New crochet projects

The item on the left is a chapstick holder. It has a loop on top so you can attach it to your keychain. The item on the right can be used to wrap a gift card for a present or as a mini wallet. It will hold atleast 12 or so cards and a bit of money. Perfect when you are on the go and just want to take a few things with you. I also use one to store some of my cards that I don't always take with me everywhere I go.

BABY Blocks

I found these BABY stickers in a $1 bin at Michaels a few months back and had to have them. At first I was going to individually frame them in these adorable little white square frames that I saw at the Dollar Tree but I resisted spending more $ on the project. Finally I realized that they fit perfectly on the little white blocks I already had. I was going to sand the edges and seal the blocks first but due to time constraints I just attached the stickers directly onto the painted blocks. They are the perfect stickers - layered, glittered and have foam stickers on the back for added dimension. Of course I had to tie the whole thing up in a leftover pink ribbon from my wedding and voila! In just a couple of minutes I had a very cute baby shower decoration to display on my end table and since I've hosted 3 baby girl showers in the last year I'll pack these up with the rest of my baby decorations for the next baby shower I host.

CTR blocks for Activity Days

We made these blocks last week for Activity Days. The girls really enjoyed the project and did a great job. They all chose different colors to personalize their blocks so they all turned out different. I'm so lucky to be able to work with such a great group of girls.
If you missed my earlier post when I made a sample they are super easy to make. The blocks were pre-painted white since I didn't think we'd have time to let them dry since we only have an hour. The background paper is precut circles and squares and the letters are paper too. We used mod podge to attach them. So fun!

Headband & Interchangeable Flowers

Everyone loves the flowers from the hats but soon it will start warming up and it will be too cold for hats so I was given this idea so we can keep wearing blooms all year. The flowers can be pinned onto the headband or worn as a brooch or fastened in your hair. I love the bright colors in this cute set.

Potholders & Dishcloths

My future sister-in-law registered for a set of black dishes and white dishes so for her bridal shower so I sent her these two black pot holders and 4 black & white dishcloths to match her future dishes. Honestly, they are the best potholders and dishcloths money can't buy. They take a lot of time to make but are such good quality that they are totally worth it. I don't know what I'd do without mine.
I'm teaching a couple friends how to crochet tomorrow night and I'll start them off on a hotpad. It's a good starting point for beginners.

Ric Rac burp cloth/changing pad

I'm out of all the girl blanket and burp cloth sets I made but I still had this cute blanket in my stash. I figured it's probably nice to get something not pink every once in a while. I wanted to give something with it of course and had one cloth diaper left so this morning I sewed some ric rac across the seams. Maybe everyone else does this too but when I thought of it I thought it was pretty smart - I melt the ends of the ric rac with a lighter so it doesn't unravel. I usually melt one end and then start sewing and then when I start getting to the other end I cut it off at the right length and melt the other end. Just don't wait until your almost at the end though. Probably not a good idea to use a lighter that close to your sewing machine. Of course I wouldn't recommend letting your children do this but I have found that this is way better than using any sort of fray check and it's fun too.
The decorated cloth diaper can be a burp cloth or a changing pad. I absolutely love ric rac and can't get enough of it. Luckily I happened across a store that was clearing out some packages for 25 cents each so of course I bought all that they had in stock. It will be fun to use up on sewing projects for the next bit.

Custom Dog Sweater

Lastnight, as I was leaving Josh's cousin's birthday party, another cousin who is in town for the weekend asked me about the possibility of making a sweater for their 6 week old puppy. I was intrigued by the challenge so I searched around and stayed up late and came up with this.

I decided that it was too boring and need to be spruced up a bit so this morning I crocheted a black edge around all the openings and added a flower. I think it is greatly improved.

Now I just need to try it on the puppy. Even though the sweater only measures 6 1/2" long and is about 10" around I'm not sure it's going to fit but atleast now I know what I am doing and can take some measurements of the dog and make another one if I need to. Even though I'm not a pet person at all it was kind of fun to make this so I'm sure if there's enough interest I'll be making more.
Update: Delivered the sweater and it fits! So cute! Now I'm anxious to make another one.