Elf on the Shelf- Ninja Turtle Hat crochet pattern

When we woke up this morning, the kids and I found that our elves Jinglebella and Cookie Monster must have had some extra time last night-- they borrowed Mama's crochet hooks and yarn and made themselves hats to match our winter gear!
We found them sitting on the mantle showing off their new hats and... we also found their pattern notes. I am sure they wouldn't mind if we shared the pattern in case any other elves out there with the internet would like to look like a Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle too! I wonder-- do elves get dressed up for Halloween??
In any case, here is the pattern!


This pattern is worked in the round.
Use a stitch marker at the end of the round to keep your place.
Pattern was designed for elves that like to hide their elf hat under other hats. If your elf doesn't wear a hat usually, you can probably skip Round 5.
Made using Worsted Weight yarn and a F (3.75mm) hook but please note crochetter is known to crochet rather tight so you may want to go up a hook or two to a G or H.


Terms are in American Crochet Standard
ch - chain
sc - Single crochet


Using Green yarn
Round 1- ch2. 6sc into the first ch (6 sc)
Round 2- 2sc in each sc around (12 sc)
Round 3- *2sc in the first sc, 1sc in the next sc*; repeat around (18 sc)
Round 4- *2sc in the first sc, 1sc in the next 2 sc* repeat around (24 sc)
Round 5- *2sc in the first sc, 1sc in the next 3 sc* repeat around (30 sc)
Round 6- *2sc in the first sc, 1sc in the next 2 sc* repeat around (40 sc)
Rounds 7-12- Sc around in each sc (40 sc)
Cut yarn and finish off.
Round 13- Attach your ninja color (red, orange, purple, or blue) Sc around in each sc (40 sc)
Round 14- sc in the next 8 sc; ch 8, skip 3sc and sc in the next sc around (34 sc and 2 CH8 spaces)
Cut yarn and finish off.
You could attach a bit of the ninja color to the back of the hat to tie a knot (like a bandana would have). This step is optional.

Valentine's Day - Date Ideas

A few years ago we posted 60 Date Ideas as well as lots of activities to do together as a couple or with your family. Today I want to add to that list with some more ideas to help you figure out what to do this Valentine's Day and any day, really! 

Here are 25 more activities or date ideas to add to your date jar:

1. Brewing company tour (there are so many!) 
2. Take a pottery class
3. Plant Nite
4. Wine tasting 
5. Decorate cupcakes and have someone judge who made the best one
6. Kickboxing class
7. Try a ballroom dance lesson 
8. Go ice skating
9. Batting cage practice
10. Visit a nearby theme park/amusement park 
11. Try a woodworking class - there are plenty of free ones at Lowes and Home Depot
12. Go to a crafting class - Michaels and Joanns offer many different kinds
13. Host a game night - my favorite! 
14. Go to mall and buy eachother an outfit to wear out to dinner
15. Get a couple's massage or give one to each other
16. Visit dog park or animal shelter - many shelters let you come and walk the puppies 
17. Indoor rock climbing
18. Paintball
19. Escape the Room - grab some other couples to help you!
20. Visit a zoo or aquarium - there may be several in your area
21. Go to a sports game - high school, college, professional - whatever! 
22. Check out a comedy show
23. Go to an indoor pool or indoor water park
24. Horse back riding 
25. Go fishing or take a boat ride 

Na na na na na na. Na na na na na na na. Home Dec!

We are always looking for cool art for our walls that accent our interests and that are interesting. I stared something in my family room that I call “The Nerd Wall”. On it, I plan to hang different pieces of pop culture that each member of the family loves. In some cases, maybe only one of us love the show or icon and in other cases, it could be a family obsession.

Like Batman.

We love Batman.

Out in the cyber world, I came across an image on Pinterest that layered comic book pages and classic Batman fight imagery like “BAM” and “POW”. I have also seen floating all over the internet the reemergence of String Art so I thought… why not marry the two? (after all, my Nerd Wall is only so large!)

The sisters and some of our friends like to get together from time to time for a Pinterest Party where we all do our own thing to put a different spin on a common project. This month, we chose to do string art and I was set with my plan!

The first step- head to Home Depot and gather supplies. Doing the projects as a group, we are able to buy the supplies together and save a few bucks. The awesome people at my local store are more than happy to cut down a large board for you into whatever sizes you like (as long as they aren’t too small and thus unsafe to cut on their large saw set up). In addition to the boards, we needed paint (if you wanted that), nails, and string. When choosing the nails, I would recommend thinking about if you want a large nailhead showing on your design or if you would like the nails to sort of disappear into the string and overall image.

You will want to prep your board with paint, stain, or in my case with comic pages prior to starting the actual string art process. I cut panels out from two comics that a friend gave me (damaged by his pets) and used spray adhesive to lay down the pages and a sealer to cover the pages when I was done. Comic pages are glossy so I didn’t have to worry about color bleeding.

Once you have your supplies you can use a template to trace your design or just freehand it like one member of our group did. I used a template and nailed along the edge of the Bat Symbol using the width of a pencil to keep the nails as evenly spaced as I could. After I had my nails set, I ripped off my paper template and set to wrapping my string. I like the look of multiple string layers but wrapped erratically in a random pattern. When you like the way the design looks, tie off your string on a nail in a knot and cut the excess off.

I added saw tooth hangers to the back and I was ready to mount it to the wall. I love how it turned out and it is my starting piece for my new art collection. I love adding homemade art to our home; it really personalizes the room and I am able to make exactly what I want!

Valentine's Day Crafting: More Decorations

I'm back again with more Valentine's Day decorations. I'm having a ton of fun putting these together.

First, the kids and I started painting wooden pieces we got at Michael's. My little man did a great job on his love birdhouse. 

I painted two signs. One I painted white and then went over loosely with gold paint. 

The second one was in the shape of a heart and I went over it in several shades of pinks and then again in red to give it a streaky-stripe look. 

Using the Silhouette Cameo, I cut out a quote from Beauty and the Beast for the first sign to go along with a painting I have on my mantle right now. 

 

I used more of that fun gold glitter vinyl for the word "Love" on the heart. It is so sparkly! I'm going to put a hanger on the back so I can hang this heart up on the wall. 

Next I cut out our names on vinyl and adhered them to these great little mailboxes I found in Target in the dollar bins. I'm going to put little love notes in there for the boys to read on Valentine's Day. 

Here is part of my mantle with the painting I mentioned previously! (Painting With a Twist). 

That's all for now! We are decorated! 

Valentine's Day Crafting - Decorations

All the Christmas decorations are officially away. My house looks empty without them. Valentine's Day is  less than a month away I am itching to keep it looking nice and decorated with lots of hearts and pink and red things! 

The first project I worked on was a Tulle Wreath: 

I started with a wire wreath from Michael's, scissors, lots of tulle in different colors, and a Be Mine hanging decoration I bought at the dollar store years ago. I normally just have that on the front door but this year I want a full wreath! 

Using my measuring cutting mat that is on my desk, I cut 6 inch pieces of tulle and just tied them in knots going around the wreath on the outside circle. I didn't do a pattern or follow any order, I just grabbed whatever color and went with it. 

Then I began tying them to the inside circle. It was time consuming but if you cut all your tulle beforehand and put on your current Netflix binge-watch you are good to go! 

Here is mine all done and on my crazy bright door. It is so full and fluffy and pink! 

What I love about the tulle wreaths is that you can do some for any season in any colors. I got the idea from the Santa wreaths we made at a Pinterest Party recently. They were amazing. 

Shadowbox Fun

There are so many things you can do with Shadow Boxes! I love using the one we got for our Bridal Shower for beer caps in our bar area. My husband and I like trying out different beers and it is fun to see the different colors and types collecting in the shadow box. 

This weekend, we got together to make our own Ticket Shadow Box and Memorabilia Shadow Box using our Silhouette Cameo and some Cricut Brand Gold Glitter Vinyl. 

I wouldn't say we are experts on the process, but we like to try things out and make new things. Shannon made the ticket holder for her ever-growing collection of various ticket stubs. I love this idea and wish I hadn't tossed all old movie tickets recently! 

I believe the size of this shadow box is 11x12 and should hold a good amount of tickets. Some patterned paper on the back of the box worked out nicely with the very sparkly lettering on the front using the Rio Grande font. You can't tell in the picture but I'm telling you this is very sparkly gold! 

Look how cute it is with all the tickets inside! I spy a ticket from 1999 in there - I bet it isn't even the oldest one. 

My shadow box was much smaller at 8x8. I used map paper as my background and thought I'd use the shadow box to hold little bits of memorabilia from my adventures this year.  I used a couple of different fonts to get the words and arrow and I love how it turned out. Glittery gold over pretty blue. Love. 

Now I have to go do things so I can use it! 

Valentines Day Crafting - Cards

 Happy New Year! I'm excited to start the year off getting crafty. Right now I am already preparing for Valentine's Day. I wanted to make my husband and my son a card and I ended up making several options! I don't typically make cards or use stamps but I had fun giving it a try. 

I also made some Printable Valentines to give to my little niece and nephews. You can download them here if you like!

I looked around and found some really cute free printable Valentine's Day Cards and thought I'd share my favorites from my search!

These Sweetheart Valentines from BunnyCakes are simple and adorable! 

These Lego Movie Valentines from Todaysmama are fantastic!

I adore these simple heart Valentines from the Red Kitchen. 

I found a couple Star Wars Valentines! My favorite is from AGrandeLife. Aren't they cute?

That's all for now! Check back for some more Valentine's Day crafting coming up in the next few weeks!