Delicates Wash bag

Keep your delicates safe in the washing machine using a little net bag.

I'm going to start with a bit of a long background story today. If you have no interest in the 'why' and only want the 'how' just scroll on down!
I have had a very lengthy (ie: all my life) love/hate relationship with sockies, invisible socks, sockettes, shoe liners, call them what you will. I love how they look ie: you can't see them I love how they help stop your shoes stinking I hate how they don't stay on my feet It is just like when we were kids and our socks would always 'go to sleep' in our welly boots. Here's a facebook post of mine from last year:

Well I'm happy to say I have found a solution. PEDS Liners. I saw a review online (I can't remember where now, sorry) and thought they were worth a try.  Whoop whoop, they are great. They stay on my feet all day. It's the little rubbery grippy bits on the heel that make all the difference.  So once this problem was finally solved I had a new problem.  How do I stop these delicate and fairly tiny things getting swallowed up inside the washing machine? They are on the expensive side so I want them to last, and getting caught up in the machine somewhere is not good for the machine either. The solution - a net delicates bag to wash them in.
These delicates bags are available in the shops and they are not expensive.  You might decide to go and buy one right now and that would be great. If however, like me, you have a bit of old net curtain and an old zip (mine was rescued from an old cushion cover) then you can make one "FOR FREEEE" (Bedtime Stories anyone?) and in about 10 minutes.

Cut a piece of net curtain about 50cm x 18cm (20" x 7")

• Pin one short side of the net to one side of the zip and stitch.
• Pin and sew the other short side of the net to the other side of the zip.
• Trim the zip.
• Open the zip a little - this is important!
• You've basically made a tube so shuffle the bag round, until the zip is about 1 inch down from the edge.
• Stitch down each side seam, I went back and forth over the zip a few times just to make sure it was secure.
• Turn right side out through the open zip.

We leave this in the laundry basket so both our daughter and I can add our PEDS liners to the bag as we go along. Then whoever is putting the washing on can just bung the whole bag in with the rest without having to think about it too much.

I believe other little sockette things with the grippy heel are available, but PEDS Liners are the only one I've tried. This post isn't sponsored by the PEDS people, I just really like them! These are affiliate links, if you make a purchase when clicking through from here Sum of their Stories will receive a small commission. The cost to you is the same. Shop UK:
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Fun Cheap Birthday Traditions

Making birthdays special without spending a fortune, it's the little things that count!

In our family we have quite a few birthday traditions. The list has grown over the years, once you do something for one, you have to do it for everyone every year apparently! Some of these are starting to drop off now the kids are older, some we will do forever I think.

Homemade Cake

First up is home made cake. Always. A birthday is not a birthday without cake and homemade is just the best. Even before we had kids my husband would always make me a homemade cake, when they were young he would have them "helping" with the mixing and decorating. 
You can see lots of cakes we've made over the years here, if you are after some ideas. I also have a board on pinterest of cakes I dream of being able to make someday. 
If you have never made a cake before I have an absolute beginners 101 guide to making a simple sponge here.

Birthday Breakfast

This all began when the kids were little, and had to go to school on their birthday. We would all get up a bit earlier than usual, and the birthday person would come down to find the table laid nicely and their presents waiting for them.
Their chair has a birthday balloon tied to it and cushions on the seat and back so they are super comfy!

We eat Croissants and Chocolate Pastries and drink Tropicana from wine glasses ('cos we know how to live large!)

The kids also have a birthday placemat which I must have made about 13 years ago! It's just laminated paper but because they are only used for 1 day a year they are still in pretty good condition - we still get them out now!

The Birthday Banner

This all started when our youngest was about 5 and his big sister made him this beauty. 

I do have his permission to publish this awesome photo!

For the next few birthdays we made a fresh one each time. Then we wised up and I printed this dinosaur one and we used that for several years. 
On our respective 40th's my husband and I were lucky enough to have these beautiful things hanging on the front of the house!

We have even had some sophisticated Bunting style banner's in recent years.

Home made cards 

Everyone in the house makes cards for each other, I can't remember the last time anyone bought a card. The kids used to paint, draw, cut and stick etc. Nowadays they mostly use the computer and do something terribly funny in publisher, often involving a photo of the birthday persons head cut out and stuck on the head of a film, tv or game character. Wordclouds from Tagxedo and Wordle also appear quite often as they are easy and free. My husband usually rustles up something lovely involving an old photo.
You can see some of my card ideas here, here, here and here.

The idea to share our birthday traditions came when I read this lovely idea from One Creative Mommy

Birthday Pizza - How brilliant is that?!

For someone whose Birthday comes right after Christmas how about this clever idea from The Writer Revived?

Turn the Christmas tree into a birthday tree with a quick decoration swap!

Leanna from All Done Monkey has a lovely idea of making a Milestones Birthday Book, which you fill in each year on your child's birthday ready to present to them when they finally fly the nest. Leanna has provided a free printable to get you started or you could easily adapt the idea, add whatever things you'd like to record each year.

Jamie from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom shows us how easy it is to make a balloon avalanche to surprise a birthday person.

In the house of I Heart Naptime they kept things simple one year for a 3rd Birthday but still had lots of balloons and these lovely streamers on the bedroom door.

Over at Sa Sea Living they have a lovely tradition of taking a photo of the birthday person ever year. One you need to start from year one I guess but really beautiful if you can remember every year. (they also have homemade cake too and they look amazing)

Growing a Jeweled Rose have a whole load of fun birthday traditions, from balloons and streamers to a special birthday bath to end the day!

What birthday traditions do you have?

Amigurumi Owl

What a fun way to use up left over scraps of yarn. If you know basic crochet stitches you can make a super cute amigurumi owl! 

Back in June I shared my Owl Post, a collection of 18 different owl crafts by lots of very talented bloggers from all over the world.

I thought the amigurumi owl from Kristi Tullus was just so sweet and I finally got round to giving her pattern a go.

It was pretty simple to follow, Kristi's pattern is in US crochet terms so that's just something to watch if you are used to UK terminology.
I confess, I got a little lost with my increases on the main owl body, mainly because I was watching some very exciting TV at the time, so in the end I just winged it and aimed for something with the right sort of shape, using the number of stitches at the end of each row as a guide. Looking at the photos I think my owl maybe just a tiny bit taller than she is supposed to be.

My little amigurumi owl is made from left overs from the crochet flower garland and gift wrapping from earlier this summer. I also used a little bit of the orange from the heart sachet back in June.

The yarn is DMC Natura Just Cotton Medium and I used a 3mm crochet hook for the owl. I also substituted the safety eye Kristi used for her owl for a small black button (just using what I have) but then I'm not giving this owl to a small child. If you were, then obviously the safety eye is a better choice.

I find amigurumi is a bit more difficult than regular crochet, the stitches are simple but it's just smaller and tighter so a bit more fiddly. As I'm making something I'm thinking "never again" but then the results are just so darn cute that after a short break I am tempted to have another go! 
If you are tempted to have a go at this sweet little owl then pop on over to get the pattern here (and Kristi Tullus has lots more patterns both free and to buy on her site as well as some tutorials on how to crochet too so it's well worth a look around)

You might also be interested in:

Rainbow Heart Garland

12 ideas for novelty yarns

Mini Minion, Tiny Ted and Beautiful Bows

Grey and Bright Crochet Flowers

I'll be linking up at these great link parties

Crochet heart

Crocheted hanging heart and flower with links to the free patterns.

Just a very quick share today, I was posting sneaky peeks of this on instagram last week so thought I could share the finished result.

This is one of those rare things, something I pinned on pinterest then actually made!

This idea comes straight from one of my most favourite crochet blogs, Attic 24. The super talented Lucy from Attic 24 made these gorgeous little crocheted hearts with pretty roses way back in 2013 and I pinned them, like you do. 
The pattern for the hearts is from a lady called BeaG and is on flicker here. The rose is an Attic 24 pattern here. The links for both patterns are on the original Attic 24 post too. 

I had a few issues getting my heart started, you start at the bottom point and I sort of fudged mine a little so don't look too closely. I also notice mine is not the same rounded, even shape as the original but no matter. I read something the other day saying that apparently knitters of fairisle jumpers used to put mistakes into their work sometimes just to show it was handmade. I don't know if that's true or not but I do embrace the idea that handmade doesn't need to be perfect!

I chose not to add leaves but there is a pattern for a leaf too over on Attic 24 if you want to add them.

The yarn I used is DMC Natura Medium and my hook was a 4mm. This yarn was a freebie in my goodie bag from my trip to the CHSI Stitches show back in February.

I finally decided what to make with it, or at least some of it, I've used maybe half the red and just a little of the orange on this heart sachet and rose.

I used a little bit of regular toy stuffing to fill my sachet and I added a little piece of cotton in the centre with a few drops of essential oil on it. It smells amazing, but I want to keep this as a gift for someone later in the year so now it's in a sealed plastic bag with a bit of tissue with a few more drops of the essential oil. That way it should smell lovely for a good long while.

This finished heart is roughly 6" (15cm) tall, that's making it with this medium yarn which is apparently  an aran weight, and using a 4mm crochet hook. This would be a fantastic stash buster project, you could make a whole load to use up all your leftovers, but of course the finished size will vary depending on your yarn and hook. 
Enjoy!

You might also be interested in:

Rainbow Heart Garland

12 ideas for novelty yarns

Mini Minion, Tiny Ted and Beautiful Bows

Grey and Bright Crochet Flowers

I'll be linking up at these great link parties

12 alternative ideas for novelty yarn

12 non knit or crochet ideas for novelty or fancy yarns.

It happens SO often, I see a beautiful textured yarn that just seems so pretty and interesting I find I've bought it before I've really thought about what I am going to make. 
There are so many different types, eyelash, bouclé, slub, nub, chenille, ribbon, ladder, loop, snarl ....
Some fancy or novelty yarns are a dream to knit or crochet with but some really not so much!
For me trying to crochet with anything too fancy is a bit of a problem, a lot of fluff and I just can't see the stitches.

So if you, like me, have forked out on these balls of gorgeous looking yarn that just sit there and make you feel bad for spending that money I've found a few rather lovely alternative ideas.

Gift wrap, ribbon alternative

I bought this lovely textured yarn quite a few years ago. I found it in a discount bin and imagined crocheting a long, thin, floaty, elegant scarf to wear on mild spring days.

I crocheted about a foot and realised that I was making something that looked like an old rag... 

However it is really pretty as a much cheaper ribbon alternative for gift wrapping.

It's easy to use left over fancy yarns and wools (or anything that turned out to be a "purchasing error") as an alternative to ribbon.

I think a pom pom is fun on a present. If you make them on your hand (I first found this method here) they are SO quick, just use a long strand for tying them in the middle and use that for wrapping the gift.

If you visit Sum of their Stories often you might recognise this fluffy fur yarn, it's left over from my chunky rib hat making adventure.

Eyelash yarn is not something I have ever really made anything successful out of. That's not to say you can't, I'm sure very skilful people make extraordinary things from it. In fact the wolves and rabbits at Yarnia were all eyelash yarn, but for me it is just too much going on.

Looks pretty with plain gift wrap though (maybe I should have ironed this paper first!)

Here are some more ideas from other sites with all sorts of ways to use fancy yarns that don't involve knitting or crochet.

Kristin from My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia used cardboard and a fluffy yarn to make this beautiful heart shaped wreath. So simple, so effective, and you could cut any shape card to make a wreath for any time of the year.

This gorgeous knotted wall hanging from The Gathered Home used a mix of  yarns. Apparently not a quick project but there is a great step by step tutorial to lead you through the process.

Or if you are looking for something super quick, how about a knotted scarf like this one from Something Turquoise? 

Here's another wall hanging idea, this one is from A Designer at Home.

It's inspired by a Moroccan Wedding Blanket and looks really easy to put together.

How about this for an activity for the kids? Yarn wrapped sticks from Mum in the Mad House.

Or maybe you know some kids who would like to make yarn wrapped fish.

Fantastic Fun and Learning show you how, and you are not limited to fish, any simple shape would work.

This garland is from enJOY it by Elise Blaha Cripe, she made it for a baby shower but it would be a beautiful decoration for all sorts of occasions. I'm thinking what a lovely photo backdrop it would make too.

This is an old lampshade give a complete makeover using what looks like the kind of twine you can make with fabric scraps (like I used for a bracelet once here) It is such a transformation from how it looked before, check out the tutorial by Ashley at Blog a la Cart.

I think this would work with any kind of yarn but I guess anything chunky would be much quicker.

Now I know I promised no knit or crochet but... this necklace type cowl is finger knitting - that doesn't really count does it? 

It's from Fiber Flux and there is even a fab video tutorial to help you make it.

Love love love this pom pom cushion from A Stroll Thru Life

So classy and designer looking but a simple DIY.

And finally how about this sweet little nest, made with wire and eyelash yarn, so pretty.

You can find out how to make it over at The Magic Onions

So, use up your stash including those "I need to really concentrate" yarns. What you do with the space you make is up to you of course, but if it results in another trip to a wool shop I can't be held responsible!

You might also be interested in:

Diamond Stitch Crochet Baby Blanket

Earphone Wire Tidy

Harry Potter Scarf Pattern

Crochet Owl Brooch

I'll be linking up to all these great link parties, why not go and have a look.