Bringing the Ocean to My Bathroom

One day while I was looking on Pinterest for a gift idea to give to one of my friends, I came across a photo of some pretty crocheted washcloths.  I have always wanted to try to crochet them.  So I immediately pulled out some cotton yarn and worked out a pattern!  Since then I think I have made over 50 of them!  They are so fast, easy and fun to make. 

Of course, I couldn't just stop at making the washcloths.  So I came up with a cute flower pattern, too!  You can use these as make-up removers, coasters or something to set a candle or vase on.   The cotton yarn that I like to use is from Hobby Lobby and is very soft.  It makes the best washcloths.  It's called, "I Love This Cotton" yarn.  You can buy it at the store or order it online. 

Because I don't live near the ocean, I always try to bring a bit of the ocean to my bathroom decor.  So I drew up a starfish pattern and added that to the mix!  I added some ribbons, sea shells, fancy soaps and some stamping tags to complete the look.

What do you think of them?  They not only decorate your bathroom, but make nice gifts to give, as well.  My friend got this purple basket as her gift.  She loved it!

 

Each washcloth takes about 30 minutes to make.  The flowers can be make in less than 15 minutes.  You can almost make a whole set of them while watching a movie on tv.  I just love making them! 

 If you'd like to make some to decorate your bathroom, click here for the pattern tutorials! 

Some Summer Fun

I just hate to see summer come to an end.  Here in upstate New York, we really only get about 2 months of warm weather.  No sooner does summer start and it's already over!

This week I wanted to make some cards and projects that honored the warm days of summer.  This card is made with an older stamp set called Crab and Company.  I just love going to the ocean.  This little crab and his sidekicks are so cute!  I copied the idea for this card from Christy Charles.  I had so much fun just making it!

I tried to think of other things that remind me of summer.  We all scream for Ice Cream!  Actually I am more fond of the new frozen yogurt places, but I did have ice cream a couple of times this summer.  I made this card using the pennant die and a cupcake sizzlet die.  I used the hounds tooth embossing folder to make the triangle look like a cone!

Watermelons, of course!  (Do you see the food trend here?)  I have already posted this card, but I thought that it really fit into the summer theme.  The card idea was copied from Debbie Henderson.

This bright cheery card made me think of the sunshine!  I copied the idea from a demonstrator on Stampin Up, Vicki Hayes.

And, last, but not least I made some wine glass charms!  They're made with an old summer set that has a lot of fun stamps in it.  I stamped onto shrink plastic with Staz On ink and colored in the images with colored pencils.  Then I punched out a hole in the plastic and shrunk them with a heat tool.  I used a clear block to flatten them after they had shrunk. 

I added a jump ring to the charm and put them on a set of wire earring along with some seed beads.  They came out SO cute.  I am definitely going to make some more of these charms!

What stamp set do you have that would make cute wine glass charms?