Bluebell Crafts

Archive for December, 2011

Many times, you have some free time to spend and you are confused as what to do then? There are many great ideas to utilize that time efficiently and creatively. One of them is making or designing some craft work. Craft is the art or skill of doing something in an artistic way. There are lots of craft ideas such as candle making, scrap booking, fabric painting, painting projects, knitting etc. Among these, knitting is the most favorite craft work for women and many of them love to knit soft toys such as dolls.

Requirements for making a knitted doll
The knitted doll is very soft and simple to make. You can make it with any soft yarn kept for baby clothing that will really make it a gift for your kid. For making this, you need to have scissors, darning needles, ruler, knitting needles of size 8, cream colored ball of yarn or nay other color of your preference, a piece of 5/16 blue sheer ribbon, 5/16 blue elastic.

Steps to make a knitted doll
1. You need to cast on 34 stitches with the help of soft colored yarn but remember to leave a 5 inch end that you will sew later.

2. You have to knit eight rows so that the bottom of the doll is formed.

3. Then, change the pattern to create the body of the doll and for this you need to knit one row, purl one row till you complete 62 rows.

4. Next, cast off your stitches and cut the knitted piece from the ball of yarn again leaving 5 inch that you will sew later.

5. Now thread your darning needle with any of the 5 inch end and sew the end in the closest side. This will later roll up the sides of the doll such that the stitching is not shown.

6. Again, thread your needle with remaining 5 inch end and sew it to the closest side so that you can roll up the knitted side to form the doll.

7. Once you have the knitted piece complete, you need to roll and shape it up in the form of a doll. You have to lay down the knitted piece front side down on your work surface but keep the backside facing you flat.

8. Next, roll the edges tightly starting from each end so that they meet in the middle but remember to keep each rolled side even in size.

9. Now, turn the knitted piece that you have rolled up over your work surface. This way, the rolled side should be facing your work surface and the other side with eight knitted rows towards you.

10. Then fold the rolled knitted piece almost in half and the edge of the side you have just folded should be touching the top edge of the eight knitted rows.

11. Next hold the folded knitted piece tightly with one hand and wrap elastic twice over the folded area nearly one and half inch down from the top. This will make the head of the doll and also secure the fold you made to form the body of the doll.

12. Now, partially unroll the folded over knitted piece below the elastic but you need to unroll the knitted piece till you get the resemblance of the arms on either side of the body and also knitted areas stretched between them.

13. Now, flip the partial unrolled portion below the elastic over the head. This will make a hood covering the head with rolled up arms near the elastic that divides and creates the neck and hands.

14. You need to cut 15 inch length of sheer blue ribbon and wrap this blue ribbon round the hood from back to front in same position as the elastic. You can tie a bow in the blue ribbon with the bow in front of the doll. You can trim the end of the ribbon at a slant.

Thus, you have a knitted doll that you can gift to your kids or decorate it as a craft work piece.

To know more, visit our recommended website craft-books.net

Your best friend from college is getting married. You’re the maid of honor. You’re thinking there is no way you’re going to get her a toaster or blender. Why not make her a bridal shower scrapbook?

Once the invitations are chosen, save one, completely filled out to put at the beginning of the scrapbook. When you send out the invitations, ask each guest to mail you one photo of the bride with the guest, along with a few sentences about how they know the bride, or a special moment they’ve shared with the bride. Another option is to have paper and pens available at the shower and have all of the guests write their thoughts while at the shower. For those guests who can not attend, it’s wonderful to have their photos and thoughts also. Since you want the paper to be acid free and lignin free, consider mailing the paper with the invitations.

Did the bride register at a particular store? Go to the store and take photos of the store, from the outside. If the bride goes with you, take photos of the bride standing outside of the store. If the store has a catalog, take a photo of the store catalog.

If the shower is held in a reception room, take several pictures before your guests arrive. If the shower is held in someone’s home, take photos of the outside of the house. Then take some photos of the decorated room prior to everyone arriving.

Are you serving food? If it’s prepared ahead of time, take photos of the table with all of the food on it.  Did guests bring the food? If so, provide them with paper to write down the recipe, which you can then include in the scrapbook you are making.

When the bride begins opening her gifts, try to take one photo of each gift. Jot down who gave her the gift and try to include a photo of the guest on the same page as the gift photo from that person. Make a point of getting at least one photo of each guest in attendance.

If you play any type of games that involve writing, try to use acid free, lignin free paper so that you can include the game sheets in the scrapbook.

If the bride has thank you notes, include a blank thank you note in the scrapbook, so that she’ll have the memory of what notes she used.

Using all of the above suggestions, you can create a very special memory for the bride to be and I guarantee that the bride will appreciate this scrapbook much more than a toaster or blender.