Yarn Heart

This took me literally 5 minutes to make and turned out very cute - cuter than I expected actually! Perfect kid craft, but as always I'm not waiting for a kid to come make stuff with me and I just made it anyway ;) All you need is a cardboard heart, a piece of tape, and some yarn.

Don't have cardboard? When I'm searching for a thin piece (not thick like a box is made of) I'll raid anything - cereal or cracker boxes, the back of a notepad, etc. Dave doesn't even ask anymore why the bag of crackers is in the pantry not in a box hahahaha. Hey, you do what you have to do in the name of crafting.

So, trace and cut out a heart from a thin piece of cardboard - whatever size you want. Tape one end of the yarn to the heart to hold it in place and then start wrapping. And wrapping. And wrapping. Keep on going any which way to cover the cardboard completely. I found that in the beginning the yarn wanted to slip off the edges but as the heart got more and more covered it was easier to keep it in place. One thing I was thinking as I was trying to get all the cardboard covered so you couldn't see it, is that if you colored the cardboard the same color as the yarn then you could get away with tiny holes in the yarn wrapping.

Once the heart was completely covered and I liked how the yarn looked, cut the yarn from the rest of the skein and tuck the loose end in underneath the wrapped yarn. I pushed it in with the end of some not-sharp scissors to make sure the end was good and buried and wouldn't pull out. Then I attached a length of yarn to the top in order to hang it. Cute, right?

2.12.19: add a pin to pearls

2.12.18: Valentine ball jar vase and candleholder

2.12.17: goat cheese tart
2.12.16: Brooke and Sydney make 'cootie catchers'

Pompom Throw

Remember the small pompoms I made into earrings last month? Now that I've learned how easy it is to make pompoms I found another fun thing to do with them - tack large ones onto the corners of a throw. I bought this throw for cheap planning to use it to back a crocheted afghan, but I've been seeing these pompom throws everywhere and wanted to make one...and since I've mentioned before what an instant gratification kind of crafter I am (using whatever I have on hand when the whim strikes) I'm using the throw for this project and will get something else for the backing!

Click here to see how to make your own pompoms (quick reminder: make 2 circles and cut a smaller circle from the middles, notch it so they make a "c" shape, wind yarn around, cut between the 2 circles to make a whole bunch of fringe, thread a long piece of yarn thru the 2 circles and tie the pompom together, remove the cardboard) - for these I increased the size of the cardboard to 4 inches with a 1 inch circle cut out of the middle. Then just wind the yard all the way across and back - I repeated across and back to make sure they're thick enough, you want nice full pompoms. Follow the instructions I showed you when making the earrings - carefully cut between the 2 pieces of cardboard (you really have to hold this good, it's now so big if you let go of any of the ends you'll have a big old mess and a pile of little bits of yarn!), run a long length of yarn between the 2 pieces and tie very tightly, then trim the pompom into a nice round shape. Then simply stitch to the corners of a throw - I just ran my needle threaded with embroidery floss thru the pompom and attached to the corner a couple times.

Cute, right? Let's call this "Christmas in August" (it's a new thing I just made up hahah) and plan ahead for some easy fun gifts!

Note: by the time I made the fourth pompom I had an idea to make this even easier - put the long piece of yarn between the 2 pieces of cardboard before winding on the yarn, you have to sort of work around the long piece but once you're ready to cut the pompom the long piece is right there ready to hold everything together...one less thing to try to maneuver while holding the lose yarn in your hand.

PS: these are super thick and you'll want to use scissors that can stand up to the heavy cutting - I actually broke a pair trying to get thru all the yarn!

One year ago today: roasted tomatoes, zucchini, and white beans. We still eat this all the time, so good...

Mug Cozy

You've heard of the whole "Christmas in July" thing, right? Getting a head start on Christmas gifts, especially if you are planning to give homemade gifts, is a great idea - one that I rarely plan ahead for and end up frantically crocheting at the last minute! Not this year...I'm determined to get going with plenty of time to spare (we'll see how long that lasts haha).

I crocheted these easy mug cozies after seeing them on our trip to Ireland - I purchased the cute sheep on a stick there, but the crochet part of the cozy is so simple there was no way I was going to spend like $15 on one! This was a super quick project, just a matter of minutes to crochet a rectangle long enough to wrap around a mug - then hold it closed with the stick. I like this better than the more fitted cozies I've seen because it's adjustable to many different sized mugs - clever.

Now since I only bought 2 of the sheep, I don't have more of the stick things here and I'm either going to have to figure out how to make them, or use something else as the closure. A large pin would work and be pretty cute actually, or I'll find little things to hot glue to the top of a short dowel.

For the crocheted body I played with different yarns and simple stitches - all single crochet, all double, all half-double, creating a pattern with single and double...it really doesn't matter. Just crochet whatever looks pretty to you!

I'm thinking big safety pins like these would make good closures too...I'll let you know what I make or find to keep the cozy on the mug!