Make it Monday - Ridge Hat with Brim

Hello readers! I announced yesterday that this week's theme is National Hat Month. In honor of this month, I have chosen to crochet a beanie to add to my collection. The pattern comes from a blog called Stitch of Love. The owner of this blog has been quiet since 2013; however, the free patterns are still available to use on this blog. Here's the link to my project: Ridge Hat with Brim.

With this, I need to make a note. I will not put the instructions to this beanie on my blog. It is not my pattern. You must follow the link above by clicking the words Ridge Hat with Brim to have the pattern.

Materials:
Worsted Weight yarn  - I used Caron One Pound Baby in Denim
Size H hook
Yarn needle
Stitch Marker (optional)

I know that the pattern and Stitch of Love uses a different set of materials to accomplish the goal. I have issues using smaller yarn, so I went with what was comfortable. Like with any pattern, I chose to accomplish it in a way that fits my body and how I crochet. Crochet is so versatile. Given that I have crocheted MANY hats and beanies over the years, I found this one more hands on with the clusters and front post double crochet. Yet, it turned out so beautifully.

There were a few changes to the pattern that I had to do to make it fit. First, I ended up stopping at Row 6 of the flat circle to make it fit my head properly. I have a smaller adult head. It is important to make the hats fit your head instead of following a pattern and not be able to use it.

The second change I made was subtracting one row of the body to ensure my eyes were not covered up by the brim.  And that leads me to my third change. I ended up removing rows 1, 2 and 5 from the brim. It was too long to fit my head. I didn't mean to skip 1 and 2, but I miscalculated. It worked for my head, so that's a plus.

Here's the work in progress. This is working on the brim.

This is the finished product.

I thought about putting a braid around the brim with a flower, but I kind of like it plain. The original pattern comes with a huge flower to put on the side, but I absolutely LOVE Bonita flower patterns.

One thing I did notice with the pattern had some numerical issues where the stitch count did not add up in the beginning of a new row as it does the rest. For instance, in the brim the pattern designer has a 4 stitch count in the first section of row 1 and has a 5 stitch count in the second section. I corrected this on my own hat as that removes some stitches.

Overall, I love the pattern. As I was crocheting it, I thought of tulips and other spring-y patterns. I bet if you wanted, you could turn it into a basket by stopping at Row 7 on the body and putting a handle.

Happy Crafting,

Sarah

Make it Monday - Binding a Book - Photo Heavy

This project was done months in advance because it was created for my mother's birthday. Her birthday falls in December, close to Christmas. We had plans to go out for lunch, but I wanted to make something special for her. Something I took time on. I have the luck to have a mother who truly loves everything homemade or anything given to her. Her humbleness stuns me every time. In recent months, she had told me that she had been studying her religious text. So this Make it Monday project comes from the desire to help her progress.

Yep! I bound a book. Two of them in fact. And I would have to say that they are more along the lines of a booklet. The ones I have made are meant for note taking or other such things. You can obviously create larger books than the ones I completed. All you would need to do is puncture the paper a little at a time to accomplish this. And cut the designer paper larger to cover the added paper.

Materials

Paper cutter

Designer paper or colored paper

4-6 sheets of white copier paper

needle

thread

scissors

Here are the instructions on how to accomplish this project:

1. Take 4-6 sheets of white copier paper and fold them in half. Be sure to press the bent side with a straight edge or a bone folder.

2. Cut the designer paper to 8.5 x 11 to fit over the paper. You can also add 1/4 of an inch on either side to overcompensate. (Excuse my crafter's mess - This was around Christmas time.)

3. Fold the designer paper over the copier paper. Remember to press the seam with a straight edge.

4. Take your threaded needle and puncture the center of the paper from the inside. Leave a longer tail because you will need to tie the ends together.

5. When you bring the needle and thread out, puncture another hole about 2-3 inches away from the center. I went a little further on this one than I did my first one.

6. Take the needle through the paper and back across the center to the opposite side. I didn't measure. I just eyed the space to see what looked right. They are about equal distance from the center. Puncture the paper and pull the needle to the outside of the booklet again.

7. Finally, push the needle through the center hole. Pull tight. Then cut the needle off leaving a long tail to tie.

 8. Tie the two ends together twice and cut a majority of the excess. Fold the booklet.

Congrats! You just made a booklet. Here's the pictures of the two finished booklets I completed. I chose not to embellish them as I knew that my mother would love them, but you can embellish them with ribbon or stamps or whatever you wanted.

These are bookmarks I made to match the booklets.

Booklets and bookmarks together.

Finished and packaged. If you are wondering, I took a 8 x 10 cello bag I purchased from JoAnn's online (with a self adhesive closure), added the booklets and bookmarks, and closed it. I then took a piece of brown cardstock (scrap) and folded it over. I stapled it onto the cello bag. I used a scrap piece of the flower designer paper to cover the staples.

I hope you have found this tutorial informative and choose to do it yourself. It is relatively easy. It was super quick. I was able to accomplish it within ten minutes (minus the bookmark part since I laminated). A bit of that time was trying to thread a needle....because my threader broke. So, you can accomplish this project in less than 10 minutes without a doubt.

Take some time to create some homemade books and bookmarks for someone you care about! The gifts don't have to be expensive, especially when they come from your heart.

Sarah

The Candy Corner - Make it Monday - Peanut Butter Cups - Photo Heavy

Besides being the week of chocolate, this Make it Monday falls on my hubby's birthday. Each year we dedicate a certain amount of money for a birthday gift with a cake and a special dinner. This year (like most) my hubby wants to buy a digital game pack. Yep...he is a gamer. Much more than I am for sure. What I am as a craft is him with games. So, that leaves me with no physical gift to really get him. I asked him what he wanted for dinner and a cake. His answer was "I don't care." He isn't very helpful, but on the positive side, he is not very fussy. What I did want to do is create something for him on his birthday!

So...the theme of chocolate has made me think in the last few weeks of what I could do with that theme and with my skill set that he would actually enjoy. Well, I have to say that this one left me stumped. Normally here on Dande Creations I choose to do paper crafts, crochet, or other such crafts. Not only does he not enjoy most of that, but I couldn't think of a single thing I could do that would fit the typical crafts found on this blog.

Next best thing? Well...making some REAL chocolates.

I recently discovered a blog post on Pinterest that had me interested - Peanut Butter cups.  My husband loves peanut butter cups. So when I stumbled across these, I knew I found my craft.

This is a special edition of Make it Monday. Cooking and baking or chocolate making is not a common craft here, but since this falls perfectly on my hubby's birthday and the theme of chocolate...I am doing it.

What you will need:
A pot
A cupcake tin
A glass bowl
2 tablespoon
Paper cupcake holders
1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter (I used two heaping tablespoons.)
1/8 cup of powdered sugar
1 tbsp of butter - softened
2 tsp Crisco (optional - it provides shine)

First, gather your ingredients and materials. As you can see, I did not use name brand. You can use Reese's peanut butter and milk chocolate if you wish. In my house we use creamy peanut butter and semi-sweet chocolate.

I gathered my pot, cupcake tin, a glass bowl, and the cupcake liners. These liners are 1 dollar (V-day edition) at the Dollar General. It's close enough to V-day to use them, but who cares right? You can alternatively do this in the microwave. Just heat the chocolate and Crisco at 20-30 second intervals until they are smooth.

Line the cupcake tins. It is much easier to do this while your chocolate is melting. I was bored in between the prep and the melting chocolate.

Fill your pot with about two inches of water. *IMPORTANT* Do not allow the water to touch the bottom of the pot. So before you put the chocolate in, put your bowl into the pot to check.

Pour 2/3 of the bag of chocolate chips into the bowl and turn on the stove eye at 6. Set aside the last 1/3 for tempering.

Once it started to melt, I added my Crisco. Simply because I forgot to put it in.

These are well loved pans and pots! Take a tablespoon of chocolate and put it into the cupcake liner. Smooth it from the center to the outside, making sure to hit all parts of the side. Repeat through all 12 liners. Resist the urge to lick the spoon! I know. It's hard, but you will run out of chocolate.

This is what you get. Now bang it on the table or counter to release air bubbles. Place in the fridge for 5-10 minutes until firm. I think we took ours out at 7 minutes.

While the bottoms are inside the fridge, take your peanut butter, powdered sugar, and butter. Add them to a bowl. I used a measuring cup for no other reason than it was within reach. LOL!

It will look something like this. Delicious and peanut buttery!

Remove the bases from the fridge when they are set. They will look something like this. You can see the chocolate has a shine, which is from the Crisco.

Place a half tablespoon of peanut butter (roughly) in each liner. I wasn't neat. There is no need to be as these are for a man who just doesn't care what they look like. It's more important what they taste like!

Smooth the peanut butter out just like the chocolate until it reaches the edge. The point of this is to show each layer when the candies are done!

Repeat the process with the top layer of chocolate. I forgot to take a picture! I was so good at every stage of the process and forgot that >.< Oh well right? It is the same process as the first layer of chocolate and the peanut butter.

Here's the finished product - special with a thumb print on it.

The cups are going to have more of set in the fridge until they are FULLY hardened. You just remove the paper and eat!

I am sure my husband is going to love his gift. I can assure you that they taste delicious. He will be receiving 1 less cup, but it's taste control right? Well...either way that's my story and I am sticking to it.

Until Next Time,

Sarah

Make it Monday - Inspiring your heart with Art

As a lover of art and creativity, this is a fairly simple week to develop in terms of crafting. I have previously made dauber projects, but this one really was super fun to do. I started out with a different idea. As I started working though, I quickly changed my tactics. As it is getting closer to Valentine's Day and the theme is Inspire your HEART, I chose to make this as a heart.

Here's the picture - with a view of the mess on my craft table while crafting!

Note: This, like most of my crafting posts this year, will contain more written instructions and less pictures.
If you would like step to step pictures with this technique stay tuned to Scrappy Saturday on 1/31/2015.

Materials
Paper cutter or scissors
Ruler
Pen (if you don't use a paper cutter with a ruler attached)
One card base
One main color (backing)
A sheet of white card stock
A sheet of white copy paper.
Sponge Daubers
Pigment ink
A stamp if you want that
StazOn Jet Black ink (for stamp)
Acrylic block (for stamp)
Roller Tape


1. Cut a piece of 8.5 x 11 card stock in half to obtain two 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 cards. Score one in half, making your card.

2. Cut a piece of purple card stock to 4 x 5 1/4. This is the "backing."

3. Cut a piece of white card stock to 3 3/4 x 5. This is the mat. Take a small piece of tape and place it on the back of this piece and place it on top of your sheet of white card stock. This will protect your surface from ink.

4. Using the white copy paper, cut a heart free hand. If you want to use a die cut machine to create a heart you like, do so. I don't have one, so I used my scissors and pretended I was in elementary school. Place a small piece of tape on the back and adhere it to your mat.

5. Using the daubers, choose whatever colors you wish. Rub them across the ink. Holding the side of the heart down, begin in circular motions to rub the ink onto the mat. Repeat until you have the entire outline of the heart. You can remove the heart now if you wish or continue to blend the ink around.

6. Once finished, take the mat and and adhere it to the backing with tape. I chose not to embellish any more. Adhere the layers to the card base.


What is so lovely about this card is that it opens your mind to using this technique in many other ways. The original way I saw this accomplished was using glossy photo paper which made the finished product glossy. I prefer a more matte card, but feel free to explore this type of technique. 

Revealing the Theme - Inspire your Heart with Art

Art has always been a part of my life, but sometimes we look at art as something you have to find in a museum and created by historic figures like Monet or Michelangelo. The true definition of art is an expression of human creative skill or imagination that produces works to be appreciated for their beauty of emotional power. We, as humans, have come to think of art as something valuable. And sometimes that makes us forget that art comes in various mediums, crafts, and values.

Take something like this:

This is my first "Shape Buddy." The pattern has not been developed further, but may come out in the future. Look at it's eyes. They are off center and very crooked. The mouth is strange. The arms and legs are not matching exactly. Yet, I created it. I spent my time and effort imagining and crafting this little guy. I am proud of him. He is unique. But someone like Monet or Michelangelo would never claim that this is art. Even people who study art would say this is a craft.

Yet, but the very definition of art: I created something inspired by imagination which is appreciated by me and my nieces for the comfort it brings. It is art.

When I really look at the crafting I accomplish, I see art in it all. Effort. Imagination. Cunning. And every emotion is put into every single piece.

So this week is designated to Inspire your Heart with Art.

You can take this literal like I have done. Or you can take it as abstract as you wish by only crafting what you love and have passion for this week. 

Here's the list of materials for tomorrow's project:

Materials
Paper cutter or scissors
Ruler
Pen (if you don't use a paper cutter with a ruler attached)
One card base
One main color (backing)
A sheet of white card stock
A sheet of white copy paper.
Sponge Daubers
Pigment ink
A stamp if you want that
StazOn Jet Black ink (for stamp)
Acrylic block (for stamp)

Make it Monday - National Book Week - Photo Heavy

This week is National Book Week. I chose to showcase this wonderful event because supporting literature, reading, and literacy is important to me. Reading and literature cultivates society to openness, caring, and compassion. Above that, it can teleport you to another world and provides a view from a different angle. What better way to celebrate books and literature than by creating a bookmark? Besides reading a book of course.

Bookmarks are versatile whether made with yarn, thread, or paper. For this project, I am using paper. I am using a technique that you have seen on this blog and will see in the future - pigment ink daubing. I am sure there is another term for that. I don't mind making up names for things!

Materials
Paper cutter or scissors
Ruler
Pen (if you don't use a paper cutter with a ruler attached)
One main color (backing)
A sheet of white card stock
A small section of ribbon (optional)
A laminator
A laminator sheet
A hole punch
Sponge Daubers
Pigment ink
A stamp if you want that
StazOn Jet Black ink (for stamp)
Acrylic block (for stamp)

Here's a picture of the daubers, stamp, and ink I used:

1. What you do first is cut two your base layer at 6 1/4 x 2 1/4. I used a light purple. This is not pictured; however, you can see the cut pieces further below. 

2. Next, cut two white pieces of card stock at 6 x 2. Adhere with temporary tape to a piece of white paper. You can alternatively just hold the piece of paper. This is what I do. 

3. Using the pigment ink and the sponge daubers, pick a color and begin moving in a circular motion in the spot you want. I usually choose the corners. My first color is purple. Pictured below.

4. Pick another color and do the same, but blend the color into the previous one. My second color is pink.

Here's a picture of picking up ink using the dauber.

5. Pick a third color (if you wish) and do the same as step 4. I chose blue and green to mix giving it a pale teal look.

And the 2nd layer is finished.

6. Cut two pieces of white card stock at 3 x 1 3/4. (Or, measure one to fit the stamp you use.) This measurement is for the flower stamp. If you are interested, I found this stamp at JoAnn's online and had it shipped to my house

7. With StazOn Jet Black ink, stamp the image onto both pieces of cardstock.

 8. Now, adhere the stamped images onto the 2nd layer by using tape. This is a Scotch Tape glider. I chose to place mine in the middle and at the top.

9. Attach tape to the back of the 2nd layer and attach them to the base color.  (Here's the purple base layers.)

10. When you have finished, send them through a laminator following the instructions provided by the machine. If you want to add ribbon, punch a hole into the top of the card after laminating and add ribbon. I chose not to do so at this time, but may add some ribbon when I find the right one.

From Dande Creations, I wish you a happy National Book week and urge you to get lost in a book after you finish crafting some bookmarks!