Play time

The idea for these cat toys came by accident. Some large wooden beads fell on the floor and the cats started playing with them. But they lost them every time because the beads rolled too fast. I attached some bakers twine to slow the beads down. It worked out pretty well and these are now the kittens favourite toys.

Framed for 101 woonideeen

Monique from magazine 101 woonideeen asked me to contribute a crochet photo frame for the outsert of their june issue. Happy and slightly insecure, because I had never written a serous crochet pattern before, I went to work. This freehand frame, perfect for beginners, became my contribution. The tutorial can be found here (sorry, only in Dutch). Within a few days you'll also find links to the patterns of my fellow crocheters on the magazines blog.

Crochet egg warmer tutorial

We had a lot of traffic jams on our way to and from Italy. Luckily I had a crochet hook and some cotton in my handbag. Time enough to make a lot of these egg warmers: make magic ring and chain two, crochet 12 dc in ring, pull the ring together and close with slst in second chain. Chain 2 and make 2 dc in each dc of the first round, close with slst in second chain. Round 3, 4 and 5: Chain 2 and 1 dc in each dc of the last round. Close with slst in second chain. Chain 1, sc in each dc of last round and close with slst in chain. Make a fork-pompon and attach it to the egg warmer. Is crochet not your thing? Try my felt egg warmers.

Upcycle angels tutorial

We've been making these angels from waste material to sell at the neighbourhood christmas market next weekend. They're very easy to put together, for adults and kids. Paper, plastic bags, fruit and onion nets, chips bags, wire, cardboard, plastic containers, left over wool etc. Within two days of collecting we had enough material to make 30 angels. The angels come with a tutorial. And I thought it would be nice to share that tutorial here too. Make these angels, with a message, for all of your friends.

Paper roll lights

When I wanted to make these seasonal lights, I had to check my own tutorial to see how it was done again. Oh yes, that easy. The girls now both have one in their bedroom. In white this time. A correction pen was the only white I had on my desk, but it worked out quite well.

Straw diamond tutorial

These geometric straw figures were made as decoration for our the-4-of-us-are-100-party. We used them to give the large room a festive look. It worked quite well. But I love where they're hanging now. The lamp in our living room was an old, torn rice paper ball, waiting for replacement. So I hung a bundle of straw diamonds in it's place in the corner of the room. What an effect on the walls! For the kids crafting table at the party I made diy-kits with this tutorial. It's in Dutch, but I think the drawings are enough to make your own geometric straw figure.

Geo straw ornament tutorial

Another party project for the kids. Make your own model with straws. The diy-kits contain straws, thread, 'needle' (a long skewer) and an instruction. I gave J a kit to test it and it proved to be doable for 9-year-olds. Even without reading the instructions (J is impatient). You can find my tutorial over here. It's in Dutch, but the pictures speak for themselves.

Felt mushroom tutorial

N and I have been sewing felt mushrooms. Our 7-year-old only needed a little bit of help (mainly putting threads through the eye of the needle) to make her own red and white toadstool with grass. I wrote you a simple tutorial for making these beauties. It's just a start. It's easy to adapt the dimensions to any kind of mushroom. You could use fabric instead of felt. Or you can make a basis from felt covered cardboard. Show me your results!

Tutorial in words and links

Last weekend we had a family get-together. For the ladies of the party I sewed these small make-up pouches. Four different tie & dye pouches, each with another embroidered mark. I do not follow a tutorial for these. The pattern is a trapezium: the top is 17 cm wide, the bottom 21,5 cm and the height is 17 cm (2x outer fabric, 2x inner, seam included). I use this way to put in the zipper and this method to make a box bottom. Some fibrefill has been stitched against the outside pieces first

Geo box tutorial

Part three of the one-book project. I folded these geo boxes for the summer feast as well as for the book presentation. Filled with small candy they are a nice treat for kids. Not my design, but I tried to improve the tutorial I found, because I needed quite some time to figure out how the box was put together. I added the use of a piece of tape at the beginning, which really helps rolling the strip of paper into a box.  Here's my tutorial.

Easter craft

I've been working on two orders of bunny pouches. I thought it would be quite a job to sew 40 pouches, but they were rather quickly made. Thanks to the fantastic ;-) tutorial I have written for the last issue of Knippie magazine. A short version of the how-to can be found here (only in Dutch). Or you could order them in my Etsy-shop.

Tutorial toilet paper roll lantern

Turning the simplest materials in something beautiful with little means and effort is so rewarding. Inspired after seeing this tutorial I fabricated a quick trial version of these lanterns. And then one more and another one. Just ten minutes to make each paper roll light. I wrote a quick tutorial for you to create your own christmas candles. You can see and download it here.

Recycling

I like to watch tv on my phone. My other stand was ready for replacement. So when I came across this beautiful essential stuf container while searching the web for neat cardboard projects for an article, this idea popped in my mind. Made in less than half an hour during lunch hour. I drew you a small tutorial to make this iphone stand yourself.

Tutorial for making mittens

On pinterest I saw mittens like these made out of old sweaters. But they didn't provide a tutorial. So I made my own pattern. Drew around my daughters hand for the size. But I should have added some extra centimeters. The mittens are too small. They are already in the mail towards our little cousin Wies. I thought you might want to try making these too, so I scanned my pattern for you.

Mini-tutorial

More felt hairpins. These small roses are so easy to make. You'll find the tutorial I made for you over here.

Tiny tutorial

It is not easy to photograph a dark blue, glittery scarf in a good way. The real colour is way more beautiful. The scarf is a copy of one I saw in a shop. Really easy pattern: Chain as wide as the shawl has to be. Three triple crochets in the sixth chain from the hook. Skip three chains and again three triples in the next chain. Repeat till the end of chain. Turn, chain three and crochet three triples in the space between the sets of triples of the last row. And so on. ps. Don't you love our daughters new haircut?

Small tutorial

After the walk in the woods we glued together these pinecone-dolls. Just heat a gluegun and glue a wooden bead on top of the pinecone and than a hat of acorn or hazelnut-shell. Draw a little face on the bead. Later I added red embroidery yarn to hang them.

Practical presents

I overheard my brother saying that his little daughter needed some extra hangers for her clothes (yes, my brother is a real metro-man). When I came across these in the second hand store I immediately knew I could make some nice hangers for her. After cleaning and removing all stickers, I punched out flowers and hearts from magazines and glued them to the tips of the hangers. And on some of them I stamped her name. Hanger shortage is gone.

Tutorial geisha keyring hanger

The girls and boy loved their keyring hangers. And many of you let me know they would appreciate a tutorial. So here it is.

Needlebook tutorial

You can probably figure out on your own how to make a needlebook. But it is easier when someone has done the math for you. You can find the needlebook-tutorial here.