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Sunday, October 28, 2012

50 Projects in 2012 (Part TWO!)

Alright folks, I'm back. The countdown to 50 projects for 2012 continues...25 more. I haven't counted in advance, but I'm trying to see if I can or have already hit 50 craft projects for 2012. Read more about it and see the first 25 projects in this post. Let's get back to it...

#26: Baby crib quilt - Purple border, yellow background
#27: Baby crib quilt - Pink border, orange background
(Again, I apologize for the crappy picture.)

Does a pinterest fail count? If so...
#28: "Rainbow Sugar Cookies" These things made me resort to drinking with how horribly it all turned out. Every time I go to bake I seem to forget that I can't stand baking.

#29: Tie-Dye Onesies - I made a couple, some others were made by friends for my baby shower.

#30: Re-Upholstered dining room chairs. Mr. 246 helped with these. They were originally that brown swede and we chose a green/yellow swirly pattern. So freaking easy. I may have to change them again and again.

#31: Crocheted squares for Knit-A-Square charity project. An organization sews them all together to make blankets for AIDS orphans in Africa. Inspired to make these due to the S.P.E.W. (HP Charity Crafting) craftalong on Craftster.

#32: Small Cuddle Texture Blanket out of a scrap I had. Sewed it all up nice for Lunabeaners.

#33: Another S.P.E.W. Project. This one was for Snuggles. You make soft snuggly blankies for shelter animals. :( The way that this lady feels about cats is how I feel about shelter dogs.)  It's a double-stranded crocheted mini blanket. I think it's about 30x30 inches.

Another shot at the blankets brings us...
#34: The second blanket in the pile is a blanket for Lunabean. (I had originally gotten the fabric on clearance to make blankies for the doggies, but it was so lovely and Luna liked it a lot so I made her one as well.)
#35: The "snuggle" on the bottom of the pile is for the Snuggle project as well.

#36: Set of "Defense Against the Dark Arts" HP ornaments made for the "Back to Hogwarts 3" swap on Craftster. They include (from left to right kind of):  A boggart trunk with a boggart of my partners worst fear - losing control, Mad-Eye Moody (Mr. 246 helped since unless I have therapy before hand I cannot work with clay), a set of three mini chalkboards with lessons on the Unforgivable Curses, in the back there are two DADA textbooks, a small Scabbers in the middle, two hand painted, decoupaged Prof. Umbridge kitty plates, set of three "In case of dementor attack" chocolates.

#37: Another project for the "Back to Hogwarts 3" Swap based on my partners favorite store - Weasley Wizard Wheezes.

#38: We nicknamed these "Jackson Pollock's Balls", but they're really Oreo Truffles. Quite delicious but also quite decadent. You definitely can't eat a lot of these.

#39: Crocheted Owl Bag - Made for my pseudo niece (my brother's girlfriend's child) since she was starting kindergarten (and it was her birthday). Her mommy said she loved it and was carrying around socks in it. Yea....I don't know. Haha.

#40: Crocheted Infinity Scarf: Modeled by Mr. 246 who now wants one of his own. ("Is this a girl thing? Can guys wear cowls?" "I think so!") Based on a pattern I found on Ravelry which I can't find again at the moment.
#41: Tiny Pumpkin - Made just yesterday in honor of Halloween.

#42: Chalkboard Calender - We are lost without this calender. It's kind of fun 'cause I get to decorate every month.

#43: Moon and Stars Baby Hat - Followed directions for a newborn size and unfortunately it never fit.

#44: Ear-flap Baby Hat - mentioned in previous post

#45: Slouchy Crochet Hat - not pictured. Made for a friend for her birthday and I forgot to take a picture.

Whew...so I've made it to 45! I'm impressed. There's probably a thing or two I'm forgetting, but I'm still impressed. I have a couple long-term projects that I work on from time to time - a granny square blanket which I work on when I have nothing else to work on. Here's a sneak peak (sorry for the picture quality, it's from my phone):
It's got about another half row currently. I know it doesn't look terribly wide, but once it's done (It's going to be 12 squares x 12 squares) I'm going to made a pretty wide border. 
The other in progress project I'm working on is my Harry Potter quilt. I'm following the pattern here from HP Paper Piecing. I must admit, though, since Luna's been born I haven't broken out the sewing machine too much. I don't have a designated spot to sew so I just set up at the dining room table. When I do paper piecing there's a bit more involved because you have to iron so much and it's just a big production I feel like. I can't wait for the day I have a craft room.

Well, I think I can make 5 finished projects by the end of the year. I'll update as I go. Then I get to start planning crafts for next year. First I must get through the holidays. (I finally feel like an adult because I am somewhat dreading the holidays. Not enough time to get things done, we have to travel with an infant, there's too much to fit in in too little time. It's just forced. I'm dreaming of a relaxing Christmas, but I have a feeling it won't happen this year. Anyway, this topic can fill a whole other post. I'm just being a Scrooge about Christmas today. Hehe.)

Thanks for looking!
Kindest Regards,
Ms. 246

Thursday, October 25, 2012

50 Projects in 2012 (Part One!)

So, I was lurking around Craftster.org today and I came across a craftalong "50 Projects in 2012" post. You post your crafting plans for the year and then get crafting and post a picture of each project in your post as you complete them. I've done a lot of crafting this year. Most of it was when I was pregnant with Ms. Lunabean. (I had cravings for crafting the way some women crave ice cream when they're pregnant...well, I had ice cream cravings as well.) But, the craftalong got me thinking....I wonder if I have/had 50 projects in 2012. I decided to round up what I've made and make a post. So, without further ado, in no particular order (because I'm just not that organized)...


#1: Set of 8 Burp Clothes - made with cloth diaper fabric and flannel. They're holding up quite well and we still use them every day.
#2 and 3: Repainted soup cans with little crocheted coozies.

#4: Doggie Blanket: Made little Boo Radley a nice little quilt since he was jealous of the ones I was making for baby Lunabean.
#6: Teal Valence for over Luna's crib and...
#7: Fabric Hoopla wall for Luna's room
#8: Personalized Bunting - Made for Mr. 246's sister's birthday for her dorm room.

#9: Crocheted Pygmy Puff - Made for Summer Semester Hogwarts Craftalong (Another awesome Craftalong!)

#10: Crocheted Giraffe Amiguri
#11: Crocheted Hippo (It's that purple/red one. In the end it looked more like a dog than a hippo to me.)
#12: Stuffed and sewn giraffe (I even used a sewing pattern -- a rarity for me!)
(The little crocodile and squid were both made by Mr. 246 -- I can't take credit.)
#13: Paper Mobile - Inspired by this that I found on Pinterest. And I can't take all the credit on this one. Mr. 246 helped alot. There are a lot more circles to cut out than you think. (Sorry for the super crappy picture.
#14: Peggy the Pegasus Plush - Also made by a pattern. I'm quite pleased, although she does seem a tad short and stout. Hehe.
#15: Watercolor Emerson Quote - I freaking love this quote and I thought it was adorable for Luna's nursery. It's bigger than it looks - about 18x26 in or something around that. I was lucky enough to use my mom's projector to trace the lettering.
#16: Crocheted Baby Blanket - Dang, this thing is SOFT! And I'm quite proud. My first BIG crochet project. Oh, and pardon my baby belly taking over the bottom of the picture.

#17:  Crocheted baby Hat - Modeled by Mr. Owl Puppet
#18: Quilted Harry Potter Coasters - My first attempt at paper piecing and it was quite a success! These were made for the "One Tiny HP Thing" Swap on Craftster. (Edit: These were based on these HP patterns.)

#19: Painted frames - I had a set of note cards that I absolutely loved. I thought they would be an awesome addition to Luna's nursery (the theme morphed into "bright colors"). So...painted some cheap $3 Wal-Mart frames with craft paint and covered with lacquer to make them all nice and shiny. (Again, sorry for the crappy picture).
Here's a bunch in one picture. (Note: I decided I wanted a mantle, but we're in an apartment and space is limited, and, uh....we don't have a fireplace. So, I put up a shelf and we've been decorating it every season. This is spring when it started.)
#19: Spring Bunting - The white letters are stitched on with coordinating colors.
#20: Painted Dinosaurs - It's hard to tell in this picture, but there are three (blue, yellow, and bright green) dinosaurs. I bought them at the Dollar Tree and painted them for some colorful decorations for our display.
#21: Salsa Jar Sweater - Look at where the flowers are on the right. That is a salsa jar. I crocheted a cover for it. It took quite a while since it's single crochet. At one point, I was sick of making it and then I came to the realization that I was spending tons of time on crocheting a sweater for a salsa jar. It makes me laugh every time I see it now. (Almost makes me want to do some yarn bombing in the grocery store!)
#22: Mini Bunting - Look at the twigs on the left side of the shelf. I made tiny little coordinating bunting out of a ribbon. (Note: Heat'N Bond is my best friend with projects like this.)
#23: Decoupaged Easter Eggs - Look to the glass contained to the right of the twigs. I decided it would be an awesome Easter project to decoupage some of those brown paper mache eggs with colorful paper. WRONG. This project sucked. Tiny bits of paper. And I used scrap book paper which was a poor decision with tiny round objects. I all around hated this project but this year I told myself : Leave no project unfinished! So I enlisted Mr. 246's help and made him join in on the misery.
#24: Mini Chalkboard - Learned how to cover frames with chalkboard contact paper. Only bad part - real chalk doesn't work so I had to throw down some $$ to get some of those chalkboard markers. I still love it though.
#25: Paper and Hot Glue Wands - When I first saw these I thought they were amazing. I still do. I'm quite please with how these turned out. The first and the third were made by Mr. 246. We followed this how-to guide to make them.

Whew! I'm up to 25! I've got a lot more. And some things I haven't taken pictures of yet that I need to. I'll post the rest tomorrow. I wonder if I'll get to 50. Hmmm...if I get close I'll have to make sure I do 50 so I can accomplish the goal I never had. Come back tomorrow for PART TWO!

Kindest Regards,
Ms. 246




Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Fall is here!

Fall is here which means, on occasion, there is a slight nip in the air. I made Lunabean a earflap hat to keep those tiny little ears warm.

This hat may be one of my favorite things I've ever made, and it only took a night. The pattern I used is here from Alli Crafts. I used a 4.5 mm hook instead of a 5.0 mm hook since the hat is for a much bigger infant. It's a tad big on here, but I'm going to assume it should last her all winter. Not that it matters...I definitely plan on making more.

Kindest regards,
Ms 246