Stretchy Headband and a Hello Kitty Inspired Applique

This blog post is awesome because it's really two patterns in one. Bonus awesomeness!

I'm including both the pattern for the stretchy headband AND the Hello Kitty attached to it. The headband is very versatile and can be used for so many crocheted appliques. It's also perfect for clipping ribbon bows to for baby girls.

So let's get started!

Nautical Fun with an Anchor Hat

Over the past weekend, we did some spring cleaning, which led to some redecorating. I had a lot of beachy decorations scattered all over the house in random spots and I really wanted to pull it all together. Plus, I needed to do something with my fireplace mantle. I had pulled it apart at Christmas and never did anything after. So we did some scrubbing and dusting and ripping apart.

My Basic Hat Patterns

There are a lot of different instructions out there to make a basic hat. I'm not going to pretend to be inventing something new here! But I have used a lot of different people's patterns and tweaked them here and there to come up with my own version of the best possible pattern in different sizes. At least, in my opinion.

Unless a hat has a unique texture, it starts with a simple pattern like this. Here are some hats I've made that start with a basic pattern:

Stencil Shirts. Warning: This is addicting!

We have six months to go until our next big trip to Disney. We aren't people who go on vacation to Orlando and stop by Disney. We DO Disney. Eight days on Disney property and we don't typically venture out into the rest of Orlando at all. We are Disney loyal, I guess. And I put about nine months into planning each trip. From outfits to wear, meal reservations, which parks to visit on which days, researching the best shoes to wear, picking a perfect park bag... My point is, you will be hearing a lot about Disney on this blog!!!

Hooray for half priced days at Goodwill and Salvation Army!

Hoping to hit up some thrift stores this afternoon to gather the supplies needed to share with you some of our "crafting to Disney" projects. Many of these Disney projects will veer off from the normal routine around here as they will not be crochet!

The first one I plan to share is how to make stencil shirts. We've done it several times already with great success and I can't wait to share my tutorial on how we did it and how they have turned out so far!

We are also planning to make some other items like bracelets and sippy cup straps and phone number necklaces for the kids to wear in case we get separated. I'm pretty excited to craft the time away until our trip and REALLY thrilled to share all our creations with you here on the blog!

A tisket, a tasket, a very easy basket!

This is a very simple, easy basket that even a beginning crocheter can tackle with ease! The only real twist to this one is that you are using two strands of yarn together to make it nice and thick and sturdy enough to stand up on it's own. It's not hard at all, but it may be a new technique to some people.

Drawstring Bag Pattern

I searched Pinterest. I searched and searched and searched for a pattern for a drawstring bag that I liked. But I couldn't find one that was exactly what I wanted so I did the only thing I COULD do. I sat down and made up my own!

An Easy Headband

OK, we are going to start small! If you can crochet even a little tiny bit, I promise you can do this project!  It is only chains and double crochet.

I used white cotton yarn and red and white polka dot ribbon because this head band is part of our "crafting to Disney" project and I think this is very Minnie Mouse!

Welcome to my blog!

I think it was inevitable that my crochet hat business would eventually lead to a blog. I knew from the start that this was something I wanted to do but I've been putting it off for awhile because I was scared. Writing a blog scares me. I love to write but I kinda freak out about people reading what I write. But I also am scared to share my crafty creations with people and I'm doing that now through my business so I figured, hey, why not? Let's just face all these things that scare me head on!

Here's the thing. I majored in Accounting in college. I don't know why I did it. I wanted to do something creative. But I was terrified. Scared out of my mind over the idea of being graded on my ideas. So I went about as far in the opposite direction as a person can go. I went all the way to Accounting, where everything is black and white and, in my opinion, easy. And in those four years of number crunching classes, the professors would always joke around saying things like, "You all are here because you aren't creative." I started to believe it and I really lost confidence in my craftiness and creativity. It's been almost eleven years since I graduated from college and I'm just now getting some of that confidence back!

Please be patient with me as I start this journey. If you try out one of my ideas and like it, share some photos! If you try something and it doesn't work, tell me, and we will work out the kinks. If you have an idea you want to see, let me know that as well! I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I know I will enjoy writing it.