Flower Headband

I have another sweet girl in my life for whom I wanted to make a gift. Her mom said she likes headbands, so I did a Google search for a simple tutorial. My search led me to Cait's tutorial over at A Bicycle Built for Two. Her tutorial was very simple, clear, and easy to follow. Again, since her tutorial was so good, I'm only going to post photos of my final product. I hope the recipient loves it as much as I do!

Note: I only did one thing different from the tutorial. Rather than hot gluing everything, I hand sewed it all together. I'm sure the hot glue works great, but I was hoping sewing would make the flower more secure over time.

Pearl and Ribbon Necklaces with Gift Boxes

I have two young ladies in my life to whom I wanted to give gifts. Our budget is a little tight right now, so homemade gifts are perfect. I came across a tutorial for ribbon and pearl necklaces on Pinterest. Stevie at The Moore Babies created a ribbon and pearl necklace for game day. I knew this would be a great gift for both girls. I created one in black and one in blue. As I was perusing Dollar Store Crafts, I found a tutorial for gift boxes using Laughing Cow cheese boxes. I decided to try those for the necklaces. Both tutorials are great, so I'm just going to include some photos of the final products.

Please forgive the poor quality of the photos. I don't know why I insist on using my point and shoot when we have nice cameras that would do a better job!

The boxes will work fine, but I wasn't 100% pleased with how they turned out. The person who wrote the tutorial did a much better job!

I am pleased overall with how the necklaces turned out. I think they cost me between $3-4 a piece, which fit our budget nicely.

Crocheting Newborn Photography Props

I've been unemployed from my full-time job since March 1, 2011. I've been praying about and pondering how I could earn a little extra income from home. I know how to crochet, so the idea of crocheting photography props seemed like a good place to start. We likely will not get rich from crocheted photography props, but, as long as they sell, I think I can make a little money for us. Also, it will give me another creative outlet while I'm at home alone a lot.

I'm so grateful that there are people in the blogosphere who are willing to share their knowledge and create tutorials.

I found a tutorial here for the newborn nesting bowl. It was really easy to follow, and I'm pleased with the final product. I didn't end up with as many rows as the pattern said there would be, but I think a newborn would fit in the nesting bowl if my Cabbage Patch doll does. It's also fairly stretchy.

Crochet Geek is probably my favorite reference blog now. She provides excellent written and video tutorials. I've learned a lot just in a couple of days. I found the pattern I used for this fuzzy newborn hat on her site.

I would really appreciate your prayers as I take a few steps on this journey over the next several days. I purchased enough yarn to make seven newborn nesting bowls. My goal is to post them on Faceboook as I complete them and try to sell them for $20 each. They go for more than that on Etsy, so I think $20 is a good place to start. I'm hoping to get them in the hands of some of my photographer friends who could help me spread the word. We'll see how it goes!