Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Infinity Scarf

Or cowl, or whatever else you want to call it. The second I saw Rachel of Maybe Matilda was doing a crochet along I knew I had to do it! When I saw it was a cowl/infinity scarf I was beyond thrilled. I had been wanting to make one, but just hadn't set aside the time, and I wasn't really sure it was for me. I must admit I'm not the best at figuring out what is going to work with my body type by just looking at it. I have to try it on. Then, I have to stare at myself in the mirror from several different angles for like ten minutes. I finally call my husband in to give me his opinion, or if he isn't there I take a picture and text it to him or my mom or sister. And stare at myself in the mirror some more while I wait for a response. Yeah, I am pretty much terrified of buyer's remorse. You should have seen me in the yarn aisle. I spent like 5 minutes staring at the yarn. I'm sure my poor sister-in-law was bored out of her mind, and I know her kids were! I wanted a neutral color so I could wear it with anything. So I chose a Charcoal. We used the Lion Brand Time Out Cowl pattern. I twisted the cowl before I connected the end so it would have a twist in it. So here is how it turned out....

I love how incredibly versatile this can be!


My husband was the camera man. It was a nasty day so we decided to just take pictures on the back porch. He felt a little awkward taking pictures of an adult on our back porch. Understandably so!


I have naturally wavy/curly hair. I love that when it starts snowing I can just pull this thing over my head and hopefully not have the crazy frizz going on!


The little dude wanted in on the action, too!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Ruffles + Wreath = Swoon!


Did I mention it only cost $3? That includes the wreath form. Want to make one, too?


I forgot to take a picture before I got started.

What ya' need!
pool noodle (or other wreath form)
streamers
ribbon
duct tape
glue gun
a couple glue sticks

Are you thinking I'm totally crazy for putting a pool noodle in the instructions for making a wreath? I found the idea here. I must admit I was a little skeptical, but when i saw a pool noodle at the dollar store I thought it was worth a try. I didn't follow the directions in the link exactly. I just put the 2 ends together and duct tape 'cause that's how I roll. Duct tape can fix anything! And it totally worked. When your in the store picking up your noodle checking it out to see if it will work, It probably won't form a perfect circle. Once you get the ends secure it makes more of an oval. Just push your sides in and it holds the circle form perfectly!

I wrapped mine in streamer just so my wreath would have a polished look. You can skip this step.

This wreath idea isn't totally my own either and I really feel I should give creative development credit where they are due. I got the idea from Country Living, but again, I didn't follow that exactly. You'll need to cut out a million or so 4 inch strips of streamers. My pack of streamers came with 2 rolls so I cut out 1 completely then cut the other as I needed. Once you have those you're ready to start assembling your wreath.

Country Living used matching straight pins, but I don't have those just laying around so I used hot glue. Let's just admit it. Hot glue is amazing! So I hot glue the strip into loops by gluing the ends like this...


Then folding it over like this...

Please excuse my half painted finger nails. I couldn't wait to get started on this!

Then you add more hot glue and stick it to your wreath like this....



You'll do "rows" of 3 loops and go all the way around. That's it! Country Living left a spot open, but I went all the way around with mine. I added an orange ribbon to make it even more Halloween-esque. I love it, but I think I should have placed the ribbon a little lower on the wreath. Oh well!



The bottom ruffles crinkled a little setting it on the bookshelf, but they straightened right back up!

Go get crafty!

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