Scrapbook Paper Canvas Wall Art

I'm over here working on more projects for baby girl! I hope you don't mind all the pink I've been posting lately. And remember that projects like this can easily be translated into boy themes. I mentioned earlier this week that I recently purchased the Daisy Garden Nursery Bedding from Pottery Barn Kids. I have been searching for some nice wall art to match. But everything I found online wasn't quite right and it was too expensive. So I set out to make my own. 

I purchased 11x14 canvas frames from Michaels craft store along with a variety of scrapbook papers in different colors.

Then I started cutting. I had an idea of what I wanted (daisy flowers, bird house, bee, etc). So I used google images to find templates and images that I could trace or use as inspiration. I also used my 2 inch round punch, a hole punch, and paper cutter to create perfect circles and straight lines. I completely took over the dinning room table for 2 days working on this!

You will want to lay out your picture before you start mod podging to make sure it is exactly how you want it.  Then you mod podge everything down starting with the bottom piece. 

I learned a couple lessons about mod podge the hard way... 

First, you don't want to put too much mod podge on. Just enough for the paper to stick. The paper fibers quickly absorb the mod podge glue and if  you put too much on you will over saturate the paper and it will become wrinkly and full of air bubbles. 

Secondly, you need to let each layer dry for at least 15-20 minutes before mod podging on top of it. If you don't wait and start mod podging layers of glue and paper on top of each other, you will get the same bubbling and wrinkling effect of the over saturated paper.

See what happened when I didn't wait for the glue to dry... I had to trash this one and start over :(

I put one last thin coat of mode podge over the top. You may see a little bit of bubbling of the paper at this point, but be patient, all of the bubbles went away when the mod podge completely dried.

I love that I now have handmade art that is just to my liking for a lot less than what I would have paid in the stores. I will show you a picture of them hanging in her room when I get everything set up! 

Here is a close-up of one of my favorite parts.

Crochet Blooming Flower Pillow

Last week I saw the most adorable Blooming Flower Pot Holder made by Days of Yarning and featured on Hookin on Hump Day. I knew immediately I needed to make this into a pillow for my baby girl (I'm 23 weeks pregnant this week). I had just purchased the Daisy Garden Nursery Bedding from Pottery Barn Kids and this blooming flower would go perfectly with my theme! 

Daisy Garden Bedding (pink) from Pottery Barn Kids 

The pattern for the pot holder is almost the exact same pattern as the Blooming Flower Cushion made by Attic 24 (another favorite pattern of mine!). The directions and photos of the cushion really helped and gave me an idea of how I wanted to make the back of my pillow. Although you can always follow her directions on how she made the back of her cushion :) Best part is, both of these patterns are free!!

Here is the yarn I used:

- Lion Brand Pound of Love Pink (this is the light pink color and an exact match to the light pink in the Pottery Barn bedding!)

- Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in Pink Poodle (this is the darker pink color)

- Lion Brand Vanna's Choice 101 Pink (this is the more peachy looking color)

- Loops & Threads Impeccable in Aran (this matches the soft yellow perfectly!!)

I made a total of 8 rounds of flower ruffles with a size H crochet hook. The finished top piece measured a little over 12 inches. HERE is the free tutorial I followed.

I wanted the back of the pillow to be worked in continuous rounds. I didn't want any kind of seam to show and I wanted to use HDC's (instead of DC's) to make the stitches smaller and tighter. So I began with a magic ring of 10 HDC's and kept increasing my rounds until I had the same number of stitches as the last round of the top piece. You MUST have the same number of stitches on the last round of both of your pieces so they will match up when you sew them together at the end.

Here is how I increased my rounds:

Magic Ring, 10 HDC in ring, continue to crochet in rounds,

Round 2: 2 HDC in each stitch around (20 HDC)

Round 3: 2 HDC in first stitch, HDC in next, repeat round (30 HDC)

Round 4: 2 HDC in first stitch, HDC in next 2, repeat around (40 HDC)

Round 5: 2 HDC in first stitch, HDC in next 3, repeat around (50 HDC)

Round 6: 2 HDC in first stitch, HDC in next 4, repeat around (60 HDC)

See the pattern of increases? Keep going until you get the same amount of stitches (or very close to the same amount of stitches) as your top piece.

When you are done increasing, continue to HDC in each stitch around until your pillow back is at the desired length. It will start to curve in, like a big hat. This is ok because you will either be stuffing it with poly-fil OR you could buy a pillow insert like I did.

I purchased this 12 inch pillow insert from Amazon.com:

Here is what the back of the pillow looked like when I was done making my rounds. Do not fasten off because next you will crochet the front and back pieces together.

I put the back piece over the pillow insert and laid the top piece over. I crocheted the last round of both pieces together using a SC stitch. You will want to work in both loops of the back piece and the the remaining front loop in the last row of your top piece.

I like the ridge it made right under the top ruffles. I thought it made a nice finished edge on the pillow.

Here is a look at the back of the pillow. Notice there is no ugly seam! Just a beautiful continuous spiral.

You can make your pillow as large or small as you want by increasing or decreasing the rounds. And keep in mind that yarn stretches easily so it may look smaller when you are crocheting it, but larger after you stuff it.

Crochet Baby Clutch Ball (and Petals to Picots Pattern Giveaway!)

I have been busy crocheting for the arrival of my baby girl! I can't wait to show you everything I've been working on. I just finished this crochet baby clutch ball and couldn't be more happy with it! The pattern is from my friend Kara at Petals to Picots. I can honestly say that this was one of the most rewarding crochet projects I have ever completed. The ball is made up of many different pieces that come together so beautifully in the end. And even though this one is going to be for my daughter, I hope to make several more as baby gifts. The color combinations are endless and I love the angular design. Perfect for little baby hands to grab onto!

You can purchase the pattern directly on Petals to Picots blog! Click HERE for purchase and instant download. The directions are detailed and include lots of photos. 

And while you are browsing Petals to Picots, be sure to check out her free pattern section as well! Kara is a very talented crochet designer with lots of great patterns and ideas.

Not sure you want to purchase it quite yet? Well you are in luck because Kara has agreed to giveaway a copy of the pattern to one lucky person! Thank you Kara!!

Enter below for your chance to win the 

Baby Clutch Ball Pattern by Petals to Picots.
(Only 1 winner. Winner will be e-mailed a PDF copy of the Baby Clutch Ball pattern.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mod Podge Story Stones

I've been thinking of painting rocks to make story stones for awhile but the project seemed daunting and time consuming. So I thought, why not Mod Podge pictures onto the rocks?! It worked great and in a short time we had a bag full of story stones. They are great for encouraging your child to make up their own stories and fairytales. 

To make these story stones you will need to collect rocks with a smooth flat surface. We have a drainage system in our backyard that provides us with lots and lots of rocks that are perfect for projects like this!

Make sure to wash your rocks and let them dry.

Use old magazines to cut out pictures for your story stones. We subscribe to Ladybug and Babybug magazine (thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for the great gift!) which has lots of animal, nature and kids pictures that were perfect for our stones.

Generously paint Mod Podge (I used the glossy kind) directly onto the rocks. Place your picture on top. Press it down and let it dry for a minute, then generously paint over the picture with another coat of Mod Podge.

Let the Mod Podge completely dry and you are ready for some storytelling! 

Here is Big Brother's story:

"Once upon a time there was a girl who went to the grocery store. Then she went to her house and put everything in the cupboards. Then the boy came over and they took the car to the park. There were clouds in the sky."

Crochet Basketball Hoop Net

We have a little indoor basketball hoop that sticks onto the window in the boys room (similar to this Basketball Hoop). The boys love shooting hoops in the evenings before bed. It helps them burn off some extra energy. But he flimsy netting was driving me crazy. It is always falling off and I find myself fixing it over and over again. So I decided to put an end to it and crocheted a permanent net onto the hoop! This is a simple pattern that you could use to make your own DIY basketball hoop. All you need is a round plastic ring...or how about a circle towel rack for a hoop frame?!

Materials:
- Worsted weight yarn
- Size H Crochet Hook
- Tapestry needle

Abbreviations:
SC = Single Crochet

Crochet Basketball Hoop Net Pattern
The hardest part to this is making your first stitches around the hoop.
Start with a slip knot around your hook (just like in this wreath tutorial). So you automatically have one loop on your hook. Keep your yarn strand over the hoop ring (photo 1) and yarn over from underneath the hoop ring (photo 2). Now you have two loops on your hook (photo 3).  Now yarn over from the top of you ring and pull through both loops (photo 4).

Short video tutorial coming soon!

It doesn't really matter how many stitches you make on your ring as long as you end in an even number. I ended up with 44 crochet stitches around. Do not join, chain 7.
Round 2: SC in first crochet, chain 7, *skip 2 stitches, SC in next stitch, chain 7, repeat around from *.
Round 3-7: Continue to chain 7, skip 2 stitches, SC in next stitch for as many rows as you would like the length to be (I made 6 rows).
Round 8-9: Continue to make 2 more rounds like you have been doing but this time only chain 5. So the pattern should be: (Chain 5, skip 2 stitches, SC in next stitch) all the way around. Again feel free to make your hoop longer (or shorter). End with a SC and weave in your ends!

*** You may make and sell products from my patterns but if you do I ask that you link back to my post. Please do not copy and post this pattern and claim it as your own. Please do not re-publish photos as your own.***

Want more free patterns? Keep in touch on my Repeat Crafter Me Facebook Page for new pattern sneak peeks and when they will be available on my blog!

Pom Pom Flowers

It seems like every week we have a birthday, wedding, baby shower, bridal shower or some other event that requires gift giving. We built a great gift wrap station last year to help make gift giving easier but the one thing I am always missing are bows. So I made a bunch of simple pom pom flowers to help decorate the tops of gifts. They would also be cute on top of handmade cards, envelopes, or just as garland. These flowers are very simple to make and nice touch during the spring season.

All you need is string (embroidery floss, crochet thread, or baker's twine), a needle and two different sizes of craft pom poms. You will need 8 smaller poms for the outside of the flower and a larger pom for the middle. You can buy these at any craft store.

Thread your needle and string the 8 smaller poms onto the thread.

When all 8 are on the string, take your needle and go back through the last pom.

Pull tight.

Now go through the large pom and continue to poke your needle through the smaller pom on the opposite side.

Pull tight and now you have a pom flower!

Perfect for kids birthday gifts and spring cards!

Wooden Pallet Herb Garden

The blog has been pretty quiet this week because we've been very busy working on our vegetable garden! I can't wait to show you what we've been up to. First we had a friend who knows a lot about organic farming come over to help us with our garden beds. He built up the frame of each one to allow for better support and drainage. Not to mention they look 100% better! He help us organize our starter plants so they would have the best chance of growing and producing. For instance, sugar snap peas are in the back along the trellis, the pumpkins and squash are on the edges of the beds allowing for overgrowth of the vines, and the tomatoes are in the front getting lots of sun and water. You also may notice we are using our paint stick garden markers we made a couple weeks ago!

Then I got started on a project I've been wanting to do for a long time... a wooden pallet herb garden!

These are very simple to put together as long as you can find an old wooden pallet...this part may not be as easy as you think. I went by a couple grocery stores (Safeway, Fred Meyer, Walgreens), but I will tell you right now that they are not in the business of giving away their wood pallets. They have to send them back to the distributor after each delivery. And there are theft laws against taking wooden pallets from the back of grocery stores. Especially if the pallets are marked by Coca-Cola and other large companies. Anyway, my best advice for finding a wood pallet would be to go on craigslist and see if anyone is giving them away for free or selling them in your area for a couple dollars. Also, you want to be careful of pallets that have been treated with toxic chemicals. HERE is a good article on how to obtain safe shipping pallets.

Here is the one I finally got my hands on! The top slat was broken but that actually worked out well because we removed it and I was able to plant the taller herbs out of the top.

Next order of business is to cover the back and bottom of the pallet with landscape fabric. You will want to double the fabric up and staple it down with a staple gun. If you observe the finished picture of my herb garden you can see that the fabric ended up tearing away a bit at the bottom...this is our own fault. You will want to make sure you really secure the fabric down, even folding it over the bottom part and stapling it onto the front of the bottom slat for more support. (I will need to fix the fabric before I set the pallet upright).

Now start filling your pallet with potting soil. You will want to make sure you pack down the soil at the bottom and fill most of the spaces up, leaving just enough room for the plants. I used 1.5 large (50lb) bags of potting soil for this pallet.

Then I planted the herbs in between the slats! I added in a couple of perennial flowers just to give it a little color. My herbs include, sage, oregano, chives, mint, and basil.

Make sure to keep watering your herb pallet garden and in a couple weeks, the roots will have grown enough to hold everything together. At that point you can set it upright. I will be sure take a picture of our herb pallet garden when I am able to set it upright. I will also label each herb by writing its name on the wood under each plant. Stay tuned!