One, One Birthday Cake! Ahh ahh ahh!

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This Craftster post caught my eye because from the thumbnail, I thought this was going to be a felt hoop. But rather, it was about cake, and that’s pretty good too.

Pottermouth of Savannah, GA, was asked by a friend to use a vintage Wilton cake pan of “The Count” from Sesame Street to make a birthday cake for her daughter.

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The one special request, make him look, “less high” than he did on the package. You be the judge with the pictures here, but I think Pottermouth did a fantastic job! Just a tweak to The Count’s eyes and he’s good to go.

Ouija Cheese Box

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Mandykaye of Michigan recently posted the Ouija Cheese Box she made as a gift for her sister-in-law. Mandykaye got her hands on some wooden cheese boxes from a local cheese shop for $3 each. She immediately had this project in mind when she saw them.

Her sister-in-law likes scrap-booking and taking photos, and you can never have enough good storage for your supplies, so she created this ouija board/box for her. She burned all the lettering. After stenciling and burning the letters, numbers, etc., she took a torch and burned around the edges of the top. She then applied some polyurethane clear coat finish. For the bottom part, Mandykaye blended some brown and bright blue acrylic paints to give sort of an antique patina to it, and then clear-coated that as well.

For the inside, she left it bare, with a bit of upholstery material to the bottom. With the humidity we get in Michigan, she didn’t want anything that could be sticky inside since her sister-in-law will most likely have photos and papers stored in there.

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“Blues Brothers” Cross Stitch

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Merry Christmas Eve, everyone. Just in case you need a little mental break from everything Christmas, here’s a fun cross stitch project.

Kittykill of Oregon posted this finished project on Craftster last week. She made it for her husband’s birthday, because he loves, “The Blues Brothers.” Kittykill said she loves the stencil street vibe of the pattern: all black thread on white cloth.

And to finish off with a Christmas touch, if you’ve little ones that believe in Santa Claus, sit down with them tonight before bed and get on the internet to check out NORAD’s Santa Tracker. And if your kids don’t believe in Santa, well, check it out with them anyway. This is actually a really cute site.

Yub Nub Scoodie

In just a day, I’m going away for Christmas. I’ll be leaving a place that’s currently 66 degrees and going to a place that’s -5 degrees. As a project to help pass the time on my flights, and something to keep me warm once I’m there, I’ll be crocheting Kristen Stevenson’s Yub Nub (Ewok hood) scoodie. This is a free pattern on Ravelry, but you will need to make a username and password to get it.

I am going to make one change to it though. Kristen has directions on how to make the Ewok ears. However, I’m going to find a thrift store once I get a chance, buy a really nice looking teddy bear, and cut off his ears to attach to the hood, for just a touch more realism.

And if you aren’t familiar with the Ewoks, they are a fictional race of small, mammaloid bipeds that appear in the Star Wars universe. They are hunter-gatherers resembling teddy bears that inhabit the forest moon of Endor and live in various arboreal huts and other simple dwellings. They first appeared in the 1983 film Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi, and have since appeared in two made-for-television films, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984) and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985), as well as a short-lived animated series and several books and games.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Knitting and Crocheting for Good

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So today’s entry is a little different and comes to us because of a letter in a recent Dear Abby column: The Knitted Knockers Support Foundation. How many of us know someone who’s had, or continues to have, breast cancer?

Knitted Knockers are special handmade breast prosthesis for women who have undergone mastectomies or other procedures to the breast. Traditional breast prosthetics are usually expensive, heavy, sweaty and uncomfortable. They typically require special bras or camisoles with pockets and can’t be worn for weeks after surgery. Knitted Knockers on the other hand are soft, comfortable, beautiful and when placed in a regular bra they take the shape and feel of a real breast. Their special volunteer knitters provide these free to those requesting them. Knitted knockers can be adjusted to fill the gap for breasts that are uneven and easily adapted for those going through reconstruction by simply removing some of the stuffing.

Their website provides patterns to knit or crochet knockers. Women can also come and request a knocker in the size and color they want. In addition, they provide a how to guide on how to choose approved yarns, how to start your own Knitted Knocker group in your area, or how to find existing groups.

Mini R2D2 Pattern

Mia posted her mini R2-D2 pattern back in 2002, on her crochet site. This Mini R2-D2 measures about 17cm. The idea to make R2-D2 came to Mia from a birthday gift for a friend, who really likes Star Wars.

This time, Mia decided to innovate and used some LEDs on R2-D2, so, it works as a small lamp. But the pattern can be worked without the electronic parts. You can replace the LEDs for some buttons.

The difficult part of this pattern it isn’t the crochet, but the collage, because there are to many details to cut and glue! Mia recommends to pay attention on the photos and to search on the web for R2-D2 photos, so, you can have a good idea of what you will need to do.