May the magic of Christmas be with you throughout the coming year. I will be back in the new year to share more crocheting and recycled craft projects. Until then happy holidays everyone!
Here are recycled Christmas cards I crafted into ornaments. These are promotional cards mailed out to advertise Christmas cards that can be ordered. I glued the cards back to back to hide the advertising on the reverse sides of each card. The cards are so pretty and different companies mail out several sets to us each year.
By cutting out shapes from the cards and using a big craft needle and yarn, these make beautiful Christmas ornaments. This is a recycled craft that children especially can enjoy as you just need to stitch around the holes and tie a long strand of yarn at the top for a hanger.
Here is another style of trim I made by crocheting around the edges of the card using a small C crochet hook. I did 2 single crochet stitches in each hole and just worked my way around the ornament. The small crochet hook works best as it fits through the punched holes.
Here is my picture tutorial on how to recycle old Christmas cards into ornaments. Just follow my step by step process
Crafting with recycled materials is always a rewarding venture for me. It is truly taking trash or otherwise useless material and creating something new. The new item can be a work of art that is pleasing to see or repurposed into something useful. In this case of recycling plastic bags, I have crocheted some Christmas ornaments that I affectionately call my plarn star Christmas ornaments.
Below I have two different sets of Christmas stars, one is crocheted with recycled plastic bags or plarn and then the other matching one is done in acrylic yarn. The granny stitch stars are both made using the exact same pattern that can be found here
Crocheting towel toppers for Christmas gifts has been at the top of my project list this year. Here are a few towels I made using the double layered method that requires no cutting or sewing. Just click on the link for a picture tutorial that will show how easy these double layer towels can be crocheted. I love these towels as they are double thick and hold up longer than the thin kitchen towels.
All of these towel toppers were crocheted using the waffle towel topper pattern. The red Christmas tree towel is a smaller novelty towel that I bought for 80 cents each. Just fold the towel in half
Wishing everyone a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving 2015.
Here is a crocheted arm sling project I create for my 5 year old granddaughter who broke her arm. I looked around and couldn’t find a pattern so just started out winging it in an effort to come up with something that would work and support her arm. As she broke bones in both upper and lower right arm, the cast is heavy and the sling needed to be comfortable to wear with a wide strap around the neck and shoulder.
I have written up the crochet directions for this arm sling but I want to warn everyone that it’s only a guideline. You want to make sure what length you need the arm portion and the strap length before you cut off any yarn. I left my yarn attached for the shoulder strap as I had to rework it several times when I actually was able to have a fitting with my granddaughter. Also because yarn stretches I had to shorten the length by several inches on the strap to get the right drop for the crocheted sling. So just make sure you check the fit before finalizing your arm sling. But this should provide people with a pattern to help crochet your arm sling.
Arm Sling Pattern
Materials:
3-4 ozs Red Heart Worst Weight Yarn (pink)
Buckle (1 to 1-1/2″ wide)
Hook: H (5 mm) crochet hook
Description:
Arm Sling:
10-1/2″ long from elbow to wrist by 5-1/2″ tall with 10 – 14″ strap.
Strap at shoulder is 5 inches wide and then 1-1/2″ wide at buckle.
Row 1
Ch 39, Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each st. (38)
It’s football season and people love to have their favorite team’s gear on. I found that if I combined Red Heart Windsor Blue yarn and Spring Green, they were a near match for the Seattle Seahawks gear colors. So… I crocheted several hats and scarves using the Seahawks yarn colors.
I am very pleased with these yarns as they are reasonably priced and are just the right shades to represent the Seahawk colors.
Here is the free pattern link
Just wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe Halloween. Here are a few last minute recycled craft ideas. My little recycled plastic bag pumpkin is a great project that only requires a small amount of plarn.
Check out this cool trick or treat bag that was completely crocheted from recycled orange plastic newspaper bags. Here is the free crochet pattern for my plarn trick or treat bag.
One final idea to share is for reusing small plastic yogurt cups.
This is a very simple crocheted cowl scarf. The crochet pattern is very easy to follow and works up quickly. I purchased one skein of Red Heart Black and one skein of Burgundy yarn and was able to make 3 scarves. I love how you can just loop it around your head twice and it creates such a nice looking scarf. Simple but cute and easy for a beginner too.
I have two different version of the scarf. The shorter cowl scarf is about 56 inches long and a longer one measures about 6 feet long.
Here are photos of both cowl scarves.
The Simple and Comfy Cowl Scarf Crochet Pattern
All crochet terms in US terms.
Hook: N (9mm) crochet hook
Materials: 3-4 ounces of Red Heart Black & 3-4 ounces of Burgundy (Red) yarn.
Total yarn is 6 ounces for shorter cowl and approx 7 ounces for longer scarf.
Starting with black yarn, Chain 57 inches to start
Recent Comments