Posts tagged craft

Hey everyone, look at the super cute Vulpix plushie that I made!  I made her to carry around with me when I do my gender-bend Brock cosplay next month at Fanime.  Cute, huh? 

If you’re interested in making a plushie like this for yourself, check out my tutorial for an Espeon plushie!  I used this same pattern for Vulpix, I just had to change the ear shape and add the curls on her head and her 6 tails.  The pattern is really easy to manipulate, so you can create a ton of different characters with it!  So far I’ve done Espeon, Umbreon, Flareon, Vulpix, and even Hobbes the tiger! 

This pattern is great for turning a wide range of characters/animals into a cuddly plushie! I’ve used it a couple times to make plushies as accessories for cosplay, and this particular plushie that I’m showing you in this tutorial is for a friend who is going to cosplay as an Espeon (from Pokemon) for this year’s Fanime convention. It’s very easy to change this pattern into a different character or different animal simply by altering the shape of the ears and tail, so please have fun with this versatile pattern! Click “read more” to get the pattern and tutorial!

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I made this adorable little froggy family after I found an awesome free pattern for amigurumi frogs!  The pattern is available HERE!

They’re pretty easy to make, so it’s a great project for someone who is learning how to crochet, or someone who wants to whip up a quick handmade gift!  They turn out fairly small, though the size will vary depending on the thickness of your yarn and the size of your hook.

I highly recommend trying out this pattern!  It takes me about 3 hours to complete one frog.  And now I’m addicted!  I want to make a bunch more! 

A story!  Last Friday I went to see a band called MSI (Mindless Self Indulgence) in San Francisco, and I wanted to get a really good spot right in front of the stage during the show, so I showed up really early to get in line.  I knew I was going to be waiting outside for several hours, so I brought some yarn and decided to crochet myself a little octopus while waiting, with the intention of throwing it on stage for the band!  So I sat there and crocheted, and felt a little awkward cause all the other people in line kept staring at me as if I were doing witchcraft.  When I was done (yep, I was stuck waiting outside long enough to actually finish this project!) there was a girl behind me in line who was absolutely in love with the little octopus (actually a septopus because I only made 7 tentacles o_o), and she said she couldn’t live without him!  So we decided on a trade, she would buy me a t-shirt from the show, and I would give her the little septopus.  A pretty good trade, considering I really wanted a t-shirt and they’re expensive!  I was a little bummed that I didn’t get to throw it on stage for the band, but I’m glad Little Septo found a good home with a fellow MSI fan!  And much kudos to her for being able to protect him and still have him in one piece after the show, cause both of us were at the very front of the crowd right at the stage and the crowd was pretty rowdy!  So now I’m wondering … if I crochet octopi at every show I go to … will I keep getting free t-shirts??  Perhaps it’s worth a try :)

Note:  The octopus in the picture is an older one that I made, not the one from the show but I used the same pattern.  If you would like to make your own crochet octopus, you can find the free pattern HERE!

It all started when my boyfriend found a Pokemon themed drinking game on the internet …

My boyfriend and our friend celebrated their birthdays this past weekend, and I helped them throw an awesome Pokemon themed party!  Ok, ok, you might say we’re a little too old to be having a Pokemon party complete with loot bags and party hats, but to that, I say “poop!”  Yep, just “poop!”  Just LOOK at this awesomeness and try to tell me you aren’t jealous :3

Those pokeball things are cups!  Cups!!  I got them on Amazon :)

Click “read more” to see what else this awesome party entailed!

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Omg, the sarubobo (Japanese luck charm) that I made in my last tumblr post totally worked, I got 100% on my Japanese final exam!!  I’m going to make a bunch more sarubobos, LoL.  Check out my last post and learn how to make a sarubobo for yourself!  :)

So… I’m studying Japanese, and the final exam for my Beginning Level 3 class is tomorrow.  I’m supposed to be studying right now … but instead, I was reminded of a Japanese luck charm called a “sarubobo,”  so I decided to make myself one!

Sarubobos are traditionally red and have no facial features, and are meant as an amulet for protection against bad things. Modern sarubobos, while still faceless (I’ve read that they are faceless so the owner can project his or her own emotion onto the sarubobo and imagine the expression), can be in a variety of colors, each granting a certain kind of luck:

• Blue sarubobo - for luck in study and work
• Pink sarubobo - for luck in love
• Green sarubobo - for luck in health
• Yellow sarubobo - for luck in money
• Black sarubobo - to remove bad luck

So I made mine blue, hoping that it will help me pass my exam tomorrow!  I probably should have just studied instead … but hey, the sarubobo is a very quick project, it only took about 30 minutes out of my studying time!  Although … now I’m on Tumblr and still not studying … hehe(*^_^;)

Anywayyyy … wanna make your own sarubobo??  I discovered this great tutorial years ago and have been making lucky little sarubobos with it ever since!  There are 4 variations for the pattern, my favorite is #4 because the sarubobos turn out a little chubbier with this one.  Like I said, it’s a really quick project and uses very little material.  Also, these make a very nice and thoughtful handmade gift!  :)

I got to see the new Lorax movie recently, and I had to make a Lorax plushie!  I’ve always loved The Lorax, and I was a little nervous that I would hate the new adaptation, but I actually really liked it!  It kept the tone of the original, but added just enough depth to the story to turn it into a full length movie.  And the colors were so pretty!  Anyway, here’s my take on a Lorax plushie:

If you’ve seen the line of Disney plushies called “Pook-a-looz,” I used a similar style, very simple.  SO simple in fact, that I’m not going to post a step-by-step tutorial, hehehe.  I will post the pattern though!  Here you go:

It’s a pretty self explanatory pattern, but if you try to make one and run into any problems, feel free to ask me questions :)

I had to share a picture of these cupcakes I made for some friends yesterday in honor of Valentine’s Day :)

They’re nothing special, just a boxed strawberry cake mix, but I’m pretty proud of the decorating, hahaha.  I’d really like to take a cake decorating class some day so I can learn how to do this kind of thing the right way!

A few years ago, my relatives from Japan sent me a set of adorable little owls that were made of beautiful Japanese fabric, and I’ve had them on my computer desk ever since.  They look so simple, but I’d always been too lazy to figure out maing one myself.  Recently though, I saw a pin on Pinterest that had a tutorial on making owls that were very similar!  So I checked out the tutorial and it’s such a simple and quick project that I went ahead and made a couple owls to add to my little mini owl family :) 

The original tutorial is here, but I did things just a little bit different, so I’m going to make my own little tutorial. 

What you’ll need for your owl:

Fabric scraps (I used scraps of kimono fabric that I ordered on Etsy, but you can use anything!)

Scissors

Paper

Marker

Stuffing

Weight pellets (These are for making your owl sit correctly.If you can’t get a hold of weight pellets, you can use the method in the original tutorial, which is to cut a circle of cardboard and put it in the owl’s butt so it sits upright hahaha)

Felt

Fabric glue

Needle and thread

Fabric paint (optional, for decoration)

STEP 1

Print this pattern and cut out the pieces.  If you want to make a bigger or smaller owl, you can scale the pattern up or down. 

STEP 2

Trace the pattern pieces onto your fabric and cut out the pieces.  The smaller triangle will be the belly of your owl, and the bigger one will create the rest of the body, so the two pieces should contrast in color.

STEP 3

With the right sides of the fabric facing each other, sew along the long sides of the triangles.  Like this!

STEP 4

Turn the piece inside out.  Section off the top corner of your triangle by sliding a needle through the fabric like this:

That top corner is going to fold down to create the owl’s face, so we don’t want any stuffing in it. If you can see around the bottom of my piece, I’ve done a loose slip stitch all the way around the base.  That’s because after I stuff it, I’m going to pull the stitches tight to close up the hole.  You’ll see in the picture!

STEP 5

Stuff the piece with your stuffing (with that top corner still blocked off by the needle!)  And then put your weight pellets in the bottom.  If you’re having trouble getting your weight pellets in without spilling them, you can loosely wrap them in a scrap of saran wrap so they are kind of like a little bean bag.  Once your stuffing and weight pellets are in, pull your slip stitches tight until the hole is closed, and stitch it up securely, like this:

That’s the bottom.  Now, if you set the piece right side up, it should look like this!

STEP 6

Fold down the top corner and use a couple stitches to secure it at the tip.  Almost done!

STEP 7

Use your felt, fabric glue, and fabric paint to give your owl a face!

And there’s your cute little owl!  Since this is such a quick project and it uses so little material, you can make a bunch of them :)