Eyes

I have been working on making better eyes for my creations for quite some time now...  

I have tried dozens of different types..

Crochet with yarn or thread, embroidery with floss or yarn, felt needle or cut pieces, and of course safety eyes.. black with embroidery details around them, glitter disks and colored .. 

The one kind I have wanted to do and as of yet not been able to play with is making resin ones myself... 

with my allergies and or reactions to most strong smells ..... being shut down for days at a time didn't seem cost affective to me... not to mention I really don't like causing myself more issues than I already deal with on a daily basis... I will never understand why everything including yarn is scented ugh

So here and there over time I have been picking up items to create my own safety eyes that will have a bit of the depth of resin eyes... without the stronger smell.. 

Foil bits and nail poilish with glitter are good starting points.. gell polish should hold up better... still a fairly strong smell but nail polish is one of the smells I had gotten myself more able to deal with starting at a fairly young age.. for decades starting at around 9 years old, you would never find me without my nails freshly done lol 

who knew it would turn out to be such a helpful crafting tool over the years ... 

Although cost affective.. not so much in the last few years polish prices have skyrocketed .. 

 the art of the nail trade has really been amazing to watch .. from the big bulky acrylic ones of the 80s when I was a teen, to the gell master pieces of today.. incredible 

Over the last few years when trends would change I would pick up clearance items or dollar store finds stashing them away for "some day" .. 

With the clearancing of uv gells and lights I think I have a pretty good stock to start with ..

The latest find was just the other day... Chrome nail powder... it's gorgeous 

I took some of my Amazon safety eyes .. a pair of sinker that were ment to be used with glitter disks and a pair of the paint added on colored ones..

I removed the paint from a rough looking pair so it wasn't a loss if it didn't work out.... and added glitter nail polish .. a layer of foil and more polish then the chrome powder..

Still need to add the clear gell coat after the final background color.. 

 not the best shots and over all kind of hard to see as they are small... 10 and 12 mm .. not to mention the lighting was horrible.. but even at that clear potential can be seen...

 a couple more test runs with a few of the pairs I wouldn't have used otherwise and I'll go for the better larger sized eyes that I picked up on a really good deal awhile back... 

Definitely just the beginning... I'll get better shots when completed 

Been too long

This year has been so much worse than normal for taking photos... 

With luck I will be able to find a bit more free time to actually take some shots of the items I have been working on.. knock knock knock 

I do have a few so I will try and get those posted

Been playing with bulky yarn... 

Actually this one is worsted weight .. but it's cute so I'm posting it too...

 

Recent finds

A few random things I have picked up over the last couple of months.. 

Dollar tree circular knitting needles... 

I have only seen one size.. size 9 .. 

If you're looking for a set that won't let the yarn slide off the needle this is it... I found knitting in the round almost impossible however straight knitting went well enough that keeping them in the car for a side project like a straight stitch scarf is okay... If you already brought a set   ... I wouldn't run out to get another 

also from  Dollar tree 

The photo color didn't come out well.. I took them apart before I realized that lol... these are gold and silver they had red and blue ones as well... the sequins are so beautiful, they would have been fun decorations as is true, those sequins are just too pretty to not want to play with them lol.. I am replacing them with yarn ...

 the sequins are lightly glued to a string and that to a foam base with glitter on top part.. removing the sequins was very easy.. expect glitter to fly while doing so 

Speaking of sequin harvesting... Found these at a thrift store.. 

The sequins were easy to remove from the shamrocks, they had a surprising amount of stuffing... at the point of the photo I had already removed the headband piece from the fabric... that was the easy part as far as the headband was concerned.. hot glue was not spared in the making of these.. will take more effort to get the sequins off..  Ugh 

This roll of sequins was so tightly stuffed in a baggie there was no way to tell what it was for sure... 

The clerk asked if I even knew what it was.. when I told him no, he decided to cut the prices in half and gave me a discount on top of that.. 😊

I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was a yards long strip of elastic fabric sequin trim... 

Picked up some cookie cutters... 

The box was beat up a little bit all of the cutters are fine.. lots of random shapes but no Christmas ones.. not really a surprise as these are the regular stock went back yesterday and found these mini ones

Perfect for making needle felt ornaments for mini Christmas trees.. 

 

Needle felt scrap heart

After weaving in the ends of a scrapy bag I decided to used them to make a needle felt heart.. 

brushed them out

Just stuffed them in without worrying about color placement 

I am planning on making it a charm so heavily felted it,

 flipping from side to side..

Using multiple sizes of needles..38 to start, 40 for the vast majority of it, finishing with a 42 for some smoothing or the edges 

I picked up the heart cut out from the Dollar Tree.. 

Going to use this side as the front.. will finish off with embroidery highlights.. maybe a few other emblements.. will try to update when it's done 

Sequin dress harvest from thrift store

Okay this is going to take a minute... or two to "harvest" the sequins from... should get a bit of fabric from it as well..  it is small however it was on sale at the thrift store for just over $7. with tax.. I couldn't pass it up..

Sequin fringe hanging from the most of the dress ... thinking they are sturdy enough to reuse as a stitched down or even glued line of sequins .. there are so many.. the dress is probably closer to  extra small so they aren't long enough to use again as fringe.. unless maybe a doll dress or on a needle felt item... could work... either way I plan on leaving them intact at least for now..

The fabric is a glittery kind of mesh look over solid green satin with sequins stitched on 

The zipper is unbelievably sturdy.. heavy metal definitely going to be able to repurpose it.. 

Tag doesn't show any where, nor does the rest of it.. actually glad it's not any bigger.. it's going to be a big enough job as it is lol 

 

Simple cord keeper crochet pattern

This is a great project for using up smaller amounts of yarn.. the larger size only uses about 6 1/2 yards.. the smaller one approximately 5 1/4 yards

 I used several different brands of yarn that varied from medium to a thicker worsted weight, 100% acrylic to give the cord keeper a bit of stretchability 

H 5 mm hook

Accurate gauge really isn't essential to this project as it is pretty easy to see the overall size.. 

That being said mine come out about 1 1/2 inches wide ( both the same  ) and about 4 inches long for the 16 row longer size and  approximately 3 inches long .. a tad under..  for the 13 row shorter size. 

This pattern is beginner friendly.... the hardest part is the beginning button loop with 3 SC going into the slip stitch joined loop .. which is made easier simply by making the first chain looser.. 

 it can easily be adjusted in length by adding or subtracting sc rows.... keep in mind the button loop when closed will add a bit of length as it stretches some what

The button loop can be adjusted as needed to suit the size of the buttons you choose..... I used buttons that are close to 1 inch or slightly over.. as the buttons are the main focal point have some fun choosing yours, I used a bunch of random ones I have picked up over the years

6 1/2 yards of worsted weight acrylic yarn 

H 5 mm hook

1 approximately 1 inch button 

American terms 

ch - chain

dec - single crochet decease in next two stitches 

inc - single crochet twice in next stitch

sc - single crochet

sl st - slip stitch

1) keeping first ch loose ch 8,  sl st into first ch made going through both loops of ch, ch 1    ... Check to see if loop goes around your button, you're looking for a easy slide over but not too loose, adjust loop size as needed 

2) in same stitch as the joining stitch sc 3, ch 1 turn ( 3 sts )

3) inc, sc 1, inc, ch 1, turn ( 5 sts) 

4) sc 5, ch 1 turn ( 5 sts )

For longer size 

5 - 15) do as row 4

Shorter size 

5 - 12) do as row 4 

 

or

Repeat row 4 untill you almost reach the length you want

For all lengths 

dec, SC 1, dec ( 3 sts) 

 

Fasten off..... 

I like to use the tail end to stitch down the button if you choose to do this leave a tail 10 to 12 inches long

Stitch button in center of second to last row, weave in ends

That's it fast and easy ... plus useful 

Pictured above is the shorter cord keeper, below is the longer one with the same cord ( 6 foot ) .. either would work for holding this size cord however the shorter one is pretty close to it's limit 

Thrift store bead find

I lucked out at the thrift store..

Two clear boxes of seed beads.. only a couple had any removed from the hanks

Many still had their original label 

One had not been opened... Yet .....

Size 13/0 ... beautiful ..

Most are size 11/0 with a few 13/0 .. 

so smooth... many appear to be Czech.. if not all of them 

Approximately 430 grams for just under $6. 

and another sequin pillow for less than a dollar and a half... light brown .. usable back satin fabric and the stuffing will make another pillow for my doggies
 

You never know what treasures you'll find well thrift shopping...