Paper Straw Yarn Crocheted Basket

Crocheted basket from paper straw yarn

Every day I learn something new. This time is was a surprisingly easy and lovely way to crochet baskets. My neighbour had this great tricot yarn crocheted baskets so I just asked her once where she bought them from.  "I made them. It's very easy. I'll show you if you want." was her answer. So one day, here she was at our home with a crochet hook and tricot yarn. Took few repetitions of the beginning, but here was - I crocheting  a basket. 

A week later, while looking for a suitable yarn for another basket, I saw the paper straw yarn and had this image in my head of a hand-made crocheted basket. So, I bought yarn and the result of my efforts was simply lovely.  

Lovely hand-made paper straw yarn crocheted basket

The pattern I used is the only one I can crochet :) so far, and because I am just starting with the abbreviations in crocheting, I did a little search to find one, if some one is interested to make a basket of his/ her own. 

All in all needed materials:

• Size 3 crochet hook
• Paper straw yarn
• 5 hours of your time :) 

Paper straw yarn crocheted basket - bottom in and out 

The patterns can be seen here - but for this basket I advanced the bottom only until round 10 from the instructions and the basket is around 10 cm tall. It took me around 5 hours to make it, as I needed to take some breaks. The paper straw yarn is very hard and it harms your fingers if you keep crocheting longer.

As this was a gift, I made a little crocheted daisy for a decoration (again within my abilities skills). Here you can find instructions from you tube, how you can crochet a daisy yourself. 

Paper yearn crocheted basket and daisy

I tied the daisy to the basket and it made a lovely gift. 

DYI paper straw yarn crocheted basket - an excellent way to store anything that can't find a place for.

Enjoy!

Vintage Stories Photos Makeover

I have been planning this post for over a month, and I realized I am not ready with it. There is so much to do for it so I thought that I might need to make few small post. 

What it is all about you might wonder? Well, lately I have been having these ideas for vintage decoration in my head, so I have been trying to let my ideas crystallize before they make an appearance. 

I don't know why, but this spring has brought me ideas in black and white, wrapped with fine and transparent laces.... 

I spent some time looking for ideas and materials for vintage decoration in thrift shops. To my opinion thrift shops provide great opportunities to find necessary old and vintage supplies that help your imagination let go. Once I was happy with the hunt, then it was a little bit of cutting, sewing and assembling. The project was done in no time, with the taking of the pictures but then, I again let my imagination go with the images. Took a bit to get what I wanted from the first images, which you can see down, but I realized that it will take too much time to publish the whole post. 

So here they come the first "Vintage Stories" images. I tried to achieve a vintage and old look of the images. Whether I have succeeded or not it is you to judge.  I know I am far from professional, but I sure enjoyed the process. And this was achieved without using Photoshop software! Wait till I master that one :))))). 

Vintage look Photo Makeover - lace box and a vase with dried "lily of the valley" flowers

For the written quotation in this image, I used Marilyn Monroe's quote about life, love and companionship. I find it quite suitable, true and inspirational. 

“This life is what you make it. No matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, some go. The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they'll come and go too. And baby, I hate to say it, most of them - actually pretty much all of them are going to break your heart, but you can't give up because if you give up, you'll never find your soulmate. You'll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.”  ― Marilyn Monroe

Vintage Photo look - roses and lace

Vintage Makeover Shots - roses and lace in two colors 

Vintage Makeover - a vase and a lace box  -BW and color  (stress on the orange)

Photography Vintage Colorful Makeover - roses and lace in orange and red

Vintage Makeover Photo - a dried flowers vase and a lace box - color

This will be the end of part one of the spring "Vintage Stories". I will be back soon with the second one. If any reader has some comments about the images, please do not hesitate to share them. 

Thank you! With wishes for a Vintage Spring Story :) on your way! 

DYI Muffin liner paper flowers

Muffin liner flowers

I like flowery themes in general quite a lot - vibrant bright colors and wonderful combinations of shapes as well. You can't go wrong with choosing flowers for your crafts projects, they almost always provoke a smile.  

Colors is exactly what I need at the beginning of spring to keep me survive through the last weeks of snow. Yes, I said snow and weeks :) as Finnish spring usually makes an appearance around mid April or early May, so I have few more weeks left for flowers crafting :) to try to sustain my spring anticipation.

So here it is a "give-me-smile" project with paper flowers from muffin or cupcake liners. This project, I made for our friends daughter's sixth birthday, and hearing her "Wow!" was more than enough reward. 

If I need to rate the difficulty level of this project, I would probably say it is intermediate, not because it is challenging to complete, but because it requires some time and patience. But I promise that the result will totally worth it. 

So here it comes the needed materials: 

Needed materials for muffin liners paper flowers

Colorful muffin / cupcakes liners

green paper for the stems and the leaves

grill sticks for the stems 

fast drying glue and/ or glue gun

scissors

pencil for drawing leaves

puncher with flower shape

Optionally:  congratulatory sign, metal tin 

I have prepared three picture tutorials how to create the (1) flowers petals, (2) the stems and (3) the leaves. I hope that they will be explanatory and inspirational enough.  

Step number one: Making the flower petals

The nice thing about the muffin liner flowers is that the petals are made from one whole piece of paper and once the flowers are completed the result is simply gorgeous -no cutting and gluing lines or breaking of the shapes and colors, just smooth natural circles. 

Flower petals from muffin / cupcakes liners

Start the process by cutting the bottoms off the muffin liners, which later on you will be able to use for the middles of the flowers. If you are making more than one flower, like I did you can mix and match the muffin liners' bottoms with the different flower petals. I used the puncher to create the middles of some of the flowers or for others simply the bottoms slightly trimmed.

Make sure that, while gluing the petals with the glue gun, you have placed paper at the middle of flowers at the rare side too, otherwise your flower will get stuck to your work table, and you don't really want that ;)!

Easy to flow steps to make flowers from muffin liners

The rest of the steps are easy to make, just follow the instructions in the images. Using the glue gun was new for me, but I have to be honest that it makes the life of the ordinary crafter much easier. It dries so fast and effortlessly that you will be wondering how you have ever managed without it. 

Before I got addicted to crafts, I had no idea that glues are so diverse and that more than one type will be needed for a single project. Which reminds me a situation at home, when a month a go my husband asked me to loan him "some glue". So I asked "What kind of glue?", he seemed to be puzzled "What do you mean?", he replayed. :)))). Then I had to explain "I have many kinds of glue, for various purposes. Define your need." He did laugh at me and shook his head. :))))) 

And READY! Lovely flowers from cupcake liners

Although the glue gun was rather appropriate for fast and easily transforming the muffin liners into beautiful flower petals, I used all purpose glue for decorating the middles of the flowers, because it is smoother look that leaves no relief. And this is all with the glue types and the flowers ..... for this step.

Step number two: Making the stems 

The making of the stems is quite easy. I used different green colored paper. Cut 0,5 cm wide lines along the length of the paper, glue the grill sticks and roll the paper over the sticks as shown on the picture under. Really easy! One advice, make sure its highness - THE GLUE :) is equally spread along the sticks and do not use cardboard paper, as is fold more difficult.

Once the stems are done and dry, use the sharp end of the grill stick and place it in the middle of the flower. (instruction 6 in the image down). If you have been using the glue gun, you'll find that rather easy to complete, as the glue from the gun forms quite good solid mass. 

Making the stems of the paper flowers

Ones the stems are at their places, the result is simply wonderful! Isn't it? 

Paper flowers with ready placed stems 

And the last step is the making of the leaves and the final touches.

Step number three: Making the leaves 

Making the leaves is the finishing touch of the process and by far the easiest. You can use different colors paper and shapes for them.  

Making the leaves of the flowers 

I particularly like the leaves made with the quilling technique. 

And you are ready!

DIY paper flowers from muffin / cupcakes liners

As I have mentioned above, the flowers were complimentary to a gift to a six years old girl and I decorated a ordinary metal tin can with a congratulatory card to complete the gift. As I have always said, you don't always need branded products to make something wonderful. 

From muffin liners to lovely paper flowers

So, get yourself armed with a little bit of patience, muffin liners and give someone a reason to smile. If you don't have muffin liners/ wrappers are home, but you are supplied with a color printer, I have up-loaded here a  design of muffin liners, that you can print and use to make either flowers or simply cupcake wrappers.

DIY Cupcakes/ Muffin wrappers printable 

Good Luck!