Category: crafts

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T-Shirt Yarn Pumpkins

Remember the fabuloso “yarn” we made a few weeks back out of old T-shirts? Well, I’m happy to report that all that old stuff was given new life. Seems only fitting that if something is going to come back from the “dead” as it were–they should do it close to Halloween…

and reappear as a couple of sweet pumpkins–don’t you think?

I used the pumpkin pattern found at Planet June from a couple of years back. Of course, to work with this stuff–you’ll need a bigger hook than is suggested in the yarn pattern. The H hook felt the most comfortable to me, but you’ll have to mess with it.

Seriously, I do hope you’ll try playing with this fun stuff, because there is just something cool and spooky about bringing something back to life.

Beats Frankenstein any day.

heh.

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Sweet Pumpkin Babies

To look at these–you might be fooled as to what they used to be in their former life–you know, before they became the cutest little pumpkins on earth. Brace yourself…

Take a handful of Circus Peanuts–can you believe it?—and a couple of small green gumdrops….

then, cut the peanuts in half with a pair of scissors. Trim the sugar coating off the gumdrops–and keep all the pieces, just set them aside.

Slice a piece of the sticky gumdrop and “glue” two peanuts, bottoms sides together with it in the middle. Then, roll the little blobs in the palms of your hands until they are more rounded. Shape them into pumpkins–it’s easy because they are soft and pliable.

Fold a tiny slice of the sugary part of the gumdrop in half to make a stem. Stick it on the top in one of the creases. I actually scored these dudes by pressing a tooth pick down the sides for that real “pumpkin-type” look.

And there you have it–

the sweetest little Pumpkin Babies you’ve ever seen!

In case you need a synopsis of the process–here you go. Happy pumpkin-ing my friends.

So glad you’re here!

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T-Shirt “Yarn” Tutorial

I know what you’re thinking–you’re thinking, “t-shirt what?” You heard me. I said, T-shirt yarn. Get a load of this…

Oh, yeah…it’s cotton “yarn” made from a spiral cut T-shirt. I first saw this done over at Polka Dot Pineapple and was intrigued because, well…

does everyone on earth have a huge pile of orphan T-shirts that nobody wears, but they can’t seem to part with…

or is it just me?

So let’s get real green and do something useful with some of them…shall we?

Start with a regular t-shirt that has lived a good life…no guilt now. It’s going on to a better place…really.

Cut off the bottom hem.

Now cut the top off just under the sleeves…

so you have a tube of fabric.

Fold it nearly in half, leaving the under side sticking out about an inch.

Now cut from right to left all the way up to and just past the top fabric, but leave the one inch margin of the lower fabric uncut. Repeat about 1 inch apart. Now unfold the fabric…

it should look like this.

The easiest way for you to hold the fabric and cut it into one continuous strip is to slide your arm through the two layers of fabric 1 inch uncut margin running along the top of your arm. I drew dotted lines  showing where you’ll cut your fabric–but you don’t need to draw the lines. You’ll be amazed at how fast you can figure this out and it’s really fun too, and for some reason deeply satisfying.

If you need more instructions click HERE for a sweet little diagram and bag pattern.

When you’re finished cutting, you’ll have one long, long, strip of fabric. Are you ready to make it more “yarn” like? Here goes!

Going down the entire length of your fabric, take a hold of it by one end and gently stretch it. It will magically curl up and behave it’s self just like it should. Very obedient stuff, I tell you.

Next, roll it into a ball and think of the stuff you can knit or crochet or weave with it. I’ve seen trivets, handbags and rugs…

but that color is too…too…orange not to be used properly.

Fear not. I’ll show you as soon as it’s finished. In the meantime–

go dig out the old shirts. The stack’s about to shrink.

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Soma Cube Solution

As promised–here is just one of the solutions to yesterday’s Soma Puzzle. Don’t you just love things that are good for your brain? Of course you do…

Remember there are 7 different sets of blocks that go together to make a square cube.

Begin with this one.

Second move.

Third.

Forth.

Fifth.

Sixth.

Seventh and final.


I flipped it upside down so that you could see the bottom side. If you get terribly stumped just click here you’ll find all the solutions you need to feel like a smarty pants…

or a cheater. ha.

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Soma Cube Tutorial

Have anyone at your place that loves a challenge? Here’s a fun little puzzle–called a Soma Cube that’s SIMPLE to make and not all that easy to solve. Luckily there are over 200 ways to form these blocks into a square cube, so it just may not ever go together the same way twice!

I’m thinking–perfect gift for all the wise guys in your world…think Christmas.

First step: Grab some unpainted wooden blocks–any size, you’ll need 27 of them. I used 1 inch, but you could go even smaller…or bigger.

Using wood glue– or regular white glue–start sticking your blocks together. I’ll show you the combinations below.

Be sure to wipe off any glue that squishes out–and work really hard to keep the squares even with each other.

There are seven groups of blocks that make up the puzzle. Are you ready?

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

You are positively welcome to leave your blocks their lovely natural wood color. It makes putting the puzzle together a bit more challenging, but if that’s your goal–then by all means leave them.

Otherwise, paint each set a different color and allow to dry completely.

Cover each set of blocks with a coat of Mod Podge and again, let them dry completely.

Check back tomorrow and I’ll show you how to solve the puzzle…

one of the ways.

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