Crochet BMO brooch, shrinky dinks, and a flower crown.

Hello! I had a different project planned to show you next, but it didn't end up working out how I wanted it to so I'm going to frog it, and then maybe try again with a different medium. But I really did want to crochet something, so I whipped up a little BMO brooch ^____^ Since I've been doing Novelty Brooch Friday on Instagram I've really been expanding my collection - after all, wearing the same brooch over and over would get a little boring, don't you think?

The brooch is about 6cm high by 4cm wide, and I used my tiny BMO action figure to figure out the placement of the buttons and screen. Don't they look cute together? ^___^

I used "Beetle" yarn to make the main part of the brooch, it's a cotton-acrylic mix and was luckily the perfect colour so I didn't have to buy anything ^____^ The rest of the colours only required small scraps of yarn; the green button and the grey line are done with cotton yarn, but I think the rest is probably acyclic. To make the brooch I crocheted two rectangles using a 4mm hook; I did ten chains, then did single stitch into nine of the stitches (the tenth chain becomes your turning stitch). I did single stitch for a total of 13 rows (with a turning stitch at the end of each row). The screen was done the same way, but I only did seven chain stitches to begin and a total of six rows. The buttons and face were too small to crochet so I embroidered them with wool, but I think that embroidery thread might have been better for the face. 
 

After I weaved in all the ends, sewed on the screen, and did the embroidery, I stitched a badge back onto the second large rectangle and then sewed the two pieces together. This gives everything a nice clean finish, and you don't have to worry about messy embroidery backs ~___^

 

I also made a couple of shrinky-dink brooches; shrinky-dinks are so satisfying because they are so quick and easy to make ^___^ The geometric anatomical heart was inspired by this string art project, and the hello by this wire wrapping project. The jackalope is all my own though! ~___^ 

Lastly, I made this flower crown which was so easy to do it can barely be called a craft ~___^ I found these great foam roses at Spotlight and since I hadn't seen red ones there before, I snapped them up quickly! I made a flower crown using some pink and white foam roses earlier this year, just by using some floral wire to shape them into a ring, but I decided for this one I wanted a more arch shape.

 

I've had this black headband for literally years, but I wasn't wearing it as much as I used to, so I decided some roses would spruce it up nicely ^___^ The band has small holes in it, so all I did was stick the stems of the roses through the holes, and then wrap the rest of the stem around the band.

 

They're attached quite solidly, but if I ever decide that flower crowns aren't for me (I hope this day never comes ...) then I can easily remove them without any damage to the headband.
 

I ducked out into the garden during a pause in the rain to snap a quick picture to show what it looks like on - it's big, but I like it that way! ^___^ Also, you get a peek at how my hair looks when it's not straightened; curly fringe, ahoy! If you follow me on Instagram, you will have already seen my new hair colour; I'm still getting used to it and missing my blue locks a little, but at least it still looks good with a flower crown, right? ~___^

The rain has started pouring down again, and it's getting cold in my little computer corner so I guess that's a good a reason as any to scurry back to the couch and get some more hooking done! What are you working on at the moment? And is it warm where you are? Regale me with your tales of sunny days and dry shoes! ~___^

- Lisa xx