Mini Yarn Wreath Brooches

Hello! This weekend I made mini yarn wreath brooches! Aren't they cute? ^_^

I made one for Valentine's Day ...

... one for St Patrick's Day ...

... one because I'm a giant Harry Potter nerd ...

... and one because this colour combination is slowly taking over my life ~_^

I was going to make a little tutorial, but the camera ate half of my pictures so it is now a teeny-tiny tutorial with some bits you just have to imagine ~_^ If my camera does decide to work properly again soon, I will add in the other pictures, but until then, on with the show!


Mini Yarn Wreath Brooches


Step 1: Get hold of some curtain rings. I went to an op-shop and got a bag of them for $3; they are wooden and about 6.5 cm wide on the outside and 4.2 cm wide on the inside ring.  


Step 2: Gather your yarn. This project is great for using up scraps!


Step 3: Put a bit of hot glue on the back of your ring and then place the end of your yarn into the glue. 


Step 4: Wrap your yarn around the ring. When you want to change colours, use a bit of hot glue to stick down the end of your current colour and then repeat Step 3 to start the new colour. Wrap until the entire ring is covered in yarn.

Step 5: Make your embellishments. For this wreath I made some tiny yarn balls by wrapping yarn around even tinier balls of paper and some tiny crochet hooks using thin wire.

For the wreaths pictured above, I crocheted hearts, a four-leaf clover, and a tiny bow. I also made an arrow with a skewer and some felt, and some felt glasses which are glued onto thin wire to keep them from sagging.

Step 6: Hot glue your embellishments into place. I made three tiny yarn balls and I added two crochet hooks, because just one looked unbalanced. 

Step 7: Add a badge back with more hot glue. 

Step 8: Put it on and insist everyone admire it; it's finished! ^_^

Yay! If you make one, I'd love to see it! ^_^

Have an awesome weekend!

- Lisa x

Star Wars Valentine Card

Hi! How are you today? I had a great day ^_^ I had nothing planned so I spent my day knitting and reading Ranger's Apprentice - not at the same time, though, I haven't yet mastered that skill ^_^ 

Also, I made this Star Wars Valentine Card! I know there is still quite a while to go before February, but it never hurts to be prepared, right? ^_^

You can download the .pdf file for this card from my Google Drive, or click here to download the same card but with a pop of red on the words ^____^

I've printed some out on white card, which looks really good, but I am planning on getting some coloured card as well to print on which I think will really make the graphic design pop! ^_^

Happy (very advanced!) Valentines Day!

- Lisa x

Spool knitted beehive

Hello! Do you ever get an idea to make something and then you just *have* to make it, and *right now* if at all possible?

That's what happened to me with this tiny beehive.

I was a bit like "ooh, but I should be doing things on my list!" but I figure it's a bit like chocolate. If you *really, really, really* want a bit of chocolate, but keep saying no, no, no, eventually you will want chocolate so much that you might just explode. Or eat two really large blocks instead of the couple of squares that could have sufficed in the first place. Hmm, I'm not sure how this worked as a metaphor for crafting. Anyway, moving on, I made a beehive!

I think it is quite cute, even if it does have a touch of the primary school fete around it. Hey, what am I saying? I *love* school fetes! ~_^ 

It was very easy to make; I made a long tube with my spool-knitter, used hot glue to position it in a kinda hive-like shape (you could probably sew as well, but I wanted this to be NINJA QUICK), and then got out the hot glue again to add the little felt door and, of course, some bees.

I made the bees buy cutting out an oval shaped piece of mustard coloured felt, then adding stripes with black felt, and wings with white.

This beehive is about seven cm tall and it is hollow in the inside. I think it would make a perfect cover for a hard-boiled egg, only Scott and I don't eat hard-boiled eggs and don't even own an egg-cup so I couldn't even fake a photo!

Maybe it can be a couture hat for one of my Blythe dolls (though, due to the large size of their heads, it would probably look more like a fascinater)?

What do you think it could/ should be?

I hope you have a great day!

- Lisa x

Going somewhere, Solo?

Hello, everyone! Today is Scott's and my wedding anniversary - we've been married for two years, and together for seven and a half! Wowzers ^_^

As you probably know by now, Scott is a BIG fan of Star Wars, and I have a whole mess of wee little stitches patterns which are too wonderful to *not* stitch up, so I made Scott this Han Solo cross-stitch ^_^

It was pretty quick to stitch up, I worked on it over a couple of days, but if you had enough dedication, I bet you could whip this out in a day. I can highly recommend wee little stitches - the pattern for Han Solo was really easy to follow and they provide a handy thread colour guide too! Han Solo is from the Star Wars - A New Hope pattern and the letters were stitched without a pattern (which was a terrible idea and involved lots of unpicking, and I will never, ever do it again >_<).

Anyway, it turned out well, it fit the frame wonderfully, and Scott really likes it! Yay!

So now, I need more ideas of Star Wars crafts to make for Scott; any suggestions?

- Lisa x

Thrifted china

Hello! Yesterday I drove down to my home town to see my parents, my Pop, and to go to the markets ^_^ I had a really great day! And I have some lovely new china to share with you ^_^

This teacup and matching plate and saucer are decorated with lily of the valley and doesn't match at all with ...

... these very '70s flowers. I love them both though! ^_^

 

I didn't yet have a little milk jug, so I'm really pleased with this one! Also, I love the green ^_^

 

And these three rose dishes will be perfect for serving sweet treats at my next tea party ^_^

I hope you had a nice weekend too!

- Lisa x

Spool knitted necklace

Hey folks! How are you today? I was sick today, but happily was recovered enough by this evening to take some photos of my new necklace ^_^

I have really been loving mustard yellow lately and that was the first colour I pulled out of my stash when planning this necklace. Then I took a leaf from Pip's style book and paired the mustard yellow with a light grey. Then I added in a few pops of blue to brighten it up a bit ^_^

The necklace is about 94 inches (about 240 cm) long, which leaves plenty of room for it to loop around and because it's yarn it's light and soft. I made it by stitching a long length of spool knitting and then sewing the two ends together. Super easy! Changing colours was done by cutting the end of one colour yarn and knotting in the new colour. Making sure the knots were in the inside of the knitting tube was the most tricky bit, and even then mistakes are easily rectified by pushing the knot into the tube and adding a stitch across it so that it can not come out again.

What do you think?

- Lisa x

Sparkly puff stitch beret with applique heart

Happy (belated) New Year everyone! I hope you had a nice evening ... I stayed in and crocheted. *Such* a partier ~_^

But I'm pleased to be able to already be able to cross one thing off my list for Craftathon 2012. Yay!

I made myself a beret using one of my favourite patterns and some hand-spun yarn from my friend Molly. In 2011 we did a swap - I made her a purple squid amigurumi and she made me a skein of yarn. It's all in shades of red and kinda reminds me of blood and guts. I know, I know, I'm a sick puppy - but it really does! Also, it's sparkly and so, for these reasons, I have named this wool "Bring Me the Heart of Edward Cullen" ~_^ 

I made a small felt heart and stitched it onto the hat which I think really sets the whole thing off ~_^

Anyway, I hope you'll stay with me this year for another year of tea, craft, and lots of really bad photos! ~_^

What are your plans for 2012?

- Lisa x