Snow Makes Me Want to Crochet

Over the last 4 days the PNW got about 6-9 inches of snow and  1-3 inches of ice, all depending on where you live, of course. I love the snow, however, I HATE ice. I have been seriously injured in the ice. Therefore, I choose not to leave the house when there is even a threat of ice. For two days I didn't leave the house and instead choose to be crafty.

Kuma, my precious one, loves the snow. She, like her non-furry mom, also hates ice. This is her on the second day of beautiful fluffiness. All she wants to do is play. She did not understand the picture taking. She just wanted me to find her bone for her that was buried in the snow and play with her. 

Snow doesn't really make me want to play anymore, maybe I am too old or jaded, instead it makes me want to pull out beautiful bright colors and be super crafty.

When the freezing rain started, I settled on the couch to make something pretty. Kuma followed suit, napping under my feet.

 I ve got a large bag of clothing donations next to the door and tub of yarn next to the couch, so the rug seemed natural. I have recently drooled over handmade t-shirt crochet rugs I have seen on Pintrest. I cut up a few t-shirts from the donations bag into long strips. Then started sorting through the HUGE stash of bamboo yarn I have hoarded for years. Most had been used for an awesome crochet granny square blanket. I have long since decided I don't want to make another crochet blanket and need to use up the left over yarn somehow.  So the crocheting began. I love the mindlessness of crocheting, especially the single stitch. I watched a movie and a few hours of Olympics and determined that the scrappy looking rug is exactly what my colorless dining room needed.

Obviously, Kuma thought otherwise.

I worked on this rug all morning and left it on the floor while I made lunch. I came back and Queen Kuma had claimed it as hers. Out of all the space in my huge house to lay on, she picked this rug, seemed very very intentional. I might have to give into that sweet face. The rug still has a long long way to go, but I love love it!

Peace Crochet Wreath

I made this quick wreath from a wire coat hanger, floral wire and left over yarn.

I currently live in a home with huge front bay window. The door is on the side of the house so I wanted a re-useable wreath I could hang in the front window. This is what created. I think the peace part is a bit thin. I intend on adding another color of green, but this is all I got done to it for this holiday season.

Wrapping up All the Elf Duties

I made these hearts from a T-Shirt of my husband's grandfather. He passed over a year ago, and I felt like I could finally bring myself to cut it up and it would be appreciated.

Here are the super cute snowmen  I made. I love the faces, I am so glad I found the carrot noses.

Everyone on my gift list will be getting some form of these super cute fabric baskets. I am not entirely sure what folks will use them for, I guess I envision bread or crackers or wrapped candy.

Here are my awesome cards, I love how they turned out. I enjoy writing cards, especially to the family I don't talk to normally. I also take so much pride in the process of coming up with an idea and then the creativity that comes after that. In this case I was able to carve stamps and get my hands dirty mixing inks which is always a blast for me!

I also whipped up a few more of these super duper cute and re-usable gift bags. I know you can re-use the paper ones but, I intend on using these for many years!

So for this year my elf duties are all wrapped up. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Prep Work Makes All the Difference

These are the two chairs we picked up on our recycling adventure at bring the other day. I chose the red color because it was what was in the garage from when the house and deck (pictured) we painted back in September. The rusty red is a super thick tough paint that will work well in my living room. I already have some rusty red upholstered club chairs, I think these will coordinate well once finished. I chose this color over the two carolina blue's and I am very pleased with my choice.

I started prepping these chairs yesterday with a really good sanding. I used three grades of grit. I highly recommend this especially if you are painting over old paint or stain. I have no idea what lied beneath the poorly painted tan. I quickly discovered it was only one layer of paint on top of bare wood. The tan paint came off really well in some areas and in others it was more stubborn. I wasn't really trying to strip or totally remove the paint but, I wanted to start with at smooth surface. One coat of red paint clearly wasn't going to cut it. I was hoping to get away with two coats.

I am not terribly satisfied with the coverage of two coats. I have decided to do a third coat tomorrow baring any crazy weather. It is very nice to have a covered deck area to paint on. Even though it gets wet when it rains. I do feel they are protected from the elements in order to dry. 

I have thought of adding some gold embellishments like gold stripes or gold tipped legs.

Today, I also finished up this little guy. I started them awhile back and debated over the type of nose and hat to use to make the snowman look finished. I determined buttons down the body as well for eyes would be lovely. I couldn't see a embroidered nose or mouth on these guys. I flipped out in the button isle in Jo-Ann's when I found the carrot buttons, clearly these are made for projects just like these. I have decided to make four of these guys and give them to my family for gifts.  I adore these cuties.

Recycling Awesomeness

Part of my job at the bakery is donating bread to those in need on a regular basis. One of our recipients is this awesome recycling center called Bring. They employ very few and use volunteers and court appointed work release to get it all done.  A few weeks ago they sent a stack of coupons to our staff, which is was a great reason to come out and check see what they offer.

I was so in awe of how it is all set up, and very well organized. There are a few very large metal roofed areas to protect items from the rain, but majority of the space is open to the elements. They used some great times to keep it all sorted, like this train car. The majority of what they offer is home building materials, tools, large cabinets, metal, tiles.  The fans along the roof line collect rain water.

This is a fabulous place for artist too. There are so many materials I can see to use when creating an artful garden, unique home spaces, a lot of decorative items as well. I really appreciate the creative  use of recycled materials in the yards I see in Eugene and around Cascadia.   You will see metal pipes for planting. Many raised gardens are made from scrap wood and mini greenhouses are made from used windows. Often you will find metal piping rain collection and irrigation. Yard art is abound here, most are created using recycled materials. These yards are so different from what I saw in the manicured lawns of the Raleigh and around the South.

Along the garden side there was this awesome structure that was created by an Architecture class from U of O using only materials from Bring. The back wall was a beautiful welded fence and masonry. I love the lines in the concrete pad. They were giving a tour when I was there, and it seems that in the summer months they host a few events in this space.

Part of this chain link fence was filled in with PVC plumbing and bike spokes. They also carry new rain barrels, natural paints, and some plants in the summer. We bought some awesome oak chairs that had been poorly painted.
Most of the items for sale were donated. I wish I had discovered this spot sooner. I will be back. Trash is beautiful to me!

Knots

This fabric "yarn" has been in a ball of knots for a few months now. It is destined to be a large container basket/ bowl. Its is a bit how I personally feel. My brain feels knotted up, not sure which way to go. I had have had a harder time than I expected. I miss green grass and blue skies. There is nothing quite like home and yes I miss North Carolina. Oregon is a beautiful state and feel fortunate that we are here. I just wish I could feel more comfortable here. I wish I could untangle my brain so that I could relax.

I have kept this yarn near my bed for a couple of months, it was tossed aside when it got tangled while crocheting a basket/ bowl. I got frustrated so there it stayed. I decided to untangle it in hopes that it will help me relax. It took me way longer than I expected and actually ended up cutting it, which equals failure to me when untangling knots.
Iam thinking of this as a metaphor, a soul needs untangling, sometimes it takes way longer than expected and sometimes ties/bonds need to be severed or altered. I wonder if I will have to change or what I need to let go of. All that makes me rather sad. So did completely untangling the knots in the fabric "yarn". When it was done, a part of me wanted to unwind the two large balls and tangle it all back together.

Scrap Wreath

I was searching on Pinterest recently for ideas for scrap fabric. This idea was by far my favorite.
I simply untwisted a wire hanger with pliers. Then smoothed the corners and shaped into smallish circle. I dug through all my bags of scrap fabric for spring colors. I had a lot of thin yellow that I never saw myself using. I used the yellow as a base. I folded scraps in half and looped then around the wire, pulling tight. I filled the entire wire with the yellow, it was not full looking though. Then I started with the brights and patterns. Making sure that I spaced similar colors evenly around until the wreath looked full. I then tied a long length of ribbon so it can be hung. Finally a bow to add a focal point. This project was so satisfying , using my scraps, making a gift for free, getting to sit in front of the tv while making it and my mama's love when I gave it to her.

Free Fabric

 I recently received a large box of upholstery fabric from my aunt. I couldnt say no to the beautiful fabrics, I have very little upholstery in my huge collection.  I made a deal with myself that if I took the fabric that I would start immediately trying to make stuff and use it up, or donate it. I am running out of room to hoard all this stuff.

From the box this beautiful floral brocade yelled jewelry roll at me. I found a coordinating yellow in the box as well for the inside. I did very minimal cutting, instead of using a pattern. I decided to make the jewelry roll the size of the brocade scrap that I had. I also used ribbon from a bag of ribbons that I picked up at the flea market for 50 cents. The only thing that I purchased was the thin zipper. I paid 1.50 for that. I am very pleased. For such a small price, was able to recycle and create beautiful gift.

This one is for my aunt! Thanks aunt Dee! I hope she like what I made for her. There is much more coming out of the box!

Flea Market

I have been on a hunt for chairs. We are having a party and we have no chairs. I am trying to keep it cheap and non-plastic, I have been to four consignment shops, and scooped out a few yards sales. I also went to Shelton's in downtown Raleigh on W. Morgan. I loved that spot. The older man that works there is not the nicest of man, but they do have a heck of a lot of awesome finds. I bought a sweet mid- century side table. Still is not a chair but, I love it and had to have it! Ill show you later.  I also went to the Flea Market as it was closing up.

 

I have mentioned this before, but I would like to reiterate how much I personally enjoy the NC State Fair Grounds. I live 10 mins. from this awesomeness! I took my sister on the way back from Chapel Hill. My sister actually took these shots with my camera, Thanks Lil! The top shot is  looking into this giant cart that is filled with small cast iron figures, hooks, and plaques. This cart is always there. I look in it every time I go, one day I will buy something from the menagerie. 

Lil and I love these crystal door knobs. Our great aunt had amazing cut glass/ crystal door knobs in her home that our family built in the 1910's. It was an amazing place to grow up visiting, these reminded us both of that house.

Someday, I will own a dress form, this one was old and difficult to size. Also, Uncle Sam didn't give me that much tax money back. I  finally found a cheap chair that I bought from this dude who wears a black velvet top hat. He is very animated and conversational. Always makes me smile. I have learned to look for certain faces. Some booths are filled with junk, but most are awesome.

Reusable Gift Wrap

Ive been thinking beyond the normal reuse of gift bag, bow or shirt box. I purchased quite a bit of Christmas fabric back in January when it went on sale. I wanted to put to use so, I have decided on making draw string bags for gift giving. I hope that the receiver will be inclined to reuse. I used awesome ribbon as the drawstring and added bells to a few. I admit that I like glossy wrapping paper, however it takes up awkward space in my closet and year round which is a serious nuisance to me. I would like to use up what I have, and work toward future nullification of the wrapping paper. I think these bags will be good to give to immediate family, so I can explain my idea in hopes of getting them back. I don't think this will work for every gift I give. I would like to cut down on bags of paper after Christmas unwrapping.

More Strips!!!

My Mom's friend gave me a huge box of her Dad's jeans. I sat down one day recently and cut up these strips. I need to sew them together and figure out how big I want to make the basket. My hands did hurt pretty bad after cutting so many of the seams. I try to keep them at least an inch. Wish me luck.

Eggs and Bowl

I had an Easter afterthought. I wanted to make a reusable decoration. I came up with the egg. I simply recalled my hat making skills. The yarn colors also make them look like gum drops. Oh well. I got better after each one.

I also created this bowl out of stained sheets and scraps of fabric. I like how low and soft it is against the wood hutch. I created the bowl for this specific spot. I have started to fill up many corners in my house.

Silver Make-up bag

This was my old make-up bag. I made it out of the silver vinyl. I created it before I had the blog. It is the perfect size and very durable. The zipper was never sewed in properly. I have noticed that the holes around the seam at the zipper were getting big and I was losing make-up in my car. So here is prototype #2

I re-used the button, ribbon and zipper. I hope that this one last as long as the other one did. I also mastered the art of putting the zipper in. I really enjoyed recreating the project and working out the bugs. I inverted the diagonal on the side seam. I kept losing the smaller items in the corners. It also makes the opening seem bigger. I didn't do any decorative stitching, it was hard to see on the old one. Took me about 30 minutes start to finish. The hardest part is turning the bag right side out after sewing. The vinyl is super stiff. My hands always ache after using the vinyl to make bags.

Old Christmas Tree Skirt

I made this old Tree skirt about 2 years ago. It was super simple and easy to do. I simply cut six triangle shapes out of cheap batting. Then I stitched the sides together added velcro to the back and sewed on the three coordinating recycled ribbons around the edges. I don't think that it took me too long. I am now wanting to make myself one similar to Mom's see older post. It was a nice first though. 

Christmas gifts!

I made about 10 sets of these as Christmas gifts this year. I really hope to make a tutorial soon on how to make pot holders. I just looked at some that I had. I made a few prototypes that I kept for us. Wanted to use the Christmas fabric that I got for such a good deal last January. I used old blue jeans for the tough part. I also bought fire resistant batting. I was expensive but worth it. Suprisingly, the metallic thread that was used to make the snowflake was heat resistant. After making a few adjustments to the prototype, I made an assembly line and made all 20 in one day! I like them because they are small and not bulky. I also think they are good for laying out flat on the table under hot dishes. Well, all the family liked them. Would be easy to change up the fabric and make them for all the holidays. I used recycled fabric and it was a great cheap gift to accompany a cookbook for charity. 

Crochet Bowl

Months ago, I had cut up the legs of the blue jeans in a continuous length about 1.5 inch wide. I had already used the pockets. Have I mentioned that I love recycling and using up the crap that I have! I finally felt like making something out of it. I started off making a bowl for myself. Ultimately, I feel that it is too big for its intended use. I have plenty of jeans to make more. When I made the bowl, the largest problem I had was that the denim that had stretch in it was difficult to control the tension on. I pulled a few times too hard and it pulled apart the factory seam. I had to go back and hand stitch these seams.  I hope it will stay together. I hope that the receiver enjoys it . I really like the texture that the factory seams created. I think it would look much cleaner if I had made strips in to thinner tubes. I don't have the patience to turn them all right side out. Maybe with regular cotton fabric it would be easier.  I am working on a super awesome easy tutorial for a pot holder that I made in masses to give as gifts this season.

Crochet Pumpkins

I worked on these pumpkins for awhile, but I think one could make them fairly quickly with no interruptions.  I found the instructions for creating the smallest pumpkin on twj1963's you tube page. She has amazing tutorials. I appreciate so much what she has done. I am an extreamly visual learner and cannot read the code books for crochet. I simply increased the stitch instructions she gave to create the larger pumpkins. I really wanted a set and one with a face. I have tons of old buttons that I wouldn't dare put on something like clothing or purses. This was a great usage for a few. Teresa's other tutorials show a pumpkin with crocheted eyes and mouth. I didn't have any black yarn, I didn't want to buy it just for the details. I actually like my choice of the buttons better. 

  I enjoyed the spider web in the window in the photo with the flowers hubby brought home Friday.

To make the pumpkin basically chain a multiple of 4, I wouldn't go smaller than 16 (smallest pumpkin). For example: chain 24 (middle sized pumpkin); single stitch 4 , double stitch 16, single stitch 4 repeat until you get image above (folded over). It depends on how fat you want your pumpkin to be depends on how long. The ends are sewn together with a running stitched and pulled tight and knotted every few stitches. The stems are simple single stitched and skip stitches as you go up. They are stuffed with poly-fill or strips of leftover batting. Thanks to Teresa for the idea. This project cost me nothing to make. It was from what I had at home! Yeah for crafting, I LOVE using up stuff that just lays around.

Painted Glass Jars

I really enjoy recycling objects that I have around my home. When we moved I realized that we had a nice collection of glass jars. I have a lot of glass paint that I used when I painted my M.I.L. a cake plate last Christmas. I love the pearlescent purple paint. My office/computer/craft space is red and black. So I used the red as an accent. I know they are funky, I wanted to spice it up with a little color and pattern. Most of the jars are old jelly jars (the labels came off easier).

I like the shorter jars because the skinny tall items stick out and my hand wont get stuck trying to get the item out. Yes, that is little Me and young Monk in the sock monkey frame! 
I do like the bigger jars as well. This one Ball Jar on the Right had a great raised image that I crudely painted. This one I end up pouring everything out on the table to find what I am looking for. I enjoy having everything out at eye level for whenever creativity strikes me! In my old space at the old house everything was in boxes or plastic crates. I had no idea what treasures I had. I have taken way fewer trips to Joann's recently because I have found multiples everything!

Recycled bags

OMGosh! I had a million grocery bags under the kitchen sink.  I had seen this blog about crocheting plastic grocery bags a while back. I thought about the image the entire time we were in the process of moving. (Note to self: Blog about moving tips, I have ample experience) I cut bags into loops then daisy chained them together. Then used a HUGE ("M" I think) needle to single chain stitched them into a basket. I loved how expandable the bag was when I finished and it fit into the crate of dish towels. Now, when I need a dish towel I wont get a plastic bag stuck to my wet hand. This is a really great project for kids too. The daisy chain is super simple and using the fat needle is easier for the little hands. I could have varied the bags from different stores to create a pattern but, I stuck to the same old grocery bag.

I had a handful of other ideas that you could use to recycle into yarn. Like blue jeans, paper, linen, salvage edges, ribbon, VCR tape. Oh, I am sure I can come up with other applications. I like this concept more and more. 

Desk Acessories

Look what I made for my new sewing desk. I recently moved and it took me awhile to get my craft/sewing/office space set up. My hubby is going to grad school so he got my old desk with a spiffy new executive chair. I got a door, a very large solid wood door. I made legs and have been getting it all set-up recently. 

I recalled seeing awesome blocks/storage on Oh, fransson! I kinda altered her easy directions to suit my desired outcome. I have tons of old blue jeans so I recycled the pockets on the front. I made two of the same size. I have attempted fabric storage boxes before however, they were not what I expected. They were way to floppy despite the extra thick batting. Oh, fransson! suggests using pelltex. After a long search in the newly remodeled fabric store I found this prized material. I was astonished at the price, but felt in the long run that it was well worth the purchase.

I went ahead and made a matching pin cushion with little pockets for my desk. Can you guess what my color scheme is. I looooovvvvvvee black and white fabric prints. I would buy them all if allowed. The red help ties together my red stapler and other office accessories.