Make Your Own Nursing Cover & Baby Bunny Blankies

Babies, babies, everywhere! I currently have 5 friends (2 of them family members) expecting babies, and probably 4 or 5 who just had babies. On top of that, I myself am expecting my 2nd baby this winter. So, as you can imagine, I have kept pretty busy lately making baby gifts for everyone. I thought I'd share a couple ideas for those of you interested in making your own baby gifts for yourself or to give at showers!

I never really did get very good at using a blanket to cover up while nursing and don't think I ever even had the need to nurse in public with my first baby. But, with a toddler who is dying to get out of the house daily, I figured I will need a better solution for baby #2. I found some very cool nursing covers online, for around $35-$40 plus shipping. I knew they would be simple to make and did not want to pay so much, so I went online and found a great free pattern for making your own nursing cover by pinkatilly.

I thought it was so great that I made several of them in one afternoon so I can give them as gifts. I found some really cool, modern designed fabrics that worked great (you only need 1 yard), and can hardly wait to give mine a try! The only thing I'd change in the pattern from pinkatilly is in step 6, where she asks you to use pliers to open up the D-rings. I found them to be very difficult to bend open, and much easier to just thread the strap through them in step 3 before sewing the strap in half. Other than that, it is a really fantastic tutorial with great instructions, and I got a beautiful, custom cover for less than $8! To make your hand made gift even more green, check out some fabrics at your local thrift store. Usually they'll have a raw fabric section, but if not, don't forget about other fabric items you can reclaim like curtains, tablecloths, and sheets. You can also try modifying an apron into a nursing cover by cutting off the waist straps and shortening the length.

If you like to crochet like I do, this next one is a great baby gift idea. For the price of two small skeins of yarn, you can make these cute little bunny blankies or "lovies." The pattern is available for free on Lion Brand Yarn's website. Here is a photo of three that I have made in blue, white and pink. The pattern calls for using two strands together, so I like to mix white and a color. Again, don't rule out recycling some unused yarn, whether it be from a previous project or from a thrift store! You can even get creative and make stripes if you run out of a color!

I have made one of these in anywhere from 2 nights to a week of evenings while sitting on the couch watching tv. They are quick, fun, and make a great personal gift! I am planning to try making some of my own variations, such as a dog instead of a bunny.

I have a few more crochet ideas of my own that I am hoping to create very soon, and hopefully make patterns availble on my new original crochet pattern site. I'll be sure to post about it when I do so stay tuned!

New Crochet Pattern: Rocket Ship!

It's been a little while since I've posted! I've been busy with my list of 14 new Junk Mail Gems product ideas, making prototypes! I just have too many ideas to pick from so in the near future I am hoping to put up some photos of these prototypes and have you all vote on your favorites, for a chance to win some free Junk Mail Gems product! Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I've been back on a crochet kick again, and I'm really excited about my latest original crochet pattern, now available at my design site. It is a rocket ship, which I made for my 1 and a half year old's new space themed bedroom! Check it out...




The flames are my favorite part! :-)


This rocket was made using all left-over yarns from previous projects. That's the fun part about amigurumi figures...you can easily have enough left-overs to make many fun toys!

Fun Kids Craft Ideas from Crafty Crow!

I just stumbled upon this super awesome blog today called "The Crafty Crow" that is full of great craft ideas for kids! I came across them because they recently posted a link to my paper chain tutorial. There are many fantastic project ideas that utilize recycled materials! So, be sure to check them out...and feel free to hint at your kids that Mother's Day is coming up!!

I also just saw that they are giving away a super cute book full of 20 amigurumi robot crochet patterns! I am totally going to enter, as you all know I'm into crochet robots lately, and you should too!

Amigurumi Robot Blasts into Cyberspace

What could be more "green" than making your own amigurumi toys and gifts, yourself, out of yarn?!



I am excited to announce that I have just made my first original crochet design pattern available to the public!

I have done several original crochet projects as gifts for family since teaching myself how to crochet about a year ago, such as an "Olivia" doll for my niece Olivia (below, left) and a Dairy Queen "Blizzard cozy" for my Dad (below, right).


I am in the process of designing a new "retro space robot" themed room for my 16 month old boy and thought I'd try my hand at crocheting him a cuddly robot toy. But, this time I thought I'd actually write down what I was doing so that I could turn it into a pattern.



My chicken scratches, when combined with my graphic design skills, turned into an 8 page pdf pattern, complete with full color photos of the process on every page. Robot-loving crocheters can get their copy on my design site for just $5. Purchase the pattern, and I will ship it to you through cyberspace for free!

Aaaw, a smile like this is worth hundreds of thousands of single crochet stitches, don't you think?!*

(*Adorable, curly-headed boy not included)

Crochet + Beer Cans = Party Hat?!

Earlier this week my mom and I were out hitting a few thrift stores in the area, and I came across this hat made out of a combination of beer cans and crochet...a combination I must say I never thought I'd see! I could not bring myself to pay the $9.99 price tag on it, but my mom had her camera handy and got this shot!



So, I thought I'd Google it to see what other beer can related recycling projects I could find. And, what is the first thing I stumble across? A site that sells these exact hats!!! Check it out here.

When I saw this in the thrift store among the other old hats, I pictured a little old lady wearing it and it just made me laugh. But, after seeing the website, I can see they are targeting college kids. But, they can also make purses too! So, if you have a favorite beer and some school colors to go along with it, you can have your own custom drinking hat or bag made here!

Crochet Monkey

I just had to share this fun project I just completed last night!

I have a friend in Ohio who's expecting a boy, named George, with a monkey themed room. I wanted to make something for her upcoming shower. So, I did some Google searching and found this cute amigurumi monkey pattern by ChimuChimu!

I left off the bead eyes to avoid a choking hazard, and put a "G" for "George" on his shirt. (the room is brown, orange, & green) It was so much fun...I think I'll have to make another one for my little guy. I am thinking maybe I'll try making little suspenders with buttons or a hat or something on the next one!

I made this over just two evenings, sitting on the couch watching olympics with my hubby. (Plus a little bit during lunch yesterday) Who says you can't be productive while watching TV?! Thank goodness for instant replays...although I did look up periodically to catch Michael Phelps' INCREDIBLY close race last night!!

Mesh bag recycling project

My new virtual friend "Girl on the Rocks" is at it again with another great recycling-slash-crochet idea. I recently used her crochet daisy pin project to make my grandma (who's middle name is "Daisy") two pins for her birthday out of a couple of my junk mail buttons that didn't work out.

Check out her latest idea to re-use plastic mesh bags and turn them into a pot scrubber! I have officially added yet another project to my huge, fun to-do list!

First crochet project done!

I just finished my first crochet project! It looks intimidating for a first project, but doing it in small blocks made it very manageable. I used this great book of block designs to make it and it was a great way to learn.



Every block is labeled by difficulty so I started with easier ones, and there were instructions on all the stitches in the back. I also recently bought this book of trims which has tons of great ideas for edges and other embellishments and is also full of great color photos!

DIY Crochet Fun

My mom has recently inspired me to take up crocheting when she made our baby a blanket using this book of crochet blocks:



So, I bought the same book and have been using it to learn & practice, making a bunch of different squares that I'll eventually connect into an afghan. I'm only 5 squares away now!

Anyway, speaking of crochet, I just came across this great video on how to make a crochet fortune cookie on YouTube, via Kelley's posting on the ReadyMade blog. Fun!!



Can't get enough crochet? check out Crafster for some more crochet project ideas and a crochet forum!