We're "Sew" Excited!

Hey fellow crafty gals!

Sharon and I are super-excited to announce that we have our first guest post with Jessica over at Sew Homegrown!

If you're interested in knowing more about our involvement in a BIG crochet project, check out our guest post at Sew Homegrown.

Here's a tantalizing tidbit:

 

Thanks, Jessica, for having us!

Circle Circle Dot Dot Garland Tutorial

Circle circle, dot dot, now I've got my cootie shot!  Did that just take you down memory lane, or what? 

Today, I'd like to share with you how to make a Circle Circle Dot Dot Garland.  It really has nothing to do with cooties but everything to do with making your special occasions even more special!

Sharon shared yesterday a little bit about the food aspect of the bridal shower we helped to host a few months ago and here's one of the ways we made the atmosphere a bit more special:

No, we didn't play the piano.  We did, however, string our custom-made garland here and there to add some subtle charm. 

Since this bridal shower took place one week before Thanksgiving, we opted for a Harvest-y/Autumn theme.  Not all bridal showers have to be pink and flowery, right?  And when it's holiday time, why fight the seasons? Ya might as well just "go with it".  The garland added just the right playful decor for the occasion.  Balloons and streamers are fine, but aren't homemade decorations so much more fun and customizable?



Here's the paper I chose in keeping with our Autumn theme.



All you need to make your own garland is:

• a few pieces of scrapbook paper (colors and patterns that suit the theme, obviously)
• a circle cutter (SO handy) or a circle to trace
• fishing line or something similar
• glue

First, you'll want to estimate how much garland you want.  This will determine how many circles you need to cut out.  Sharon and I guesstimated (I say that word all the time but have never written it before--weird!) the length of our garlands.  Then we cut lots of circles! 



This circle cutter has been one of my most worthwhile craft purchases!

  

We cut numerous 3" circles and lots of 1" circles, too.  We used thick, solid colored scrapbook paper for the backs of the circles and for the 1" dots.  That was just how it worked out; there's really no right or wrong way to do it.

Once all of your circles are cut, it's time to glue!  I used fishing line as our "base" because it is super-strong and clear, and there's an abundance of it in my garage! 

We layed everything out on the floor because it was the biggest open space to work on.  Just make sure your toddler is napping so they can't reek havoc on your project!  I left about 2' excess of fishing line on the side before I started gluing the circles and dots into place so that there was plenty of leeway when we hung the garland.

Just glue the circles on the fishing line by sandwiching the fishing line between the front and back circles.  If your garland has a decorative front side like the one we made, then be sure to place the fishing line about 1/3rd of the way to the top of the circle.  This way, the weight will be off-center and the garland will hang with the pattern in front.  If you put the fishing line running right through the center of the circle, the circle will spin when you hang it.  That could be cool, too, but it wasn't what we were going for. 

We left 1" of space between each circle and dot, but you can play around with it.  Again, there's no right or wrong way to make this!

Once it's completely dry, your Circle Circle Dot Dot garland is ready to hang!  Ours was such a hit, we ended giving some away to guests as they left.  No joke, our guests loved it!

Here's another garland I made in the same fashion for Junebug's watermelon-themed first birthday party last June:

See how versatile the concept is?  And how cool is her 4-tiered "cake" made out of watermelon? 

So, this was a pretty do-able project, huh?  The only real cost of the project is the scrapbook paper and a little bit of glue, so it was super-inexpensive to create, but the result was spectacular!

What are you waiting for?  You probably already have all the supplies! 

Happy Crafting,

All you need is love... and mini pumpkin muffins

One of the ladies at our church is getting married in February, so naturally - a few of her friends threw a fabulous bridal shower! Tristin and I were a part of that group of friends that were fortunate enough to help host the shower. We thought we would share different aspects of the shower on the blog since shower hosting and attending (whether bridal showers or baby showers) is a frequent part of many of our readers' lives.

What's the most important thing at a shower? (Besides the bride-to-be and the presents?) THE FOOD. Wherever there is a large group of ladies gathered, you'd better believe there will be food. Except for the super skinny group of ladies who never eat anything. We are definitely not that kind of group. For this shower, we had a grand array of finger foods (since the shower was at 10:30 AM, we opted for a lighter menu).

One of the dishes was a delicious mini quiche platter. I could not keep my hands off of these! Mini quiches are a perfect idea for any shower since they are cute, girly, and (unfortunately for my waistline) are extremely easy to just pick up and eat.

Another dish was mini pumpkin muffins. I loved these too! They were made (with love) by Tristin's mom. They were so yummy and festive (the shower was in November - prime time for our Fall/Thanksgiving theme).

We also had a pumpkin-shaped cheese ball. (Again, keeping up with our Fall/Thanksgiving theme) Cheese balls are so incredibly easy to make, and they make a great side dish or appetizer for almost any occasion.

Another super easy finger food for showers is a triscuit with garden vegetable cream cheese spread and a cucumber on top. The cucumber is so refreshing on top of a rich, creamy little bite. This is so easy (even as a simple snack for yourself); why wouldn't you try it?

No girly get together is complete without a fruit plate. Or maybe that's because I'm obsessed with fruit.

And last but not least - no, we didn't forget it - the bridal shower cake. Since it was an early shower, we decided to go with a lighter lemon cake homemade by one of our friends. It was delicious and blended perfectly with the other items on the table.

Whether you're throwing a shower or a birthday party, food is a must have! Why not try some of our simple finger food ideas? Even though recipes weren't included, ideas were! :)

More awesome wreaths!

Happy New Year!  Is it just me or are you breathing a sigh of relief now that the holidays are over?  I love  Christmas and the New Year, but I also love when they're over and things get back to normal.  I'll bet you know exactly what I mean.

A few days ago, I dropped Junebug off at her Yaya and Poppy's for some fun grandparent time (and so momma could get things accomplished without a very active toddler underfoot).  This lovely wreath greeted me on my parent's front door:

Cool, huh?  We've all had a "bumper crop" (as my dad called it) of acorns this year.  They're pretty pesky, but my mom used this tutorial from Dana of MADE to make a lovely wreath out of the acorns from the yard.  She bought the wreath form for $2 and the acorns were free, so it was a super-inexpensive craft.  The trick to making it last is BAKING the acorns!  The tutorial explains why, but let's just say it's important!  Thanks for sharing, Ma!

I also received a comment from a reader of my previous blog (Spartan Living, and sorry, I no longer post there!) where the Poinsettia Pillow tutorial was initially featured.  A reader sent me a link of how she used the poinsettia pattern on a wreath and I couldn't resist sharing!  It's so cool to see how people use your ideas!

Thank you for sharing how you used the poinsettia pattern, Iris.  You can check out her full post at her blog B.Y.O.V. (Bring your own vegetables).

Felt Flower Barrettes

I am addicted to making felt flowers these days.  Seriously, there needs to be rehab for this kind of addiction.  I stumbled upon this gorgeous wreath made by Megan of Homemade Ginger that features her felt flowers.

Isn't it lovely?  And what a lovely door it rests on!  (Yeah, I noticed the door.  I'm a nerd.)

Megan also made adorable felt flower barrettes for her little gals, and I thought I'd give it a go, too!   You can find her simple felt flower tutorial here.

This is an inexpensive craft that does not require a bajillion special tools.  Just scissors, hot glue, felt and something to attach the flowers to.  You probably already have all the supplies needed to make these little embellishments.

I used the flowers on bar barrettes because I already had them in my crafty arsenal.  Bags of barrettes are very inexpensive at craft stores.  I made different sized flowers and played around with the arrangement on the barrettes.

My favorite was the red one with several small flowers across it.  I really liked how it turned out.

 

These barrettes are for my nieces, but I also made some for Junebug on a different type of hair clip.  I made the holly one specifically for Christmas (obviously!).

 

The holly is my favorite of the barrettes I made for Junebug.  I used teeny flowers (the starting felt circle size was a bit larger than a quarter, for reference) and free-cut a holly leaf shape and used embroidery floss to add some detail.

 

Felt is one of my favorite crafting mediums because it's colorful, inexpensive, doesn't fray, and can be used in an array of projects.  All of the felt I buy is made from recycled bottles and made in the good ol' USA.  Now that makes for some awesome crafting!

Thanks Megan for such a great felt-flower tutorial.  I can't wait to make more!

More SCARVES!

Thought I'd follow Sharon's lead with her wonderful SCARVES! post and share a few of the scarves that I crocheted over the last month.  I made tons of scarves for gift-giving this holiday season, and am now looking forward to making a few things for myself! 

My absolute hands-down favorite scarves are these scalloped edge scarves.  Sharon made some and I followed suit because, well, they're awesome!  The inspiration came from this free pattern.

The shell pattern I used for the edges was as follows:

1 sc *skip 1 st, 5dc into next st, skip 1st, 1sc into next st; rep from * to end.

I couldn't be happier with how they turned out!

I made some twirly scarves for my nieces (ages 7 and 9) that I think they'll be delighted with.  They're skinny and swirly and are made in the girls' respective favorite colors.

 

These were super-simple to crochet.  After reading numerous patterns on how to make swirly scarves, I just made up my own preferred way.  I made a chain of how long I wanted the scarves to be (140 + 3 to count as first dc since they're still gals; I would probably do 200 + 3 for a grown woman) and double crocheted the length of the chain.  For the next row chain three as first dc, and 1dc in same st, then 2dc in each st all the way down the length of the scarf.  Same pattern repeats for each additional row you choose to do.  Hope that made sense.  I did only 3 rows of dc for each of these scarves since they're more of an accessory than they are for keeping your neck warm.

A wonderful beginner scarf is the Mesh Scarf on the Michon Jewelry Blog.  I made it in gray for my sister-in-law and she loved it!  Here it is being tested out on yours truly.  I cropped myself out of the picture since I wasn't wearing make-up and I have horrible skin.  I looked SO gorgeous that I didn't want to make anyone feel inferior and therefore cropped myself out of the photo.  That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

So, have you been making scarves? 

Better yet, have you been wearing scarves??  As I write this, it's 39 degrees here on the Space Coast of Florida.  You better believe I've been wearing scarves!

SCARVES!

I wanted the title to be catchy. Hope I didn't scare anyone.

Isn't this thick wool crocheted scarf fabulous? It's fashionable, but also quick and easy to make! I got the pattern from Prudent Baby. The hook I used was a size N (9mm), but they say gauge doesn't really matter. I worked with thick wool yarn, but you can also use regular yarn and double it up to make it thicker.

I also made other scarves! The striped one on the far left is one I made for the hubby. It's very masculine, and vertical striped scarves are very "in" right now. Plus, it's super easy to whip up - another beginner scarf. I'm also going to add long tassels to the ends... I just haven't gotten around to doing it. Apologies!

To make this scarf, start by chaining how long you want the scarf to be. Then, alternate between rows of single crochet stitches and rows of double crochet stitches while also varying up the color of yarn. Do your rows down the length of the scarf to get the vertical stripes. NOTE: Remember that when you are turning at the end of your rows - if you are creating a row of double crochet stitches, you must chain three and then start double crocheting in the fourth stitch from the hook/end. This counts as your first double crochet for that row. I hope that's not too confusing!

The other two scarves are the same. They are simply three long rows of double crochet down the length of the scarf. This means you do one row of single crochet (about 203 stitches), and then you turn, double crochet in fourth chain from hook and double crochet down the row. When you get to the end, turn, chain 3 (this is your first double crochet), and then double crochet in each stitch down the length of the scarf. Turn and repeat directions for the last row one more time. Lastly, you "scallop" the edges using a shell technique. Apparently there are different ways to shell, so choose whichever one you like best!