Top 20 Projects of 2025

At the end of every year one of my favorite things is to put together a post of my top projects of the year.  It is a fun way for me to look back at the things that I have made throughout the year. I only include actual pattern or project posts on the list, not announcements or roundup posts. So all of the things on the list are projects that I made and shared this year. 

Friday Five: 5 Christmas Decor Projects

  

Today is Friday, which means it is time for another Friday Five. This is one of those times that I kind of regret doing the Friday Five theme with only 5 projects, because I have way more than 5 projects that fit in this theme and it was really hard to choose which ones to include on this list. I wished I could either add more than 5 to the list or have more weeks until Christmas so I could break it into multiple weeks either by craft or by project type, but Christmas will be here in just a few week and I don't have time for that.

Friday Five: 5 Halloween Amigurumi

   

It has been a few weeks since I have done a Friday Five, but as we are heading into the last few months of the year Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are just around the corner. I have so many patterns to share for these holidays, as well as just for the fall and winter seasons- like hats and scarves, etc., that even sharing 5 of them every Friday there will be lots that don't make the cut. That means if I want to share as many as I can I need to get back to posting them weekly. For today's theme I decided on a Halloween theme, specifically-

Friday Five: 5 Shirts for Back to School

  

It is time for another Friday Five. This week is the last one before my kids go back to school and it has been a really busy and exhausting week. I didn't get any of the other posts up that I had planned for this week and almost didn't even do this one, but I didn't want to miss a Friday when this is only the third week so I am getting it done. Since my kids are heading back to school next week I thought it would be fun to have this weeks theme be related to kids going back to school- specifically:

Friday Five: 5 Book Inspired Amigurumi

 

I have not posted this week like I had planned, my kids start school in less than 2 weeks and I think then it will be so much easier to get back in a routine of posting regularly. But since I just started the Friday Five series last week I didn't want to miss the second one. So it is time for the second Friday Five and this week the theme I have chosen is...

Friday Five: 5 Harry Potter Cricut Crafts

I have recently been working on some behind the scenes stuff on my blog, and part of the included going through old posts and organizing and sorting them. It was fun to look back through all of the projects I have made over the past 10 years. As I was going through them I thought it would be fun to share some of those older posts more often. I want to do this in a few ways, including sharing them in emails and on social media, but one of the ways I decided I wanted to share those posts was to do a weekly roundup post. I have done this a few times in the past but not on a super regular basis. This time I want to start a weekly series. I am going to call it the Friday Five and each week I will choose a theme and select 5 posts to share that fit that theme. It could be a seasonal theme, a type of project, type of craft, anything that ties those 5 projects together. Since I will only be choosing 5 projects to feature each week I may have more projects on my blog that also fit the theme, but I thought it would be a fun way to share a few older posts each week. I chose to go with 5 because I liked the alliteration with Friday, but it also works well since it is in my blog name. So now onto the first Friday Five:

Top 20 Posts of 2024

Each year as we come up on the end of the year I like to look back on the projects and patterns that I have shared over the year and see which ones were the most popular.  It is always a fun way to look back at the things that I have made throughout the year. These are my most popular posts that were new posts shared this year, so if an old post from a few years ago does really well that is awesome, but it is not included in this list. Also, I only included actual project/pattern posts so things like crochet along announcement/landing pages are not included in the list. 

10 Years of 5 Little Monsters- Top Posts of the Last Decade

I cannot believe it has been 10 years since I started this blog, but today is my 10 year blog anniversary. That first post 10 years ago was pretty much just a "Hi, I'm starting a blog" post, and it was a few weeks before I actually shared a project that I made, but I'm still counting it as day one.

Top 20 Posts of 2023

At the end of each year I like to look back at the top posts of the year, to see what did well, and also to look back and remember the things I have made throughout the year. I started out doing the top whatever the last 2 numbers in the year, like the top 16 of 2016, but I decided to cap it at 20. So the past few years, since 2020, I have done a top 20. These are my most popular posts that were new posts shared this year, so if an old post from a few years ago does really well that is awesome, but it is not included in this list. Also, I only included actual project/pattern posts so things like crochet along announcement/landing pages are not included in the list. 

Top 20 Posts of 2022

I can hardly believe another year is over and we are heading into 2023. Each year I like to go back and look at the projects I made throughout the year and it is fun to see which of those new projects were the most popular. The last few years I have done a round-up of my top 20 posts of the year, and now it is time for the Top 20 0f 2022. 

Top 20 Posts of 2021

At the end of each year I do a round up post of the top posts of the year. I love going back and looking at what I made throughout the year, and it is fun to see which were the most popular. The last few years I have done the top 18 of 2018, or 19 of 2019, and 20 0f 2020, but I kind of felt like I wanted to cap it at 20, just because that is already a lot. So from here on out I plan on just doing the top 20 of each year. 

21 Projects to Make with a Cricut

 -This post sponsored by Cricut. This post may contain affiliate links.-

When I first started looking into getting my first Cricut I spent a lot of time trying to decide if it was going to be worth it. Would I really use it? There were some projects that I thought I would make, but I wasn't sure if I would use it enough to justify the cost. I didn't quite grasp at that point all of the things you could do with a Cricut. At the time I was mostly interested in using it to cut vinyl and iron on, I thought the only reason to use it for paper crafts was if you were a scrapbooker, which is one craft I have never really gotten into, and besides those things I didn't know what else you would use it for. What I discovered was that there was so much you can do, so many different types of projects you can make. And it has become one of the most used things in my craft room. 

12 Harry Potter Crafts

 

Typically in July I do a Harry Potter week around the 31st, sharing some Harry Potter themed crafts to celebrate his birthday. This year I had other projects planned and wasn't able to fit a Harry Potter week in the schedule, but I still thought it would be fun to put together a post with all of my Harry Potter themed projects from over the years in one place. 

Top 20 New Projects of 2020

At the end of every year I do a top posts of the year post. Since this year is 2020 I decided to do a top 20. It is always kind of fun to go back and look at the projects I have made over the past year. This year I didn't feel like I was able to get as many projects done thanks to everything that happened this year so it was neat to go back through the year and see what I was able to do. One thing that I found really interesting is that most years almost all of my top posts are crochet projects. This year there was much more of a mix, still lots of crochet but also some sewing, Cricut, and kids crafts thrown in. 

Favorite Crocheted Hats for Fall and Winter

 Fall is finally here and I am so ready for the cooler weather. One of my favorite things to make and wear in the fall and winter is crocheted hats, and I have some favorite patterns that I love to use.

8 Baby Gifts to Sew

When someone I know has a new baby I love making a baby gift to give them. I often like to pair my handmade gift with something super practical, like diapers, but I love adding something handmade by me. 

24 Quick Crochet Projects for Summer

I think that crochet often gets seen as a cold weather craft. In the fall and winter we make lots of hats, scarves, and blankets, and other cold weather accessories. But once the weather starts to warm there isn't the same need for hats and scarves, and the thought of working on a big, heavy blanket isn't very appealing. That doesn't mean there aren't plenty of summery crochet projects though. I looked through my crochet patterns and picked out 24 quick and easy, small projects that would be perfect for making this summer. Some are summery in theme (like 4th of July) and others are just small projects that would be great for any time of year. 

Top 5 Cricut Maker Projects

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

-This post may contain affiliate links-

One of my favorite things in my craft room is my Cricut Maker. There is so much that I can do with it, everything from cutting vinyl, iron on, and cardstock, to cutting delicate materials like fabric and tissue paper, or thick materials like chipboard and balsa wood. There are even tools to engrave, deboss, perforate, score, and more.

25 Personalized Cricut Christmas Crafts

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

It is really fun to make things that are personalized to the person they are for. Sometimes this may mean adding their name to it, sometimes maybe it is making it for their specific tastes or likes. Either way, making personalized gift or other items is easy to do with a Cricut. I especially like to make personalized gifts for my kids. They love seeing their name on something and knowing it is theirs. Hanging their own special ornament on the tree, or using something made just for them.

10+ Pumpkin Crafts

I have shared a roundup of Halloween crochet and of Halloween Cricut projects, but today I wanted to share all of the pumpkin patterns I have on my site. I am not including any Jack O Lantern crafts, only plain pumpkins that can be used to decorate all throughout the fall, even after Halloween. These all work great for Thanksgiving too. So here are a few different crocheted pumpkin patterns, painted pumpkins, stitched pumpkins, and more.