Crochet doll sun hat

Hello crafters!
Look at this fun Doll sun hat I created on vacation! Isn't it cute!?

June Monthly Poll

Hello Crafters! Welcome to our June Monthly Poll! We are going to try to get out a tutorial for the last winner soon. But here are the ones for today:

   Heart String Art                                 Sun String Art

Please leave your vote in the comments, thank you!

Yarn Wrapped Bottles

Hello Crafters!
Today i'm going to be sharing with you these yarn wrapped bottles that I made. It took me about a hour to do two. It may get a little messy and sticky but the concept is pretty simple.

Materials:

• yarn in color of your choice
• any type of glass bottle, I uses a beer bottle but you could also use  a wine bottle or a spaghetti sauce bottle. 
• Elmer's glue
• Q-tip to spread the glue on and a paper plate to hold the glue.
• scissors

First thing you do is spread glue on the first two inches or so of your bottle, it depends on the size though, you don't want to put glue on the whole thing to start with. THAT WOULD BE MESSY.

Next take your yarn and starting at the top slowly wrap the yarn around. You don't want any gaps or lumpy places. When you get to the end of the glue just apply more and keep wrapping. Have patience. ;) The second one i did i was ready to be done and started going pretty fast and it ended up overlapping and looking all lumpy. :P. 

When you get to the end of the bottle just cut the yarn and secure the end with a dot of glue. Yay! Another fun craft accomplished. These make awesome vases, pencil holders, just a place to store long skinny things. You could also put letters on the bottles and make it spell a word. USe your imagination and Happy Crafting! 

First Ever Monthly Poll!

Hello Crafters!

Welcome to our first ever Monthly Poll! 

These are two different takes on making old books into cute jewelry!

Please place your vote in the comments, telling us which one you like best and we will recreate that one for you guys and have a tutorial ready by a least next month! 

Thank you and don't forget to Vote!

 vs.

   Recycled Book Beads Necklace          Recycled Book Pendants

Monthly Poll

Hello Crafters!
This is something new that we will be doing on our blog every month,
We will pick two crafts that are somewhat alike off the internet and post them, You will have to vote in the comments which one you like best! Whichever one wins, we will have to try to recreate and post a tutorial on. Sound fun? Get ready for the first one coming up soon! - The Crafty Girls

Crocheted Pots!

Difficulty Level: Medium

Hello Crafters! Today I will be showing you how to make these lovely little things!:

Crocheted Pots! My mom loves these, she thinks they are adorable... and they are! They are perfect for holding marbles, earrings, paperclips, any little nick-nack you have lying around your house, You could even make them a little taller and put pencils in them!

But before I get carried away telling you the many uses for these adorable pots, let me tell you how to make them!

First you chain two. 

Then put your hook in the first chain and single crochet 5 times in that same loop.

Then you just start single crocheting into the stitches you did into your first chain. 

Make sure you chain a stitch after each crochet so it doesn't start to curl upwards. We don't want that to happen just yet ;).

Jsut keep crocheting in circles until the base is a big as you want it. For these I made them to about the size of my fist.

Now you will STOP adding stitches and just keep going around, take OFF a few stitches to just to make sure it doesn't start fanning out alot. 

Just do this until the desired height. Mine are about 5 inches tally by 4 inches wide.

Have fun with this! Do different colors, patterns anything! 

Happy Crafting! 

 

Crocheted Dog Beanie

Difficulty Level: Medium

Hello Crafters!
 Judy the St Bernard loves her new beanie! And it's pretty easy to make too! Use the same technique you used for this hat but when the top is as big as you want, don't crochet in the inside. Just stop adding stitches and continue crocheting until it's as big as you want, and omit the last step. Oh, and something else important... drop stitches on either side for ear-holes! When you're done, do one more row around, but skip every other stitch so that it's tight around the brim. If you know how to crochet, it should be easy! Have fun!

How to Make Tin Foil Earrings

Difficulty Level: Not hard a'tall! 

Hello Crafters! Today i'm going to show you how to make tin foil earrings! This is what I made for my mom for Mother's day.

Materials;

A square of Tin Foil about 1 foot across

beading wire, regular wire, or thread

wire cutters or scissors

two earring hooks

a needle that you can thread wire through

They were very simple. To start I took a sheet of foil about 6 inches by 3 inches and crumpled it up and poked and prodded it till it was a good looking ball shape. then I took another square of foil a little smaller and crumpled that up to. It actually took me several tries for me to get two that looked pretty close in size. I chose this design but you can do anything you would like to, add different colored beads, use more then one ball, color the foil, anything. I did a little ball on top of a larger one. 

Ok, once you have the four balls that you would like to use you take a peice or wire about 14 in. long and fold it in half. first string your earring hook on to the wire so it falls where the fold is. Next take your needle and thread the two ends of the wire through it and hold it so they don't slip out. Then take the smaller ball and right in the middle, poke you needle all the way through, Then slide the bigger one on, right above the little one. Take the needle off but make sure your foil balls don't fall off. Lastly tie a knot at the end of the big one. You should probably double know it just to make sure. Cut the wire and do the next one. It's really very simple once you get the hang of it. If this is confusing I hop to make a video tutorial, but I can't promise that anytime soon. 

So there you go! These are simple, pretty and stylish. They will go with anything. Thank you and Have fun Crafting!

Oil Pastel Bottle!

Difficulty Level: Medium

There's no tutorial for this, but I thought I'd post it. It's a bottle drawn with oil pastel! It took a lot of layering, but it turned out nicely! (The judges in the art show thought so, at least... they awarded it with a 2nd place ribbon!)

Cherry Blossom Cake!

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Isn't this cake adorable?! It took quite a while. We made two yellow cakes and a simple glaze with powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Then we made the fondant for the flowers and leaves. We melted down a bag of marshmallows in a saucepan. MAKE SURE TO GREASE THE PAN WELL!! If you don't, all that sticky marshmallow will stick to the sides and take a long time to clean. When the marshmallows were completely melted down, we poured it on the table. Yup! Poured the melty goop on the table. Of course, we coated the table in about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar too. Then we kneaded the powdered sugar into the marshmallow. Make sure that it's not too hot! When it's completely mixed together, it should be tough but not too hard to squeeze and shape. We added food dye to the fondant and shaped the flowers and leaves. This took the longest- an hour and a half! But it was worth it in the end. We glazed the whole cake, used chocolate frosting for the trunk and branches, and then stuck on the flowers and leaves. It was almost too pretty to eat! (Almost)

Oil Pastel Fox

Difficulty Level: Medium

Hey there, Crafters!

I used a layering technique on this fox. I started with a yellow color, then an orange, a deep red, and finally dark purple. With oil pastels, you can scrape away some of the color, so when you use your fingernails, all of the colors underneath show through. Wondering about why I added purple? Believe it or not, purple makes a much better dark color when it's on top of another color. Just plain black makes it look flat. Have fun crafting!

Chain Loop Earrings

Difficulty Level: Medium

These chain loops are cheap and you can make a lot of amazing jewelry with them! Take these earrings for example. We simply made a linked chain of eight and connected it at the ends. Add earring hooks and you're all set!

Origami Bouquet!

Difficulty Level: Medium

Make a whole bunch of origami flowers and turn them into a bouquet! Use pipe-cleaner stems and colorful paper. Them put them in a vase! You can make a flower like this one or a lily like this or these, or create your own. The only limit is your imagination, so get crafting!

Clay Charms (And Cheap Glaze)

Difficulty Level: Easy-Medium

I made these charms with colored clay and added hooks so that they can go on a charm bracelet. Then I painted clear fingernail polish over them after they were baked to make a shiny glaze on top of it. That's a cool trick I discovered- you can buy those expensive glazes for your sculptures, but cheap old clear fingernail polish works just as well!

Woven Mat

Difficulty Level: Medium

You can make this mat out of duct tape, paper, or fabric, and use it as a checkers board or put two together to make a bag. The possibilities are endless!!! All you have to do is get the strips and weave them together This mat was made out of duct tape. I used 10 strips of one color and 10 of the other. Then I took a long strip of tape and stuck the ends of five of each color in a coordinating pattern. I did the same with the other five of each, put two of the ends together at right angles, and began to weave in an under-over pattern. I used tape to hold the ends together on both sides as well. It's pretty easy, but a bit time-consuming to weave all the strips together. Still, the outcome is awesome!

Easter Lilies

Look at all the Lilies we made for Easter!

A whole Basket of them!

Pot Holder Update!

Hello Crafters!

   Here are some pics of all the potholders I've made so far:

    

 Picture one: The top one is a marbled yellow and green;, second one is striped purple, pink; and white. and last one is marbled green and brown.

    Picture two;Top one is marbled light blue and dark blue; bottom one is a maroonish color with grey edging.

      I also have one in progress:    

This is going to be a striped yellow and multi-colored one!

                                                    

Have a nice day!

Scrubbies!!!

Good Morning Crafters!
  Today I would like to share with you guys one of my latest phases... and their names are.. SCRUBBIES!

                                                                                  

Very official looking..huh? :)

It's very simple.. that's why I love them!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Here's How you make them:

Materials-

- a spool of tulle (hey that rhymes!) in the color(colors) you want

-biggish crochet hook 

First, using the tulle, chain two and start crocheting in a circle adding stitches a lot so it won't start curling upward.

Next since these are double sided you are going to switch to the inner stitch so it starts going in, drop stitches every so-often to make sure it's flat.

When you reach the middle tie it off!

 It's as easy as that!

I would say mine took me about 20-25 minutes to make.

Now you won't have to buy them from the store.. yay!

Handle Covers

Hi Crafters!
       This a a fun craft that I created while trying to make a pencil holder but it turned into this... !

Aren't they fun?

A cool way to brighten up your whole kitchen!

Here's how you make them:

Start by chaining 2.

Next start crocheting around in a cirlce and then up.

Sort of like the bowler hat in this post.

Just do that until you get it to the length you want!

 Happy Crocheting!

Helpful Hint: Don't make them long enough to touch the actual pan part. (this can be a fire hazard because if you have a gas stove the flames could reach up and catch the yarn)

Sculptures Made With FREE Clay!

Difficulty Level: Easy 

Yes, you read that right. FREE CLAY. You can find it almost anywhere! This little cat was made with it! It's amazing! It's... okay, I know what you're thinking. Just tell me how I can get this clay! 
   Fine.
   In 50% of small, natural ponds, the bed will be made of clay. It will have a more sticky consistency than mud and it would hold together better. This isn't the smooth, white stuff you buy at the store. It's lumpy, brown, and filled with small stones. But when you mash it around with your hands, warm it up, and pick out the stones, it becomes an awesome material to work with, and it doesn't cost a cent. Only collect clay from ponds you can go to, and don't go on any private property to collect it. Sculpt what you want. You may have to add some water, because it might be kinda crumbly. Then bake it for about five to ten minutes in a 250 degree oven until it's hard. Don't over-bake it, or else it might split. That's pretty much it! Have fun!

Origami Lily

I made this for a friend out of some music paper, but first I had to snag a picture! A video tutorial is coming very soon!

Crocheting a Bow Tie and Bowler Hat for Dogs!

 Difficulty Level: Difficult

Doesn't this dog look ADORABLE in his new hat and bow tie? And it was pretty simple to make, as long as you know how to crochet and add and drop stitches. So let's get crocheting!

For the bow tie:
-Start by chaining eight, then crochet like you would normally BUT don't add a stitch at the end of every row. This is VERY important so that it gets smaller.
-Once you get to two stitches, add two and then do two more rows, then drop one so that you have two stitches again.
-Then, add a stitch every row until you get to eight again.
-Finally, tie off the end and then put a slip knot on your hook, hook the end through one of the stitches on the middle part and crochet all around the middle so that it's raised. Leave a bit of yarn to tie the bow tie onto the dog's collar. ONLY tie it around the collar, NOT around the dog's neck, or they may choke.

For the bowler hat
-Start by chaining three and inserting the hook through the first stitch, and crochet around the stitches so that it makes a disk, adding a stitch every row around. This will be the top of the hat.
-When it's as big as you want, stitch around the inside loops of the last row you did and keep going around, not adding any stitches, so that it stays the same size around. It should begin going down.
-When it's the right size, (if you make it bigger, it can be a top hat!) stitch around the top stitches of the last row you did, going around about three times to make the part that sticks out at the base. Leave some string to tie around the dog's head.
-(Oh, and Whovians-- if you omit the last step, and use red yarn, it can make a fez!!! Your dog can be the Dog-tor, with a cool fez and bow tie!)

And there we go! Say bye, Jack!

Turning a a Big Baggy Shirt Into a Fun Summery Tank Top

Difficulty Level: Pretty Difficult

Hello Crafters!!

   I have another refashion for you! This is a big and baggy tee that I found at a thrift store... it needs some refashioning!

Before

First I cut off the sleeves...

Then I cut a section of the sleeves out and sewed it up again to make a smaller neckline. ( the neckline was wayyy to low)

Then I took in both sides about 2 in

Next, I hemmed up those sleeves and.... Ta-da!!!
After

Helpful hints:

• Make sure you measure right before you take in the sides... you don't want to have to re-do it! 
• Make sure your sleeves are the same size 

Happy Refashioning!

How To Make Popsicle Stick Bracelets!

Difficulty Level: Easy

These are simple, cute, and good to make for young kids to decorate! All you'll need are popsicle sticks, cups, and whatever decorating things (markers, stickers, paper, fabric scraps, yarn, etc.)  you want to use. 

Begin by bringing a pot of water to a boil on the stove, then remove it from the flame. Place the popsicle sticks in the hot water and let them soak for an hour or two, adding more boiling water every half hour. Soon, they should be bendy and pliable. One by one, gently bend the popsicle sticks onto a curved shape and let them rest in the mouth of the glass. Remember that they need to be the right size to comfortably fit around your wrist. Let them dry for about 24 hours, then pop them out. Now it's time to decorate! In the picture, we glued on patterned paper, but that's only ONE of the many different styles you can make! Have fun!

Pot holder... Again :)

Hi Crafters!
    Today I finally finished my second pot holder... Yay!!! I love the colors. Just thought I'd share it with you and if you would like to buy some please email us a thecraftygirlsblog@gmail.com! Thank you!
             

How To Make A Skirt Into A Dress

Difficulty Level: Difficult

I found this old skirt at the thrift store. As you can tell by the picture, it is much too big for me. But I wasn't planning on wearing it as a skirt. I was planning on re-fashioning it into a dress!

BEFORE

AFTER

This was a bit hard, but not as much as I expected. All I did was find a sash to tie around it and add the shoulder straps. To make the straps, I cut two long strips of fabric that looked good with the pattern of the skirt, hemmed each side, and then sewed them onto the top of the skirt. The hemming took a while, especially since my sewing machine was broken then, but if you don't hem, the fabric will fray over time. Another way to do this is to cut slits on the sides near the top of the skirt and hem around them to make arm holes, but either way works fine. Then find a good sash and attach it to the front with a few stitches, but leave the back loose so that you can tie it behind. And that's it! You can do this with any too-big skirt! Have fun crafting!

Helpful Hint:

Make sure to try on the dress constantly, especially while you're sewing on the shoulder straps, to make sure that the straps are even and aren't too big or too small. If they're too big, it's easier to fix than if it's too small.

Another Quick Announcement :)

Hello Crafters!
 Have you ever seen something on this blog that you really want? If you are interested, we will be selling hot pads, like these ones, and treble clef earrings, like these ones! The money will go towards buying craft supplies to make more of them! :) Email us at thecraftygirlsblog@gmail.com for prices and more information! Thank you! - The Crafty Girls

How To Make A Friendship Bracelet

Difficulty Level: Easy

Hi Crafters! These bracelets, known as "snake around the pole" bracelets, are super quick and easy to make. All you'll need is some embroidery thread, (which is really cheap and easy to find at any crafts store) tape, and scissors! Let's get crafting!

 First cut about six inches of each color of embroidery thread you want to use. Three colors is the best. Fold each length of thread in half, like so:

 Gather them all together, making sure that the same ends are next to one another, and then tie a knot at the end with the loops.

 Get some masking tape and tape the end down on your work surface. This will keep the bracelet in place.

 Separate one strand of string from the others.

 Cross it over the rest of the thread...

 Bring it around underneath the main threads and over top of the first part of the thread.

Now pull it tight! Here you have the first part. You can't see it too well yet, but just wait. Do it again.

 Keep going. You should see a part rising up and twisting around. Now do you see why it's called "snake around the pole"?

 When you're ready for the next color, pull out one strand of that color and keep going with it, leaving the first strand you started with in with the rest of the group.

 Keep going. Add the other color.

 When it's long enough, you're done! Tie a knot at the end to keep it in place.

 Tie it around your wrist and voila! You have an easy snake-around-the-pole friendship bracelet! You can make these in all sorts of colors. Have fun!