Hexagon Pillow

My Mom is redecorating her living room, she is using shades of turquoise, brown, and tan.  I wanted to make her something fun that included all of the new colors she was using and I had been dying to try making some of these crochet hexagons.

I have no experience with granny squares, in fact I have never been all that interested in making them at all.  I think that the idea of sewing together hundreds of little squares to make an afghan is really unappealing.  Lucy’s tutorial is awesome, it includes instructions on how to crochet them together as you make them!  I had no idea that you could do that, I’m sure you guys knew all about it, but I was shocked. Anyway, I started making hexagons last Wednesday and I just finished last night, I think that the sparkly yarn really makes this special (the darker turquoise has a hint silver, it’s hard to see in this photo).  I just kind of winged that pattern and I ended up having to fudge my way through two half hexagons.  There is a proper way to do it, but I couldn’t find any instructions online and I was ready to finish this pillow.

I think that my Mom will like it, now I kind of want to give these Christmas stockings a try and maybe some regular granny squares too.  What is your favorite granny square pattern?

Kokeshi Doll Tree Toppers

I have been finishing up some of my paper mache projects from last week.  My hat models have receive their second coat of paper mache and now are awaiting finishing and I added some paper mache clay details to some of the other pieces.I lightly sanded them to remove some of the larger bumps, primed them with gesso, and then started painting.  I really love the metallic sequin black paint from Folk Art that I used to paint their hair, it is super shiny. Some kimonos and fancy painted flowers finish them off.  The lighting in here is terrible (sorry), but I promise, they are super adorable.  Now I need to decide which one I like the best and have a “professional” photo shoot to really show them off.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Paper Mache Play

I really love paper mache! In elementary school I hated it, but I’m going to assume it is because they didn’t explain the process well and they wanted us to make super bulky newspaper bases and what I ended up with was a damp, lumpy mess that did not look like a unicorn. Today I covered some balloons on Pringles cans to make more craft show displays (these are child head sized) and I also covered some thread cones with Styrofoam ball heads and some wooden peg dolls.  I really like the texture that paper mache gives to a finished piece and how well it integrates the separate parts together.  I think that they now look like giant game pieces and now I want to make some of those, these are going to be something else. I used the paper mache recipe from The Big Ass Book of Crafts from Mark Montano, it’s a basic flour paste with a bit of white glue added in.  I did one layer last night and it has dried rock hard, I will add at least one more layer to the displays and then some paper clay to smooth it out and add some details to my other pieces.  There is a recipe for paper mache mush in the book that would be great for that, but I have some paper clay on hand that I have had forever and I want to use that up.

I would also like to note that I have been doing some cleaning and you’ll notice that my normally cluttered dining room table is clean, we could eat dinner at the table if we wanted, I know, it’s crazy!  Now to work on the rest of the house, I finally figured out the psychology of why my house was cluttered (no, I don’t want to share) and I expect to make a lot of progress in the next month.

I should be busy working on these projects all weekend, what will you be working on?  Have a super crafty weekend, everyone!

Back When I Thought I was Crafty…

…I mentioned that I had a PDF of the shrink plastic clasp and then I never spoke of it again (the clasp for my S.Y.T.Y.C. entry). Remember now?  I have made the basic line drawing into a PDF that you can color and customize yourself and here are some helpful tips:

I used a sharpie marker to trace my design onto my shrink plastic.

I made several practice banners on paper with my words (Craft or Die) to get the spacing just right and then traced them onto the plastic.

I colored in the design using colored pencils.  Remember, when it shrinks the colors will get darker.  Also remember to color in the white areas with white pencil or they will be transparent.

I cut out the inner area using a super sharp exacto knife.

Once my plastic was shrunk and cooled I color the edges with a sharpie or paint pen, I think it just looks nicer.

Finally I sealed the back with a nice thick coats of diamond glaze.

If you have any other questions just ask, good luck and let me know how they work for you (remember I love to share, but my PDFs are for personal use only).

New Halloween Dress

I am in love with the Sienna dress pattern from Lilblueboo, but sadly it only goes up to a size 6. I wanted one in my size, yeah I know, it’s not really age appropriate and it surely won’t be that flattering, but it will be comfy and a lot of fun. I figured out how to do it, here it is, hot off the sewing machine! (I hope to have modeled shots soon, the baby is only six months old and unable to work the camera ;D) My first attempt is lying in a heap on the floor (I may go back and work it over some more), but my second try turned out pretty good. I really like the tie dyed ruffle at the bottom, now I need some black leather boots and I’ll be all set. I bet Little Miss will be excited that we have the same kind of dresses.

Have a super crafty weekend.

***edit***

I thought I would add my slightly blurry mirror shot so you guys could see how it fits. It’s soooo comfy and yes, I know that I am not 12, I don't care! and I will always wear it with sparkly legwarmers when it’s cold (trust me, they're sparkly) ;)

Giant Spoon and Fork Progress

My Craftfail giant spoon and fork project has been on hold for quite a while.  I decided to give Bondo a try.  I bought a gallon can of it, but after reading the warnings and instructions on the can I was a little nervous about using it (and that is what was holding up this project).  I hate it when my “craft supplies” are made of chemicals that are known to cause cancer and that I get a contact high from the smell.  This was definitely an outside project. My Mother had also had some giant wooden silverware luck and found me three more pairs of spoons and forks.  It now looks like I will have a collection of giant spoons and fork ~ awesome!!! I mixed a small batch of Bondo with the hardener and started filling in the monkeys.  I have to say this stuff is great and it sets up really fast.  If you use plastic for the mixing bowl and spatula the Bondo pops right off, but it adheres great to the wood.  I built up several layers of Bondo to completely hid the monkeys.

I have a major amount of sanding to do and I need a palm sized sander, my Dremel is taking forever on these large pieces.  Once the sanding is finished I will need to prime and paint them all.  It doesn’t look like the great weather we’ve been having is going to last much longer (and really, it is November, we’ve been really lucky with the mild weather) and this whole project is dependant on good weather, I may have to put this back on hold until next spring.

I am excited to finish this project, but I want the results to be fabulous and that means no rushing!

Holiday Crafts Show Season

I don’t usually do craft shows.  The preparations involved are just too much for me and with young children who go everywhere with me it just isn’t something that works for me right now.  I do one show, in the town I grew up in.  It gives me a chance to see old friends and hang out with my Mom all day.  It’s called Frost Frolic and it is always the first Saturday of November, so last Saturday. I have different things that I sell at a craft show that I don’t stock in my online store.  I have hats (I’m still using the display stands I made last year) and scarves and my Mom has some potholders and some paper trees made from greeting card.  Every year it seems like something different is popular, this year it was scarves.  I sold all that I had, even the one I was knitting on during the show!

It was a fun weekend and with only a $20 fee to sell I came out really well.  It’s so different than having an online store, I like to be out meeting new people, but it can be disappointing when something that you really think is going to sell well doesn’t get any attention.  Does anyone else do local shows and how do you like it?

Friday Favorites

Letterpress Art Print – tagteamtompkins

Altered Art Charm Bracelet – lululovesorcreate

Primitive Double Door Drawer Cupboard Cabinet – redroosterbab

Dahlia Dress, custom sized – missbrache

The Illness Apprentice II  print – TheBlackSpotBooks

Angel Ring – SeldaOkutan

Custom String Theory Rainbow Apron Dress – gbellasmom

Robot Zipper Pulls – zipit

Birdhouse Primitive Saltbox Birdhouse – DoorCountryWoodworks

Snooky and Pooky – ElizabethFrank

Parts and Pieces no. 7 red – sushipotparts

Fork Bracelet with Moonstone – celtsmith

Have a super crafty weekend!!!

Baby Cocoon and Hat Gift Set

I just finished up this adorable little cocoon and hat set for a family member.  I used several different Yarn Bee yarns and I really like how the stripes turned out.  I used the butterfly baby wrap pattern (ravelry link) again and it looks totally different than the one I made for Little Man.  The dark licorice colored yarn was held double and the turquoise yarn was one strand.  I think the little hat turned out cute, but manly and that was exactly what I was going for.  Knitting for babies is so quick and so cute!

Sugar Skull Masks

For those of you that don’t know, Halloween is my wedding anniversary.  When we got married, five years ago, we were dressed as skeletons(loved my hot pink veil).  This year, at the last minute I realized that I had skeleton costumes in everyone’s sizes.  The kids still wanted to be “characters” my brilliant idea was to make them “character” sugar skull masks. Little Sir got a clone trooper sugar skull and Little Miss was a Hello Kitty sugar skull.  I made more traditional ones for Robert and I and Little Man went bare (maybe I’ll make one and we can display all five).  This was a great, easy way to personalize plain costumes and avoid applying messy make-up.  They are made with glitter felt and puffy fabric paint, I whipped them up Saturday night. It will also be a wonderful memory of the five of us on our five year anniversary.