Sock monkey set

My cousin loves sock monkeys, so she recently asked me to make a hat and booties set for her new grandchild. I've made the booties before, adapted from a pattern from http://hodgepodgecrochet.wordpress.com/category/wearable/booties/
However, most of the hats I've come across are slightly crazy. I finally found a very nice pattern at: http://www.repeatcrafterme.com/2012/11/crochet-sock-monkey-hat-pattern.html. Sarah did a beautiful job of making a face that was cute and friendly.

Dia de los muertos earrings

I was trying to make earrings last year, but they never worked out. I found a skull pattern that I liked and added some sequins for the eyes. Something was missing--the flowers! Luckily, my mother-in-law taught me to make crocheted roses many years ago. So I made some tiny thread roses. Started with one, but three looks more like the ones you see in the posters. They were not heavy at all.

It's time for the fair!

I had to push myself to make this deadline, but I managed to submit both entries on time. I made another aviator hat, but I'm not sure if it's as good as the first one. But I'm really happy with the two lamb ornaments. Now to wait for the announcements on how I did. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Watermelon crochet for the summer

After making my granddaughter's watermelon purse, I still wanted to make more watermelon crochet projects. I made one using the Knifty Knitter loom. The hard part was getting the colors in the right order when you add a cuff. I tore it out four times until I came up with something I liked. The seeds were going to be made with black glossy fabric paint, but ended up being embroidered in.

Now I'm working on different color combinations to get a similar effect. I made one in pinks, but I have one with really bright colors on the loom now. Who knows if it will work, but it's fun trying. Below is the pink hat and a lavender one that I made with the swirl pattern. The watermelon hat has the cuff turned up by hand. The pink hat has the cuff built in. Those of you who use knitting looms know how that works--you bring the bottom up and around the pegs and then loop over that row.

In between projects, I like to make different types of flowers. I scour the internet for unusual flowers that work well with worsted weight yarn so that I can use up the little pieces left over from projects. The yellow one at the top right and the pink one at the bottom left caught me eye last week. I could only find the directions in Russian. Luckily, my MIL taught me how to analyze stitches. After much trial and error, I came up with a flower pretty close to the original. When I finished the pink hat above, you'd think that one of the flowers would work with the colors. Of course not. I ended up making a simple rose with the same pink yarn used in the cuff.

Directions for a no calorie chocolate candy

Materials

• small amount of fiberfill
• small piece of satin in chocolate colors--dark brown, medium brown, or cream
• glossy fabric paint in chocolate colors (I use Scribbles)
• needle and thread
• paper candy cups (from cake decorating section of a crafts store)

Directions

1. Make an oval pattern, approx 4" by 3 ¼". 
2. Cut an oval from the satin fabric.
3. Fold edge of fabric ¼" to keep fabric from fraying. Hold folded edges in place with fingers while sewing. With thread and needle, sew a running stitch around the folded edge oval fabric. Gather slightly and stuff with fiberfill. Finish gathering, stuff more if necessary, and anchor stitch and end off.
4. Decorate the candy with fabric paint (see picture).
   I like to run a squiggly line across the candy. Check out chocolates at your favorite candy store for ideas.
5. Let dry.
6. Use candy cups as-is or spray them inside and out with gold paint.
7. Glue finished candies to inside of candy cups.

Chocolates and watermelon

I entered a county fair for the first time and won a first place for the baby owl hat (see the picture in a previous post. My Christmas chocolate ornament came in second in another category. The chocolates came out nicely, but the heart that I covered with crushed velvet wasn't right. I'll remember for next year. I'll post directions for making one of the chocolates next. I've been designing them for the last 10 years and always find something new to add to the list of chocolates. These were originally for use for my chocolate pincushion idea (as seen on Carol Duvall). Now I use them for whatever crazy idea comes to mind.

My granddaughter had her tonsils taken out a few weeks ago. I promised her some ice cream, so I bought her a gift card for Coldstone. It needed a "holder." I've been wanting to crochet watermelon purses for a while, so I looked around to see what other people were doing and combined the features that I liked. There are some good patterns out there. I had to figure out how to make the opening at the flat part of the slice, so I went through several versions. My granddaughter loves her little purse, just the right size to put whatever miniature toy she is collecting this summer.

Family piñatas

My parents started making piñatas back in the 1950s. My dad would build the form and my mom would decorate. I'm tracking down pictures of the piñatas to save them for the family. The picture that I will probably never find is the Viking ship. I've been trying to talk my dad into constructing another one, but he looks at me like I'm crazy. Of course I am.

I started making piñatas in junior high, even though we (me, my brother, and my sister) were slave labor many years before that.

Here is a picture of a sun piñata I made for a company picnic. It's a mixed media construction with painted styrofoam and floral spray to give the sun more dimension. The body was built using the papier maché method around the biggest bowl (or was it a ball?) I could find.

The other is a princess piñata for my granddaughter's birthday. With this one I experimented with colored foil, netting gathered to look like tutus, and princess foamie cutouts. I also attached curled ribbon instead of the traditional streamers to the points. This piñata is made using a dry construction with cardboard and tape to form the body.

The treasure chest is also mixed media. It was both dry construction and papier maché. In addition, I used faux leather to make the straps and a fish net that I found at the dollar store. The girls didn't want to break this one because of all the jewels and gold coins inside.

Although I have made popular characters, you have to keep in mind how old the children are. It will take many years of therapy for a child to recover from everyone bashing in Elmo's head.