Browsing Tag

japan crafts

Crafts DIY

How to Hello Kitty Crochet

03/03/2010

Crocheting is quite a fun and addictive hobby, unlike knitting it seems like the sape possibilities and graphics are endless, it’s just perfect for crafting little plushes (amigurumi) and graphic designs.

I’ve become addicted to both knitting and crochet living in cold, cold Indianapolis and even more so now with a baby on the way. I can’t imagine all the rainbow kitty afgan cuteness that will erupt!

So how do you do it? Not sure where these notes originated from, possibly Craftster, but they’re quite useful for new cute-crochet lovers!

Such a beginner you still can’t get it? A great way to learn crocheting and knitting skills is to watch tutorials online, you can pause and take as long as you want.

What is a Single Crochet, Half Double Crochet, Triple Crochet, Chain Stitch and Double Crochet ?

tut Hello Kitty crochet mix

The Hello Kitty pattern is quite elusive, it takes a bit of a search to find it. The book is out of print, hard to find and expensive. If we simply learn to crochet Hello Kitty to scale and the rest of the granny square the possibilities are endless! They seem to attach the white head to quite a lot of the projects, so this is absolutely necessary to learn for any crochet kittiness.

Crafts DIY

How to Create the Perfect Polymer Macarons

03/25/2009

I believe many girls love macarons. Tell me who can resist the delicious and cute looking French macaron?

macaron diy

Besides the edible macaron, macaron accessories are also very popular in Japan and all around the world. There are may ways to make macaron accessories for yourself or for your little Blythe. The simplest way is to use air dry clay or polymer clay. In this tutorial, I choose to use air dry clay because I don’t like to use polymer clay that has to be cured in the oven.

macaron diy

You Need

Acrylic paint (any colour you prefer)
Clay cutter and measurement spoon (size is up to you)
9-pin
Embedded crystals (any colour you prefer)
Vaseline Petroleum Jelly or hand lotion
Air dry clay (you can use polymer clay which needed heat up in oven to cure)

Steps

1. Apply the Vaseline (or hand lotion) on the tools and surface that will contact with the clay. This step is important to avoid the clay stick at the tools or surface.
2. Apply the Vaseline on the surface and your hands too.
3. Cut this amount of clay (enough to make two macarons).
4. Put a little red acrylic paint on top of the clay (I chose red because I want to make a pink macaron).
5. Twist and rub the clay until the colours mixed evenly with the clay.
6. Then put the measurement spoon on top of the clay.
7. Press down so to get a shape alike the shape of the measurement spoon
8. Please see if it looks like the photograph above.
9 Then use any flat surface to press it down until it looks like this.
10. Repeat the step 6 to 9 for the bottom piece. Some embedded crystals are put on top of the top piece.
11. As shown in this picture.
12. Cut this amount of clay.
13. Put a little bit dark brown acrylic paint on top of the clay (to add some colour to the filling) then twist and rub the clay until the colour mixed evenly with the clay.
14. Then use any flat surface to press it down until it looks like this.
15. Sandwich the white clay in between the top and bottom pieces of pink macaron.
16. If you want to make accessories with it, you have to add a 9-pin. Enter the 9-pin from the side.
17. Set aside the clay macaron for two days for completely air dry.

Tips

1. I recommend you to trim your nails first before handling the clay, because clay tends to stick to long nails.
2. Make sure all the tools and surface are dust free to avoid any dust twisted or rubbed into the clay.
3. In case the clay become dry, add a few drop of water to get back the flexible feeling.