Beaded Crochet T-shirt Scarf

It seems like t-shirt scarfs are all the rage right now! This is my second one that I have made, and I do like how they dress up a plain t-shirt. During a recent Goodwill-by-the-pound visit on a work trip to CA (I don't think they have this glorious invention in TX) I picked up a long pink dress made up of t-shirt material. It was cute, but the length was weird, and it had a little hole. Unfortunately I did not take before shots. =(

To make this particular scarf, I cut thin uninterrupted loops starting at the hem. I had to sew the ends together of my other t-shirt scarf to make an actual scarf, but this was so much easier since the dress was wide enough to make a scarf length. As I cut each strip, I pulled it tight to get the fabric to roll together.

Then came the hard part. I strung a ton of beads onto some Aunt Lydia's #10 crochet thread, then crocheted chains and brought up a bead every ten or so stitches and chained over it. Sounded semi-easy when I first thought of it, but was totally, ridiculously tedious. The thread kept getting tangled, and it was just an overall mess. I made two strings of these crocheted beads, and then put them together with my strings of t-shirt. To finish off, I crocheted two little cuffs (8 chains, and then single crochet about 8 rows, or whatever is big enough to wrap around all the strings of your scarf, then slip stitch the two ends over everything) to secure the pieces together. Here is the result:

If you don't have crochet skills, you could take the simple (and less mind numbing) route of just making a few strings of beads, and then using a piece of your t-shirt to secure everything in two spots like I did with the cuffs. Would still have the bead-y, drape-y look that I got here, but just a little simpler in the construction. Have you tried making one of these scarfs yet using the many tutorials found online?

Egg Candles!

Several weeks ago at Michael's, I saw these cute fake "cracked" egg candles. I know I could have bought them, but decided to try making my own instead! This was actually a super simple project, even if you've never made a candle before.

Here is what you need:

-Uncracked eggs
-Small candle wicks
-Microwave melting wax, or regular wax if you want to do it over the stove
-Microwave safe measuring cup with a spout
-Egg cups for balancing your new candles in

To start, one morning when I was making breakfast, I carefully pressed my finger into the top of my eggs so that there was a small-ish hole, like this:

I carefully turned the egg upside down to slip out the egg, and proceeded with making scrambled eggs. I have seen some tutorials that tell you to blow the egg out, which really seems like a lot of work since I was going for the "just hatched" look, but you can do that as well.

After your eggs have been washed and left out to dry (I let mine sit for a few days) put some hot glue on the metal piece on the underside of the wick, and glue it to your egg. Taking this extra step will make sure it doesn't slip around once you pour your wax. Melt your wax in your measuring cup, stirring it every minute or so. Make sure to read the instructions that came with your wax, just to make sure you understand any weird quirks with that wax brand

When the wax is completely melted, carefully pour the wax into your egg, stopping 2-3 cm from the top. Trim the wick if there is a lot leftover. Here is a cool shot of mine in the dark.

Totally fun and easy, and hopefully this gets your spirits up for SPRING! =)


Posting this one at a link party!