DIY Hama Bead Snowflakes

I’ve always thought Hama Beads were a bit, I don’t know, tacky maybe, but then I saw these snowflakes on Pinterest. So cute. Now I’m obsessed.

I had a bit of trouble getting started. You are supposed to construct them on the plastic base and then iron them through a baking sheet to melt the beads together. It took a few tries to figure out what to do. The first one I melted a bit too much and the second one I somehow managed to tie into a knot! Alright then. After that I was a bit more careful.

These two I made with a circular base.

And these with an hexagon.

I actually think I could have melted these a bit more, because they feel a bit fragile. But I hung them up on the kitchen window with sewing thread and they look very pretty and wintery.

DIY Pom Pom Pillow

I’ve been making so many pom poms lately! This time on a pillow.

I saved a picture of this pillow from Living with punks ages ago on my DIY board on Pinterest and finally decided to do something like it.

I’m not much of a sewer, so instead I crocheted the pillow. I used the same pattern I’ve used for the bows in my wreaths, just on a larger scale. I also decided to sew the pom poms more tightly onto the pillow than in the original. It just seemed like a sturdier option.

I just love how it looks. I used a wool yarn and the combination of white crochet and pom poms makes it look so wintery and cosy.

DIY Crochet Snow Lantern

We live in an apartment so we don’t have a yard, just a balcony. So, I had this amazing (in my opinion, of course) idea that I’d make a snow lantern, like the once we used to make when we were little, only instead of snow I’d use yarn and polyfill and then I could keep it inside! Using a led light of course, this thing would catch fire like nobody’s business.

Crocheting the balls was the fun part, just make a basic amigurumi ball in the size you want. Trying to assemble it or even trying to pile it for a second, so I could see how it was coming together and estimate how many more I still needed to make, was the part where the balls kept rolling on every direction and I lost my temper. Whew. But I managed it! And I think it looks so nice. I like how it is minimalistic and even quite sophisticated as far as Christmas decorations go, but also cosy and fun. I can see myself pulling this out every winter for next 50 years, without it looking tacky.

I sewed all the balls together, and it is really sturdy. I could throw it across the room and not do it any damage. But if I were to do it again… I’d use a glue gun. And just try to control my throwing impulses. Also, I love crocheting, but definitely the easier route would have been just wrapping Styrofoam balls with yarn and gluing them together. Ah well, all that ends well!