Welcome to Our Tailgating Party!

We've got nine different bloggers with nine different projects to make this the most fun year yet!

Everyone loves tailgating!  Food!  Football!  Friends!  It doesn't get much better than that!

Make sure you stop by each site and check out the entire party!

Karen at Bakinginatornado: A recipe for Kielbasa and vegetables marinated, skewered, grilled and served on a roll.

Stacy at Stacey Sews and Schools:  Sewn fleece headband/earmuffs in favorite team colors

Eileen at Eileen's Perpetually busy: A seat cushion with built-in handle for carrying ease.

Robin at Someone Else's Genius: Book review on The System:  The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football

Diane at Canning and Cooking at Home:  Using up all of your green garden tomatoes into a wonderful relish

Shellybean at Follow Me Home: Simple tutorial on making 'to-do' bags for kids

Lydia at Cluttered Genius: Make a garland for your tailgate or mantel out of products you already have in your house

Melissa at Home on Deranged:  Use technology and cool gadgets to ensure you are master of tailgating time


We're going to show you how to make SnapCaps!  They're super quick and easy and I'm going to give you several shortcuts so that you can toss these together quickly!  You'll be able to make it in time for Sunday's game!

For me, the only downside to tailgating is that I don't like the cold!  I'm a total cold wussy!  It's just not my thing!  Also, I tend to be a little picky about what I wear.  These hats can be made to be cute or manly and they're so versatile!  Each one can be made in the colors you prefer and then embellished with thought bubbles.  Then in the large thought bubble, you can switch out pictures to show everyone what's on your mind!  We chose our smiley face because we're super happy right now!  You can put in your favorite team's name, a hot dog, a drink, or whatever happens to be on your mind!  Since they thoughts don't take up much space, they're easy to stow in a bag or pocket and swap out as you'd like.  These are a great conversation starter, or, they can just let people know you're unhappy and they should back off!

Making your SnapCap:

I'm going to be showing you several time-savers here.  If you can crochet, and choose to, you'll find the pattern listed below.  It's a beginner's pattern and quite easy.  You can swap out colors for a striped effect or simply make it all in your teams favorite color.  For those of you who want something a little quicker, grab any old soft hat you want!  Knits and crochets work best because they're easiest to sew through.

We used Red Heart Pattern LW2730.  Though this shows a young girl's hat, the instructions actually make an adult size.  We also left off the cuff, because we can!

Next, we'll start our thought bubbles.  We did three different sizes and then the largest one.

Smallest:
Ch 2
6 single crochet in first loop.
Fasten off and weave in ends.

Next Smallest:
Ch 3
9 half-double crochet in first loop.
Fasten off and weave in ends.

Next to Largest:
Ch 4
9 double crochet in first loop.
Fast off and weave in ends.

Large Thought Bubble:
Ch 6
Row One:
In fourth chain from hook:  3 double crochet
In next chain: 1 double crochet
In last chain: 7 double crochet
(continuing around bottom) In next chain:  1 double crochet
In beginning chain: 3 double crochet, join to first stitch

Second row:
Ch 3
2 double crochet in next stitch
Next stitch: half-double crochet, single crochet
Next stitch: half-double crochet, double crochet
Next stitch: 2 double crochet
Repeat around 5 times
Next stitch:  half-double crochet, single crochet
Next stitch: 2 double crochet
Next stitch: half-double crochet, single crochet
Fasten off and weave in ends.

Now position your thought bubbles onto your hat and pin them in place.  Next, simply stitch them where you want them.  Most of your SnapCap is finished! All that's left are the embellishments!

The snaps can be purchased for a few dollars at your local store, but most likely you have a few laying in your sewing box already.  You can design your own embellishments through crochet, knit, or sewing.  I've found the easiest thing to do is to go to my local store and purchase small 'patches'.  They come in a great variety and you can usually get them on clearance.

Sew one side of the snap onto your largest thought bubble, right in the center.  Next, sew the opposite side onto your embellishment.  It's that simple!  Simply use the same side of the snap and sew it onto all of your embellishments and you can swap them out within a matter of seconds!

We've actually had a lot of fun with these!  We set up an experiment had teenagers use these as their sole communication and it was hysterical!

Now go make yours and make a huge splash at your tailgating party!!