Gray day (but that's ok)

We've had about one day of sunshine in the last couple of weeks. Rain, rain and more rain, torrential-like or just a drizzle, mild and damp or bonechillingly cold and wet - the lack of light being the most predominant part of the whole weather scene. Oh well, I don't mind. I get kind of drousy, but there's nothing more sweet than returning to a snug, warm house after being outside on a rainy autumn day. There'll definitely be hot chocolate with whipped cream for the kids when thay come home from school and kindergarten :3

After a pretty busy period with my sister's wedding (hooray!), Emma's fourth birthday (I think I'll make a post about this next time) and the general hazzle of everyday life being extra hazzly (yes, I know that's not a word), I finally have some time to focus on the sweetest time of year - Christmas! If you disagree that Christmas is the best time of year, well - just be glad you don't live in my home, I'd drive you absolutely crazy, I promise :D So, the present-making has started, and to inspire you with some DIY-goodness, I'll share with you some of the things I made last year (and waited until now to share, because I didn't want to reveal to many presents to the ones they were meant for before they got them). Let's start off with bottle cap-magnets - these are so much fun to make! 

I collected some more recycled bottle caps (last bottle cap project being crochet-bottle-cap-hot-pads), bought resin glue at a shop where you get paints, glues and such, collected some leftover bits of scrapbook paper and some pearls and stuff, and got started :)

Here's an amigurumi mushroom too, crocheted around a tiny jar, for storing saffron or something else small and precious :3

I glued the scrapbook paper inside the bottom of the cap after cutting it to the right size, put som cute things and a friendly message inside, and then poured the resin glue in up to about a millimetre from the top of the brim, and let it dry until hard.

Then I glued super strong magnets from Clas Ohlson to the back - and then they were ready!

Of course I had to make some Christmas-magnets too

And a few foresty ones... The paper in the bottom of the cap was painted by me and the kids - we put some paint on paper, and folded to make the "veiny" pattern (blue in this one).

Vintage-style

Ocean-magnets for my in-laws :) They're on the fridge at the cottage (which is by the sea). Fun to use real sea shells! And the veined paper, and felt tip pens for the sea creatures

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I hope you were inspired :) A snug autumn afternoon to all!

Fun with felt 

We've had a few warm days. For a while it almost felt like summer, which was a bit confusing... But last night autumn came back in business, with really heavy rain and winds I could feel through the wall. That's when you know you did the right thing, choosing woolens for the children to wear the next day. 
Wool is such a clever thing. It doesn't get cold and clammy, even if you get wet from rain, snow or sweat. It breathes, so you don't really get sweaty that easily, and treated with lanolin (which is in the wool to begin with, before it is processed for textile, etc.) it also has antibacterial and anti fungal properties. It is also, to an extent, waterproof. Hooray for wool! And for all the animals that make it :) 
I've been tidying a bit in "the office" again, and found a felted handbag I made eons ago (which to me is about seven years ago, he he). I also found some leftover felt I made last year (I make my own felt with dyed wool), and decided to make a couple of lanterns (one of which I'll share with you here). So, here's today's tribute to wool.

Ah, welcome back, one of my first felt projects...

Open sesame! 

Brown cotton fabric as lining. Plenty of room for keys, phone, credit cards... Or something :3

I've twisted thin gold wire around the tips, and put some pretty plastic and wood pearls on. Thin gold chain as bag strap.

Had to try it on... The newly made crochet vest I'm wearing will be described in a different post :)

This is what it looks like from behind

Ah, how I love green :3
 

I don't like wasting stuff, so I've put felt from last years Christmas present-making to use.

Ambiance :)

I've stitched different pieces together (rectangular pieces with half-hearts, making a heart where it is sown together) with gold thread, and a ribbon to tie up the top

I like blues and purple too :3 I sewed on little purple metallic roses here and there

Keep warm <3

Crochet Doll's Dresses...

...or rather, dresses for two little soft, fuzzy friends that mean a lot to my daughters - especially my oldest one, who has an army of animal friends. The synthetic, batting-stuffed kind. She'd love to have a real menagerie in our house, but she'll have to settle for Pusi and Brum and all the other toy animals until she's old enough to become the wildlife protector or animal shelter manager it seems she might turn out to be. One of the advantages of the non-real fuzzy friends - responsibilities, smells, costs and other issues of keeping real animals aside - is that you can dress them up :3 (Yes, I know you can dress up dogs, for example, but I think that's pretty silly...)

Meet Pusi, a bit worn and not as white as she used to be, but what does it matter when she's dressed in a pink dress with glittery, blue border, sequins and butterfly buttons?

Brum in a darker pink, with wine red border and purple sequins, and a couple of see through, light pink buttons left over from a shirt or something.

Hair band with elastic threaded through, and a flower on of course.

One for Brum too :)

Here they are before they were put on. Yeees, I should flip the picture in Picasa, but it's Sunday morning and we're soon getting ready to go out, so you'll just have to cock your head a little ;)

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Aren't they cute?

Enjoy your Sunday :)

A Little Tale of Fairies

Springtime has turned into a grey, mushy, slightly stressful affair. I know it's temporary. I know I'll start making something else than crochet-mushrooms soon. And I know the tiny, annoying fairy tale creatures with and without wings are gnomes, fairies, leprechauns, sprites and so forth, and certainly not by folklore terms "elves". But I like Morris Bishop's "How To Treat Elves" anyway... 

How to Treat Elves

by Morris Bishop  
I met an elf-man in the woods,
the wee-est little elf!
Sitting under a mushroom tall—
'twas taller than himself. 

"How do you do, little elf," I said,
"and what do you do all day?"
"I dance and frolic about," said he,
"and jump about and play! 

"I su'prise the butterflies, and when
a katydid I see,
'Katy didn't!' I say to him, and
'Katy did!' he says to me! 

"I hide behind my mushroom stalk
when Mister Mole comes through,
and only just to fwighten him
I jump out and say, 'Boo!' 

"And then I swing on a cobweb swing,
up in the air so high!
And the crickets chirp just to hear me sing,
'Upsy daisy die!' 

"And then I play with the baby chicks—
I call them, 'Chick! chick! chick!'
And what do you think of that?" said he.
I said, "It makes me sick." 

It gives me sharp and shooting pains
to listen to such drool,
so I lifted up my foot and squashed
the goddamned little fool. 

Yes, yes, mooore mushrooms...

And the tops come off, of course - this was an old asparagus-jar.

No specific plan to start with. They tend to just... Solidify, while I'm crocheting...

Look at this little thing...

...which is a small preserving jar from Clas Ohlson :)

One of my favorite colours on that hat.

No reason to throw out a cute sprinkle jar once the sprinkle is gone...

I look at my little shrooms-collection, and feel there's something annoyingly useless about them, which makes me think of a certain flattened wee creature... Of course, that feeling is completely off - these are probably some of the most useful crocheted mushrooms you're ever going to put your eyes on. Seriously. 

Hope you're having a spectacularly splendid month!

 

 

Creepy Cute Crawlers

Yes, I've been crocheting again - this time I really wanted to make something fun for a little girls first birthday. Something nice and soft and interesting, and completely homemade :)

If you have a tree made out of light green linen, dark green, speckled cotton and dark brown corduroy (which used to be a trouser leg, by the way), stuffed with foam rubber (from a new foam rubber mattress)...

...and there are holes under the leaves, where something can live...

... and you crochet a little bunch of friends...

(look at that shadow xD)

...like a spider...

...a snail...

...

...a caterpillar...

...a bumble bee...

...and a lady bird...

...

...you have a happy home for a group of creepy crawly friends, which hopefully isn't too creepy for a little toddler. From what I've heard, she seemed to like them; I think she even had a little taste, which is a sure sign of toddler trust :3 Happy birthday, Ijo!

Have a very good weekend!