Colourful Flower Garland

I had an idle holiday last week in the ward, I made this simple flower garland to leave behind. I used 8 ply acrylic and a 4mm hook, it took me a couple of hours when I was bored with nothing better to do. It now hangs in the art room at my private holiday resort :P.

a colourful flower garland made with 8 ply acrylic and a 4 mm hook

Rainbow Triangle Bunting

I finished the bunting today, its turned out ok. It's been really hard to get a photo that shows it off well though! Here are two shots that show the colours and where its going to hang. I used the 3 round triangle pattern which is on this blog as a free pattern. I used 8 ply cotton from Bendigo and a 4mm hook. It was fun, I think I might make some more!

a rainbow of cotton colours for this triangle bunting

the bunting is to be hung on our patio

Triangle Bunting in Progress

I don't remember why I started this project, I just thought it might be nice to put up some bunting at our next party. I wanted to use the colours I had, so made a few triangles using the free pattern I've posted about before. When I made four triangles in these colours, I realised if I only had two more colours I would have a rainbow! So I have finally ordered some more yarn in teal and purple to complete the rainbow. I haven't bought yarn since Nov 2013 so it should be ok! I have soooo much yarn in my stash there is more than I could use in a life time I reckon, so buying new yarn is a bit of a luxury!


the triangle for this bunting is on this blog as a free pattern

I've started bordering the triangles in white, I will be joining them together in white also. I'm just doing a row of sc, for the corner its (2 sc ch 1 2 sc). Hopefully the finally product will look good, I think it should look ok, and I will post about it soon. Well soon after the cotton arrives from Bendigo!

Spring Blooms Garland

I made up some cute flowers to sell as embellishments in my online shop, along with some leaves which I made following the pattern from Easy Makes Me Happy. But I couldn't help myself, I felt I had to make something with them to show what could be done with them.

Spring Blooms garland on a white cot

Spring Blooms on a single bed head

So I joined them up to make a "Spring Blooms" mini-garland. This one is not as long as the "Love Grows" garland which has leaves as well as hearts. This Spring Blooms mini-garland is only one metre long, and is intended to be used a decoration of smaller places.

my own flower pattern, with some leaves from Easy Makes Me Happy

From Madeit with Love - Love Grows Garland

I just listed this "Love Grows" mini-garland in my madeit store for a charity fundraiser. I had originally planned to have it in my shop in time for Valentine's, but the fundraiser was all the prompting I needed to get it finished.

fresh from my crafting basket is this "Love Grows" mini-garland which I made for a charity fundraiser

I started by making the hearts using my favourite heart pattern from Suzie's Stuff. Next I did the leaves from Easy Makes Me Happy. The most tedious task was sewing in all the ends of 9 leaves and 8 hearts. Then I finally joined them together with green chain to make a vine of growing love!

you can drape garlands on your favourite things for decoration, like on this piano

There are 15 chains between each motif, and the loops at each end are 20 chains. I went back along the chain with sl st to reinforce it. The loops at each end allow the mini-garland to be tied up to display.

1.45m long garland with loops at each end so it can be hung up to display

The fundraiser is for a charity raising money to help a family who recently lost their mum in a tragic car accident. Tammy Boorer lived in Toowoomba which isn't far from me, and she was a fellow crafter on madeit, so this story made it especially sad for me so I decided to participate in the fundraiser.

Festive Star Garland

I made this up quickly to put on our Christmas tree. The ends of this thick arcylic ribbon are hard to weave in, so I did the whole garland in one take.

Festive Star Garland is made with one piece of yarn

I began with 15 ch then sl st to form a loop for hanging. I then did another 15 ch, then another 2 more to start the first star. 9 dc into the 2nd ch from hook formed the first round of the first star. Round two begins with 4 ch then 2 dc into the same, then I continued with my 5 pointed star pattern. To end, I did 1 dc into the same as the 1st 2 dc then sl st into the first ch sp. Another sl slst and you are at the tip of the first point so able to do another 15 ch for the garland. This way you don't have to fasten off for each and every star, but just do the whole thing with one piece of yarn.

the underside of a star so it can be made in one take

Merry Christmas!

Bunting Flags, free pattern

I've made some improvements on the first lettered bunting I did for my son's room, which had his name Thomas on it. After my first bunting, I decided the lettering should all be in the one colour and in capital letters so its easier to read.

Happy Birthday bunting

This bunting has a flag shape instead of a triangle shape, to allow a square space for the capital letters to fit. Once you've made all your bunting flags, you join them together with a couple of rows of sc, with loops at both ends to make it easier to hang. After I had finished these, I ironed them to make them lay flat. Because I used brightly coloured acrylic, they need to be ironed as they can't be blocked like natural fibres.

letters are all in white and are capital so they stand out and are easy to read

Bunting Flags with contrast edging
worked in rows, with one round edge, gauge not important other than to be consistent across the project
1. ch 21 (21st ch counts as 1st sc), sc into 3rd ch from hook, sc into each chain to end, turn (20 sc)
2. ch 1 sk 1 (counts as 1st sc throughout), sc into next and each st to end (including starting chain of the prev. row throughout), turn (20sc)
3-20. repeat 2nd row until you have 20 rows
21. ch 1 sk 1, sk next, sc into next and into ea st to end, turn (19 sc)
22. ch 1 sk 1, sk next, sc into next and into ea st to end, turn (18 sc)
23. ch 1 sk 1, sk next, sc into next and into ea st to end, turn (17 sc)
24-39. cont. as above, decreasing every row by 1 sc
40. ch 1 sk 1 sl st into starting ch of prev. row, fasten off
41. in contrast colour (I chose white), weave in ends into edging, sc into ea starting ch or last sc of every row, with 3 sc into each of the 3 corners, sc into ea of the 20 ch of row 1., fasten off and sew in end
42. with contrast colour (I chose white), place the yarn on the wrong side of the flag and pull through with hook to sl st your letter, when the letter requires you to back track, estimate how much yarn you need for the letter and cut (I allow at least 3 x the length of the remaining letter), thread onto yarn needle and sew on the wrong side until your yarn is where you need it to be to continue your letter

Rainbow Bunting

I finished this easy, fun project on Thursday night, I've been working on it between other projects. Perhaps my friend will like it and want me to make her one?

Rainbow Bunting

Using a 4mm hook and some brightly coloured cheap acrylic made in China, I started by making the triangles with a starting row of 20 sc. Every 3rd row is a decreasing row, otherwise if you decrease every row the triangle is too stout, and straight on one side if you decrease every 2nd. The dark blue row on top is sc with a row of slip stitch to reinforce it, with loops at each end so its easy to hang. This was fairly simple to make up, although perhaps next time I might do all capital letters as I think the small letters don't look great. I attempted to block these first with a simple wash and pin to a foam board, which didn't work with this acrylic. I finally flattened it with steam blocking.

he doesn't sleep there, but oh well ...

I hope I get a chance to do a matching "Happy Birthday" bunting in time for Tom's birthday in December. For now, I'll hang this rainbow bunting over his cot. Which, mind you, he doesn't sleep in, he just plays with his toys in there while I have a shower ... oh yes, we have the toddler in our big bed. Fun times.

Love Heart Spagetti Garland

I was at a loss as to what I could make to go inside the tiny red sauce pot I was going to give my husband for Valentine's Day (he loves to cook, and if you do too, make sure you check out his cooking blog Dave's Home Cooking). After making tiny heart garlands over the last few days, I finally came up with the idea of making one that resembled spagetti to put in his little pot!

love heart spagetti garland in a pot

I can't believe I got almost everything done that I wanted to get done by Valentine's Day! The only thing I would have liked to have made that I didn't get to do, is to make my own homemade gift paper, but I ended up grabbing some from the store. Not as nice I know but, oh well, something had to give!

This garland is a lot bigger than the other heart garlands I've made which are 'tiny'. In this one there are 12 red hearts all up and it's over 2 metres long, it's red and white colours make it a good Christmas decoration. For the hearts I used my 3.5mm hook for the thick red cotton hearts, and my 3mm hook for the white 4 ply cotton spagetti. I didn't realise until after I started that I didn't have enough of the thick white cotton to do the spagetti and decided the 4 ply would be ok. There are 30 ch between each heart and 5 ch from heart cheek to cheek. Loops at each end make this garland easy to hang up as a decoration.

love heart spagetti garland design by Teena Sutton Murphy

I also had a chance to make up a rustic Valentine's card for my hubby while he was watching a movie and the baby was napping. You have to make hay while the sun shines! I quickly made up a cute little card in a rustic style, by first tracing 2 hearts onto card using a cookie cutter. Then I cut them out and sewed them together with blanket stitch and red thread. Finally I used baby's crayons to make a rustic heart on the front and a special message inside.

making a love heart card using a cookie cutter

Its not as nice as the handmade greeting cards my mum makes, but I like to make one myself for my husband on Valentine's Day. Its just a little special thing that's nice to do. Even if my card ended up very  "rustic"!

a rustic handmade Valentine's card

Turquoise Heart Garland Love Charm

beaded turquoise tiny heart garland

I made this beaded turquoise heart garland for a friend as a birthday gift, it can be used as a lucky love charm for the bedroom, or as a Christmas tree decoration like the red heart garland I have made. Its also similar to the tiny blue heart garland I made the other day. This one is 70cm long.

Do you ever make something that seems to make itself? It just mysteriously comes into being and you don't know how the design occured? This is what happened here! I've been wondering for a couple of weeks how to incorporate these beads into something I could give my friend for her birthday. They fell off her bracelet when she picked up my baby and he grabbed at it. All the beads fell to the floor of the coffee shop we were at, she told me not to bother to pick them up, but being a thrifty crafty person, I couldn't just leave a bunch of perfectly good beads lying there now could I?

close-up of a tiny turquoise heart

I was thinking of making a small bag with a beaded edge, then I thought of a beaded jug cover. I've even bought the netting to go in the middle, but when I tried it out it didn't work too well. I think I'll leave making jug covers for another time! I don't know how the idea of this heart garland came to me today (Friday), but my friend's birthday is on Valentine's Day so she needed a heart garland, didn't she?

I pulled out all my 4 ply cottons to find a colour that might suit the turquoise beads. On my desk was a pile of colours that were possibilities. I decided upon the glittery turquoise as it was quite a good match and made my first heart, using my favourite little heart pattern at Suzie's Stuff. Then I remembered the tiny pink hearts I made the other day and put one beside it. I realised the other colours I had piled there would look good, so I made a heart each of those. I put the pink one back and found these remaining seven colours went well with the beads as a group. I fastened off each tiny heart using a yarn needle. I'm glad I decided to do different coloured hearts as I think they would have got lost if the whole thing was the one colour.

I then did the joining chain using the glittery turquoise. Each end has 50 ch, with a loop for hanging. In between each heart is 20 ch on which I threaded 3 beads. I counted up all the beads and allocated the beads so every one was used. This was the first time I've crochet with beads and it wasn't too difficult, I used my tinyiest .75mm hook to get the thread through the beads. For the rest of it I used my 1.75mm hook. The ch is attached to each heart at each cheek with a sc and 4 ch in between, with another bead.

Its something frivolous, a cheery thing to bring good luck, I hope my friend likes it!

a lucky love charm or Christmas decoration

Tiny Blue Heart Garland

tiny heart garland design by Teena Sutton Murphy

After I made a pink heart garland the other night, I just had to make a matching blue one for my husband's bedside lampshade as well! These tiny garlands are just under 55cm long, and I used my 1.75mm hook and some 4ply cotton.

I made this one the same as the tiny pink heart garland I posted about yesterday. Again there are 6 hearts, with 20 ch in between each. One heart is at the end of the chain, at the other end is a loop to form a circle. Just slip the heart at the other end through the loop. These hearts follow my favourite little heart pattern from Suzie's Stuff. The most tedious part of making this garland is the fastening off of the tiny hearts, threading each end of yarn through a yarn needle and through the work to hide it.

I've designed these tiny and cute garlands to be lucky love charm decorations for the bedroom. They could hang off bed posts or windows. Ours hang around our lampshades. Awwww, that's lovey dovey! And just in time too, for Valentine's Day is in just a couple more days!

Tiny Pink Heart Garland Charm

On a whim, and because I'm getting into the Valentine's Day spirit, I whipped up these 3 tiny hearts. Aren't they sweet? I followed my favourite tiny heart pattern at Suzie's Stuff, using my 1.5mm hook and a pretty variegated cotton my mum gave me.

tiny pink heart garland design by Teena Sutton Murphy

I didn't know what I would use them for. I was wondering if I could make a pair of dangly crochet heart earrings like the ones I saw at a craft site. I have the equipment to make them, but its been ages since I've done earrings and I've forgotten how to do it! I'll have to ask my parents how as they were the ones who showed me in the first place. Making jewellery is their business at Feather's Nest, now called Bead Supplies Australia.

three tiny crochet hearts

So with the earrings idea abandoned, last night I made up a few more pink hearts and joined them together into a tiny garland! This is very similar to the first tiny red heart garland I made.There are 6 hearts in all, one end of the chain has a heart on it, the other end has a small loop. This way the chain can be lopped around the last heart to secure it into a circle.

close-up of how the tiny garland forms a circle

I think it's rather cute, if I do say so myself! This can be used as a lucky love charm decoration in the bedroom. I think I might hang mine around my bedside lampshade!

It's never hard for me to make a post that happens to be pink, so this Saturday I'm linking in with my old favourite blog party "Pink Saturday" at How Sweet the Sound. Check it out!

Tiny Red Love Heart Garland

tiny red love heart garland

I made this tiny red love heart garland, thinking it would be a Christmas decoration, but we kind of skipped Christmas this year, so now it decorates David's computer!

For this garland, I simply made tiny love hearts in between 24 chains, using Suzetta's love heart pattern. It turned out to be trickier than I anticipated because the tiny hearts sometimes turned out bigger than the first one. I simply redid them until I got 6 about the same size.

our small living Christmas tree decorated with a tiny garland

We have a tiny Christmas tree that I thought this garland would look nice on, but because I ended up in hospital this Christmas we didn't get around to putting it up. Our Christmas tree is a small Norfolk Pine sapling I saved from our garden, it's about a year old.

Now this love heart garland is stuck to David's pc as a lucky love charm! We can think of it as an early Saint Valentine's Day decoration!