Saturday, December 21, 2013

DIY Hama Bead Snowflakes

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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.

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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.

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These two I made with a circular base.

And these with an hexagon.

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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.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

DIY Pom Pom Pillow

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

DIY Crochet Snow Lantern

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Friday, December 6, 2013

Happy Independence Day!

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Today is the independence day here in Finland and, being on a bit of a wreath kick, I decided to make an (independence) wreath for our door.

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I was inspired by this tutorial on Bleubird blog. For colours I chose three different shades of blue and two different shades of white. I didn’t have a wreath base, so just cut two rounds from a pizza box and wrapped them with blue yarn to make the base more sturdy. Once I had a mound of pom-poms and was running out of yarn, I started to tie them onto the base. Then realized that I didn’t have enough and had to make some more. The wreath takes a huge amount of pom-poms, but they are so much fun to make, I didn’t mind.

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I’m already thinking about other colour combinations to try. White and different shades of red, with a green bow. Or all white with a red bow.

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I know that in some countries independence day is a huge party with fireworks and stuff, but we are just going to burn candles, eat cream cake, visit the graveyard and watch the president’s independence day reception.

Happy independence day!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

DIY Spruce Pom-Pom Wreath

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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