'Tis the Season for Gardening!

Well I got up this morning feeling a little down. It was drizzling and that meant that we could not start our Christmas decorations. It was a bit of a pain, but one thing really brighten up my day. When I went out this morning my morning glory vine bloomed, for the very first time. It is just beautiful. There are a couple vines all growing on the same pole in front of my house, but this blossom is growing on the largest of the vines. I am just beyond thrilled. I did not plant these vines too long ago and already they are looking beautiful.

In other great flowering news, my azaleas are blooming. I have mini azaleas growing in front of my house. They were planted by the previous owner and bloom every year. They are not diseased it was just drizzling when I took the picture. I love the azaleas when they are in bloom, such a beautiful color. When they are not in bloom they do look subtly boring. Well I live in a small guest house on my parent's property, so they have their own garden, which I do help with from time to time. In there garden they have a sub citrus garden. Well their oranges are becoming ripe and it is wonderful! This is a picture of a piece of fruit we picked this morning. I am so proud of this orange it was beautiful, tasty, and I thought, could have been sold in a grocery store. YEA for gardening. Flowers are beautiful and inviting but it is hard to compare them to how satisfying eating the fruits of your labor are.

Yours in DIY-Glory

Ly

Amigurumi Galore

Well I have been crocheting, obviously. Many of these patterns came from various amigurumi books, but some I did find online.In the picture there is a mouse, gnome, 2 aliens, 2 mario mushrooms, geisha, hippo, dragon, piece of sushi, and a lone octopus. I have many more crocheted cuties coming up!!!

Yours in DIY Glory,

Ly

Handmade Owl Stamp

I recently saw a tutorial link on one of my favorite blogs, Dollar Store Crafts. The article linked to Obsessively Stitching's post on how to make handmade rubber stamps! Well I had some spare easers on hand and I decided to try out this craft. I am currently obssessed with owls! I even want to decorate my future classroom (currently a teaching major) with owls. Well I carved out the design with a tack and a loom hook. I do not have the cuticle remover that the blog suggests. This is a fun crafts. I suggest it! I may make some more stamps, who knows! Haha, thank you and Happy Vetrans Day!

Yours in DIY-Glory,

Ly

Polyer Beads and Charms

One of my friends recently gave me some polymer clay. I had never used it before, but it was alot of fun. I made some tie dyed beads from some of the little projects that I messed up. I also made a flower charm, flower button, two cupcakes, a few rosettes, and a lollipop. I know you can not see it all from the picture, but I enjoy the artsy feeling of the picture. Well I enjoyed this craft very much. If anyone knows any good polymer clay websites or tutorials I would love to know about them. =]

Yours in Noob-Glory,

Ly

Upcycled Cat-Scratch Post

Well my family has 2 very playful kittens and my sister and I decided to make a scratching post for them. We went to GoodWill and bought a $3 cabinet then covered it with carpet left over from my parents' house. The hardest thing was cutting the board for the bottom. I found a piece of wood at my father's house, but had no knowledge of how to use his power tools. I ended up using a hand saw and gravity (my sister kicked the piece apart) to cut it. The whole thing was pulled together with a nail gun. It was a blast to make and you can not argue with a $3 cat scratch post! The kitten in the picture is our girl cat, Harlow, she is the main occupant of the scratch post.

Yours in DIY Glory,

Ly

Batman Afghan

If you are like a good portion of Americans you were swept up in the hype of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Thousands of people suddenly became Batman fans, while the die-hards fans complained that they were just doing what was "in". My boyfriend is one of those complaining die-hard fans. Haha, I know it is rather early, but I crocheted this Batman afghan as his Christmas present. I purchased this pattern from Cozy Concepts on etsy. That shop is WONDERFUL! There are so many patterns and if you buy 2 patterns you get one free.
I really LOVE this afghan, this is the first BIG crochet project I have ever done. I also used (mostly) Caron Eco Soft yarn (black and red) and Caron Simply Soft yarn (grey). It is hard to believe how comfy this afghan is. I am quite pleased with this afghan. I am not sure what my next afghan will be, but they sure are fun to make and rewarding at the end.

Yours in DIY Glory,
Ly

Cross Stitched Green Bags

I am very very new to cross stitching. I saw all the

supplies at JoAnn's and decided to try out cross stitching. There is some BEAUTIFUL cross stitching examples online and I felt inspired!! Well I cross stitched the orange ghostie from Pac-Man on the green bag. It made the green bag seem a bit more personalized. Now remember this is like my first try. Hopefully this is something that will come to me over time. If anyone has any links to cross stitch patterns or tutorials I would LOVE to see them!

Yours in Noob-Glory,

Ly

Cali-Cat Amigurumi With Original Pattern

Cali-Cat Amigurumi With Original Pattern
Well I decided to write an original cat crochet amigurumi pattern. It was amazing to me how few cat patterns are out there. This pattern is makes a tiny cat that is perfect for a nice gift. I used Suncatcher eyes and nose. If you have not checked out Suncatcher eyes (http://www.suncatchereyes.com/) you really need to! They are wonderful and look a thousand times better than felt (in my opinion). They are great! This is called a “Cali-Cat” because made this cat for a friend named Calinda.

Cali-Cat Crochet Pattern
Hook: 3.5mmYarn
I used: Red Heart Super Saver White
Extras I used: Suncatcher Eyes 9mm & 12mm nose, Ribbon for a neck bow

Head (White Yarn)
Ch 2
Rnd 1: Sc 4 into stitch furtherer from the hook [4]
Rnd 2: Sc 2 in every stitch [8]
Rnd 3: *Sc 1 in first st, Sc 2 in the next st* repeat around[12]
Rnd 4: *Sc 1 in 2 sts, Sc 2 in the next st* repeat around [16]
Rnd 5-Rnd 6: Sc 1 in every st [16]
If you have clip on face accessories you can attach them now, or in the next round
Rnd 7: *Sc 1 in 2 sts, Sc 2 tog* repeat around [12]
Stuff head now, or after the next round
Rnd 8: *Sc 1 in 1 st, Sc 2 tog* repeat around [8]
Rnd 9: *Sc 2 tog* around [4]
F/O leaving a tail to sew

Body (White Yarn)

Ch 2
Rnd 1: Sc 4 into stitch furtherer from the hook [4]
Rnd 2; Sc 2 into every st repeat around[8]
Rnd 3: *Sc 1 in 1 st, Sc 2 in next st* repeat around[12]
Rnd 4: *Sc 1 in 2 sts, Sc 2 in next st* repeat around[16]
Rnd 5: *Sc 1 in 3 sts, Sc 2 in the next st* repeat around[20]
Rnd 6: Sc 1 in every stitch [20]
Rnd 7: *Sc 1 in 3 st, Sc 2 tog* repeat around[16]
Rnd 8: *Sc 1 in 2 sts, Sc 2 tog* repeat around[12]
Rnd 9: *Sc 1 in 1 sts, Sc 2 tog* repeat around[8]
Rnd 10: *Sc 2 tog* repeat around [4]
F/O Weave in Yarn

Legs (Make 4) (White Yarn)

Ch 2
Rnd 1: Sc 4 into stitch furtherer from the hook [4]
Rnd 2: *Sc 1 in 1 st, Sc 2 in next st* repeat around[6]
Rnd 3-Rnd 4: Sc 1 in every stitch [6]
If you are using a thick yarn you may find that you do not need to stuff the legs.
F/o with a tail to sew

Tail
Ch 15 F/o

Assembly: Sew all the pieces together. For the tail you may need a little hot glue to secure it. Cut out two triangles for ear. Glue them to the cat’s head. I added a bow around the kitty’s neck. You can add whiskers and other features if you would like.
If you find any problems or have suggestions for this pattern please comment and tell me.

Yours in DIY Glory,
Ly

New Chenille Plant

One of my newest DIY project is my front porch area. Half of my porch is screened in, I wanted to add some color and elegance to that part of my porch. I had to consider the amount of light the plant would get. The woman at ACE Harware told me about this lovely Chenille. I think it is the wackiest looking thing. Definitely a conversational piece. I could play many poisonous caterpillar pranks with this baby. I love it. I think it brings a lot of character to my porch. Hopefully I will find many more awesome plants! Please, if you have any suggestions please send them in a comment. (I live in Jax, FL so it is humid and hot)

Yours in DIY Glory,
Ly

Rabbit Rabbit White Rabbit

When I was little Nickelodeon use to show tiny segments (probably less than a minute) about different holidays. I only remember two of those segments. I remember when they did Christmas and I remember Rabbit Rabbit day. In the segment they said that some people believed that if you say "Rabbit Rabbit" first thing when you wake up at the beginning of a month, you would have good luck for the rest of the month. After, probably 13 years, I finally looked up Rabbit Rabbit day. According to wikipedia it is thought to have originated around the 1800s. The most common way the superstition is seen is saying either "Rabbit Rabbit White Rabbit" or "Rabbit Rabbit" at the beginning of each month for luck. [Read the entire article]

Well today is Oct. 1, 2009 and today I have bunnies on the brain. I casually told my father today that it was Rabbit-Rabbit Day and he said he never heard of it before. I explained to him what I remembered from the Nickelodeon special and researched the rest. I decided today to do a bunny craft!

Here is that bunny craft! This is only the 2nd time I have decoupaged. I think I sprayed the gloss too close to the tile, hence the spots. Live and learn =] I cut out a bunny silhouette on regular printer paper and the background is construction paper. I decoupaged them to a $0.29 tile I found at Goodwill! It is currently drying in this picture. Hopefully it will look much nicer tomorrow when it is done. Sorry for the glare.

Yours in chalking-it-up-to experience glory,
Ly

Tutorial: Pac-Man Ghost Hair Pin

I got this idea about a month ago and these little hair pins have been a huge hit with my friends. They are not price-y at all to make. I make all sorts of hair pins and normal pins, but today you are going to get the tutorial on how to make Pac-man Ghosties.


Surely you know Pac-Man the wonderful arcade game where Pac-Man must run from all the ghosts unless he consumes a special circle thingie that renders them vunerable to him. There was four ghosts: Blinky (red), Pinky (pink), Inky (blue) and Clyde (orange). For this tutorial I will be making Clyde.


Materials:

• 2 felt cut outs of a ghost (same color)


• 2 white felt circle cut outs (for eyes)


• 2 black tiny felt circle cut outs (for pupils)


• Transparent Nylon thread + Needle
  
• Fiberfill or some kind of stuffing


• Hair pin


• Hot glue gun + Hot glue

Price: Hair clip (0.25 cents each), Felt (0.25 cents each, but make many ghosts), everything else on hand

Step 1: Place the two felt ghosties on top of each other

Step 2: Begin sewing the two pieces together, leaving a tiny bit of a border

Step 3: Continue sewing until there is just enough left un-sewn to stuff the ghost

Step 4: Stuff the ghost and sew him shut

Step 5: Ready the glue gun!

Step 6: Glue the Hair pin to the back of the ghost

Step 7: Make sure the ghostie is dry and even before continuing

Step 8: Flip the ghostie over

Step 9: Glue the eyes and pupil onto the ghost

AND YOU ARE FINISHED!!!! Make more ghosts and have a ghostie party!!!! They are great for gifts and really very simple and cheap to make. I hope you liked this tutorial. Comment if you have any questions or comments :)

Yours in DIY Glory,
Ly

Zombies Zombies Zombies

Halloween is about a month away and the world has gone Zombie crazy and I am happy to jump on board. I have been seeing nonstop ads for Zombieland, which comes out this Friday (10.2.09)! The movie has one of my favorite actors Woody Harleson! This movie is guaranteed to have laughs, blood, and guts! All the necessities for a great movie.

I also recently discovered a great PC game, called Plants vs. Zombies. I am officially addicted to this game. In the game you strategically garden your yard to destroy any zombies who dare step on your property. It retails at Wal-mart for $20 dollars and online for $9.99 (comes with no disk).

In the spirit all this brain-munching fun I crocheted a cute little zombie. I used the "Cyber Zombie" pattern in the Creepy Cute Crochet book and added my own violent touches. I made the zombie green, instead of white. Green=dead. I added some exposed brains, an eyeball hanging out of his socket, no hair, and blood squirting out of his arm socket. I thought the Cyber Zombie required a little too much explanation, so I tried to make an amigurumi that was obviously a zombie. I hope you liked my zombie and did not think that I blasphemed the good name of Creepy Cute Crochet. =]

Yours in DIY Glory,

Ly

Decoupage Outlet Covers

My house has lately been feeling a bit boring. Then I suddenly realized it was those bothersome light switch covers. They were just dragging down my house as a whole and I decided it was time to do something about it! Haha, j.k. I got this idea off one of my favorite blogs, Mod Podge Rocks. I thought this would be a GREAT first decoupage project. I did not want to ruin anything terribly expensive. I think I did alright.

This first one to the left was made from a page from a Star Wars Comic book. I am a huge Star Wars fan and am constantly searching for snazzy ways to decorate with Star Wars memorabilia, without being obnoxious about it.

I sprayed painted the heads of the screws I used. I had a really bright cream color painted on the screws and I think the black makes them less noticeable on the designs.

This second one on the right was made from a page of The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass (DS) pamphlet that came with the game. I love The Legend of Zelda series and I think nothing is cuter than the Windwaker/Phantom Hourglass style of the games. The plugs fit perfectly with the picture.

I used a sharp scrap booking knife to cut out the boxes for the switches. I think I found a great deal at Big Lots. $3 for the knife. It is a really nice and super sharp.


For my last plate I used a picture of a painting in an old European History book I had. This has to be my favorite of all the light switches.

For more information on how to make your own decoupaged light switches/outlet plates, or on decoupage in general visit Modge Podge Rocks


Yours in DIY Glory,
Ly