Showing posts with label Fun projects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fun projects. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

SImple but beautiful rose headband tutorial!!

My blue rose headband

I have an obsession for roses, especially blue ones. It came from watching a very old movie (which i don't remember the title) when i was little. The movie is a fantasy adventure. The main hero is sent by a wizard to find a blue rose to be able to save his love from dying. He goes through many adventures, finds the blue rose, however, looses it on his way home. Thinking his love is going to die, he goes to see her for the last time. But there is a white flower in the vase, when he holds it, it turns blue showing his true love for her. Sappy, i know. But as a kid, after watching that movie, i started to go around, trying to find a blue rose. Never find it, no surprise. Well, if i can't find it, why not make it? So i did. And here it is, step by step of making a ribbon rose so you can make your own color roses. Samples of the roses below:


What you need
Ribbon, matching thread, needle, scissor and a lighter
 One spool of ribbon with the color of your choice. For the smaller roses, such as the one on the headband, i use 3/8" ribbon. This is the smallest ribbon size i would go with. It gets harder to hold on to the rose if the ribbon is too skinny. For the bigger blue rose in the above photo, i use a 1.5" ribbon. I recommend satin ribbon over gross-grained ribbon because i think the satin rose seems to "flow" better and more beautiful.


I use candle to sealed off the ends of the ribbon. It gives me more ease and control over the lighter, and it makes my house smells great!


Hot glue gun for gluing the roses to the headband. Not necessary for just making the roses. 



What to do
 Sealed off the end of the ribbon


 Roll up the end of the ribbon (about 4 to 5 times or until you can't see the end anymore), secure with thread.


 Fold the ribbon back away from you to create a right triangle


 Roll the side up toward the corner of the triangle, make sure to not pull it too tight. You need to keep it a little loose for the rose to form.


 Secure the bottom with thread


Repeat the process, fold the ribbon back away from you


Then roll the rose again toward the corner of the triangle. Notice how i keep the rose a little loose?


Secure the bottom


Repeat the same process until you have the rose at the size that you like, then cut the ribbon off with enough length to fold it back at the bottom.


Sealed off the end


Fold the end over at the bottom of the rose, secure with thread.


And you have a rose!! Don't worry if your rose doesn't look the same. Every rose will comes out a little different. After all, that is what makes it unique!


 Here is what the back looks like


 My rose now join its friends



Now come the headband
You need roses and a headband. You can use as many roses as you want. I use 5 on mine. For the headband, i bought my plastic ones at the 99 cent store. The metal one i bought online. 


 Don't forget your glue gun. Remember to put a piece of scrap paper underneath if you don't want glue on your work area. Set the glue gun on high.


Wait until the glue gun is really hot. The hotter the temperature, the more permanent your glue will be. And try not to burn your hand! Squeeze a drop on the back of the rose


 Stick it on the headband, wherever you like. Repeat the same with the other roses.


And here we go. You have a finished headband


You can also glue your roses on bobby pins, or alligator clips. The alligator clips make great presents if you have little girls.


Some samples of how i use roses in my jewelries
http://www.etsy.com/listing/57537920/free-shipping-within-us-handmade-mystery


http://www.etsy.com/listing/58868920/free-shipping-within-us-handmade-rose




Friday, January 7, 2011

How to crochet a bear beanie tutorial

As i was looking around for a new project for this month, i saw my new beautiful purple snowboarding jacket. I thought to myself, a matching beanie would go great with it. I looked around on youtube for something different, and found this great tutorial on how to crochet a baby bear beanie. It's so adorable that i decided to make one for myself. Yes, i know I'm a grown woman, but my inner kid wants to make snow angels wearing a purple bear beanie. And what inner kid wants, inner kid gets. She's spoiled like that.

My finished bear beanie. I named her Bacon.

I made a little friend for her too. Her name is Evelyn. Her ears are lopsided.
Bacon and Evelyn together
 Well, I'm done bragging. Here are the links to your tutorials. The videos are made by Traceyishh. Before you begin, i have also some tips for you that might make this easier:

Tips:
1. As this tutorial is for a baby beanie, the size is smaller than what i need. Therefore, i use medium (#4) yarn with a J/10-6.00MM hook instead of the smaller hook.

2. After the magic circle, I make 10 single crochets instead of the 6 that she did.

3. For the ears and muzzle, i keep with the 6 single crochets in the beginning and follow the same pattern in the video, nothing change, only with the bigger hook (J hook).

4. Here is the pattern. It's easier for me to look at it as a whole instead of following the step-by-step in the video.
Magic Circle
Round 1: 10 single-crochets, slip stitch at the end
Round 2: 2-single-crochets in every stitch, slip stitch at the end (0 single crochet in between)
Round 3: 2-single-crochet/ 1-single-crochet/ 2-single-crochet/ follow the pattern, slip stitch at the end (1 single-crochet in between)
Round 4:2-single-crochet/ 1-single-crochet/ 1-single-crochet/ 2-single-crochet/ follow the pattern, slip stitch at the end (2 single-crochet in between)
Round 5: 2/ 1 / 1 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 1 / 1 /follow the pattern, slip stitch at the end (3 single-crochet in between)

Can you kind of see the pattern now? It started out with all single crochets in the first round, then double the crochets in each stitch on the second round, then each round after that, you just add one more single crochet in between each 2-single-crochet per stitch, (until round 9 that is)

Round 6: 2/ 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 /  2 / follow the pattern, slip stitch at the end (4 single-crochet in between)
Round 7:2/ 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 2 / follow the pattern, slip stitch at the end (5 single-crochet in between)
Round 8:2/ 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 2 / follow the pattern, slip stitch at the end (6 single-crochet in between)
Round 9:2/ 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1/ 1/  2 / follow the pattern, slip stitch at the end (7 single-crochet in between)
---> For a bigger head, add more rounds here 
Round 10: 6 single-crochet/ 2-single-crochet/ 26 single-crochet/ 2-single-crochet/ single-crochet till the end, slip stitch at the end
Round 11: 10 single-crochet/ 2-single-crochet/ 28 single-crochet/ 2-single-crochet/ single-crochet till the end, slip stitch at the end
Round 12:  20 single-crochet/ 2-single-crochet/ 30 single-crochet/ 2-single-crochet/ single-crochet till the end, slip stitch at the end

Round 13 and after: single-crochet in every stitch, slip stitch at the end of each round.

5. Make sure you measure your head for a perfect fit. For a smaller head (like mine), you can skip round 9 and move on to round 10. For a bigger head, you can continue to add more rounds in between 9 and 10 by adding  8, 9,10,... single crochet in between each 2-single-crochet stitch.

Links
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbr01SXtKC4
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPcsVMDogIg
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7Ko-b73ZDA
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW2y-i9ePGA