Double-Knit Change of Pace Scarf

This double-knit scarf uses a moss stitch for the “flat” stripes and knit stitches for the raised stripes.  Since it is double-knit, it is very warm.  With the number of stitches per row, it is also pretty wide and perfect for keeping you warm during the snowy months!  The fringe is optional, as is the cat fur.

Because this is double knit, I have labeled the rows by number and used 'A' and 'B' to label the two sides of the scarf.  The scarf is totally reversible, so there isn't really a front side or a back side.  If you have never double-knit before or would like a refresher, try this tutorial or any number of videos on Youtube.  The important thing to remember is that you need to move both pieces of yarn to the back for side A and to the front for side B.

Ombre yarns will yield similar color stripes as the scarf in the photos, but the pattern would also work with tweed, solid, striped, etc., so go for what you love best!

Materials

• Suggested yarn: Loops & Threads Charisma (6 balls for scarf, 1 extra for fringe) (Color used in photos: Dusk)
• Needle size: 9 mm (US 13)

Pattern

Cast on 35 stitches with each ball of yarn for a total of 70 stitches on your needle (or other multiple of 10 plus 5)

R1 A: *K1 P1 K1 P1 K1 K5* repeat 2 more times; last 5 stitches K1 P1 K1 P1 K1

R1 B: Same as R1 A

R2 A: *P1 K1 P1 K1 P1 K5* repeat 2 more times; last 5 stitches P1 K1 P1 K1 P1

R2 B: Same as R2 A

R3 A: Same as R2 A

R3 B: Same as R2 B

R4 A: Same as R1 A

R4 B: Same as R1 B

Repeat Rows 1 through 4 until scarf measures between 60 to 65 inches. 

Cast off.  Weave in ends.

Fringe

Tip: To make the fringe easier to assemble, use a crochet hook!

Cut out 144 pieces of yarn measuring between 8 to 12 inches (12 inches for longer fringe).  Take 2 pieces of yarn and fold in half.  Insert the folded edge into the selvedge stitch at the edge of the first row and use the crochet hook to pull the yarn tails through the loop (around the selvedge stitch).  Pull to tighten.  Repeat every other stitch until the edge of the row.  Repeat steps for fringing the other edge of the scarf as well.  For a fuller fringe, try adding yarn to every selvedge stitch instead of alternating ones.

Personalized MagicBands

What's up, everyone? We haven't been on here in a little while but I had an excellent idea that I knew I would need to post about! First of all, I'm obsessed with Disney's MagicBands... Need more information? The Walt Disney World website has some excellent information on the subject! And this is a pretty picture-heavy post, just a fore-warning!

Red, Green, and Blue MagicBands with Magic Bandits

Between my husband and I, (Whoa! Is it possible the last time we posted we weren't married yet?! Crazy!) we have almost every color! I received my pink MagicBand in November of 2013 when we were staying on Disney property to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary (they were still in testing at this point), and Josh received blue. Earlier this year, we received our annual passholder bands and I chose yellow for me and orange for Josh. We stayed on property again, this time with family, and I selected red for me (Josh reused one of his MagicBands - Yes, you can do that!), and finally we will be staying on property with more family in the end of June, so we ordered green for me and red for Josh.

I love our MagicBands, but sometimes there's just something missing, and since we're well into our collection I decided I'd do some research on personalizing my MagicBand! Pinterest gave me some excellent ideas on what I could do to decorate them, and most of the ideas came from this post on DISboards. I couldn't wait to try it out! So far, I've decorated three of our MagicBands and they've turned out pretty great!

Not many supplies needed!

You'll Need:

• A MagicBand
• Nail Art Pens
• Clear Nail Polish

Make sure your MagicBand is clean and you have a good work surface available! (I tried doing some designs last night when it was dark... Yikes! Good lighting is definitely key.) For my first design, I went with swirls, so I started to lightly sketch it out on the MagicBand with my white nail art pen. 

Sketch your design

Continue on with your design, adding or taking away as needed.

Continuing the sketch

At this point, after I switched to the other part of the MagicBand, I messed up my design! Oh no! It's completely permanent! What are we going to do?!

Nail. Polish. Remover. Easy as that! 

Nail polish remover works wonders!

After you've got the basic design you want, add little details! (And remember, when doing designs, you have to add a Hidden Mickey! I don't make the rules.)

Swirls & dots

After I got the main part of the MagicBand finished, I outlined the Mickey head (where the RFID chip is located) and added my initial "S" into it.

Outlined Mickey and "S"

I continued by adding glitter to a few of the dots and the other Mickey head... Then finally covered it in clear nail polish (after it dried for about a day) to seal everything in and give it a bit of a shine!

Add a bit of sparkle!

Here are some of the other designs I've created, as well! For the yellow/bee design, I simply used my black nail art pen and clear nail polish. For Josh's orange & blue striped MagicBand, I used tape (to created the stripes) and blue nail polish, then outlined the Mickey head using a nail art pen... Go Gators!

Can you spot the Hidden Mickey?

Not sure why the middle looks yellow... It's definitely orange!

But, it's definitely times like these that I wish Bonnie were here! She is so much more gifted with paint and definitely more patient than I am! If you paint your own MagicBand, post a picture in the comments so we can see! Have a Magical Day, everyone!

It's the Bridal Showdown...

Just kidding, it's not really a showdown.  However, it does have to do with wedding and bridal stuff :)  As has been referred to in past posts, Shelby is soon to be married.  Like, really soon.  You know what that means?  A lot of last minute crafts.  A lot of them.  So many.  But it's cool, because we're really getting to do new and exciting things!

Now, this past weekend was Shelby's (south) Bridal Shower, since there was a handful of us down here in Florida who couldn't make it to the original Bridal Shower with her family up north.  I was in charge of games and entertainment and Cindy, a family friend, hosted the shower at her house and supplied a wonderful, beautiful menu.  My problem was that because Shelby had already had one shower, I didn't want to repeat games she may have played already.  I had trouble finding nicely set-up games that were appropriate for the forum, so in the end I worked with a mix of game ideas I found online and some that I made up from board games or ideas I had heard about at some point.  This post is to outline the six games we played so the next maid-of-honor who needs to plan a shower doesn't have to risk the dangers of the unexplored internet.

Game 1: Steal the Veil!
Start this game at the very beginning of the shower.  Everybody gets a metal ring, similar to binder ring clips, with five strips of tulle.  If you've seen those DIY tutu posts on pinterest, you'll know how to do this.  If not, it's super simple: fold the strip in half and put one end through the metal ring.  Fold the loose ends through the loop the folded side of tulle forms, and tug it tight.

Everyone can attach this to their sleeve or necklace or pant loop - whatever is the most convenient.  Choose 3 "Forbidden" words.  Each time during the shower that someone uses one of those words, the person who catches them saying it gets one of their "veils."  At the end of the shower, whoever has the most wins!  (Our forbidden words were "Cruise," "Josh," and "Wedding."  Shelby totally lost.  Josh's mom won.)

Game 2: Bridal Bingo!
This one is pretty self explanatory.  Make a 5X5 board.  Each square in the grid gets a word related to the wedding or couple.  Make sure each party attendee has a board that is DIFFERENT from the others, so the words should all be in another square.  I'll add the 6 boards that I made below.  Print out one extra board to cut up and stick in a bag to use as the calling cards.  You'll see that there is a ring around the "I Do" square on these boards.  We used those as the freebies.

I printed these on nicer photo paper to make them a little fancier, and I cut out squares of three different shades of pink scrapbook paper the size of each grid piece to cover the words that were called.  This ended up being a hit, and we played it more than once.

Game 3: Wedding Scategories!
I chose 9 wedding/love related categories and typed them up on a pretty graph in Microsoft Word.  At the shower, we had Shelby pick a random letter (she chose "J") and we all had one minute to try to fill in the 9 categories with something starting with that letter.  Afterword, we all compared answers, and in the end the person who had more different answers than everyone else won.

Game 4: Bride or Groom?
For this one, I went on Facebook and copied/pasted random status messages from Shelby and Josh going as far back as I possibly could to make it really hard.  I kept one sheet of paper that said who said what, my cheat-sheet to grade everyone else's answers, and then took out anything that specified gender or name from the status messages.  I arranged them in a chart with two check boxes beside each status message so the attendees could mark who they thought posted it.  Below is an example of the sheet I used.

I added a couple extra status messages on my cheat sheet in case there needed to be a tie-breaker, but Shelby won (only by 1 point) so it wasn't necessary :)

Game 5: Pass the Bouquet!
Think Hot Potato, but without the hot potato.  I bought a little bundle of flowers and wrapped them in a pretty silver tulle with some nice ribbon to make it look like a wedding bouquet.  We all sat in a circle and the tossing of the bouquet began - to anyone in the circle.  I played "Marry Me" by Train on my iPod and paused it randomly.  The person holding the bouquet was out, and the circle closed in until only one person was remaining.  Cindy was the winner with the bouquet!  I'll make sure to add pictures later, because it was quite fun :)

Game 6: Wedding Pictionary!

For this game, I made a list of wedding/couple related words.  I printed the list and cut it into strips, mixing it up in a plastic baggie.  We had some dry-erase markers and a white board set up at the front of the room.  Shelby started the game by pulling a slip of paper from the bag and drawing it on the board until we guessed what it was.  The person who guessed got to pull the next slip of paper and go up to draw, and so on so forth.  I'll add pictures of this later, too, but for now here's the list we used:

And that, my dear readers, is the sum of our Bridal Shower games!  I'll make another post soon with the DIY game prizes, because they were a HUGE success.  If you're planning a wedding, or planning a shower, I wish you the best of luck :)

-Bonnie

Lost and Found

Hey everyone, it’s Bonnie again (I know it's been ages)!

So it’s been a while since I’ve even had a chance to craft at all, what with working full time, being a full time student, and working on an art commission that literally takes up more space than me, but I had a desperate need to craft today.

See, here’s the deal: I like accessories.  I LOVE necklaces and earrings, especially.  My problem?  That I can never find what I want when I need it, and when I do it’s always tangled up in everything else.  I finally decided to solve the problem using this super fast, super easy craft.

What you will need:

You don't actually need a cat for this project.

•  An unframed corkboard (whichever size you prefer)
• Fabric (Enough to cover the corkboard and a little over each edge)
• Stapler and Staples
• Push-pins
• Necklaces
• Ribbon (Optional)
• Glue (Optional depending on your presence or lack of ribbon)
• Scissors
• 2 long nails
• Hammer
• Wall space (Not optional)

Okay, so Step 1!:

Lay the fabric as flatly as possible over the front of the corkboard.  Trim the edges of the fabric, but try to leave about an inch and a half to fold over.  Flip the cork board upside down.

You can't see the corkboard, but I promise it's there.

Step 2:

Fold the fabric as neatly as possible, and try to keep it snug.  Open the stapler so you can lay it flat on the corkboard.  Press down (hard, otherwise the staples won’t always go in) near the edge of the corkboard, over the fabric.  Make sure the staple went in all the way as you go.  In an attempt to make sure the fabric was definitely being held in, I stapled along the back edge about every four to five inches.  Where the fabric was folded over twice (at the corners) I used about twice that.

Keca supervising the dangerous part

I'm building suspense by only showing you the back of the corkboard.

 

Step 3 (optional):

Once the fabric is nice and tight and connected to the corkboard, flip it over so the front is facing you again.  Cut an amount of ribbon that will border each side of your corkboard.  Using glue (I used memory glue, but fabric glue and probably even Elmer’s glue will work just fine) edge the fabric and then flatten the ribbon over it, trimming the edges if they’re just a little too long.  Your board should be looking super pretty about now!

I'm still building suspense by not showing you the whole picture.

Suspense ended.

Step 4:

Decide how you want to organize your necklaces, and put in your push-pins accordingly.  I really liked this part because I was starting to get excited about putting the corkboard up on my wall.  And also because I used lime green push-pins.

(I don't have a picture for this because the lime green push pins are slightly transparent and they blend right into the fabric...)

Step 5:

Put the corkboard against the wall, and in one top corner, place the nail and bang it through the wall using your hammer or tool of choice.  Make sure the corkboard is even, and then go to the other top corner and smash in the second nail.  The nails went through the cork board and the wall super easily for me, and it’s holding up really well.

(I also don't have a picture for this because it would have looked remarkably similar to the previous picture...but on a wall, not a rug.)

Step 6:

Hang up your necklaces!!!  I can’t find all of mine yet (which is no surprise because I lose just about everything), but you can see that not only does this make a good storage for jewelry, and a good organizer, it also makes a pretty sweet decoration.

I really am excited about it.  It holds up even my heaviest necklaces, and it looks great :)

Next, I plan on doing a smaller one for my earrings with a small plastic or metal tub beneath it to catch earrings in the event that they fall off…because if they fall behind one of my bookshelves, I’m never getting them back!  If I do manage, I'll add on a picture and an extra tutorial, if necessary :)

 Happy crafting!

Artwork Make-over

I know it's been a long time since either of us have posted, and I could definitely bore you of the details of school and work and wedding planning, but instead, I'm going to show you a tutorial, and explain how I get my inspiration.


I've followed a few craft blogs before, but not many. And during my little "hiatus" I discovered Pinterest. Pinterest is one of those things that if you never knew about it, you would go about your daily life, never realizing that you are missing out on a world of inspiration. I have to admit, I'm on Pinterest every day, some times multiple times a day, and I love sifting through all the crafts on the DIY & Crafts board. I've gotten so many wonderful ideas from the Food & Drink board, too! So you can look forward to a few tutorials from crafts I've seen on Pinterest!

This particular craft really caught my eye just as Bonnie and I were leaving for JoAnn's, and I decided I would try it, if I had the time. Who would have thought it would be one of the best crafts I've ever done? And seriously? One of the easiest! The original project was Song Lyric Wall Art / D.I.Y Project. Her's turned out so cute, I just had to try it myself! She did a tutorial on it, but instead of using liquid white paint, I used spray paint, and it turned out wonderful!


Supplies Needed:

• Painting
• Letter Stickers (I got mine from the scrapbooking section)
• White (or another color) Spray Paint
• Patience

First, take a painting (I picked mine up at JoAnn's, on clearance, for under $5).

Next, cut out the letters and place (without sticking) on the painting to get the exact positioning right!

We ran out of h's, so we had to improvise! Doesn't look too bad, does it?

Now, begin sticking the letters straight onto the painting! But, make sure you don't press them down too hard, you're going to be peeling them off in a little bit! And, as you can see, we used a straight edge to get perfect lines throughout.

Get ready to spray paint! Make sure all the stickers are exactly where you want them to be.

And then take the painting out to a well-ventilated area and begin spraying! I sprayed in circles, mostly, then came back to the areas afterwards that needed a little more lovin'.

After you're finishing spraying, let the paint dry, but not completely. We waited about ten minutes, and used the time to catch up with each other! Then, carefully begin peeling the letters off. Having long nails really helps with this part!

Honestly, not all of the letters are going to come out absolutely perfect, and as you can see the picture above, there were some remenants of the letters, but you can go back afterwards, and peel those off, too! After you're finished peeling, marvel at your new artwork!

I'll be framing this beauty in a few days, I'm really looking forward to putting it up! Oh, and, as always, thanks for stopping by!

Birdbrain

It’s Bonnie!  I’m terribly sorry for the long wait y’all have been going through.  But hey, here’s one to get the month of September rolling!

I’ve always been very partial to feathers in the hair, and I’ve noticed recently that it’s become a fashion statement once again.  Of course, I’m not going to spend twenty dollars to put a chicken feather (we all know they’re not really eagle feathers, people) in my hair.  So here’s my hair-ornament for the birdbrains out there :)

What you will need:

• A package of feathers (you can get these for about $3-$4 – try to make sure you get the ones that have a wrapped base)
• Large clasps (I used a medium one, and you can see that it was just a wee bit too small for my feathers)
• Needle-Nose Pliers
• Scissors
• Embroidery Thread (or hemp, but don’t forget that hemp is more likely to pull at your hair)
• Tape
• Bobby pin or Barrette

Step 1: Lay the base of the feathers in a clasp.  Using the pliers, force the edges of the clasp to fold down over the feather until they’re flat, and the feather is sturdy in the clasp.

(I forgot to photograph this step, but you should be able to see the clasp in the next pictures.)

Step 2: Cut two strands of thread at about twice the length that you want the “rope” part of your feather ornament to be.  String these threads through the hole in the clasp until the clasp is exactly half-way down the thread.

Step 3: Tape the clasp to a flat surface.  You can do this project without taping it, but this will make it a lot easier.

Step 4: Take one of the two sides of thread and pull it OVER the other side, hold it down with your finger, and pull it back to the side it started on.  It should look like a four. (4 <-- Just like that, but with a feather on top!)  Then, put it under the side of thread that you didn’t move, through the corner of the four, and over the far corner of the four.  Pull it tight.  Repeat this with alternating sides until it's reached the desired length.  It will form a mottled spiral.

Step 5: String the thread through your bobby pin or barrette.  This is basically the easiest step – double knot the thread, and then cut off any excess.

Step 6: Place in hair!

I tried a few different ways to see what looked best, and my personal favorite is the underlayer of hair right behind my ear with the thread in front.  It peeks out of your hair, but it’s not sticking out to the point where it’s screaming “Hey, look at me, I’m a birdbrain!”

Enjoy :)

Colors Make Me Happy (Especially in skirt form)

Hey there, people, let me be the first to say Happy Easter, if it is a holiday you celebrate!  If it is not, than Happy Random April Sunday to you!  So, I know I haven’t been posting on “odd days” lately, but it’s because odd days are just so inconveniently busy by some cruel joke dictated by the universe.  But that being besides the point, here’s a craft I randomly started working on about two or three weeks ago with the support of the ever-awesome Shelby who I miss and have not seen since then.  I don’t have many photos because I was more worried about not putting it down and losing interest than in documenting, so sorry about that!

What you will need:

• Fabric squares (I find these in the calico/quilting section in art stores.  I’m not talking about the little ones, but the ones that are about 1.5 times larger than a bandana.)
• Note: The number of fabric squares you want depends on multiple things.  For example, the width of your hips and behind, and the length you want the skirt to be.  I used 13 squares – 1 White (for the band), 1 Red, 1 Orange (they were nearer the top and therefore I needed less), 2 Yellow, 2 Green, 2 Light Blue, 2 Dark Blue (Indigo doesn’t exist anymore??? Excuse me for believing in all seven colors of the rainbow.), and 2 Purple.
• Elastic (I used ¾ of an inch wide.  Look at the length and decide if it’s appropriate for you, and while ¾ width is okay, I suggest going about an inch.  Of course, I decided this after I finished sewing my skirt.)
• Thread (You can match your threads if you want…I just used white.)
• Sewing machine (Or just a needle and tons of patience.)
• Scissors

Step 1: Cut your fabric squares in half or into four lines so you have long strips instead of squares.  Sew matching colored strips together so you have longer strips of the colors.  To do this, sew the ends FACE TO FACE so the hem is on the inside.  Use that tactic throughout this tutorial.  The hem would look silly on the outside for this particular design.  Here’s a paint diagram of what it should look like (obviously multiply by 2 if you cut into four strips and not just in half.  I used four strips for my skirt.):

Etc.

Step 2: Sew these strips together in the order you want (I did the order of the rainbow).  Match the center seams together so the shorter strips are centered.  Do not sew the white strip (or whatever color you chose your band to be) with this. New paint diagram:

Note: I chose for the purple on the bottom of mine (not demonstrated in this diagram) to be longer than the length of the other colors.  When you sew the strips together, it should be front to front so the hem is on the inside.  Trim the excess.  To make the purple longer, sew the line closer to the end of the fabric, so there’s less excess to trim.

Step 3: Cut the fabric in a bell-like shape, demonstrated by this paint diagram:

Note: The top band should be able to wrap around your waist or hips (wherever you want the skirt to sit) at least 1.5 times.  I think mine was closer to 2 times, but I plan on trimming it down just a little.  So basically, aim for about 1.5-1.75 times the length of cloth you would need for a flat skirt!

Step 4: On the bottom of the skirt, fold up the fabric towards the inside, just a little.  Sew this all the way around the skirt to hem the bottom, partially so it has a clean look, and partially so it doesn’t thread.  Hems are multi-purpose, in case you didn’t know :P

Step 5: Sew the white strip (or whatever you color you chose the band to be) to the top of the skirt, face to face so the hem is on the inside.  This part is kind of hard – fold the white over (towards the inside) until you have just enough room for your elastic band.  Don’t make it too exact or small, because you need to thread the elastic through.  Sew the white cloth down, but DO NOT sew the ends shut.

Step 6: Measure the elastic around your hips or waist (this is where you’ll want the skirt to sit) and cut it so it’ll be snug but not too tight.  Start feeding it through the white-cloth-tunnel you just made.  Hold onto one end so it doesn’t disappear into the fabric!  When you have both ends sticking out of cloth, sew them together as stably as you can.  Pull the white band together over the elastic, and sew the ends of that together too, and continue sewing down the sides of the skirt so it’s all together now, face to face.  Your skirt should look something like this:

Step 7:  Flip the skirt right side out and spread the scrunched material around the elastic as evenly as you can.  Voila!  You have a rainbow-quilt skirt now :)

Good luck with this project! (And in case you were wondering, this is the first clothing item I’ve made without a pattern!  Patterned clothing pictures below, just because I’m proud of them :P )

This is the first thing I made with my sewing machine. I've made like ten million aprons since!

This is the first dress I made!

-Bonnie