Crochet Trend: Crossbody Bum Bag

Crochet trends spread fast in social media groups. The latest one is this crossbody bag made with 4 granny squares. There are a few versions floating around but my favorite was the Juniper Festival Crossbody Bum Bag by Casey Crochet. It's a paid pattern and is available on Etsy and Ravelry. I liked this one the best because it uses the sunburst granny square which I've used in other projects before and LOVE. Also, I really liked the look of the strap she designed. These bags are meant to be like fanny packs but worn as crossbody bags.

Obviously, I'm not writing this blog post to give out the pattern, you'll have to purchase that yourself. I do want to show what my finished one looks like and try to explain how I added the lining. This blog post has been updated with more photos and more detailed instructions.

I will be offering a limited number of these bags for sale in my Etsy shop

This design is pretty simple and honestly, I considered just throwing my own version together instead of buying the pattern but I'm happy to spend $6 and save myself the headache! I mean, have you ever written your own pattern? There's a reason people charge money for them, they take a LOT of time. Not only do you have to trial and error the project until you get it perfect, but then you have to type it up for yourself or other people to understand! It always takes longer than you think and inevitably you wonder "what was I thinking?"

DIY Faux Leather Tags

 Easy faux leather tags for crochet and knit items!

I've been looking at getting leather tags for my hats forever! There are SOOOO many options on Etsy and online groups are always offering great recommendations. I've just been having such a hard time deciding on a design. It's hard to pull the trigger without really knowing how it'll come out. This morning I said I'm just going to finally pick one and try it. The people who make these are pros and I can't imagine it wouldn't look good, no matter what I decide.

Shortly thereafter, I fell down a Google rabbit hole and got the great idea to try and DIY some tags for fun. I've actually done labels before using an iron-on transfer. Sometimes these crazy ideas work out!

Mending Jeans Sashiko Style

 A great pair of jeans is hard to find! When my perfect jeans break, I try anything I can to save them. Usually, the part I want to fix isn't front and center so this pair presented a unique challenge. 

So, I purchased these jeans already distressed. They looked cool but it wasn't long before the threads all broke and the opening at the knees started to rip when I sat down. I do think these distressed jeans look fine on other people but I just can't feel comfortable with giant gaping holes in my pants! Since the holes were so large and right in the front, I wanted to patch them, but do it in a cool way that looked intentionally fashionable. Hopefully, I achieved that and I'm not just fooling myself, LOL! 

Custom Thank You Cards For Etsy

Make your own thank you cards for your Etsy shop
with a custom QR code

I've been including a little printed thank you card with all my Etsy packages, kinda generic...thank you for your purchase, contact me with any questions, follow me on social media, blah, blah, blah. I've been wanting to redo these cards for a while. I did them in a hurry and they didn't really reflect my brand. Also, it was impossible to include all the ways for people to find me online and let's be honest, these probably ended up in the trash without serving any purpose:-( I may never get repeat customers if they can't find me again or don't know I'm working on new products!

Mountain Frost Hat- Free Pattern

I ran into Joann's looking for something totally unrelated to yarn and then walked out with more yarn! I've been trying to destash my yarn collection not add to it. There were a few balls of this Thick & Thin yarn on clearance, how could I just leave it there? If you follow me on Instagram, you know I've been focused on creating hats and scarves for Operation Gratitude for most of this year. You can read more about that here. Once in a while, I come across a project or a yarn that inspires me to drop what I'm doing and start something else.

Fleece Dog Bed

Making a simple fleece dog bed is SO easy! In fact, it's so easy you could make more than one. You could have one for upstairs, downstairs and this would make a perfect dog crate pad.

This blog post about DIY'ing a dog bed is really an excuse to show off my crazy cute puppy! His name is Frankie and he's a Jack Russel mix.

I found this fabric remnant for sale at Walmart for a couple bucks. I whipped this together one evening while watching tv. At the time, I wasn't thinking of doing a tutorial, so I never actually measured it. You can get a piece of fleece any size you want. Remember, if you're trying to fit to the size of a crate, make sure to add a couple inches to your measurement to account for puffing up stuffing and seam allowance. My finished bed measures 21x26

Military Appreciation Month- Crochet and Knit Donations

This year I decided to dedicate my time and my yarn stash to supporting the troops!

I've been working hard these past few months and I plan to send my handmade hats and scarves to service members. Being a military veteran myself, I know it's important for those in service to feel appreciated and connected to home when away from family. Also, who doesn't love getting mail?!

Operation Gratitude is an amazing organization that sends care packages to deployed troops, veterans, first responders, recruit graduates, wounded warriors, their caregivers, and military families. Every box has useful items donated from individuals and service-friendly companies. To date, they have sent out over 2 million care packages!!

If this sounds like your jam, there are so many ways to help! Click HERE to see how you can donate items, your time, or organize a collection drive. You can also request a package for a service member you love.

I really hope this post inspires my fellow makers to donate some of your time and skills this year for our military and first responders!

You're probably here because you knit or crochet and may be interested in the patterns I use. I'm mostly doing hats because they're my fav and maybe I'll throw in a few scarves to mix things up a little. There are some pattern suggestions on the Operation Gratitude website but you can use any you like. I know men outnumber women in the military, but I can't bring myself to make only big man head sized hats. I want anyone who receives one of my hats to be able to actually wear it so I tried to find hats that are more one-size-fits-all designs. There are some I like more than others. Check my Ravelry project page for notes. Here are some patterns I've used that are pictured...

The Dark Rainbow Scarf

Free Crochet Dark Rainbow Scarf Pattern

I've been thinking about this scarf for a while. I wanted to make something rainbow that would be appropriate for an adult and not look like something for a little girl. I saw a woven one online that I really loved. I've been back and forth on how to replicate something like it. I screwed around with multiple swatches before I landed on this pattern that I feel looks like what I was imagining in my head. My intention was for this to be a Pride scarf, but it also has a very Pink Floyd vibe. Whatever you see when you look at this design, I hope you love it like I do!

Materials:

• Worsted weight yarn. My black yarn is Michael's Loops & Threads-Impeccable(1 ball), rainbow colors are Red Heart Super Saver
• K(6.5mm) hook for main color AND N(9mm) hook for rainbow
• Tapestry needle for weaving in ends

Stitches used: American Crochet Terms

• FSC = foundation single crochet
• slst = slip stitch
• sc = single crochet
• ch = chain
• BLO = back loop only

Add to favorites on Ravelry!

A few things first...

• You don't have to count all these stitches! Just start your FSC and go until it's as long as you want it to be, easy peasy. 
• Same goes for the width. You like how mine looks? Cool, do that many rows. Add or subtract rows to make it the width you prefer. 
• Now, the one thing you have to listen to me on is the two size hooks. The black FSCs and the single crochets are done in the smaller hook. The slip stitch rainbow is done with the larger hook. I tried multiple times to use the same hook with the slip stitches. Even though I was really conscious of keeping it loose, it still got tight enough to pull those rows out of whack. You could see it in the overall shape of the scarf and especially on the bottom edge of the scarf. If you don't have those exact size hooks, just get close and give it try, it will depend greatly on your own personal tension anyway.
• There is a black slip stitch row on top of the purple before I switch to the single crochets. If you don't do that, the purple row will disappear on one side. Just trust me.
• Consider doing the Russian join method for the rainbow. It's pretty hard to weave ends into slip stitch rows.

Get Started!

Row 1  with smaller hook(6.5mm) in black yarn, FSC until it measures about 64 inches or whatever you prefer. Ok, I counted, it's 180 FSC

Row 2  with larger hook(9mm) change to red yarn. ch 1, turn. slst across in BLO

Row 3  change to orange yarn. ch 1, turn. slst across in BLO

Row 4  change to yellow yarn. ch 1, turn. slst across in BLO

Row 5  change to green yarn. ch 1, turn. slst across in BLO

Row 6  change to blue yarn. ch 1, turn. slst across in BLO

Row 7  change to purple yarn. ch 1, turn. slst across in BLO

Row 8  change to black yarn. ch 1, turn. slst across in BLO. ch 1, turn

Row 9-22 with smaller hook(6.5) sc across in BLO, ch 1, turn (14 rows)
Tie off yarn after the last stitch.
I wove in my ends, but it would also look great to do fringe. Weaving ends is a little tricky with the slip stitch colors. You have to kind of sew back over your stitches to blend it in. Make sure you double back so it doesn't come out.
*My finished scarf measures 64"long x 5"wide

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Crochet Gifts 2018

This Year's Crochet Christmas Gifts

So I know I haven't blogged that much this year, but that doesn't mean I haven't been doing stuff! The last few weeks I have been hard at work getting my crochet gifts done. Here's what I have along with where you can find patterns. 

Want to see more of my finished projects? You can check out the project gallery of my blog as well as my Ravelry projects.

Asymmetrical Shawl

Pattern- Tango Shawl, Moogly

Yarn-Lion Brand Shawl In A Cake

Knit Slouch Hat, Fur Pom Pom

Pattern- Freestyled this! Child sz, CO 74(5mm needles). Ribbed band, 12 rows purl, 10 rows knit

Yarn- Hobby Lobby, I Love This Yarn, black and Elements Flower

Pom Pom- DIY'ed that

Hat with Beard

Grey Hat Pattern- Bright Stripes Beanie, KT And The Squid

Beard(small)- Bobble Beard, Ashley Marie

Plaid Hat Pattern- Kids Plaid Hat, Whistle and Ivy

Heart Earflap Hat

Hat Pattern- Valentine Heart Earflap Hat, Classy Crochet

Purple and Grey Hat

Hat Pattern- V-stitch Winter Beanie, Over The Apple Tree

Ralphie Rabbit

Pattern: Ralphie Rabbit Raglow

Grey Stripe Pusheen Cat

Pattern- Stripey Cat

Cowl

Pattern- Stargazer Cowl, Left In Knots

Yarn- Lion Brand Scarfie

Christmas Years Past Projects

2013   2014   2015   2016

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Decorative Wood Sled

Decorative Wood Sled From Recycled Wood

Our wood swing set had seen better days, plus my kids have pretty much outgrown it anyway. We decided to take it apart and there it sits in the back yard until we get around to trashing it. When we starting decorating for Christmas, I had a light bulb moment! We could build a rustic sled with the wood! It's already weathered and the perfect red color. Just throw on a Christmas bow and some rope to finish it off. (Hint: found the rope at the dollar store)

I don't have any pictures of the process, but anyone could freestyle a design depending on the size wood you have and how big of a space it will go in.

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I Love Diaper Cakes!

Diaper cakes are my go-to baby shower gift. Anyone who's had a baby knows you can never have too many diapers!

Here are some examples of diaper cakes I have made in the past. I'm pretty sure anyone can do this project. If it's your first time, you'll just need a little patience! My diaper cake tutorial can be found HERE.

Make your own diaper cake! See my tutorial

Need another baby shower idea? Try Embellished Onsies!

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DIY Box Top Trophy

Trophy for the Box Tops For Education top class.

Wood Countertop, Bathroom DIY

I always knew this 80's countertop in my bathroom wouldn't be here forever, I just had other projects that were higher on my list of priorities! Well, it finally happened, I decided I couldn't look at this counter for 1 more day.

A few years ago, we took a weekend to give this downstairs bathroom a tiny face lift. We framed the builder grade mirror, painted the cabinet and gave the walls a fresh coat of paint. I never liked this countertop, but I could live with it until we finished other stuff in the house.

Like a lot of projects I do, I saw this on Pinterest! I figured this would be a fast and easy project, just pop off the old counter, touch up the paint and spend a couple hours putting together the new countertop...NOPE!

• Pop off the old countertop 
• Build new countertop, stain, add a billion coats of poly 
• Buy a new sink because all the sinks toilets and tubs in this house are bone colored and I already changed out this toilet to white
• Apply knockdown plaster on the wall behind toilet where the counter was attached 
• Realize that the color of the stain and the tile back splash I chose clashes with the cabinet and wall color
• Repaint walls and cabinet
• Touch up the molding paint
• Touch up black molding around mirror
• Notice with the new, lighter wall color, the ceiling isn't really white and now looks horrible and needs to be painted as well
• Install the countertop and tile back splash
• Even though the counter is exactly what I wanted, the new wall color I chose is way lighter than I thought it was and now I want to paint the walls again and maybe the cabinet too...

Home DIY is never as fast and simple as we think it will be. Oh well, what can you do?!

I don't have a detailed tutorial for this countertop, but you can pretty much see how it was done from the photos. Everyone might need a slightly different method depending on what you're replacing and your existing fixtures. After I stained, I applied several layers of polyurethane. The sink was attached and sealed in place with clear silicone caulk and I used the same caulk to seal the gaps between the three pieces of wood.

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