It's so shiny!

After making three dresses and 6 easter baskets in the past two weeks, I needed a break from the crochet hook. So, I sat down last night and threw this necklace together. It's not perfect, but I'm pleased with the outcome and look forward to wearing it.

What's a new necklace without earrings, anyway?

Hair Clips

I love that there are so many fun options when it comes to hair accessories. Here are a few clips I made this week.

A-line child's dress

After studying out a lot of different patterns for little girl's dresses, I finally decided to just make my own pattern. I am proud to present the finished results:

Back View:

I deliberately made the straps and the top adjustable for better fit. Hopefully, they will also be able to wear them longer. The flowers on the tops of the dresses are sewn onto hair clips so that they are removable and can be used as an optional hair accessory.

I wish I could lay the pattern out for you right here, but I am still in the process of trying to make it make sense to someone other than me!

Easy Easter Cards

I absolutely love these great paper flowers. They work up in no time at all and can be used to adorn anything!! They are so pretty, you don't need anything else! This foldable envelope pattern works great as a card in and of itself. It's small and slips perfectly into a small easter basket. If I had a link to a template, I'd share it, but it's something I made up on my own many years ago.

To make these great flowers, all you need is:

~papers of various colors and patterns

~scissors, regular or with patterned edges (optional)

~rhinestones, buttons, or sequins (optional)

~Step One~

Cut or tear the paper into various sizes of circles. You can use a stencil to draw the circles on the paper first if you want (I did), but perfect circles aren't necessary.

~Step Two~

Crumple the paper circles (individually is best) into little balls in your hand. Carefully unfold, then crumple one or two more times. Repeat with each circle.

~Step Three~

Layer the circles by size in any pattern you like, dabbing a bit of glue in between each.

~Step Four~

Glue the rhinestone, button, or sequin to the middle. I used a hot glue gun, but double sided tape or a glue dot would work as well. Viola! You're done. A beautiful card/ scrapbook embellishment for anytime!

Dainty Crochet Easter Eggs

A few years ago, a woman asked me to make snowflakes and other ornaments for her Christmas tree. I found a crochet pattern that was meant to go around a satin ball ornament. I crocheted it as instructed, but instead of putting it around a ball, I dipped it in starch and dried it on a balloon. I always thought that, by adding an extra round or two, they would make great Easter eggs, as well, especially considering the shape of a water balloon. So, when my sister asked me for Easter eggs for the sisters she goes Visiting Teaching to, I was thrilled to offer her these. And she was thrilled to recieve them! I'm not sure that she was able to part with them, though....

Crochet Spring Garland

This crochet garland is a great way to use up scraps of yarn, and it works up much more quickly than you would think. The butterflies were not in my original plan, but my fingers "stumbled" across the idea when I was crocheting a flower and ran out of that particular color of yarn. Without even realizing that I had, at first, I saw a butterfly in my fingers, rather than a flower with four petals!

Foam Easter Eggs

This is a very easy Easter tree decoration. These particular eggs are only about 2 inches, so they are great if you have one of those sweet little Easter trees. My mom found these glittery styrofoam eggs at either Michael's or Dollar Tree.

All you need is buttons, beads, rhinestones, and/ or easter and spring shaped confetti. I found confetti in tulip, butterly, and daisy shapes at Hobby Lobby for $0.99. Although I used a hot glue gun, if you are working with young ones, you can surely use white glue.