Liebster & Amigurumi Chemistry Flask

I had previously seen blogs with these Liebster award buttons, but I didn't really know what it was until I was nominated.  Thank you, Lyndsay, at The Happy Chateau for the nomination/award.  Here is her explanation of the award:

In case you aren't in the loop about what a Liebster Award is (I actually wasn't prior to being nominated), it's an award that bloggers give to each other. Basically, if you're nominated, you answer some questions about yourself and then you pass the award on by nominating other new bloggers...

If you are nominated {read on for my list of nominees}, here on the steps you should follow to “accept” your nomination:

1. Read my answers to the 10 questions selected by the blogger who nominated me.  
2. Find 10 bloggers with less than 200 followers to nominate for the award.
3. Write a post on your blog featuring the Liebster Award and include in your post answers to the questions I pose to my nominees {found below my list of nominees}.
4. After you have written your post, comment on each of your nominee’s blogs telling them that you have nominated them.

Here are my answers to Lyndsay's questions:
1. When and why did you start blogging?
I first started blogging during law school as an outlet to share/vent my feelings about the whole process.  However, I was so busy with law school that I wrote a few posts and abandoned the blog.

After law school, I started thinking about activities for free time like crafting, cooking, etc., and I thought a good way to basically journal my attempts at these things would be to blog about them.  I also thought that making myself do a weekly blog would be a way to put pressure on myself to actually keep up with the blog, as well as pressure to continue crafting and trying new things.

2. How did you come up with the name of your blog?
Coming up with the name was pretty easy.  For 3 years of my life, everything in my life was law school.  I ate, drank, and breathed law school.  All of a sudden, law school was over and the bar exam was over...and then I had this full time job and extra time on my hands.  I had to learn to live like a normal person again. I finally had time to talk to people and try out new things.  It was kind of weird at first.  I didn't know what to do with all the free time.  Thus, Law Student to Life Student.

3. Who are your blogging role models?
One of my all time favorite blogs is Keeping It Simple.  Kaysi has a lot of great ideas.  I don't know that I have blogging role models, but if I did, then my blogging role model would probably be her.

4. What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of blogging?
My favorite aspects of blogging would be sharing a post involving a craft that I really enjoyed making and then getting feedback from other bloggers who also enjoyed the post.

My least favorite thing about blogging might be the photography.  I feel like I need to take good photos, but I often have trouble getting the camera to reflect the correct colors, lighting, etc.  Other times it's hard to get a clear image.  Since starting to blog, I have learned a lot more about my camera and photo editing.

5. How do you come up with ideas to blog about?
At first, it was more difficult to come up with ideas because I wasn't used to thinking creatively...I had spent 3 years focusing on cultivating my logical side.  So, reigniting my creative side has been a huge goal of mine with this blog.  I now have so many ideas of things that I want to make that my project queue is probably endless.  I'm sure I'll hit a brief creativity slump again at some point, but for now, I'm enjoying trying lots of different types of projects.  I know I have focused a lot on amigurumi lately, but there are a lot of other types of projects in the queue too.

6. What kind of content do you want people to come to your blog to find?
My blog is mostly trying and sharing DIY crafts, whether it's sharing a pattern/project that I created or sharing my experience trying out a DIY project someone else shared.  I try to put my own spin on it or share what I learned from trying out the project.

7. Do you have any advice for other new bloggers out there?
I'm still a new blogger, so I don't have a lot of advice.  The biggest piece of advice I have is probably to participate in linky parties.  They are a good way to socialize, see what other bloggers are doing, and to share/publicize your blog.

8. What are your future goals for your blog?
I would like to branch out more to other types of crafts like sewing.  I might try to do some more home owner  or cooking kinds of posts.  My main goal is to just keep at it and keep crafting.  I really enjoy seeing what others are making and getting feedback from other bloggers and crafters.

9. Does your family have any special holiday traditions?
We have a stocking tradition that I really enjoy.  Every year, we go to the Dollar Tree and buy stocking stuffers there.  We normally set a max limit and then spread out in the store.  The goal is to find items you think the person will enjoy, whether it's their favorite candy bar or a silly toy.

10. Which area of your house is the most challenging to decorate? Do you have any plans to tackle it?
The most challenging?  I know the easiest for me are living room, dining room, front door, and kitchen.  Other than those areas, I don't put a lot of active thought in decoration.  I placed items and decorated when I moved in, and I haven't done much since then.  My bedroom could probably use some decoration help.  The walls are bare.  I suppose that I should consider decorating that room.  Perhaps that kind of thing could be a blog post.



Now for the fun part.  :)  I get to pick 10 bloggers, and pass on the Liebster to them.  The Liebster award is like a fun chain letter.  (If I picked you and you have more then 200 followers, then your followers info was not shared publicly...or I didn't find it.)

The following are my nominees in no specific order:

1. Amigurumi Food
2. Jennifer Martínez-Orozco at Crateando, que es gerundio
3. Sukigirl at Sukigirl
4. Cats on the Homestead
5. Christine at the diydreamer
6. Becca at Halfway to Hipster
7. Diana at Unusually Lovely
8. Marni at Haberdashery Fun
9. Audrey at Aubrey B.
10. Ann at The Rustic Redhead


Questions for the nominees:

1. Why did you start your blog?
2. What is your favorite blog to visit and why?
3. How has blogging impacted your life?
4. What advice do you have for new/newer bloggers?
5. How did you come up with the name for your blog?
6. How do you promote your blog?
7. If you could go on vacation anywhere, then where would you go and why?
8. What is your favorite food?
9. Have you ever had a DIY project fail?  What happened?
10. Do you have any special New Year's Eve traditions?

Amigurumi Chemistry Flask

I made this flask a few weeks ago, but I haven't shared it yet.  I wanted to make something different from a doll or animal, and I came across this free Earl Lenmeyer pattern by CraftyShanna. (Isn't the pattern name great! It made me smile.)

This pattern was very easy to follow.  She did a great job with it.  I like how my little Earl Lenmeyer flask turned out.  I think it would be fun to make some other lab themed amigurumis to go with it.  I did find some free patterns for test tubes and molecules, but there are not many other free patterns that I could find, and none for equipment like a microscope.

Other Links for Science-themed Amigurumi  :

• Crochet Test Tube pattern by Frances Pauli (free)
• Diatomic Molecule pattern by Cristina Trevino (free)
• M13 Phage pattern by Sabrina Boscolo (free)
• Methane Molecule pattern by Nicole De Roo (free)
• Amigumicrobe #1 Cold Virus pattern by Krista Frank (free)
• Amigumicrobe #2 T7 Bacteriophage pattern by Krista Frank (free)
• Frog Disection 101 pattern by Helen Fey (free)
• DNA Model pattern by Nadine Borovicka (free)
• Tiny Amigurumi Einstein at Geek Crafts (no pattern)
• Crochet Microscope (no pattern)
• Molecules and lab equipment at Prim & Plush on etsy (not free)

Amigurumi Jake

I finally finished this amigurumi Jake for my husband.   We are big fans of Adventure Time and Jake is his favorite character.  I was afraid it would not sew together as well as I would like, but I think he turned out great. 

I used this free pattern from a poster called Vash.  It was fairly easy to follow.  If I could go back and do it again, then I would do both loops, rather than back loops only.

The following pics are from the photo shoot with Jake and my husband:

Monster Crochet Hook Case

Last week, I showed off my new crochet hooks with polymer clay hook grips.   Well, now that I had the new hooks, I needed a new crochet hook case.  (I had been toting around my hooks in a plastic Ziploc baggy, so it was time for something a little nicer.)

 Supplies:
--yarn for monster body
--yarn for eyes
--2 plastic safety eyes (optional)
--crochet hooks of a couple different sizes (I used F for the body and D for the horns and eyes)
--button

Directions:
Step 1:  I started out by using this monster pattern as the template.  The only parts I followed were the beginning telling the number to chain and how to know where to put the mouth.  (I think her hook case is really cute with the stripe running down it.)

Step 2: Crochet your foundation chain (about 22 SC), and go all the way around it.  Then, I went around it with a DC.  Increase base to make it as big as you want/need.

Step 3: SC rounds until crochet hooks fit inside and only the tips stick past.

Step 4: Create your mouth.  Figure out how big you want your mouth to be, and crochet that amount of SC.  (Ex:  If you want it 14 SC long, then make a 14 SC chain, then count 14 SC and attach at the new spot)  Continue SC rows until you have desired height (minus closing).

Step 5: Closing your monster head.  There are different ways to do it.
--The way I chose was to do decrease rounds until I reached 6SC total, and then close using a decrease stitch using first and fourth SC.
--Another way to close would be to just sew across the top or to reduce some and sew across the top.  The across the top sewing would be for a more boxy shaped head.

Step 6: Decorate your monster.  I added horns, arms, and eyes.
--To make eyes: Ch2; Rd 1= 4 SC in ch that is second from hook.  Increase until you have the width you want.  (I did 4, 8, 12) Then, 1 plain SC round to make eyes pop out.  For the eyes, I'm pretty sure I used the smaller D hook.  I added plastic safety eyes, but you could also do yarn, felt, etc.
--To make the horns, I used a smaller D hook.  I think I started with 4 SC, but I cannot remember.
--To make arms, I used the same size hook as the body (F), and did the following: Ch 2; Rd 1= 6 in ch that is second from hook; Rd 2= 2 SC, Sc (9); Rds 3-9= SC (9)

Step 7:  I added a button and yarn to close off my monster's mouth, so that my hooks wouldn't fall out easily.

Update: This post was featured on We Made That Linky #53.

Amigurumi Fish Plush

My littlest nephew is all about fish right now, so I decided to make a fish plush for him.  I searched all over the web for a free fish pattern that I liked, but I couldn't find one.  During my search, I kept happening upon a cute and easy looking fish pattern by Stacey Trock.  I finally broke down and purchased her Willy the Fish pattern.  As always, her pattern was an easy one to follow.  (Note:  I'm not currently getting any payment for my viewpoint about her patterns, but I sure wouldn't mind it if she decided to let me have 1 or 2 free patterns for it. )

I made a green and blue fish with a yellow mouth for my nephew.   In this picture, you can see the various parts that comprise the fish.  Each shape was fairly simple to make.

This fish has baby safe eyes because my nephew is under 3 years old.  Instead of a SC magic ring for the eyes, I used black yarn and sewed it through several times in the location where the plastic eye would have been.

My nephew seemed to like his new fish plush.  He smiled and hugged him, which totally made my day.




While I was at it, I went ahead and made another fish.  The second fish features a multicolored body, dark blue fins, and a green mouth.  I used plastic safety eyes for this one.


Here are its parts:

and here are some pics of the finished product:

I really like how my fish plushies turned out. This project was fairly quick and pretty easy, and the finished result was so cute.

Update:  This project was featured on Stitch by Stitch: Anything Goes Quilt 'n Sew #31.

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.