Flirty Flower Headband 2

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accessory, button, button accessory, craft, crafting, Easter, Easter basket, Easter flower, felt, felt craft, flirty, flower, gift, hair, hair accessory, hair band, headband, kids craft, party favor, postaday2011, present, seasonal, Spring

Pattern 2 test run… Three small flowers minus the buttons, my Easter flowers. Hubster recently revealed how much he likes purple on me… It’s not my favorite color, but it is one of my favorite to wear. 10 years ago I owned one purple sweater, 6 years ago I bought purple glasses and since then have incorporated more into my wardrobe. I have a few students who told me they like when I wear purple, because I look like Daphne from Scooby Doo… I think that’s a compliment.

Flirty Flower Headband 2

Happy Easter everyone!

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Flirty Flower Headband

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accessory, button, button accessory, craft, crafting, Easter, Easter basket, Easter flower, felt, felt craft, flirty, flower, gift, hair, hair accessory, hair band, headband, kids craft, party favor, postaday2011, present, seasonal, Spring

Flirty? Felt? Flower? Must be time for spring…
I’m working on a gift for a friend who liked my flirty fleece ear warmers (get tutorial here). I wanted to update the style for spring and summer wear. I did a test run for myself, before creating one for her… I’m still playing with the balance of it. I like the five layers I used on the flowers for the ear warmers, but the band was larger. With a simple headband elastic, fewer layers seem more balanced… or may that’s just me playing it safe. Maybe I’ll add another layer next time. These shades of blue and green are some of my favorite colors to wear (maybe because they brighten my reddish hair and make my green eyes pop). 

Flirty Flower Headband

These would make great party favors or would be great peeking out of an Easter basket.

What do you think?

Blankets for a Bouncing Baby Boy

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baby blanket, baby gifts, baby nursery, baby shower, baby shower gift, blanket, craft, crafting, Crochet, crocheting, gift, handmade, homemade, it's a boy, postaday2011, present, yarn, yarn arts

These past few weeks I’ve been extremely busy creating all sorts of gifts… I made three blankets for my close friend’s baby shower. They are warm and cozy fleece blankets with a crocheted trim. I loved the technique so much, that I wanted to make more. And since April is raining babies, I finished these just in time for another friend of mine who is due tomorrow.

Trio of Baby Blankets

 

To create these blankets, I used a skip-stitch blade on my rotary cutter. I ran the blade along the edges to create holes to base my crochet trim. The trim on the green blanket has a round of single stitch and a round of half-double crochet. The trim on the blue blanket was made by two rounds of single stitches and then a round of double crochet. The cream blanket has a round of single stitch and the two rounds of half double crochet.

The perfect cozy wrap for snuggling a new baby…

What have you received as a homemade/handmade gift recently?

 

Detail of Edging

 

Monster Washcloth Puppet

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birthday, cute monster, gift, gift giving, monster, postaday2011, present, puppet, washcloth, washcloth puppet

Remember these monster dolls I made for my nephew’s 1st birthday last year? Now he is turning two! And what my Little Monster deserves is more monsters for his collection. I found these cute monster (rubber duck type) bath toys and knew immediately they’d be perfect with this present. My MIL lent me her sewing machine (mine’s still out of commission) and I stitched together these cuties. They’re not finished yet, I need to pick up some embroidery thread to finish the eyes (in place of the pennies), make mouths and other facial features…

Project In Progress: Monster Washcloth Puppets

I’ll take a picture when they’re done and update my post afterwards. For now, I’m away for the weekend and tomorrow’s post won’t be until later in the evening… hopefully. I already have other new monster ideas for future projects… I already have most of the materials. I love to craft, however I never feel like I have the time.

Do you have any special little monsters in your life?

Flirty Fleece Ear Warmers Tutorial

Tags

Christmas gift, Christmas present, ear warmer, fleece, gift, gift giving, kid's gifts, present, present giving, stocking stuffer, tutorial, Xmas gift, Xmas present

There was a lot of interest after I posted the Flirty Fleece Ear Warmers. I received messages, emails and comments asking for a tutorial. Mind you I’ve still been sick, so it took a while. The doctor called me today, five days after I’ve been on antibiotics and said they needed to put me on something stronger…. no wonder I haven’t been improving. Now I hope I got this posted in time for you to make some before Christmas.

Step 1 – Cut fleece into about a 22″ x 4″ rectangle, larger heads will require a longer length of fleece, kids head, a shorter length. Lay rectangle horizontally.

Step 1 – Cut Fleece

Step 2 – Pin bottom ends up and top ends down, so sides measure about 2″.

Step 2 – Pin Sides

Step 3 – On top and bottom, fold just the edges down, tapering from middle toward ends. Stitch edges and trim excess, using matching or contrasting thread.

Step 3 – Taper & Stitch Top and Bottom Edges

Step 4 – Stitch ends in and add velcro dots. Adding one to the wrong side of one end, and adding one to the right side of opposite end.

Step 4 – Stitch End & Add Velcro Dot

Step 5 – Using a cookie cutter to trace or freehand flowers on fleece and felt in multiple sizes and cut out shapes.

Step 5 – Cut & Trace Flowers

Step 6 – Layer flowers and add a button or bead in center on top. Stitch flowers carefully to headband. I like to position mine about three inches from the middle of the band.

Step 6 – Embellish with Flowers & Button

Flirty Fleece Ear Warmers

Tags

Christmas gift, Christmas present, ear warmer, fleece, gift, gift giving, kid's gifts, present, present giving, stocking stuffer, Xmas gift, Xmas present

After a long winter, cold weather can become unbearable… why not start the winter off right? Warm can be fashionable… In the past 10 years I’ve graduated from wearing crocheted ear warmers with matching scarves to wanted something cuter to match my pashminas. One of my girlfriends purchased a similar fleece ear warmer, and I couldn’t justify dropping $20 on one that I didn’t even completely love. Being crafty is sometimes a blessing to the purse.   These fleece ear warmers are quick and easy to make and (when your sewing machine isn’t broken one week before Christmas) are completely personalized. This makes a great gift for a kids, teens and adults alike. Give them as a stocking stuffer or use them as the bow on a gift wrapped present.

I used fleece for the ear warmer, but the flower is a mix of fleece and felt in complementary colors. I used a coordinating button to tie it all together. If you’re not into flowers, try ribbons, box, buttons, sequins, anything to jazz up a plain ear warmer. Since fleece isn’t too stretchy I tapered the ends in and used a hidden velcro dot to close my ear warmer, but you could also sew a button-hole and use a button to secure it. Get the full tutorial here.

Flirty Fleece Ear Warmer

Be kind to me, I’ve been sick for 5 days with minimal rest and it shows. It was the best picture I could get of the ear warmers without any natural light…

Merry Christmas To Me – New Chandelier Earrings

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chandelier earrings, Christmas cheer, Christmas gift, Christmas present, Christmas tradition, craft, crafting, earrings, frugal, gift giving, handmade earrings, homemade earrings, jewelry, jewelry crafts, jewelry making, present, shabby chic, stock stuffers., Xmas gift, Xmas present

10 more days until Christmas, that means only 9 more shopping days! Admit it, most people spend money on themselves while the are holiday shopping, whether it’s an item on sale that you need or a promotional discounted second item you keep for yourself. If most of us cannot resist the temptation, it must be human nature for a little bit of immediate gratification to be wrapped up with our generosity. Making gifts for others is no exception, I still have to make something for myself now and then…

Earrings are my weakness; chunky chandeliers hanging from my ears. I have a plethora of earring findings and beads on hand at all times, but I had found the base for these on clearance a few months back. With all the layers of bulky sweaters and thick scarves it is a little hard to feel glamorous, but it’s time for my ears to sing. I used the same beads for the wine glass charms I made recently; the assortment of colors blended together, challenging me to incorporate colors not normally in my clothing palette. These earrings surprisingly coordinate with purples, browns, creams, grays, yellows, browns and pinks, since the beads shimmer and reflect different colors.

Chic Chandeliers

Since the bases were on clearance and the beads and other findings were left over from other projects, these cost me about $3 a pair, not too shabby for a chic new accessory.

 

Whether making these for yourself or someone else, these chandelier earrings make a great stocking stuffer… even if you don’t wait to wear them.

Did you purchase anything for yourself while holiday shopping? If so, what did you get and are you going to wait to use it?..