Crafts – Long Island Chick

Crochet Snowboard Skullies

Kathleen — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 15:30:20 +0000

With the cold weather finally showing up on Long Island, I noticed Ryan needed a hat badly. Awesome! Something new to crochet! I wanted something a teen boy would like and, after searching the patterns on Ravelry, I found this wonderful, free pattern by Catherine Lindsay called Snowboarder Skullies. She had directions for both a male and female pattern. This was perfect because I had some nice, gray bulky yarn I wanted to use and this pattern was made for it.

Although I didn’t have to change colors, it was a little complicated because I had to figure out what a front post double crochet was but, thanks to YouTube, I got it down pat and started crocheting. It takes me a little longer than all those pros out there although my speed is starting to increase. After reading some of the notes by other Ravelry crocheters, I did alter the pattern a little bit. I changed the last 3 rows to single crochet to give it a bit of a band.

I just adore the finished product and so does Ryan (He might not look 100% thrilled as it is Monday morning):

Easy Crochet Coffee Cup Cozie

Kathleen — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 11:40:36 +0000

There you are, being handed a steaming cup of coffee from the Starbucks server and all you have to protect your hands is a generic, boring cardboard protector. Hell no! I’d much rather wrap my hands around a cup of coffee enveloped by a soft crocheted Cozie any day! I used a Starbucks holiday cup as a size model and whipped this up in 15 minutes. You can embellish with a crocheted heart (Perfect for Valentine’s Day), snowflake, buttons and more – the only limit is your imagination. This would make a great Secret Santa gift or stocking stuffer! Make sure you use cotton or wool yarn as acrylic could possibly melt with the heat generated by your cup’s contents. Free pattern available here. Let’s see what you come up with!

Don’t Let Sandy Play the Grinch – Craft New Christmas Ornaments!

Kathleen — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 13:39:48 +0000

The devastation wreaked by ~~Hurricane~~ Superstorm (or whatever they are calling it) Sandy is sobering. But, not only did people lose their furniture, boilers, sheet rock, cars etc., they lost their memories – family photos, keepsakes and Christmas decorations. While some things just can’t be salvaged or replaced, you can create new heirlooms. Now we all have our favorite standbys like the tricolor bead candy canes (don’t have any? come on, you know you do!), I wanted something different so I searched my favorite site, Pinterest, for some inspiration and came up with a bunch of beautiful ornaments you can easily make (and they don’t look like something that came out of a Kindergarten classroom either). Here are a few of my favorites:

These felt stars are easy and adorable to craft (from Purlbee) and are the epitome of the primitive look. You could easily make them into a string garland or incorporate them into a primitive theme (along with salt-dough ornaments below) with some burlap garland!

I absolutely adore these wood ornaments with scrapbook paper modged podged on (from Brown Paper Packages) – another easy project:

These swirl nail polish ornaments (from Beautylish) are gorgeous:

My kids have made salt dough ornaments before and with the stamping here, they make a nice personalized ornament (from Design Editor):

It would be a great idea to host an ornament crafting party to make these for friends and neighbors who lost their Christmas Ornaments. These are all fairly easy to make and you could definitely crank a bunch out over some hot cocoa (maybe with some schnapps). I hope you are as inspired as I am!

Happy crafting!

Upcycle Those Pesky Plastic Bags!

Kathleen — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 17:56:41 +0000

Jessyratfink at Instructables has posted a tutorial to turn those plastic bags I normally ~~throw out~~ recycle into a really nice basket. So start saving our environment and create some nice baskets to store your ~~crap~~ kids’ toys and other miscellaneous things in!

Guess where I came across this tutorial? Hmmmm….you guessed it – Pinterest! Pinterest – you do know by now this is my all-time favorite site, right? Be sure to follow me to uncover other little gems like this one. If you make a plastic bag basket, please share!

Easter Is On Its Way: Wreaths to Make

Kathleen — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:28:15 +0000

What a beautiful first day of Spring here in New York! I don’t remember it ever being this warm in March – the trees are blooming, I see crocuses and daffodils everywhere and the birds are chirping away! It is time to get the house ready for Spring and Easter. Many talented crafters are posting tutorials for Easter and Spring wreaths and I thought I would share some to inspire you to make your own:

Peep Wreath from Spittin Toad

I just love peeps!!!!! They are such a symbol of Easter and so very colorful! Make sure to read her tutorial carefully to avoid disastrous results!

Easter Washi Tape Wreath at Tatertots & Jello

How beautiful is this wreath? A foam wreath base, white plastic eggs, ribbon and some washi tape and you have a spectacular wreath!

Butterfly Wreath at Alisa Burke

This upcycled newspaper wreath is breathtaking – love, love, love the butterflies!

Spring Wreath at Dollar Store Mom

At first, I thought this was made with paper mache yarn eggs but no, she managed to find rattan eggs and dyed them!

All Things Spring Wreath at Crafty Sisters

Stock up on that craft moss whenever you can – it certainly comes in handy!

These are some of the wreaths that caught my eye. Please link up your wreaths and share your Easter creations!