Rudolph the Wine Cork Reindeer

Hey, y'all!

Hope you had a great Christmas!

While I was typing last week's post about the wine cork crochet evergreen trees, I got to thinking.  I couldn't remember if I ever showed you the little reindeer I made, and it turns out I hadn't.

Back in 2009, I got a bug up my butt to bring something small for everyone who would be at The Hubbs' family Christmas (which is a lot of people, y'all).  I had wanted to try this for a while, and Nana had a bag of wine corks that she gave me to try it out.

Materials: wine corks, a bunch of those decorator curly stick things that people without little kids stick in vases in their homes, pins, glittery berries from the floral section, construction paper, tacky glue

I was very happy with how these turned out, and they were a big hit at the party.  I do have to say that I'm rather disappointed, though, that I didn't save any for myself.  I found the materials in my craft area when I went looking for the corks, so I think I'll be sitting down and making some more of these to go in my crochet forest for next year.  :)

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve, y'all!  I'll talk to you next year.


'Til next time,
OCB

Crochet Wine Cork Evergreen Trees

Hey, y'all!

We're all about finding different uses for things around here.  All kinds of things, really...but this time it's about the wine corks.

They're pretty and rustic, and - though I don't care for wine myself - I know a lot of folks who go through these things on a pretty consistent basis.

I've been trying for a while to figure out what the heck I can possibly incorporate them into with my crochet, and I think I finally found it: miniature evergreen trees!

The little guys measure about 3" tall, and the bigger ones are approximately 5" tall, give or take.  All have been constructed using acrylic yarn, wine corks and tacky glue.

The super-cool part?  I can use old yarn scraps that are too big to throw away but too small to start a full-sized project.  It all comes full-circle, I guess, with this desire to minimize waste.  :)


'Til next time,
OCB

Corny the Unicorn Amigurumi Plush

Hey, y'all!

(Jello - you might not want to look at this with K-Bear around...don't want to spoil the surprise! )

If you're not already aware of The Hubbs' comic strip, you've apparently been living under a rock or you've bumped your head.  It seems like Sam the Dragon is all I talk about these days.

We have a 4-year-old niece who is absolutely in love with the characters from Sam the Dragon.  For her birthday this year, I made her a stuffed Sam.  For Christmas, she'll be getting Sam's bestest bud, Corny the Unicorn.

If you're not already familiar with the boys, here's a photo from a recent camping trip of theirs:

And here's the stuffed Corny that I've made especially for our little buddy, K.

 

I'm absurdly happy with how this little guy turned out.  When I made Sam for K's birthday in August, I wasn't entirely happy with the head and eyes...but it looks like I've corrected that issue with the Corny prototype.  I think I'll be making at least a couple sets of these guys in the near future.

For those who may be interested, I used Red Heart Super Saver acrylic yarn, embroidery floss for the nose and mouth, safety eyes and polyester fiber filling.  All of the stitching was done by hand using an aluminum G hook.  Corny measures just over a foot tall including his horn, and the widest part of his tummy is a little less than four inches across.

Here's hopin' all of your holiday crafting projects are going smoothly...only thirteen more days until Christmas!


'Til next time,
OCB

Christmas Decorations

Hey, y'all!

Well, here we are at that time of the year again: the time when I can't share any of my crafty projects, because they're waiting to be presented to their rightful owners.  Rather than spoil any of those surprises, I'd like to take a few minutes and show you some of my decorations at home.

For those of you who don't know this, my daughter is five and a half years old, and she has autism.  I couldn't imagine loving anyone as much as I do her, and I honestly believe she's the best thing that has ever happened to me.

But decorating with autism in an itty-bitty house can be challenging.  Functionality is key around here; The Princess needs her running space, we need our sanity, and we all need to be sure nothing poses a danger to her.  Here are some of the things I've come up with over the last few years.

First, we only use two-thirds of our artificial tree.  We find that the tree is less imposing this way, and it doesn't feel like we've lost half of our living room.  I also wrap the front door with wrapping paper...not to worry: during the winter, we come and go through the garage, so we're not blocking ourselves in.

Another trick to save space and functionality is to simply switch out our decorations from season to season.  We have two large bookcase-style DVD shelving units in the living room, which are great places for knick-knacks.  This snowman is very special to me; The Princess made it at school last year, and I absolutely adore it.

On top of the other cabinet is our nativity scene:

Our kitchen serves as kitchen, dining room and entryway.  Space is precious here, and we use a china cabinet as our pantry.  Apparently, this was not a priority in the 1970's when the house was built, but we're happy with this compromise.  It also makes a nice place for seasonal decorations.  This year, I put my large tree-topper angel up (she's too big for 2/3 of a tree) along with our stocking hooks (stockings will be hung on Christmas Eve, as is tradition in my family).  I also wrapped the windows to add a little extra cheer to the room.

I grew up on Disney.  So did The Hubbs.  My favorite character is Stitch...has been for some time now.  He's all around my house, including the cookie jar in the kitchen, candy dishes, keychains, sweatshirts and my plush collection.  On our honeymoon, The Hubbs and I found a Santa Stitch who we just couldn't live without.  He is residing on our dinner table for the season.

Next up is our bedroom.  My mom made the characters on the wall: Santa Claus and Willie Melt the snowman.  On top of our electric space heater is Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.

Last, but not least, here's The Princess showing off her new-found skill: looking into the camera and not screaming her bloody head off:

 Well, that's about all I have for ya this week.  Thanks for stoppin' by!


'Til next time,
OCB