crochet slippers

yeah... it's WAY too hot for slippers right now, but I've been thinking about fall to take myself to a cooler place this summer, so I made these slippers for my mom (surprise, mom!).  I think they came out pretty cute for just kinda winging it :)  I took inspiration from these slippers on Etsy from daisychain - I love the big buttons and contrasting colors she uses.

here is a basic slipper pattern from 2 create in color.  I did mine in single crochet and I did rounds instead of a going in a spiral around the toe, but the shape and construction is the same as all other basic crochet slippers.  I used Red Heart Soft in Sea Foam, with a 4.25 mm hook which gives it a more dense feeling.

toe:

make a magic ring

round 1:  ch 2, 9 dc into magic ring, sl st to join, pull ring tight - 10 sts

round 2:  ch 1, 2 sc into each st around, sl st to join - 20 sts

round 3:  ch 1, sc increase into every other st around, sl st. to join - 30 sts

(make more increase rounds to accommodate the width of your foot.)

round 4:  ch 1, sc into each st around, sl st to join - 30 sts (or maintain the amount of sts you have after you finish the increase rounds)

repeat round 4 until you have the toe of your slipper as long as you want minus 1/2" for the edging.

sides and sole:

row 1:  ch 1, sc into each st across, leaving the last sts un-worked for the opening across the top of the foot (I left about 2"), ch 1 and turn.

row 2:  sc into each st across, ch 1 and turn.

repeat row 2 until you reach your heel - you will want this to be a little snug so it doesn't slip off your heel, but not pulled so tight it cramps your toes.

sl st the heel closed and turn right side out.

edging:

round 1:  attach yarn at the center of the top of the foot, ch 1, sc around the edge, sl st to join.

round 2:  ch 1, sc until you reach the side of the slipper, then sc2tog every other st until you reach the toe again, then sc to the end and sl st to join.

toe strap:

while standing, measure from the ground at the ball of your foot to where you want your button to go on the top and make a chain that length.

row 1:  ch 2, hdc into each st across, hdc 4 more times into the last ch, and hdc down the other side of the ch, ch 2 and turn.

row 2:  hdc into each st, and 2 hdc into each of the 5 sts on the center of the curve, then hdc into each st back down the other side, ch 1 and turn.

row 3:  sc into each st, and 2 sc into each of the 6 sts on the center of the curve, then sc unto each st back down the other side.

row 4:  change colors (optional), ch 1, sc into each st around.

attach strap to the slipper and sew on button.  this is easiest to measure while the slipper is on.

I felt like the large button was a very important element, so I had to give the illusion of a bigger button by making a crochet circle to frame the smaller buttons I had.  this was done the same as the very beginning of the slipper, but I squeezed 13 double crochets into the ring instead of only 10 to make a little crochet disc that I could nest the buttons into.

only 3 hot months left before it's time to cover up chilly feet.... yes, you have plenty of time to make yourself a pair ;)

Mother's Day gifts

for mother's day I did a couple of gift baskets for my mom and Matt's mom... and forgot to get a pic of them when they were finished!  this has become a common problem for me lately :(

I made 2012 Mixbooks - I think a year without one would be a disappointment!  I feel bad that Jack isn't in there (except for the sonogram pics) but he shoulda showed up sooner! ;)

 

I did get some pics of the grandmothers with both boys, so they'll at least have those.  I framed them and also put them on the fronts of some pocket mirrors I found at Michaels.

     

I saw this set of washcloths and made my own with some cotton twine, and added a loop on one of the corners so it could be hung up on a Command hook in the shower.  or, over the stove and used to set hot pots on.  they're cute and they were fun to make however they get used :)

after seeing so many posts around about using transparencies in liquid soap dispensers, it gave me the idea to laminate pressed flowers (some from my yard, some snatched here and there!) and submerge them in liquid hand soap dispensers that I peeled the labels off of.  these were a hit, and I'm totally making myself one next.

I used some fabric napkins I had leftover from the granny square pillow to put in the baskets as liners, and added some bar soap from World Market that smelled sooo good, and Ghirardelli chocolate assortments.  gift baskets are so much fun to put together :)

smiley Jack

we went to Oklahoma to visit Nana over the weekend.  Jack did awesome on the car ride there and back, and was so good while we were at Nana's house.  he's been real smiley and giggly lately so I'm glad she got to see :)  Leo had to stay home with Matt, but it was nice getting out with Jack and my mom.

Jack is starting to stay awake longer during the day and enjoys when people make faces at him, so we've been "playing" more.  Leo doesn't like to share his space with Jack so I've been entertaining Jack at tummy time since he's not even aloud to watch Leo play with trucks!  I'm hoping that passes soon.

 



hugs and kisses

I really enjoy watching Beadifulnights' tutorials on youtube.  they're clear and easy to follow and when I bead along while watching I feel like I all of a sudden have something cool I couldn't have figured out on my own when I'm finished.  I loved the Hugs and Kisses bracelet when I saw it and wanted to try it, not really expecting it to turn out, but it did!

  

I used these earrings as color inspiration and made the bracelet to match as best as I could get it to.

  

when I was finished I decided it needed a necklace set to go with it so I searched for a pendant and found one with a couple of smaller ones that could be used as earrings that worked great with the colors of the bracelet.

it still looked like it was lacking so I added another necklace with some simple strands of beads and that did the trick! 

nutcracker 2011

as I was starting on my mom's nutcracker for this Christmas, I realized I never posted any pics of the one I did last year... and I remember why! I forgot to take the final pics!!! so, when my mom pulls all her Christmas stuff out I'll get a picture of it.

this year I'm doing 6 nutcrackers! but they're not really nutcrackers (not that nutcracker soldiers are really nutcrackers either...) they're nesting nutcracker soldiers. I wanted to do something like these.

I got the raw wood nesting dolls from Hobby Lobby - used a 40% off coupon and got them for less than $5. ya get what ya pay for. I had to do some sanding on them so they opened smoothly, the outsides were nice and flush at the seams, and most importantly that they fit inside each other once they had layers of paint on them. what's the point if they don't nest?

I did some sketching to get an idea of how to paint them

marked and drilled holes in the body of the main one to attach the arms that I made from dowel and pegs

made a nose and crown from polymer clay

painted the details and sprayed them all with a clear coat

added the rabbit fur for the hair and beard, glued the arms on and sanded down the dowel on the inside of the body

I'm happy with how they came out :)

copper and clay

copper metal pieces and polymer clay beads

(Christmas gifts I wanna keep for myself!)

Nutcracker 09

after a few months, I finally finished my mom's nutcracker today :D


Sep. 16
sanded and stripped down the store-bought nutcracker



sometime between Sep & Oct. (yes... it's a big gap, shaddup)
painted him a solid white and stared at my blank canvas for a while


Oct. 29
finally picked out a beautiful Japanese paper for his "clothes"



Oct. 30
painted his legs and... mouth knocker-thing. I really should know what that's called




Nov. 1
painted his shoes and faux marbled his pedestal


Nov. 2
painted his head and gold trim, and cut out a pattern for the paper to put on his arms and torso




Nov. 3

decoupaged the paper on his body

Nov. 4

gave him blush - doesn't seem like much, but it was a headache to get it to look right. finally went with real blush instead of paint


Nov. 5

gave him a clear coat of paint

Nov. 6

made his hat from a paper mache box I painted gold and put a little round knob on, and painted his face... which was easier after he was sealed because I re-did his face soo many times! I learned that trick the first time I make a nutcracker

Nov. 9

added gold trim and blue pearl-like beads to his waist and added my mom's initials and the year on the bottom... which I know you're asking "why not your name?" but when I lived at home, we had all our nutcrackers out together, and one year decided to start putting our initials on the bottoms to be able to tell them apart (we had too many to remember), so I still do that to hers for nostalgic reasons

Nov. 10

made a cape from a table runner, cut out the beard and hair from a rabbit pelt, glued red jewels down the front of his "shirt" and attached his cape, fur, and hat.

at some point I added a scepter in one hand, and then he sat like that for a while until I decided what to put in his other hand.

Dec. 2 - today! :)

I got up in the attic and found an old key I found as a kid, sanded it down, painted it and put it on a red ribbon and threaded it through the other hand

Finished!