flax & twine

6 Easy Chunky Knits

2012-02-28T05:19:00.001-08:00

Hey all! I hope you are doing well as we move towards this lucky leap year day. I, for one, am glad we have an extra day in Feburary. I need it! Don't you? In addition to my regular work, I've been busy knitting away–both for a magazine feature, which I'll be able to tell you about soon (something super little and cute!) and for a new series that I just have to start. Once I get working with a certain material, its almost impossible for me to stop with one idea. I seem to require exploring that material over and over until I'm done with it, or until something else catches my eye. As usual, with my series, there will be a button on the right hand side of my blog which you can click on to see the gallery of projects. This series will contain 6 Easy Chunky Knits with downloadable free patterns for you to enjoy!

I started working with Lion's Brand Super-Chunky Thick and Quick when I began teaching at Common Threads here in Boulder this season. It is a nice wool/acrylic blend that, thank you, doesn't give me the willies. Acrylic usually gives me a bit of an "eewww" factor, but this yarn is solid. The best thing is that it knits up super fast. If you wait for a good Joann Fabrics sale, you can get it at a reasonable price, too. Can you tell that my local knit store isn't close enough to me for my taste?

My obsession with thick, chunky knits started by making this fabulous cowl with my class. I'll post this pattern in the next day or two.

Then, I moved onto the hat that I posted about almost a month ago. You can download the pattern for this cozy hat here or on ravelry. Word is that it knits up big, so aim smaller if you are a loose knitter. I am a super tight knitter. I think this might reflect personality to some extent. . .ahem. . .

After those two projects, I just couldn't stop. I have many more cute and fun things to come. One of my favorites this winter has been making this floor pouf with one of my knitting classes.

The pouf has been a huge success with every one in the family. They are easier to make than they look, and I will enjoy showing you how. Hope there is lots of fun February knitting happening in your neck of the woods. Much love and happy thoughts going your way!
xo Anne

A Play Doh Day

2012-02-20T08:20:00.000-08:00

I haven't brought play-doh out for the kids to play with in, it has to be, at least two years. So, I was very surprised when Allie, my 6 year old, came upstairs the other day with a whole package of rainbow colors in her hands. I don't even know where she found it. Play-doh used to be one of those activities that made me cringe. In fact, I had probably hidden the package soon after we received it. Inevitably, when my kiddos used to play with play-doh, all the pretty colors ended up all wadded together in one brown ball. I don't know why I hate it when the all the containers of the colors get mixed up with each other, but I do. I really do. And, don't get me started on the fighting over who gets what color. Meanwhile, when the kids were three or four, little crumbs of play-doh ended up ground into the grooves of the table, in between the cushion and frame of the chair, on the floor, on the bottom of my shoe and somehow, no matter how hard I tried, ground into the living room rug as well - argh! Okay, part of me loathes the stuff.

But, part of me loves it as well. I love the smell, I know, I'm weird that way. I love the feel of it in my hands. I love rolling it into snakes, back and forth between my hands. I love making little sculptures and bowls and thumb prints. I love balling it and squashing it and everything in between. And now, with Allie, at 6, we loved every little part of the experience. She carefully spooned out amounts of the color and mixed it in such a fun way with the other colors.

We were making an sweets for an upscale candy shop. Very fancy.

This experience with the play doh included everything I loved about it, and nothing I didn't. Mixing colors in this limited way, the way Allie did, was fabulous fun! We didn't even end up with much mess. A couple of crumbs, but nothing major.

I loved this little bon bon glazed with hot pink icing.

This play doh day reminds me how valuable it is to bring out some of those things we used to do at younger age and try them again. The experience can be so different. We followed up our making with a fun game of candy and coffee shop - Allie's Sweets - serving up generous doses of lattes and bon bons. That's my kind of game!

Hope you all had a wonderful long weekend, full of family and quiet time

I have another chunky knit pattern coming up, some boys jewelry, and another super cool finger-knitting project! So excited to show you!
xo anne

Woven Finger-Knitting Hula-Hoop Rug DIY

2012-02-15T05:34:00.000-08:00

Here we go! I'm so excited to kick off this series of finger-knitting projects. For the first project, B proffered his largest ball of finger-knitting for us all to try weaving a rug! This project is super-fun and easy to do.

The rug was made on a hula hoop loom, using an old t-shirt for the warp and a massively huge ball of finger knitting for the weft. I based this project on an incredible t-shirt hula hoop rug I saw on the Disney Family Fun site, where they used strips of t-shirts for the weft. I've been wanting to try it with finger-knitting ever since. B had completed most of this ball at school during read aloud time so I had no idea what I would find in there. What a joy to see the ball unwind and uncover its hidden textures and colors. I haven't done a lot of weaving in my day, but I must say, I think it is very satisfying. Something about the way it builds on itself snugly and the way it revealed its character with each new stretch of finger-knitting inordinately pleased me.

My son's ball started with four-finger finger-knitting (click here for a how-to) and switched mid-ball to single-finger finger-knitting. Both kinds of finger-knitting use the same process, though in the latter, the knitting is done on one finger instead of four. As a result, the strands in his ball became finer at times. The ball was amazingly varied, ranging in the kind of finger knitting, as well as yarn thicknesses, from super thin to super thick and everything in between. I was worried about how the variability would affect the end-product, but I love the rug for that very reason. I think that this project is forgiving overall to the quality and consistency of the finger knitting.

I have to say that although this project was easy for the kids to work on, I think the size of it was a bit overwhelming. It was a HUGE ball of finger-knitting, which was hard to handle for their little hands. They tired of doing it after 5 to 10 times around the circle. I think this project would work better if you did it bit by bit. My suggestion is to sit down and do a little bit of finger knitting, finish it off, ball it up and add it to a basket. When you're ready to do some weaving, add a strand or two of finger-knitting to the rug. This would help a couple of ways: 1) the ball wouldn't be so unwieldy to work with, and 2) you would "finish" weaving a strand in one sitting-very satisfying. Then, put away the rug until you have some more finger-knitting to add.

I've been going nutty with finger-knitting. Coming up with these projects has me just as obsessed as the kids. Be sure to check out the gallery of projects by clicking here or on the button below.

Here is the DIY for the hula hoop rug:

Materials:

A large ball of finger-knitting (or, this can be done in stages as you complete littler strands of finger-knitting)

An old t-shirt (I used a women's large)

Scissors

Hula hoop (this one is 28") You can't make a rug much larger than 19" on this size. I'm sure it would work on a bigger hula hoop as well.

Cut the t-shirt into 10 strips, approximately 1 1/4" wide across the body of the t-shirt, under the arms.

Pull the strips across the hula-hoop in a spoke pattern, going progressively in between the spokes you've already added.

After adding the 10 strips stretched across the hula-hoop into 20 spokes, you're ready to start.

You need to create an odd number of spokes to make the weaving pattern (over/under) work. Do this by pushing two of the spokes together. Even out the spacing on rest of the spokes across the hula hoop.

Tie one end of the finger knitting to one of the spokes. I started with the one that is doubled up, so I wouldn't forget.

Right now treat each loop as one spoke. Start weaving by going over a spoke and under a spoke, around and around the circle.

If you have an extra large ball of finger-knitting, you'll have to squeeze the ball in between the spokes and re-space them afterwards. Every time you get back to the double spoke, check to make sure you haven't missed any, you should be doing the opposite (over or under) of what you did on the last round.

You want to pull the finger-knitting so that its snug, but don't pull it tight or it will make the rug gap and pucker.

Repeat this pattern around and around until the rug gets to be about 7 - 9 inches across.

Now, you will start to weave such that each of the current spokes will be divided into two spokes. For the spoke that was double, pull it apart such that you treat one as having individual spokes like the rest of the warp spokes. For the other spoke, have the two parts of the loop remain together so that you maintain an odd number of spokes. I tied a piece of string around the one I wanted to keep together, so I would remember each time I came around the circle again.

You can see in the photo below that I am going over and under each individual spoke. The ball is still big, but not for long! The smaller the ball got, the easier it was to work with.

The kids found it easiest to do the weaving with the hula hoop on a table. They enjoyed the weaving, but for only about 15 minutes at a time.

They quickly got a hang of pulling the ball over and under the warp spokes and noticed quickly if something got off.

We found it easiest to do a bunch of weaving (over/under) in a row, as below, and then to pull the finger-knitting taut (not too tight!), such that it fits snugly against the circle.

I think the ball of finger-knitting was made for this hula-hoop, because it fit just perfectly. We wove until the ball was gone! Generally, you want to stop about 4 inches before the edge of the hula hoop.

Now comes the fun part. Cut and tie each spoke individually.

You want the ties to be fairly tight because if the rug starts to loosen, it will start to curl into a bowl.

Continue to cut and tie each spoke as you go around.

When you get to the double spoke, cut it, and then . . .

. . .take one of the pieces of the double spoke and re-weave it over and under some of the finger knitting strands next to it, and then tie.

Voila! Finis. It's slightly counter-intuitive, but if the rug is curling. Push the weft (finger-knitting) in towards the center of the rug and re-tighten the ties. This way the circumference of the circle is smaller and the strips of finger knitting won't be pulling as much. You can leave the rug with the ties loose as below. I think this makes a striking center piece.

Or, to hide the ties, as in the first photo in this post, I chose the "right" side of the rug, by choosing the side I thought looked the nicest. I flipped the rug to the "wrong" side, and wove each piece of the tie into the back of the rug.

The back of the rug looks like this with the ties woven in:

The front of the rug looked like this:

I decided I like it most on our wall.

B says he'd like to move it into his room soon. Hmm . . . I'll have to give that some thought.

xo anne

Happy Valentines Day 2012

2012-02-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

Well, Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Here is a doodlebuddy drawing that Allie sent me a week ago via email with the subject "love." Love, indeed. It amazes me that you can pass them your phone for five minutes and they have a work of art in your inbox before you even blink. As usual, Allie doesn't limit her loving ways to Valentines Day, as none of us should. I wrote about this on this last Valentine's Day and the sentiment still holds. Why save everything up for one big day? Spread your love around each and every day - we all can use it.

Still, you can't let Valentine's Day go by without a special gift, and the room signs were a big hit this morning. I think they especially liked that each sign was specifically tailored for each of them. Of course, within 5 minutes, Allie had drawn on hers. She scrawled DO NOT COME IN in permanent sharpie. She even added an underline to the silent "e" pointing to the "o" - very much the scholar! I have learned that she will place her own mark on anything I give her. I try to cover up my cringe, smile and encourage her creativity and the courage to add her own voice. Regarding the exclusive sentiment, I think that you can't avoid those "Keep Out" notions from little ones craving a defining of their own private space. And so our little valentine's day moves onward.

I might just buy myself some tulips today. They are my favorite! Happy, happy day to all of you. Keep your eyes out - I'm posting the finger knitting rug tomorrow!

A Sign for Your Valentine - a diy papercut room placard

2012-02-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot about how different each of my children are, and how essential it is to celebrate these differences. This Valentine's Day, I wanted to incorporate their personalities into their gifts. These placards, upon their bedroom door or hanging on their bulletin board, will remind them, every day, how unique they are in this family and in this world. Plus, these signs beat the current "keep out" and "no brothers or sisters allowed" signs, which I'm hoping they'll replace.

The kids' amazing strengths express themselves daily, much to my own joy. My daughter regularly leaps down the hall or through the kitchen to say good morning, or good evening, or welcome home! with such pure happiness and energy in her body, face and voice, it is contagious.My oldest son reacts to life with such empathy and tenderness, it brings tears to my eyes. How do I let that sweet heart of his out into this scary world? His tender heart, especially, I want to guard with all the uber-mommy protectiveness I can muster.

Then, there is my middle guy, whose wide, big eyes hold lifetimes of being and knowing. He's the silent type that doesn't share a whole lot, but you have this feeling, he knows . . . he just knows, that soulful boy.

These signs would obviously work as a special, handmade gift for just about anything. Add any words or little design you want to throw in there. Think about a baby's name and birthdate trumpeted by a cute little elephant. Or, "get well soon" would be a lovely sentiment with a little floral motif. You can use the back of the sign as a card with signatures and a special note or the like. I think I will add a Valentine's Day message for each of the kiddos to these, as well.

These valentines are part of my a year of handmade series, where I committed to giving only handmade gifts this year. Click on the button below to see the gallery of all the gifts I have made this year and the associated tutorials, patterns, etc.

Here is the room placard diy:

Materials:

a color palette, including two complimentary fabrics, two 18" lengths of ribbon and thread

two pieces of paperboard (cracker box, cereal box) 5x7 each

sewing machinedouble sided tape

paper cutter or scissors

computer and printer

a special message for your loved one

Select your palettes, the print used for the letters should be small. The print in the heart/design can be bigger.

Cut two pieces of paperboard to desired size. Mine are 5x7".

Print your message on regular printer paper. I used the Nueva font at 96 point. Tape your message to the paperboard, leaving a 1/2 inch margin all the way around and room for your design.

Cut the letters out of the paper and paperboard with a sharp craft knife.

Draw a heart or other design in the corner and cut out with the craft knife.

Pair with your fabrics.

Next, attach the ribbons. I used approximately 18" of ribbon. Take the other piece of paperboard which will form the back of the placard. Place tape approximately half an inch in from each side.

Place the ribbons, slightly overlapping, on to the tape.

Sew the ribbon to the paperboard. Stitch in a rectangle, down one side, across both pieces of ribbon, back up the other ribbon and across both of them once more.

The attached ribbon should look like this:

Form a loop with the ribbon and repeat on the other side (I ended up trimming a couple inches off). My loop is approximately 16" total.

Trim and place the fabric down on the bottom piece of paperboard. I used double stick tape to help it stay in place.

Sandwich the fabric in between both pieces of paperboard such that the fabric shows up where you want it to. Trim the fabric further, as necessary.

Carefully stitch the sandwich together. I went around the rectangle with a straight stitch first, using the sewing foot as my guide to stitch at about 1/8".

Using the foot as my guide, I went around the placard again with a zig-zag stitch.

Finis!

Many happy valentines wishes to you and yours! Oh, cutting out the message took about an hour or so - that was definitely the worst part, but not as bad as you might think. The sewing was a breeze.

xo anne

A New Series: 5 Fabulous Finger Knitting Projects

2012-02-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

This is what an over one-foot wide ball of one-finger finger-knitting looks like. I am not kidding. And, I have approximately 12 or so of these, in varying sizes, floating around odd corners of my house. I am thrilled my kiddos took to it, but what to do with these massive balls?

I'm happy to announce a new series that I'm kicking off on the blog this year. After years of thinking that there must be something fun out there to do with the balls and balls of finger knitting that my kids have made, and not finding it, I started brainstorming and came up with a bunch of really fun ideas to share with you. I will be posting five new finger knitting projects (and maybe even more) over the next few months. And, cute as they are (see below), no, there aren't any scarves in the list!

I'm talking about fun ideas to decorate your kids' room, beautiful keepsake rugs, and meaningful gifts for others. So, keep an eye out for this button, below, on the right side of my blog. It will be popping up in the next few days with the first fabulous project you won't want to miss.

If you want to learn how to finger-knit (which is a great skill for kiddos starting at the age of 4), and get prepared for all these amazing upcoming projects, check out my step-by-step finger knitting tutorial here.

Here's a little preview of what this humongous ball of finger knitting turned into–beautiful and so much fun to do with the kids. This beautiful hula-hoop rug will be the first project so keep your eyes peeled for the tutorial in the next week or so!

I have some Valentines projects to show you guys first!
xo, Anne

Snow Day Chocolate Muffins

2012-02-05T05:51:00.000-08:00

Ohhh, I love a snow day. Although snow days wreak havoc in my work world–cancelled conference calls, moved meetings, guaranteed late night making up for work that needed to happen–it also gives me a non-negotiable reason to spend the whole day lolling around with the kids. Not just hanging out, but hanging out with piles and piles and piles of snow everywhere!

There are two things that a snow day guarantees: SLEDDING, which promises exhausted kiddos and dog (yay!), and . . .

when the mittens and boots and snow pants come off . . .

MUFFINS!

We made super yummy! chocolate muffins on this day. I wanted to share the recipe with you:

Ingredients:

7oz semisweet chocolate

1/3 cup butter

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract

1 2/3 cup flour (I use unbleached all-purpose flour)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Melt the chocolate and butter together over low heat. I used a double boiler, which makes life easy. Let the chocolate/butter mixture cool (10 to 15 minutes).

3. In a medium sized bowl, lightly beat two eggs. Add the milk, yogurt, sugar, and vanilla to the egg bowl.

4. Stir in the cooled chocolate/butter mixture until blended well.

5. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Pour in the chocolate mixture, and stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips now, if desired.

6. Place liners in 12 muffin cups and divide the batter evenly into the cups. Lick the spatula.

7. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

Best with a glass of milk, trust me!

Thumbs up all around. Here's hoping you have many happy muffiny, sledding, snow days ahead of you this winter.

xo anne

Girls DIY Diamond Barettes - a year of handmade gift

2012-02-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

These are the easiest and fastest little barrettes you ever will make–but they are so darling! Who doesn't want to wear diamonds in their hair!

I almost didn't do a tutorial for these because they seemed so simple. But, I figure the tutorial might encourage some new maker to give it a go, or inspire others to make something easy and quick. The barrettes make a great addition to any gift you might be giving a little girl in your life. Or, it would be fun to make an entire collection barrettes, each with a different sparkly trim. I actually originally made these barrettes for the 24 days of glam collection, but replaced them with something else at the last minute. I think they knew they were needed to complete Lily's little birthday package. And now its done, the monogram bracelet, the pearl combs and the barrettes together make up the jewelry set I made for my 9 year-old niece.

The entire gift for Lily is part of my a year of handmade gift series. Click the photo below for tutorials to make all the things I've given this year–all handmade gifts all year long!

Below is the tutorial for the barrettes. The next gift on my schedule is for my 6 year old nephew. Oh, and some Valentine's Day gifts for the kiddos. So keep your eyes out for what's coming up next! Make a few of these to fill a heart for your valentine!

Materials:

Glue gun

Barrettes (found in jewelry section at craft store)

plastic crystal/rhinestone trim

Plug glue gun in to warm up. Measure out length of trim to fit each barrette and cut.

Apply glue to back of trim.

Press trim to barrette quickly before the glue has set.

Repeat with the second barrette and finis!

Happy February to everyone. The year is already cruising by! Hope folks are enjoying some happy snowy days!

xo anne

DIY Monogram Bracelet for Lily - a year of handmade gift

2012-01-28T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here is part II of Lily's present - a monogrammed ribbon bracelet. When I asked my sister-in-law what Lily, my 11 year-old niece, might like for her birthday, she said anything with her monogram. I was going to make a monogram pillow for her bed, but ended up wanting to send her something complimentary to the pearl combs I posted about earlier this week. I used the same gray ribbon here as the base of the combs. At first I wanted to make the monogram with rhinestones, but the strand I had wasn't flexible enough to make the letter the size I wanted. Instead, I used the crystal bead trim that I used for the sparkle headbands and the crystal wrap bracelet - found at Joann's.

I am in love with cotton twill tape and cotton ribbon. It provides a natural feel, yet it feels lush at the same time. I found some fun 5/8" twill tape at Joann Fabrics in a number of colors. The robin's egg blue tape came from there. For 1/4 to 3/8"cotton twill ribbon in colors, try this resource for the 1/4" or this page for the 3/8". I also love this resource for gorgeous cotton ribbon. This gift is part of my year of handmade series, where I committed to making only handmade gifts this year. To see the entire year of handmade gallery, click on the button below or on the sidebar of the blog.

Below are the diy instructions for the bracelet.

Materials:

100% wool felt

3/8" cotton ribbon

5/8" cotton twill tape

bead trim

decorative button

complimentary embroidery floss

thread

needle

button

shoestring elastic

Time: 60 minutes

Start by making the monogram on the felt. Print out a cursive letter from your computer for a guide. Attach the bead trim to the felt with complimentary embroidery thread.

Continue to stitch the bead trim in the form of the letter by twisting the trim and stitching between each bead.

Draw an oval on the back of the felt, around the monogram, and cut out the oval. Cut another oval of identical size.

Stitch the two pieces of felt together with the blanket stitch. In the blanket stitch, start 1/8" away from the edge, securing in the back. Pull the floss to the left and hold down with your thumb.

Go around the outside of the felt and come up 1/8" over from where you started, in front of the floss you've pulled aside.

Continue to do this, spacing as consistently as you can, all the way around the oval.

As you come back to where you started, come back up in the same place you started the thread.

Go back through in the same area, taking as small a bite as you can, and secure in the back.

Measure the ribbon and twill tape around the wearer's wrist, leaving 1/4" extra at each end to hem.

Turn over 1/4" at each end and hem with coordinating thread.

Attach the ribbon to the twill tape with a running stitch, taking itty bitty bites of the ribbon on the front. Leave stitches about 1/2" apart in the back, along both sides of the ribbon.

Let the ribbon and twill tape curve around your hand as you stitch, as this is how they will fall over the wearer's wrist. This will prevent gapping.

Attach a button to one end of the bracelet.

Attach shoestring elastic in a loop to the other end of the bracelet. Make sure to come up through the elastic to ensure the elastic doesn't slip. Trim the excess.

Here the bracelet part complete.

Now, attach the monogram to the center of the bracelet by taking little bites of the back of the wool felt and sewing through both layers of the bracelet. I attached the monogram with six stitches, three along each side of the oval. Be careful not to bring needle through to the front.

Finis!

I love this bracelet, especially the colors. Lucky Lily, lucky you, there is still one more part to this present. It is the simplest pair of barrettes you ever will make. Still, I figure its worth showing, just to share the idea with you.

Hope you all are having a fabulous weekend. My hubby is out of town for a guys weekend, so the kiddos and I are running solo! Looking forward to getting cozy on the couch with them.

DIY Pearl Hair Combs for Lily - a year of handmade

2012-01-23T08:47:00.000-08:00

My niece Lily is beautiful–willowy, with big liquid brown eyes, long stunning mahogany hair. She loves to dress in an understated way–grays, blacks, and plums, in solids and stripes. She is turning 11 (okay, she already turned 11 and I'm late sending the gift, but who doesn't like a late birthday present in the mailbox?).

When I was thinking about making something for her, I couldn't get away from thinking how beautiful the cream pearls would look against her brown hair. For more easy to make handmade gifts with free tutorials and patterns, check out my year of handmade gallery here, or by clicking below.

So, here they are - this is actually part one of a three-part gift. Get excited for more jewelry goodies to come. Here is the diy for the combs:

Materials:

3/8" twill tape

2 combs

thread

pearl trim (I got this trim at Joann's)

needle

scissors

Time: 60 minutes

Cut twill tape to cover the comb length twice, angling ends to meet in the middle.

Sew tape to comb, matching folded edge of the twill tape to the edge of the comb.

Attach the twill tape to the comb with thread and needle by going in between each comb tooth and taking a small bite of the twill tape so you can't see the stitch.

You will come to the back between the same comb teeth, but now cross the next comb tooth and repeat the small stitch in the twill tape. Cross to in between the next two comb teeth, stitch, repeat.

The stitches should look like this.

The front of the comb should look like this.

Measure the pearl trim to fit the comb.

Sew the bottom line of the trim to comb in between each bead. You will be going around the comb teeth again.

For the top part of the trim, go in between the comb and the twill tape to attach.

Finish off the ends.

Repeat for a second comb, and finis!

I also loved the gray and pearl next to this robins egg blue tissue paper and box. Pretty!

An Easy Ribbed Stocking Hat for Harrison - a year of handmade gift

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

I recently received a blog comment about how hard it is to come up with handmade gift ideas for men. Here is one! My first gift for a year of handmade is for a man (well, almost). This crimson hat, though modeled by my hubby, is for my step-brother who just turned 18 and just got in to Harvard! Go Harrison! I'm so proud of him and thrilled that he can relax for the rest of his senior year. His birthday comes right after Christmas, so its always a scramble to give something to him. As soon as I heard he was heading up to Boston this fall, I knew he needed a Crimson winter hat. He lives in Atlanta now, so he has no idea what he's in for. brrrrr!

This is a fabulous beginning knitters' project. It is super fast and not that technical. The pattern consists of knitting and purling in a ribbed pattern until you get to the last row where you knit two stitches together, purl two stitches together around the rib pattern. Then, you cinch it up and seam the edges together and you're done. It is also great for experienced knitters as you can whip one out for a last minute gift super easily! You can get a pdf of this free pattern here (this comes up at low resolution in google viewer - click on printer icon in upper left hand corner for high res viewing) or on Ravelry here.

The best thing about this hat is that the sizing is really forgiving. The hat that fit my hubby's huge noggin above, fit me comfortably. It was a tad roomy, but it fit. I almost didn't want to send it to Harrison it was so cozy!

You can get the pdf of the free pattern here (this comes up at low resolution in google viewer - click on printer icon in upper left hand corner for high res viewing) or on Ravelry here.

If you want to see all the handmade gifts I've made this year, check out a year of handmade gallery here.

And, don't forget! if you make the hat or any other great handmade gift this year, upload it here so we can all see it!

Design*Sponge Best of DIY: Notecards and Stationery

2012-01-18T15:38:00.000-08:00

Something really wonderful happened this afternoon. These note cards were featured at the top of design*sponge's best of diy 2011: notecards and stationery. Now, I don't know about you, but I absolutely adore design*sponge. Grace Bonney has such elegant and beautiful taste, yet uncovers intriguing and unusual finds. And, I love Kate Pruitt who edits all the diy goodies. To be on the top of any design*sponge list has me over the moon. It gives me a reason to celebrate!

Still, this reminds me how important it is to take things in stride - both disappointments and successes. I was actually contacted about these notes by Better Homes & Gardens back in July - which was also thrilling. They wanted to potentially include them in a handmade hostess gift feature in the November '11 issue. The opportunity to be featured in a widely distributed magazine blew me away. I madly worked to get off a set of cards in color schemes they wanted.

I loved how they turned out.

But, in the end, they did not include them in their issue :(. That felt like a whopping blow. I think they wanted jewel tones all together, which is not really my thing. These things happen, and how you handle disappointment is just as vital as how you handle successes. Inevitably, they will both happen.

I think it is especially important to show my children how to gracefully accept defeat or a mistake or a disappointment. I remind them to look at the reason behind their efforts. What it comes down to is why are you doing what you're doing? Do you love it? Then, get back up on your feet and keep going, keep practicing, keep doing.

In my case, I garner true and untarnished joy from making something that feels beautiful to me. Its even better if it carries meaning. Whether its knitting or sewing or crafting or photography, pretty much anything I do with my hands, I love it. As a result, I love this blog.I'm thrilled with my design*sponge exposure and my place in their "best of" list. Yet, rich as this success makes me feel, and I do want to enjoy it, I'm going to celebrate and then take it in stride, because I never know what's around the next corner. I'm just gonna keep on doing what I love to do.

Here are my favorite design*sponge best of 2011 stationery picks:

Image above: Brenna’s linoleum-cut monogram correspondence set with vintage wallpaper-lined envelopes

Image above: Derek and Lauren created a personalized stationery suite using samples of pretty vintage wallpapers and blank notecards.

A Year of Handmade and Favorite Gifts From 2011

2012-01-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

Here we go. I'm a little overwhelmed at my commitment to make all my gifts handmade this year. I believe strong goals make us stronger. Putting a serious challenge in front of you enables you to actually rise to meet it.

A handmade gift is literally constructed with intention and presence and meaning. There is no other way to make something. It is this effort that bestows handmade gifts with value in ways that store-bought gifts just cannot have. I wrote about how my son's lovingly handmade Christmas gift impacted me and inspired me to make this commitment in this post. There's nothing like a 9 year old to really open your eyes.

I've been busy thinking about what all to make everyone, which gets me a little crazy with lists and to-dos. I think I'm better off taking it one gift at a time and making what inspires me at the moment, and what fits in the time I find!

As with the 24 days of girly glam, this button below will be in the right hand column of my blog that will take you to the "a year of handmade" page. On that page, I will post photo buttons linking to all the handmade goodies I make this year. You can follow along. I will post tutorials or patterns or links to show you how to make everything I do–at least, that's the goal.

What's better than that, I invite you to join me! Do it! I know a few of you pledged along with me in the original post. But I'd love to have more of you with us as well. I have set up the following Flickr group for you to post photos of your handmade gifts for us all to see and be inspired:

I had two birthday gifts to make in January, which are now complete and coming soon. These birthdays includes my 9 year old niece (think more jewelry) and my 18 year old step-brother (a boy gift!). In the mean time, I thought I'd share some of my favorite gifts from last year, in addition to the paper cut bunny landscape and rhinestone circle pendant shown above.

The poppy bracelet for Allie:

A knit market bag I made as a hostess gift this summer:

A message in a bottle for the kiddos (hint: there's a surprise in there!) and the knit hearts too:

A treasure box for my nephew:

An easter garland for my family:

A sweet knit vest for new Baby Harper:

Hand-embroidered thank you notes:

and, of course, the twisted pearl necklace for Allie:

I look forward to the challenge that this resolution brings and I look forward to traveling along the journey with all of you!

New Orleans - A Photographic Foray through the French Quarter

2012-01-16T07:29:00.000-08:00

New Orleans - what an amazing trip. I treasure spending time with Sandy, together as a couple without the kids, but New Orleans' striking character rushes you on a literal trip away from everything familiar. The city's stunning architecture abounds, with beautiful design details everywhere, yet, its seediness and grittiness seeps in to all the gaps. The contrasts magnetized my roving eyes. We stayed just outside of the French Quarter, within easy walking distance of everything. I'm an early riser, no matter the hour to bed, so I walked the streets with my camera, while Sandy slept the morning away. This is what I saw:

Gaslights (love these) and ironwork intersperse with neon glare.

Old world, street side charm glows in the morning light,

one block from Bourbon street, littered with bars and strip joints and mounds of yesterday's garbage.

Each streetscape communicates its own unique vignette, seductively historical, yet so present and tangible.

Cobblestone streets, fresh and shiny in the rain, charmed me and transported me to another place. I think New Orleans' magic blossoms from this very otherness.

Streetside cafes and unique shops beckon from every corner.

Iron work detail decorates the architecture throughout the French Quarter.

Historically, the quantity and level of intricacy in your iron work spoke to your level of wealth, as it required constant upkeep.

Streetcars can take you many places in the city. The photos in this post are all of the French Quarter, but the Garden District, Uptown and Fauberg Marigny are also amazing places to visit and visually stunning, as well. I highly encourage a visit if you get the chance.

Music flourishes on the streets, ranging from low country folk bands to jazz to current pop blaring out every bar on Bourbon Street. The music literally goes all hours with much raucous dancing, singing and toe-tapping from admiring crowds. One of my favorite New Orleans memories includes dancing in the street with Sandy to a local jazz quartet in Fauberg Marigny at 2am - seriously, what a town!

We traveled to New Orleans to go to the Alabama-LSU game. My husband is a HUGE Bama fan and this trip was a dream come true for him. The pride, energy and excitement that pulsed through the streets stunned me day to day. From the thrill after the Saints won their playoff game, to the anticipation for the big LSU-Alabama game, the excitement continued to build. The more the hours passed, the busier and crazier the town got. The streets and the balconies bulged with people. The mother in me was a tad worried!

I mean, really, are those balconies designed to withstand all those people?

And then, here is Bourbon Street before the game–throbbing with people, loud music pumping out every door, college cheers erupting from all directions. You inch along the street with people yelling, stumbling, drinking, laughing, cheering, and really quite polite for all of it . . . I found it fascinating and oddly compelling.

Alabama won, followed by wild celebration in the street afterwards. Hoarse with excitement and loud cheering, we danced our way down the street late into the night, collecting pats on the back, high fives, and enthusiastic "Roll Tide"s the entire way. Both the LSU fans and the Bama fans were courteous to the end.

Whatever is said about New Orleans, it will remain vibrant, bustling and quite charming in my memory. Its unique character grips me. I will be back.

Hand Embroidered Note Cards for the Kids to Make

2012-01-11T06:22:00.000-08:00

Well, its Petite Purls time - Yay! I am lucky to now be writing a regular craft column for them. This issue, I did a kiddo version of my hand-embroidered note cards. If you aren't familiar with this wonderful quarterly kids' knitwear magazine, you really must go explore it. They have adorable, modern, kids' knit and crochet patterns, but always include some fun craft and sewing DIYs as well. My past contributions to the magazine include: Wrapped with Love: A Handmade Gift Bag and A Cozy Pillowcase DIY.

The cards are designed and stitched by your little ones to display their thanks in a touching and stunning way. Here’s a wonderful opportunity to introduce your kiddo to embroidery AND make writing thank you notes a tad more interesting. Or, use this project as a way to advance your child’s stitching techniques.

My daughter adored making these. More than that, she loved joining her mama for some side-by-side making time. The next day, she said to me, “Mama, it's time for our stitching time!” And, my son said, “I wanna do one of those!” Ah, the sweet sound of success!

This issue is all about winter and warm accessories, including a fabulous mitten pattern by wonderfully talented quilter and friend Annik Miller of Mini Mushroom, a stunning scarf by Angela Tong, and many more. Go check it out soon!

You can always do the notes adult style - and look what you can make. So excited about my Year of Handmade that I accidentally committed to for the New Year. I've been pulling everything together to get that feature started, including a cool new button and a flickr group. Plus, I've already made 4 little gifts, including more jewelry and something for a boy! that are super-fun. Can't wait to show it all to you!
xo anne

Leaving The Kids

2012-01-08T08:27:00.000-08:00

Leaving kiddos for a time away is such a mixed bag, isn't it? It is so nice to have time away from those little rascals, but leaving them is so hard! They work it too, with pouts and tears and "don't leave, mama!" 's. Oh, it just breaks my heart.

To relieve the stress for me, I disperse little love notes in unexpected places. There's nothing like construction paper and some fancy scissors to let them know you're thinking of them. I cut up a bunch of hearts and started writing.

We have an idiosyncratic way of telling the kids all the great things about them. Years ago, it started out with the question, "Guess What?" The answer soon became obvious to them, "You love me!" This is always their first response.

Sandy and I began to expand the game. Now, we have plenty of other answers in our arsenal:

Guess What? I think your fabulous!

Guess What? I think your a terrific boy!

Guess What? You are beautiful, inside and out!

Guess What? You are kind and loving!

Guess What? You are a smart kiddo!

and more.

We make the kiddos guess what we have in our heads. They end up spewing out all sorts of great things about themselves in the mean time. Playing off of this, on each heart, I wrote "Guess What?" and wrote something different on the back of each one.

Then, I left them all sorts of places, in their hat drawer, on their pillows . . .

On their pants pile (ahem!! messy closets all around) . . .

With tooth brushes . . .

and in their coat pockets (they may never find these). I left one for each day that we are gone for the person staying with them to put in their lunch boxes. It made me feel better knowing that they would have little reminders that we are thinking of them. It quelled my stress just a tad, at least enough for me to walk out the door.

Boy, yesterday was crazy. I started off by dropping the kids off at ski practice, going for a run in the mountains–so beautiful and peaceful . . .

. . .and ended the night on Bourbon Street in New Orleans–what a scene!

So, that's it, I'm off. I am on vacation after all. I'm going to go wake up that sleepy hubby and go have some fun! Happy weekend and travels to all of you!

Finger Knitting How-to

2012-01-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

You know how I just wrote about how I like getting a handmade gift more than just about anything. Well, this is anything. Sitting on the couch on a lazy sunday, knitting with my kids . . . that beats gift-getting for sure. It is a gift itself. We just sat there side-by-side, for about an hour, feeling the warmth from each other's bodies, listening to music from my computer and basking in each others company as the sun streamed through the windows. Ahhh . . .the experience was so delightful, it was hard to peel myself away to take the photos. That blue pile is my spot in the middle. You can look for a fun collection of easy knits coming soon from me.

The two kiddos are finger-knitting, which I've written about before and again, but it continues to be a favorite activity. It is a really easy way to make something from nothing, quickly, especially if you use a super-bulky yarn. I figured it was time to provide instructions to you all, since my family consistently gets so much joy out of doing it. I've provided a finger knitting tutorial below.

You end up with a long coil of knitting like this, that curls itself into a sort of tube.

My son is using a finer and less expensive yarn, here. You can pretty much use whatever yarn you have sitting around to do this.

They really do enjoy the process. Often, they will finger knit as we read to them. It keeps their bodies still while still allowing them enough space to pay attention.

Some day, I'll make a coiled rug from the pieces. I thought Allie's use of the thick and chunky yarn might allow that, but she wanted to use it as a scarf. Cute! And, yes! that's my tree, still up. Okay, okay, the decorations are coming down today. But I wouldn't have given up my time on the couch knitting with my kids for anything!

Materials:

Any yarn

An eager kiddo

Time: However long you want!

I think that super-bulky yarn is a good weight to start with. Its easy to work with on the fingers and your kiddo will get something done pretty fast.

Start by placing the yarn in between your thumb and hand, such that the tail hangs behind your hand.

Pick up the yarn that goes to the ball, leaving the tail in between your thumb and hand. Bring the yarn behind your middle finger and over your ring finger.

Now, bring the yarn around your pinky, behind your ring finger and over your middle finger.

Next, bring the yarn around your index finger.

Now, we're going to head back again. Bring the yarn behind your middle finger and over your ring finger.

Then, around your pinky, behind your ring finger, over your middle finger.

Starting with your pinky finger, bring the lower loop on your finger over the upper loop and over your finger.

Continue this process on each finger, bringing the lower loop over the upper loop and over your finger. Bring the tail in between your index finger and your middle finger. This is your home base. Now, repeat.

Wrap the yarn around your index finger.

Proceed to repeat the over and under until you have two loops on each finger.

Pull the lower loops over all the upper loops and over the finger, starting at the pinky.

You end up back at home base and you just keep repeating.

This is how the back looks.

This is how the opposite side of the finger knitting looks.

To finish, cut the yarn and bring the end through each of the loops. If your child wants a break at any point, bring a pencil or pen through the loops in this same way and set aside. Then, easily place the loops back on the fingers when you want to continue.

Take the loops off your fingers and pull tightly.

Voila - there's your finger knitting chain.

My kids have gotten fancy and done two colors at the same time, or braided three lengths of finger knitting together or made HUGE balls out of their finger knitting. The fact is, its all fun and a great way to start those little ones knitting. Allie started finger knitting when she was 4. Give it a whirl with your young ones. And here's to wishing for many more lazy knitty Sundays for you and yours!

A Handmade Gift and A Resolution

2011-12-30T09:53:00.000-08:00

This was my favorite gift of the season–a garland of hand cut snow flakes. It came carefully wrapped in many, many layers of paper by my oldest child. I unwrapped it to loud exhortations of "Be careful! Mama, be careful. It's very delicate!"And, it is, very delicate and beautiful.

He assured me that he had made each one himself. He methodically walked me through each snowflake, discussing how he made it–how each snowflake was unique. It warmed my heart tremendously, reminding me how much I value the handmade. That he made the effort, that he thought of me with each cut, imbues the gift with such meaning, such tenderness.

I hand-make gifts for people all the time. I rarely have handmade gifts given to me. This made it all the more meaningful to me. Charlie's snowflakes remind me, in today's culture of consumption, the continued importance of making gifts. I know we all get busy and that its hard to find the time. But, that's just the point, isn't it? If you can take the time in your life to hand-make a thoughtful gift for someone, then doesn't it add that much more value and meaning?

As Charlie's snowflakes glisten in the sunlight before my eyes, I think I've come up with a new resolution. My New Year's resolution isn't going to be about dropping weight, or getting in shape, or always getting the things on my to-do list done, it's going to make gifts instead of buy them . . . For one year, I won't buy a gift. Ack! I'm getting scared as I write this. But I'm going to do it. If I learned anything from making Allie's advent gifts - beautiful and thoughtful gifts don't need to take a long time to make (though blogging about them does ;). I think this will require some planning, lots of effort, and might make for some belated gifts, but why not!? Will you join me? I'll share them with you as I do them so you might have a good resource for quick and beautiful handmade gifts as well.

Happy New Year to one and all!

Christmas Moments

2011-12-27T18:21:00.000-08:00

Bask in the light. Do it, when you can. . .throw your head back, take a deep breath of fresh air and feel the warm sun on your skin. I have been trying to remind myself to do this, breathe, enjoy the present moment, feel good about accomplishments, and make sure I'm not ruminating too much about the future. Especially after the crazy month I had completing 24 tutorials in a row, I tried, this week, to slow down and enjoy my holiday moments. I have to tell you, too, I am thrilled to be taking regular photos again. It's been wonderful to get my head out of my home made light box.

I delighted in pulling out my favorite holiday decoration, my Taos, NM incense pueblo, which is identical to one I had as a child. Piñon breathes Christmas to me.

I cherished the mantle,

complete with a photo ornament of each child from each year of their lives. They're going to thank me for that some day.

We made our annual gingerbread house, decorated and designed, and, okay, fought over, by three creative kiddos!

We treasured skiing time with cousins.

We basked in a Christmas that, for the first time, we had all to ourselves. Here is the crew, waiting to go down the stairs to see what Santa brought.

What a beautiful Christmas morning.

That day, we took the kids cross-country skiing for the first time.

They loved it!

We had lots of joy and merriment and also quiet moments and simply time for time together.

I hope your holidays were filled with bright days and quiet nights. A few more deep breaths and it's 2012. Get ready to forge ahead!

Day 24: A Poppy Bracelet - a diy jewelry tutorial

2011-12-24T07:18:00.000-08:00

Well, this is it, folks–the last piece of jewelry in the series–24 amazing days of glamorous jewelry for the little girl in your life, (even, if that little girl in your life happens to be you, or a relative, or a close friend!) I have made many of these items in my size and proudly flaunt a little sparkle here or warm pearls there or even a petite bow - why not?! I have to say that this bracelet is one of my favorite, the lush cream of that woven ribbon and the red fuzzy felt next to that gleaming pearl - mmm!

Once I started making these poppies, I didn't want to stop. I made one in green, lavender and yellow. I made them big, medium and small. This definitely won't be the last time you see this style flower in one of my designs. They seem intimidating, but they really are quite easy to do. Give it a whirl below.

I can't tell you the pleasure I've received out of doing a tutorial each and every day. Not only did my daughter love to open her gift every day, I got the sense that many of you had a feeling of excitement to see what would come next, as well. Your support, enthusiasm and positive words kept me going through what honestly was a ton of work! I've done a lot of tutorials in the life of this blog, but never one every day, for 24 days. It was great practice in efficiency, taking better photos, writing clear directions, using illustrator and much more. I hope this collection becomes a resource you can keep coming back to for endless hours of creative fun for you or your daughter or your granddaughter.

To see the entire collection of diy advent gifts that I made for my little girl, click the photo below:

Materials:

6 - 8" of woven cotton ribbon (try carta, inc. for beautiful cotton ribbon)

1 8mm glass pearl

1 snap closure

100% wool felt

Thread

Scissors

Needle

Time: 40 minutes

Cut an approximately three inch circle out of 100% wool felt. I cut a larger circle than I think I need and trim the excess when I get the size flower I want.

Cut a spiral in the circle. There is more lee-way in this than you might think. I was concerned that it would need to be perfect, but you can trim here and there to adjust it after the fact. I didn't measure or draw anything, but just cut it by hand.

Now that you have your spiral, start twisting it, beginning with the center.

It should spiral up like this. Trim off any excess spiral you don't want to include in your poppy.

Stitch the poppy together at the bottom of the blossom. I went both directions across. I also came up the outside petal and stitched the top of the outside flap to the the inside layer.

Come up through the center of the poppy, just off from dead center. Add the pearl.

Bring your thread back through and finish off underneath the blossom. Voila! There's your poppy.

Measure the ribbon to your wearer's wrist, or take a measurement with a string. Note that with the snap closure, 3/8" of the bracelet will overlap. You want the bracelet to be pretty snug so the poppy won't swing around to the bottom of the wrist. Hem each end of the ribbon by 3/8".

Sew on the snap closure (you could also do a button and cord elastic like many of my other bracelets). Remember that one part of the snap goes on the wrong side of the bracelet, and one part of the snap goes on the right side of the bracelet, as they will overlap.

Sew the poppy to the bracelet in the center.

Finis!

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all have a joyful and bright holiday! I will be taking a bit of a respite from the blog for recovery's sake. But, trust me, this whole project has my brain churning on other series for next year. Can't wait to share my ideas with you!

Day 23: A Rhinestone Circle - a diy pendant necklace

2011-12-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

Oh, what can I say about this one? I love it. I don't know if its the sparkle, or the robin's egg blue, or the delicate white ribbon, but I just want to put it on. Part of me is sorry that I didn't post this one sooner, so you all could have made this as a xmas gift for someone you love. Part of me is sorry that I didn't make a bunch of these for loved ones, myself. Well, how about a New Year's gift, or a just-because gift, or do-it-with-your-daughter over the week after Christmas craft? In fact, take the time to craft many of the pieces in the collection and you'll be all glammed up and well-entertained!

Actually, I do know a big reason that I like this pendant. When I first designed it, I did the pendant as a tear drop. I kept looking at it thinking, I don't like it. I should like it. I don't like it. . . I even went so far as to start taking the tutorial photos for the tear drop pendant, with resistance the whole time. It never ceases to amaze me, however, how one little design tweak can change your feeling about something altogether. All of a sudden, with no warning, I just cut the top off of the tear drop and it happened. That place in my gut that warms fiercely when I love how something looks started to glow.

Yep, I love it. This definitely is one of those pieces that makes my making-place hum. I hope it does for you too.

For more pretty jewelry ideas, check out the gallery of glam that I've been posting all through December by clicking below.

Materials:

100% wool felt

Thread

1/8" ribbon (36")

Rhinestone trim (attached rhinestones)

Needle

Scissors

Craft glue

Time: 40 minutes

Cut TWO approximately 1" diameter circles of 100% wool felt. I used the inside of an electrical tape spool as my guide.

Cut enough rhinestone trim to outline your circle. In my case, it was 10 connected stones.

Sew rhinestones to the felt by stitching in between each stone, bringing the needle up and down as close to the attachment point of the rhinestones as possible. There will be two rhinestones that won't be attached, as that was where the trim was cut.

With craft glue, glue the two unattached rhinestones to the felt to be in line with the remainder of the circle.

Now, you have a circle with the rhinestones fully attached.

Cut your 36" of 1/8" ribbon in half. Fold down approximately 1/4" of the ribbon.

Attach the ribbon to the back of the necklace, bringing the needle up in the same area in which you attached the rhinestones. I bring the needle down across an attachment point in between rhinestones and through the felt and ribbon.

Finish off the thread and trim the excess ribbon from the folded tail. Repeat adding the ribbon on the other side, such that the ribbons are at approximately 10 and 2 on a clock face.

Apply glue to your other 1" circle. The two circles should be identical in size.

Apply the felt circle to the back of the pendant to stiffen the backing and to hide your stitch work.

Finis!

Oh dear, tomorrow is the last day - I am awfully sad and awfully excited at the same time. There's a great project for tomorrow, but its hard to believe the series is almost done. This has been such a rewarding experience. I hope you all have enjoyed it as much as I have.

Day 22: A Crystal Wrap - a diy bracelet tutorial

2011-12-22T06:34:00.000-08:00

I love this crystal trim–its inexpensive and very twinkly. From the moment I saw it, I wanted to make this wrap bracelet. I started by trying to tack it to ribbon. It wasn't stiff enough to carry it off, which is how I ended up with the ruffle necklace. Its twinkle led me to use it for the sparkle headbands, too. But, still, I was determined! to make the wrap bracelet. I'm like a bulldog when I get an idea in my head, so the search was on. I found this 1/4" cotton twill tape in my ribbon box and thought it might be stiff enough to do the trick. The tape has been floating around my stash for a while - never long enough to wrap a package, but clearly waiting for something. It found its home. I love the thin wrap and the sparkle the crystal (okay, plastic!) adds.

The plastic crystal trim is easy to find and buy inexpensively at a craft store in the ribbon section. The thin twill tape is trickier. I found lots of 3/8" cotton twill tape online and in the craft store, but had a hard time sourcing the cotton twill tape I had used. If you know of a good source, let me know! Here is the 3/8" version, which I also love. It also shows you the crystal (plastic ;)) button I used for closure on both bracelets.

Together, they just look so Christmasy, don't they? My kiddos are getting so excited - only 3 more days until Christmas morning. When I see their joy, I can't help but be extra excited myself. I am looking forward to taking a few days off to concentrate just on my family. I love my blog, but as you can see from poking around it, doing a tutorial every day for 24 days is definitely an increase in my posting pace! I can't tell you how much fun this has been though - lots of new readers (with beautiful blogs themselves), fun comments and great ideas! So thanks to all of you for participating with me.

If you want to find more easy-to-make jewelry gifts, check out the 24 days of glam: advent gifts for girls gallery by clicking below.

Materials:
1/4 or 3/8" cotton twill tape (enough to wrap wrist 4x plus an inch - 36 inches or so for my daughter)
Plastic crystal trim (on a spool)
Needle
Thread
1" piece of cord elastic
Plastic crystal button

Time: 40 minutes

Hem approximately 1/2 inch of the twill tape to start. Just as a note, when I use embroidery floss (DMC 25) to do a project like this, I used two strands of the six-stranded floss.

Tack on the crystal trim by stitching in between each bead.

Let the bracelet fall as you stitch so you are stitching the beads with the twill tape curved as it would be around your wrist.

When you get close to the end, remeasure around the wearer's wrist or compare one more time to the measurement you took (remembering that you still need to fold over another 1/2 inch of tape). I've mentioned this before, but as these are all advent gifts for my daughter, I surreptitiously measured her wrist with a twist tie early on.

To finish, cut the crystal trim and hem 1/2 an inch of the twill tape. Trim the remaining length of excess twill tape, if any.

To make the closure, fold a 1" piece of cord elastic in half and sew to the wrong side of on end of the bracelet.

Make sure to go through the elastic a number of times.

Whip stitch around the elastic to hold in place and finish neatly, going in between the beads nicely on the other side.

Here it is from the front.

Attach the button to the other end of the bracelet.

Finis!

We're almost to the end. I have a twinkly pendant and a lush bracelet coming up–two of my favorites in the collection. See you tomorrow!

Day 21: A Bow Headband - a diy hair accessory

2011-12-21T07:14:00.000-08:00

Whether they come on packages, or in hair, or lying down the back of a dress, ribbons and bows just hit that happy place for me - so pleasing. I can't decide if its the shape, or the sheen, or just the promise of untying it at some point. Bows make everything seem a gift. I think the wrapped embroidery thread gives this headband an extra elegance. Take the bow away, and an embroidery thread-wrappped headband is a great accessory for a woman of any age. You add the bow, and you have perfect holiday party fare for the little girl in your life. The gold sheen of the DMC 5 cotton pearl embroidery thread adds an extra sparkle to this.

This bow actually came from a pair that I originally made for barrettes, which I mentioned the bow bracelet post, going back to Day 2. But, I think they've added double the fun by being split and made into their own bit of fun. This tutorial takes a bit longer to make because of the thread wrapping, but it takes less time than you might think - so give it a whirl!

As always, click below or here for more glammy goodness:

Materials:

Headband (with no teeth)

1 1/2" wired ribbon (apprx 18")

DMC 5 Cotton Pearl Embroidery Thread (1 skein)

Needle

Craft Glue

Time: 1 hour

Headband with teeth worked for the Sparkle Headbands tutorial because the sparseness they caused the wrap to have ended up being hidden by the sparkles. Here, you need the no teeth headband variety, so the wrap looks smooth with great coverage.

Glue embroidery thread to the end of your headband.

Place some additional glue on the back of the headband and start wrapping. Adjust the wraps to look as nice as possible at the end. That's the trickiest part.

Now, wrap away. Try not to overlap the threads, but have the lines of thread lie next to each other. I wrap a bunch and then compress them towards the beginning.

They should be snug, without space in between the thread.

Continue to the end, adding glue at the back of the headband. Finish by wrapping back up a few twists and gluing the thread to the back of the headband.

Make the bow:
Make two loops.

Cross the two loops.

Bring the right hand loop over and through the hole.

Grasp that right hand loop and let the tails flip over the top. The left hand loop will rotate. It should look something like this.

Tighten and loosen and play with it until it looks like you want.

Trim the ends at a diagonal.

Now, attach the bow to the headband by sewing around the headband and through the bow. I place the bow off center to end on the side of the wearer's head. Catch some of the wrapped part of the headband as well so the bow stays in place.

Finish it off underneath the headband.

Finis!

Well, I showed the whole jewelry collection to the 11, 10, and 9 year old girl cousins we are staying with here in Utah. They said their favorites of all of them are days 22, 23, and 24. I've saved some of the best for last. I'm so excited to show them to you!

Day 20: A Rosette Bracelet - a diy jewelry tutorial

2011-12-20T06:03:00.000-08:00

I was working to put my ribbon box back in order, which is in utter chaos after this series of projects, when I discovered this beautiful, gray and pink cotton ribbon lying next to each other. Gray and pink are so lovely together. After seeing them side-by-side, I just had to make something with them. This bracelet is the result.

The two cotton ribbons are basted together and the rosette is gray wool felt. I used this dragonfly button for the closure, which has been hanging around waiting to go on the perfect hand knit sweater. But, alas, despite many hand knits, it just never seemed to work out for the little dragonfly. Little did I know, my two dragonfly buttons were hanging out in my button jar for just the right thing–it just turned out to be for jewelry. I used the other dragonfly on this bow bracelet.

I made the bracelet without the rhinestone in the blossom to start, but it needed that little extra oompf, so I added it at the end. I feel like this bracelet is particularly girly. I like adding the flower off-center. This feels like a party bracelet, and I'm wishing you lots of girly parties in your lives!

If you'd like to see more easy-to-make jewelry designs, look at my gallery for the 24 Days of Glam Event, it will keep you and the girls in your life inspired and busy making for weeks!

Materials
6 - 8" of 1" cotton ribbon (try carta, inc for gorgeous ribbon)
6 - 8" of 5/8"cotton ribbon
100% wool felt
Scissors
Needle
Thread (contrasting and complimentary)
1 rhinestone or bead
Craft glue
Button for closure
1-1/2" elastic cord for closure

Time: 45 minutes

Measure your wearer's wrist and add an inch. I did this, very sneakily, with a long twist tie and used this measurement for all of the bracelets I've made for A. Because I added the rhinestone at the end, it and craft glue are not pictured in the materials above.

Baste your ribbon together. You can do this with a contrasting color as I did or in a similar color. Next time, I might try two row of smaller stitches along the outside edges of the gray ribbon.

Stitch a hem at each end of the bracelet by folding 1/2" over. I stitch at 3/8" and trim the remainder.

Add the closure. I used this cute little dragonfly button.

Make a loop in the elastic cord and sew it to the back of the bracelet, making sure you go through the elastic a few times to secure. I usually whip stitch around the cord afterwards, to make it look nicer.

Make the rosette.

Start by cutting out five approximately 1-1/4" - 1-1/2" circles out of 100% wool felt.

You will be making petals out of each of the circles.

Some of the petals you can make this way, by folding the circle in quarters

Some of the petals you can make this way, by sandwiching the circle into a clover shape. I made the center of the flower this way.

After you fold a circle, stitch it through its corner to hold its shape.

At the end of petal making, you should have a pile of these.

Now, stitch them to one another, starting with a center and looping in a outside petal. Add another petal to the rosette and continue until all the petals are used. Shape it as you go and by adding stitches where necessary to form it.

When you finish attaching all the petals, and shaping some, you have your rosette.

I glued the rhinestone into the rosette in an off-center spot.

Now, attach the rosette to the bracelet. I stitched it on off-center, but you could add it in the center if you'd like.

Finis!

Party on, friends!

Day 19: Double Dotty Hair Bands - a diy hair accessory

2011-12-19T05:05:00.000-08:00

When I was little, I had these bright white, red and pink double button Hello Kitty hairbands. I was a pigtail or double braid kind of girl and you rarely found me without those Hello Kitty binders. At least, that's that's the way I remember it. I vividly recall having to do my hair every day and yelling at my mom about it regularly. Curly hair and brushes don't mix well. Don't you just cringe at the things you did to your mom that happen to you on a regular basis now?

My Hello Kitty binders inspired me to create these sweet little pink double binders, which will hopefully make A more willing to let me put those pig tails in and bear with the brushing while she's at it.

I've promised multiple people to show how all the jewelry I've been making actually looks on a wearer in real life. I will snap some photos of A wearing all these goodies in the new year so you can see. In the mean time, here's how they'll look around a pig tail - cute!

Obviously, you can make these button hair bands so many different ways. These are the ones I made earlier in the month. I just couldn't let the whole advent go by without giving her more of them. They're just too cute and fun to make. The bigger ones below are made with 7/8" size. The double buttons binders use the 1/2" size.

For more great hair accessory and jewelry designs, pop over to this page to review the 24 Days of Glam gallery.

Materials:

Scrap fabric

Elastic hair bands

Needle nose pliers

Button making kit (1/2" size or size 20)

Time: 20 minutes

Make four buttons in desired fabric. The kits make it so easy, but I find everything easier to follow with photos.

Place your scrap of fabric over the rubber base.

Take the domed button top and press it into the fabric.

Fold the fabric into the center and place the back on top of the fabric.

Press down on the button back with the blue tool until you hear/feel a click of the back into place.

Remove the button from the base. Repeat three more times.

Now, take the needle nose pliers and squeeze the ends of the band together to make a point small enough to fit through the hole on the back of the button. Pull the hair band through the back.

Pull the other loop of the hair band over the first one you pulled through.

Tighten.

Putting the button on this side is slightly different. Squeeze the hair band.

Pull through the button back.

For this one, pull the loop of the hair band you just pulled through out a bit.

Flip the buttons over and pull the loop you just pulled through over the top of the button.

Tighten.

Finis!

I think these are really cute. A and I will have a ball whipping up a bunch of these together, mixing and matching fabric scraps and hair bands. We'll have an entire collection that will make us thrilled to do our hair in the morning, right? right?

Tomorrow, is a fun new bracelet that I think you're going to love.