Crafts for Charity

My friend had a yard sale to raise money for their charity trip to El Salvador. They are helping build homes for the poor. I decided to help by adding some of my crafts and working the yard sale. :) It was very hard work and I am very tired but it was worth it for friends and charity. :)

The purple flower was made using this free easy pattern.

The flower petals was not coming together so I used a figure eight motion to tighten up the bottom of the petals from the back.

I modified that pattern a little to get the smaller tan flower on top:

Into a magic ring - 7sc

chain 6 then sl st into the next sc - around

into each c6 spot (aka petal) sc hdc 5dc ch2 5dc hdc sc

Hook size used: 4.25mm

Yarn used: Vanna's Choice

This is the rose that I had made for my little top hat. It didn't work for the hat but it works well for a little hair clip.

This is a simple heart/bow bracelet that was too large for me but it fit as an anklet. :)

This is how I displayed the jewelry. To make it more professional, next time I would use cardstock instead of index cards and print on the name.

This heart pendant was really easy and I strung it on some ribbon. I think it would've made a great Mother's Day gift. :)

Someone had donated a bag of costume jewelry. Sadly all of them were broken or missing pieces but it was cool to look at and would be great in the hands of an imaginative crafter. :)

Lastly, I baked cupcakes. I added instant coffee to both the cake and the frosting and it turned out well. :)

Congrats to the Newlyweds!!!

Congrats to my good friends!!! They finally got married!!!
Sadly I couldn't be there to celebrate with them since it was in the Philippines.
So, I sent my happy wishes and love with this necklace. :)
She wore a red and black sexy dress so I made this to match.

3D beaded Heart in Light Siam

I searched through my stash of Swarovski Crystal hearts but didn't have a red (Light Siam) one in the right size so I made this one using 3mm Swarovski bicones so it was smaller.

Heart made into a pendant

In order to put focus on the pendant and heart, I added more beads in the center and had a different, more simple design on the sides. 

I have these heart clasps that I thought would be cute. I had a heart lock and key charms so I thought it would be cute to put it on the necklace too since they unlocked each other's hearts. :)

The finished necklace.

I made a ribbon flower with a Poinsettia center. I added the yellow ribbon because she likes red and yellow, also because I thought it looked cute. It was perfect to have the red poka dot wrapping paper and yellow ribbon. :) A little cute whimsy that is so her. :)

I made the flower into a hair clip and just clipped it onto the present in lieu of a bow. It think it's a cute way to give another present on the present. :)

I made this in early December but had to wait till all the paperwork goes through and they actually get married before posting these as to not ruin the surprise. :)

Congrats guy!! I am so happy for you! May this new life together be filled with lots of love, happiness, laughter, and little mini-yous! :) Miss you guys!

Presents for a Beautiful Thailand Princess

My friend went to visit his fiance in the Philippines. So, I made him bring some presents for her from me. :) He is her Xmas present. hehe Sorry, but this will be a long post.

This is the bag that everything fit in. It is about the size of a piece of paper and 2 inches thick. It took almost 1/2 of his suitcase. Luckily, he is a guy and so didn't need to bring too much clothes with him and he is a super packer from years of experience in the Army. hehe The bag is from the dollar section of Michael's but is a very sturdy and cute little tote. I am sure she will find other uses for it. :)

She loves chocolates and her favorite brand is Ritter Sport. We have it here in Target so I got her some of those. Since she likes whole hazelnuts, I thought she would like to try Ferrero Rocher if she has not tried it before. The bear was just way too cute. :) It is made my Lindt. I love their chocolates with the smooth centers but I like the square ones not the round ones. Sadly, they stopped selling the square ones. These Belgian Chocolate thins are yummy. They have a little crunch to them and are thin enough so that you can eat 1-3 and it will satisfy a craving well enough. :)

On her Xmas list, she asked for creme eyeshadow. I did not know how hard it was to find and get over here. I mainly found creme eye liner but these were nice so I got some for her. I think Clinique had some eyeshadow creme pens but they were hard for me to use. I hope these work well for her. :)

These little bundles contain some cute hair clips. :) They needed to be wrapped simply so that they can fit into the tote bag or else I could not get everything in there. :)

Rose hair clips I crochet for her. Red, because it's one of her fav colors and blue because her working uniform is blue. Can you see the sparkilies? :)

Ribbon hair clip in her favorite colors, red and yellow. :)

The backs of the hair clips.

Queen Anne Lace Scarf finished!

And here is how I wrapped it. :)

Made a tube out of card stock. I was going to put it into an empty food container but I think it would make it harder to get it though the metal detectors in the airport.

I made rosettes from the wrapping paper I used to wrap the cylinder. These will close off the cylinder at both ends.

Then I accordion folded the scarf into the cylinder.

I added the rosette to the other end and tied it together with curling ribbon.

And that's it. It's a little hard to work with but it is really cute. I think of it as anther version of the Christmas cracker. The ends are a bit different because I had to fit it into the tote. :)

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Here are the last two gifts I made for her and put into the package. :)

Pink Side

3D beaded Cross Bookmark.

Red Side

Yep, it is double sided.:) I think you can see the lobster claw clasp. That will allow her to take the cross off the bookmark and use it as a pendant for a necklace.

Lastly, I made this bell bracelet. It was a last minute bout of inspiration. :) I had to figure out how to put bells onto a bracelet but I didn't want to do the old charm bracelet method or stringing them on because that would take too many. So, I wove a simple base and added the bells as adornments. I was going to use a blue base because that is the 3rd color in the triangle on the color wheel but I wasn't feeling it.

I added the cluster of bells in the center because I miss counted the spaces. hehe but I like it! Some times covering up a mistake makes it more special. :)

I hope my friends are having a great Xmas together! I miss them both and hope someday we can all celebrate the holiday together in person. :)

I hope all of you are having a great December filled with friends and family, lots of laughter and love, and plenty of crafting! :)

Note: I made and wrapped all of these in the first week of December but I have to wait till after she opens up her gifts to post this. :)

Elegant Starlight

So, one of my friend's Christmas gift is lost in the postal system. Therefore, I had to come up with something  as a replacement. I had made this Yellow bracelet and earring set for my friend in Thailand a few months ago. Then I saw this "Hint of Spring" necklace and it was perfect for her. The design is from Crystal Brilliance book called "Starlight".

I didn't know what colors to use so I experimented first with different variations of black and white.

The outside 4mm beads are White Alabaster on your left and White Opal on your right. The inside 3mm bicones are Jet. I used grey seed beads.

The one on your left has outside bicones of White Alabaster and inside of Jet, but this time I used black seed beads. The right one was 3 experiments in one. I tried to see if I could make the motif bigger with an extra bead on the outside and inside. I also wanted to see how Jet would look on the outside with White Alabaster on the inside. Lastly, I wanted to see which I liked better, grey or black. Below is what I decided on.

I made 3 sizes of the motif. From left to right, I used 5 bicones inside and out, 6 bicones, 5 bicones, 7 bicones, 5 bicones, 6 bicones, and then 5 bicones. The "Hint of Spring" necklace used 5-5-7-5-5 pattern.

I added chain, more bicones, and an extender in the back in case she wants to wear it a little bit longer.

I didn't intend it but it matches the Curlicue Scarf I made for her. :)

Christmas is only 5 days away people!! :) Good luck!