More Wreath Ornaments

It feels weird not having blogged in a while.  We took one last summer trip last week before school starts.  Even though we were busy, I still found some crafting time.

I made more plastic bottle ring wreath ornaments on Thursday morning.  They are slightly different than the others that I had made.  The other ones used my made-up double crochet, the one that I learned by looking at finished crochet items as a child.  The other ones also had one double crochet in each stitch for the second round.  These ones used the real double crochet and I did a few increase stitches in the second round (where needed).  They turned out better and bigger.  I also used up the last of this yarn.

Last night I took out my new green sparkly yarn and made 3 more wreaths.  The one on the left has the 15 chain stitches at the beginning and end for the loop (like I used in the past wreaths).  Because I used a different yarn, the size ended up being different.  The loop was to small for my liking.  So I chained 20 stitches in the beginning and in the end for the next two.  I still need to add a red bow to these wreaths.

I made another project while on my trip, but I can't show it since it is a Christmas present.  The person who it is for checks my blog.  I'll be posting this and other presents after Christmas.

Large Wrist Pincushion

Today I made a large pincushion that you can wear around your wrist.  The base is not a bottle cap, it is the lid to a jar (about 3" wide).  I did all the same things that I did with the bottle cap pincushions but with 2 exceptions.

For the cushion, I cut out a 6 inch circle instead of a 3 inch one.

Rule of thumb, add 2 to 3 inches to the size of the base for the cushion.

I sewed on the elastic wristband before sewing the base to the side.  I also did the embroidery on the sides before sewing the cushion on.

Now it is ready to hold a lot of pins to use while working on your next sewing project.

Silver Fancy Ornaments

Last night I made these 3 ornaments.  They are a free pattern from Lion Brand.  I used a size 3 hook (2.1 mm) and silver crochet thread.  The pattern calls for 2 strands of yarn, but after trial and error I prefer one strand.  They are about 4.25 inches long.  

Hermit Crab Net

Yesterday we bought 4 hermit crabs for my oldest son.  I haven't had hermit crabs in 7 years.  I love them!!!  I use to have 22 hermit crabs in a 20 gallon tank.  I had made different levels and fun climbing things for them.

So last night I set about crocheting a net for them to climb.  I used Vanna's Choice yarn and a size G hook.  I chained 43 stitches.  Single crocheted into the 2nd chain from the hook, chained 4, sc in 5th chain over, and repeat to the end, sc in last chain.  Then I chain 1, turn work around, sc in 1st st, ch 2, sc in 3rd ch over, chain 4, sc in 5th ch, etc.  Basically I tried to stagger the loops so that it looked more like a net.  I then made a very long chain that I connected to the other side so that I could connect it under the outside of the tank to hold it into place.

One adventurous hermit crab had no problems climbing it.  I did need to anchor the bottom down a bit.  I need to find a better solution for that (some sort of weights).

He ended up climbing up one of the chains to the top corner of the tank.  So I put a heavy book on top of the tank so that he couldn't escape.  I want to make a 2nd floor in the tank for them.  They are so fascinating.  Now to finally get around to knitting a hermit crab.  I bought a knitted amigurumi book just for that pattern.

More Bottle Cap Pincushions

It was a nice day yesterday, so I sit up a blanket in the back yard and made these two bottle cap pincushions while my son played.  The embroidery thread that was used in the center of these pincushions was added before sewing the center into the bottle cap, so that it was easier to hide the tails.

I thought that it would be cute to make a monster that looks like a flower.

Then I just played around with making some crazy thick petals.  The base is purple.  I wanted to bring the purple and blue into the center of the flower, so I stitched them in.

Nature Inspired Pincushions

Yesterday I made 3 new bottle cap pincushions.  I love them!  Here is the mushroom / toadstool one.  Instead of cutting the top circle 3 inches, I cut it 6 inches.  This allowed it to really pop out over the sides.

This is my little sunflower.  The base is green.  I used 3 different shades of yellow for the flower petals.  I measured and cut out the petals, then I sewed them to the center base of the pincushion.  Then I sewed them into the bottle cap.  I really like how this turned out.

Pink is hard for me to photograph, plus the camera battery died after taking one picture of this pincushion.  For this one I used the same color green for the base as I did for the sunflower.  I then traced the bottle cap in the center of the darker pink felt.  Then I drew a 6 to 7 inch circle and cut out the petals within those two circles.  I sewed the darker pink and the lighter pink together, and then I sewed them into the bottle cap.  Next time I plan on glueing the center of the petals to the base of the bottle cap (on the inside of it), that way they look more flower like to me.  Next I used metallic puffy paint to add the dots to the center of the flower and the lines on the petals.

Another thing that I love is that the felt made of 100% eco-fi, polyester made from recycled post-consumer plastic bottles.  So not only did I recycle a plastic bottle cap to make this, but the felt is also made from recycled materials.  I just love that.

Smaller Flower Tarn Hot Pad

While digging through things in my studio I found a ball of tarn (t-shirt yarn).  I really wanted to make another flower hot pad by Cindy at My Recycled Bags.  There are 5 rounds to this pattern, but I could only complete 4 rounds before I ran out of tarn.  So this one is smaller than my other one, but it is still cute.

I linked this project along with a few other to Vision of Sugar Plum's Fibers on Friday.

Make-up Bag Take 2

I made a bigger version of the make-up bag today.  I tried out an idea that I had, which didn't work out so well.  Plus the zipper did not line up right.  I'm a little embarrassed by this bag.  However solutions come from mistakes.  I think that I have figured out a better way of making this.  I will try again later, and hopefully a tutorial will be included with the next one.

This bag is about 21 inches long and 10.5 inches wide.

There are 3 things that I am going to do differently the next time around.

Not So Scary Monster

Not So Scary Monster

Three amigurumi in 3 days with the same 2 skeins of Vanna's Choice yarn... How awesome is that!  This is another Christmas present for my 3 year old, who keeps telling me how much he likes blue bunnies, blue butterflies, blue buttons, etc.  I used up the green skein making this monster, however I have more of that color (I bought it when it was on clearance).  I keep thinking of him as an alien instead of a monster.  Either way, he is cute.

Make-up Carrier

In May I bought 2 cute make-up carriers from my quilt guild's gift shop (from the quilt show).  I gave one to my mother-in-law and I kept the other one.  I figured out in July how it was made, and it has been on my to do list ever since.  So today I took out some fabric, batting, and a zipper and made one.  It is a little rough for my taste, but so were the ones that I bought.  I'm currently tweaking a 2nd one.  The one that I bought was perfect for carrying my jewelry during vacation.  I will post a tutorial after I finish tweaking the pattern a bit.

Octopus & Magnets

Tonight I made this cute octopus using the same yarn that I had used to make the bunny yesterday (Vanna's Choice yarn).  This is another free pattern from lionbrand.com.  It was very easy to make.  It is a Christmas present for my 3 year old son.

While at the craft store today, there were some fun pre-painted (some have felt on them) wooden cut outs.  I let my toddler pick out the ones that he wanted, and I picked out a few as well.  Then we glued some magnets to them.  I love having fun magnets on my fridge.  Plus these magnets are pretty strong.

Blue Bunny

Last night, just before bed time, my 3 year old told me that he loves blue bunnies.  He repeated that statement a few more times in bed.  He has been liking a lot of blue things lately.  So I found this cute free pattern on Lion Brand's website called Best Bunny.  I used Vanna's Choice yarn, and crocheted this very easy pattern in about 2 hours (or however long The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is).  My son was a happy little boy this morning, carrying the bunny around by it's ears.

Secret Swap Project

I have joined a December holiday swap in the From Trash to Treasure Ravelry group.  I don't know who has me, and the person I have may or may not know that I have her.  For the last 4 days I have been working on a present for my swap partner.  I finished it last night, and it turned out really wonderful.  So much so that I want to make one for myself.  Sorry, but due to the secrecy of the project, I can't post a picture of it until December after she opens it.  However I did want to acknowledge  that I have been hard at work on something.  I have a few more ideas for other things that I want to make for her as well.

I have got Christmas and a few birthdays on my mind right now.  To get all of my handmade items finished on time, I am starting right now.  The problem is that a few of the people who the presents are for check my blog on a regular basis.  So there will be a few times when I can't post any pictures or information on what I am working on.  I'll be busy blogging about everything after Christmas though.

I'll give you one clue about this latest project - it is made from recycled materials and I did not spend a penny on it.  But thats the funny part about it, because the swap is all about making things out of recycled items for one another.  Thus I am not giving any real information away to my swap partner.

Happy Crafting!

Cupcake Pincushion & Tarn Hot Pad

Here is a cute little bottle cap pincushion that I made last night. My idea was to make a red with white dot mushroom, but it looks more like a cupcake.  I'm thinking of making a whole bunch of cupcake pincushions.  They are so cute.

I just used white embroidery floss to make the white dots.

Yesterday I was thrilled to see that Cindy from myrecycledbags.com posted a pattern for a tarn (t-shirt yarn) trivet / hot pad.  I made a tarn hod pad a few months ago and I love it.  Its my favorite hot pad.  So after seeing Cindy's pattern for a flower hod pad, I ran to my craft t-shirt bin and searched for a shirt to cut up and make tarn out of.  I could only find a white shirt.  The shirt could have been dyed first, but I just wanted to try out the pattern.  It took me 15 to 30 minutes to make this quick and easy pattern.  I used an I hook instead of the J hook that the pattern called for, because I just couldn't find my J hook.  

For some reason the camera just didn't want to take a good picture of the white hot pad.  It seems that white and red are hard to photograph.  However you can see a beautiful blue one on Cindy's blog.

Mini Pincushions

The other day I found these directions on how to make cute little pincushions using plastic bottle caps.  So I dug through my felt yesterday and made these two mini pincushions.  They are so easy to make.  I think that these would be great to include in my quilt guild's shop.  You can put a little sticky dot on the bottom and stick it to your sewing machine.

New Spun / Plied Plarn

Yesterday I plied some spun white plarn with some variegated green yarn.  

I used up 3 skeins of spun plarn.

Brown & Blue Plarn Bag

As part of a trade, I made this brown and blue plarn bag for someone.  In exchange I got several skeins of cotton yarn.  It has taken me a month to make it only because I could not get enough brown plastic bags to finish it (especially since I shop with reusable bags).

I love it.  If it wasn't specifically made for someone else, I would keep it.  I love the color combination and the size of it.  I hope that the other person loves it to.