Thursday, September 17, 2009

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.

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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!

Monday, August 3, 2009

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!

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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!

Monday, July 27, 2009

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.

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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:

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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.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Banana Cosy

What is this..?

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Why, it’ a knitted banana cosy!

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Yes, indeed. A knitted banana cosy. A knitted cosy for a banana. A cosy for a banana, knitted.

For this banana.

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This banana was in my bag yesterday, all day. It didn’t get eaten, as you can see, a lot of chocolate did, but that’s beside the point. The point is, the banana is still in one piece, thanks to the cosy.

It’s a bit brown, but it didn’t get pierced on a pen or something. And if it had, the cosy would have protected my bag.

Anyway, brown bananas are the best! The best I tell you.

I declare this experiment a success!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Juggling Balls

I made juggling balls for my brother as a Christmas gift last year. Then I decided that I would like to have ones for myself as well.

I made the pattern myself, but here are very good instructions, if you would like to make ones for yourself.

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They are not actually round, but a bit square. This, I find, actually makes them easier to catch. Mine are stuffed with linen seed, but you could use any other grain as well.

I don’t know why they all look a different size in these pictures. I used the same pattern on all, and measured the stuffing. Odd.

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Now, I can’t actually juggle, yet. I can manage maybe 5 throws, before the balls escape me. But I’m trying!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Shopping Bag

Here in Finland, when you go grocery shopping, the plastic bags are not free, you have to pay for them. It gets expensive after a while if you have to buy a new bag each time, and for garbage bags it’s cheaper to buy a whole roll of them.

You can buy fabric bags in stores, they are cheap, 2€ I think, but they are of non-dyed cotton and not very pretty. So, I decided to make one for myself.

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I keep it in my handbag, and you can see I fished it out from there for this photo. It’s bit dusty and wrinkled, but at least you get a realistic picture of what it actually looks like in use…

It’s smoke-blue linen (almost the same colour as the wall…), with some sequins for embellishment.

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On a side note, in Finland, you bag your own groceries, there is no-one to do it for you. We’re big on self-service… It caused great confusion when I tried to do it in China.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Vampire Cupcakes

Not crochet, these are real baked cupcakes.
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I made these about a year ago. Yes, I'm resorting to using old projects.
I can't remember where I saw them first, or where I got the recipe, sorry. But Google gives plenty of results if you want to try.
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This was my first time trying cream cheese frosting, and I have to say I didn't like it at all... It tasted so greasy. So I haven't tried to make them again.
I wonder if these would work out with whipped cream, which is more commonly used on cakes and such in Finland. I like whipped cream! It might slide off, though.
At least, they look pretty cool, I think.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Amigurumi Pear

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I still can't believe I haven't posted this. Maybe I just can't find it in my archives? You see, I made this last summer as can be seen in the sunny picture. I meant to post this then, but apparently forgot... Well, here it is!

It's made following the excellent pattern by Crochetroo. She has a lot of free patterns on her site. I've made her fan bookmark too.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Happy New Year!

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I'm determined to update more this year, but since I'm really busy with uni and work, there might be more links to patterns of others and fewer new patterns of my own. I'll be still working on new patterns, but on a bit slower pace. I hope you stop by nonetheless!

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