Category: Crafts

Make It a Bat Cycle

Leave a comment

Remember how I told you there was a part 2 to the birthday gift from Monday?, and also how I procrastinated on it even more than the bubbles?

See, his big gift this year was his first ever bicycle. But that is a thing that is most definitely going to outlast his Batman phase and most likely be handed down to his brother. So he got a bike with flames on it but, through a series of random circumstances saw a picture of it and said he would rather have a Batman bike. Ding ding, birthday gift idea!

I had intended to measure the seat of his new bike (which he didn’t know he was getting yet) and all of that the day before his party so I could make a seat cover to give him the next day, but I never got around to it between laundry and lunchtime for baby brother. Luckily, I was set to stay with brother as he napped the next morning and everyone did things to get ready for the party. After everyone left I snuck in to where the bike was hidden, grabbed quick measurements and settled in at the dining room table to cut and sew a seat cover out of felt.

I had made the decal the night before, since that didn’t have to be any particular size. Then I cut out the four pieces of the seat, stitched the decal to the top, and backstitched them all together with embroidery thread to make the seams as secure as possible when hand sewing. I added a pullstring at the bottom so the cover just slips on the seat and is then secured with the string. Baby brother helped out by taking an insanely long nap and waking up just in time for us to walk down to the party and get cake.

It was a hit. He apparently wanted it put on his bike immediately and was incredibly excited about it. Mom was thrilled that he had his own logo on the bubble bottles. (And, let’s face it, at this age handmade gifts are more for mom than for child.) All around a successful birthday gift set.

How badly do you procrastinate on making things for others? Or am I the only one? Are you one of those super organized people who thinks months ahead about gifts and keeps them in a closet until the gift-giving occasion arrives?

XOXO

Leave a comment

(I am still working on labeling my France pictures, so they should be ready by Friday. There are a lot and I have to look up what some of the specific places were.)

I love gloves. It is a serious obsession, almost rivaling my CD collection, but not quite. Gloves are my favorite “On-The-Go” project because I am not really into sock knitting (yet).

I had gotten this (apparently discontinued) yarn one day when I browsing the aisles at Michaels. It’s a super-soft acrylic and bamboo blend that I am sad doesn’t exist anymore. But, I was able to turn it into these gloves from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders.

This is the Hearts-and-Kisses-With-Love Hand Warmers pattern by Nancy Bowron. I love the XOX chain on the top:

But I really love the “hidden” heart on the palm:

It just gives the gloves a little something extra.

A Jeweled Set

Leave a comment

(I had hoped to have my pictures edited and uploaded by now, but that seems to be taking a bit longer than I thought. So here’s more crafts and hopefully I will have the pictures up on Wednesday. Friday at the latest.)

I have a friend who happens to love anything purple. I also tend to always have at least one project on the needles at all times. And I try to have that project with me wherever I go. So my friend who loves purple saw me constantly knitting away and requested a hat.

I had a pattern saved in my Ravelry queue from the giant hat project of last year that I knew would be perfect for this project: The Monarch Lyon Hat by Veronica O’Neil. I had a ton of this Caron Wintuk in Evening Jewels Ombre that I knew would be perfect.

Once I made the hat (and still had a ton of this yarn left over), my mom reminded me that my friend also really loves leg warmers. I had just gotten a book with a pattern for a pair of really cute leg warmers, so I decided to try out that pattern as well.

They make a really great set, eh?

I wanted them to be a surprise, so I set them on her doorstep one day after church. I wanted to be sure she knew what they were, so I made little labels for them with washing instructions and everything. Including a brand new logo:

Carrying on with my recent stamp carving obsession, I made myself a stamp. I had been trying to com up with something to make another stamp for, and this time I got a softer material, more like the rubber stamps you buy in the store, or the rubber on the bottom of a pair of sneakers. Much easier to cut into.