Foamy Amigurumi

Got a crochet book in my Christmas stocking and had bought an amigurumi book a while ago. Saw a video the Craftzine blog and gave it a shot. I made a few dish cloths using the technique and with a little help from YouTube crafters to help me with some stitches I tried a few more little items. And then I hit Ravelry looking for some more dish cloth patterns and I came across this cute pattern for a Foamie. And so last night and this morning I crocheted this little guy with some leftover cotton yarn I had. I need to make more of these little things. Time to take on the book...

References:
Craftzine Crochet 101 Article
Ravelry Foamies Pattern

Catalog Christmas Trees

I came across this little craft in the book, "Complete Origami" by Eric Kenneway, however I've since seen instructions for it posted around some craft blogs as well. It's a great way do something with all those catalogs that come (I could have created an entire forest). No glue or cutting involved, just some folding, and tada, cool recycled Christmas trees.

Crafty Sister Scarf

My sister won the Martha Stewart prize this Christmas, giving Mom a hand crocheted scarf. Max learned to crochet when she was three from a great aunt who was a prolific crocheter. I recall Max made some interesting toilet paper cover dolls, and she also made crochet Barbie clothes and other little goodies long before anyone had ever heard of arugami. Beautiful!

References:
Max Happyfeet

Clothespin Angel

My mother still puts this little angel on the tree every year that I made as a child. I was probably in Brownies or Girl Scouts. It's a classic craft of a clothespin, felt, yarn, glitter, and glue. Still cheesy and loveable today!

Amazing Angels

My mother's friend Chris Ingersoll made my mother and my sisters these amazing corn husk angel tree-toppers. The one on top is my mother's and the one below is mine. I wish I had pictures of the others because they are all unique and truly exquisite in craftsmanship and detail. They are all made of natural materials, I especially love the Milkweed pod wings. I love bringing them out every Christmas!

Books: Saturday Night Hat

I do love a good book. And my mom sent me this hard to find goody for my birthday, "Saturday Night Hat" by Eugenia Kim. The designs are pretty basic and technically easy to do, but she uses those to build upon with creativity. Especially good is the Haircut Hat, a standard cloche that she modifies the edge on to make it look like a sassy bob with bangs - so cool! I also loved her whimsical pillbox that looks like a slice of Wonderbread with butter. Nice inspiration and fun, an excellent addition to the hat book collection!

Eugenia Kim

Rebicyclist Belt

The West Coast JP's did very well with their green gifts this year. Peter received this awesome bicycle tire belt made by Julien Jaborska. How cool is that? I made need to borrow that from time to time...

References:
The Rebicyclist
Another Gift from the JPs

Trendy Mittens

For my birthday I received a lovely pair of hand-knit mittens from my friend Elizabeth. The wrist is done in a Missoni pattern, ooh-la-la. She also made them in a washable wool - I can wash them - hurray! Because I always end up with soiled mittens (I'm such a naughty kitten).

References:
LizaP Designs
Missoni
Three Little Kittens

Recycled Gift Wrap

Not only did the JP's give green gifts for Christmas, but they also used recycled newspaper wrap. However, I'm not sure what Miss Manners would say about giving someone newspaper wrapping with the Sudoku already done!

Happy New Year!

Well as the holiday season usually goes, I got a little busy and behind in my blog updates. I've got lots of pictures and goodies to post. Here is last year's Christmas craft from Dad - a lovely Christmas Tree tray. There were several other patterns he made for the family, below is the stocking he made for Mom. Just right to separate the tipsy balls from the nuts!