Turkey Peacock

Peacock Crochet From Turkey Pattern

I wanted to make a peacock motif that was about the size of my hand but I couldn't find any free patterns to make one.  I saw a LOT for Turkey motifs though, that time of year I guess.  Then I thought, I could just change the colors of a turkey pattern to make it into a peacock!  I found a really cute free turkey patterns for a coaster and thought the size would be perfect for what I'm envisioning.

http://www.craftpassion.com/crochet-turkey-coasters-and-ornaments.html

But as I was crocheting my turkey-turned-peacock, something just wasn't looking quite right.  I don't know if it was the colors, the size, or whatever.  Something was just... off.

Then I decided to just wing it and make up my own pattern based off of the one above and make a peacock myself.  I was surprised, it came out really nice and I'm rather proud-as-a-peacock! 

The other motif that I was originally working on did not go to waste.  My very cute son decided it was great for playing peek-a-boo. 

So here's the pattern that I created, based off of the Turkey Coaster pattern from CraftPassion.com


Peacock Motif 
5MM H Hook used with Red Heart Worsted weight yarn
Ch - Chain
SC - Single Crochet
DC - Double Crochet
HDC - Half Double Crochet
Sl - Slip Stitch
All terms are in US Crochet terms

Body
Round 1 (Royal Blue)
Magic circle, Chain 3, DC 14, sl to join top of ch3. (15 stitches)
Round 2
Ch2, HDC in same starting stitch, 2HDC in each stitch around. sl to join top of ch2. Fasten off. (30 stitches)

Neck & Head
Round 1 (Royal Blue)
Magic circle, ch 3, DC 7, sl to join top of ch3 (8 stitches)
Round 2
Ch7, DC in 3rd loop from hook, DC, HDC, HDC, HDC, sl to join stitch on head. Fasten off. 

Tail
Round 1 Tail (Purple)
Start on body at any stitch. Ch3, DC in same starting stitch, ch 1, 2DC in same starting stitch, skip 2 stitches on body. *2DC, ch1, 2DC, skip 2 stitches on body* Repeat between * until you have 6 sets, Fasten off. 
Round 2 Tail (Turquoise)
Start at ch1 space from round 1 tail, ch3, DC in same starting stitch, ch1, 2DC in same starting stitch, skip 2 stitches on body. *2DC, ch1, 2DC in next chain space* Repeat between * until you reach the end. Fasten off. 
Round 3 Tail (Light Green)
Start at ch1 space from round 2 tail, ch3, 2DC in same starting stitch, ch1, 3DC in same starting stitch, *3DC, ch1, 3DC in next chain space* Repeat between * until you reach the end. Fasten off. 
Round 4 Tail (Teal)
Start at ch1 space from round 1 tail, ch3, 6DC in same starting stitch, *7DC in next ch space* Repeat between * until you reach the end. Fasten off. 

Weave in all ends. Attach neck to body in the best place necessary for the peacock look. Repeat entire process again to make a total of two peacocks (or if you wish, you can make the second one in one solid color).  Put both WRONG sides together, hiding all the ends and scraps, line up the edges and attach as follows:


Attaching Front & Back
Side edge of the tail (Grey)
*1SC (at the corner to the tail and go through both layers), ch1, repeat between * until you reach the body, continue to Body & Feet
Body & Feet
SC in next 4 stitches, [make foot: ch2, *ch2, SC on 2nd chain from hook, sl stitch to 2nd next chain, repeat between* 3 times, SC on next st, SC in the same stitch of last SC before making foot], SC in next 2 stitches, repeat make foot, SC in next 4 stitches. continue to Side Edge of Tail
Side Edge of Tail
*ch1, 1SC, repeat * until you reach the corner of the tail. continue to Top of Tail Outline & Joining
Top of Tail Outline and Joining
*SC in next 7 stitches. SC in between the 2 shells.Ch1, SC around the row below (Round 3 Tail Light Green)Ch1, SC around row Round 2 Tail TurquoiseCh1, SC around row Round 1 Tail Purple 
Ch1, SC into one of the skipped stitches on the body. 
Turn to go back up the peacock tail now
Ch1, SC around row Round 1 Tail Purple 
Ch1, SC around row Round 2 Tail Turquoise
Ch1, SC around row Round 3 Tail Light Green*
Repeat between * until you reach the end. Sl to join starting stitch, fasten off. 

You may now add a securing stitch to the peacock's head to keep it in place if you wish. 

That's it!  Please enjoy your peacocks!  I will be making mine for a mobile for my new baby's nursery. 

Alphabet Wall

Preparing for a baby is a lot of work...

...and a LOT of cardboard! 

Between the furniture deliveries and the boxes and packaging of various products, I had a ton of cardboard and styrofoam. I have four large garbage bags full of stryofoam and more to bag up, and I had at least three recycling cans full of cardboard, and more boxes to break up.  

I felt awful wasting all of it, and breaking up all that cardboard made my back hurt just thinking about it... So I think I came up with a fantastic idea to use it for some nursery decor!

I love the look of alphabet walls.  I've seen them all over Pinterest and they all look amazing! Most of them are made with wooden letters and painted with different designs or patterns on them. I like the look of alphabets that use more than one font, to keep it interesting. The craft stores by me only sell one font of wooden letters. And they're pretty pricey, about $5 a letter.  I could've purchased a random font alphabet from etsy but they're also expensive, although they are beautiful.

https://www.etsy.com/wooden+alphabet+wall

I decided I could try to make an alphabet wall myself. If I had more artistic talent, I'd draw the letters myself.  But my handwriting stinks, and I've never been able to draw very well. I opened up a word document, typed out the alphabet, made the font HUGE (like 600 pt) so each letter would take up around a full page. Then I went to town on different fonts. This was a lot of fun, but also time consuming; it's harder than it sounds to make something look random yet cohesive. I think I did a pretty good job though.  Now for the really time consuming part...

I planed on using the materials that would otherwise go to waste to create the letters for the wall.  Either stryofoam or cardboard. First I tried cutting out the letters in stryofoam. The stryofoam was thicker, sturdier, and would make more of an impact on the nursery wall.  Perfect!  Or so I thought...

Oh my goodness! What a mess! I thought stryofoam was messy before I broke it up. Once I cut it with an X-Acto knife all teeny tiny little pieces got EVERYWHERE! 

My X-Aacto knife wasn't deep enough to cut all the way through the stryofoam so I had to use a steak knife. Which, if I wanted to do all 26 letters, would seriously dull the knife.  I could just see me saying to my husband later on, "Oh sorry you can't cut your steak darling, I had to use the knife to cut stryofoam!" Oye...

I came across an article on Decozilla and the wheels started turning again.  I wouldn't be wrapping them all in fabric, but I love the idea of using cardboard.

http://decozilla.com/2013/09/inspirational-wall-art/

And it wouldn't be my first time working with cardboard.  Here's a picture of one of my college art projects where we had to make a large version of something small from cardboard. I decided to make glasses, and they were a big hit!

I had a friend who wanted to buy them so he could put them on statues as a joke/prank. 

I could wrap a bunch of letters in scrap book paper, gift bags from my baby shower, wrapping paper, or just plain white paper then paint over that.  I think painting directly on the cardboard would leave the grain of the cardboard still visible.  And some of the letters still have pieces of shipping information on them.

I've started cutting out the letters on cardboard and it is SO MUCH easier than the stryofoam, not to mention a lot less messy. I'm using two pieces of cardboard to thicken it up and make it a little more noticable on the wall. After I have all the letters cut out, the fun begins! I can't wait to hang it all up in the little one's room. Of course I'll post pictures if the entire nursery once it's all set up. For now, here's some of the letters I already have cut.  Only a few more to go!

A few hints for you if you're going to try this yourself...
1- Change your X-Acto blade often.  I didn't change mine until I got to the letter M, and I so wish I had done it sooner.  
2- Try to do the harder or more curly letters first, and with a fresh blade if possible.  See that F?  I muttered a few F words to myself while trying to get around all those little furls. Especially with a dull knife and a tired hand. 
3- If the font doesn't look thick enough, make it bold, if it's still really thin, choose a different font.  The W is probably the thinnest I'd do.  I actually cut it adding a bit more to the stems, the original letter was thinner. 
4- Watch the type of cardboard you're using, some is thicker than others.  I was able to use a full box for the entire alphabet, then noticed that other boxes I had were thicker.  Some of the letters are doubled, some are just one piece depending on the cardboard thickness. 
5- Take your time!  It will be much more fun the less stressed you are, and your letters will look better.  Some days I only did two letters a day, one day I did almost ten. Have fun with it! 

Please share some pictures if you attempt an alphabet wall yourself, or even if you just spell out a name or a phrase.  I'd love to see your font and color choices!

Happy Crafting!
~The Craftmeister

Mirror Mirror On the Wall

Spray and Stain

The mirror that came with the house in the master bathroom was nice and big and really ornate looking. The only thing I didn't like about it was the nasty dingy color it was.  I'm not  a big fan of gold to begin with, but then add grime and dirt in the crevices of gold... and you've got a mirror of yuck.  I decided to spray paint it white and add a dark stain over it. I was inspired by this Pinterest post/picture: 

 I'm glad I did! When I first detached the mirror and spray painted it, the pure white paint made it look very plastic-y, as you can see below.

An improvement over the dark gold, but not what I had in mind. So I used Martha Stewart Living Metallic Glaze in black coffee, dabbed it on the dried pure white mirror frame using a cheap-o foam brush and rubbed it in/off with a rag. A messy process, but I didn't use much glaze (have plenty left over for other projects) so it dried fairly quickly. 

I love how the glaze made the detail in the frame pop without making it look dirty or dingy. 

All in all, I think the new and improved mirror is a great addition to the nautical bathroom! 

Skywalker Boots

The internet is one of the best craft tools around. Some days I think to myself, "Hmm, I wonder how to crochet a heart..." A few clicks on google later and ...bam! Crochet heart. 

"Hmm, I wonder how to crochet a flower..." 

"What about an owl...?"

It usually works for a lot of things I search.  But of course, the one time I need to find a free pattern for booties, I can't find one in the right size. I ended up making up my own based on a pattern I found for a larger size bootie.  I found this Toddler Double Soul Moccasins Pattern pattern for toddlers and kids, they are about 6.5" in length. The kid I'm making the booties for is barely 12 months old, and his foot measured 5 inches.  So here's the pattern if you need to make one for your little one! 

I made the pattern almost exactly like the one in the link above, but smaller. I also changed the shaft of the bootie a little, I wanted my booties to look wrapped, like Luke Skywalker's boots in Star Wars. My stitches are in US terms.  And I use the typical pattern short hand.

For example, SC # means to crochet one 'single crochet' in the next number stitches. And # SC means to crochet # 'single crochet' in next stitch. Please let me know if you have any questions, this is my first time writing a pattern...

Stitches used: 

SC Single Crochet

DC Double Crochet

HDC Half Double Crochet 

sl st Slip Stitch

ch Chain

SC2TOG Single Crochet two stitches together 

DC#TOG Double Crochet # of stitches together 

Worsted weight yarn, Size G6 hook (4.00 mm)

In sole color (I used Red Heart Coco Bean), slipstitch, chain 13.

Round 1: 2 SC in 2nd loop from hook, SC 5, HDC, DC 4, 7 DC in last chain, working opposite side of starting chain DC 4, HDC, SC 5, 2 SC in last chain, sl st to first stitch

Round 2: ch 1, SC, 2 SC, SC 9, (HDC, 2HDC) x4, HDC, SC 10, 2 SC, SC, sl st join to first sc

Round 3: ch 1, 2 SC, SC, 2 SC, SC 11, HDC, SC 11, 2 SC, SC, 2 SC, sl st join to first sc

Round 4: ch 2, 2 DC, 2 DC, HDC 14, (DC, 2 DC) x3, (2 DC, DC) x3, HDC 14, 2 DC, 2 DC, sl st join to first DC

If you are doing the contrasting side double sole, fasten off. Make another sole in boot color and continue the pattern below...

Round 5: Stitch both soles together, carefully keeping them straight, using SC. ~58 stitches

Round 6: HDC in each stitch all around, should end with 58 stitches in total, decrease or add where ever if you need to

Round 7: DC in each all around, 58 stitches

Round 8: ch1, SC 21, SC2TOG, HDC, DC2TOG x5, HDC, SC2TOG, SC 21, sl st join to first

Round 9: ch 1, SC 17, SC2TOG, DC2TOG, DC3TOG, DC2TOG, DC, DC 2, DC2TOG, SC2TOG, SC 17, sl st join to first st

Round 10: SC 13, SC2TOG, DC2TOG, DC, DC3TOG, DC, DC2TOG x2, SC2TOG, SC 13, sl st join to first st

Round 11: SC 6, SC2TOG, HDC, DC2TOG, DC, (DC2TOG, DC) x4, DC2TOG, HDC, SC2TOG, SC 6

That's it for the shoe part, the next part of the boot is just 5 rows of double crochet.  I slightly modified the boot shaft from what I saw in the tutorial I looked at when creating my pattern.  I did 5 rows of double crochet then one last row of single crochet in a lighter beige color for some contrast.  I think I get the Luke Skywalker effect with these boots, the texture of the stitches help it looked wrapped.  I'm pretty happy with how they came out!  I hope you enjoyed the pattern.  Here's some fashion photos of the booties, I got inspired... 

AND you could fold down the booties for a different look!

...for those fashionista babies

Thanks for checking out my first pattern!  I hope you have as much fun making yours as I did! 

Stay tuned for more pictures of the Star Wars twins costumes updates! 

TTFN

~The Craftmeister

Captain's Quarters - Repairing the Hull

Ahoy!  Are you ready for the most dramatic, dynamic, and aquatic part of the sorta-master-bathroom makeover?!

A hull in a nautical setting is the watertight body of a ship; so in this bathroom makeover, the hull is the large watertight body of the tub.  I've mentioned in my previous post that I really don't care for the look of tub surrounds.  But that's what we have and I love having a tub, especially with the dog and the possibility of kids someday.  It's just... soo ugly.  It would be too expensive to replace the whole thing right now, so instead my husband and I (mostly my husband) gave it a facelift!  I found the inspiration and tutorial online, Dan did the heavy duty stuff and we together we put it together.  

We followed the design and instructions from InMyOwnStyle.com.  Her starting tub was almost the same as ours, and the steps seemed pretty clear.  I like that she did this facade without damaging the tub.  More than likely, we'll replace the tub before we move out of the house, but it's nice to know that if I change my mind in a few years (HA!) I can take it off and you'd never know it was there.

That's my husband!  Prepping the work area.

Basically we built a frame for the front if the tub and covered it with beadboard wainscoting and MDF moldings (a plastic, waterproof, rot proof version of the classic wood moldings).  On the top edge of the tub we placed a board made from PVC to finish off the built-in look.  We also added MDF boards on the side of the tub going up the wall to further anchor it in place.  

While building it I was wondering if it would hold okay, if it would shift or move in the years to come. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to lean on the new top if the tub. If I have to stand on the edge of the tub to change the shower curtain, or to clean, will it move and all fall apart?  How well will it stand the test of time? The dramatic, dynamic, aquatic project was becoming enigmatic.  

But after we were done and it dried I discovered that I totally could stand on the ledge if I needed to.  It's not something I'm going to do everyday, but it's good to know that if I have to lean over the tub I can do so without worry.  And after reading comments in the blog where I found the tutorial, I've found that the tub is standing their test of time just fine.  They've had it installed for over a year, and the original author has daughters and large dogs that she bathes in the tub.  

I'm really happy with how it turned out, and it matches so much better with the rest of the bathroom now!

Ain't she a beauty?

The drain stop in the tub wasn't working properly, it would always drain out.  So we couldn't take baths and it made bathing Henrik a project and a half (we basically have to shower the dog).  Dan did some research and found that the type of drain stops that have the lever one flips up and down don't last as well as other ones.  So we decided that the old fashioned drain stop would work well for us.  When he replaced the drain piece, I was surprised at what it looked like when it came out! 

But take a look at it all shiney and new!  A great improvement! 

Now to make the tub fill, we PUSH the button on the drain to plug it

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to christen the new hull with some suds and aromatherapy.....

TTFN!
~The Craftmeister

Captain's Quarters - Pink Sky

"Pink sky in morning, sailors take warning.
 Pink sky at night, sailor's delight."

Remember that old saying? Well, sailors would panic than rejoice with my not-really-a-master-bathroom-but-I'm-calling-it-that-anyway master-bathroom makeover.

That's a mouthful. 

The ceiling is the first step in the redo of the master bath, but it took longer than my husband and I originally thought.  We figured we'd just slap a coat or two of ceiling paint on it and be done.  But then we noticed a pretty long crack where the slope of the ceiling meets the top flat ceiling (kinda like in an attic).  Rather than just spackle it just to have it come back in a month or so, we repaired it for real.  I'm so glad that I learned how to do this, because it will come in handy when we redo other rooms in the house. 

Complicated ceiling facelift = blogpost! ;) 

First we cleaned out the crack, removed any loose pieces but we were careful not to make it larger than it was.  This was harder than it sounds. Afterwards it looked worse than when we started, but we soon repaired it with heavy duty spackle.  We used DAP Crack Shot brand.  

Then we used fiberglass netting to cover the seam where the crack existed.  We used that instead of drywall joint tape because it should hold better.  It reminded me of paper mâché; use the spackle as glue to hold it to the ceiling.  It was a pain in the butt, but after we got a groove going it got easier.  After that dried Dan sanded and we added another coat of spackle to cover parts where you could still see the net.  

It's very hard to take pics upwards while on a ladder, but I just had to get a picture of it for the blog!  Your welcome, readers

After that dried, Dan sanded again. Now you'd never know there was a crack there at all!  Well... besides the different ceiling color on the seam and the hand and palm prints all over the ceiling.... 

But we're painting, so it's okay to have a mess there. I feel much better painting knowing that the crack shouldn't come back on the ceiling.  :-)

Now to paint!  

When we purchased the paint at Home Depot, I went to the counter to get the special colors mixed while Dan grabbed the things we needed from the isle shelves (ceiling paint and supplies).  When we get home Dan told me that the ceiling paint he got was pink.  We joke around a lot so I figured he was messing with me.  But he assured me, seriously it's pink.  I've heard of accent ceilings before, but pink? Yuck!  After he had a good laugh, he explained that it's a special kind of ceiling paint that goes on pink while it's wet, and dries white.  It's especially helpful if you're painting white on white.   I've never seen anything like it and it was really fun to use....

#GliddenGetsYouGoing

 

...Except for the fact that it matched with the purple walls too much.  Talk about pastel in your face, yuck. I got some paint on my arm (inevitable) and when it was drying it was white on the outside, but still pink in the center.  It looked so freaky! Like a crazy flesh eating zombie virus was on my arm. Pictures didn't come out right, but trust me, it was freaky!  Soon enough it dried.  White.  And the bathroom is that much closer to becoming the master bathroom I know it can be! 

And I got the paint off my arm. 

More to come! 

~The Craftmeister