Being Creative (lots of fun projects)

I've been having a fun time the past few days being creative and making things. I think I'm at my happiest when I'm working with my hands, making fun and/or beautiful things.

Here's a cute little blue puppy, Blue from "Blue's Clues." She started as a simple stuffed animal. Since no one in the family had any particular emotional attachment to this particular toy, I figured she qualified for stuffed animal surgery.


I cut a hole in the back, pulled out most of the stuffing (leaving all the stuffing in the head so it wouldn't flop around) and voila - a new puppet! I can put my fingers in the legs and the neck to move it around. The kids really love having a puppet around!



I've been wanting to learn how to make stuffed animals (mostly so I can use that knowledge to make more puppets). I started with a simple pattern for a stuffed mouse. Zaylee has named it Pinky.


I'll be making more stuffed animals, experimenting with different patterns and materials, and eventually hope to be able to draft my own stuffed animal and puppet patterns.


Another fun thing I've made is this rag letter alphabet, based on this tutorial. I was able to use up lots of scrap flannel. The kids like playing with the letters, and Zaylee has been using them to practice spelling. I need to make doubles of some of the letters, so they can write words that have more than one of the same letter.



I'm going to be making the kids some warm winter clothes for Christmas, and on Saturday I started with a cute little shirt for Zaylee. I made a simple pattern using this tutorial, then used that pattern to make a shirt with lettuce edging on the collar and the sleeves.



And then there's this cute little amigurumi-style kokeshi doll that I made using this pattern. How adorable is this?


Amigurumi is a Japanese style of making stuffed knit or crochet toys or figures. And kokeshi dolls are a traditional Japanese doll, usually characterized by a large head, minimal facial features, and the lack of arms or legs. I have a traditional wooden kokeshi doll that I bought when we lived in Japan, and I think they're just so beautiful. So it was fun to find a crochet pattern for this pretty and unique style of doll.

Lots of pictures

First set of pictures - Audrey's first bowl of rice cereal. My baby's growing up!

Hmm, I wonder what Daddy's putting in my mouth.

Whoa, what is this stuff?

Daddy, I love you...

But I'm really not sure how I feel about this goop dripping down my chin.

Actually, she enjoyed her first official solid meal. She's got a bit of learning to do before she gets good at keeping it in her mouth, of course, but she had fun getting good and messy. :-)


Next picture - the completely constructed bookcase, waiting to be sanded and painted.


We just bought a power sander today, and I'm looking forward to giving it a go.


Lastly - the crocheted corsages for my sister Janelle's wedding this weekend. All together, they look like a cheery field of blue and white daisies.


This one is for the Maid of Honor, Janelle's friend Nicole:


These two are for the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom:


And these two are for Marie and Rheanna, the excited younger sisters of the bride:


I made these corsages by crocheting each flower and leaf separately. Then I sprayed them with lavender-scented starch so they would hold their shape (crocheted objects tend to curl up). Next I used hot glue to attach them to two layers of white felt, then I glued a brooch pin to the back.


For scale, here's me wearing one of the corsages:


They're flatter than traditional corsages, but I think they turned out quite pretty. If I find time in the next few days, I might make a couple more for Michelle and I to wear. Putting together the corsages was pretty quick and easy, but crocheting all those flowers and leaves was a lot of painstaking work (especially weaving in the ends, yikes).

All You Crafters...

I know that a lot of crafty folks read my blog - cousins, this especially applies to you guys! I just found out about a really fun craft challenge to participate in, and I thought some of you might be interested. It's called The 12 Month Craft the World Challenge (read about it here), and it looks like it's going to be really cool.

Basically, for the next 12 months, there will be a monthly theme. Each participant interprets the theme however they want and crafts something based on that theme. I plan on crocheting items for my Etsy shop with these themes. But you can do any kind of crafting you want - clothing, scrapbooking, jewelry, art, whatever kind of craft you happen to enjoy doing!

The themes will be:

JUNE 2010 Black & White

JULY 2010 Nature

AUGUST 2010 Music or Michael Jackson

SEPTEMBER 2010 Red

OCTOBER 2010 Shapes

NOVEMBER 2010 Faces

DECEMBER 2010 Water

JANUARY 2011 Shoes

FEBRUARY 2011 Garden

MARCH 2011 Friendship

APRIL 2011 Ice Cream

MAY 2011 Solar System

Gets your creative juices flowing, doesn't it? Anyway, if anyone wants to sign up to do this awesome challenge, head over to The 12 Month Craft the World Challenge. For those who don't care to participate, but would like to see the projects I make for the challenge, I'll be posting them as I complete them on the blog where I post my Etsy stuff, Little Zaylee Creations.

Sock Monkeys

Okay, so Jeff has this total obsession with sock monkeys. He absolutely loves them. Anytime he sees one, he gets this goofy grin on his face and starts giggling.


And honestly, who can blame him? These things are so stinkin' cute!!!

So I when I saw this crochet pattern, I knew I had no choice but to make one for Jeff.


I did change the colors a bit from the pattern, Jeff wanted his hat to be more true to the original sock monkey colors. And I crocheted the eyes instead of using buttons.


How cool is this hat?! I think I might have to make some for me and the kids too.

I can't help it!

I tend get into these crafting-type "phases" where one or two things completely grab my attention and take up all my free time, and it lasts anywhere from a few days to a few months. This isn't something new, I've been like this for years. Some things I've focused on are crocheting, sewing diapers, sewing baby carriers, learning about home decor, stuff like that. Well, now I think I'm in the middle of a new phase, one that isn't focused on one particular craft or style of crafting. I just want to be creative and productive, making something new and working on anything crafty that I can, all the time! I can't help it, I just want to make things.

Here's what I made just yesterday:

- A wet bag. This is a water-resistant bag for holding wet and/or messy cloth diapers until it's time to launder them. It's an alternative to a diaper pail. We have a pail we use, but since we'll be going up to Idaho to visit my family this week I wanted something more portable for holding the used diapers. This bag is made of an inner layer of lab coat fabric (99% polyester and 1% plastic, designed for repelling liquids - Jeff had this old lab coat he didn't use anymore and said I could use it for diaper stuff) and an outer layer of fleece. I'll also be making a second wet bag, so that one can be in use while one is in the laundry.


- This wall hanging. I've had this idea in my head for quite a while. I got this frame with cork board at D.I. several weeks ago, and the blue/green pattern stuff is actually some of that plasticy stuff you stick to windows to block an unpleasant view or increase privacy, also purchased at D.I. I covered the cork board with the window covering stuff, then put it back in the frame. Then I hung it on the wall and hung the clock on it. I really like the way it turned out.


- This lovely necklace. I've been wanting to dress up a bit with accessories. My wardrobe is severely lacking in quantity and variety (having put away all my maternity clothes as well as clothing not appropriate for nursing, and then donated most of my other clothes because they were ill-fitting or hopelessly out of date). So I'm wanting to make little things that add a bit of variety, color, and personality to the things I wear. I crocheted this necklace based on this pattern I found. It was so quick and easy, I might make a couple more in different colors! I wore it to church today and felt very pretty.



Then today after church I made another crochet necklace. This one is more of a chunky choker, where the other was more delicate chains. I used this pattern for this one, using a bold dark red. I'm learning that accessories can be so much fun!



As you might be able to tell, I'm having a ton of fun with this latest "phase" of mine. However, I look around the house and wonder if maybe my next "phase" should be cleaning...

New Dresses for Zaylee

Zaylee has decided that it's about time to outgrow all her favorite dresses. Choosing something for her to wear on Sundays has become somewhat of a challenge because most of her dresses are far too short to be considered modest, even on a four-year-old. Plus, it's too cold for immodestly short dresses anyway.

My solution has been to make her some new dresses. Why buy something when I can get creative and make it! Zaylee loves getting new clothes, and it's so special to her to be able to say that it's something Mommy made just for her.

First up is this sweet crocheted dress. A long time ago I crocheted her a little yellow and white dress with a big flower (here). She has loved that dress ever since I made it for her, but it's midway up her thigh now and getting to be a tight squeeze in the torso, so I decided it was time to make her a new one. The pattern has adjustments for sizes 2 through 10, so I did a size 6 and it fits her great with some extra growing room. This time I made it white, red, and purple, with two pretty little butterflies. She wore this dress this past Sunday and got many compliments. :-)



Last night I made her another dress. I found this colorful skirt at D.I. and thought it would make a really fun dress for Zaylee, especially with the flared, swirly bottom. Just the kind of skirt a little girl loves to twirl in!


I went through some clothes Zaylee has outgrown and found this onesie that is of course much too short but still fits around (Zaylee's a little skinny-minnie). The color was perfect to go with the skirt.


I lopped off the bottom of the onesie and the top of the skirt, then pinned and sewed them together, pleating the skirt so it would fit with the bodice.


All sewed together. Look at that skirt - so swirly-twirly!


I thought the bodice needed a bit of dressing up, so I added some ruffly embellishment with some of the extra skirt fabric.


When Zaylee woke up this morning and saw the dress laid out for her, she was so excited, and wore it most of the morning, twirling around and around just like I knew she would. I'll try to get pictures of her wearing her new dresses if I can. She just loves it when I make her new clothes, and I love being able to do this for her.

I've been busy!

I think my nesting is taking the form of crafting. Sure, it would be nice if it were more along the lines of cleaning and getting ready to move, but I'll take what I can get. I've been really busy making all sorts of fun stuff lately. Check out all the projects I've been working on!

Here's the progress I've made on my cloth diapers: 9 pocket diapers, 4 fleece covers, 10 wipes, and 3 more covers cut out just waiting for elastic and velcro.



As far as Halloween/fall decorating, I've been crocheting up a storm. Here's two new pumpkins, a white pumpkin in the works, and a jack-o-lantern garland.


Last of all, here's Thomas' costume that I just made today. He's going to be a Jedi, so I bought an old sweater at D.I., cut it up, and sewed it into a Jedi robe. Unfortunately, Thomas apparently hates it and tears it off immediately as soon as I try to put it on him. Tough, kid - you're wearing this robe on Halloween whether you like it or not!


Jeff and I volunteered our van for the stake trunk-or-treat this Saturday, and I've decided to decorate the trunk all in pumpkins. Hence all the pumpkin crocheting. So I'll likely be crocheting a few more pumpkin things between now and Saturday night. Since I'm the one with the big belly, I get to sit in the van and hand out candy while Jeff takes the kids car to car collecting more candy. So I'm going to be dressed like a pumpkin - I got an orange sweater at D.I. and am going to draw a jack-o-lantern on the belly. Should be fun. Then, as soon as Halloween is over, it's back to making diapers! Yeah, I think I'm having way too much fun with all of this.

Crochet Fun

I've been working on a special crochet project for a while, and I finally finished it!


This is the baby's blanket. It's sort of been my tradition to crochet a blanket for the baby while I'm pregnant. Zaylee's is white and a variety of pastels, all in zig-zag stripes. Thomas's is little hexagonal teddy bear motifs, joined with blue yarn. And now this baby gets a sweet lacy white blanket with a green and purple edging. Here's a close-up:


I loved the green, but didn't have enough of it to go all the way around. So I only put it on the top and bottom edge, while the purple is on all four edges. Anyway, I'm excited to have this pretty little blanket completed. That's one item I can cross off my "to do before baby gets here" list. :-)


Still wanting to do some crocheting even though the blanket was done, I made a hat last night (the power went out yesterday evening so it was interesting trying to finish the last bit in the dark!). Here it is on our lovely model:


It turned out so cute and was so easy that I made another one this morning. It was much easier to make with enough light!


Anyway, that's what I've been working on with my hooks and yarn lately. :-)

Netted Bag for Tub Toys

The Problem:
With limited shelf space in the tub, the kids' tub toys end up in a big messy pile on the space saver in the shower, displacing various cleansers and making my razor hard to get to.


The Solution:
I crocheted a simple netted bag to hang on the space saver, in which the toys fit nicely.


Now everything looks neater and is more accessible, and the kids have a cute bag to keep their tub toys in. The bag took only about half an hour to crochet.

Dad's Afghan

Here are the promised pics of the afghan I'm crocheting for my dad. He asked me last year if I would do an afghan for him in camouflage, which is significant to him because he spent so many years in the military. We decided that it would be part green camo and part desert camo.

Here is the pattern detail:


Here is an idea of how big this blanket will be. It's worked from the side, so it's already as long as it's going to be. Now I work on making it wider. I didn't plan on it being this long, but it just ended up like this - it's longer than my couch! When I lay down on the floor, with my legs stretched down, my toes pointed, and my hands held straight over my head, the afghan reaches just beyond my fingers and toes. That's one big afghan.


In this picture you can also see some other things I've crocheted in the past - I'm a crochet maniac! On the couch are two coordinating pillows I made, one of which I finished quite recently. To the left of the couch you can make out Jeff's blue and white striped afghan that I did a year or two ago, and on top of that the splash of red is from the one I just did for Samuel. Yeah, I like to crochet.

Cute Blanket

So, I've been working on that afghan for Samuel for a while now, and it's finally finished. I was up until midnight last night working on it - putting the pieces together and doing the edging. Here's the final product:


I originally planned on having five red and four blue squares, so that red would be the middle square, the dominant color. But when I did the seams and edging in the yellow/orange yarn, I realized the red would be overpowering - too much warm coloring. So I had blue be the dominant color to balance it out. I like the way this blanket turned out - very boyish and bright.

Now the only bummer is that I have to wait until Christmas to give it to him! My next project I need to be focusing on is an afghan I'm working on for my dad. I started it last winter but haven't made any progress in months. I'd like to get it done in time to give it to him for Christmas as well. It's going to be a really big afghan - over six feet long - and I don't have much done on it yet. I need to get working! I'll post some picture of it next time I get it out to work on it.

My Latest Crochet Project

Since I come from a large family with many siblings, we siblings are on a rotation for Christmas gifts. Each year we have one sibling to give a gift. A couple years ago we had Marie (age 14). Last year we gave a gift to Rheanna (age 10). This year, we have Samuel, my 8-year-old brother. Mom had some yarn that she had purchased at a thrift store to make an afghan for him, but hadn't yet gotten around to it. So she said I could have the yarn and make the afghan as his special sibling Christmas gift this year.

And so, I am temporarily doing away with my procrastinative tendencies for this one project, and making an afghan for Samuel for Christmas (gosh, I hope he doesn't read my blog and see this...).

The yarn is a thick and chunky yarn, so I needed to make this afghan with either a really open pattern or a huge hook. I decided to go with a fairly large hook (K) and a granny square motif. I'm doing nine really big squares of blue and red, probably crocheted together with yellow yarn.

If I can get my pictures to upload onto the computer (for some reason, the pop-up to load the pics isn't appearing, and so no loading is going on. What's the matter with this thing?!) I'll post a picture of the afghan so far.



Waiting....





Yup, still waiting....






Hooking up the camera again....






Maybe I should change the camera batteries, might that help?....







Pausing to sweep up the shattered remains of the mug Thomas just dropped on the dining room floor....







Okay, I'm back and the batteries in the camera have been changed. Trying again....





Hooray! After shutting down the Internet, logging off the computer, logging back on, and hooking the camera up once again, I was finally able to upload my pictures. Here are the three that turned out decent (apparently it's difficult for the camera to focus on blue and red granny squares laying on dark brown carpet. I'll make a mental note of that).

Here's all the squares I have done so far, laid out approximately how they'll be for the finished project.

The easiest way for me to get the camera to actually focus on the stitches was for me to include my hand in the picture. Plus this gives you some size comparison.

A close-up of the granny square stitches. Like I said, it didn't focus well. But you get the idea.

Anyway, it's going to be a really cute afghan when it's done, perfect for a little boy. He'll love it.