5 Little Monsters: 2015

Top 15 of 2015- Year in Review


I can't believe 2015 is over, in some ways it feels like it has gone so fast. I feel like I have learned so much this year and I'm really excited for what this next year will bring. I feel like my blog has really evolved over the past year, at least for me. I feel like I have figured out more of a direction of where I want it to go and what I want it to be. At the end of last year I was just starting and really had no clue what I was doing or even what I was wanting to do. Now I feel like I have a lot more direction and focus and I am really excited for that.

Easy Ornament or Gift Tag


If you a looking for a last minute Christmas project these ornaments made with new Metallic Oly-Fun are really quick and easy. There are 4 colors of Metallic Oly-fun to choose from, gold, silver, rose gold, and red. When I got some samples in the mail to try out I thought the shiny colors  would be perfect for Christmas, especially the red. I wanted to do something really quick and easy since Christmas is only a week away, which seems totally crazy, December always seems to fly by so fast. You can also write on the Oly-Fun with a permanent marker so these little ornaments could be used as gift tags or you could just write a little reminder on the back of who it is for and what year it was given. You can find the pattern for the Metallic Oly-Fun ornaments on the Fairfield World site.

Crocheted Jute Christmas Ornaments on Craftaholics Anonymous


Today I am over on Craftaholics Anonymous sharing some crocheted Christmas Ornaments. There are 2 patterns, a heart and a star. They are both really simple so they can be made really fast if you are still looking for some last minute projects. Instead of using yarn to make the ornaments I made them with jute. This gave them kind of a rustic look but if that isn't your style they could easily be made with yarn instead. Head over to Craftaholics Anonymous to get the patterns.

Christmas Star Table Runner


As part of working with Fairfield World as one of their Master Makers I was recently sent a variety of fat quarters from the Urban Scandinavian line from P&B Textiles. There are a ton of fabrics in the line, lots of different prints in 6 different colors. I was sent a sample of the fabrics, 3 of each of the 6 colors. I went back and forth on what I wanted to do with them because part of me wanted to use the whole stack, all of the colors together, to make a quilt or something. But, on the other hand with Christmas coming up I was really tempted to pull the reds, greens, and grays from the stack and make a Christmas project. I kind of liked the idea of making something with Christmas colors but not really Christmas fabrics so it wasn't quite so Christmasy, a little bit more subtle I guess. I figured out how many squares of different sizes I could get from those 9 fat quarters and drew up a quilt design that used some solid white to take up some of the space so I could get a slightly bigger quilt. I really liked the design that I came up with but even with the white I felt like it was going to be too small and I was worried that in the end I wouldn't love it. Plus, I stared at that stack of fat quarters for so long trying to decide which way to go that it was getting too close to Christmas and I wasn't sure I would have time to get a whole Christmas quilt made.

Toy Soldier Christmas Ornament

 Last week I posted another ornament pattern on Fairfield World's site. I am finally getting around to sharing the link here on my blog. I wanted to make a set of matching ornaments that would all be similar in size and shape but at the same time be all different. I used the same basic body shape for all 4 of these ornaments, using different colors, sometimes changing colors, to make the bodies. Then I added different hats, scarves, belts and other accessories to make the different characters. The newest ornament that I just added to the collection is a little toy soldier.

Cookie Box Snowmen

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cookie box snowmen

Today I am going to share a Christmas gift idea that is cute and really easy to make. It is perfect for stocking stuffers or neighbor gifts or any other time you need a small gift. I will probably be saving the ones that I made for my husband's family Christmas party where every year we put together Christmas bags for the kids. We have pillowcase type bags for each of the kids and we bring a bunch of small little gifts and treats, dollar store type stuff, and I thought these would be great for that. I made them using small boxes of Nabisco cookies, there are a few different types to choose from, I got OREO, Double Stuf OREO, and Nutter Butter cookies. They also have Chips Ahoy! cookies and RITZ Crackers in the same small boxes. I got them at Walmart, they were right by the checkout so they were really easy to find. I think the store I went to was out of Chips Ahoy!, at least I didn't see any, and I wanted cookies instead of crackers so I didn't get the RITZ but any of the boxes should work. There are some variation in the sizes of the boxes but not a lot and it is easy to work around. 

Christmas Treats and Crocheted Trees

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recipe for christmas candy and free crochet pattern for christmas tree ornaments

It is the time of year when we want to give little gifts to all of the people who touch our lives, friends, neighbors, teachers, etc. I always like to try to make something, sometimes a little homemade Christmas treat, sometimes a small handmade gift. One of my favorite treats to make is a candy that my family often makes at Christmas time called Almond Bark Candy, and if I am going the non edible route Christmas ornaments are some of my favorite gifts to give because they are small and usually pretty easy to make multiples of. 

Crocheted Snowman Ornament


I originally made this little snowman ornament as part of the 12 Days of Christmas Series on Here Comes the Sun and couple of weeks ago and now I am sharing it here as well. When I was trying to come up with an idea of something to make one of the first things I thought of was an ornament. Ornaments are usually pretty small which means they are also usually relatively quick to make, and you can make pretty much anything. I had made a Santa ornament a week or so before I made this and I decided it might be fun to make several ornaments all the same size and same basic shape. The shape of two balls stacked on top of each other, the top one slightly smaller that the bottom, lent itself perfectly to a snowman. So using the same basic body pattern as my Santa ornament I made this little snowman. Since then I have also shared a penguin ornament also made from the same basic body shape.

Christmas Cuddle Floor Cushion


Christmas time has officially arrived. We spent the day on Thanksgiving with my brothers and sisters and their families at one of my brother's houses but after a few hours there we came home and spent the evening just home together as a family. The kids had been begging to put the Christmas tree up for a couple of weeks so we finally got it out and set up and then we just let them go to town decorating it. I always dream of having a nice, perfectly put together tree. We have even tried the two tree thing, one upstairs in the living room that has white lights and pretty matching ornaments, and one downstairs in the family room with colorful lights and all of our old ornaments mixed with the ones the kids have made and gotten over the years. But, somehow it always seems that as the kids get or make new ornaments they end up taking over the nice tree, they are always so proud of them that they want them to be on the tree that everyone sees. And then you throw in the fact that we have always had toddlers around who like to un-decorate the tree or rearrange the perfectly spaced ornaments. Then you add into all of that the fact that the lights on our nicer tree weren't working and we decided just to put up our little colorful lights tree with all of the mismatched ornaments and the truth is, I kind of love it. I think perfectly put together trees can be beautiful but my kids are awfully proud of the tree they decorated with clumps of ornament in some places and bare spots in others and ornaments that each of them have made at school or church or at home. Someday we will have the pretty tree but right now we have a tree that represents out family and our kids and it is perfect.

Seafoam Circle Scarf


Over the last couple of months I have made several scarves/cowls that I have been meaning to post patterns for and I just haven't had time to do it. I am finally getting around to posting one today. Part of the reason it has taken me so long is because I wanted a picture of someone wearing it and didn't want to take a picture of myself. Finally I just broke down and took the picture so that could get the post up.

Kids Crafts with Cool Brands




Lately I have been thinking a lot about how important it is for kids to have opportunities to be creative. I have a 7 year old daughter who loves to make things with me. I try to find projects for her that she can do, she has done a few simple sewing projects, some embroidery, and lots of paper and felt crafts. I make a lot of stuff with yarn, usually crocheting, but for some reason I haven't attempted to teach her that yet. I just worry that she isn't quite ready, or maybe that I just won't have the patience to help her.

Crocheted Stocking Heel Video Tutorial

A couple of weeks ago I posted the pattern for my Crocheted Stocking Advent Calendar. The heel portion of the pattern was a little bit difficult to explain in writing and I had a few questions about it so I made a video tutorial to help clarify that portion of the stocking. Hopefully this will help if you are having a hard time figuring out the heel. 

Penguin Christmas Ornament


A couple of weeks ago I shared a crocheted Santa ornament over on the Fairfield World site, then I made a matching snowman, same size and basic shape, to share on Here Comes the Sun as part of a 12 day of Christmas series. Now I made another ornament to add to the set, this time a little penguin complete with hat and scarf.

Crocheted Nativity Set

*Purchase an ad-free version of this pattern on Etsy or Ravelry*


This Crocheted Nativity Set is probably one of my favorite things that I have made. I really love the way it turned out. When I was trying to think of what I could make for the finale of So You Think You're Crafty I went back and forth on what kind of project I wanted to do. I thought about making some kind of quilt or something but every time I thought about it I kept coming back to crochet. I feel like although I enjoy sewing and doing other crafts, crocheting is the most representative of me and of my blog. I have more crochet patterns on my blog than anything else, it is what I spend the most time working on and I just felt like it was the craft that would really represent me as a crafter and as a blogger and I really wanted my final project to be me in a project. I love nativities and since it is almost Christmas time I decided that  it would be really cool to make one. When I finished making it, I felt so happy with what I had made. It wasn't about winning or losing the competition, either way I had made something that I loved and I was happy with that. Feeling that way made me feel like I had succeeded in what I wanted, I had put myself in a project. When I found out that I had won I was really excited and happy, I am still sort of in shock about it. When I first started out I told my husband that I really just didn't want to be the first one to go home. The longer I stayed in the more I wanted to, and thought that maybe I could, make it all the way. Making it to the finale felt awesome, winning was really great.

Minnie Mouse Inspired Bag


A couple of weeks ago I made Mickey and Minnie Inspired Pillows for the Disney Inspired week of So You Think You're Crafty. I had a little bit of fabric left over from the pillows and the same weekend that I had to turn in my project we also had a birthday party for one of my nieces who was turning 3. Turns out she loves Minnie Mouse so I thought I would make a little gift for her using the leftover fabric. This Minnie Mouse inspired bag is the gift that I came up with for her. 

Embroidered Felt Snowflake Ornaments on Craftaholics Anonymous


Yesterday my latest post for Craftaholics Anonymous was posted and I wanted to share it here so that you can go check it out. I wanted to make a quick and easy, cute Christmas project so I came up with some simple little snowflake ornaments. They are just a little snowflake embroidered on a circle of felt, simple but pretty. I love red and white together at Christmas time so I used red felt for my felt circles but I think a light blue or turquoise would be really pretty for the background as well.

Click Here to get the full tutorial

SYTYC Finale


Another week of So You Think You're Crafty starts today and it isn't just any week, it is the finale. I can't believe I made it this far. When I first started I told my husband my goal was to not go out the first week. I can't believe that I am one of the final two. This week was a wildcard challenge so we could make anything we wanted to. In a way that made it kind of hard because, well, it could be anything and it is the final so I felt like I wanted to do something kind of big. It was a fun challenge to come up with a project and win or lose I am very happy with what I made. The whole competition has been an awesome experience for me and I am really grateful to have had the opportunity to participate. Thank you to everyone who went and voted, now go vote one last time on your favorite project. The voting is open until Wednesday evening and you can vote once a day until then.

Crocheted Stocking Advent Calendar


I have been wanting to make a crocheted advent calendar for quite a while and I was determined that I was going to get it done this year, and not only was I going to get it done, I was going to get it done early enough that we could actually use it. Every year it seems like I don't think about making things like this until it is too late. When I was trying to come up with a gift idea for this week's round of So You Think You're Crafty I was having a really hard time thinking of something because a gift could really be just about anything. Then I thought, maybe I don't have to make the actual gift, I could make the gift delivery system instead. It is still related to gifts. Maybe that is a little bit of a stretch but my kids love advent calendars and getting a little treat everyday so I thought it would be fun. Plus it was my chance to make something I had been wanting to make and I kind of had to get it done quickly.

Crocheted Owl Pencil Bag


Back in August before school started I shared patterns for several different crocheted pencil bags all based on a basic pencil bag pattern. This one I originally shared as a contributor post on Craftaholics Anonymous but I thought it would be good to share it again here. Especially because although I originally made it thinking of back to school time, it would make a fun Christmas gift as well and it is time to start working on those. I have made lots of owl hats to give as gifts or to sell and they are always a big hit so when I was trying to come up with pencil bag ideas an owl seemed like an obvious choice.

Crocheted Santa Ornament


Each month I share a couple of projects over on the Fairfield World site and I recently posted a new one. I figured since it is November it is time to start thinking about Christmas projects so that we all have time to get them made before Christmas actually gets here. No, I haven't forgotten about Thanksgiving, I made my turkey for Thanksgiving last month, but if I am not working on Christmas stuff by now there is no way it will be done in time. For this project I decided to make a crocheted Santa ornament.

SYTYC Week 6- Handmade Gifts + Giveaway

After winning last week's "Disney Inspired" round of SYTYC I am in it for another week. It is down to only 3 of us, the 2 who make it through this week will be competing in the final round next week. The theme this week is "Handmade Gifts". It was kind of a hard one because a gift can be pretty much anything but I am pretty happy with the project that I came up with, I hope you like it too.

Extra Large Cuddle Suede Tote Bag


With 5 kids to take places like the library or trips to the park, sometimes it is nice to have a really big sturdy bag. One that can be stuffed full of library books or hold a picnic blanket and lunches for everybody. This summer I bought a cheap large tote bag to take to the park and after just a couple of uses the handle broke. I thought I would just try making one of my own, that way I could make it nice and sturdy.

Mickey & Minnie Inspired Pillows


Today I am sharing the tutorial for my Mickey and Minnie inspired pillows that were my entry in this week's So You Think You're Crafty Competition. The theme was Disney Inspired and really, what says Disney more than Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

SYTYC Week 5- Disney Inspired


I made it through another week and it is down to 4 competitors. This week the theme is Disney Inspired and there are some fun projects. Be sure to go check them out and vote on your favorites. It is hard to believe there are only a couple weeks left of the competition.

You can vote once a day until the voting closes on Wednesday evening.

Diagonal Weave Crochet Dishcloths


This week I made dishcloths for my SYTYC entry for "In the Kitchen". I was really worried that dishcloths would be a little too boring but they did really well. I didn't win the week but I came in second, one vote behind the first place winner. I knew that crocheted dishcloths have always done well on blog I just wasn't sure if people would vote for them in a competition but I guess they did. That was pretty exciting to see.

Silly Stripes Hat and Scarf Set


Last week I got a box in the mail from Red Heart Yarn with some new yarn to try out. My girls were really excited when I opened the box and they saw the colors so I knew that one of them was going to be getting something made from it. I decided on a quick hat and scarf set that is a preschooler size. It is made to fit my almost 4 year old. The yarn is really thick which means it works up really fast, I love that part. I used the largest hook that I had, an N, which is what the yarn label recommended but I kind of wished I had a size bigger, especially for the scarf because it just seemed a little stiffer than I would have liked.

SYTYC Week 4- In the Kitchen + Giveaway

It's Monday and that means another round of So You Think You're Crafty. This week the theme is "In the Kitchen". Be sure to go check out the projects and vote for you favorites. I am so excited to still be in the competition, especially winning last week. You can vote once a day until the voting closes on Wednesday evening and each time you vote for your top 4. Fingers crossed my project is among them.

Crocheted Turkey for Thanksgiving


Sometimes it seems like between Halloween and Christmas, Thanksgiving kind of gets forgotten about. I thought it would be fun to make a little crochet project for Thanksgiving and a turkey seemed like the perfect thing to make since a turkey is one of the first things I think of when think of Thanksgiving symbols.

DIY Wooden Photo Stand


This week's So You Think Your Crafty theme was a little bit harder for me than any of the other weeks. The theme was "Paint" and although I have made a lot of painted projects in my life, I haven't really shared any painted projects on my blog. I played around with a few different ideas before deciding on the DIY Wooden Photo Stand. I really wanted something that I could share how to make, not just paint something that I bought or that would be difficult to replicate.

Kid's Halloween Pillows


These Halloween pillows were my project for week 2 of So You Think You're Crafty, Kids Can Do was the theme. I haven't really done a lot of kid's craft projects on my blog but it is something I have been wanting to do more of for a long time. I think it is so important for kids to have opportunities to be creative and to learn how to create. When I was deciding on a project I wanted something that they could do from start to finish, with varying degrees of help depending on their age and abilities. I wanted them to start with the design and then see their idea become a reality.

SYTYC Week 3- Paint


It's Monday and that means another round of projects. My project from last week was the Halloween Pillows and they got me through to this week. I will be posting the tutorial soon, hopefully later today.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Trick or Treat Bags

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AvengersUnite #CollectiveBias

Tutorial for Avengers Trick or Treat Bags including: Thor, Captain America, Black Widow


Everyone in my house loves superheroes, before I got married I don't know if I could have even told you who the Avengers were. All of that changed when I met my husband and he has made sure that our kids are all superhero fans. Everyone was excited for the new Avengers movie, MARVEL's The Avengers:Age of Ultron, to come out on Blu-Ray/DVD. My husband was the only one who had seen it in the theater and we were all looking forward to watching it.

DIY Trick or Treat Bags: Pumpkin, Ghost, and Frankenstein

DIY Trick or Treat Bags with Hershey's #trickorsweet #ad
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #TrickOrSweet #CollectiveBias

I can't believe we are already a week into October! Halloween is just around the corner, are you ready? Probably the most exciting part of Halloween for kid is the trick or treating. You get to dress up, knock on doors and people give you candy, really as a kid what is better than that? Besides the costume there are two important things that we need for trick or treating, candy to hand out and a bag for kids to collect candy in. I took care of both of those things this week when I ran to Walmart and picked up a couple of Large Variety Hershey Candy Bags. The bags were huge and had some of our family's favorite candy in them. My family loves Reese's, Milk Duds, Kit Kat, and Twizzlers, all candy that came in the bags we got.  I figure if our family loves it then other people will love getting it on Halloween. It is nice to be able to pass out candy that we know other people will like getting.

Candy Corn Bunting on Craftaholics Anonymous


Crocheted Candy Corn Bunting Free Pattern Halloween Decor

Today over on Craftaholics Anonymous I am sharing a Halloween themed crochet pattern. There was a little sneak peek of it in my crocheted ghost post in one of the pictures. I made a little candy corn bunting. It is a pretty simple project, just little striped triangles all crocheted together on a string. I thought it would be kind of a fun, playful touch to Halloween decor. And, if you don't want to make a bunting you could always just make the candy corns and use them as coasters for Halloween.

You can find the free crochet pattern HERE.

SYTYC Week 2- Kids Can Do + Giveaway

It is Monday which means the next round of projects for So You Think You're Crafty are up and ready to be voted on. This week's theme is "Kids Can Do" so they are all kid friendly projects.


Once again, the projects are all anonymous so I can't tell you which one is mine but be sure to go vote for your favorite. 

Vote for your favorite HERE

Crocheted Ghost


When it comes to Halloween I am much more of a cute, fun, kid friendly kind of person. I have never been into really scary stuff and definitely not gory, gross stuff. It's just not my thing. Each month I have the opportunity to make a couple of projects to share on the Fairfield World website. This month I wanted to make something for Halloween and I wanted it to be something crocheted. I played around with a few ideas before coming up with this little ghost. I thought he turned out pretty cute, hopefully you like him as well.

Star Patchwork Doll Quilt


At the beginning of this week I shared that I was going to be participating in a competition for craft bloggers called So You Think You're Crafty. The theme for this week was Stash Bust, the projects were posted anonymously on Monday and the winner for the week was announced today along with who made which project so now I can tell you which one was mine and share the tutorial. My project didn't win this week but I did make it through to next week. My project was the little doll quilt.

Pieced Pumpkin Pillow


I love Fall, it is by far my favorite season. I love the weather, the colors, the smells, the fact that it is the start of the holiday season, everything about it. It is just my favorite time of year. One thing that totally says fall is pumpkin, I mean, they are ready to harvest in the fall, be carve them for Halloween, use them to decorate all season, eat pumpkin everything, use pumpkin spice scented candles, they are orange a color that totally says fall, everything about pumpkins seems to say fall. So as I was thinking of fall projects I could make I decided that I wanted to make something with a pumpkin. I had an idea to piece together strips of orange fabrics so make a pumpkin shape. I thought the strips would kind of represent the shape and bumpiness of a pumpkin. My son later informed me that I made something that almost looked like a pumpkin, that it wasn't bumpy enough to really look like a pumpkin. I decided to use that idea to make a pieced pumpkin pillow. I thought it would be a perfect thing to throw on the couch or a chair to bring a little bit of fall to the room.

SYTYC Season 18, Week One - Stash Bust + Giveaway

I am so excited to announce that I will be participating in the latest season of So You Think You're Crafty. If you haven't heard of it before it is a competition for craft bloggers, each week there will be a new theme announced on Sunday along with a giveaway, this week the them is "Stash Bust" and the giveaway is for a $100 gift card to JoAnn. You can enter the giveaway at the end of this post!



Harry Potter Outfits and Scarf Pattern


At the beginning of this week I got an email from my daughters teacher explaining that this week was deaf awareness week and they were going to be doing a Harry Potter them all week. On Friday the kids were supposed to dress up as characters from Harry Potter. My daughter was pretty excited and right away decided that she wanted to be Hermione. I started thinking about how I could put together her costume, her brother's white dress shirt, a gray sweater that we happened to have, I could make her a gray skirt really easily. My son's costume was mainly just his church clothes, a white button up shirt and his gray dress pants. We were able to borrow a tie and some glasses from one of the kids cousins who had dressed up as Harry a few years ago so he used those too. I didn't have a tie for Eliza so I made a red and gold scarf for her to wear.

Comic Con Outfits for Little Girls

Simple Superhero skirts and bags for little girls, perfect for comic con or any day. link to tutorial so you can make your own.

Salt Lake Comic Con is this weekend and we usually try to take the kids one of the days, usually Thursday because the crowds are typically a little smaller. Last year we bought the kids Halloween costumes easy so that they could wear them to Comic Con in September and then again for Halloween a month later. This year I decided that I wanted to do something a little different for the little girls. Rather than a costume that they would only wear a few times I decided to make them some little skirts that they could wear anytime. In fact, my youngest daughter has worn hers pretty much every day since I made them last week. She loves her Batgirl skirt that mommy made her. She is even wearing it right now as I write this. I shared the tutorial earlier this week on The Geeky Mormon.

Newborn Football Hats

Free pattern for a newborn size crocheted football hat, with or without braids.

I recently had a request to crochet a newborn size football hat and I figured as long as I was making it I might as well share the pattern here. Especially since football season is just starting up, these would make great baby gifts for any babies born this time of year. The person I was making it for wanted a photo prop type hat so I made it with long braids but I also made a version without braids because I think that if I was just going to put it on my baby when it was cold that is the way that I would want it, or at least with shorter braids. I only made it in newborn size so that is the only size this pattern is available in.

Birthday Doll Clothes & Free Doll Tote Bag Tutorial


My daughter just had her 7th birthday. The day before her birthday we did some things to celebrate as a family and we got her a gift. We explained that that was her birthday gift and she wouldn't be getting anything on her actual birthday and she was fine with that, until later that night when she started talking about what she wanted on her actual birthday. I know my little girl and I know what a big deal her birthday is so I wanted to surprise her with something small for her birthday. The week leading up to her birthday we spent working on moving some rooms around and working on some stuff in the house. Part of that was moving my craft room stuff so I hadn't really had much of a chance to work on a gift the days leading up to her birthday. She is really into American Girl dolls, and by American Girl dolls I really mean the cheaper knockoff versions that you can get at Walmart or Target, so I had planned to make some little clothes and accessories for her doll. I did a search for free doll clothes patterns, printed some off, chose fabrics, cut out some outfits, and did a little sewing.

Boxy Bear

Link to the Boxy Bear crochet pattern. This amigurumi animal is part of a series including a fox and an owl. All three are available as free patterns.

A couple of months ago I shared the Boxy Fox pattern on the Fairfield World site and then a couple of weeks ago I added the Boxy Owl. Now I am completing this little boxy buddy trio with the Boxy Bear. When I first made the fox I drew up designs for several different animals using that boxy shape. I decided on the fox first and thought I might make some more later. This month I decided to add a couple more. I decided that I would stick with kind of woodsy animals. All three of them are made in the same way, with a rectangular base and then crocheted around with the top flattened and sewn or crocheted closed. The differences between the animals are in the color changes and the arms/wings, legs/feet, ears and faces.

Lattice Stitch Dishcloth


It has been awhile since I posted a dishcloth pattern and I have been playing around a lot with crochet cable type stitches lately. Those two things combined to make this pattern that I am sharing today. I have been wanting to try out this stitch, I have another design in mind for it, and I thought a dishcloth would be a perfect way to test it out. It is definitely a very textured stitch and I like texture for my dishcloths so I thought it might work.

Crocheted Doily Trivets on Craftaholics Anonymous

crochet doily trivets free pattern

My post over on Craftaholics Anonymous this month is up and I am sharing another crochet pattern. Ever since I made my doily bunting, my very first post on Craftaholics Anonymous, I have wanted to try making that pattern into a full doily. I like the look of doilies but I really do not like making them with thread, they take forever. By making these doilies with cotton yarn they work up really fast and they work great as trivets or hot pads.

You can find the free pattern HERE.

Enchanted Toddler Cowl


A while ago I received a surprise package from Red Heart containing a couple of skeins of yarn for me to try. About a month ago I shared the pattern for a cowl made from the Twilight yarn. At the time I was working on a project with the other skein of yarn but had gotten kind of stuck trying to figure out how to make it turn out the way I wanted it to, so it wasn't done. I really didn't want to just make cowls or scarves with both skeins of yarn because that just seemed too obvious. I really wanted to do something different.

Boxy Owl Amigurumi

Link to free crochet pattern for Boxy Owl Amigurumi

A month or two ago I shared a pattern over on the Fairfield World for the Boxy Fox. When I was first trying to decide what to make and come up with a design I drew several different animals that I thought I could make using the same boxy shape. This month I plan on making a couple more boxy animals to go along with the fox, the first one being the Boxy Owl. You can get the pattern now on the Fairfield World website.

Knitsy Magazine Feature

This week has been so crazy with two kids having started school last week, and two more starting on two different days this week. Adjusting to all of the new schedules now that we have four kids going to two different schools at three different times has been interesting. Hopefully now that the first crazy week is over we can start to get in a routine and I will have a little more time to focus on my blog but this week I just haven't been able to spend much time blogging. I have a few finished projects that I need to post about, and I will soon, but tonight's post is not a new project. I just wanted to pop on here really quick  and share some news.