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“return to julie-k” crochet heart necklace

I love e-window shopping on the Tiffany website. I get all happy when they send me a new email. Their product photography is so perfect and their jewelry designs are so timeless. My favorites are the pieces in their sterling silver collection.

tiffanys inspired heart necklace

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I’ve been getting (almost) daily emails filled with all sorts of beautiful hearts. Whenever I see the Return to Tiffany heart, I think of my little crochet heart pattern. They are about the same size and shape. I thought it would be cool to turn my little heart into a Tiffany-inspired charm.

tiffanys inspired heart necklace

I made a few and decided the less fuzzy the yarn the better. The pink heart is Koigu, I think. It makes a nice loop without interfering with the heart shape. I really wanted the sparkly silver and gray yarn to work better, but the loop was too bulky. It looks nice all by itself, though.

This is something that’s been bouncing around in my head for awhile. I’m glad I finally took a few minutes to sort it out. It really only took a few minutes, too. Love those little crochet hearts!

stash: pink yarn from the bits and bobs, silver and gray yarn from a recycled sweater, crochet heart pattern from the archives

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valentine’s day pencil cards

valentine's day pencil toppers

We are doing very simple Valentine’s Day cards this year. I wanted to keep my daughter involved in the process, but between preschool and nature school, she’s got over 30 classmates. Even though she loves crafts, I can’t imagine her staying interested in such a big project.

valentine's day pencil toppers

We picked out Valentine’s pencils together and we used what we had for the cards. You’ll notice that she didn’t use any of the supplies I gathered, but chose her own stickers and pencil for the project — such crafty independence!

Using the big scallop paper punch, I cut out a bunch of flowers. I told her she could decorate them anyway she liked, but she had to make sure she put her name on them. Once finished, we taped them to the pencils.

We started this project early and she’s been doing a few a day. We’ll see if they get finished by next week or if I’ll have to make up the last few.

What do you do for Valentine’s Day cards? Buy or make? Include candy or not? Is your child involved in the process?

from the archives: handmade valentine’s cards, valentine’s day heart bunting, tiny crochet heart pattern

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handmade baptism gift: prayer pillow

prayer pillow

This weekend I went to my first Mormon Baptism. I did some research to see if there was a traditional gift, but turns out it’s pretty much like a Catholic Baptism (except the children are a little older and get a little more wet).

I kept seeing prayer rocks popping up in my search. I never heard of these before, but liked the idea behind them — the prayer reminder, not the bonking-in-the-head and stubbing-of-the-toe with a rock part. I decided a prayer pillow would be a nicer, gentler gift.

prayer pillow

I was excited to use some of my retro automobile fabric for this project. I made a matching drawstring bag, too. I used ink-jet iron-on transfer paper to print the poem and personalize it. It turned out so cute! The only thing I would change next time is to trim the iron-on paper with some fun patterned craft scissors instead of a plain rectangle.

prayer pillow

I think this would make a great gift for anyone celebrating an important faith milestone: Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation.

stash: Everything for this project was in my stash. My daughter helped me stuff it with polyfil. It was nice to involve her in the project. Prayer pillow poem can be found here.

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my creative space

rainbow granny square

In my creative space today, I’m pushing myself beyond my color comfort zone.

When asked about my favorite color, I usually respond Roy G. Biv. It’s true. I love all colors of the rainbow. It’s just that I’m more of a monochromatic girl: shades of a particular hue combined with a nice neutral. All of these colors in one square are making me a little dizzy.

I’m trying not to think about it too much. How can I go wrong with a basket full of beautiful yarn?

Details about the rainbow squares here. More creative spaces here.

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finished: crochet basket lining

lined crochet napkin basket

My first official Finished on Friday post: remember this basket? Back in September I mentioned that it was ready for a lining. Then it sat around for a few months before I decided to just start using it.

Without a lining, though, the sides were getting a little saggy and our napkins were getting a little wooly. Not only that, but every time I sat down at the kitchen table I felt UFO Guilt. (UFO=unfinished object)

lined crochet napkin basket

It didn’t take that long to do: just a little sewing in the afternoon and some hand-stitching in the evening.

stash: I wound up using some leftover upholstery fabric from the rollie pollie.

What did you finish this week? Share in the comments!

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my creative space (and a call to action)

sarah london crochet a rainbow granny square

I’ve been trying to think of a way that I can do something for the flood victims in Australia. Something besides just donating money (which there is nothing wrong with, of course). Today Sarah London posted a blanket project that will eventually be “distributed to those affected throughout Queensland and Victoria, providing comfort and colour and as a reminder that there is always a rainbow after a storm.”

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know I’m a big fan of squares. Making them helps me find peace, deal with events that I don’t understand, and feel useful in some small way. Back in 2007, I organized a local effort to contribute squares to Mosaic Yarn’s Hokie Healing project. If you are the least bit doubtful of the impact a square can make, go read this. (I’ll wait.)

Pretty powerful, right? In my creative space today, and all this year, I’ll be crocheting granny squares for Crochet a Rainbow. I encourage my fellow crocheters to make a few, too. You can get all of the details on Sarah’s website.

Don’t crochet? Consider bidding on one of the many auctions being held by the crafting community. 100% of the donations listed on Toni’s site go to the Queensland Flood Appeal. (Thanks for the link, Steph!)

stash: I’ll be starting my squares with the yarn from last week’s creative space. (Thanks again, Tana!)

Kirsty’s started up the 2011 Creative Spaces. If you have any time left after browsing through the above list of links, don’t forget to check out the creative spaces listed on her site, too.

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fave crafts blog hop: finished baby sweater

Every Day is a New Sweater Day from Yarny Days

I did it! I finished the little sweater. I was really pleased with the pattern and my yarn choice. My only wish is that I could have blocked it before the shower. Oh, well. I’m sure no one else noticed.

details: Every Day is a New Sweater Day and Aunt Lydia’s denim quick crochet cotton from my thrifted stash.

Check out other finished projects over at the Fave Crafts blog.

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little blue box bag

blue box bag

Just a quick post today because I’m spending all of my free time working on the little baby sweater. (It’s about half finished. Completing it for Saturday just might be a realistic goal!)

A few months ago when my friend asked me if I wanted her odds and ends of yarn, I told her I’d make her a box bag in return. Of course, now that I’ve received the very large tote of goodies, I think I need to make something else for her, too. Maybe a matching tote bag? Hmmm…

stash: fabric, denim lining and zipper all from my thrifted stash.

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my creative space

crochet cardigan for baby

In my creative space today is a crazy idea. I’m thinking of making a baby sweater for a shower on Saturday. Yes, this Saturday. (I told you it was crazy.)

It also looks incredibly small. So small, in fact, that I dug out one of my daughter’s infant sweaters for comparison. You know what? It is the right size, and my daughter really was that tiny. Oh, my!

pattern: Every Day is a New Sweater Day from Yarny Days. If you are new to her blog, take a moment and look around. Her work is beautiful!

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paper cardinal ornament

cardinal ornament

Winter break + snow day = a very long time away from nature school. The kids will be studying the Northern Cardinal when they finally return and had homework over the holidays: choose either the male or female to study and make an ornament for the class tree. My daughter chose the female, which we learned is not the brilliantly red colored bird usually depicted as the cardinal.

I let her do this mostly by herself. I printed the template on cardstock and she cut out the pieces, colored them and glued them together. I helped her pry them apart so we could add the top feathers, legs and string and then we re-glued them together.

This was another exercise in letting go for me. I resisted trimming the blue template lines that are peeking out of the edges and adding more brown feathers. When I suggested a little more brown, she said the cardinal is “a little bit snowy.”

pattern template: I downloaded Purl Soho’s Simple Sewn Bird Ornament pattern for this project. Since we used paper and didn’t need a seam allowance, I just used the interface template. I printed the original and a mirror image for the other side. Paper, string, raffia all from the stash.