Category: Crafts

Ollie The Owl

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Meet Ollie. He’s my first knit owl. I have arbitrarily named him Ollie because it sounded good paired with the word “owl” and I have no clue whether he currently has a name beyond “Owl”. This little guy was a Valentine’s present for another little guy that I watch three days a week.

Ollie was made from the “Little Black Owl” pattern posted by Kat on Just Crafty Enough. It’s a top-down pattern with the ears and wings picked up later when the body is finished.

I tacked down the wings like the original, but I chose to sew on the eyes and beak. I did way too many glue gun projects back in middle school to even tough a glue gun right now. And that was almost ten years ago. (Seriously, way too many. We made them every month for old people who were kind of like our “pen pals.”)

I figured an owl made a perfect companion for the Valentine’s Fish. Who says predator and prey can’t get along on a day that’s all about love?

Love Fishes, A Valentine Paper Craft

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These started out as Valentines for our friends at church, but I got a late start and they weren’t ready in time. Instead, we ended up giving them to our neighbors, plus I sent one to the recipient of the Soft Kitty and gave one to the little boy I watch currently.

These fish are made completely of paper hearts. I used those raised sticker hearts for the eyes and lips. The templates for the paper hearts came from the original Valentine craft on Family.com. I chose to use card stock instead of the other scrapbook papers to make these cards a little sturdier.

I marked them all with recipients’ names on the opposite side before they were attached to their corresponding presents.

I really like all the ideas on Family.com, even though they are mainly directed at people with young children. My mom and I especially enjoy the plethora of Phineas and Ferb coloring sheets and craft ideas.

What is your favorite place to find inspiration for your craft projects and presents?

Slouchy Hat

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I had never knit anything other than a beanie (okay, a LOT of beanies) before I found this pattern. I had been wanting one, but couldn’t bring myself to buy one before I tried making one myself.

This one is made from the Olympic Tam pattern by Lisa Gaskell. It has bobbles and a yarn-over pattern. I omitted the pompom on top.

One of the interesting things about this project was that you block it over a dinner plate to get the slouchy look.

Do you prefer to make something first, or buy it? What kind of accessories do you like to make instead of buying?

(Also, what kind of information about these projects would you like to see?)