Lately I've been crazy over needlebooks and eversince I saw Paul's black precious needlebook he bought from his trip to Bangkok (Thanks to Paul for the measurements and the photos he took for my reference!) I wanted to make one. So for the granny square exchange, I decided to combine sewing and crochet for this project. Have a look...
I included some stash as required in the exchange. I gave Sabariah buttons, stickers and a beadbox (I noticed she carries her beads in a tupperware - so I thought a cute bead box will be of good use.)
2 bookmarks for the Bookmark Exchange. (Yes, coincidentally Sabariah was my secret partner also!) I went a little crazy here. The tiny granny square is attached with a micro button. I machine stitched the cards on both sides together after winding the embroidery thread around the card. I hope she like it!
One of the bookmarks carry a cute little poem, 'Ode to a bookmark'.
I love working with velvet ribbons. Tried matching everything to nice neutral tones.
The outer fabric is from Ikea. I matched it with some beige canvas I bought from Kamdar.
The ribbon segments for different size crochet hooks.
The side pockets are for scissors and tatting tools!
The granny square crochet band. Not too much granny square but I was experimenting with granny squares and I found this different from your normal pattern. I hope she likes it!
Prepare the styrofoam base. I decorated it with a round piece of styro with ribbons and cute sticky tape. Just attach the ribbon with double sided tape all around. You prepare the cupcake paper a few days ahead. I pre-poked the mini cupcake paper with a pin first. Insert bamboo skewers and make sure the height is just right for the marshmallow to poke through without jutting out from the top. With a craft sticky tape, make a little flagline and pinch together. Cut the flagline as you will a ribbon edge. This little flagline helps stop the cupcake paper from sliding down.
I didn't know melting chocolate was so easy. All you need is a pot of hot boiling water enough to submerge the bowl with the chocolate halfway. Let it be for awhile. So while you wait for chocolate is melting (use broken pieces to speed up the process, stir with a fork ocassionaly) (I forget - I live in a tropical country, chocolate is bound to melt, but if you leave in a cold country - melting the chocolate over a double boiler or microwave is a good idea!) poke a marshmallow through all the pre-prepared bamboo skewers! When chocolate is fully melted and silky after stirring. Deep the marshmallow into the mixture. (I only dipped the top, don't want the kid's teeth to jump off their gums!) With a lift and twist motion, lift the marshmallow up and this is my favourite part...
Use a spoon and sprinkle with any topping you like. I should try white chocolate and coconut next! NEVER NEVER dip the still wet chocolate onto the sprinkles - you'll have a messy bowl of sprinkles after. AND YES, do this while the chocolate is still melted.
What I did to make the base more yummy was I added over 32 miniature cupcakes I store bought earlier in the evening. I arranged them in a tight circle and poked the marshmallows around it to fill up the base. The whole thing looks so yummilicious!
See the cupcakes.
Adding more marshmallow pops. It's a pretty arrangement.
Close up of the marshmallow pop. See the base. You can buy these colourful sticky tape everywhere now. I have quite a collection!
I printed a banner and attached it to the base with bamboo skewers.
Close up of banner.
What do you do with extra chocolate and sprinkles....MORE MARSHMALLOW POPS!
Back from school and hungry for more!
Look at the box my exchange came in! So sweet!!!! Thanks Paul!
The lovely note and stash. Paul knows about a girl's favourite things!
Oooh! My shawl....Look at the work put into this shawl.
Paul took up crochet only months ago, and he's been churning out masterpieces.
I think I'll put it on like this.
Close up of his workmanship. Excellent!!
I included a little yellow blankie with blanket stitches all round.
White teddy bear buttons and yellow hearts. This bootie is different from the ones I've been doing. The baby boy is slightly bigger, so the bands are thicker and size is wider.
Of course, a cute little card to go with the whole ensemble!
Amigurumi's are really cool to make. I don't have a pattern for this, it was really free form crochet.
I learnt a terrible lesson working on Eli. I totally broke the head-off my clover plastic needle. Boo-Hoo!!! Never use a plastic crochet needle for amigurumis. Thank goodness for my old faithful Tulip crochet needle.
The shirt was crocheted right on the body to get the exact size right. Cannot imagine stuffing the shirt through that huge cute head.
The shirt is 100% cotton yarn I got from Spotlight. Eli looks like he's wearing the rainbow.
I love this last part. Embellishing Eli with buttons!!! I combined a white flower shaped button with a itsy bitsy brown one for the eye. Check out the lashes. I used DMC embroidery threads and of course made sure I secure them buttons for extra safety.
Getting the eye to match the other side was easy if you look at the lines of your crochet, if they correspond it'll be just like cross-stitch.
Meet Eli the Crocheted Elephant.
The Teddy on Eli's shirt. We took a while deciding on the best button for his shirt.
The little micro button for the sleeves, sure add a little special touch to the shirt. I love t-shirts with buttons on the sleeves. They remind me of my favourite blouses when I was a kid.