My New Favorite Muffins

Because of food allergies, we are dairy and egg free. The safest egg replacement options for us are banana and applesauce. So usually our muffins are banana or applesauce flavored. Well, I left my handy dandy Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book at my parents' house at Christmas time so I have started googling more recipes and branching out a little bit from our usual banana and chocolate chip muffins. 

That has led me to an amazing discovery. 

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins

Because of my daughter's complex list of life-threatening food allergies, even "allergy-friendly" and "vegan" recipes usually need to be modified. And I just rarely follow anything 100%... So this recipe was an amazing starting point for me, but I did make a few changes:

*I don't use any wheat flour... Just all unbleached all-purpose flour.

*Instead of almond milk, I use rice milk.

*I don't love EVOO in baked goods, so I use canola oil.

*For the drizzle I like melted butter + confectioner's sugar, with maybe a little rice milk. I kind of wing this to make it taste good, and NOT like rice. 

YUM. I think I threw a little nutmeg in this batch. And doubled it.

I rarely make these the same way every time. Sometimes I just make the muffins with nothing on top. Sometimes I dip them in melted butter and then in a cinnamon sugar mix. Sometimes I make the drizzle. No matter what, they are *AMAZING.*

I could drink that. Do yourself a favor and go make these muffins!

(You can also sub the flour for a GF one-to-one flour. I've done it!)

Crocheting for Baby

Baby #5 is due next month. Being a summer month, I wasn't planning to have a blanket ready before she comes. Mostly because I wanted to knit her one, and the last baby blanket took me two years (with a long time off in there, and not working on it daily or even weekly ::cough:: or monthly).

A friend shared this "Call the Midwife Pattern" with me that she was planning to make for her summer baby. I LOVED it, and it worked up quicker than I could imagine. I can't wait to wrap my sweet new babe in it!

Pattern: http://littlemonkeyscrochet.com/call-the-midwife-inspired-baby-blanket-free-pattern/

I also made this adorable onesie for our babe, and I'm so in love with it, I want to make more!! Unfortunately, I still haven't put buttons on it yet... #thelittlethings I've got six weeks to get those buttons on!

Pattern: https://www.etsy.com/listing/522445720/crochet-pattern-baby-romper-sizes-0-3?ref=hp_rv-2

Sidenote: I have adored monpetitviolon's patterns for a very long time. Highly recommend!

I *did* cast on a blanket for this sweet babe, too. I have actually cast on 4 time, but I the 4th time's a charm. That's how the saying goes, right? One of those times was my own mistake, dropping stitches. I can pick up or fix some errors, but I think I dropped them into the row before even?? I don't know what I'm doing with knitting yet... BUT with my third try, I realized, "this pattern is just not working out the way it should." Turns out, it was written with mistakes in it, and my mom found corrections online when I told her what I was thinking. I've made some progress since this row, so I'll post updates soon. This was actually cast on #3. God uses so many things to teach me patience. Knitting is sure one of them!

This is knitted blanket #1 - a work of love for sure. I spent a lot of time with this thing. I learned a lot. The whole process so reminds me of motherhood. :) You can see there were mistakes I just couldn't undo... but overall it turned out very well, and I'm happy with it. I'm gifting it to a friend for her rainbow baby.

What MamaCrafts have you got going on?

Don't blink! 5 years will pass!

Last time I popped on here, I said I was back! And then I didn't post again...

Such is life. The best laid plans don't always turn out exactly how you ... planned.

Last time I popped on here, I introduced our third child. She was 15 months old, but she got an introduction!

Since then, we have added a 4th... She is almost 3 and a half. And next month, we are adding a 5th! Time really does fly, doesn't it??

Last time I popped on here, we had moved from Washington state to Virginia.

Since then, we have lived in Georgia, and we are now in Kentucky. We have been through a 9 month deployment, a badly broken arm for child #3, and a food allergy diagnosis for child #4. Honestly, I don't even know what else, because I blinked and here we are.

We have decided to homeschool our children, and have been doing so for the last 5-6 years (depending on when you say we started... that's how we roll - who cares about grade levels and such?). I still craft. I have sewn some clothes and some quilts, I've crocheted blankets and sweaters for my babies, and I've learned to knit! I actually just finished my knitted baby blanket. Maybe that's why I haven't blogged. I started the baby blanket in January 2017. Hmm... I love baking from scratch, too. And I'm a total book-a-holic. Probably that's where I've really been - absorbed in a few (hundred) good books. A few years ago I set a goal to read more books. And then I set a goal to read 24 in a year and managed to read 45. So then I set a goal to read 50 and read 75. I guess we will see how many I manage to read this year...

I thought it might be fun to share with you all some of my favorite things about life. Maybe have a little journal for myself to look back on someday. There are so many times homeschooling feels amazing, and so many times that I feel defeated. There are so many successful craft projects completed, and so many that I struggle with. There are tons of successful goodies baked, and let's be honest, not many of those turn out wrong, although I did accidentally use way too much baking soda in some focaccia a few months ago, and it was probably the worst thing I've ever put in my mouth. Our dog wouldn't even eat it.

I hope you'll join me here again. :)

(Our most recent professional family pic... It's only about 18 months old.)

My Creative Side is BACK!

It has been a while...

Since my last post we have: had a baby (she's 15 months now),

sold a house, bought a house, moved from Washington to Virginia,

 visited Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, family in Texas and Arkansas, and Nashville,

my husband graduated college,

my baby sis graduated high school,

celebrated many birthdays,

my middle daughter has been diagnosed with fructose malabsorption (which is tough),

begun another year of homeschooling,

my husband is still in the Army,

and I have been crafting as much as I can, which hasn't been too much!

Going forward, this blog will follow many of our adventures in homeschooling, keeping my daughter healthy on a very difficult and restrictive diet, and my hobbies: sewing, crocheting and photography.

Welcome back!

NEW Patterns & a {GIVEAWAY}

In preparing to write this post, I noticed that it will be my 100th post! I suppose that calls for a little celebrating, right?

I'm going to show you the three new patterns I've released this week... Do me a favor... Pick your favorite one, open it up in EITHER Etsy or Ravelry (those links will take you to my shops), and pin it! Then come back here, comment with your EMAIL ADDRESS and A LINK to your pin. I will give away one copy of each pattern on Wednesday.

If you don't want to wait, you can take advantage of my pattern sale, which ends tonight! Just use the code SPRINGTIME in Etsy to get 40% off your total pattern purchase... The discount is automatically applied in checkout in Ravelry.

Well, here they are!:

The Lacy Summer Hat:

The Elmo-inspired Camera Buddy

The Flower Camera Buddy

Linked in at: Stitch & Unwind

Enjoy. :)

EDIT: To make it even easier, here are links to my pins:
Elmo-inspired buddy
Flower buddy
Lacy Summer Hat 

Life lately!

 It has been about a month since my last blog post! My last few posts haven't really been updates on life, so it's time for a picture-filled post!

1. In the world of crochet:

I have never posted much of what I make on here, because I make so much for my business that I'd bore you. I do have some recent favorites I'd like to share. And because I love them, I'm running some sales, too! :)

I looooove these floppy sun hats. This one was ordered, but I need to make my daughter one for this summer. Make that daughters. By summer, there will be two. :) These are currently $7 off, making them only $12 shipped.

I had an order for some baseball themed hats and I love how they turned out. Neither of these are included in my sale, but I do have aviator hats on sale for the boys. They are $16 shipped.

 This is a scarf I made for a customer. Yes, it's still cold here. :)

 Easter props for a photographer

Beautiful bonnet and simple rose beanie... I just love these colors together!

Someone my husband works with had his first baby, and I had a pattern from Mon Petit Violin that I wanted to try... so they got this cute little sweater. :)

 A little something I worked on this week, but need to put down to continue with orders...

A baby blanket I'm working on for a customer... I love this yarn! It is so thick and soft, and it works up quickly.

Just a few squares I've made.... There are tons others. I love working with Join the Love on Facebook. We work together to make memory blankets for families who've lost a child. I recently assembled a blanket with donated squares for a family:

I have some sweaters and booties patterns from Mon Petit Violin, some hats, and some blankets (like this basketweave and this Noah's Ark) that I want to make for #3 before she arrives... and some things for my friend who is due in August. And maybe if I learn to knit fast enough, I can even knit something, lol!

That sums up my crocheting lately... If you are interested in my other sales, check out my Facebook page: 4Hankins Crochet. I also have all of my patterns 40% off. On Etsy use the coupon code: SPRINGTIME. There is even a listing there for 3 patterns for $10. After the discount, you'd get 3 patterns for only $6! The discount will be automatically applied in Ravelry, and you are able to download your new patterns instantly there.

2. Sewing:

I am quite a novice sewer, but I want to get better. I have some patterns I've picked up on sale that I wanted to try, and I've also found some awesome tutorials on Pinterest.

I used this tutorial to make my niece a fun skirt. It was quick and easy and perfect for a new sewer.

I used a pattern one night and made myself a new shirt! This took much longer with all of the pieces to cut out and sew together, but it was rewarding to make something that (I think) turned out nicely and accommodates my belly! :)

I got addicted to making pajama pants using the tutorial from this pin. By my third pair I was doing them in close to an hour. My son needed pj's anyways, and I got the flannel on sale for like $3. Can't beat a $3 pair of pajama pants!

I used several pins as inspiration for our new baby's diaper bag, but I kind of made my own pattern. I had a friend help me make a purse out of one of my husband's uniforms a year or so ago, and I remembered most of what we did. I made my pattern pieces for the sides and the bottom, made pockets, made the liner, sewed the pockets to the liner... Made the ruffles, made the outside, sewed the ruffles to the outside (I underestimated the length so I only put them on the front, but I like it that way). Made the straps, started sewing the liner inside the outer and sewed the straps in place. I love it! I'm so happy to have made my own diaper bag!! I even made rolled rosettes for the first time. Now let's hope that it holds up when I'm toting around 50 pounds of baby supplies. :)

I also made two other things that I apparently didn't take pictures of. I made a dress using this tutorial. I picked up a plain white t-shirt at Walmart to use for it and made my dress floor length. Maybe after I have this baby, I'll shorten it... We'll see. I haven't actually had an opportunity to wear it yet, but I hope to soon! I also made a belly band using this tutorial. You can never have enough belly bands, and this one wasn't as tight as my store-bought one, so it was much more comfortable.

Next on my list of things to sew when I have time are these yoga pants and a few dresses for my daughters for the summer... all of which I already have the fabric for. Oh! And my son also picked out the fabric for his next pair of pajama pants. I'm really getting addicted to sewing! :)

3. Family and everyday life:

We have had a lot to celebrate lately! My pregnancy is going well, my kids are healthy, and my parents and one of my sisters were just able to visit for about 9 days. I'm feeling so blessed!

I'm 31 weeks today, and haven't taken a picture yet, but this was my bump at 28 weeks.

My daughter turned TWO! (Here she is after some cookie cake.) I can't believe it... She is still as tiny as a one year old, but she talks like a three year old (at least)! She is so smart and adorable, and I love her more and more every day. :)

 

 Her birthday started with a gorgeous sunrise and a very happy baby... until she started throwing up! :(

Then, she spent most of the day like this....

 Luckily, by the afternoon, she hadn't thrown up anymore and she was feeling much better. We went outside to enjoy the weather and play on her birthday present.

 We celebrated with cookie cake ON her birthday, but celebrated again with a homemade Minnie Mouse cake once my family got here. 

My "baby sister" also had a birthday coming up (today actually!) so my husband and I snuck an ice cream cake home one night for more celebrating.

 Annnnnnd we did some celebrating at Great Wolf Lodge, too.... ;)

Here is spoiled rotten girl with her birthday presents from her grandparents and a new Bitty Baby outfit from mommy and daddy. She treasures her Bitty Baby! It's so cool that we are within driving distance of the American Girl store AND a Lego store... When my family comes, we take a trip just for some good spoiling. :) My son had been saving his allowance for a while, so he got lots of new Legos between his money, mom and dad, and the grandparents!

 My son lost his FIRST and SECOND teeth! They were about a week apart and his adult teeth were already coming in, so he doesn't have much of a hole, but he's had a little fun with it... and he loved the extra money for the Lego store.

Updated family pictures!!!

My loves. :)

Me, my mom, and my little sister

My parents, my sister, and my kids

 It was a great visit and I can't wait until they are back in June to meet baby #3. Starting the countdown already!

I started a new book that my mom read and left for me... I have decided that I will be homeschooling my son next year, and preparation for that makes me want to go back to school! :-/ I've decided that reading nonfiction, autobiographies, history, etc. will help me with the craving for knowledge and cost a whole lot less. ;)

I didn't take a picture, but I'm also very happy to have been the winner of a giveaway at Cozy Things! My mom started teaching me to knit when she visited in October, but I need to find time to practice every day to finish learning and be able to make something. The knitting goodies I received are definitely motivation to pick it back up! Also, my mom and I found a lovely yarn store only about ten minutes from my house... In the 9 days that she was here, we went twice! I loved their yarn, and the ladies were super friendly! I'd just love to be able to go sit in there and knit with them! If you're in the WA area, you'll have to check out Yellow House Yarns!

Well, I think that is mostly everything! Thanks for visiting!