I’d never heard of such a thing but a hit with the guys indeed!

Mom just rolled thick bacon and put each roll in a muffin cup and baked for 20 minutes!!

I also found another way to do this… but seems pretty complicated compared to Mom’s way!…

Sarah Tisdale’s Bacon Broquet, Baked From the Heart

1 package delicious bacon (thin or thick both work well)
1 package bamboo skewers
some thin skewers you can break
1 or 2 mini muffin tins (varies depending on if you want to make a traditional dozen or go big)
slotted broiler pan
love
hammer
nails
foil
parchment paper
some sort of tough ribbon
recipient

Start with good intentions. Don’t do it if it’s not what you feel is right in your heart. Bacon should evoke a visceral reaction within you and within your intended recipient, for greatest maximum impact.

Pick out your bacon. I look for the cuts that have the most meat and less fat.

Prepare your muffin tins. Use the hammer and nail to puncture a hole or two in the bottom of each cup. Then set the pans on top of the broiler pan. This allows the fat to drain out while the rosettes are baking.

Preheat your oven to about 350-375 degrees.

Open up your package of bacon and take a moment to bask in its raw beautiful pink glory. Take one strip and roll it up like a scroll and insert it into the mini muffin tin. You can pull the center of the bacon roll out slightly here if you want to make it a little more stylin’ but no worries, it will look great as is. Repeat until muffin tin is full.

Put the whole thing in the oven and bake it until it’s done. Watch it to make sure it doesn’t burn. When it looks dark pink take it out and let it cool a bit. Be careful: the grease will burn you if you spill it.

Take the roses out of the tins and set them on the broiler pan. if they aren’t cooked enough put them back in minus the muffin tin for a few minutes. You dont want to overcook them, or you wont be able to skewer the stems.

Use the fatter skewers as the stems and poke one into each rose. next, use the little skewers to poke the roses together in a bouquet style.

Wrap the whole thing in waxed or parchment paper and then foil (to give it structure and hold it together) and tie it off with a ribbon.

Take a photo of your bacon bouquet.

Hand deliver with a card and smile expressing your unconditional love for the boy (or girl) and bacon. Prepare yourself for an instant marriage proposal on the spot and/or to be ignored for 10-30 minutes as the recipient freaks out over how awesome the bouquet is and starts eating.

http://www.craftbits.com/project/plattie-the-platypus
Mom made the platypus with fleece and flannel and stuffed him with flax seed so you can put him in the microwave to warm him up.She tested scraps of material in the microwave for 3 minutes on high with a cup of water first. Only heat for 1 1/2 minutes though. She over tested to make sure the fabric was okay for the microwave which it is and it only needs a minute and a half to warm up.

http://chezbeeperbebe.blogspot.com/2010/03/tutorial-and-pattern-recycled-mooshy.html
She made the cute little bunny out of an old t-shirt which my son will now play with!

http://thelongthread.com/?p=173
Mom calls the goose… Lucy Goosey. She made it out of a paint cloth from Home Depot and some of the orange fabric we love. That painter cloth was also used for the bench cover and rocker cover. Sure does get around!

http://www.womansday.com/home/craft-ideas/craft-project-toy-giraffe-103593
And last but definitely not least as the giraffe is my son’s favorite! This is actually the second she’s had to make so far because he wore the first one out to bits is made out of flannel.

These are great gifts and even super cute to display in the baby room!

The lace trim looks great but when I commented on it Mom said it was a “bugger” to do!

I love this idea, I asked Mom to make one for my son (1 year old) but he’d probably try and eat them since he does everything else!

Good luck and let us know how yours turns out.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Mom found this heart pillow pattern at http://www.caron.com/projects/ss/ss_i_love_u_heart.html. She used the knitting pattern and just left the pocket off!

Super cute and comfy cozy gift!

Give it a try, and if you add the pocket… you can stick in a special Valentine card.

This is so very cute, I love it! I actually love everything Mom does and wish I was as artistic as she is!

She’s been rolling the marquis shapes for the leaves for several days while watching tv that way it’s easier to roll so many!

This is definitely a time consuming project but look how awesome it turned out!

The Marquise Shape…

This quilling shape is sometimes also referred to as the Marquise or Eye Shape in some quilling patterns create this quilling shape as you would the Loose Coil quilling shape and simply pinch both the glued side and the opposite side of the quilled coil Pinch first one side and then the other while holding the pinched points one in each hand. This helps encourage a more even quilled shape.

She just sent me a picture of a penguin that she made out of scrap material and I love it! The colors are perfect and it’s just so adorable! These are great gifts for little ones and easy travel companions.

You can find this penguin pattern at http://www.purlbee.com/purl-bee-penguin/

Basic Steps:

• Draw a pattern with a washable fabric marker of the animal on the back of the fabric.
• Cut out figures on the outer drawn line.
• Decorate the front and back sides as you want.
• Pin the two patterns together right sides facing each other.
• Remove pins and turn the animal inside out so the right sides are now facing you.
• Fill the animal with stuffing until it is as firm as you want.
• Push the extra fabric of the hole inside the stuffed animal and sew the gap shut.
• Add other details such as ears, tails or clothing such as a scarf or vest as wanted.

There are a lot of different patterns and tutorials at http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?action=tags;sa=showtopics;tag=stuffed_animal

For this project you only need paper and glue!

Even though they look pretty intricate they’re fairly simple to make it just takes a little time.

There is a great tutorial on http://foldingtrees.com/2008/11/kusudama-tutorial-part-1/

Give it and try and let us know how yours turn out or if you have any ideas to add!

If you’d also like some additional challenging patterns go to http://kusudama.me/#/Victoria/Victoria-L/vict5

Mom used coffee filters instead of tissue paper. The bottom circle of the coffee filters were the perfect size!

It’s cheaper that way because she buys coffee filters in bulk and uses them to clean the mirrors/windows in the house.

I love these flowers… they’re a cute decoration or even a long lasting gift!

• She sanded down an old table
• Freshly painted the legs
• Tore pages out of an old fairy tale book
• Put Mod Podge all over the table
• Put the pages on the table
• Put Mod Podge all over the tops of the pages using a foam brush

You could buy a cheap old flea market table and turn it into a piece of art!

This is a great idea for recycling. Give it a try!

She started by making my son Kyler a K and my sister Jennifer a J!

They were both still being worked on when our lovely family dog Nitro accidentally sat on the J!

These are adorable and I love the look of them popping out of the frame.

This will take time but as does any other project mom gets herself into.

I can’t wait to post more of Mom’s awesome work, I totally love these letters… great idea!

With a snuggly cute face like Nitro’s you can’t be mad of course, so off to make a new J Mom goes!

Check out these quilled letters…. http://www.visualnews.com/2011/11/14/an-alphabet-of-ornate-quilled-typography/

There is a tutorial on http://www.craftastical.com/2010/05/tutorial-quilled-monogram-letter.html of how to quill monogrammed letters, give it a try it’s a terrific gift for someone or even yourself!