My New Baby

Ok, so, no, I did not have a baby, but I did get the best Christmas present ever, a Kindle! I'm so excited. I still need the learn the ins and outs of it, but so far I have downloaded about 5 books, some of them free or only $5, so I'm getting the hang of it. I wasted no time in knitting a case for it, because I plan to carry it in my purse and I don't want it to get scratched or anything, and why buy a case when you can make one yourself? Fun! I first made a black one, but it didn't work out so well because I had been drinking a lot of beer and, consequently, made a couple obvious mistakes. So then yesterday I knit a pretty lime green one, which is shown in the picture. And I have to say sorry about the pics... they were just taken at 5am so I had no good lighting and they look terrible. The case is not actually that color. It is more of a light lime green.

Since I don't usually follow patterns, I can't really share anything spectacular with you. You may be disappointed to know that I really just knit a big rectangle and sewed up the sides :) I used a double strand to make it a bit thicker, used size 9 needles, and started with 16 stitches. Then I just knit in stockinette stitch until it was long enough to fit the kindle when doubled over. Sew up the sides and you're done!

This holiday season, I also had fun making the rag wreaths shown in the previous post. Here is a picture of our mantle with three of them. They are quite addictive. It is so fun picking out the different fabrics. I ended up having a craft party at my house a couple weeks ago and we all made these wreaths. I have no pictures of that night, regrettably.

Happy Holidays!!

Beautiful Christmas Rag Wreath Project

Recently, I was looking around for a good craft to make for a Christmas present for my friend, and I saw some pictures of rag wreaths. I thought it would be a fun project and a great gift, so I tried it out and absolutely loved the result! And, it was quick and super easy, yet impressive-looking, as if you spent hours on it.. tee hee. Here is how I made it:

I started out by purchasing two fabrics, 1 1/2 yards of each, as pictured. I wanted a vibrant red and green, as it was to be a Christmas wreath, but you can use any fabric you wish to make a wreath for any time of the year, such as Easter, Halloween, etc. Also, since this project is meant to be a quick, easy, and cheap craft, you can use any fabric you have laying around the house. It does not have to be only two types.

I also purchased a round, styrofoam wreath form, found in the flowers section of JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, or any other craft store. I also needed very strong glue (I used Amazing Goop craft glue) and some pretty ribbon, both of which are also available at a craft store. The only other item I used was a bamboo skewer, but you could use a screwdriver or something else instead, I would think. I cut the very tip off of the skewer to it wasn't too sharp, so as not to puncture the fabric, although I'm not sure that would even matter.

Next, I cut up the fabric into strips that were roughly 2 inches x 6 inches. I did not measure anything. It is not important to get it measured exactly right, and frayed edges don't matter either.

Then (you're not going to believe how simple this is), I simply popped each piece of fabric into place by stabbing them in the middle and into the styrofoam with the skewer. Make sure the vibrant side of the fabric faces up as you do it. The skewer comes out, but the fabric stays in. I placed each piece of fabric very close to the next to assure a dense placement of the pieces, so the styrofoam wouldn't show at all. I covered the whole front of the wreath, the sides, and the inside. The inside is the hardest part and can be a tiny bit tricky, but all-in-all, this is one of the easiest and prettiest projects I've ever made. It took about one hour, start to finish. In fact, I loved it so much, I turned around and made another the next day :) Don't worry about covering the back, since it will not show at all anyway.

The only other thing to do is simply glue a ribbon on for hanging, and, voila, you're done! If you make this project, I want to see pictures!

Happy Holidays!