Summery Seaside RainBOW jars!!!

Hello GORGEOUS people!
I do hope you're having the most spendid week?
My weeks of to a good start, as I managed to fit a lovely couple of crafty and creative hours into my Monday afternoon. I had such a lovely time with my music playing, singing along to my favourite songs.
Not only was my creativness flowing, the wine was also!! Nothing better than a glass of RED when your playing happy hooking! :-)

I've been working on a mini project. Using some scraps of 'Creative Cotton', I've been making lots of tiny but bright crocheted rectangles.

Any ideas what these rectangle swatches are going to be???

BOWS!!!!

A few weeks ago a friend asked if I could make her a crocheted bow for her hair. I've been having a little play around with the idea and came up with this very simple design.

I made two different sizes of bow. Small and large, to match the different sized hair clips I bought from the supermarket.

I glued the bows to the hairclips and (of course) added cheery buttons to finish them off.

I think they're cute! They remind me of pasta bows :-)

They are also fun to decorate other little projects with, I think I'll be making a few more of these in the future!

Once I had finished my friends bows, I continued to play around with the 'Bow Theme'
I had some left over jam jars, so I though I'd give them a makeover.

I wrapped some old string around the jars and secured it with a little blob of glue. A very simple look! I added some cute flowers and rustic wooden buttons. OH MY!!!!!! What a transformation!!

I'm so very very happy with how they turned out!!!

Very simple, quick to make and totally inexpensive!

I wanted to add some 'Bow' decorations to the jars. Something similar to the felted hearts or crocheted pegs I had made before.

 

I had some cute little fan things (not sure what these are called?) that I wanted to incorporate.

It turns out I made little jam jars full of Summer Holidays!!  These little jars of joy remind me of vacations at the seaside! Probably something to do with the sand I used to prop the sticks up.

I think these jam jars are going to be with me for a long while! I'm totally in love with them! I love the thought of changing the theme of the sticks or simply using the jars for my crochet hooks or even just for flowers! So simple, but totally satisfying!!!

I hope you're all having a very crafty and creative week!!!

Matt xxx

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Granny Square Button Cushion!

Guess who spent a lovely Friday afternoon with Dennis?.......MEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
Dennis' cruise ship was in Hamburg for the day, so we had a chance to catch up. We spent a lovely afternoon sharing stories and enjoying each others company, it was sooooo  great to see him!
He is doing fine and is rather enjoying his current contract. He promises that once rehearsals are finished he will pop by 'the blog' and say hello to you all!

Friday really was a lovely day! Not only did I see Dennis in the afternoon, I also took the evening off form work and had a little time to myself. I spent some time working on my current WIP and made some scrummy home cooked food.

I also took a venture up the road to explore the local yarn cafe, they were having a 'Knit Night'.
Knit night happens twice a month at this store and I was extremely curious to see what it was all about.
I have to be honest, not only was I curious..... I was also a little nervous. Nervous about the fact I would probably be the only guy and nervous about the thought of having to speak German! 
I didn't have to worry about a thing! The ladies were extremely accommodating, they spoke to me slowly and were patient as I sometimes struggled to find the correct German words.  We spoke about our projects and worked on them whilst having a laugh and drinking good coffee. I didn't always understand everything that was said but I laughed along all the same! :-)

On the way home, I stopped off at a bar and listened to some live music whilst sipping a beer. It was a perfect way to end an evening free from work.

Would you like to see what I was working on at the knit cafe?
I started this project last week, It's made using the leftover yarn from my blanket.

This project had two purposes. The first was to be quick and easy and the second was to use up the last of this yarn. It fulfilled both!
I planned on making a cushion that would match my blanket. I decided to keep to a similar theme and made the pillow out of Granny Squares.
49 squares in total.

I made 24 colourful squares

 Then I added 25 white squares to the equation.

I stitched the squares together using single crochet. I wanted to create the same raised ridges that my blanket also has.

I rummaged the 'bits and bobs' box for all of the left over buttons we had. Some buttons I had bought, some I had found and some were salvaged from old clothing. 

I'm totally fascinated with buttons at the moment. I love the endless amount of colours and sizes. I love that  randomly you may see one whilst walking to work or find one down the back of the sofa. I think they're rather enchanting!

I sewed the buttons to the white Granny squares. 

Once the front of the cushion was complete I got to work on the back.
I simply made a large granny square out of my left over yarn. Changing colour for each round.

Isn't that just so stunningly sunny! I'm loving the back of the pillow almost as much as the front!
Once the back was finished I stitched the front to the back (cushion in the middle) also using single crochet. I finished it off with a simple picot border.
Wanna have a look?

 I'm very pleased with it! The buttons add a rather playful touch!
 Here's the back:

I'm not sure which side a love most?

It compliments the blanket nicely and sits fittingly with its sibling cushions!

With this cheery cushion it really doesn't matter that its so gloomy outside!
Apparently these days, sunshine comes in the form of granny squares and buttons!

Matt xxx

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