holidays, etc. - DIY holiday ideas

I love this idea for a DIY melted snowman ornament I saw on Pinterest:

Just a glass ornament, salt, a few peppercorns, and an orange paper cone. You can find step by step instructions here.

Another holiday Pinterest find I love is this Mediterranean food wreath:

The idea comes from Julia M. Usher's blog, which has some other cute DIY holiday ideas here. 

You can see my entire Holiday Times Pinboard here. 

jewelry, etc. - upper finger rings

I saw this post for DIY upper finger rings on the blog a pair and a spare a few weeks ago and I wasn't sure what I thought about it.

They have been showing up everywhere recently and I am growing to like them.

I may have to make some for myself this weekend! What do you think?

anna diys - veep debate party signs

Last night my roommate and I had a few friends over to watch the Vice Presidential Debate. In preparation, I made some DIY veep face signs for guests to cheer with.

Here's how I did it - Materials:

• Half-a-page cut outs of veep candidates (I used their official portraits)
• Red and blue straws
• Tape

1. Cut out the heads, 2. Tape the straws to the back 3. Voila! VPOTUS face signs!

The Biden signs got much more use since Biden dominated, but we enjoyed cheering for Ryan when he tried to incorporate weird anecdotes...

We also played TIME’s Vice Presidential Debate Drinking Game, which was fun. 

anna parties - welcome back diy

Today my boyfriend comes back from Brussels, where he has been doing an internship for the past two months. To celebrate his arrival, I made a quick Welcome Back banner and cookies. I like the homemade look of the banner, and the rainbow sprinkles on the cookies match nicely.

I cut the letters out free form from construction paper, and then punched holes in the letters. I strung ribbon through the letters to hang them. I didn't have enough ribbon to make a second row, so I tapped the next row of letters to the first row.

Welcome back, Jake!

anna gifts, etc. - birthday party in a bag

A few months ago I sent a birthday party in a box. This past weekend, I sent a smaller version to a dear friend - a birthday party in a bag.

I originally got the idea from the blog You Are My Fav, which has a bunch of themed box ideas. It is a great way to jazz up a card you are sending to a long-distance friend, and it is completely customizable! 

Content includes:

- Noise maker

- Happy Birthday Balloon

- Beaded necklace

- Card

- Tissue Paper

- Blank business card that I turned into a mini birthday announcement

~ Happy Birthday, Jessica! ~

anna sews - elbow reinforcements

One of my favorite items of clothing is a slouchy, grandpa sweater I got from J. Crew a few years ago. Here is me wearing it under a leather jacket a few months ago (it is currently 90F in Boston).

The problem is, I've worn it so much there are holes on the elbows. I've been meaning to get elbow patches for a while now, but I did not get a chance before leaving for Europe last week. I knew I wanted to bring the sweater - since it is the perfect plane ride companion - but I needed to do something about the elbows.

I stumbled across this post for Duplicate Stitch Heart Elbow Patches on the blog one sheepish girl.

I love the idea of heart patches, but my sweater is not chunky enough to achieve the same type of duplicate stitch. Adding another round of stitching though was sure to act as a good reinforcement. Here is what I came up with:

For the stitching, I used Rowan Yarn Cashsoft 4 Ply in Eau de Nil 450. I had it from my knit your own dog (pug!) project. 

I think it came out well. It worked great on my trip, and reminds me of something that would be sold at anthropologie. 

After I completed this project, I came across the company Woolfiller on pinterest. The company (based in the Netherlands) sends customers a kit to repair holes in wool clothing through melding wool with wool via a felting needle. It was featured in Time Magazine's 50 Best Inventions of 2010. 

The results are very cute, and there is a lot of room for experimentation. I may have order a kit for my next sweater emergency!

anna runs - surviving my first 5K

I ran my first race yesterday! It was the Halfway 5K (5K sponsored by the Halfway Cafe) in Canton, MA. It was a beautiful day, and having friends and family there made it lots of fun - even for someone who has long considered herself a "non-runner." 

I was able to wear the shirt I made for the race to advertise my blog. The woman behind me at the start line told me she was a knitter and that she would visit anna knits, etc., which was exciting!

  

See how I made the shirt here.

  

Post-run - I made it!

Overall it was a great event and a great experience. I'm not looking for something too soon, but I'd definitely be up for another race sometime in the future!

anna runs

I am running my first race this Sunday. It is the Halfway 5K in Canton, MA. I am not much of a runner, but I thought it would be a fun goal for the spring... Let's hope I make it out alive!

As part of my preparation, I decided to make an anna knits, etc. T-shirt to wear on race day. I was inspired by a post on the blog Oh Happy Day for family reunion Ts.

Here's how I did it:

Step 1: Assemble T-shirt (I used a GapFit pima cotton tank), T-shirt transfer paper, and Iron.
Step 2: Print out your design backwards, on the transfer paper.
Step 3: Cut out the design.
Step 4: Iron on the design with the iron on its highest temperature, and no steam. Iron longer than you think you should.
Step 5: Peel back the paper to reveal the design -- if the paper is sticking go back and iron more!
Step 6: Show it off.

You can download the pattern I used to make this anna knits, etc. shirt here!

anna letterpresses

Ok, so I'm officially obsessed... Here are a few more letterpress pictures thanks to my gorgeous friend, Jess!

As you can see, I am still struggling with alignment, but I have a better handle on the ink now. I want to get a new roller, as many blogs I've been reading about the Epic six suggest that for a more even distribution. 

anna letterpresses

I spent a little time tonight playing around with my letterpress machine. Here is a notecard I created:

I am still working on getting my alignment right. I want to order a custom plate with a small alphabet, and my company name :). The blog nobiggie wrote a nice post about ordering custom plates for the Epic six. Here is the pdf she used to order her plate, as well as the plate itself:

I'd also like to create a pug icon to letterpress. I love this guy from Dirty Beard Press on Etsy. 

Do you have any ideas for images I could order on my custom plate? 

anna needlepoints - update 2

So I finished the first round of the pattern for my needlepoint iphone case from Connect Design.

I made a few mistakes, and the thread the kit came with ran out about halfway through, so I had to switch to a thread of a slightly darker hue (notice the color change). All in all though, I'm happy with how it turned out. 

Now I have to decide if I want to fill in the blank spaces with cross-stitch of a contrast color. I'm kind of leaning against it, because I don't want there to be too much thread on the back of the case so that it doesn't fit the phone properly. 

Here is the pattern from Connect Design I used (different colors, of course):

Since I really enjoyed this cross-stitch project, I started looking at patterns online. I found this Downton Abbey inspired pattern from the Etsy shop The Cottage Nest. BTW check out my new "watching now" tab on the right hand sidebar of this blog to see my current tv obsession. Right now it is Downton Abbey Season 2.

Here is another Downton pattern from the Esty shop Book Pilgrim. It made me laugh...

 

anna gifts - birthday party in a box

Finding the perfect gift is both a talent and an art. In this blog post I wanted to share a birthday gift I recently made: A Birthday Party in a Box. I got the idea from the blog You Are My Fav. It is a great present to send to a long-distance friend. You can customize the contents with whatever party items you think s/he will enjoy. Here is the one I made:

I bought all of the party contents at iParty, except for the box itself, which is an old lettuce container I washed out. The sign reads: Birthday Party in a Box! Just add friends. The total cost for the party contents was under $15. 

Content includes:

- Blank business card that I turned into a mini invitation

- Blue crate paper

- Noise makers

- Confetti popper

- Solo cups

- Electronic candles

- Balloons

- Happy Birthday banner

- Beaded necklaces

I packaged it with a homemade card and the real gift (custom stationary from the Etsy shop Honizukle Press, which turned out wonderful!) on top.

Thank you You Are My Fav for this great idea. I look forward to putting together some other themed boxes.

organizing, etc.

In this post, I wanted to share with you my knitting needle organizer. My mom made it for me back when I was in high school, and it has held up beautifully!

My mom got the pattern for this organizer from Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook by Debbie Stoller. It is a great book for patterns, as well as to learn basic knitting techniques. 

If you are looking to make your own organizer, check out this DIY guide from the blog Made by Loulabelle.

There are also some adorable knitting needle organizers on etsy. I'm particularly loving this one from sarahkincheloe -- even though this one is for crochet hooks :).

I took some time to organize my yarn today, which I keep in this great basket (another gift from my Mom!)

Notice the tea cosies, available at my etsy store, chilling with my yarn stash!