Valentine's Day Crochet Roundup

Valentine's Day is almost upon us, so I figured it was time for a Valentine's Day DIY roundup.  This roundup features 20 cute DIY crochet projects with a Valentine's Day theme.  All links are for free patterns, and I linked to Ravelry where there is either a download or link to the pattern.  Have fun!  :) 



20 Free Valentine's Day Crochet Patterns:

1. Valentine's Day Hearts by Stacey Trock



2. Valentine's Day Heart Yarn Wreath by Allison Hoffman


3. Valentine's Day Coffee Kozie by Becky Ferris


4. Valentine's Day Water Bottle Kozie by Becky Ferris
 

 5. Valentine's Day Stripe Bag by Lion Brand Yarn





6. Easy Valentine's Day Choker by Anitalite


7. Crocheted Valentine's Day Hearts by Country Woman Magazine


8. Amigurumi Cupcake for Valentine's Day by Cristina Batista


9. Happy Valentine's Day Hat by Amy O'Neill Houck
 

10. Sleeping Mask or Not by Maryanka


11. Valentine Bear by Makayla Yager


12. Heart Shaped Table Mat by DROPS Design


13. Pop Heart by MyGurumi


14. Grandma's Heart Square by Carola Wijma


15. "Hearts" Barbie Outfit by Katrinna Fruit


16. Crochet Lips Hair Clip by Nuria Pastor


17. Valentines Lily Doll by Lily/Sugar'n Cream


18. Valentine's Kitty Hat by Teri Mitchell


19. Valentine Envelopes by Lion Brand Yarn


20. Valentine Teddy by Stephanie Jessica Lau

DIY Bib & Medal Holder

I have been horribly inattentive to my blog the last month...or two.  I've been busy at work and home and have been doing other things, but I am returning to my weekly blogging.

For one of my husband's Christmas presents this year, I made him a race bib and medal holder.  Last October, we started participating in local races for fun and fitness.  They help motivate you to keep training and improving, and they can be a lot of fun.

My bib and medal holder is based on some ideas I saw online. I modified the words and the layout to fit our needs.

Here are some pics of our board.  We haven't had a chance to hang it up yet.

In the fitness room where it will eventually be hung:

Closeup of the hooks:

Closeup of the vinyl lettering:

Supplies:

• wood board (mine was approximately 12" X 36")
• paint (I used spray paint)
• hooks
• vinyl letters
• transfer vinyl
• cutting tool (I used my Silhouette)
• hanger hook
• hammer
• awl

Directions:
Step 1:  Come up with a plan for the board layout, color, etc. and get your supplies.

Step 2: Paint your board.  Let it dry.

Step 3: Measure out the space for your bibs and medals versus where you want your vinyl lettering.  Add your hooks.  I added 2 sets of hooks for the 2 main bib sizes, and then had a row of hooks below the bib area for medals (some races give them to all finishers, like the 15K we are doing in February).

Step 4: Cut your vinyl letters and attach them to your board.  In order to add your letters, you will need to use the transfer vinyl. (If you need help with the process for adding the vinyl, there are some easy to follow tutorials on YouTube.)

Step 5: Add your hanger hooks to the back.

Tah dah!!! You have your very own personalized bib and medal holder.

You can change it around in variety of ways--only a word rather than a phrase, no words, only a bib holder, only a medal holder, add a shelf, etc.

 I really like how ours turned out, and I look forward to adding more bibs.  On a funny note, can you spot the error in the writing on the bib holder?  I didn't even notice the error until after I gave the holder to my husband...and he hasn't seemed to notice yet.  I think it looks fine, but it made me chuckle a little bit when I noticed it.

Holiday Sugar Scrubs: Testing Various Supplies

Sugar scrubs are super popular holiday DIY gifts right now.  I have seen a lot of great recipes on Pinterest.  Instead of trying to come up with a new recipe, I decided to test out some different supplies.

I made 2 variations of the basic sugar scrub:

• red dyed light brown sugar with olive oil
• green dyed white sugar with vegetable oil

I used the following ingredients in both scrubs

• 3 C sugar
• 1 C + 2tbsp oil 
• 15-25 drops essential oils
• food coloring
• storage jars 

Note: You can spend a lot for storage jars or very little.  I got mine half off at Hobby Lobby.  You need something with a tight lid, preferably sealed.  Each sugar scrub filled 4 of these little jars.

Brown Sugar Scrub

For my brown sugar scrub, I mixed together all of the ingredients listed above, using brown sugar and olive oil.  I used peppermint essential oil and mixed in red food coloring.

I stirred and stirred, but the olive oil and sugar do separate.  They go back together pretty quickly.  I used the entire bottle of red food coloring.  As you can see, the color is a dark red.  I used nearly 25 drops of peppermint oil.  The olive oil has a stronger smell and kind of covers the essential oil a little bit.  The brown sugar scrub with the food coloring did not appear to stain my skin.

White Sugar Scrub

Next, I made a white sugar scrub.  For the white sugar scrub, I mixed together all of the ingredients listed above, using white sugar and vegetable oil.  I used cucumber melon essential oil and mixed in green food coloring.

There were some noticeable differences from the brown sugar scrub when I made this one.  For one thing, the color was very bright, which I would think is a result of starting with a lighter base.  I really like how the color turned out.  Another difference is that the vegetable oil had a much lighter smell and I needed less essential oil.  Additionally, the scrub mix didn't separate.  It stayed pretty consistently together.  I'm not sure if the stability is about the sugar, oil, or both, but it was much better.  Finally, I did notice that my finger tips were very slightly green after using the scrub, but it did wash off pretty quickly.



So, there you have it.  Two types of DIY Sugar scrubs.  Both were inexpensive and easy to make.  The two scrubs are very different, but they both seemed effective, and I like how they turned out.