Easy Crochet Red-Nose Reindeer Baby Hat

The holiday excitement has hit me early this year, so I'm taking it out on crochet.  Knitting and crochet are winter activities for me—I just can't get all tangled up in wool yarn in the hot summer months.  Last year I didn't do much crochet, but now that I've got some little muses in the form of my friends' kids, I'm back with a vengeance.  First project of the season: reindeer hats!

Image via JTeasycrochet

I sucked it up and bought an instant download pattern from Etsy, which was totally worth it.  I usually try to find something for free but there's a lot of sorting through the very cheesy junk. Plus this has easy instructions and pictures.  I made two, one for 0-3 month old Julia, and the other for 3-6 month Arianna. I wanted to get them done in advance so they could be worn throughout the Christmas season.

You need 4 yarns altogether, and I strayed slightly from what the pattern suggested so I could use what I had instead of buying an entire skein to make two tiny eyes. I used:
-For the head, Lion brand silky twist, super bulky #6 in Oatmeal
-For the antlers and ears, Lily Sugar 'n Cream #4 worsted weight in Ecru
-For the nose, some leftover maroon worsted weight, not sure of the details
-For the eyes, Lion brand Wool Ease #6 in Charcoal

Baby hat, minus the baby

You can crochet this pretty fast since baby heads are so small.  The pattern was very easy, beginner level, the trickiest part was attaching the ears and antlers.  I recommend using a tapestry needle to sew them on.

Sew them tight so they stand up

I don't have a baby to model it on, so here it is  eating a lamp, and looking a bit like Fozzie Bear.

Again, if you want to give it a shot you can pick up the pattern at the JTeasycrochet Etsy shop

On another note, happy 111th post!

DIY Quick and Easy washi tape bunting

Here's another quickie garland to add to your repertoire, adding to the 20 minute paper button garland I posted a few months back. This project is very simple and doesn't require much instruction at all. Just fold small pieces of washi tape over a thin cotton string and snip the ends. I chose to do little Vs at the end of mine, but semicircles, fringe, patterned craft scissors—really anything will work here. Here are a few tips.

Pick washi tape that coordinates a little better than mine.

More cheery?

Tear off your tape ahead of time and line it up so that you can work quickly.

Mise en place

It will be easier to put the tape on the string if you have it at tension, so tie or tape it between two stable things.

Tighten up!

When you reach your desired length, find a pretty spot to put it, like a mirror or picture frame.  You can even tape each end to a skewer and pop it atop a cake!

Oh baby (announcements)!

Last week I returned from a two week trip to the Southwest, full of camping, hiking, having fires, and being unapologetically dirty. But more on that in the next post. While I was away, summer officially started, and it's the first summer in years that I have no weddings to go to. 

With lots of friends moving on from marriage to babies, so have I moved on from wedding invitations to baby announcements.  And the smiling face of this little babe will truly melt your icy heart. 

Look, a baby.

Though her parents didn't have professional photos taken, they still wanted to include a picture of their pumpkin for those family and friends who are long distance. In that case, it was best to make the photo part of the announcement, as opposed to having it take up the whole page. The photo is attached with a pastel green paperclip and can thus be easily removed for those who might want to hang onto it. The simple flowers, ladybugs, and butterflies are a cute alternative to storks and diapers and perfect for a baby girl.  The type is a mix of a fat bold font and a soft handwriting, and all is wrapped up in, what else, but a pink envelope. 

The illustrations feel a little Dutch, the colors, not so Dutch.

 

Hey girl, hey.

Looking forward to meeting this bugger in person and calling her all sorts of silly pet names to her face.