Halloween Costumes

Last year was epic when it came to Halloween Costumes. This year I didn't go all out because my kids found costumes at the thrift store that they liked. The only costume I needed to make was for my oldest, he wanted to be a medieval Spear man. I found an old curtain that I used for his tunic. The chain mail armor I crocheted with gray yarn. There was no pattern to follow but I did see this pic which gave me inspiration. My hubby made the spear out of an old broom handle, cardboard, and black duct tape. He received many compliments as he tricked or treated.

 Now, my husband's costume was EPIC! 
It scared so many people and its all because of this awesome 39 lb pumpkin. 

This is how it looked at the Trunk or Treat. He had false legs and when people reached into the bowl he'd grabbed their hands.

 

I made the ghosts out of Geo mesh.

Crochet Dresses for American Girl Dolls

I have a TON of yarn, totes filled to the brim! hehe The totes need to be used up. Most of the yarn isn't the fancy kind, just plain Red Heart yarn, but it works perfectly for doll clothes because it holds up well and washes easily. I found this adorable dress pattern for American Girl dolls. My girls wanted a regular dress so I extended the length of the skirt. 

Christmas Stocking Ornaments

I have a friend who inherited her Gma's crocheted Christmas stocking ornaments. She wanted to make some to add to the collection, but didn't have a pattern, so I set out to figure it out. It was pretty simple to do, but I found a pattern online thinking it might be nice to have a twist to Gma's stocking. This stocking pattern went super fast too and my sister loved it's outcome, I'll be making her some for her family this week for next year. But in the end my friend and I liked the Gma's pattern more. I liked it so much that I made a set for me and hope to make more.

The 1st two are from the pattern, the 3rd is Gma's stocking, and the 4th is my replica of Gma's stocking ornament.

Doll Clothing

For Christmas this year, my daughters are getting Melissa and Doug dolls. They're 14" tall and perfect for my little girls.

 

 I knew I wanted to make doll clothes for them, I however didn't realize that the bug would hit me and I couldn't stop making them. I had to tell myself to quit after 3 outfits because I have plenty of time to make more after the holidays. 

The first outfit I made was these cute crochet dresses. I found the pattern here. I changed the dress a bit and joined a lot earlier than she did. I wanted my girl's to be able to just slip it on and not have to deal with buttons. Because the dolls are 4" smaller than what the pattern was made for I dropped down 2 hook sizes and used a lighter weight yarn. I love the sparkly yarn.

I found the top of the next outfit from the same creator as the dress above. It's an adorable sweater, however I did make some changes , joining sooner than she had and I used the same worsted weight yarn, but dropped down 2 hook sizes. On the 2nd sweater( one on the left) I didn't do the increases she calls for towards the bottom of the sweater. I think that did the trick for getting the correct size. The pants I used this pattern and tutorial. I shrunk down the pattern to fit the dolls and used knit instead of fleece. This pattern was super easy and I plan on making a lot more pants in all different types of material.

You cant live in the West and not have a western outfit. I used this great pattern for the top. I've used it many times and its super easy and fast. I did make the straps a bit shorter so it would hug their dolls better. For the skirt I used jersey and the same principals in this tutorial I've used before.

This is what the back looks like.

That's it for NOW, oh but there definitely will be more clothing to come.

Chain Loop Scarf

I love scarves and cowls and so when I saw this chain loop scarf, I knew I needed one...or two...or maybe eventually three. I'm limited on my bulky yarn so I decided to use two strands of Caron's Simply Soft yarn. I enjoy the variegated look. Each scarf took me about 45 minutes to do. A very easy project for gifts or for yourself.

  

Yarn bowls

I dont save all my yarn scraps, I will for bird nesting in the spring, but a lot of it I throw away, NOT ANYMORE!!! For our scouts' Christmas present this year they made these cool bowls out of yarn. I found the idea here. I loved the vibrant colors and shape. I didnt have scraps of yarn so I ended up cutting a ton of different colors of yarn into 3 different sizes. 

The original plan was to put cookies the scouts made into the bowls, but a smoky church oven had other ideas. Instead they tied their bows and gave just the bowl as a gift. I love how some scouts made their bowls with yarn all over the place while some took a more circular approach.

I have  a lot of yarn left over and I plan on doing this craft project with my kiddos real soon!