Clean/Dirty Dishwasher Magnet

This project is a slight variation of the laminate magnets a few posts ago.  It's a sign you put on your dishwasher that says whether the dishes are clean or dirty.  Now, I've gone a large portion of my life without one, but I think everyone's put dirty dishes into a clean dishwasher, especially if you have roommates.  After getting fed up, I knew a sign was in order.  You can buy them; I'm cheap and think there are more important things to spend my money on.  I tried notes and post-its, but I got tired of wasting paper and post-its.  The brilliant idea of making a magnet version came shortly after my first post about refrigerator magnets. 

The main difference is that for those magnets I wanted clean edges.  For this, I wanted to make sure that it was sealed and no water could get through, but I still didn't want a clear border like you see on laminated documents.  

For the image, I looked online for a while but couldn't find one that met my picky tastes so I ended up just making one on my computer to match my roommate's kitchen decor color of choice: Yellow. 

Randomness

Every so often, I'll post something from another site or blog that I find to be awesome, not necessarily being completely relevant, but cool nonetheless.  

This first such entry is from a blog called Geek Crafts, for all you baking Star Trek Fans:

http://geekcrafts.com/bake-it-so/

Laminate Magnets

This is the first of what will probably be many posts on magnets.  I have several ideas on the subject, plus they're really easy to make.  First, I'd like to apologize on the quality of the images.  Many, if not most, are blurry.  My camera is really old and the view screen is extremely small so I couldn't tell that the images weren't focusing when I was taking the pics.  

So, what I call laminate magnets are those flat sheet type magnets like advertisement kind stuck to the back of phone books or that some people make business cards with.  I've seen some fun ones, as well, and thought that there's a lot of potential to go wild with.  I found some images online that I printed out, but you can also use photos that you already have.  Photo magnets are a great way to keep those memories visible without having picture frames all over the counters.  You could also draw or color your own images and pictures if you're feeling extra creative.  

I printed two sheets for this project.  One was three "cooks helpers" cards that I downloaded from Martha Stewart with measurement equivalents, pan size conversions, and candy temp. guide.  The other was a page of reoccurring alien species from Doctor Who that I found doing Google image searches then re-sized to about 4 inches tall. 

You'll need a roll of adhesive magnetic sheeting (available at craft stores), self adhesive laminating sheets (wherever office supplies are sold), scissors, the images you'll use, and a pencil (optional).

About This, That, and Awesome

Check out my new "About That" page in the menu tab bar!  It's basically a brief "who I am" and "what I'm doing here" for the blog.

Late Christmas Crochet

So, I know that it's the New Year and Christmas is considered far behind us; however, don't think it's too late to post the Christmasy things I crocheted "last year".  If this gives anyone an idea for next year, there's plenty of time!  There isn't too much to say on the subject, but since this is my first post on crocheting, I'll try to expand.  

I don't think it's realistic for me to post tutorials on how to actually crochet.  I was taught a few years ago by my sister.  I was at Thanksgiving with my sisters, parents, grandma, aunt and uncle, cousins, etc.  At one point, everyone was gathered in the giant great room doing various things and it turned out that all the women there were knitting or crocheting...except me.  I can't say that it was love at "first hook", I've put it down and picked it up sporadically over the years.  Almost everything I post that I've crocheted will be from a pattern or a variation of a pattern or chart.  If you're inspired and want to learn, you can always find someone who knows how to teach you, but the internet is vast and ever expanding resource.

Cute Amigurumi Reindeer

If I've gotten the pattern online, I will try to always post a link to it at the bottom of the post.
 

The first project is a little amigurumi reindeer that I actually had started in 2010, got most of the way through it and "set it aside" out of frequent frustration.  I picked it up again and finished it before Christmas 2011.  A couple changes I made was that the pattern called for plastic eyes.  I don't have any, nor did I feel like buying them, "sew" I did my best shot at embroidering them on. Also, I didn't put a mouth on him.  I thought he was cute enough without it.  

If you don't know what "amigurumi" is, it is basically a small, crocheted, stuffed animal or figurine.  They're supposed to be cute. One of the frustrating things about it is all the many little pieces that you eventually have to sew together.  Something important for you to remember, even if the pattern doesn't say; if you have little pieces that need to be sewn on (IE.  ears, feet, nose, etc), always leave a long tail on the piece after fastening off.  That tail will be what you use to sew that piece to the larger whole.

First Blog Post

Hello Blogosphere!  This is my very first blog post.  I'm a bit new to the whole thing so the blog will grow and change as I learn.  Basically, I started this as a place to chronicle my crafting exploits and share random awesomeness to all who care to receive it.  I also hope to use this as a jumping board for an Etsy shop in the future.  Let's see what happens!