New Pattern!

You may have seen my post yesterday about Doni Speigle's flower ring decorations. While trying to figure out how to add the "poke" to my plant poke, I kept coming back to the idea of wire. So I went with it and this is what I came up with...

I used this floral wire that I picked up at Dollar Tree a while back. I've also seen it at in the craft section Walmart.

I first tried to make the loop at the top of the stem freehand, but quickly learned it's difficult to make a nice smooth circle this way. A 2oz paint bottle works much better. :)

And this is the stem before crocheting. I think it could also make a cute fairy wand if you add some beads (or something soft) to cover the cut ends of the wire. But that will have to wait for another time.

And here is the finished flower. I'm quite happy with it.You can download the pdf in my Ravelry store.

ENJOY! :)

Frugal Friday

The past couple of years Doni Speigle of Whiskers and Wool (I love her potholder patterns!) has been creating a series of holiday ornaments that are worked around a 2 inch plastic ring. Me, being the cheap frugal person I am, started saving the plastic rings from our gallon water jugs to use as the center ring. Why buy something when I can re-use a similar thing I have already, right? :)

She calls these ornaments, but I was thinking about making some plant pokes out of these. Or maybe a couple of fridge magnets. There's always room for one more, right? :)

This yellow one is the same pattern. I just changed it up a little bit by replacing the center stitch on each petal with a ch-3 picot. It's funny how changing one minor detail can make something look so different. It kind of looks like a sun, or if done in red, a poinsettia?

I really like how these turned out. I will definitely be making lots more. :)

 

Paper Crafts and Crochet Stuff Too

I've been dabbling a little with paper crafting. I used some die cuts to create the flower and recycled my Marshmallow Bunny Wreath to make my new Spring flower wreath. The crocheted bunnies will be used again next year, along with some new ones in different colors, to to make a bigger and more colorful wreath. :)

I also made these adorable little baskets filled with Rolo Pretzels (Yummm!) to give the adults for Easter. Lindsey from The Frugal Crafter did a nice video tutorial showing how to make the baskets. They are incredibly fast and super easy to do. The ones below are made with 6x6 scrapbook papers, and I also made a larger one for Ben with a full 12x12 sheet. I was surprised by how much I was able to fit into it!

Ben's large basket.

I'm still working the Hinterland Throw. It's starting to get to the point where the rounds are long and tedious... but that just means I'm getting near the end, right? Only 12 more rounds to go! :)

I haven't made any more flowers recently. I've been busy with other projects for now, but am really wanting to get back to these. I know there are lots of other flowers out there similar to these, but I did make these up as I went along, so I'm thinking about writing up the pattern as a free download if anyone is interested? :)

A Walk Through the WIP Garden

I've been Busy making flowers! I really like the scrappy look so I'm trying to be completely random with the colors. I think it's working out pretty well for the most part. I have 11 different colors right now. There are a couple of others that I'm thinking about adding. I may take out that dark purple, or at least just use it for the smaller rounds.

I started the Hinterland Throw this afternoon. If you have the magazine and plan to make this throw, be sure to get the errata from the Crochet! Magazine website. The notes on Ravelry don't cover all of the corrections. Pattern errors aside, I love the way it's looking. The leaves are really making their appearance and it's a fun pattern repeat. It would look great in red, it kind of reminds me of a poinsettia. :)

Bunnies!

I finally got my Bunnies finished this past week for my door wreath. I like how it turned out. I couldn't get a very good picture, it does look cuter in person. :)

Marshmallow Bunnies Pattern

Marshmallow Bunnies

I've been trying to hang a themed wreath on my front door each month. While looking for ideas for this month's wreath on Pinterest I came across this Bunny Peep Wreath from Stampin' Mama and fell in love. Not wanting to hang all that sugar on my door, I immediately thought of the Marshmallow Bunnies pattern from the talented Doni Speigle. Aren't they just too cute not to crochet?

I'll be using Perfect Pink and Lemon RHSS and a G hook. :) I have a small grapevine wreath I picked up at the dollar store. I think it's around 12". I'm not sure how many bunnies I'll need yet, but I think I'll start with 10 and go from there.

One side done... 19 to go. :)

Kicking off National Crochet Month

"Crocheted Room" 

origin unknown

It's been nearly a year since I moved out of my daughter's house into my own apartment. It had been a while since I lived in my own place. I have to admit it's quite nice to finally feel "at home" again. I've spent the past several years bouncing between family members' homes. In these types of situations space is always a commodity, so out of necessity (and keeping peace) I've given away, donated, or otherwise disposed of a lot of my old furniture and decorative items.

With all of my moving and shuffling things around, I did hold firm on keeping the necessities such as kitchen items, bath supplies, bed linens, etc., knowing someday I would have my own place again. I also managed, through it all, to hold on to the majority of my yarn and crafting stash. I'm still amazed I actually managed to pull that one off. There were times I was sure the family had had enough of constantly bumping into and tripping over my storage totes!

But we muddled through somehow and now I'm back to looking at a blank canvas. So with almost no budget, but with a closet full to the brim with crafty "stuff", I'm taking on the task of beautifying my new home with yarn, thread, and any other fun supplies I happen to have on hand. The rules are simple. Well, not rules really, more like arbitrary guidelines...

1. Reduce, reuse, recycle.
2. Spend little or no money.
3. Enjoy the process.

I'm not entirely sure where I'm headed with this project. I have a few ideas, small projects here and there--maybe a few larger ones as well (think filet tablecloth and maybe even mural??)--little bits of colorful and creative accessories to liven up the bland ecru walls. It will be a relatively slow process. Never-ending really. Continually growing and evolving. And I'm inviting you all along for the ride!

I've started a Flickr group so we can share our creativity and inspire others to enhance their living spaces as well. So come show us how you have used crochet or other DIY projects to decorate your home?