Post by Mike Shanahan.

Monster!

Giraffe.

My friend really likes giraffes, and it was recently her birthday, so I made this little guy to hang out with her on her work desk. I think he's absolutely adorable (if I do say so myself). The hard part about giraffes are the faces. Trying to get their heads shaped to look like giraffes and not weird alien creatures is a bit tricky. since this guy was kind of small I was able to make the snout a part of his head, but on a bigger giraffe it might work better to make it separately and sew it on.

Whiteboard Wednesday

So I've decided to present all my whiteboard creations on

WHITEBOARD WEDNESDAY!

This week I bring you a cute little starfish. I made two (similar-ish) star pieces and whipstitched them together to create this little guy. I haven't perfected the points yet, but I think it came out pretty good. 

Little baskets

For my co-workers I wanted to give them each a little gift for the holidays and 

when I saw this crochet basket, I thought that would be the perfect idea. 

So here are the little baskets I came up with (and filled full of delicious chocolate).

A few Christmastime gifts

First up, we have this Sharpie mug that I made my mother-in-law. I did it as a teen program with the kids at my library. I didn't realize that when I baked it the colors would change! I think it still came out super cute though. All we did was decorate it with regular Sharpie, and then I baked it at 425° for 30 minutes. Then it came out all nice and pretty though the colors weren't the same...

Then I made this cute little Santa Bunny as a gift to a friend who likes bunnies. I thought he came out quite cute! What did you guys craft up for the holidays?

A little caterpillar friend

Today I share with you the latest whiteboard creation. A cute little caterpillar. He was super easy to make up just 15 stitch wide balls sewn together and then little nubby feet and some antennae. Luckily he wound up being able to stand and you can pose him too!

Tiny animals

So I saw some tiny little animals and I thought they looked cute so I decided to whip up some on my own. So here they are, I'll probably post a pattern for these later. Enjoy!

A tiny bit of Christmas spirit

Hello all! As we gear up for the full blast of the holiday season I've taken to making some cute little bear ornaments for friends and family. Pinterest has so many amazing ideas and there is only so much time to make everything. I find Christmas a good chance to try out a bunch of things that I've been pinning and thinking about. So here are a couple of the ornaments I've made and a little keychain friend I made as a birthday gift.

I think they came out quite cute if I do say so myself. I positioned the Koala face in the middle so there ended up not being enough room for a scarf, but I think the bow looks super cute too. The Peacock Ninja did become a keychain, but I took a picture before putting that part on. 

A pattern for tires and my amigurumi process

So my boyfriend came up with a sketch for a new amigurumi project. The new project needed tires. I could not find any tires online that I liked the looks of. They were all either flat, or hockey puck shaped. That's totally fine if that's what you want, but I wanted them to be cooler and maybe more cartoonish, so I decided to just make my own. This is what I came up with and I figured I would share the super easy pattern, so that you too can have mega-super-awesome tires!

First, you make the tire tube. I did this by chaining 10 and then connecting to the beginning using a slipstitch. Then you single crochet (SC) around in each of the chain stitches. Do this for 30 more rows. Then slip stitch to finish it off and leave a tail for sewing.







Next, you are going to stuff your tire with fiberfill. Then thread your tail on a needle and sew the two ends together so they form a circle. 

Ta-da! Magic tire circle!











Next, you need to make the little hubcap. To do this, chain 2. Then, SC 5 stitches into the chain furthest from the hook.
For the next row, 2 SC in each SC around (10 stitches total at end of round).
Then *1 SC in next SC, 2 SC in next SC* repeat 4 times (15 stitches total at end of round).
Then *1 SC in next SC, 1 SC in next SC, 2 SC in next SC* repeat 4 times )20 stitches total at end of round. Slip stitch to finish, and leave tail for sewing.

Finally, sew the hubcap pieces to the front of one of your tire wheels. Then you will have tires like the ones pictures to the left.

So the reason I needed these tires was because my boyfriend drew this on the amigurumi idea board. 

And, here's the finished project. 

I think it came out quite cute! I hope you all enjoy the pattern, any questions feel free to e-mail me or leave your questions in the comments. Thanks!

New Blog for Crafts

Hi all! I wanted to start a new blog so I can share my crafty creations with anyone who is interested. This is it! I run a book blog too, Reading Nook. If you're interested in YA book you can check that out too. So, enjoy!