Amigurumi snowmen, long elf-ish hats, and tiny stockings! (crochet)

Is anyone else glad that it is finally Fall and Summer is over? I don't know why, but this has always been my favorite time of the year. Maybe someday if I get into a house big enough to have a garden, I'll be more outdoorsy and like the Summer. But for now, I am enjoying being able to turn on the oven to bake cookies and pies without heating up the house too much!

Another thing I love about this time of year is making hats!! Somehow the lighting is off a bit in the photo, but it is supposed to be green and yellow stripes with white in there. It hangs really low, about down to the top of your pants pockets with a huge pom-pom. I can do these in any color combo, but chose these for this one. I've got similar ones listed in my Etsy shop if you're interested, of if you do want specific colors- drop me a line!



Mr. and Mrs. Snowman all bundled up! These were something I just made up while I was watching a (rather boring) movie last week. I've decided they have to go as a pair because I wouldn't want them to be lonely. :) They're not listed yet, but hopefully soon...



And finally a miniature stocking. These are perfect for throwing small stuff in, or even holding a gift card. The pattern for this is from "The Big Book of Holiday Crochet" by Annie's Attic. I found it pretty easy to follow and there were other color varieties in there as well, so you're not stuck with just the traditional red/white look if you wanted something else. :)

Super Mario Bros, Pandas and Elmo??? (nail art and cake)

Hey everybody! Sorry for such a delay in posts... After changing our service providers for internet last time, we found we weren't very happy with the new ones and so decided to stop that service as well. Where is a decent internet provider when you need one? Oh wait---on an app on my smart phone. :D So hopefully I can get back to posting more regularly! I've got quite a stock of photos to share anyway, so let's get started!

Nail art continues! Did I mention I've started talking other people into letting me do theirs, too? I love the practice and the kids don't mind as long as they (the boys) can take it back off before school. Such good sports hahaha :D :D Above I did a friend's hands with panda bears and bamboo shoots. Another with all Elmo faces, though in my opinion some of them turned out looking a lot like Telly. haha

This was a special requested birthday cake for a 5 year old who LOVES Super Mario Bros. on Nintendo. I was more than happy to oblige! :) Usually you would also ice the background of the cake white but they wanted some areas "frosting-free" for those who didn't want to eat frosting. Fine by me.. less work and still looked great. :)

Nail Art Fun

I'm not sure why it's taken me this many years to discover this kind of thing, but I saw a post about doing the newspaper nails (far left) on a craft site and checked it out...before you know it, I've been having all kinds of fun. :D

I give credit for the newspaper nails and the Cookie Monster and cookies nails (far right) to a youtube.com user named "Cutepolish". I subscribed to her channel and admittedly, some of the designs are not for me...but many of them are worth trying! The center photo is just plain polish with one happy thumb nail...the color is called "Dude Blue" and I'm not sure the brand, but doubt there are many companies that use the same names.

The one sad thing for me doing my nails.. which I never used to do much of other than plain colors and even then it wasn't very often.. is that doing dishes is NOT my friend!! haha On the other hand, it does give me an excuse to redo them every couple days :D

Gnomes!!! Wizards, Reapers and Flamingos.. oh my! (polymer clay)

I haven't run out of ideas yet for these little guys!! In fact, for every one I make, I think up two more while I'm in the process. :) I sat down on Sunday night and did all 3 of these guys. Above is a wizard with a magical sphere and a wand. His beard, sphere, stars and moon on his hat, and wand tip all glow in the dark!

Apologies for the quality of the photograph on this one, but hopefully you get the idea... it's the Gnome Reaper and he's pointing at..well, someone unlucky.. and holding a giant scythe in his other hand. Naturally he's still got his red gnome hat. :)

And third...let's just say the war is on!!! Yard art vs. yard art. And in this case, the gnome is winning against poor Pinkie. hehehe :D

Random Clay Fun (polymer clay)

Today is a rainy day, which I have to admit I really love. I have always preferred rain to sun if I had a choice. It gives an excuse to stay in and bake goodies and make crafts. :) The other night we were all playing around with the clay and I had some of this "pluffy" clay that is super soft and easy for kids to work with. One of the kids came up with this "road-kill rabbit" and it is super flat. When it was baked, I picked it up and it looks like a pancake hahaha. I love it... and I'm thinking to add a magnet to the back to hang it up on the fridge.

This dinosaur is what my hubby came up with!! I was pretty impressed...he used the same pluffy clay to make a lump of a body armature and baked that first... then rolled out flat pieces of green to layer over the top of the baked armature. And basically just worked on it until it looked like he thought it ought to, then baked it again a final time. I really like the legs... way better than what I could've done for it!


I made the next few items... this one is an owl charm. In the pic, I hadn't yet bent/twisted the wire out of the top of its head into a loop yet but it's done now.

A baby dinosuar...see the stubby legs and arms?? I told you the hubster's dinosaur legs were better lol..


And a new gnome on the block!! This one is a baker. :D He has a blue apron with white edging, and it is tied in the back around his waist and neck. Also holding a frosting bag and decorated cupcake!! :) I love this guy.. he is the same size as the others I've posted about recently.

I have been starting to add new items to my Etsy shop, so please bounce over there any check it out any time. If you would like a custom order of anything, write and let's see what we can do! :)

Super Long Stocking Hats (crochet)

Howdy all!! As you can see...I finally managed to pick up a fake head to use for modeling my hats and getting pictures! The thing is scary and when not in use, it lives on top of a shelf where I don't have to look at it. :P

Anyway, today's post is about 2 stocking hats I crocheted over the last few days. The green and black one above is a bit longer than the variegated one below, but both are quite long. I *love* this style of crochet hat and it makes me happy to make them. No two are exactly alike because I use random yarns and color schemes and no pattern at all. Just start at the end and work my way to the base for as long as I feel like it.

The variegated hat below is with a yarn from Hobby Lobby called "I Love This Yarn" and I had bought it last time we were traveling and I had the opportunity to go into that store. We don't have Hobby Lobby where we live (boo!) but I sure wish we did because I'd love to get more of that yarn...it is super soft and feels like the expensive stuff without actually being expensive! It is a little more than the basic Red Heart brand, but not much. And so worth it!! :D

I've already listed the striped hat above on my Etsy shop for anyone interested in getting it... this other one will be listed later today or tomorrow. :)

Road Scarf, Pencil Scarf, and Crayon Roll (crochet)

A very busy first half of the week this has been!! I've decided to go ahead and get a jump-start on some scarves and hats for Fall and Winter and will be listing on Etsy (as soon as the site is back up... ?!?!) rather than holding on until the craft fair. And if I still have them for that, then fine. :D Otherwise the plan is get them on Etsy today!!

Above is a road scarf- PERFECT for little boys or girls who love their toy cars!! It's the right size to keep them nice and snuggly warm and long enough to use for play if you wanted also.

Next up is another scarf...this one is a GIANT pencil!!! With most kids heading back to school in the next week or two (if they haven't already) this is a great item for them to get into the spirit of things! :) An adult could wear it more for the novelty, but it's definitely the right size to keep kiddos warm and looking good!


And finally...a rainbow crayon roll-up holder. A friend sent me a photo of one that someone else had made but there wasn't a pattern and it was difficult for me to see how it was made just by looking at the pic... so I decided to just try making one up. This was the final result and so long as you only wanted a few colors- this is perfect!! Maybe for travel? Fewer crayons to lose to the car seat crack!! hahaha


I hope everyone is having a great week! Check out my Etsy shop later on today for some updates and new additions! :) www.maebellecreations.etsy.com