Category Archives: DIY

appetizers, cocktails, Cooking, Crafts, DIY, Holiday, side dishes, snacks

Grinch-themed birthday party

April 18, 2016 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

Our son, Jack, turns 4 this week. Since his second birthday we’ve let him choose his party theme. At 2 it was Pingu (please, have a look at this adorable Swedish claymation penguin show), last year it was the Lorax and when I asked him this year what he wanted, he chose the Grinch.

A Grinch-themed birthday party | Minimal organization and lots of running around is all you need for a fun kids birthday party. A photo gallery from alaskaknitnat.com — Pin the heart on the Grinch. It’s more of a tradition on my part to get me into the spirit of party planning. The kids play with it for about 5 minutes.

During the holidays we took Jack to a local restaurant to see the outrageous film based on the Dr. Seuss character. It was his first big screen experience so it must have left an impression on him.

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Crafts, DIY, Knit & Crochet, Knitting, Patterns

Reversible chevron scarf

February 8, 2016 alaskaknitnat 3 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I was packing for a two-week vacation in Mexico. Our family trips consist of sleeping, eating and lying around, so I have a lot of time to knit. I wanted to work on a pattern that was easy and quick to finish.

I’m not usually a fan of knitting scarves as they go on forever and ever, but I realized I don’t have many scarves and the cowls I’ve made muss my hair when I take them off.

I don’t do lacework and cable scarves have a wrong side, which I find unattractive. That’s when I found a free downloadable pattern from Ravelry called the Reversible Chevron Scarf designed by Debbie Seton of The Crimson Rabbit.

Click here for the free pattern.

This scarf has a beautiful texture and the design, which is made up of just knits and purls, looks the same on both sides. Just what I wanted!

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baby, Crafts, DIY, Knit & Crochet, Knitting, Patterns, Tutorials

Little lady scarf — a free knitting pattern

February 6, 2016 alaskaknitnat 10 Comments

Last week a friend asked me if I could make a toddler scarf for her little niece, Amelia. The idea of a toddler wearing a scarf is funny to me. I can’t imagine it staying on a wriggling little 2-year-old. But that got me thinking: why not make a scarf that will stay put?

I searched Pinterest and came across the most adorable scarf pattern that uses a bow as a button. This was definitely the right idea. Create a buttonhole near the end of the scarf and secure a knit bow in the buttonhole. That should keep the scarf in place on a hippitty-hoppity hyper toddler.

I love the look of seed stitch, a.k.a. moss stitch. It keeps the knit piece from curling on the edges and it looks attractive on both sides of the fabric. And it’s a little fancier than garter stitch.

This is a simple weekend project that’s bound to keep your little lady cozy and warm.

Little lady scarf with bow

Materials:

1 skein Lion Brand Woolspun in Fisherman
1 skein Lion Brand Woolspun in Charcoal
Size 10 US needles
darning needle

Seed stitch:

Row 1: k1, p1 across all stitches

Row 2: p1, k1 across all stitches

Essentially, you knit where there’s a purl and purl where there’s a knit on the previous row.

Note: I slip the first stitch of each row, knitwise, and purl the last stitch of every row regardless of where I am in the seed stitch pattern. This creates a neat edge. It is not required and therefore I haven’t included it in the row-by-row instructions below.

Instructions:

Cast on 20 stitches.

Seed stitch for 18 rows.

For the buttonhole:

Row 1: Slip 1 stitch, seed stitch for 9 stitches. With the left needle, pull one stitch over the other stitch, *knit one, pull the second stitch over the knit one; repeat from the * twice more. You have now cast off 4 stitches. Continue with the seed stitch for the rest of the row. You should have 8 stitches on either side of the cast-off stitches.

Row 2: Slip 1 stitch, seed stitch to button hole, cast on 4 stitches, continue the seed stitch for the rest of the row. – 20 stitches.

Continue the seed stitch pattern until the whole piece measures 25 inches. Cast off and weave in ends.

Bow: Cast on 10 stitches and knit in garter stitch for 10 rows. Cast off and weave in ends. Wrap grey yarn around the middle of the strip several times and tie the ends in the back of the bow.

Using the fisherman color yarn and darning needle, sew the bow to the end of the scarf opposite the button hole, the same height as the button hole (about 4 inches from the edge).

I don’t have a little lady, so my little gent got to be the model. Kind of looks like a bow tie, right?

The top can be folded down a bit like a collar to make it a little narrower and warmer.

Crafts, DIY, Patterns, Sewing, Tutorials

Dress to Apron Refashion – A free tutorial

November 22, 2015 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Sewing is by no means my greatest talent. My mom taught me to sew at a young age, but that doesn’t mean I like it. It’s time consuming to cut out a pattern, cut out the fabric and take out the sewing machine. If I’m going to sew something it’s got to be a two-hour-or-less project.

I love the concept of refashioning clothes; i.e., taking an article of clothing and turning into a different article of clothing. Refashionista is pretty much my sewing/thrifting idol and she’s incredibly cute.

Lately I’ve been noticing gigantic church-lady linen dresses at the thrift shops. My mother loves linen dish towels because they are lightweight and absorbent. I thought about purchasing a linen dress and cutting it into dish-towel rectangles, but the concept didn’t really excite me much.

Last week I saw a lovely linen apron at Anthropologie. I had an “I can make that” moment. I figured an apron was a great way to refashion an old dress.

Years ago I made an apron for my sister and managed to write down the pattern measurements. I have included that pattern in this tutorial. Keep in mind my sewing skills are far from elegant so I’m sure some of you could come up with a prettier apron, but I’m satisfied with what I ended up with and it only took two hours from start to finish.

Be sure to check out the bottom of this post for more clothing refashion tutorials I’ve done over the years.

Continue reading Dress to Apron Refashion – A free tutorial →

Crafts, DIY, Tutorials

Pinterest Perfect: DIY Rustic Headboard

November 21, 2015 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I wish my house were magazine-worthy. I wish one interior wall were made of raw brick. I wish I had large windows with endless natural light. I wish I had crisp white linens. I wish I had 11-foot ceilings. I wish I had a subway tile kitchen backsplash.

A woman can dream, right? And that’s what Pinterest is for.

I’m usually a practical pinner. I pin recipes I’ll actually make, knitting techniques I reference over and over, but once in a while I just want to be dazzled by what I call “Pinterest perfectionism.”

My friend Julie’s “For the Home” board is just that — a virtual cork board of immaculate kitchens, bedrooms and dens that are seemingly unattainable. But Julie is a DIY-er. I’ve seen her tackle several projects that require power tools. I’m a crafter, but I can’t get myself to pick up anything heftier than a staple gun.

I thought of Julie last summer when my parents were tearing down their 25-year-old cedar deck. My husband meticulously planed every board that came off of that wrap-around deck. He was left with quite a bit of cedar, which he used to build our son’s playhouse.

In the spring I invited Julie to stop by and pick up some planks because it just looked Pinterest worthy. The last month she sent me photos of what she created — a rustic headboard with personality.

I guess this post is an ode to those who actually do it. Her bedroom is a DIY, Pinterest-perfect dream come true. Well done, Julie!

Here’s what Julie had to say about how she made her too-easy-to-be-true, step-by-step instructions for a super cute headboard.

1. Get some awesome friends (wink wink) who offer you already sanded and planed cedar planks AND cut them to the length you want. I did some measuring prior to that and decided how long and tall I wanted the pieces.

2. Lay out your pieces how you want them and use wood glue to glue the sides together. I will admit, it was a little tricky because it was hard to apply enough pressure so that the wood would adhere together. A table with clamps would work a whole lot better than what I did!

3. Once all the pieces are glued together, I waited 24 hours to let the glue set, according to the instructions on the bottle.

4. The last thing I did was take the special piece I had picked out to go across the headboard and nail it down. I picked out some 2-inch galvanized nails. I really liked the way they looked with the raw cedar.

5. For installation, I was lazy and just set it up behind my bed. But you’re probably more motivated than me and might want to actually take the time to attach some longer pieces on to the sides to give the headboard some more height and screw those into the frame. I’ll probably do that…next summer.So that’s it! There’s your new headboard! There’s a lot of creative license with this you can take, so just have fun and make it your own! Enjoy!

DIY, Flowers, halloween, Holiday

DIY Frida Kahlo Costume

October 29, 2015 alaskaknitnat 6 Comments

Flower crowns are my thing and nearly every time I wear one in public someone comments that I resemble Frida Kahlo, the Mexican feminist and painter.

So this halloween I decided to embrace it, unibrow and all. It just took one visit to the thrift shop and a little digging in my closet to come up with a colorful Frida-esque costume.

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appetizers, baking, Cooking, Crafts, DIY, halloween, Holiday

An East Coast Halloween: 3 tricks and treats

October 28, 2015 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

Soon after becoming friends with Kasandra in college I discovered we had one big difference: she celebrated holidays.

Kasandra is from Connecticut where they have four seasons, a long history, darkness in the summer and tolerable cold in the winter. These reasons are why East Coasters celebrate holidays differently from Alaskans.

“I love that the East Coast celebrates every holiday to the fullest,” Kasandra said. “It makes me look forward to the seasons.”

I visited Kasandra and her husband, Gary, in their hometown seven years ago in May. As she was giving us a driving tour of a road used to deliver mail during the Revolution, I was seeing house after house ridiculously adorned with flags and patriotic banners. I asked, “What the hell is going on here?” and she said “It’s Memorial Day weekend.”

Feel free to contradict me, but Alaskans just don’t celebrate this way. Sure, I’ll carve a pumpkin in October and string up some lights at Christmas, but there isn’t a single house on my block right now with Halloween decorations outside.

So today I wanted to show off a little of what Kasandra has going on in her neck of the woods to hopefully inspire Alaskans this Halloween.

Kasandra maintains that frugal collegiate spirit but includes East Coast charm and sophistication. All of her crafts are easy, quick and affordable. Here are three that she shared with me.

1. Bedazzled Pumpkin

Paint a pumpkin. Stick craft store jewels all over it. No glue necessary if the paint is still wet.

2. Mummy cookies

Melt some white chocolate. Dip Milano cookies halfway into chocolate. Drizzle chocolate over the cookie to make it look like a mummy. Stick on sugar eyes.

3. Monster mouth snacks

Peel some apples and slice them into wedges. Spread peanut butter on one wedge. Add some yogurt-covered raisins to look like teeth. Top with another apple.

So, get out there, Alaskans, and show some last-minute Halloween spirit!

baby, Crafts, DIY, halloween, Holiday, Tutorials

Babe in Shining Armor

October 27, 2015 alaskaknitnat 1 Comment

It’s been a busy month here in Alaska blogland. Akshopgirl, Tessie Style, DJ Spencer Lee, The Sawbuck, Fernanda Conrad and I have been providing tips, costume ideas, music mixes, cocktails, decor projects and more for the Halloween season.

This week is dedicated to all those procrastinators. We’ll be featuring last-minute Halloween ideas, but today I wanted to feature a costume that if you have a few hours to spare this week you could still pull off.

My friend Kait sent me photos of her daughter’s costume and it was too darn cute not to share.

Little Bea’s armor is constructed out of soda pop tabs and jump rings. Kait said she used about 350 tabs. Construction wasn’t the hard part, she said. It was collecting the tabs themselves.

“That’s the long game part of it,” she said. “You have to start collecting and asking around if people will help.”

Luckily she was able to find a friend with a whole bag of tabs.

Kait used 10cm jump rings to connect the tabs, but if she were to do it again she said she would use 12 or 14cm instead so it would use fewer tabs and take less time to make.

The dragon emblem was part of a handmade birthday card her husband received in the mail and the belt and crown are made from a belt purchased from a rummage sale.

Bea’s costume doesn’t stop here. Bea’s father is going to be her damsel in distress and Kait will be dressed up as a dragon.

Kait is already planning for next year.

“I’m thinking famous scientists.”

cocktails, Cooking, Crafts, DIY, halloween, Holiday

A Wes Anderson Dinner Party

October 23, 2015 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

A Wes Anderson theme party | a tablescape in the style of The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel and other fine films by Wes Anderson. Perfect for grown-up Halloween dinner parties. See more at alaskaknitnat.com — “Fantastic Mr. Fox” illustration credit: Bambi WIllow via Compfight cc

It’s been a fun couple of weeks here in Alaska blogland, with akshopgirl taking the lead in week one with “Where the Wild Things Are,” and the whimsical wonders of week two’s “Woodland Creature” theme.

In a similar vein, we are dedicating this week to Wes Anderson. We’ve got costume ideas, knitting patterns, cocktails, music mixes, and in this post I’ll show you how to set your table for a Wes Anderson theme party.

We’re all adults here. Our days of Halloween ragers have long passed, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate. This theme party is for the folks who have left their kids with the grandparents for the night. It’s fun, it’s classy and you can probably find all the materials in your house (I raided my parents’ place, which, as it turns out, is very Tenenbaum-esque).

A huge thanks to Black Cup for letting us stage our tablescape in their remodeled cafe. The floor tiles alone would make Royal Tenenbaum stop and smirk. If you haven’t had a chance to take a look at Cafe Del Mundo’s makeover, I highly recommend it.

Here’s what you’ll need to host your very own Wes Anderson dinner party.

Materials:

An old atlas
Red cloth napkins
Brass figurines
Decadent salt shakers
Silver fruit bowl
White plates
Low vase in emerald green or pink)
Red pitcher
Flowers
Doily
Gold candlesticks
Red or pink candles
Filagree-patterned coasters
Wine glasses
White mugs (provided by Black Cup)

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Crafts, DIY, halloween, Holiday

Wes Anderson thrift store costumes

October 19, 2015 alaskaknitnat 4 Comments

It’s T-minus 12 days till Halloween and if you haven’t pre-ordered your costume then that means you’re like me and you leave it to the last minute, thrift stores and luck.

In Anchorage, one of the best places to build your own costumes is the Bishop’s Attic on Gambell. This place is ’80s costume heaven (and keep it in mind for those ugly sweater parties during the holidays).

And this week’s theme is definitely thrift store appropriate. We’re dedicating the week to all things Wes Anderson.

So here are three Wes Anderson costumes that are easy to slap together with a visit or two to your local thrift shop and some rummaging through your closet.

1. Suzy from “Moonrise Kingdom”

DIY Wes Anderson Halloween Costumes | Simple outfits put together at the thrift store; presented by alaskaknitnat.com — Photo Credit: Josh Koonce via Compfight cc

From the thrift store:

Knee-length dress
White, long-sleeved dress shirt
Beret

This outfit was easy to find at the thrift store. I recommend washing the beret before wearing. And if you’re able to use your own pea coat you’ve just created a perfect Alaska-friendly costume (yay for staying warm!)

Accoutrements:

Binoculars
Retro suitcase
Pea coat
Knee-high socks
Saddle shoes

2. Dudley from “The Royal Tenenbaums”

From the thrift store:

Retro t-shirt
Cargo shorts
Safari Hat
’80s glasses

This costume needs no additional elements. It’s perfect. But some Croakies couldn’t do any harm.

3. Team Zissou from “The Life Aquatic”

This is the simplest costume I was able to find at the thrift store. Just have a look in the uniforms section of the shop and grab some hospital scrubs. Top it off with a red hat and you’re solid. Go the extra mile and print off this free logo and tape it to the shirt.

If you have a spare few hours this week, knit yourself a Zissou cap using my free pattern.