Baby crochet bib

Pink is the colour of the day. In fact, pink is the colour of most of my days. Now that we know we are expecting a baby girl, the amount pink in the house is slowly increasing. Pink is my colour, and I'm sure it will be the little poppet's colour too (well at least until she's old enough to choose otherwise). Don't get me wrong, I will not turn her into a pink princess who will only wear pink dresses with fluffy, frilly, glittery pink trimmings, because that is just wrong on a lot of levels. If she is anything like me in her complexion, pink will be her 'go to' colour which can then be paired with any other hue from the rainbow. Anyway, I digress.

On the pink theme, today I want to share this super cute crochet bib I made in a lovely pink cotton.

The pattern is from Nicki Trench's Cute and Easy Crochet book and I used the same DK cotton as I did on these scrumptious booties. 

I just love the feel of this cotton and can't wait to get my hands on some more of it for future projects!

Instargam pics #1

Some of my latest iPhone and Instagram pics:

"MY shoe!"

Gerald the giraffe

Special delivery!

New product range for Princess Crafts

Crafty goodies

Abbey Road M&M's

Multicoloured M&M's

Giant granny square blanket

Pink and blue grannies

The first raspberries of 2012

WIP Extra large baby blanket

For more pics and general updates about what's happening in my world, you can follow me on Twitter and Pinterest, just search for PrincessCrafts.

Today is a craft fair day!

Today I'm at a craft fair in Great Dunmow, do pop along if you're in the area!

Itty bitty shoes

In preparation for our little poppet's arrival, I've been putting my crochet skills to good use and have made some ridiculously cute booties for her itty bitty feet.

They are so tiny I can't help but be amazed that her little baby feet will fit in these and in fact, the booties may be too big for her at first! 

The pink ones are made from the Nicki Trench Cute & Easy Crochet book, and although the pattern is pretty easy, it does require concentration to make sure both booties turn out the same size!

These lilac ones are the same pattern but I stopped at the bit where they turn more into a boot shape and I added a little strap to make them more like mary janes. 

I used Sublime Cotton DK for these and a 2.5mm hook to make sure they were small. The cotton DK is an absolute dream to work with and I'm sure will stand wear and tear quite well. I definitely can't wait to see what these look like on the little poppet's feet! 

Quick crochet coasters

Last week I made some lovely crochet coasters as a gift for a friend and I was most impressed with how quick and simple they were to do. I found this pattern on Pinterest and was intrigued to make it as it originally dates back to 1893! Cue a couple of happy hooking hours...

The navy and teal cotton DK was perfect for this design, I can't wait to try other colours!

I made two pink ones from some pink cotton I had left, these are currently on my coffee table looking pretty.

Re-Covered Desk Chair

Do you ever look around your office/craft space and think 'I'm so bored of this room'? Well, I have recently, and it's probably because there are plans for the room to become the nursery in the next few months so I haven't made any changes to my office in ages. I actually want to just get stuck into putting the nursery together but that's another story!

Last night I felt the need to spruce up something in my office and so rummaged through my fabric stash and rediscovered this owly print:

I'm not particularly an owl print fan but I bought this fabric last year when owls were 'bang on trend' and made a few things which sold quite well. I had some left over which went back into the box for a rainy day. Ages ago I saw a pin on Pinterest from someone who recovered their desk chair so when I found it again yesterday it sparked an idea.

My comfy yet increadibly dull looking desk chair has now gone from this...

...to this:

The old fabric was a weird felt that every piece of fluff/cat hair stuck to like glue and so it always looked grubby (dislike). The owl print is a cross between a cotton and a linen so hopefully will not be a lint magnet. It looks rather spiffy if I do say so myself!

I simply took the plastic back off and unscrewed the base and then stapled the new fabric over the top of the cushions. Hey presto, 30 minutes later, and nicer looking chair! And the best bit is that when I do eventually move my office space into Mr PC's office, I can take my cool chair with me!

Meet Gerald

In preparation for our little poppet's arrival, I have been making some bits and bobs. So far I'm just making crochet items but I do also have plans for some patchwork projects. Today I want to introduce you to Gerald. He is the latest addition in the nursery menagerie and I must say he is really rather a cheerful chappy!

Gerald is only small it but took a good few hours to create him. In total I think I made 9 different limbs, ears and horns as making them the same size was really trick as they were so small and fiddly.

He's a bit of a show off and wanted to show you all that he can do headstands...

Gerlad's a pretty cool dude and I'm sure he will become one of the poppet's best bedtime pals.

If you fancy mkaing your own giraffe, you can find the pattern here. I think my next animal will be an elephant, I just have to choose which pattern to make! You can take a look at my Crochet Toys board on Pinterest if you click here.

Have you made any animal toys?

Mega Shop Update

Today I did an overhaul of my Etsy shop and listed loads of new items which are ready and waiting for purchase. Here's a few of the new items, I urge you to go have a look and treat yourself or a friend! Click the image to take you straight to the shop!

Edwardian style teacup candle

Red rose teacup candle

Pink peonies teacup candle

Great tea teacup candle

Adderley teaset

Teapot bunting

Balet shoes memo board

Pink rose memo board

More items being added very soon, including bamboo knitting needles and teacup pin cushions! Watch this space...

Bake List: Tart au Citron

The latest item ticked off my Bake List is Mary Berry's Tart au Citron as featured in last year's The Great British Bake Off. This is one of the absolute tastiest tarts ever - so lemoney and lick smackingly good!!

The recipe is pretty straight forward although I do think the whole thing is a bit faffy. It's def not a quick make due to all the stages of getting the pastry done. But it is most certainly worth it!!

The crust baked quite well which I'm pleased about as the first time I made this it shrank wich meant I coldn't use all of the filling. TIP: Do not trim the pastry until after the blind bake - this allows for shrinkage.

Check out the rest of my Bake List and the progress so far.

Picture perfect

I've been taking more pics with my iPhone recently and so thought today's post would share some of my faves from the last couple of weeks.

Cutie patootie!

Three fab colours

Wooly snuggles

The multicoloured baby blanket is well underway!

New notebook made from an old book

Sitting on top of one of my cake stands...

Super cute booties in progress

Love this from Baby Gap

Tidying the ribbon boxes - pig in poo!

Sorting out buttons - pig in poo again!

Zebra print button ring

Would have been rude not to...

My first crochet toy in progress

Teen tiny washing, getting ready for baby

Obsessed with these!

More tiny washing

If you'd like to follow me on Instargram you can find me under PrincessCrafts.