Crocheting doilies (or kitchen scrubbies)

Hello! 

It's been a while since my last post, but I hope you're doing well.

I crocheted these doilies in different colors using 100% acrylic yarns.

These can be used as doilies, coasters, or even as kitchen scrubbies

(or "eco tawashi" in Japanese).

For some of you who are not familiar with kitchen scrubbies made of acrylic yarns, or eco tawashi,  they work wonders with cleaning dishes, bathtub, shower etc., without using any soap detergents.  

If you're interested, I found an English tutorial for crocheting eco tawashi.  Actually, eco tawashi kitchen scrubbies can be made in any shape, color, or size, as long as it's made with 100% acrylic yarns.  

These eco tawashi made of 100% acrylic yarns works like microfiber when crocheted/knitted.  They are not only eco friendly, but also protects our hands from harsh detergents ;)

Even these apple coasters that I crocheted earlier can be used as eco tawashi, as these are also made of 100% acrylic yarns.

BTW it's the tax season and I'm starting to get a bit busy at work,
but crocheting small items as these really help keep my sanity.

I crocheted these in my car, at the kitchen table, at my computer desk, in my kids' room watching them do their homework...



For me, crocheting is very relaxing and enjoyable. 

And the best part is that a simple crocheting hook and a ball of yarn can come handy everywhere I go, and I can pick up wherever I left out even when I only have small chunk of time to spare...

Thanks for reading and happy crocheting!

Drawstring lunch bag set (ladybug version)

Here is something I made recently. 

It's a drawstring lunch bag made of Japanese cotton print, featuring... flowers and ladybugs!    It may be a bit hard to tell from the above pic, but those red circular spots on the print are ladybugs.  Pretty unique fabric, right?

The lunch bag lays flat like this when collapsed.

Here is the side view.  The handles are made of very sturdy cotton webbing.

Using some leftover fabric, I made a matching sandwich bag with velcro opening.
Can you see the ladybugs on this image?

 Opening area of the sandwich bag. 
Lining is made of vinyl covered cotton for easy cleaning.

The drawstring lunch bag and the matching sandwich bag will be a birthday gift to our family friend's daughter, who turned eight recently.

And the reason I used this fabric for the gift is because I learned that the birthday girl likes ladybugs, among other things...  Hope she likes the lunch bag set, too :)

Crocheted green apple coasters

I crocheted these green apple coasters recently, while I waited for

our girls' after school activities in the car...

The coaster matches well with a Japanese tea cup

that I like to use when drinking green tea...



Now I have both the red apples that I crocheted earlier,

and the newly added green apples :)

Hope you're enjoying your February days!

Cinnamoroll wristlet

This is something I quickly whipped up last night after my kids went to bed...

It's a Cinnamoroll wristlet/pencil pouch, made for a nine year old girl's birthday gift.

Cinnamoroll is a white puppy character from Japan, and every time my younger daughter (8 yrs) selects a fabric for her friend's gift, she picks this fabric (which I don't have much more left in my stash).

I really enjoy making handmade gifts for our girls and their friends,
but I just wish that my kids give me a longer notice...

Lining and zipper is light blue.



For instance, it was past 9 p.m. last night (Friday night) when my eight year old told me that she needs a gift for her friend by next morning (which is today)...!
Talk about short notices around here :(

Bottom view

Our girls goes to a Japanese school on every Saturday mornings, and I guess she wanted to bring her friend a gift to school today, which she had forgotten about it until late last night...

My daughter quickly wrote up a birthday card this morning, placed it inside the wrapping bag along with the handmade wristlet, and the gift was ready to go!

I hope the nine year old recipient likes the gift... :)

Thanks for reading and hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Do you know Rilakkuma??

Do you know Rilakkuma?

Basically, he is a popular toy bear character from Japan.

He loves easy life and enjoys relaxing and lying around all day long...

There are many character goods featuring Rilakkuma sold in Japan,

and our girls like this bear character, too.

So, per request from our daughters, I made these drawstring bags 

with applique of Rilakkuma faces on the front.



I picked up white and black fleece from my stash for these bags,

and for the Rilakkuma faces, I used felts.

I appliqued the felt Rilakkuma faces on to fleece bag with hand stitching.

These may look like regular teddy bear faces to you, but I tried my best

to resemble Rilakkuma's face... 

Brown Rilakkuma

Grey Rilakkuma

By the way, these fleece drawstring bags (featuring Rilakkuma) are used to hold these "hotties" or hot water bottle holders for bed at night time.

We like to use these "hotties" for bed when we go to sleep.

They keep our feet warm throughout the night and they keep our utility bills low, too!

Now, our girls are sleeping with these Rilakkuma covered "hotties" every night in bed...

I hope they sleep tight with good dreams of Rilakkuma... maybe?



Hexagon book cover



I handstitched a hexagon flower applique on to the paperback cover.

The navy book cover itself is a store bought item from years before (not my handmade).

The book cover size is approximately 4.25 inches x 6.5 inches (when closed).
This book cover fits the Japanese paperbacks perfectly.

By the way, did you know that the Japanese books are read vertically in columns going from top to bottom, ordering from right to left?  

And unlike English books that are binded from left-to-right, the Japanese books are binded from right-to-left... which means that when you open the front cover of the Japanese book, you will use your right hand thumb instead of your left hand thumb to flip the page...

Well, thank you for reading and I hope you have a good weekend,
my dear crafty friends!

Reusable sandwich bags for our girls

Here is something that I sewed up a few weeks ago,

but haven't had a chance to post it here on my blog, because our girls have been using them all the time.

These are reusable sandwich bags, measuring approximately 7 inches x 7 inches, that  can hold sandwiches, tacos, hamburgers, and even rice balls inside snugly ;) 

Outside is 100 %cotton, and inside is vinyl coated cotton, which can be easily wipe cleaned or machine washed. 

The velcro closure is very convenient, and most of all, they're reusable and eco-friendly!

Our girls packed their lunches inside these bags today,

and they will bring them to school again tomorrow :)

Crocheted apple coasters

This week, I crocheted these apple coasters in my spare time, using some leftover acrylic yarns that I found from my yarn stash.

Yes, on top of the piles of fabric stash I own, I also own a few boxes of yarn stash... And this year, I am willing to tackle my fabric and yarn stash to use more and buy less...

Well, I guess I will still continue to buy some, but I will definitely try to minimize my fabric and yarn inventory level and to limit the re-ordering cycle.  Hmmm... am I starting to sound like an accountant?  Which indeed, I am! ha ha (lol)

Anyways, the apple coaster is a perfect size to hold this pretty blue polka dots mug cup that I received from my eight year old daughter.  She saved her allowance to buy me this cup at a local dollar store for Christmas, which was very thoughtful for her :)

Few years back, when I first self taught how to crochet (from many crochet books), one of my biggest hurdles was to learn how to crochet into round (like this one).

But after many trial and errors, now I've mastered how to do this without even looking at instructions.  I've been wanting to crochet since I was a teenager, and it took me some 20+ years to finally able to learn how, but I guess it's never too late to learn something new :D

Thanks for reading and hope you have a good weekend!!

Crocheted iPhone cozy with *shimmery* yarn

Yesterday, I crocheted this iPhone cozy for my new iPhone.

After several months (or even years) of consideration, I finally replaced my old cell phone with the iPhone, and I can't be happier.  (Although I realize that I'm just too low-tech to be the latest smart phone user myself...:P

I love glittery and shimmery items, so I used this shimmery yarn (in silver) that I got from our local Joann store to make this iPhone cozy.  It's really a pretty yarn with lots of shimmer!

I began crocheting on Saturday afternoon...

But after several rows of crocheting, I realized that the size was too big for my iPhone,

so I had to unravel everything and start all over again, which is very common when I crochet :P

With my second attempt, a snugly fitting iPhone cozy was completed several hours later...  Phew.

Side view

I used a lace covered button to hold the handle on one side.

I think this handmade *shimmery* silver iPhone cozy matches perfectly with my *shimmery* silver bag that I use everyday.  (See, I told you I love shimmery things...!)



I love to make small items like this one with crochet.
  It simply gives me a sense of accomplishment even when I'm too busy to tackle larger projects.


Well,  thanks for visiting and hope you have a good week!!

 

Hello 2011 (the year of rabbit)

Hello everyone and hello 2011!

Hope you had a relaxing and joyful new year holiday.   I'd been away from blogging (and crafting) for a while, but I'm so glad to be back :)

As you may already know, 2011 is the year of rabbit.   I wanted to make something relating to rabbits, so last night I quickly handcarved this rabbit stamp.

I plan to make some coasters using these stamped linen squares.

Away from crafting, I wanted to show you our Japanese style new year food that we had for this new year celebration...  

For us Japanese, new year celebration is one of the most important holidays. 

 Family members get together and spend time together, with special kind of food, known as "osechi" (お節料理), which are mainly cooked veggies, beans, chesnuts, eggs, meat, and fish.  We also eat lots of "mochi" or rice cakes.  (It may be hard to see, but "mochi" in soup is shown below image in the lower center).

I prepared all this food myself... well, actually not all, but most of them ;)

Following the Japanese tradition, I packed the "osechi" or the new year dishes,
in a Japanese style lacquer box like this one.



When opened, the food is literally "packed" inside.

Because I tend to cook too much new year food, I delivered a couple of these new year food in a box to our friends and neighbors for this new year.

And in return for the food I brought over, we got this roast beef dish from my friend :)

  I love this kind of cooked food exchange...  So delicious and fun!

And this sushi was prepared by another family friend. 

She is about the age of my mom (in her sixties) and also a great cook!  We got this sushi on the night of new year's eve and they looked so yummy that we couldn't wait until the next day (or the new year's day) so we ate most of them on the night before the new year's day... It was that good!

 

Rabbits are fertile animals, and they are considered as lucky symbol in Japan. 
Hope your 2011 is filled with love, happiness, good health, wealth... and of course, with lots of crafting time!!