Diy Crochet Monogram Pillow

Hey guys, sorry for the lateness of this post, but school is slowly killing me as I do homework and study for finals. Still, I hope you enjoy the DIY project I have for you this fine Crafternoon!

If you don't know already, I am obsessed with pinterest (you can follow me here) and after seeing this crafty little pin on a DIY cactus pillow, I saw the crochet letter A pillow and decided to make one myself. 

you can check out the cactus pillow Diy here

Here are the materials you will be needing:

• yarn
• crochet needle
• scissors
• stuffing

Step 1.  chain stitch 13. Create  7 rows of double crochets with 13 double crochets in each row.

Step 2. chain stitch 13 stitches for the middle of the A.


Step 3 chain stitch 13 more stitches.

Step 4. Create another 7 rows of 13 double crochets. When you are done, it will create the bottom portion of the A. When you are done with this step, cut off the yarn and start at the top right hand corner of where the image is below.

Step 5. Create 7 rows of double crochets along the top part of the A. After each row, skip the first chain stitch on the next row so that you are decreasing by 2 stitches each row.
Step 6. (sorry if this next instruction sucks) Finish crocheting the A shape.

Step 7. Repeat steps 1-6 so that you will have 2 identical crocheted A's. 

Step 8. double crochet four rows around the circumference of one A, then single stitch to connect the two pieces together, but leave about a three inch opening for stuffing.

Step 9 . flip the hollow pillow inside out so that there is a cleaner exterior and add stuffing inside the pillow

step 10. seal your pillow by filling in the last bits of single crocheting.

There you have it. An A crochet monogram pillow. 

If you have any questions about some confusing directions or you want to figure out how to make other letters, please feel free to comment below or email me. I will usually reply in two days or sooner. 

  Hope you guys have fun with your new pillows (:

~Angela

D.I.Y Crochet Plant Hanger

 Lately I have been obsessed with the DIY hanging planters on pinterest,but I wanted to do something a bit different using crochet.These planters might look a bit difficult to make if you are just starting to crochet (like me), but the steps are pretty easy and repetitive.

Sadly if you look at the pictures, the plant hangers I made are plantless because I don't really own any small plants, but they would be perfect and adorable with cute little succulents.

I was even considering buying some artichokes in place of succulents, but then decided "maybe not"

Anyways I hope you guys enjoy this DIY tutorial!

I used shower curtain hangers to hang these up, this goes to prove you never know what might come in handy.

Here are the materials you will be needing to make this project:

1. yarn 
2. crochet needle, the size I used was 3.75mm. 
3. small terracotta pot/ any size planter as long as your yarn is strong enough to support its weight
4. Plastic- like from a zip-lock bag*
5.  Plant*

*only if you are planning to hang a real plant, which I kind of expected to happen considering this is a planter and all.

Step1: Create a circle with that fits the base of your planter . If you already know how, you can skip reading the following instructions.
1. Create a magic hoop and chain 6 single crochets. Connect with a slip knot.
2. Create one chain stitch and crochet 2 single crochets in each knot. There should be a total of 12 stitches now. Connect with a slip knot.
3.Create one chain stitch and add 2 single crochets every other stitch.
   (pattern should be 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2 for a total of 18 stiches) Connect with a slip knot
4.Create one chain stitch. Add 2 single crochets to every 2 stiches.
   (Pattern should be 1,1,2,1,1,2,1,1... for a total of 24 stitches) Connect with a slip knot.

Just in case my instructions made no sense, I attached a video to tutorial on make a circle. (Warning it's kind of boring, but I did my best to find a short informative video)

 

Step 2. Continue with only one single crochet in each previous stitch to create a dome/ basket like shape. 

Step3: Crochet and fit onto your pot and add an extra single crochet stitch to accommodate with the shape of the planter. 

Continue doing this until you can hold the planter snug.

Make sure it fits perfectly!And don't take out your crochet hook just yet.

Step 4: Chain stitch 80 stitches. 

Step 5: Connect your long chain 1/3 along the circumference of the top of the plant hanger by creating a a few slipknots for security and then trim off the yarn. An easy way to find 1/3 the circumference is just couting how many stitches there are on the last crochet layer you made and dividing the number by 3.

Step 6: At another 1/3 of the plant hanger, tie a knot and create a slip knot. Chain 40 chain stiches.

Step 7: Tie the 40 chain stitch chain to 1/2 of the 80 stitch chain so that they meet right at the middle. Create a loop at the top for hanging.

This is how it should look: sad and deflated, but trust me when you stick in your cute planter and plant and hang it up, it will look amazing.

**IMPORTANT!!! for if you will be adding a plant.

Step 8: Use plastic to line the crocheted planter, creating a barrier from any water and dirt spillage when caring for your plant.

I personally think that multi-colored yarn would look cuter which is why I chose to make the green and orange multicolored plant hangers. If you’re more into minimalism, I would suggest a plain white for a more chic look. If you’re more into the bohemian style of things, cream would definitely give it a nice macramé feel. If you just have random single colored yarn, you could layer with different colors and create a colorblock effect, or just have a single bright color like hot pink to create a bold statement.

These last two pictures were just me experimenting with photo editing and fonts.Just felt like sharing.

Hope you guys enjoyed and got inspired in some way!

~Angela 

Crafternoon# 9: D.I.Y Crocheted Bear iPad Case

These days I have been pretty obsessed with crocheting and have made various projects to share with you guys.

With the help of the morning sun, this became my best picture.

Need a new iPad case but don't want to empty your wallet? Then you've come to the right place!  ( I sound like an infomercial)

Instead of buying a new case you can easily make your own.There are many other iPad/kindle/random technology case D.I.Y's out there, but today I will be showing you how I made a crocheted bear iPad case. This craft does not require expert crocheting skills, just some basic crochet language knowledge. It will take some time to make so you will also need patience, to avoid being too bored I made this while watching a few episodes of my favorite TV show Modern family. With that we can get started, hope you guys enjoy!

The first step in making anything is getting the materials; you will need

•  a crochet needle 
•  lots of brown yarn. (You can use any color you want to make a majestic rainbow colored bear even)
• 2 buttons
• felt
• sharpie
• needle and thread

Start by chain stitching the length of your iPad/ kindle/ whatever thing you want. Then add 6-8 extra chain stitches at the end. (This is necessary to create a flap for keeping the case closed later on)

Next single crochet until it looks like the picture below. Yes I admit those were some terrible instructions, so I added a crochet guide after these two pictures. 

This is my first time writing a crochet pattern so please be understanding. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below.

To make the crochet bear ears, it is basically like crocheting a circle without connecting the ends.

1.chain 6 stitches. 

2. make 2 single crochets in each chain stitch for a total of 12 single crochets.

3. In every other stitch, make 2 single crochets, for the other stitches make only one stitch.(1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2,1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2) For a total of 18 single crochets.

4. repeat steps 1-3 so that you end up with 2 ears.

Next make sure your iPad can fit into your case.

Take your ears and sew onto the outer edges of the closed flap.

This is what the front should look like. Pretty plain right? If you like it like this and are satisfied with the results, you can leave it at that, or you can continue and add a cute face.

Cut out an oval piece of felt and use a sharpie to draw the bear's nose and mouth.

Use your needle and thread to sew the nose and mouth onto the bear's face.

Yup now the project is complete. You can shove in your iPad and show off to your friends.

This picture looks super edited, but it's not, I just forgot to turn of the flash in my camera. Sorry about that

Hope you guys enjoyed.

~Angela

Crafternoon#4: D.I.Y Crochet Top

This crochet top the perfect item to add into your summer closet. Recently I have seen this crochet top all over tumblr and Pinterest.

WARNING! This picture may contain very high expectations of what your DIY crochet top might look like.

I thought to myself: "Hey I can crochet, I could totally make this!"So I found this video on YouTube which I found to be pretty helpful.

Here is the crocheted top I made after following the gist of the video tutorial. As you can see the "top" isn't as detailed as the somewhat (extremely) misleading photo at the beginning. However, the end result is still really cute and is perfect for wearing over swimsuit or bikini at the beach. I wouldn't recommend not wearing anything under because..well...kind of awkward. But if you're okay with that sort of thing, by all means do whatever your heart desires.

Hope you guys were inspired in someway. Stay Crafteenly smart!

~Angela