PeePee TeePee's & Diaper Clutches!

Hey lovelies!!

It's starting to look a little bit like Fall out there, no? Sounds like it's almost time to start making pumpkins and snowmen! I already showed you how to make the snowmen, so please, SHOW ME! I would love love LOVE to see your creations!

On another note, I attended a baby shower last weekend for V's niece. And of course, I made everything! 2 burp cloths, a bib, 3 peepee teepees, and a diaper clutch! Not sure if everyone knows what a peepee teepee is... When you have a baby boy, word has it that when you change him, he pees everywhere, including all over you! So someone was a complete genius and made these little cone things that you place over his junk while you change him. The peepee teepee absorbs his pee and prevents danger from anyone in the "splash zone." Also known as WeeWee Wigwams, or Tinkle Tops!

Sure, you could buy these in the store. But they SO boring. No cute colors or designs. So I found a pattern online and started mass producing those suckers! I altered it a little bit, to my liking. But they are so easy to make, and they even come with a cute little poem when I give them out:

Changing a baby girl is not all glitz and glory.

Changing a baby boy is another horror story.

You hold his legs with one hand,

and a diaper with the other,

The whole time praying,

"Please don't pee on your mother!"

PeePee TeePee's are made with 1 layer of designed fabric, and 1 layer of terrycloth. For extra absorbency, you can include a layer or two of flannel in between the terrycloth and the cool design. I also like to sew in a ribbon loop at the top so that when you go to remove the pee-ridden ingenious invention, you don't have to touch the pee. Just throw it right in the washer!

I also made a diaper clutch for momma to hold a few diapers and a travel wipe container while she's out and about. No need to carry an entire diaper bag around with you! Plus daddy can feel a little better about carrying such things. The one pictured below is 98% finished, I didn't add the button before snapping a picture. (Sorry, got too excited!)

Do any of you make diaper clutches? I would love to see different styles, as I'm not really sure about the one above. Don't get me wrong, its adorable! I just think I would like to get a wider range on my options. 

Until next time...

DIY Sock Snowman/Snowlady Tutorial

Yes, yes I know it's August. But I have to start making these now to be ready for the winter season, right? Right. I have this friend who HATES the summer. She hates the sun, she hates the heat... she just hates it. So I'm bringing a little bit of winter in to remind us all that there's only 136 days until Christmas. Yeah...I said it. Sorry, not sorry.

I had a woman purchase these 2 snow-people from my Etsy last week - a boy and a girl. A snowman with a mustache, isn't that the funniest thing you've seen all day?? After she got them, she thought that it was so cute that she bought another one! So, while I make the new one, its a perfect time for me to teach YOU how to make one yourself. Doesn't that sound exciting? Just don't put me out of business, k?

Supplies needed:
1 tube sock - Men's (preferably white, unless you want a funky colored one)
Rice
Polyfill or other cottony stuffing
Buttons
Hot glue gun
Pins with colored pin-heads * See picture
Rubber bands - 3 per snowman
1 Jingle Bell
Some white thread or white embroidering thread
Tapestry or Yarn Needle
Knifty Knitter Spool Loom - This is the one I use ** see other scarf options below
2 different  yarns - complimentary colors, I like to use the frilly Lion Brand Fun Fur for these along with a plain color. Or you could do 2 different shades of the same color, as I do in this tutorial.

*These are the pins I use for the eyes. You could use different colors depending on what color scarf you make! (The red ones kind of creep me out though..)

Directions:

Starting with your tube sock, lay it flat and measure about 11 inches from the opening. Cut the sock at this spot. You will now have 2 pieces of sock! Put aside the part on the right, the toe part. We will revisit this guy later.

Now turn the other part inside out. Scrunch up the cut end evenly and put a rubber band around it tightly, pretty close to the end.

Turn it back right-side out. Now we are going to throw some rice in there. I don't usually measure how much I put in there, but for your sake, I will. I put about 1 cup of dry rice into the sock. FYI - its really hard to pour rice out of a measuring cup into the sock with only 2 hands.... This is probably why I don't measure?? Generally, I cut a diagonal hole in the rice bag and just pour until it looks right.

Now you want to take your cotton stuffing and stuff, stuff, stuff! The first piece or two that you put down there, you will want to smoosh it into the rice, so that the rice kind of travels outward and upwards. Then stuff on top of that until you get the shape you like. Smoosh it around, move that stuffing and rice around until it feels right. When you get the size you like, put a rubber band around the top, right where the stuffing ends.You will have leftover sock at the top. Totally okay.

Dunkin' Donuts to keep my crafting skills alive.

Looks like a tall, fat, white turd, huh? haha.. My snowman measures 6.5 inches from bottom to rubber band. So now we want to get rid of the excess sock at the top. Cut it off, leaving about 1/4 inch above the rubber band. Like this:

Okay so we need to give him a head, so figure out where you want it to start. I like to start it just above where the ribbed section starts. Put a rubber band around there, but not too tight, just enough to give him a shape. He might look a little lumpy and weird, but its okay.

Now is the time to turn him to find the best angle for his front. I like to put the lumpy parts in the back because its easier than trying to smoosh and shape them into something smooth. For the most part, the head is always the right shape, but if not, you can work that pretty easily.

Let's put his hat on now! Take the toe part that you cut off earlier and fold the cut part up about 1/2 inch, and then fold it AGAIN about 1 inch. Then, carefully, put it on top of your snowman's head, covering up his silly ponytail on top. If you don't cut off the excess top, you will have a huge lump here when the hat is on top. I like to pull the back and the sides of the hat down to almost the rubber band, so it looks like a real hat. The front should be up to allocate for his face. I also like to shape the hat so that the top is pulled down next to his face. This helps hide the bump from the top of his head.

Fold it up 1/2 inch...

Then fold it up about 1 inch.

Put his hat on!

Say you wanted a longer hat, you would go back to the beginning where you cut this piece initially, and just make it longer. Sure, it makes the snowman a little shorter, but its still adorable!

Okay, okay, time to make our scarf. Cast onto the small end of your Spool Loom (side with 5 prongs) using both strands of yarn, and continue working the yarn until it measures about 12 inches long. Cut off a long tail, and use a yarn or tapestry needle to cast off. Pull tight, and pull the tail through the middle of the scarf to hide it. Do the same for the other end.

** Other scarf options - If you don't have a Spool Loom (really, they are only $5 at Wal-Mart), you could cut a piece of fabric instead and just tie it loosely around the neck. Or you could crochet one, or knit one. Whatever your preferred crafting style is!

Cut a piece of yarn about 10 inches long and thread it through your needle. (For this part, I use the yarn that is least frilly/furry, and the most easily-threadable through a needle. If you see the light blue yarn I used, its super fuzzy and hard to get through a needle eye. Going for the least-frustrating!)

Wrap your scarf around your snowman's neck and arrange the way you want it to look. Pull it a little tight around the neck, so its longer (just don't choke him!). While holding it place, stick the needle up through the bottom, going through both layers of scarf, over a 1/4 - 1/2 inch across the top, and then back down through both layers again. Tie both ends together with a double or triple knot. Cut the excess strings less than 1 inch from the knot. I usually just leave these there, once you fix the scarf, you won't even be able to see it. Because, really, who is going to be checking out the underside of your snow-person's scarf?

Cut 1 piece of yarn from each color that you used for the scarf about 20 inches long. This is the hard part...Using both strings together, tie a bow around just the very tip of the hat. Less then 1 inch from the end. Make the loops long. If you want longer loops, then you would just need to make your yarn longer, 24 inches or more.

This is how it is supposed to look, but the strings are a little short for my liking. I usually have them go down to the bottom of the snowman.

Take your thread and thread it through the hole in the jingle bell, then through the same hole in the same direction that you just did. See the picture below if you can't figure out my weird wording lol.  Then thread one side of the string through your needle, and through the very tip of the hat. Tie this piece to the other end with a double or triple knot, and then cut the strings short.

I know I said use white, but I ran out..

 Now we can add the buttons, eyes, and nose. Plug in that glue gun that you brought along, and glue those suckers on!

And here he is!

I love using mismatched buttons for these. I've used plain
black ones before, but they just look so boring!

Adorable, no? Hope you made it through the entire tutorial...sorry it was long. Show me the little snowmen and women that you create! I would love to see them :)

Quick Update

Hey strangers! Things have been CRAZY at home the last few weeks! But I still found time to make a few things. Someone even put an order into Etsy for two snowmen. Made me giggle...since its August and all. I almost put a note in with them saying Happy Christmas! Almost...

So here are a few pictures to show you my creations these last few weeks. I also learned how to make my own fabric tags here! Let me know what you guys think of the logo....and the cuteness!

DIY Crochet Face Scrubber

I'd like to talk to you about your face. Specifically, how you wash your face. I've tried regular wash cloths that you can buy at the store. I've tried using my hands. I hated the washcloths (they're so scratchy & there's so much extra fabric!), so I just resorted to using my hands to scrub my face. Which works....well enough. But I'm still not happy.

So I started looking up patterns for crocheted face scrubbies. I figured, I have all this cotton yarn just sitting around...why not put it to good use? I saw a two patterns that I liked, here & here. 

But, I wanted something that was a cross between the two of them. I didn't like how the first one had so much PUFF to it. I have a nose ring, so too much extra will get caught. Plus, um, ow? And the 2nd one was too flat and boring, it needs a little something extra to make it cute!

So I decided on this:

It has the best of both worlds, the puff for comfort, and the flatter/rougher area for exfoliating! 

Here is my pattern:

I used a G hook (4mm) with Peaches & Cream 100% cotton yarn.

Puff Stitch - Make sure your loop has a little extra slack (not TOO much). YO and insert hook, draw up a loop. *YO again, insert hook, and draw up another loop.* Rep ** 2 more times. (you should have 9 loops on the hook) YO and pull through all loops. Ch1 to lock.

Start with Magic Ring

Round 1: Chain 3. Work 9 DC into the Magic Ring. Sl st into the top of the Ch3.
Round 2: 2 Puff Stitch in the same st as the sl st. 2PS in every st around. Sl st into the Ch1 space of the first 2 PS.
Round 3: Ch1. SC in same st as the Ch1. SC in every st.

When you get to the end, cut a 3-4 inch tail, and use an Invisible Finish stitch to fasten off. Weave in ends. Learn how to do the Invisible Finish Stitch here. It measures about 3 inches wide when finished.

It may seem impossible to fit 2 Puff Stitches into 1 DC space. I know they're, uh...puffy...but I swear it's possible! I believe in you!!

Now I have one hanging in the shower! I just put a squirt of my favorite face scrub, and scrub away! Give it a couple uses, then throw it in the wash. That's the best part - you can wash them, and reuse them! *insert environment-saving ya-HOO here* 

FYI - if you plan to wash & reuse, I believe you need to use 100% cotton yarn. Otherwise, I'm not sure how it would hold up in the wash.

Let me tell you, my sister in law was over our house the day after I made this scrubbie, and she saw it sitting on the table. "Ooooh, what's that?" she says. So I told her what it was, and she was SUPER interested. So I gave her that one to try out. She was my guinea pig, and she loved it. She has now motivated me to make a ton more for me, family, friends, gifting, and Etsy!

Soon, I plan on making some dish scrubbers using some left over tulle from the wedding (SO.MUCH.TULLE!). One of the links above has the pattern, so I may try to modify to my liking (not that I really do dishes?). Stay tuned kids.

New Blogger Alert!

Well hello! This is my first offical blog post. I guess a good introduction is in order?

My name is Katie, I am (almost) 25, just got married in May 2015, and I have an obsession with yarn. My huband, bless him, has allowed me to hoard yarn for going on 3 years now. We have trashbags full of it in our basement. Family members give me yarn for free, but I still buy it at Wal-Mart and Joann's every chance I get. But I swear, I use coupons!

Come on now... I know there are more of you yarn hoarders out there, I can't be the only one! Anyone? Bueller? 

Back to business -- I am a seasoned crocheter (or hooker, if you will), and I learned most of it from YouTube and Pinterest. If you are a first-timer, YouTube is definitely the way to go. I have SO MANY pins on my Pinterest crochet board, I don't think I will ever get to all of them.

For any of you on Etsy, I have my own Etsy shop. It is still pretty new, but I have decided to start adding different things, such as sewing projects & gifts. I am completely new to sewing - it's literally a whole new world to me. But honestly, the possibilities are endless, so why not?! On to the next, I say.

Well, there it is. My first blog post. I hope you followed it to the end, and I hope that you stick around to see what exciting things start to happen in my journey to be more crafy!