Crocheted Hand Towels

At the beginning of this year my grandma passed away. One of the things I remember most about her was her love of crochet. Every time I would visit, she had a box full of hand towels that she had crocheted tops for. I loved when I was old enough to finally pick out a few for myself. When she would come to visit, grandma would always bring her box of hand towels. All of the family had two or three hand towels from grandma hanging in their kitchen. 

To help ease the sadness after she was gone, I got one of her special towels and sat down on my couch with a new ball of yarn that I inherited from her very own collection. I was given her crochet hooks, and her knitting needles. (The needles will be for when I'm feeling extra brave and ready to learn something new.) I took her hand towel piece by piece and taught myself how to crochet a hand towel the way my grandma did. I pray she is smiling down on me from heaven. 

I have since taken over her love, and I've been giving my crocheted hand towels as gifts to my friends and family members. I wanted my own box full of hand towels to give away when people came by to visit. It always makes me feel warm and cozy inside as I create another towel. I get to remember my grandma fondly, and smile at the gift she has passed on to me. 

I've only known how to crochet for about three years. I'm still a beginner. You've got to cut me a little slack if I get something wrong, or don't know the exact verbiage. 

This is what I've figured out from looking at my grandma's very special crocheted hand towels. My grandma always started by cutting her hand towels in half. You get two towels for the price of one! Grandma was pretty thrifty! You could fold your towel in half and crochet down the middle too. But my grandma cut hers. I don't think grandma sewed a hem across the top of hers either. However that is what I do. I'm not coordinated enough to crochet while needing to hold my folded piece down. Sewing across the hem seems much more practical to me.

I use a tiny crochet hook, size E4/3.5mm

I made a special ruler to help me out. I drew my ruler on a piece of flannel that I safety pin to the top of my towel. This helps me to get the stitches even across the towel. I have two sizes on my ruler depending on the size of the hand towel I buy. I have used this ruler over and over and over again. Same ruler with at least 30 different towels made from it, and still counting.

Start at the right side of the towel, the wrong side facing up. Make a slip knot. Single crochet across the top of the towel 35 evenly spaced stitches. Turn the towel over. 

Normally the crochet hook can poke through the towel. I've run across a couple types of towels that I have to work way too hard to poke through. On those towels I use my travel crochet scissors to poke holes across the towel. You could also use an X-Acto knife.

On the edge of each towel I always fold in the corner piece, poking my crochet hook through both sides before I make the first single crochet stitch.

After completing your first row, you should be left with something like this.

Chain 1 (only do this for the very first stitch of the row), skip a stitch, single crochet 1, skip a stitch, single crochet 1, and continue alternating  until you reach the end. After each row you will turn the towel over. It should be 18 stitches counting your chain 1 as a stitch.

Chain 1 (only do this for the very first stitch of the row) , skip a stitch, single crochet 1, skip a stitch, single crochet 1, and continue alternating until you reach the end of the towel. Turn the towel over. It should be 9 stitches this time counting your chain 1 as a stitch.

You can see how the towel is starting to take shape and gather together. 

The next row you will chain 1 (only do this for the very first stitch of the row), and then single crochet into each stitch after. When you get to the end of the row, turn your towel over. 

Repeat this 9 times. (Chain 1, and then single crochet into the rest of the stitches.)

On this next row you will chain 1 like you normally do (again only do this for the very first stitch of the row), single crochet one stitch into the next 3 stitches, chain 1, skip a stitch, and then single crochet into the next 4 stitches. Turn your towel over. This is going to leave a hole for the button to slip through later.

Chain 1 (only do this for the very first stitch of the row) , single crochet into the next 8 stitches, turn your towel over. This is the same as the previous row. 

Repeat this row one more time.

For the final row chain 1 (only do this for the very first stitch of the row), slip stitch into the next 8 stitches. 

Finish off the end, and weave the tail end into the towel. 

All you need to do now is sew a button on. I typically try to sew my button on as close to the towel as possible. I want an extra big loop to fit on the handle of my stove or cabinets.

Your towel is now ready to hang! Super simple craft to make! I usually have a hand towel done from start to finish in about 40 minutes.

My grandma had her kitchen decorated with apples, so I believe she would have loved this hand towel. I'm going to a craft fair next week, and I've been crocheting lots and lots of kitchen hand towels to sell. I wanted to do something to remember my grandma by, and this was the perfect way to honor her. 

I've never made a pattern before, so I hope everything I've said makes sense. 

I also have a blog post to teach how to make these towels on a knitting loom.

DIY Sleeping Bag

My son has become friend and caretaker to many different toys over the past few months. Each is given the name Asher. We have Asher the first who is a peanut. Asher the second who is a ball. Asher the third is small yellow chicken. Asher the fourth is a blue skeleton. And the list continues on. One day during Gabriel's Bible reading he came upon the name Asher. He adopted it as his favorite after he found that it meant, "blessing." All of these toys are a blessing to my son.

He cares very deeply for objects and tries to treat them with the same respect a person would deserve. This can be a little bit much at times. Like for instance when mom tosses him across the room into a bucket of toys, and he practically has a heart attack because that probably hurt the toy's feelings. On the other hand, it is really nice that he is learning respect.

When he finds a new "friend" he will make a bed or nest for the object. Last week when he was away at school, I surprised him with a sleeping bag for Asher the 4th. He loved it!


I've put together a very simple tutorial for a sleeping bag. Since this is for a boy, it's made to fit small action figures, not giant baby dolls. You could easily alter it to fit what size you want.

I cut a small rectangle of fabric, folded it in half, and sewed it right sides together. I left a small hole to turn the fabric, and to stuff the pillow. Once it was stuffed, I sewed the hole shut.

A quick tip on stuffing: I like to buy a cheap $2 pillow from Wal-Mart instead of a bag of expensive polyester fiberfill stuffing. It seems to work just as well for me, and you get a little bit of extra white fabric!

I cut two squares of fabric, and 1 square the same size of batting. You need to layer it with the two fabric squares right sides together, and then on either top or bottom add the batting. Sew around the edges and leave a small hole for turning. This way when you turn them right sides out, the batting will be layered in the middle. Once the fabric is turned, you can sew the hole closed.

You want to either pin your fabric, or mark the lines in some way. If you're good at using your machine as a guide, go ahead and do that. I used pins to try to help eyeball the lines. I wasn't going for perfect here, just to add a little quilting to the sleeping bag. It's probably not necessary for holding the batting in place since the sleeping bag is so small.


Once the lines were sewn, I attached the pillow to the bag. You don't have to do this, but knowing my son, I knew the pillow would end up missing if I didn't.

I wanted to have a way of keeping the sleeping bag closed when he rolls it up for the day. I found some yellow rickrack and sewed a small circle to hold the bag shut. I tested it multiple times before I got it small enough to hold the bag closed tightly.

I sewed it on to the middle of the sleeping bag back side, where the pillow connected to the bag.

I wanted to sew the bag closed a little, but not all the way. I figured if I sewed it all the way, it would be hard to get the action figure inside. And if I didn't sew it closed at all, the guy might fall out of his sleeping bag.


My final step was sewing a snap on. You could use Velcro to close it, or a button, or if you were really ambitious, you could sew a real zipper on. I hate sewing zippers, so I wanted to choose something nice and simple. That's it! Your sleeping bag is now ready to be used.

Doesn't he look content in his new bed?

Homemade Family Christmas

I'm a week behind in my tradition of posting all our homemade Christmas gifts. Last week I was in Mexico, and the past several days have been spent recuperating from the Christmas season. Isn't it funny how we run around so much we wear ourselves out? I've been enjoying having a fresh schedule with no obligations. It's been a very laid back few days. I've been able to sleep in till 9am and I'm almost embarrassed to admit I haven't been getting out of my pj's until lunchtime. Almost. It's been wonderful!

I'll jump right in! We'll first take a look at the Christmas ornaments I made this year. I have the tradition every year of finding a perfect ornament that represents the hobbies and interests of each of my kids. When they are grown they will be allowed to take all these ornaments with them for their own tree. That's at least 18 ornaments! A good start for a collection. All of the homemade ones they make in school and other places will be saved for my collection.

I had a difficult time finding a board game ornament for Zech. I stalked a few EBay auctions and eventually decided to make it myself. The prices were too high and I was able to make the ornament for free. Paper mache and paint is cheap, and you typically have the supplies on hand! For the glue paste I use a ratio of 1:4, flour to water. For this small project I measured 1/4 cup flour to 1 cup water. It made so much paste I looked for more things to make! If you're wondering, the playing pieces are tiny craft pom poms. I coated them in the paste and left them to dry on the paper mache game. Once they were dry, I painted them different colors.

I wanted to make something special for the kids in my Club2190 class at church. Over the past few months we've worked on several different Bible verses. I came up with these cute little Bible ornaments. I made 4 different verses and gave them out randomly. I made all of them out of the leftover glue paste and some cereal boxes. I printed out the Bible verse on white paper and positioned it where I wanted it for my final paper layer. Once it was dry, I carefully painted around the verses.

During this Christmas season most of my focus was on Mexico and the gifts I would be bringing there. I didn't have much opportunity to make a lot of my gifts like I usually do. In fact, I had purchased supplies to make gifts for my friends, but ended up not having enough time. I'll be saving those to make for birthdays now!

I only was able to make each of my kids one thing. For my boys I put together marshmallow guns! They were a huge hit! I also made the marshmallow guns for all the older boys that we gave gifts to in Mexico. (None of them had seen anything like it before!) I was surprised on Christmas morning that my daughter wished for a gun too. I figured it was a boy thing.

To make the gun you need 1/2" pvc pipe. 1 - T fitting, 2 - 90 degree elbows, 1 - cap, 12 inch pvc pipe. I had my husband cut the 12 inch piece into two 3-inch sections, and three 2-inch sections. It should be pretty explanatory how I put it together from the picture. Since I was making one for each of my boys I wanted them to be able to tell them apart. I painted the middle connecting pieces to add a little color and for them to easily recognize which gun was theirs.

For Ariel I made her a planket, not to be confused with a snuggie. You probably can't see very well from the picture, but the pillow and blanket are actually sewn together. It's made more for travel purposes. I wanted her to have something special to take on the airplane, but it also can be used for a long car ride. If she was sitting up you could see it looks a lot like a bib. The pillow is sewn on the bottom corners with the middle left open for her head to fit through. This totally eliminates the problem of the blanket falling down. It also is a very convenient pillow case that can hold the blanket after you roll it up. This is not an original idea to me; I found the tutorial here at The Crafter's File Box.

That pretty much ends the creativity by me, but wait, it's still not over. We have my entire family Christmas to go through. Each year my extended family draws names at Thanksgiving and we make homemade gifts for each other. (Secret Santa's)

Zechariah drew his daddy's name. He was so excited to make this picture for Titus. We found a coloring page online, and printed it out on card stock. Instead of painting it with a paintbrush, we dipped the eraser of a pencil in paint and filled the picture with circles. It's kind of like using a stamp. It was very easy for him and the result is a professional looking painting. Zech couldn't wait for his daddy to open the gift!!

Ariel drew Zechariah's name. She made a paper mache ba-bomb from Mario. We used a large lid for the top, along with a piece of jute rope for the fuse. The body is a balloon, and the feet were first made out of play dough. Ariel had her first experience with paper mache here and I think she did a great job with it!

Titus drew Ariel's name and made her a wooden penny flyer. Unfortunately it is missing so I don't have good picture to share with you. I hope to soon change that! This gift was perfect for Ariel. Lately she has been making all kinds of paper airplanes and designing them after different birds.

Gabriel drew Mikaela's name and made a very stylish jean pocket purse. The funny thing, the pair of jeans we chose to make the purse out of was an old pair of Ariel's jeans that in fact were a hand-me-down from Kaela. How appropriate! We all had a good laugh that she could carry around a purse that used to hold her butt and her cousin's butt! I had suggested these pockets to Gabriel because I thought the design was really cool.

To make the purse, Gabe first cut the pocket off of the jeans and embellished it with some gems. Then he sewed on some purple ribbon to each pocket for the handles. The last step is to sew around the edges right sides together and then flip it back out. Simple and cute!

I love it! Mikaela had my name and made me this mug. She drew pictures on the outside representing each person in my family. I am the camera, Gabe has a notebook, Ariel is the bird, Zech is a DS, and Titus has the computer. I can't wait to have my cup of tea in it!

I drew my sister's name. I already shared how I made her Bananagrams earlier this week.

My mother drew Gabriel's name and wrote him this French Fry Factor story. It's an encouraging story about our Pastor and a time when he stepped out in faith. God honored that and did an amazing thing because of it. The book is started for Gabe so he can add his own "French fry" stories of God's miracles to the pages. If you know Gabe, he spends all his free time writing stories!

My brother had my mom's name and made her this wall hanging. It's been a theme verse for her for a long time. If you can't read the picture it says, "For this you have been called, For Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps."

I don't have pictures of the last two gifts. My sister drew my dad's name and is still currently working on his gift. My dad made a website for my brother to post his videos at that he puts together. I'll have to find out what the address is for it and share it with you! My brother is very talented when it comes to putting a video together and adding special effects!

I received one of the nicest Christmas gifts this year. It wasn't bought at a store and you could almost call it homemade. One of my friends who moved away several years ago came back for a visit. I hadn't seen her in over 2 years! This was such a wonderful gift to me that I couldn't put a price on it. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with her, but the few hours I got were a huge treasure for me.

There are people who drift in and out of our lives. Life is always changing and we have to change with it. Every once in a while God blesses us with a friend who time means nothing to. They are the ones who you can pick right up where you left off as if no time has passed at all. It is those friends who are hand-picked by God!
I love you, Jaime! You made my Christmas so much brighter!

Jaime, Rachael, Amanda, Stefanie

DIY Bananagrams

I first must confess, I've never played this game before. But my sister has and she really enjoyed it. Every year for Christmas my family draws names around Thanksgiving time for our Secret Santas. We all have to make a gift for the person we draw. We can purchase supplies for it, but it must be homemade.

I love doing this each year! It's so much fun to see what everyone comes up with. This year I drew my sister's name and thought I would surprise her with a game, Bananagrams. The game is a little pricey at the store, around $15. I made mine for around $5. It could have been much cheaper if I already had everything I needed. Still...Five dollars isn't much!

If you've never played or even heard of Bananagrams, it's a lot like Scrabble. Except this game isn't played on a board and everyone is making their own crossword simultaneously.

My first step was assembling a bag to hold all the tiles, or pebbles that I made my game with.

You start with the top of the bag. I had to buy a zipper, but the banana uses so little fabric you might be able to dig through your scraps if you have a lot. Next time, I would probably make my top a little skinnier. It made the banana a little misshapen with the wider top piece. My original top was almost the same size as the banana sides.

The bag was three pieces. The top with a zipper, and two banana shaped sides. You could make a liner, but I didn't.

After your zipper is sewn into the top piece, you pin your first side on, right sides together.

You pin your next side onto the top piece, right sides together and sew along the edge. You can see from my picture below how the middle zipper piece is almost the same size. I would adjust that and make it smaller.

Before you sew your banana shut, you want to make a small strap which resembles the banana stem. I folded mine in half, and then folded the sizes in a 1/4 inch.

Sew along one side, or both if you want it to look more professional. It is not necessary to sew along the width side. It will be sewn into the side of your banana bag.

You want to fold your strap in half, leaving both ends poking out a little bit. Make sure to place the stem in between the banana layers. I sewed my strap on the side where the zipper closes at. Before you sew the bag shut, make sure to unzip it enough so you can flip it right sides back out.

Now your bag is completed! You should have a banana ready to be filled with tiles. I thought about purchasing some Scrabble tiles to use, but decided it would be just as expensive as buying the Bananagrams game. I wanted to make my own.

For this part, you need a bag of clear pebbles. You can usually find these in the floral department at the craft store. I think they are commonly put at the bottom of flower vases for decoration. I know Hobby Lobby sells a bag for $2.99 and with a 40% off coupon that's only $1.80.

You also need mod podge, a 5/8" circle punch, and yellow paper. I used two sheets of paper to print off my letters.

Download a PDF of Letters

Once you have printed out your letters, cut them into strips to make it easier to punch out the letters. You can cut these out by hand, but I would HIGHLY recommend getting the 5/8" paper punch. It makes it so much easier, and the circles are all uniform. I found the paper punch at Michaels for $2.40.

The next part is very tedious and time consuming. I put on a few Christmas movies and didn't get off the couch for almost the entire school day. My son colored in a coloring book on the floor and we had a good time having a lazy but productive day together.

You can use a paint brush to apply the mod podge to the bottom, flat side of the clear pebbles. You put the letter face down, so it is magnified when you turn it over. Depending on the type of paper you chose to print your letters on, you may or may not want a coat of mod podge on top of the paper, yet. (See later note)

If you notice in the picture below, my paper was a little thin and you can see the letters showing through the back. I didn't want this. I figured it might be a temptation to cheat during the game and try to pick what letter you need. I glued the paper to the pebble, but I didn't finish them off with a clear topcoat yet.

I painted a design on the back of the pebbles to hide the letters, and to make them more fun and professional looking. Once I had my design painted on, I then added a couple coats of mod podge to seal the papers onto the pebble.

Your game is all set and ready to be played with! Have fun!