Scrubbie

It's spring! Time for flowers, warmer weather, sunny days, and ....
Cleaning Yuck! But I have something for you to make all that cleaning a little brighter and you can feel good about making it because you're recycling.
Sound good?
Ok let's get started!

You will need:

Worsted weight cotton yarn (Iused white but in hindsight I realize colored would probably have been better since after a few uses my scrubbie looks a little yucky especially the one I used on the bathtub)

mesh produce bag(s) (yes, you read that correctly. I was inspired by this dish scrubber made by Mrs. Greene)


G and I crochet hooks




We will start by making the base.

It is important to remember that you will ALWAYS be working into the back loop This is what will create the ridge into which you will be working your mesh scrubber ridges. Use a stitch marker to indicate the beginning of each round.
 
With the I Hook:
Magic Ring (if you don't know how to do this you can simply ch 2 then work the first round into the second chain)
Round 1: 6 sc
Round 2: 2 sc into each sc of previous round
Round 3: 1 sc, 2 sc in next
Round 4: 2 sc, 2 sc in next

Continue in this manner until you have a round piece that is large as you want.  I stopped after a 5 sc, 2 sc in next sc, row.
When you get to the end of your last increase round work one plain round  of sc in each back loop until you get back to your stitch marker.
Slip stitch into that first sc then chain 20, slip stitch back to the base. This will create a loop you can use to hang your scrubbie up with. Weave in ends.

Your piece should look like this:

Sorry I didn't take pictures of the base in progress but hopefully the instructions along with the picture of the completed base will be enough.

Lay this piece aside.

Now we will prepare our mesh produce bag for its new life as a scrubbie.
Taking a pair of scissors you will need to cut your bag into one long strip.

Like so:

If your bag is round you can just make one long spiral. Rolling it into a ball as you go. If you had to cut it into flat pieces to remove labels as I did you will need to cut in a zig zag fashion. Don't worry if you don't get one continuous piece any parts that break can just be tied together. Knots=Extra Scrubbie Power.

Now back to the base. Remember how I told you to only crochet in the back loops here's why. You now have a piece that looks like this up close:

I crochet left handed, if you are a right handed crocheter then your spiral will be going in the opposite direction.

See all those lovely little bumps sticking up forming a spiral? Thats where we are going to attach the mesh. Using the G hook and starting at the center insert your hook like so:

Sorry once again I'm a lefty Crocheter. For you righties just imagine it flipped ;)

Now attach the mesh by pulling it through and making a slip stitch like this:

Tie a knot with the two ends and cut your short end leaving a small tail. Don't worry as long as your knot is secure this puppy's not going anywhere.


Now begin working in spiral making one single crochet in each bump with the mesh. It should look like this:

Righties remember yours will be going in the opposite direction.

Continue in this manner until you get to end of the inside spiral. You should be just below your hanger. Like this:

Now pull up a big loop and remove your hook.

Cut your mesh and pull the end through to tie off:

Cut this piece as you did before leaving a small tail.

And You're done! Congratulations you now have a new cleaning tool which is not only great for dishes but also does a darn good job on bathtubs.

Happy Scrubbing!

Last Minute Snowflake Ornament

Looking for a inexpensive last minute ornament to make or maybe you just need something to occupy the kiddies for a little while.  I've got the perfect thing and most of the stuff you probably already have on hand.  Ready? Ok here goes:

Supplies:
24 Clear or colored light bulbs from a string of Christmas lights
white school glue
clear protective disk (they come in a pack of cd-r's or dvd-r's) or an unwanted cd
scrap paper
pen or pencil
scissors
hot glue gun
small length of ribbon for hanger

When you remove your light bulbs from the string they will have a green or white cap on the bottom like this:

First  (and you probably want to do the next two steps before you hand it over to the kiddies if they're little ones.) remove the green caps from the bottom of your light bulbs. So that they look like this:

Now you will need to remove the wires coming from the bottom of all the bulbs:

Now all your bulbs should look like this:

 

Now take out your clear disk (or cd):

Trace and cut out a circle from your scrap paper using the disk as a template:

Now you need to divide the paper circle into 6 sections so first fold it in half:

Then into thirds as follows:

 

Now unfold the paper circle and draw lines on the folds like so:

Place the piece of paper BEHIND the disk:

Put glue on the disk using the lines as guides.  Do not put glue on the center circle. If you are using a cd you will only see a small segment of each line at the center just draw with the glue out from there.

Now your disk should look like this:

Place two light bulbs on each line of glue like this:

 When all the glue has light bulbs it will look like this:

Now use the glue to draw diagonal lines coming out from where each of the two light bulbs meet:

Put a light bulb on each of these glue lines:

Now you will need to wait for the glue to dry before moving on to the next step. I let mine sit overnight but an hour should be enough so go watch Olive the Other Reindeer. I love that movie!

Next cut and tie a length of ribbon to be used for the hanger.

Once the glue is dry enough to flip the disk over without having any light bulb casualties you can attach the hanger.  Time for Hot Glue! (Anyone else excited? :-> I thought so!)

Place a small amount of hot glue on the back of the disk making sure it will be hidden by a light bulb when the disk is flipped back over. I am sure you will do a better job than I did.

Add Ribbon:

Now you have a spiffy new ornament! 

Hang it on your tree and enjoy!