is on amazon.com.

Swirly Lanyard

Although this is super easy, it took me a while to figure out. But as soon as I figured it out, I had a lot of fun with it! Okay, so picture making the normal lanyard. Now, instead of putting the lanyard string where it normally goes, imagine putting it on the opposing lanyard string. Now imagine pulling it just past that. That’s where it goes “diagonally”. The opposing string does the same, and so do the over/under strings. Strings of the same color will always remain parallel – there should be no criss-crossing. Then, just keep going! The lanyards will swirl on their own.

 

Coming soon: Big lanyards!

Square Lanyard

This is the basic, standard lanyard. To do this, you basically are going to be weaving the lanyard strings. Take your up/down lanyard strings, and loop them over the start of your lanyard to make bunny ears. Then, weave the left/right lanyard strings in an over/under pattern. Pull tight. Continue until you have a full lanyard! Also, it doesn’t matter which color you make the bunny ears with. I promise.

Lanyard made by one of my campers

Coming soon: Swirly lanyard

Fourth of July Cake

I know it’s a bit late, but every year for the Fourth of July, my family makes this awesome gelatin cake.

Ingredients
1 box yellow or white cake mix (and stuff to make it)
1 box instant vanilla pudding (and stuff to make it)
1 4-serving box of red gelatin mix
1 4-serving box of blue gelatin mix
1 tub of whipped topping

Directions
1. Bake cake as directed in a rectangle pan.
2. While cake is baking, mix each gelatin packet separately with ¾ cup boiling water and ½ cup cold water. Put them in the fridge to cool, but do not allow them to gelatinize. Pull them out of the fridge if necessary.
3. When cake is done and cooled, and the gelatins are cool as well, poke holes in the cake, about 2 inches apart, with the end of a wooden spoon.
4. Pour the gelatins in the holes – alternate red and blue, or whatever you feel like. You can also use all red gelatin if you can’t find blue gelatin.
5. Make pudding with the “for pie” directions.
6. Mix pudding with whipped topping.
7. Frost cake with pudding/whipped topping mix.
8. Cool until ready to eat.
9. Enjoy! I love this cake – easy to make and delicious.

Pokin' holes and pourin' gelatin

Om nom nom

Granny Squares!

I have decided to crochet an afghan - it gets chilly in Flagstaff. Plus, if I don't have room for it, I can always donate it. There are blanket drives all the time at my school since it is so cold in the winter. If I know how to make it, I can make it over and over and over again. Anyways, I found an awesome, colorful, easy but fun pattern at lionbrand.com. This website is awesome, since it has tons and tons of free patterns - you just have to sign up, which isn't much. Here's the link to the pattern I'm using: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L0345B.html. In the end, I hope it will look like this, except with different colors (because I'm using the colors I have, maroon, pumpkin, mustard, sage green, navy, black, gray and white). And shh... I'm using a different brand of yarn. It doesn't matter as long as the yarn is the right weight - in this case, worsted weight.

This pattern calls for the use of... Granny Squares! I didn't know how to make them before, but now I do, thanks to this pattern. They're a lot of fun, and can be used to make lots of different things. Many patterns call for a bunch of granny squares sewn together. Here's a picture of my granny square:

Making a granny square requires these stitches - a slip stitch, a double crochet stitch, and a single crochet stitch. All of them are basic and easy to learn. The double crochet is my personal favorite, just because it's "complex", but not really - it's easy, and it creates a bigger stitch, which is satisfying. Crocheting overall is really easy - you don't need much to get started!

My granny squares - I haven't trimmed them yet.



Chicks with Sticks Guide to Crochet

Another book review! While starting up crocheting for the first time this summer, I remembered an awesome book with awesome patterns in it. This book, by Nancy Queen and Mary Ellen O'Connell, is how I learned to crochet. (Well, sorta. My grandma taught me first when I was younger, but I had since forgot). This book is great - it has easy-to-understand pictures, and I use it as my stitch reference. My motto for crocheting is "don't make anything you won't use". This book is really great for that, because it doesn't have very many useless patterns - things too ugly or impractical for normal life. I would totally recommend getting it. Here it is on amazon.com.

Love Starts with Elle

Another finished book! This book, "Love Starts with Elle", is by the same author that wrote "Dining with Joy", Rachel Hauck. This book is a great summer/Christian romance for the young adult. I would recommend reading it before "Dining with Joy", since that book 'spoils' who she ends up with, but I read them out of order and still enjoyed both.

This book is about a woman named Elle who owns her own art gallery and is suddenly proposed to by her boyfriend Jerehmiah. Throughout this books she has to deal with finding confidence in her passion for art, her sisters, new neighbors and praying with Miss Anne. And this book is much better than I just made it sound...

The picture is from amazon.com.