Just in time, too...

About a week ago, I ran across the cutest thing ever.  A Tooth Fairy door.  Since we've only had two visits from the Tooth Fairy, I figured it wasn't too late to introduce this to the girls.  When I explained it, I didn't get much reaction, other than Isabelle looking at me like I had lost it.  That's kind of how she looks at me most of the time anyway.

Being the impatient type, I had to run out to Hobby Lobby Monday for supplies.  I'm certainly glad I only gave up fabric and yarn for Lent and not Hobby Lobby completely.  Because I'd probably be rocking in the corner sucking my thumb by now.


Looks like some goblin must have smudged the lens on my camera phone...

I had the scrapbook paper on hand for something else (certainly not scrapbooking) and I had an old board picture that a friend had given me that had started to peel.  I bought a doll house door and doorknobs and some paint.  I figured putting it on a board instead of directly on the wall was the way to go.  When I really thought about it, I decided that we would only put it up when TF was due for an appearance.  Otherwise I'd be making one every time we had a tooth fall out.  I know my kids.

I was just working on it slowly.  A coat of paint here, some Mod Podge there.  No rush.

Then today I had to speed things up.  We have a loose tooth.  We just were at the dentist yesterday (no cavities, hoorah!) and they never even mentioned that she had any starting to get wiggly, but sure enough, she came running into the kitchen in a frenzy to tell me her tooth was loose.  Not a "yay! my tooth is loose!" frenzy... we're talking panic.  Like she hasn't lost two teeth already.  I swear the child actually said these words to me... "But Momma, I can't handle a loose tooth!"  Yes, child, I'm sure you have so much going on in your 6 year old life that wiggling a tooth out is going to just be such an inconvenience.

She's such a drama queen.

So I finished the door tonight.  We probably have a good week of wiggling ahead, but I wanted to have it ready.


I'm glad I sew and crochet better than I paint =)


The Tooth Fairy Castle

I love it.  I think it's one of those special traditions that my kids will carry on with their kids.  I hope so anyway.

The door is tough to completely close, so I'm not even going to.  That way it doesn't get ripped off when they try to open it.  And, you know, so dear TF doesn't think we accidentally locked her out or anything.  She has to leave a good reward for this tooth that is going to cause my child fits of anguish for the next week.

DeGray Lake part 3 - the finale!

Unfortunately, after our first day at the lake, the weather decided to turn on us.  A serious bummer.  Spring has been really mean to us this year... teasing us with a nice day here and there and then plunging us back into the icebox.  I know that most people have it far worse.  This is Arkansas, after all.  I'm complaining about 40 degrees when other people are still shoveling snow.  And that's why I don't live above the Mason-Dixon line.  =)

The second day, after the kids had a nutritious breakfast of syrup with a side of pancake, we decided to go fishing.  I don't fish.  Here's the deal:  fish freak me out.  I can handle little goldfish, but once you get past 2 inches long, I really don't want to have any part of them.  I don't like to eat them, I am NOT cleaning them, and even though I don't like them, I do think it's kind of mean to hook them just to throw them back in the lake.  "Sorry I just impaled your mouth and half-way suffocated you, but it's cool because I'm setting you free now!"

I do enjoy everything else about fishing.  I think it's fun to cast the line in the water and just be quiet and relax.  So really, I don't even need a hook.  Just tie a sinker on my string and we're good.



The girls had all picked out Barbie poles.  Bill wasn't really thrilled that they picked out such girlie fishing poles since it was just inevitable he'd end up holding one of theirs more than his own.


But he's a man and can pull off fishing with a pink pole.


My little fisherpersons.

Olivia and Zoe got bored pretty quickly, and seeing that I didn't care to be out there to begin with, we went back to the room and left Bill and Iz to fish.  They didn't catch anything.


Although Iz says they caught 29 fish, kissed them, and put them back in the lake.

The rest of the day was spent driving around for the most part.  Olivia wanted to go swimming in the pool.  I had told her the day before that she could, but I really had no desire to take them to the pool.  Bill caved and decided to take them.


Why is he wearing a shirt in the pool?


Because it was COLD outside.

The pool was heated, but that only helped as long as you were IN the water.  Crazies, I tell you.  I stayed nice and cozy in my hoodie snapping pictures from the lounge chairs.  I'm crazy, but I don't like freezing my hiney off.

And that's about all of our adventures.  After two nights of not-that-great sleep, and not enough sleep for the girls, we had breakfast and were treated to about 30 miles of Iz screaming about the dress I wouldn't buy her at Cracker Barrel. 

I vowed never to take a vacation with them until they are much older, but I'm a glutton for punishment and have already started researching a fun family summer vacation. 

DeGray Lake part 2

One of the really cool things about the park was that it had a lot of planned activities that we could do.  The first night, we decided to go on the Sunset Cruise, which was a boat tour of the lake - at sunset, of course.  The boat was pretty crowded and we didn't quite anticipate the temperature dropping, so my little bugs were all wrapped up in a blanket for a lot of the trip, but it was really fun all the same.

The girls had to wear life jackets, of course.

Another thing I didn't anticipate... "cruise" was a figure of speech.  We went pretty fast when we weren't idling in the water listening to the tour guide.

Zoe, for one, didn't mind one bit.

Neither did Isabelle.

Our tour guide was a riot.  He had a joke about everything.  Of course, my little family had to be a part of it.  As he walked past us, Zoe was kind of leaning over, and the butt of his gun (yes, he had a gun - not normal for a park ranger, but he was much more than a tour guide/park ranger) knocked the poor little thing in the head.

OK, so this is actually her being blinded by the sun, not after the gun incident. ;)

She wasn't hurt... she never even whimpered, but he felt bad and gave her a cookie.  Then joked the rest of the trip about how he just pistol-whipped a toddler.  I am sure she knew she was the center of attention and I think she kind of had a little crush on him afterwards.  

It was a treat to watch the sun sink into the lake.

I am used to being asked on a very regular basis (like almost every time we are out in public) if Olivia and Isabelle are twins.  They're practically the same size, despite there being 18 months in between them.  But it's just been lately that I've started getting the question "are they triplets?"  Two different couples asked us on the boat.  The twins remark I understand, but Zoe is noticeably smaller and (at least to me) younger looking than the other two.  I suppose I need to get used to it, because it wasn't the first time and certainly won't be the last.

After the boat tour, it was time for dinner.  We don't eat out a lot with the kids.  Expecting them to sit still for an extended period of time is a bit much at their ages.  But we didn't have many options while we were on vacation.  We went to the restaurant at the lodge and the were so slow that I felt like I could have driven back home, fixed dinner, and brought it back to everyone.  The kids were very antsy.

I told Izzy to make sure her spoon didn't move.  It worked for about 30 seconds.

We were there for over almost an hour before Bill even got his salad.  And that's it.  He just kind of stared at it... he couldn't very well eat in front of the hungry kids when there was no telling when we might actually get our food.

So, like a good Daddy should, he shared.  =)

That was our first day.  It was pretty chilly the next two days, so it's not quite as interesting.  I think I can squeeze all of that into one more final part.  

DeGray Lake part 1

When Bill and I were discussing taking a little vacation for Spring Break, I said - very adamantly - no cabins at a State Park.  That seems to be our go-to vacation and I wanted to do something different.  Well, it wasn't a cabin, but it was a State Park.  We went to the DeGray Lake Resort.

That's my kind of camping.

"Resort" makes it sound like we had some fancy, posh vacation, doesn't it?  The room at the resort was less expensive than a cabin or a motel room had we traveled to, say, Dallas.  They did have a spa there, but I didn't indulge.  I was wanting to after the first night of waking up every hour due to my back screaming - the bed was awful.  But I refrained.

Like I've said, we've been to several cabins in different State Parks.  We looked last night and there are a few parks we haven't been to due to price (the newer ones are super expensive, like $200 a night), but we've definitely experienced quite a few parks.  This was probably the most fun we've ever had.  Everyone was just crazy nice and accommodating with the kids and they had a lot of activities that we could have participated in like night hikes and such.  Not that we would have taken the girls on a night hike, but I was very tempted to go on the nighttime golf cart excursion through the golf course looking for nocturnal animals.  Mainly because I wanted to ride in the golf cart.

We got there a little bit early, so we did some wandering around while they got our room ready.

Very curious little people

It was almost hard to believe that we were still in Arkansas

She needed just about every rock and nut she could find

We took a little drive around the area, too.  As we drove down this one road, this clearing in the woods appeared and three or four deer were in this bright sunny spot having lunch.  I had to stop the MV and grab my camera.  The picture can in no way show just how magical it really was.

The view from our room  was really gorgeous, also.

Again, hard to believe we hadn't traveled farther than 90 minutes from the house.

OK... there is more to come.  Stay tuned!

A child after my own heart...

We got home today from our little mini-vacation.  Overall we had a great time... there were moments I was ready to throw all of them in the lake, but I am sure every family deals with that on vacation.  I'll write more about it later.  I have tons of pictures and stories, like Zoe getting pistol-whipped by the park ranger.  Fun times.

On our way home, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for brunch.  I was pretty surprised at how well-behaved the girls were while we ate, considering that they were little maniacs at every other meal and that they hadn't had enough sleep two nights in a row, but this went very well.  The problem arose when we were leaving and had to walk through the store part.  Isabelle found a dress she felt she had to have and we treated the crowded store to a show of tearing the dress out of her hands and me carrying her kicking and screaming to the van.  And then listening to her scream "I want an Easter dress" for about 30 miles before she calmed down.

Even when we got home, she felt the need to crawl up in my lap several times to lament the loss of that marvelous dress (which was really kind of ugly, if you ask me).  I assured her that she would be getting an Easter dress, but maybe she should draw a picture for me of what she wanted me to make for her.  So, she got my colored pencils (a treat... I rarely let them touch them because they can destroy a box of crayons over the course of a weekend) and some paper and set to work with her sisters.

Here is what she gave me:



She said that the sleeves aren't really poofy (and if you look at the other people, their heads are pretty sunk into their shirts, also - they were made with stencils by the way) and the X's are supposed to be bows.  I'm really impressed.  And it actually isn't that far off of what I plan on making for Easter dresses anyway, so I'm fairly sure I can make her happy.

I think we'll do this more often.  When I was younger, I wanted to be a fashion designer, so wouldn't it be just awesome if at least one of my kids had the same love?  I'd never push them into it, but I wouldn't discourage it for sure.

I should be packing...

... but I have been crocheting (and now blogging) instead.  We're going to Lake DeGray tomorrow for a little mini-vacation for Spring Break.  There are 3 Barbie fishing poles lined up by my back door.  My husband wasn't all that thrilled with the girls' choice in fishing gear.  After all, the chances of him using them more than the girls are high.  There will be pictures.  =)

I don't fish, myself.  I'm sure I will end up participating, but my dream is to kick back and relax with some yarn and a crochet hook while "the boys" fish.  My brain has been doing it's thing, mish-mashing up things I've seen to try to come up with something fun to make.  You would think I would take the opportunity to work on my Babette blanket or Zoe's stocking or the Jester.  And more than likely Babette will be joining me, but tonight I went in search of a daisy.  I have a skirt idea brewing that involves a daisy.  I found a really cool granny square design to try out. 



I am not 100% happy with the center or the petals.  I love the way the rest of it works up.  But I might play around with the flower itself to come up with something that makes me happier.  Most of this was Red Heart yarn that I don't mind playing with and potentially wasting.  I was gifted quite a few skeins of RH and I need to do something with it.  I definitely wouldn't try getting my kids to wear it.  I might as well go sew up some sandpaper sheets for them to wear while I'm at it.  ;)  Isabelle complains if there are too many seams in her clothes.  Such a sensitive child.... when she's not beating the mess out of her sisters.

OK, I need to quit obsessively listening to Shinedown and staring blankly into space and throw this laundry in the dryer and get to bed.  I can pack tomorrow morning.  Because I haven't argued with the girls over their wardrobe in, oh, several hours.  I'm in so much trouble when they are teenagers.

I do love being a geek

I think I amuse myself more than anyone else does.  I don't know if that's good or bad, but most of the time it makes me happy, so I'll say it's good. 

Today is the first day of Spring Break.  I had planned on getting the girls in the backyard digging up our garden (or worms as the case maybe for them) but I needed to go to the bank and Bill needed to sleep, so we just left the house for the afternoon.  I realized as we got to Big Lots that I forgot my wallet, so we had to go retrieve that and since I really was only going there to kill time, I decided to head to Hobby Lobby instead.  I swear I didn't buy any fabric or yarn.  It was tempting.  Sooooo tempting.

The girls and I wandered around and we were in the wood aisle when Isabelle told me to look at what she had found.  Leave it to her to find a giant pair of wooden scissors.  The girl who has cut all their hair more than once, not to mention half her dolls' hair and other items, finds the giant scissors.  I thought it was so funny that I bought them.

Normal sized fabric scissors to show scale.

I haven't quite decided if I'm going to paint them, stain them, or Mod Podge them.  But they make my heart super happy.

Remember the giant doily?  How I wanted a giant crochet hook after seeing it?  I almost have it all figured out.  I'm going to use styrofoam.  I found some tubes that are almost the right size.  Just a tad too skinny.  But they'll work if I can't find anything else.  I'll sand down the end of it to look like a crochet hook and paint it silver (probably).  Then I'll have giant scissors and a giant crochet hook.  Now I'll need some knitting needles (a friend of mine suggested sharpened dowel rods with knobs on the end - although my mother gave me some pretty monster knitting needles she had) and a sewing needle.  Maybe a giant spool of thread.  But then I'd need a giant ball of yarn.  And what on earth would I do with all of that?  Maybe I should leave out the thread and yarn.  Definitely a time when my crafting ADD will come in handy.  I'll get bored with it long before the thread and yarn. 

I have an affinity for giant things and miniature things.  Something I could care nothing about normal sized becomes amazing to me if you change the scale just so.  Take a tanker truck for instance.  I don't care about trucks and I don't really think toy trucks are all that cute.  But this made me squeal with excitement on Saturday:

Seriously, I want that in my back yard.

And speaking of my crafting ADD, I'm having a really hard time pinning myself down to work on anything because I have so much I want to do.  By the time I'm ready to start a project, I have so many other things I'm dying to do that I no longer want to do it.  I need to finish up some baby shower gifts, like now.... the baby is due in a little over a month.  And I still haven't started my friend's dress.  I found a tutorial for turning a purse into a camera bag that I really want to do and I have Easter dresses to make and a birthday present for Isabelle to make.  I should have given up sleep for Lent instead of fabric and yarn. 

Fresh Inspiration

I have made a goal for the year to work on decorating my house.  I've never really been all that into interior decorating and the girls make it hard to do much because they still like to destroy everything in sight.  One of my first rooms I tried to focus on was their bedroom.  The two smaller bedrooms in the house are super ugly.  The landlady must have tried some of those weird faux-something or other techniques that were so popular in the 90s, and the result was not pretty at all.  The one room, which is the playroom, is blue with light blue splotches.  It's tolerable.  The room the girls sleep in... ugh.  Green with weird white circular splotches.  It's just awful.  She has very questionable taste.  Like our bathroom.  The bathtub and sink are this really cheap fake marble and the first time any child uses our bathroom, they comment on the poop on the bathtub.  Really, it looks like someone smeared poop all over the bathroom. 

I digress.

Anyway, we were given permission to paint a while back, BUT the landlady and I had a "misunderstanding" about which rooms we could paint, so I'm not dealing with it again.  So, we're stuck with ugly walls. 

Oops, still off track.

OK, back to the bedroom.  We opted to have all three of them sleep in one room and have the other for a playroom and it's worked out so far.  But having two twin beds and a toddler bed in one room made for no room for anything else but a chair for me to sit in to read to them.  I just was not inspired to do much to make the room look nice because, to be honest, it would still look blah.  So I gave up on that room.

Then Bill and I decided to buy bunk beds for the girls to alleviate the space issue.  Zoe wasn't wanting to sleep in her "baby bed" anymore and we couldn't fit three twin beds in there.  We had the two twins pushed together like a big king size bed, which was plenty big enough, but they really can't sleep that close to each other without either playing or fighting.  We discussed it for a long time and finally decided on buying a bunk bed and a loft bed.  We got them in last week and I assembled them this weekend.  Lookit:

Look  - floor!  Yay!

Now I'm coming up with all kinds of fun plans to decorate in there.  We're turning the space under the loft bed into a fort/house kind of area.  Zoe is kind of upset about being on the bottom bunk, so I had to promise to decorate the underside of Olivia's bunk to make her bed prettier.  There are just so many fun ideas that I'm coming up with to make their room fun and girly.  I am so excited.  Makes me want to break my fabric fast.  LOL  But I'm not.  Stay tuned to see what kind of things I come up!

These things really happen to me.

So, let me tell you about my ride home from work today.  I drive my husband's truck to work because he has to use the MV (that's my cool way of talking about the minivan) to get the kids to school.  It's a 2001 Dodge Ram and it's been loved to pieces almost.  Seriously, it's seen better days.  The windshield is cracked, the paint rubbed off in spots, the dash is cracked, and most importantly for this story, the AC doesn't work.

I'm driving home with the window about halfway down because it's 72* here and hot as balls (see the end of the story) in the truck.  I'm just off in my own little mental world, as usual, listening to music, as usual.  I was about halfway home when, all of a sudden... THUNK.  Something thunked me in the head.  Something flew in the window and thunked me in the head.  I was all like, "what the (censored) was that?"  I'm trying to look around and on me to see what it was (without driving off of the road or into other people) and couldn't find anything.  That's just not normal. 

About a minute later, I heard it.  The buzz.  I turned my head and there was a wasp.  Or a hornet.  I don't know the difference.  They sting and that's all that really matters to me.  I'm not allergic or anything, but that doesn't mean I want the stupid thing to sting me.  It would hurt and that's enough.

I can't roll the other window down because Bill didn't spring for automatic windows (and in our vehicles, the motor always seems to burn out anyway so it wouldn't have worked anyway).  I just tried to drive as still as humanly possibly so I didn't attract any attention.  The thing is obviously ticked off... it just thunked into my hard head and when it woke up, it probably has a headache and is discovering that something is blocking it's way out.  So I get to drive the rest of the way home trying to not even breathe so it doesn't take its frustration out on me.  Thankfully, I made it home and out of the truck unscathed.  You can relax now.  I know you were on the edge of your seat.  Whew!

** I know "hot as balls" is kind of a vulgar phrase, but I love it.  And let me explain why.  You know, my mom likes to point out that while I am an intelligent person, I don't have much common sense.  The first time I ever heard "hot as balls", I was talking with a friend of mine who worked on a golf course.  He said it alot.  And, in my head, the connection was made balls - golf course - golf balls.  He must be saying it's as hot as golf balls laying outside in the hot sun.  Yeah.  I know it doesn't NOW.  But I still can't say it without thinking of sweaty golf balls and it makes me giggle.  So, when I say it, it's not vulgar because I don't really mean those balls.  See?  Good.

A Little Phototherapy

I have been in a bad, bad mood all week.  Work is driving me insane - I seriously just want to go deaf to avoid listening to the attitude I hear all day.  The time change just had to happen at the same time as PMS, when I'm normally fatigued, so I've been just beyond exhausted.  And Bill's schedule has been messed up, the girls hardly see him, so they've been acting out.  It's been cold.  Just a bad, ugly, blech week.  Yuck.

Today, the sun came out.  The temps were perfect.  I put on my new flip flops, grabbed my camera and took advantage of Bill's schedule change to take the girls to the park after school. 

I don't know if it was my husband or Isabelle, but someone thought it was St. Patrick's Day a day early.  Now I must dig up more green clothing for tomorrow.

We came up one a little "creek" (it was more like a ditch, but it was kind of pretty) and the girls were convinced we'd never get across.  Then Isabelle discovered a bridge.  Which didn't actually cross the creek, so we had to step over it anyway.

Yes, I agree, Olivia does look silly in a baby swing, but they didn't have any normal ones.  Poor Isabelle was annoyed by the squeaking (she's definitely my child).

I've looked at several old photos lately and I have to say that I do prefer this child with hair.

I let her do it as long as she was far enough away that the rocks only hit her.

I was told she looks like my father.

Then I attempted to get a shot of all three of them on the bridge, because it was a pretty spot and they looked so cute today.  Here is what I got... I don't think I'll get a normal picture of them even when they are adults...

"Everyone just sit on the edge for me"

 

"OK, then, just stand there and hold hands..."

"Can you just look normal?"

"I give up..."

Oh, well... who needs some boring picture of my kids looking sweet and innocent all at the same time.  It would be a lie anyway ;)

Of course, they do have their moments.... 

Sisterly Love

I am the middle child of three daughters.  I have three daughters, myself.  I hope one of my girls has a house full of three girls one day... preferably Isabelle so she can pay for her raising.   Ha!  I don't think I would have had a clue where to even begin raising a boy, so I'm very happy with our little "5 family" as my kids call it.

I come from a family chock-full of talent.  I know that sounds a bit conceited, but it's the truth.  My Grandpa carves the most beautiful and realistic birds (and other things) out of wood.  My Pawpaw was an excellent guitar player who could play anything after hearing a time or two.  Both my parents have beautiful singing voices.  My mother's aunt (or great-aunt... I get so confused) was very artistic, and my mother's drawing skills aren't too shabby.  In fact, my mom dabbled in a lot of crafty things when I look back.  She tried to teach me to crochet and knit, but it never stuck.  Maybe because she's left-handed and I am "directionally dyslexic" - I have difficulty telling my right from my left.   I learned to sew on her sewing machine, although I really can't think of anything she ever sewed...  but she had one.  That's just a sampling, there are many others.

But since this post is titled "Sisterly Love", I'm going to brag on my sisters.

My older sister Deirdre is an artist.  Always has been.  Currently, she creates digital art.  I have no earthly idea how she does it and I'm sure if she explained it all I would hear would sound like an adult in a Charlie Brown cartoon.  I'm not very technical.  I understand how she does paint and drawings... I can't do it myself well enough to enjoy it, but I at least understand that.  Digital art.... it's just magic, OK?  Let's just leave it at that.  Go check it out:

Art by Deirdre Reynolds

She made a piece just for me:  Silent Lucidity  I have a print of it in my living room.  I've sent out postcards of her work all over the world - really (Postcrossing.com makes me happy).  I have a calendar of her work that I need to create wall hangings out of since it's out of date.  I like her magical art.  You should, too.

My younger sister Crystal quilts.  Our grandmother would be so proud... I remember a basket of scraps at her house and didn't have a clue how one would make a quilt.  She didn't teach Crystal, but it must have been in the blood.  She made each of my girls a baby quilt when they were born.  Olivia's baby quilt was one of her first quilts.  I love how you can see how her talent has progressed, each one is more intricate than the next.  I don't have pictures of the baby quilts yet, because they're tucked away to keep them from being destroyed, but this is the twin-sized quilt she made 3 years ago for Olivia's 3rd birthday:

I would just like to point out that I am not responsible for the ugly paint job on the walls.  

We rent from people with very questionable taste.

 

Isn't it gorgeous?  She's currently working on a rainbow-colored twin-sized quilt for Isabelle's 5th birthday next month.  I've seen the pattern, and it's going to be a-ma-zing.  There is so much more to making a quilt than sewing some fabric pieces together.  I couldn't coordinate that many colors if I had to.  If I were a betting woman, I would say that in a few years, she'll be making up her own patterns for her quilts.  She doesn't blog, so you have to just stare at that quilt for a while to soak up her awesomeness.

And since I can't have a sisterly blog without mentioning my children, here are some pictures of the next generation of talent.... I can't say for sure what exactly their talents will be, but I have my guesses.

Miss Olivia will be an actress or a writer.  

The child's imagination is insane.

Miss Isabelle will be a comedian.  

Or maybe a stunt double for Olivia.

Miss Zoe will be an artist - she can sit with a coloring book and one crayon for hours.  (that's frosting on her face, by the way)

Whatever they do, as long as it's what makes them happy, I will be the most supportive Momma ever.  Go for it, girls!  And don't forget your sisters along the way...

Things I want to make...

I always have a list a mile long of things I want to do... things fall off, I find other things... I have a bit of crafty ADD.  I have unfinished projects and just keep thinking up more things to do.  Hopefully with my fabric/yarn buying fast, I can get some of my unfinished projects done so I don't feel guilty.

But anyway, here are a few things I found this week....

Quilted Dish Mat

Unless you count my two hands, I do not have a dishwasher.  I have to handwash my dishes, which doesn't take that long, but is still not one of my favorite daily tasks.  Something pretty on my counter to lay the dishes on to dry might just make it a little less irritating.  I can actually make this now, I have plenty of extra kitchen towels and fabric.

Giant Doily

Ok, so this is more of a "Man, I wish I could do that!" kind of thing.  I have never really been into doilies, but that is just freaking awesome!  I have a thing for things made bigger than scale and smaller than scale.  I might not care for it normal-sized, but I'll love it bigger or littler.  I know they do this by hand, but just picturing that person with a giant crochet hook makes me giggle.  I suppose I could do it... I believe it's cotton rope that they use and it can't be that hard to find.  Probably just very time consuming (and possibly confusing on that scale).  Maybe I'll just try to make a doily out of bulky yarn first since I've never actually even attempted a doily to begin with.  I even know where I would put it, assuming I didn't just make a big knotted mess.  They sell those beasts, but at $600 for a 3ft rug, I don't see my budget ever allowing that purchase.

Paris Belt

Now I'm not a belt kind of person, but I am planning on making a belt to go with my friend's adult-sized bandana dress.  I'm not sure I'd actually do something this intricate, but that is awfully pretty.