NEEDLE FELT CACTUS

Happy Easter! I needle felted a cactus. Nothing to do with Easter, but that's what I was inspired to do.

 Also, this too is going on my Christmas tree. So there.

But Christmas doesn't have to be all about snow and evergreens. It's celebrated in the dessert too!

That flower was so difficult to do. You wouldn't think looking at it, but it was definitely the hardest part.

Anyway, Happy Easter!

Easy Fabric Covered Book DIY

This is really the easiest project in the world, but here goes.

First you need a book. I'm determined to learn to play my ukulele better this year, so I ordered this Ukulele for Dummies book. Tells something about my amazing ukulele skills! 

But it's a really good book. It starts with very basic things and moves to, from what I can tell from glancing it through, very complex ones. Everything is explained very clearly, including the strumming. When I tried to learn it from the Internet (as you do), most of the advice was on the lines of here are the chords, just strum what sounds the best. Er... Can't do that, I'm afraid. But Ukulele for Dummies explains it beautifully.

Now, my one problem with this book is the cover. Yes, how shallow! In my defense, it's bright yellow and looks like a sale notice. I've been keeping it in a drawer so I don't have to look at it all the time, and getting it out when I wanted to practice felt like a chore.

So I covered it with fabric.

This project is seriously super easy and only takes a few minutes. I just took an old striped pillow case, cut it up and just glued it straight on the cover. That's it! 

It is slightly see through, but not enough to trouble me.

I think if you have several books you'd like to cover, they would look really cool covered with different patterns. Flea markets are always full of old mismatched pillow cases. You could even use handkerchiefs or scarfs.

I'll never suffer an ugly book cover again!

DIY Spruce Pom-Pom Wreath

As a first step in my Christmas Spirit project, I decided to make a huge wreath for our front door, so you would feel a bit festive every time you came or went. I had seen this adorable pom-pom spruce wreath on Pinterest and wanted to do something similar.

The pictures are a bit washed out, especially the bow for some reason, but I think it turned out very pretty.

I bought a fake spruce base, then made a bunch of pom-poms from left over yarn. While watching YouTube, pom-poms are a great mindless project. I chose a pastel colour scheme based on what I had. I crocheted a striped bow for some extra interest. I fiddled with the placement a bit and then when it looked about right, sewed everything in place, to make sure that every time someone slammed the door there wouldn’t be a cascade of pom-poms. Though a cascade of pom-poms does sound lovely.

I have to add, I had to pluck a few spruce bits away after I hung it up on the door as they were blocking the peephole a bit. Something to consider if you are making one.

Striped Yarn Wreath

I’m so surprised how nicely this came out. I just had an idea and went for it. I started it late one evening and just used what I already had at home. The base was two circles I cut out of a cardboard box for frozen pizza (tuna, my favourite). I drew on them a few guidelines to see about where I wanted the stripes to be and then just started wrapping black and white yarn over the cardboard. First I did a thinner layer to see how it looked and then did another layer over it to make it thicker and even out the stripes a bit. They aren’t measured, but I think they are even enough. Perfection is boring, right? :) Plus, I knew if I’d to try to make it perfect, I’d never even get started.

I wanted the bow to have some texture, so I threw “Crochet Pattern” in the Google image search and chose this one. I think it has just the right amount of interest, not too plain, not too complicated. I crocheted the pattern until it looked long enough, then just wrapped yarn over the middle to make a bow. I sewed it on the wreath and forced my boyfriend to admire it.

I’m so happy with this! I think it would be easily customizable for different seasons and colour  preferences. White and green stripes and a red bow for Christmas, for example.

Doily Lamp (in progress)

Everyone has probably seen this doily lamp from Dos Family. It’s so lovely. I really want one. The trouble is, doilies are so hard to find around here. And when I do find them, they cost a lot, and I’d like a white lamp and the doilies I’ve run across at thrift stores are usually in colours. Mainly green for some reason.

But hey, I can crochet!

There are so many lovely doily patterns floating around in the internet. I just threw “doily” in Google and picked the ones I liked. Especially the Japanese patterns are so pretty! I bought some white yarn (from thrift store, of course) and crocheted away. This is my progress so far. Not enough for a lamp, yet, but getting there.

Ukulele Holder

This is something else my father made for me.

Pretty cool, don’t you think?

Unicorn Pillow

My mum has recently gotten really into needlepoint. (Is this called needlepoint in English?) We were shopping for new printed canvases for her and I saw this cute little unicorn one. I asked if she’d do it for me and she did!

Here’s a picture my mother took before she set to work.

And this is the finished pillow. It’s great for reading in bed. I just place the pillow on my stomach and prop the book on top of it: the book is at perfect height and my arms don’t get tired! Perfect!

Cloth Napkins and a Dispenser

Every time we go out to eat to a diner, I lust after those napkin dispensers. They are so cute and practical. Well, the other day I found a dispenser at the flea market for 3€! Joy!

I’ve been using cloth napkins for over a year now. At first it was really hard, but now I’m so used to it, it seems really silly to buy disposable napkins. Money down the drain! It does cause some confusion when I have guests, and one friend calls them affectionally “pillow cases”. But they are ecological, cheap and easy. I made them from an old sheet, and wash them with towels, so they cause no extra laundry.

Anyway, I stuffed the napkins into the dispenser. The patterns don’t really match, but, really, who cares! Now, I can easily take one when I need it without having to go look for one in the closet. Also, the dispenser is magnetic, so just add magnets and you can put on a grocery list or another important note. Love it!

Lunch Sack

I take my lunch to work almost everyday. It saves money and it’s a lot healthier than eating out.

So far, I’ve used one of those plastic produce bags from the supermarket to transport my lunch, but they are ugly, and bad for the environment. I’ve decided to start using my own fabric produce bags and so will not have those little plastic bags around the house anymore.

I run across this lunch sack tutorial at Skip to my Lou. I followed the instruction in everything except the measurements (I made it to mach my lunch boxes) and it was super easy!

I think it looks cute and a bit old fashioned, in a good way! I have gotten quite a few comments about it at work, mostly positive, but also a “what the heck is that?!”. :D

I thought about making a some kind of closing mechanism for it, but run out of energy, and for now I’ll use the clip pictured. It works well because I use different sized boxes depending on what type of food I’m bringing, and with the clip I can adjust the size of the sack.

I was a bit worried how the sack would perform in practice, but it works really well! It’s easy to clean, it’ easy to find from the fridge at work (very important), and it’s roomy enough to fit all my lunch easily (soup, a sandwich and an apple, for example, all go in there).

I would like to make an insulated sack also, so I could take lunch to school too, as there is no fridge there where I can keep it during lectures. Luckily school doesn’t start for another month, so I have some time to procrastinate it!

Felt Moustaches

My cousin got married in June. I was one of her maid of honors, and I did some crafts for the wedding.

The most successful of which were these moustaches, I think.

Here they are drying on my desk before the wedding.

At the wedding we had a photo booth type of thing, where the guests could take pictures of themselves wearing the moustaches. The pictures are quite hilarious! Sadly, I can’t post them all here, as I don’t have a permission, but here are my parents in action:

We also had a guestbook, with space for pictures next to the guest’s signatures, well wishes etc. The moustache pictures and other pictures taken at the wedding are going to be glued in there. We already tested it out and it looks awesome! So much more colourful and personal than a regular guestbook.