Mohawking

I'm saying hi to my dad. He's awesome.

Anyways, I have mohawked:

until I could not mohawk anymore. I am going to throw this in the wash sometime, probably this weekend. I should have that done by Tuesday, plus some pictures taken in natural light that don't make the mohawk look like it's neon orange. Because it's red.

I know you're not surprised I didn't cross stitch yesterday morning. I was mohawking, so I think it's OK.

Have a great weekend, and happy Labor Day! I'll see you guys on Tuesday!

By the way: I posted every single weekday this month. I feel awesome!

Give Me an M!

Because that's all I have of the mohawk hat:

Not a lot of mohawk. I really just need half an hour to sit down and work on that and that alone, which should happen sometime between now and next week. Weekends are more craft-friendly for me!

I am completely ignoring the cross stitch ornaments. Not the best way to get them done, I've heard. I have some time this morning..... Maybe I'll pull one out?

Have a great day, and do more knitting than me! :)

Whoops!

I got caught up in that thing called My Real Life, so I don't have a good post for you guys today. I should have one tomorrow, though! Have a great evening!

Charm Necklaces

I have two necklaces today, made two different ways:

They both are just pieces of chain with a crab claw closure (I think) and two charms on it, but I did the charms differently for each one. I put the T and the Eiffel Tower on the chain before I put on the two closure pieces, and they can't come off without taking the whole thing apart. For the other one, I put a new slip ring on the charms, instead of the one they came with, and they can slide over one of the ends. I'm not really sure which one I like better; the first is good because you can't just lose the charms, but the second is nice because you can switch them out. I think I'll ask the recipients, after I give them their necklaces!

I have been working on the mohawk hat a bit, but nothing picture worthy yet. Have a great day!

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• finish the mohawk hat
• finish catnip ornament
• make another cross stitch ornament

Gingerbread Factory

Can you imagine how good that would smell? Anyway, on Thursday afternoon I made these:

I am seriously considering redoing this one's face. It's kind of ugly.

Then on Friday I made this:

Well, I actually finished some of the knitting on Saturday morning, and I still have to put in the mohawk. But still. I did most of it on Friday.

When I was helping my friend move, we found a plastic container filled with little erasers. She didn't want them, so I took a bunch:

I took all the whales and parrots! Plus some fish. I'm thinking jewelry.....

Yesterday I went to Michaels (again) and got these things:

Charms, pliers, mohawk yarn, and glass things. I now have everything I need to finish Christmas. I honestly can't believe it! (OK, so right after I typed that sentence I had a little panic attack about masking tape. I seriously thought that I didn't have any, and because of that sentence I would be unable to find any anywhere. But it's OK. I found some under the knife drawer.) Now all I have to do is make it all. Speaking of which:

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• put the mohawk on the mohawk hat
• make two charm necklaces
• finish catnip ornament
• make another cross stitch ornament

I'm getting to the end. I'm super excited. On Saturday I spent a lot of time making a list of things I was going to make, just for me. For fun. After the Christmas stuff is done. I can't wait.

My First Blogiversary

In honor of my first blogiversary, I finally did something I have been meaning to do for ages. I went back through all my archives, and made sure they all had the correct labels. A lot of my earlier posts were missing labels that I made after I made that post, so I am glad to have that all sorted out. I also fixed some of the fonts that were wonky, and corrected some typos. But I'm sure there's a bunch more!

(OK, so I know most people probably don't care, but I am obsessed with being organized, so it makes me very happy.)

Anyway...... I had originally put all of this stuff with yesterday's post, but it was kind of super long, so I split it up.

I've been working on the catnip ornament:

And I made this little pouch:

which clips on to things. I actually just took a zippered pouch I had, and shortened it, but still. I like it!

And I played with the hot glue gun:

All done! But I still want to make two new ones. It's not pretty enough to give away! :)

Yesterday afternoon I was a gingerbread ornament machine! I made three little guys in about two hours. I have a set of two that are going together, and one that will be going with a necklace. I could have sworn I took pictures of them, but I'm not going to aggravate myself trying to get that organized now. That can wait until Monday!

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• make a mohawk hat (I have a printed pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• make two necklaces
• finish catnip ornament
• make another cross stitch ornament

I hope you're having a great day!

I Went Shopping!

I am super happy, because I went to Michaels and AC Moore on Monday, and I got almost everything on my list! Here it is:

• a bunch of black 10/0 seed beads
• size 10 16" circular needle
• chain for bag handle
• assorted jewelry items (chain, music charms, jump rings, crab closures)
• glass etching kit

The only thing I couldn't find was the cord for the globe knot necklaces. I'm not really sure where to get that!

I've also been messing around with my Christmas list, and I think I have the final copy here:

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• make a mohawk hat (I have a printed pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• make two more globe knot necklaces
• finish catnip ornament
• make another cross stitch ornament
• make both ornaments from this pattern

New and improved! (improved because there's less cross stitch!) What I'm going to do for the ornaments is pretty simple. I'm going to make them like I did last time, with worsted weight and beads. Then I'll join them together, to make one ornament. I might also be making two more girls to go with the globe knot necklaces. (Or instead of, if I can't find the cord I need.) It mostly depends on time, and how bored I am! :)

Have a great afternoon!

Another WIP Count

I like doing these, mostly because I have to pull out all the things that are in time out. It keeps them from being stuck there forever. Here we go:

This is my Harry Potter cross stitch project. It's in time out right now, not exactly because it was being bad, but because I don't have the thread for it, and I have more important things to be doing. Once all my Christmas stuff is over, I'll be able to go through the charts, make a list of the thread I need, then get it. And, you know, start this. All those little pieces of thread mark the corners of each picture. I probably counted wrong, but I'll start with the middle one just in case.

This is so wrinkly! This is actually the project I stole the zipper from for my pleated pouch. I just couldn't make it work, so I put it in time out. Now I need a new zipper. But I'm trying to think of something else I could do that would be a little easier.

I just need a chain for the strap for this, and it'll be done. It didn't do anything wrong, so it's just a shopping trip away from completion!

This is a little trickier. I was trying to make a needle roll, but I don't have all the sizes of DPNs so I can't measure where to sew. I've decided that I'll just leave it in the bag, because I will get all the sizes eventually. I'm only missing 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9, and at some point, I'm sure I'll need to buy them for some project or other, then I'll be able to finish this. 

This is going to be in a kind of half time out for a while, because I need to get my more priority projects out of the way. I think I'll just work on it for a few minutes every day, then once I have time I'll work on it full time.

I'm sure I could find other things that technically qualify as WIPs, but I just pulled out the main ones. Here's to finishing some WIPs!

Free Knit M&M Dishcloth Chart

Here is the chart for the M&M dishcloth I epically failed at tried to make. I wasn't able to figure out my own chart, so I don't have written instructions. I hope you do a better job than I did!

Please only use this chart to make gifts. Do not use this to make money, or claim this chart as your own. 

Wow, I am bad at being stern! But seriously, no money making. Enjoy!

I Should Have Eaten It!

The M&M dishcloth has officially been frogged. And I'm not going to try to get it back. I had a chart, I did everything I could to make it work, but I just couldn't figure it out. Once I figure out how to scan it, I'll post the chart for all you people that have chart-smarts.

Anyway, let's move on to something that makes me happier:

my very first (successful) zipper! Don't get me wrong, I have put in this zipper many times. Four or five, just for this zipper, just on one item. (It's not this item.) But I decided that finishing this project was going to make me happier, so I stole the zipper from the time-out bag and now I have a little pouch!

Isn't it purty? I love this fabric so much! It actually matches my mom's purse pretty well, so I might give it her. Or I might keep it. I kind of like it a lot. :)

So, did you notice anything strange about the first picture? Yeah, it's inside out. And shut. And fully sewn. I'm kind of an idiot! I didn't open the zipper before finishing the sewing, so I had a really hard time trying to open it so I could turn this right-side out again. Yes, you can laugh. Go right ahead! Here's what it looked like before I fixed the shape:

And this random picture of it before I sewed it:

Not exactly sure why I took this!

I needed to start my next project, so I started working on the first cross stitch ornament. (Of four. This may not have been my best idea, since I'm really slow at this. Hopefully, everything will work out!

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• make two etching projects
• make a mohawk hat (I have a printed pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• make two more globe knot necklaces
• finish catnip ornament
• make three more cross stitch ornaments
• figure out something to do instead of the M&M dishcloth

FO-Embroidered Bird Bag!!!!

Ahhh! I'm so excited!

The embroidered bird bag is done! Here's a close up:

Even though I didn't intend to do this project, I am very happy I did. This is my first ever embroidery project, and I am super pleased with the result! Members of my household with no interest whatsoever in crafty things (yeah, men) were impressed, which is always a good sign! I think it will make a great gift.

Once I finished, I jumped right in to my next project, the cross stitch ornaments. After reading through the instructions on the kit (right, because I did that first.....) I determined I needed to draw 4x4 squares:

And cut them out:

Before starting. The first one is going to a cat lover, and luckily, there's one featuring a cat. Perfect! I'll probably start that some time this weekend.

Yesterday, I was feeling a little grumpy with my two WIPs (bird bag and M&M dishcloth) so I decided a brand new project would cure me of it. Instead of picking a pattern and making some kind of doodad that would cheer me up and put me back on track, I decided to go crazy and make my own thing. It didn't go well:

I actually just took this picture because I thought it looked like a little girl's apron.

I was trying to make a little pleated bag, but the opening was to small for the rest of the bag:

It has wings, for crying out loud!

So once I take it out of time-out, I will reshape it into a little pouch, and if I'm feeling generous, add a zipper. At this point, some kind of snap is more likely.

I have been in a super good mood today, because yesterday I bought the Star Trek soundtrack and put it on my iPod. It makes everything an adventure! :)

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• buy supplies for, and make, two etching projects
• buy yarn for, and make, a mohawk hat (I have a printed pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• make two more (better) globe knot necklaces
• make four cross stitch ornaments
• finish the M&M dishcloth (this could take a while, since I have to mess with the pattern too)

Do Birds Eat M&Ms?

After I finished yesterday's post, my plan was to finish the dark blue thread on the bird bag, but I got bored, so I started designing an M&M dishcloth. It's a lot harder than it looks!

I started by printing out some knitting graph paper, which I found here. I wasn't exactly sure how to make a circle, so I started by shading in the M in the center. (I used this picture to get the shape right.) Then, I took a compass and lightly drew a circle around the M. After that, I just had to shade in the blocks the line passed through, to get the outline of the circle.

Once I had the basic shape, I decided that shaded was garter stitch, and blank was stockinette. I wanted the background and M to be stockinette, and the border and circle to be garter, so I just erased and shaded to get that right.

I've never worked from a chart, so I wanted to convert it into words. Unfortunately, I was having issues with getting it to work. Actually, I'm still having issues. I decided to just knit it up and hope for the best, because I need a place to start!

I'm just  switching between those two things: the bird bag, and this evil dishcloth. Wish me luck!

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• buy supplies for, and make, two etching projects
• buy yarn for, and make, a mohawk hat (I have a printed pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• make two more (better) globe knot necklaces
• make two cross stitch ornaments (I have a kit with 30)
• finish the bird bag
• finish the M&M dishcloth (this could take a while, since I have to mess with the pattern too)

All About: Bird Bag

As the title suggests, this post will be all about the bird bag! First, a timeline:

After the pink flowers were done

After almost everything is done, except the leaves and a little bit of the bird

Two whole pictures. I know, it's impressive. This link has a picture of the finished product, except mine is bigger, and on a tote bag. I'm hoping to have this done in the next few days, maybe even before the week's over. The instructions actually say to do some parts with a backstitch, and some parts with a stem stitch. Stem stitch was giving me a headache (the tutorial was one of those pictures with numbers and the needle in three different places), so it's all backstitch!

Today I finished:

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• buy supplies for, and make, two etching projects
• buy yarn for, and make, a mohawk hat (I have a printed pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• finish the embroidered bag
• find a pattern and yarn for an M&M dishcloth, then make it. I had a pattern I liked, but the blog disappeared! There's another one I have seen, but I don't like it. Hmmm, how hard would it be to make my own?
• make two more (better) globe knot necklaces
• make two cross stitch ornaments (I have a kit with 30)

More HP Distractions

I remember why I considered making a scheduled post for today!!! I should have done that, so instead, I have another Harry Potter video.




Hopefully I will post the pretty pictures of my bag (which have yet to be taken, of course) tomorrow.

Where to Now?

Hi guys! I had an awesome vacation, and I'm sure you're all sick of lists, but I have a few more for you.


First, just a few updates regarding things I mentioned last week:

• I threw away the wrap bracelet. It was ugly, and annoying, and it wasn't working right, so I set it up on a blind date with my trash can.
• I did a little bit on the bird bag, and I'll have a picture of that tomorrow. Most likely.
• I made a tiny globe knot necklace! (Confused? Go look here.)

I used a drawstring from a pair of shorts, and a random white marble I dug around for. Three problems: the cord is too thin, the marble is to big, and the obvious one involving cord length. The video didn't specify where in the cord to start, nor did it show it's full length, so I just started in the center and hoped for the best. It didn't work out so well, so I had to glue the two ends together:

OK, I swear I took a picture of it glued. Just take that picture, and imagine the two ends glued and twisted. That's right, twisted. I wore heavy garden gloves, and I actually didn't burn myself! (I was surprised too!) I am planning on putting a flower or other doodad over the spot I glued, and I'll be all done.

Now here is a project that is so crazy I should be locked up for even considering doing it:

It looks innocent enough, doesn't it? Doesn't really look like a project either.... How about some back story?

 This comes from me doing something I have never done before. This weekend my family stayed in a house owned by my aunt and uncle, along with many other assorted family members. My uncle took a few of my cousins and I garage-saling. It was quite the experience, but I did pick up this skirt. Let's take a closer look:

Do you see the project yet? I'm re-sewing all the sequins back on. Yes, I am completely insane. Here's why (about the sequins, not my insanity):

Can you see?

How about now? All the sequins are strung together! (Well not all of them; there is more than one piece of thread.) This means if one sequin goes, they all go. In fact, a whole bunch already have. So I'm going through and painstakingly unthreading and re-sewing Every. Single. Sequin. And there's a whole bunch. This will be one of the only things I will do, once I really get into it, so I'm thinking about keeping it packed away until I finish with Christmas. Speaking of which....

My Crafty Christmas To-Do List

• buy supplies for, and make, two etching projects
• buy yarn for, and make, a mohawk hat (I have a pattern, I just can't find the link right now)
• finish the embroidered bag
• find a pattern and yarn for an M&M dishcloth, then make it. I had a pattern I liked, but the blog disappeared! There's another one I have seen, but I don't like it. Hmmm, how hard would it be to make my own?
• make two more (better) globe knot necklaces
• come up with two more really great ideas, because there are two more people on my list!

That's it! Just a hat, a dishcloth, two fifteen minute necklaces, some etching, and some mysteries!

Duct Tape Fun

I love duct tape! It is so awesome in so many different ways! (I mean, if you can build a boat out of it, it has to be pretty awesome, right?) I decided that I would put together a list of duct tape projects for you guys, so here it is!

Wearables:

1. Jester Hat-Oh, why not? I'm sure there are plenty of people that would wear this out and about, too.
2. Pirate Hat-Arrr, matey! Tape up a hat, you scallywags! (Yeah, I need some more practice before Talk like a Pirate Day next month!)
3. Dress-I like this because it is easily customizable to any pattern.

Other Stuff:

1. Custom Dress Form-I am so making this someday. I'd be less likely to stick myself with pins trying stuff on! I think you could fairly easily extend this to legs, too, by repeating the steps over leggings or tight pants, then taping the two pieces together.
2. Wallet-It just wouldn't feel right to do a list like this without including at least one wallet tutorial!
3. Large Tote-This would make a cool reusable grocery bag!
4. Belt-Or you could just tape the pants to your body!

I hope you feel very inspired, and make stuff with duct tape! I am hoping to make the dress form! Have a great day!

DIY Jewelry-Upcycled Edition

This is part two of my favorite DIY jewelry projects: this time, it's all upcycled!

1. I definitely want to make this jewelry organizer from Color Me Blue. I included it on this list because you could use a thrifted cutlery holder, even though she bought hers new.
2. Check out these cool paperclip earrings from Evie S. (I think). I'm thinking crochet thread, or maybe embroidery floss?
3. I am amazed by what people will make jewelry out of. This colored pencil jewelry from Mini Eco is so creative! I have lots of short pencils lying around... (Ok, fine, they're neatly packed away into a pencil case in my desk... whatever!)  :)
4. I used to buy pressed pennies whenever I went on vacation, and this bracelet would be the perfect way to display them!
5. I spent way too much time on Olive Bites (Olive Blogs? Why can't these things be clear?!) the other day, so I have a few from that site. First, this rubber stamp necklace. So creative! So perfect!
6. Next from the mystery olive site, keyboard necklaces. My dad is a computer geek (love you Dad!) but he would never wear this. Still, pretty awesome!
7. I think this spoon pendant from Violet Elephant would look really cool with a souvenir spoon that already had a design on the... umm.... scoopy part? 
8. This lace necklace from Crafting a Green World is so simple and pretty and elegant. But I think they should make lace with elephants in it. Just saying....
9. If I knew what bike tube was, these would be in my ears right now. (OK, not right now, but you know what I meant.) I kind of know what it is.... but not enough to find some that I can cut up.

So basically, I spend way too much time googling stuff! Have a great day!

My Favorite DIY Jewelry

For today's post, I put together a list of my favorite DIY Jewelry projects I've found online. Enjoy!

1. I love this washer necklace from The 36th Avenue!
2. These macrame bracelets from Honestly WTF are awesome, and so are the other tutorials on the site!
3. This braided bead bracelet tutorial is from the same site, but it is my other favorite, so I had to show it too!
4. I've seen versions of these wire knot rings all over, but this one from Handmadeology is my favorite. I think it kind of looks like a rose, too.
5. I already mentioned this wrapped cord bracelet from FusionBeads.com, but I really think it looks cool. The one I'm making is a little looseygoosey and thrown together, but I think this could look really nice.
6. This was an interesting find for me: what I've known as gimp, the rest of the world calls box braiding. These bracelets from sketch 42 use the same technique I learned, but they have a different start and end, making them better bracelets.
7. I had to link this cool Heartknot Necklace to a Pinterest page, because I don't think the link works. I love how simple but intricate-looking this is. That's the trick, right? Make stuff that looks hard, but is actually really easy!
8. I think this adjustable knot tutorial from FusionBeads.com would be really useful if they gave an example of how to use it in an actual project. Or maybe most people are smart enough to figure that out on their own! (:
9. Finally, this video shows how to make a little globe knot that I think would make a perfect necklace!

Harry Potter in 99 Seconds

Distraction!!!




This is literally the coolest video ever! Watch it over... and over... and over again! See if you can find the Twilight reference!!!


I've been busy writing lists of cool links for you guys while I'm on vacation/helping my friend move. So far, I have one for tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday. I'm not sure if I'm going to do ones for Monday and Tuesday yet.

Have a great day, and I'll talk to you sometime next week!

Paper Piecing? Oh, Ummm

Yeah, I didn't actually start a paper piecing project this weekend. I did start this embroidery project:

I was originally going to cross stitch something completely different on the bag, but I didn't know about the blue lines. Nowhere on the package does it say that it is printed with the picture to embroider! It's OK, though, because I have someone else I can give the bird bag to. This is my first embroidery project, so I am starting to love those little blue lines. They better come off, though!

I also started this cool bracelet (tutorial here). I am doing the biggest size, but I have small wrists, so it might be even more than five wraps! I kind of jumped in to doing this, so I used what I had, but I might want to go to Michaels to get better supplies for this. Right now, I think it's fine to practice with less awesome materials! :)

I'm going to be going on a short vacation this week (Thursday to Sunday) so I'm going to try to schedule posts for Thursday, Friday, and maybe Monday and Tuesday. If I don't, I should be back in full swing by Wednesday the 15th. have a great day!

Sorry for the bad pictures, by the way. I was kind of rushing when I wrote this!

Strawberry-Banana Smoothie Recipe

My dad taught me how to do this, and I like it because there isn't anything bad for you in it. It makes one smoothie for someone pretty thirsty, or two for moderately hungry people. If you want to make it bigger, I suggest adding more strawberries and milk, not another banana.

Ingredients:

• one banana-this is a good way to use bananas that are just a little past their prime, but I don't advise using really nasty ones
• strawberries-I normally use about five, but it depends on the size
• milk
• ice cubes

Other Stuff:

• a blender
• a paring knife

Step 1:

• Cut the banana into pieces, about 1/2" thick. It doesn't have to be precise at all! I normally do this right over the blender.

Step 2:

• Rinse the strawberries and cut the insides out. All you want left is the stuff you want to eat. Then, cut them into small pieces into the blender. You should have about as much strawberry as banana, but you can mess with the proportions a little to get the best taste.

Step 3:

• Add a handful of ice cubes (five or six, I think), then pour in milk until everything is about covered. Err on the side of having to add more, because that's a lot easier than taking it out!

Step 4:

• Blend it up!

Step 5:

• Pour and enjoy! I have never tried making it in advance and putting in the fridge, but I don't see why that would be a problem.

I hope you love this recipe as much as my family does! Have a great day!

Tassel Earrings

And a halter dress! See?

All I did was take a store-bought tube dress and add straps, but now I'l actually wear it, so I'm pretty pleased with myself! I actually took a really long time to do this, because I wanted the straps to look just as good as the rest of the dress. I used the iron and everything. Seriously. Then I used a bunch of little tiny stitches, which is why it took so long. And yes, I do realize it would have taken a fraction of the time if I had used the sewing machine!

My other accomplishment for yesterday/today is these earrings. The tassels came on a sundress I bought, but they looked really weird, so snip snip snip! I then took a pair of earrings, one of which was broken, and took of the part that goes into your ears. A little hot glue, some trimming to make them a normal length, (they were about four times that length originally) and voila! Some quirky earrings! I might even wear them with that dress. After all, they are exactly the right color!

I think tomorrow I will post my dad's recipe for the best strawberry-banana smoothie ever. I am planning on starting a new paper-piecing project, so I probably won't have anything interesting to post yet tomorrow!