Bernat Baby Month: DIY Art for Baby Filian's Room

August is Bernat Baby Month and to celebrate, I decided to make some yarn wrapped artwork for lil' Filian's room.  Of course his/her room is still a work in progress...but it is coming along!  Since we are adopting and we still don't know if we are going to be getting a little boy or girl I chose the Stonewash Gray and Hot Green from the Handicrafter cotton yarn line.  They are around $2 a ball and I used 1 of each color.  The wood elephants were from Michaels and they were .25 cents each!

You can see we still have a long way to go......

If you are wondering why we chose elephants????.........it is because our last name means Elephant. :)

LET'S MAKE!

Choose your color!

Gather This.....
Wood elephants or other shape (mine were from Michaels)
Bernat cotton yarns
Hot glue or Craft glue
Backing paper (mine was a light aqua paper)
Shadow box frame (mine was from Ikea)

Secure the yarn to the backside of the elephant with glue.

Begin wrapping the yarn around the elephant.  You can wrap in any direction.

Keep wrapping.

You may need to overlap your wrapping.  This will help cover the curves and add texture.

Make as many yarn wrapped elephants as you wish.  I made 4 to fit inside my frame.

Trim the backing paper to fit inside your frame.

Hot glue the elephants to the backing paper in your desired pattern.

Enjoy and hang on a wall or place on a shelf!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Happy Crafting,
Cathie xo

make it: kids crochet necklace

Charmed Chain Stitch

Cool charms are the key to this easy crochet project that beginners and experts alike are sure to get hooked on. Perfect for kids and tweens to begin with crochet.

Supplies:
Ball of yarn - gold or silver tone
Size K crochet hook
Needle-nosed jewelry pliers
Jump rings
Charms
Optional: Necklace clasp

Steps:
1. Begin by making a slipknot. Open the palm of your hand and lay the tail of the yarn over your palm. Open your fingers and loop the yarn under and back over your first two fingers, creating an X.

2. Pull the lower piece of yarn forming the X through the top piece of the X. This loop will create the slipknot.

3. Place the hook end of the crochet hook through the loop and pull it tight onto the hook.

4. Loop the loose end of yarn around your pinkie and up around your index finger to allow you to control the yarn tension.

5. To start your stitch, loop the yarn from the back side to the front around the hook and pull that loop over the hook.

6. Repeat making loops and pulling over the hook to create a 14” chain.

7. Cut your yarn approximately 6-8” from the end of the chain and gingerly remove the chain from the crochet hook.

8. Loop the loose end of yarn through the last chain loop, and again through the resulting knot. Gently pull the knot tight at the end of the chain.

9. Optional: Attach a necklace clasp piece to either side of the necklace.

10. Using round-nosed jewelry pliers, open a jump ring and thread on a charm.

11. By folding the crochet chain in half, find the center of the necklace and thread the jump ring through the crochet link. Close the jump ring with needle-nosed pliers.

12. Continue threading on charms with jump rings. You can ensure that the charms are distributed evenly along the necklace by counting the necklace links.

Stocking Stuffer: Felted Critters

Colorful balls and clumps of rolled wool roving are the perfect ingredient for creating playful little monsters. Great stocking stuffer or mini gift!


Materials:
felting wool roving in different colors
hot water
dish soap (hypoallergenic is preferred)
2 large glass bowls
large needle or safety pin
embroidery floss
Buttons for eyes or base


Steps:
1. Fill a bowl with 6 c. hot water and one Tbsp. dish soap.
2. Working over a towel, form a wad of wool into a ball twice the size the finished ball will be.

3. Dip the wad into the hot soapy water, squeeze out some of the excess water and begin rolling the ball in your hands. Don’t use too much pressure at this point; keep rolling for approximately 4-5 minutes, dipping back into the soapy water if the ball cools or dries out.You can also roll the ball on a towel with the palm of your hand. If the ball becomes too wet and/or soapy, roll it on a towel to remove excess moisture. If the ball needs to be smaller, apply more pressure to lock the fibers closer together.
4. When the ball is the desired size, rinse it in the bowl of water, squeezing out the soap. Continue felting until there are enough balls to create your critter.

5. To create a teddy bear style critter: Poke a toothpick or sharp needle through each ball before they harden in the spots where you will join the balls to form a bear. Allow balls to dry overnight (a cookie cooling rack works well for drying). Using embroidery floss sew the balls together to form the bear and add eyes and a mouth.

6. To create a monster style critter: form the roving into a blob. Allow the blob to dry overnight. Glue a button to the bottom to form a base. Sew facial features with embroidery floss and buttons.