If you're not aware already, yarn-bombing is street art composed of yarn-based crafts (mainly knitting and crochet). Today, June 11th, is international yarn-bombing DAY!

I discovered yarn-bombing a few months ago, but the lazy person in me waited until three days before the "official day" to make a plan. Originally, I planned to knit basic pieces and cover the tree with them. Fast-forward, to yesterday afternoon, I realized there was no chance I was going to finish. SO, I unraveled the bits that I had knitted, tied the different colors together, rolled them into a ball, then unrolled them around the trunk of the tree in front of my house. I also made pom-poms with a crocheted chain and hung them from the branches. I'm pretty proud considering how quickly the idea/process came out. I know yarn-bombing is typically more...risky? (like graffiti), but I wasn't really willing to offend anyone, other than confuse a few non-crafty neighbors. 

Funny Story: I set it up last night at about 10 PM, and the few people outside mostly ignored me or didn't notice. Two of my neighbors were talking pretty loudly across the street, and then suddenly began to whisper. I just assumed they were talking about the strange figure on the other side of the street, wrapping yarn around a tree because all I heard was the word "weird". 

PICS!:

Tree4 by LTMinCA, on Flickr
^Nighttime shot of the finished tree.


Tree6 by LTMinCA, on Flickr
^Day after, me with my precious work of art.

If you want more pictures/info of my tree, please visit my blog.

(Crochet or Bag Section? I'm not really sure.)

Have you ever started a project and have it come out COMPLETELY different than when you started. I started with the intention to make this. Then I thought wouldn't a flat version be cool on a bag? So I crocheted a cross-body flapped bag. But, the crocheted robot on a crocheted bag didn't appeal to me. So, I cut up some felt, an old shoe lace, and sewed it on. TA-DA!: Robot Bag. BUT, I didn't attach the limbs, so when I walk, they wiggle!

robotbag2 by LTMinCA, on Flickr
^Close up


robotbag5 by LTMinCA, on Flickr
^Me happy (I swear I am; I just dislike photos) with my new bag

I have a tendency to post too many pics on Craftster posts, so IF you want more photos they're available here.

I would love comments and/or helpful advice you have. Thanks for clicking!

No, I could not come up with a better title than that.

I believe this is my first post in this category! Please don't kill me.

To save money on yarn recently (I'm a knitter mostly, but I drift over to the crocheting world on occasion), I have been unraveling my old projects. This sounds really terrible, but I'm unraveling the projects that have no meaning to me what so ever, like the scarf that started out with twenty stitches, and ended with thirty-four (my first project, a year or so ago). The hat below was formally that scarf.

It's my own pattern (but seriously, it's a hat...with a bow) and loosely inspired by http://cdn.is.bluefly.com/mgen/Bluefly/eqzoom85.ms?img=309066502.pct&outputx=738&outputy=700&level=1

crocheted hat 2 by LTMinCA, on Flickr


crocheted hat 3 by LTMinCA, on Flickr


crocheted hat 1 by LTMinCA, on Flickr

It was originally intended to be worn with the bow in front (like the inspiration) but it looks pretty good at the side too. Also, my head must be huge, because it's a lot less fitted on my mannequin. Hopefully, you get the idea.

[Step 1:]

Standing at about 1.5 feet...IT'S THE MAGAZINE MINI-TABLE!!

If you're like me you bought a bunch of 'get your best beach body' magazines in the spring. Well face it, it's late summer, you don't have the body but you DO have a pile of magazines. What do you do with them? Make an awesome table!



You Will Need

Magazines (I used about 10, but it depends on the size of them)
Glue gun + sticks (LOTS of them)
1 Wooden dowel or pencil
2 Serving trays (I got mine at the dollar store!)
glue-stick or tape
Mod Podge + brush (optional)

Step 1:

Roll up 1 magazine page around a dowel and secure with glue or tape.
Step 2:

Take the dowel out and flatten the tube.
Step 3:

Roll up the tube so it forms a short cylinder. Repeat steps 1-3 around your first rolled up tube.
Step 4:

Here is your rolled up tube cylinder. Make about 120 of them. Yes 120!
Step 5:

Divide your 120 rolls by 4 (table legs) and glue them on top of each other.
Step 6:

Clean your trays with a towel.
Step 7

This step is sort of optional: decoupage the trays. I thought it gave a good matched look to the table's legs.
Step 8

Once the glue from the decoupaging is dry, attach the legs to the table. This part is tricky and you might need a second person to hold up the legs while their being attached.

Once the glue is dry, you have your own table. BTW, I apologize for the terrible pictures, I am NOT a photographer, so thank you for reading.

...well sort of. I love reconstructing t-shirts but this is my first time posting them on Craftster. I was curious how many outfits I could make using all my t-shirt recons. The answer is eight, but I don't want to post them all here.







More can be found on my blog, http://luciapullingthread.blogspot.com/2010/04/blog-post.html

Ooh I'm super excited about this: I bought this cabinet at Goodwill for $10 about two or three months ago. It took me that long  to pick out colors. It was this beige color that I liked but it didn't really go with my colorful room, so I painted it.





And here is the original:

Thanks for reading. Comments appreciated!

[bag]

I decided to bold every time I say the word bag. :DThe idea came to me in the dream (seriously, I dreamt about the craftster challenge ): why not make a new bag out of old bags? Everything was on hand, I didn't buy anything to add to it. I'm pretty proud of my creation. (BTW, it is more durable than it looks)

Here it is: (the front (or back, however you look at it) was made from an old chip bag.

This shows the side which is gift bags folded into strips and woven together:

This shows the other side which is made from my collection of very colorful shopping bags:

Here is the back of the bag (ironed and woven grocery bags from Vons):

The Bottom of the bag (unironed woven grocery bags from Vons)

This shows the lining (black duct tape) and the handles (folded gift bags) of the bag


Thanks for reading. C&C welcome!

Sweatshirts are the warm equivalent of a t-shirt. So why not recon them?

My Creations:
This was an extra-large sweatshirt until I fitted it and added zippers to the sleeves:


This I got at the dollar store, I added a hood, gave the bottom a bubble shape, and fitted the sleeves (sorry my skin looks terrible right now)

Finally, (and probably my favorite) this one. I fitted the sleeves, cut off the top to make a boatneck shape and added a drawstring. (drawstrings are kind of my signature ) [BTW, it's not off center, i'm just wearing it that way]


C&C welcome. Thanks for reading.

I taught myself to knit about a month and a half ago. And since I don't have very many of the skills really needed to make nice stuff or the patience for a scarf, I make pouches and stuff. I'm somewhat proud of some of these, but I would like advice (from you more experienced knitters) on how to get better.

PICS:
First bag I made:

Shows the lining:

Cell Phone & Ipod Pouches:

My Favoritest Green Bag:

Shows The Unlined Inside:

2 Small coin purses:

A bag for my friend's bday and my first attempt (and fail) at a button hole [I'm gonna put a gift card in it so it seems less pathetic ]


Thanks for reading. Advice is much appreciated.

A few days ago, I bought this beautiful wooden jewelry cabinet at Goodwill, ($10!!!) thinking it would be a fun project to paint, and stencil and stuff. When I got home I realized I have no idea how to do so. So my questions are like "do I sand it first?" "What kind of paint do I use?" and most importantly "WHERE DO I START?" Here are the pictures of it, if that helps (BTW, the inside is felt, and I don't plan to change that). Any help what-so-ever would be awesome. Thanks for reading.