Adventure Time Perler Bead Coasters

What time is it?  It's Adventure Time!!!  Do you like a human named Finn and a dog named Jake?  Me too.   (If you are not yet acquainted with the awesomeness that is Adventure Time, then you should check it out.)

If you have read my previous posts, then you've probably already noticed that I like to play with perler beads sometimes.  Well, the mood hit me again, and I wanted to make something new, so I decided to make AT characters.  I decided to make coasters this time because I have more than enough magnets now.

I found several examples of perler AT coasters on Etsy, but most of them used larger squares, so I had to do some significant modifications to fit my peg boards. 

Feel free to copy my patterns.  You should be able to click on the pics and zoom in to them. (Command + on a Mac)

Supplies:
--perler beads in colors matching desired characters
--peg boards
--wax paper
--iron and ironing board

Directions:
Step 1:  Pick a pattern.

Step 2: Copy the pattern (or modify one) and place each bead on the correct spot of your peg board until you have completed your desired pattern.

Step 3: Turn on your iron to low or medium low.  Let iron heat up.  Place wax paper over beads.  Iron the beads.  (It's best to hold the iron on the beads without moving it for about 30-60 sec, or until the beads are sufficiently melted that they don't separate and fall off of your peg board.)  Melt beads until they are well stuck together.

Step 4: Let the beads cool a little bit.  Remove the design from the board.  Continue to let design cool.  You may want to place something that is somewhat heavy on your design while it is cooling (after it is removed from the peg board), so that is will not curl.

Step 5: (Optional) Iron the other side for additional strength. 

These unfinished patterns should be pretty easy for you to duplicate.

BMO

Peppermint Butler

Finn

Jake

 Lumpy Space Princess (aka LSP)

LSP is the only coaster I made that is a direct copy.  Click here for that Etsy store and the seller's other AT character coasters.


These coasters were super fun and easy to make.  Here are some more pics of the finished coasters:

For more Perler bead fun, check out my other posts:
--8-bit Mario Magnets
--8-bit Wario Magnet
--Angry Bird Magnets

Crochet Sushi Magnets

I have been wanting to make crochet sushi for quite some time, but I couldn't think of a good purpose for it.  A sushi plush could make a cute pillow as seen here and here, but those projects would take a long time.  Finally, inspiration hit, and I decided on making sushi magnets.

I got a free basic pattern from Vach, but I modified it for my needs.  I would like to make other types of sushi at some point; however, I wanted to stick with the basics for my first sushi crochet project.

I changed colors and counts to make the types of sushi I wanted.  Some pieces are smaller and max out at 18 SC, while the bigger pieces max at 24 SC.  Another modification from the free design was to reduce the number of rows.  The larger number might make more sense for a piece of sushi that is play food, but not for something sticking off of a refrigerator. My larger pieces have 1 more row than the smaller pieces, so that they are balanced in size and shape.

After crocheting my sushi pieces, I stuffed and sewed them together.  Finally, I added a magnet to the bottom of each piece.

Here are some of the magnets displayed on the front of my refrigerator:

I had fun making these magnets, and I made several sets of them.  So many in fact that I gave some away and bundled some of them up

and added them to my brand new Etsy shop SpareTimeYarn.  I didn't really know how to price them, so if you are interested, the prices are as set OBO.


If you are a fan of homemade magnets, then you should check out some of my other posts on magnet making:

• 8-Bit Mario Magnets
• 8-Bit Wario Magnet
• Angry Birds Magnets  

Update: this post was featured on Navy Wifey Peters' Submarine Sunday #43 

Update: this post was featured on OhMy! Creative's Whimsy Wednesday roundup! 14 Colorful DIY  Craft Trends

Space Themed Party

We don't have any kids yet, and my husband didn't really have big birthday parties as a kid, so I have been throwing him a birthday party for the past couple of years.  It's fun coming up with the theme and components for the party, and it's a chance to see family and friends.


Last year, I threw a gnome themed surprise party for my husband.  Here are a few pics:

My husband loves astronomy, so this year the theme was space.  It was pretty easy, and we kept the price down by serving hot dogs and hamburgers.  I bought a constellation pack, painted the planets, and strung them like a garland.  The crochet decorations were projects that I had previously done and can be seen in other posts.  Most of the serving dishes came from the dollar store.

I took some pics of the party food and decorations, but I'm not exactly a great photographer, so some are a little bit blurry.

We had star crunches, asteroids (cheese balls), and star burst candies for snacks.  The snacks table was decorated with the constellation garland.

There was a filling station where party guests could make their drinks.  We had sodas, teas, water, etc.

I didn't take a picture of the space discs and satellites (hamburgers and hotdogs), but here is a pic of the condiments and buns section.

For sides, we had flora & dip, Jerry space taters (Jerry potatoes, aka super cheesy yummy potatoes), and crunchy space taters.  I used a rocket ship amigurumi as a decoration for this section.

Finally, we had a dessert table.  I made cupcakes, and my sister-in-law made her pumpkin roll (which is really good).  I embellished this table with a planet and space monsters.

This party was a lot of fun.  We had a great time spending time with our family.

Little Blue Elephant

I am part way through quite a few amis right now (Adventure Time characters, fish, a sushi magnet set, and a raccoon), and I just don't feel like sewing any of them together tonight, so I am sharing an older project I haven't blogged about yet.

I made this elephant for a friend/co-worker who was having a baby boy and had a jungle theme for the nursery.  I really like how it turned out, and I plan to make more of this cute little elephant.

I got the free pattern from Lou's Labors.  It was pretty easy to follow.  If I remember correctly, the only change that I made to the pattern was to close up the nose by reducing rather than just sewing the nose shut.

Normally, I use the plastic safety eyes, but this project was for a baby, so it needed safer eyes.  Most of the non-plastic safety eyes I've seen are crochet rounds, but I didn't think it would look right on this elephant.  Instead, I just used some black yarn and sewed it through a small section.  I really like how these eyes look, and they are baby safe.