Crochet Hangers

Make custom hangers by crocheting over them with your favorite color of yarn. Custom hangers give kids a fun way to keep their rooms organized by giving them a fun place to hang their belts, scarves, ties, hair ribbons or bandanas. They also serve a functional purpose in an adult's closet. Hangers that don't have hooks to hold shirts and blouses, or whose hooks have broken off, now have grip to keep clothes in place. You can use metal hangers or plastic, adult size or child size, solid yarn, multi-color or variegated. Choose bright colors for children, subdued colors for adults, or pastels for infants.

What you need:
Clothes hanger
Yarn
Crochet hook (Size F)
3 yarn needles or darning needles
Needle nosed pliers
Scissors


Start by making a slipknot with your yarn. Begin crocheting around your hanger, using a single crochet, and stitching over the tail made by your slipknot.


















Be sure to pull your single crochets tight as you crochet, so your decoration doesn't sag.














You should also pay attention to how tightly your stitches are bunched together. Every so often, push your stitches together so that they pack together tightly.

Once you have crocheted all the way around your hanger, fasten off and attach one of your needles.












Use your other two needles as wedges to allow your threaded needle to pass easily under your stitches. You will need to wedge it open, as you have pulled all of your stitches very tightly, right? You may need to use a pair of needle nosed pliers to pull your needle through the gap. Please be very careful, though, as I have broken needles in the past trying to pass them under these extremely tight stitches.













Once you have passed the tail under your stitches, trim the tail so that it disappears under the stitches.

There you have it! So cute!

Need help with the crochet? Check out my Basic Crochet Stitches post!

Recycled Paper Easter Eggs

Here's a cute paper project to do with the kids for Easter this year! I saw one similar to this hanging on the door at the nursing facility where I work, and decided to go home and figure out how to do it! Mom gave me a bunch of scrapbook paper years ago, but I never really got into scrapbooking, so I've been trying to figure out cute projects to use some of it up. Here's one of them!

Here's what you need:

Paper (scrapbook paper, construction paper, old magazines, newspaper, etc)

A sheet of white paper

A pencil or marker

Scissors

Glue (white glue or glue stick, whichever is handy)

First, roughly draw an egg shape on your white sheet of paper. Doesn't have to be perfect. (Thank goodness! Look at how awful my egg shapes look! Bleh!) This will be the right side of your work.

Cut your colored paper into strips. I cut mine about 1/2" wide. If you wanted to, you could use fun scissors with zig zags or waves, or other cute patterns. (Especially if your paper is plain.)

Turn your work right side down, and begin gluing your strips to the wrong side. Since your strips are not likely to be completely straight, overlap them just a tiny bit.

Allow the glue to dry and turn your work right side up. Use the egg shapes you drew as a guide to cut your work into the shape of an egg. (You may need to adjust a bit as you cut, if your egg drawing skills are similar to mine.)

There you have it! Cute little stripey eggs for Easter!

Craft Stick Puzzle

Ran across this super cute idea for a hand made children's gift the other day. I had saved a few illustrations from one of my favorite childhood books, and was trying to figure out what to do with them. Melissa at Fireflies and Mud Pies shared this idea last year on her blog using illustrations from a Christmas book. I didn't quite have all the same supplies, so I made do with what I had and changed it up a little

Since I didn't have modge podge, I had to get a little creative with tacky glue and clear coat.

First, I measured out how many sticks I would need for the illustration I wanted to use.

Next, I trimmed the illustration to make placing my sticks a bit easier.

I turned the illustration over and traced my craft sticks onto the back.

After that, I cut my illustration into stick-shaped strips.

Using the tacky glue, and a little water to thin and smooth the glue, I adhered the strips to the sticks.











I found some weighty books to pile on top while they dried, to make sure that everything stayed straight and flat.

Once dry, I took my sticks outside and gave them a few layers of clear coat. I should have been a bit more careful about moving them around on the newspaper so they didn't stick to it. My bird got a little paper stuck on its cheek. I got most of it off, though.

To finish up my project, I trimmed the excess paper from around the edges using my rotary cutter (you could also use an exacto knife, but I wasn't sure where mine was) and used an old emery board to sand and round the ends. I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

Bleach Bottle Toy Tote

When I was a kid I had a few of these totes, which my mom made for me, to carry around my bunny blocks, dress up jewels and toy hippos, ants, sharks, and dinosaurs. The base can be made from a bleach bottle, milk jug, industrial sized sauce containers, basically and large, lightweight plastic container. Just make sure that the plastic is soft enough that it won't have sharp edges when you cut it apart.

What you will need:

Plastic jug

Exacto knife or sharp scissors

Crochet hooks, sizes G and N

Skein of yarn, any color you choose

WD-40

Paper towel

First, wash and rinse the container thoroughly. Next, cut off the neck and handle, leaving just the bucket-shaped base. Spray a bit of WD-40 onto the adhesive, let it sit for a few minutes and wipe it away. Use a bit of soap and water to remove the WD-40.

Using a hole punch, punch holes evenly around the top of the entire container, close to the top, and close to one another, without compromising the integrity of the edge.

Round 1: Attach the yarn with a slip stitch in any hole, using a size G hook. Chain 2 (this will count as your first double crochet), double crochet in each hole around the entire top of container. Slip stitch to join last double crochet to top of beginning chain 2.

Round 2: Chain 3 (this will count as your first double crochet and chain one space), double crochet in next double crochet. Chain one and double crochet in next double crochet, repeat all around, ending with a chain one, slip stitch to second chain in beginning chain 3.
Repeat round 2 until desired length is achieved.  

Once it is as long as you'd like, you can add a ruffle if you'd like. For the ruffle, chain 2, double crochet in the same stitch. Make two double crochet in the next chain one space, two double crochet in the next double crochet. Continue around and slip stitch to join at top of beginning chain 2. Weave in your end.

I made two drawstrings by crocheting two matching strings by using a chain stitch, then, using the size N crochet hook, wove them through the last row before the ruffle from opposite sides, and then tying each drawstring together at the end. 

Once completed, I filled it with dress up jewelry for my niece who is just turning 3.

Need help with the crochet? Check out my Basic Crochet Stitches post!