DIY Photo Blocks

Everyone, especially grandparents, LOVE photo gifts all year long! I've seen where you can order these online but if you've got a little time to spare, you can make these photo blocks yourself!

Have you ever walked around the craft store and were struck with inspiration? You get home and go online only to find someone else already came up with this? Yeah, so apparently I didn't invent these DIY photo blocks. What the heck, I'll share it anyway. It's a good reminder to get those photos out of your camera, phone and computers!

You need:

Wood Block(Michael's $4.69, don't forget to look for coupons!)

Photos

Mod Podge

Scissors or paper trimmer

Foam brush

These blocks are about 3 ½ squares so 4x6 photos will need to be trimmed. Take the time to make sure photos are cut evenly. The fastest way I found was to make a square template. I cut my photos slightly smaller than the square. Before I stuck on photos, I painted the corners of the cube black. Since there will be no photo on the bottom I painted that black as well.

Using a foam brush, I applied a thin layer of Mod Podge to one side of block. Carefully position the photo onto the block and press down. Repeat for all sides and allow to dry. You'll probably have to wait for a couple sides to dry before you can do the other sides. You don't want the Mod Podge to smudge or photos to move before they are dry. 

Use a white pen or paint to write a message or the year on the bottom of the block. After the first layer of Mod Podge dries, do another layer of Mod Podge on top of the photos on all sides. Allow block to dry thoroughly before handling.

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My Crochet Gifts 2015

So I said this year I wasn't going to get carried away with crochet gifts. They take forever and to be honest, I'm not always sure how appreciated they are. Of course everyone says thank you with a smile but are they just being polite? Do people really want my homemade stuff? Cut to November and I have a list of holiday requests! The holidays are usually when I get the most creative and try new patterns I've never attempted. The extreme time crunch certainly adds to the excitement as well! As always, I will include the pattern sources. That way, if you see something you like, you can make your own. Here we go...

Sea Flower Shawl- Rustic Modern Crochet by Yumiko Alexander

Ninja Turtle Hat- Jaime George

Fox Scarf(paid pattern)- We-R-Soto Design
I altered the pattern a bit to make this one child size.

Stampy Hat- See my blog post for chart

Toothless, How To Train Your Dragon- Nichole's Nerdy Knots
See more of my photos of this project which was actually for a birthday present but is so close to Christmas I'm gonna list it anyway!

Ballerina Elephant, Edwards Menagerie
If you're curious how I added the tutu, see my notes in my Ravelry project page
This is my second Edwards Menagerie project. See my bunny here

V-Stitch Beanie- Over The Apple Tree free pattern

ZiggyZag Vixen Slouch- Faith Holbrook on Ravelry

This is my third year of crochet Christmas projects. Check out years past 2013 and 2014

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Embellished Onesies

I have a new baby niece! While going through my daughter's baby clothes, I found four plain white Onesies. Since summer is on the way and she lives in the south, these definitely would be worn alone instead of used for layering. I immediately went in search of ways to style them up!

The first, and probably my favorite, is this heart doily design. I first dyed fabric with Rit dye. The free doily pattern comes from Red Heart. I crocheted it with a 1.65 hook. After pressing with an iron, I pinned onto the Onesie and used my sewing machine with a zigzag stitch to secure.

You can't decorate Onesies without doing at least one with necklaces! There are a billion tutorials online. I chose to mark the cloth with chalk first to make sure it would be even. Next I used my trusty dimensional fabric paint(puffy paint) to make the "beads". I crocheted a small flower with cotton yarn, added a button and hand sewed on.

For this one, I channeled Sex In The City's Carrie Bradshaw and made a gold name necklace! Again I dyed fabric with Rit dye. I drew the name on a piece of paper using dark ink and I put the paper inside the shirt. To make sure I could see the design through the fabric, I made a makeshift light box with a small glass end table and a desk lamp flipped upside down. Very carefully I used glitter dimensional fabric paint to trace the name design.

One more Onesie to go and you know how much I love Matryoshka dolls! I found a free printable from Design Is Yay and printed onto t-shirt transfer paper. After ironing on, I used dimensional fabric paint to add a design around the transfer.

I've had so much fun with this project! It's probably a good thing I only found 4 Onesies because I think I could have kept going!

Can you tell I love puffy paint? A few tips to remember are when using...1.)take your time! 2.)make sure there are no air bubbles 3.)allow to dry completely before you think about touching it!

Like DIY baby gifts?

Diaper cake tutorial

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Crochet Baby Gifts: Afghan and Amigurumi Bunny Set

If you want to give a unique and meaningful gift, you can't go wrong with handmade! 

This afghan and amigurumi bunny set is for my soon to arrive niece or nephew. I've always wanted to try a star afghan and as soon as I saw this new pattern book for amigurumi animals, there was no doubt I was trying one of those too!

Since seven has long been believed to be a lucky or magical number, I was absolutely set on making a seven point star. Unfortunately for me, there are limited patterns to choose from. I ended up finding a pattern in a book called Geometrics: A New Way To Crochet, by Ruthie Marks. I followed the pattern except I did double crochet throughout instead of the front post double crochet it calls for.

I also got the bunny pattern from a book. Everyone's been talking about Edward's Menagerie, by Kerry Lord of Toft Alpaca Shop and for good reason...it's beautiful! All the animals in here are super cute and I can't wait to try more! If you decide to try the animals in this book, take a look at Toft Alpaca Shop's YouTube Channel for some great tips. 

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