Scrub cap!

Here is one of the scrub caps I made for school, as modeled by my lovely assistant :)

 

 

This same lovely assistant destroyed the pattern that I was planning to use to make the scrub cap.... so I had to wing it a little.

crocheted market bag

Now I'm ready for the beach or the market, with this simple crocheted market bag!

 

 

I single crocheted the base of the bag, into a circle, double crocheted the height of the bag, and single crocheted the handle.

 

Back to class tomorrow!  I can't believe how fast winter break went... Hopefully I'll get a chance to share some of the crafting & sewing projects I did over break with you soon :)

DIY beaded necklace!

I was so excited when House of Gems contacted me about an amazing opportunity, in which they provided me with all the supplies I needed to make a DIY jewelry project! 

 

There were so many gorgeous beads to choose from, but I particularly loved the Iolite gemstone beads. 

 

DIY Iolite gemstone necklace

(For a list of supplies please scroll to the bottom of this post)

 

 1) Cut 14" of beading wire & string the Iolite beads in this order:

teardrop, *roundelle, round, roundelle, teardrop* (repeat order of beads between the *s until the strand is 9.5" long.

 

 

 

2) Cut 12.5" of beading wire & string the Iolite beads in this order: 

*round, 2 roundelle*, repeat 6 times. 

Add a Sterling silver satin oval bead

then add Iolite beads:*2 roundelle, round*, repeat 3 times

then 1 roundelle bead

Add another Sterling silver satin oval bead

then Iolite beads: *2 roundelle, round* repeat 6 times

(total length of stringed beads is approximately 8 inches)



 3) Cut 12" of beading wire & string Iolite beads in this order:

*teardrop, round, teardrop, Sterling silver round stardust spacer* repeat 7 times

finish strand with Iolite beads: teardrop, round, teardrop

(total length of beaded strand is approximately 7")

 

4) Attach ends of beading wire (from steps 1-3) to the Sterling silver connectors, using crimping beads in order listed below.  *The beading wire I chose couldn't be threaded through the beads a 2nd time (to hide the tail of the wire once connected) so using a slightly smaller diameter of beading wire may give a more finished look* (House of Gems has a nice selection of beading wire to choose from!)

 

The strand from step 1 is the longest, and should be connected to the lowest of the 3 connecting loops on both sides

 

The strand from step 2 should be connected to the 2 middle loops, and the strand from step 3 should be connected to the top loops.

 

 

5) Next, cut two 6 inch strands of bulk chain, and attach a split ring to each of the 4 ends of chain

6) Now, attach the split rings on one end of each of the 2 strands of chain to the loop on the connector (opposite of the side where the beads were attached)

7) Finally, attach a Sterling silver spring ring on one of the loose strands of the bulk chain (that has a split ring on it)

 

 

Supplies from House of Gems:

Sterling silver satin oval beads 4x6 mm

Sterling silver 2mm crimp beads

Sterling silver split ring 4mm

Sterling silver connector 2x8mm 3 rows

Sterling silver bulk chain small curb light weight (1.2x1.9mm)

Sterling silver spring ring findings 5mm

Sterling silver round stardust spacer findings 2.5mm

Iolite beads faceted center drilled teardrop 5x8mm

Iolite beads smooth round shape ~3mm

Iolite beads faceted roundelle shape 5mm

Soft touch beading wire - stainless steel nylon coated 30 ft (0.019 inch diameter)

 

 

Thank you House of Gems!

 

 



Sea Glass

A couple more sea glass pendants that I made :)

 

sea glass pendant



sea glass pendant



Crocheted hats!

I've been crocheting on my study breaks lately, & here are 3 of my most recent projects!

 

I'm probably going to add cute faces/designs onto the ear flap hats when I get home from school (aka when I have access to different colors of yarn)

 

crocheted hats!

 

 

More crochet projects to come!

Burlap & Lace Wreath

I've been wanting to make a burlap wreath for so long!  But always forget about them when I actually get to the store, so it was perfect that I nearly walked into everything I needed for the project as it was set up on a cute display in the center of the aisle :)

 

burlap & lace wreath

 

I wasn't quite sure how to wrap the burlap, but thanks to the internet, found lots of helpful instructions.  I bought a medium sized wire frame for the wreath, and one roll of the burlap which had an overlay of lace attached to it.  I can't remember how long the rolls were... but it turns out I needed 2.  You could easily cut your own strips of burlap instead of using the rolls of it, which I may do in the future.

 

After securing the burlap, I attached a couple silk flowers to the wreath and that was it!  Super quick project, it took about 10-15 minutes to make. 

Sea glass charms!

Some of my most recent sea glass charms!

 

sea glass pendants

 

I absolutely love making these :)

Doily garland!

Last winter, I helped make decorations for my friends baby shower :)  Her nursery colors were blue & orange, and let me tell you, I found it pretty tricky to get orange decorations at the store.  So, I bought some white paper doilies and some orange Rit dye and made my own.  I poured enough of the dye in the bottom of my pot (that I use only for craft projects) and added water to it, so it was probably about a 50:50 solution.

 

Mixed that all together, then added each doily individually into the mixture, making sure they were covered with the dye on both sides, and were not touching each other.  (I could dye about 3 at a time in my container) 

 

GLOVES came in handy :)  Though I do believe I still had an orange finger in the end.

 

Each doily was probably only in the dye about 5-10 seconds, then I took them out and set them on a stack of old rags so they could air dry.

 

Once they were dry, I cut a long piece of kite string and strung the doilies onto it.  After the spacing looked OK, I added scotch tape to the back of the doily (over the string) to keep it all in place.

 

DIY Orange doily garland!

 

It was so much fun to make :)

 

Didn't get a picture of them hanging on the wall though, oh well.

cloth towel "wet bin"

Hubby & I have been using cloth "paper towels" lately and cloth napkins.  To avoid having to run to the laundry bin after each meal, we now have a wet bin under our kitchen sink.  I empty this out whenever I do laundry, or if it gets full.

 

I used a plastic coffee container, and Mod Podge to add a strip of fabric for a little more decorative look, and also to easily identify the bin.

Men's crocheted slippers

Here are the finished crocheted slippers I made for hubby!  I sure hope they fit :)  Now we have "his & hers"  slippers haha.

 

crocheted men's slippers
 

It has been a rough last couple of weeks.  This past week we had exams in nearly every class... and of course, my body decided to get ridiculously sick the weekend before.  Needless to say, I got very behind & wasn't able to study like I wanted to (& without being able to study... that means I didn't get crafting study breaks!)

 

I am hoping to get caught up soon & will hopefully get my crafty time back :)  But in the mean time... I have lots of notes to go over (and ink stains to remove from laundry... fell asleep on colored pens & highlighters lol, yup).

Sea glass!

Took a little stroll at the beach and found these.  I'm so excited to make sea glass jewelry out of them this summer.  A couple of the pieces are quite large, which I was thinking might look cool in a jar or around a candle or something, we'll see.  I'd love to hear your ideas :)

 

Crocheted slippers: Complete!

I am SO happy to have knitting and crocheting supplies with me at school.  I've been going through my yarn quicker than I thought I would though.  I'm not sure if/where you can get things like yarn here, so fortunately one of my classmates is in the States this weekend & she's bringing me back some!  Classwork will be getting crazier with each passing day, so who knows if my craft time will continue... but hopefully!  It's how I unwind :)

 

 

Crocheted ballet style slippers

 

Here are my completed crocheted slippers!  They are pretty nice to wear during lectures in our cold classrooms :)  I told hubby I made myself some slippers, his response?  "Are you making me some next?"  How cute :)  I had no idea he'd want a pair.  Obviously his won't be Mary Jane or ballet slipper style, I'll have to find a more manly pattern.

 

Update: Check out hubby's crocheted slippers!

Crocheted slippers!

My 1st week of the semester is almost to an end, and I luckily had some time to crochet!  The classroom we're in this term is super cold, but since it's really hot outside, I always wear flip flops.  So, I crocheted some slippers to wear during lecture :)  It took me two evenings worth of study breaks to make them.  I'll post pictures of the final products soon, but here is the base of it!

 

Crocheted slippers in progress

 

I wore the slippers in class today, and they helped a little bit.  I'm currently working on knitting some fingerless glove type things, so hopefully I can add that to my classroom attire soon!  (maybe a hat and scarf too haha, we'll see)

 

Tomorrow, I may bring my fleece blanket.

Baby boots! (or slippers)

I had so much fun making these little boots for my sweet little niece :)

 

Trendy boots for babies and toddlers!

 

Since I don't know much about baby and toddler sizing, I traced my nieces foot before making these.  Then, I found an image of a toddler sized shoe sole and printed it so it was slightly longer than her foot measurements (heel to toe) to allow for seam allowances and some growth.  I looked at patterns for the toe portion of the boot and changed them up so they would work together with the sole.  Then, I used paper to draw out the rest of the pattern.  It took a bit of tweaking before the pieces worked together :)

 

The buttons are decoration.  I sewed in Velcro closures, so the boots open up all the way down to the sole.

Old towel = New heating pad

I got some cute scrub tops on sale this weekend, but have yet to sew the tops that I bought fabric for.  Today I cut a pattern (based on a top that fits me well) and fabric for one top.  Here's hoping it goes together nicely :)

 

The weekend went quick, but I did fit a little sewing in... making a rice heating pad for my Mom.  My Grandma has hers right now, and I just thought it'd be crazy to run to the store to buy another one... when they're really easy to make (and MUCH cheaper to DIY).

 

I folded an old hand towel in half lengthwise and stitched it into a tube.  I then added handles on each side, leaving a small opening on one end to add rice into the newly formed pouch.

 

 

 

After the rice was added, I stitched up the hole.  That was that!  I think it turned out kind of cute, especially for recycling old household items :)

 

Started another knitting project since I bought MORE yarn this weekend, lol.

 

Simple, inexpensive DIY key rack

10% off in my ETSY store for a limited time!  Coupon code:  HappyFall

 

We've needed a key rack for a LONG time now.  I just wanted something very simple and plain but never found what I was looking for in the stores (at least not for a reasonable price).

 

After losing my keys for the 1000th time the other day, it was time to head to the hardware store!

 

 

We bought an unfinished strip of wood (it was 2" wide 36" long and 1" thick?) they had several dimensions to choose from.

 

DIY Key Rack in 7 steps:

1) Cut wood to desired length (ours is hanging below an 8X10 picture frame... so we made it the same width of the base of the frame)

 

2) Decide how many hooks you need, and mark their spacing on the wood

 

3) Drill holes (smaller than the screw on the hooks) where you marked your hook locations

 

4)  Sand the edges of the wood

 

5)  Stain the wood & let thoroughly dry

 

6) Add wall mounts (I just drilled 2 holes at an angle in the back of the wood)

 

7) Add hooks on front & hang on the wall!

 

 

The hardest part??  FINDING my keys... to put on the rack :)  hahaha.  Haven't lost them since though!

 

 

SIDE NOTE:  Price out the hooks when bought individually, or in a variety pack!  We saved about $6-8 by getting a variety pack of hooks (we did end up making a couple of key racks) rather than buying the hooks in smaller packs.  Now we have extra too for future projects!  

Also, we used squared off hooks rather than the classic rounded hook for a slightly different look.

Luggage Tags!

I hate the mad search for my suitcase after a flight.  I get all excited, thinking I see mine rounding the corner of the conveyor belt... only to be let down (and fear the worst... that it didn't make the connection!).  In the past, I've put pom poms and strings on my bags to help identify them, but now have something new.

These make it really easy to spot a bag!  I'm not sure which one I'm going to use yet, but I've posted all of these on etsy :) 

 

Check out my new Etsy shop CrazyBeagle  (update:  I have LOTS of new tags available now!)

 

These could also be used to label diaper bags, camera bags, laptop cases.... and so much more

 

Or, how about as a gift tag?  Lots of options!

DIY pom pom luggage id

We're heading on a trip soon, and I have been procrastinating on packing, big time.  I haven't put much inside the bag, but I have been making pom poms to identify my luggage from the outside!   (the muted toned yarn I have on the suitcase handles needed an upgrade)

Here's a simple DIY tutorial for making luggage pom poms

Supplies:  scissors, thin ribbon, fabric (I used stretchy scraps from a swimsuit I made in the past)



1) Cut long strips of fabric (about 1/2" wide)

2)  Decide how long you want the pom pom strings to be on one side.  Double that width.  Find something of that width to wrap your long strips of fabric around, over and over (see below)

3) Tie a ribbon tightly into a knot around the center of your fabric bundle (in my pic above, the knot went between my ring and middle fingers.  *Leave a long tail of the ribbon so it can later be attached to your bag*

4) Cut the loops (see below)

5) For extra security that the strips of fabric won't loosen and fall out, take 1 strand from each side of the ribbon knot and tie them together.  *Repeat* with all strands, this secures the ball, and fluffs it out better.

Cases for glasses in 4 steps!

Things have been a bit crazy around here, but I finally got a project done that has been bugging me for awhile.  Making cases for our 3D glasses.

I love the basket they're in (it held tissues in handmade cases at our wedding) but storing them this way makes them more susceptible to scratches and fingerprints.

To protect these babies, I made glasses sleeves for each pair.  Super simple, and quick.

4 simple steps to make cases for glasses

1) Size up the glasses & cut 2 rectangles (leaving a seam allowance)

Make sure you cut enough fabric for each pair of glasses!

2) Fold the top (short edge) under and stitch, to form a nice finished edge.  Do this to both pieces before sewing the rectangles together.  * I used decorative stitches to do this, so the cases look a little different *

3) Sew the fabric together (right sides together) by sewing the 3 remaining edges (leaving the top part open)

4) Trim seams, flip right side out, and repeat for all additional glasses cases

I used snaps to keep the glasses from sliding out of their cases, which is optional.

Some of the cases are in zebra print, that's to tell the 2D glasses from the 3D sets.  (the 2D glasses convert a 3D movie back into the regular style, so those who don't do 3D can still enjoy watching.  The 2D glasses were easy to make and way cheaper than buying pre-made)

I may need to make some more of these... my sunglasses sure taking a beating in my purse next to keys and spare change.

Pacifier clips

Almost a year ago I saw a tutorial for pacifier clips on Running With Scissors blog.  I thought they were so cute so of course I bookmarked the page and put it on my "to do" project list.  They can be used for a lot of other things too, not just pacifiers!
My clips are slightly different than her tutorial, but it's the same idea.

Update:  My sewing machine is still broken... I'll be taking it to a different repair shop tomorrow.  Fingers crossed! 

On a side note, I started crocheting a blanket.