Crochet Snowflake Garland

This is not necessarily a pin... but let's pretend, k?

I have recently taken up the obsession hobby of crocheting. It is so fun to make things with my hands and I love how it feels to finish a project. I also love crocheting because I can make things for others and serve those in need or those in my family.

I was having the urge to create something Christmas-y for our first Christmas in our new home. So I went searching on the Red Heart website. It's great because it has so many projects for all kinds of skill levels. I eventually found something I liked and wanted to try - The Snowflake Mitten Ornament. I went to work, and after finishing I did not love the mitten. But I did love that cute little snowflake!! So I decided to make a bunch and make it into a cute little garland for my mantle. Off to work I go!

So stinkin' adorable!

I forgot that it would overlap with my stockings, but I am leaving it for now. Next year I'll find a better place for it.

I plan to make our fireplace lovely and perfect whenever we can paint our living area. But it is what it is for now - and I actually am okay with it. I could have made the garland a little longer, but like I said - I like it for now. So cute and it wasn't too hard to make.

Sorry it's not really a pin - but I hope it inspired you a little bit to go and create something lovely!

Lynnette

12 Days of Christmas pin

The hubs and I bought our first home this year, so this is our first Christmas in our home! I decided to try out a new tradition to go with our new home this year. It helps that I'm not worrying about homework or finals right now. I have always loved the idea of the advent calendars that have a little thought/activity leading up to Christmas. It just helps get me in the Christmas spirit.

A while back I had pinned this pin. Source: 12 Days of Christmas to Christ

 

You need to know that this is from LDS Living. So this may not be exactly matching up with your belief system. I also pinned some other cool ideas, like ... 50 Things to do at Christmas, Reason for the Season Devotionals, Christmas Symbols, The 12 Dates of Christmas. Take your pick - these all rock. I'm actually probably going to take ideas from all of these. But for this project I focused on The 12 Days of Christmas to Christ.

 

I decided I wanted to make it an advent-type thing, so I made little pocket-ornaments for each of the 12 days. I simply took cute Christmas paper, measured it about 2 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches, folded it in half, one staple on each side, hole punched the two top corners, and strung ribbon through. I typed the little thought/lesson in pretty fonts, and folded them up and stuck them inside the pocket. Then I traced the numbers on the ornaments and colored them in. Not too fancy, but cute and simple.

Don't you love our little Utah Jazz ornament? Us too.

So I plan to start on the 13th so we'll end on Christmas Eve. I hope it's fun and that we can keep doing it every year, and maybe even add new things as our family grows.

Lynnette

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

Flower Pin

It's my turn I guess... Lynnette has done a fantastic job but I promised I would chime in every now and then. 

Let me start by saying- I love Pinterest but I've only done... oh let's say 3 projects-- as a safe number. Maybe 4... okay I lied 3- and 2 of them were recipes. It's true. But after this weekend, ask me again how many I've tried. That's right my number has just gone up by one more. 

Because of this little beauty:

http://www.cluckclucksew.com/2008/09/petal-pillow-tutorial.html

I know. You're in love. 

I was too, so I gave it a shot and here's how it went down:

 12:45 pm: Run to Hobby Lobby and buy 1/2 yard of background fabric and 1/4 yard of coordinating felt... Oh yeah I forgot the thread and only had navy blue. Not so great. Ran to Michaels for that because it's closer.

 2:00 pm: Look for something about the right size to use as a pattern for the petals. I used a green chile can for the smaller sized circles and a Magic Bullet Comfort Ring for the larger one... come to find out later it's not really THAT big of a deal that it was exactly 2 1/2" and 3 1/2"

 2:35 pm: Made a template from an index card with my circles traced on-- then cut them out...

 3:00 pm: Still cutting...  circles, then in half.

 3:25 pm: Finally done cutting, start sewing. At first I tried to be really particular with making sure everything was evenly spaced... then it got to be impossible... so I gave up. I just stuck them on as I needed them. I kind of started to scrunch them a little to get them to stand up a little. 

 4:05 pm: DONE! 2 hour project. Done and done! Overall I think it turned out well. I do wonder if anything other than felt can be used for the flower part... next project.

Overall... Pinterest success. 

Mickelle