Toddler Flag Shirt

I made this shirt from scraps and sewed it onto a hand-me-down shirt. It was a last-minute effort to make patriotic clothing my little guy to wear on the 4th of July. It only took me about a half hour to complete.

Guest Posts Wanted!

If anyone out there in blog land would like to submit a guest post for Monkey See, Monkey Do! during the month of August, that would be fantastic.

I'm due in less than two weeks with our second child and we're moving into our new house the first week of August...and I really don't want my blog to be empty! Contact me if you are interested.

Guest Post from Abby of GouldThreads

This post is from my friend Abby! She has a great tutorial to share with you today on making crocheted flowers. I love that you can use yarn scraps for her project! Make sure you check out her Etsy shop and Facebook sites. Not only is she fantastic, she has such cute pictures of babies & kids modeling her creations!

Hello! I'm Abby Gouldsbarry from GouldThreads. I'm thrilled to be a guest on Monkey See Monkey Do! Today I'm going to show you how to create adorable crocheted flowers. They are so cute and easy to make. I use mine to make girls hair clips but you can use them for homemade bookmarks, appliqués, decorations--you name it!

I first began crocheting in college with some friends and later taught myself how to knit as well. This winter I opened my Etsy shop and began to sell some of my creations. Some of the items that you will find in my shop include hats, accessories for boys and girls, and newborn photo props. I also take custom orders. I just LOVE making new items and always aim to please! You can find me on Facebook by searching for GouldThreads or visit my Etsy site at

http://www.gouldthreads.etsy.com/

Happy crocheting!!!

One of the great things about these flowers is that you can use just about any yarn and any size hook. You can use 1 color or 2. I am using 2 for this tutorial (MC-Yellow, CC-Pink). The MC will be for the center of the flower and the CC for the petals. For this tutorial I am using Red Heart Super Saver size 4 yarns and a G hook (4.25 mm). Bonus: This is a great way to use up some of your yarn scraps!

To make a flower of your own: Using MC (yellow in my picture) Chain 2. 5 SC into the 2nd chain from hook. SL ST to first SC. Switch to CC (pink in my pictures) and pull up a loop (see picture above).

Here is what it will look like once you have your CC on the hook. Notice how you have 4 tails hanging (2 MC and 2 CC). I like to pull the tail of the MC tight to secure the CC. Once the CC is secure you can cut the MC from its ball leaving a 1 or 2 inch tail hanging.

With CC, *SL ST to next stitch. Chain 2. 2 DC in same stitch (I DC over the tail of MC that I just cut and the CC). SL ST again in same stitch. It should look like the above picture.

Repeat from *4 times for a total of 5 petals.

SL ST to bottom of first petal. Fasten off and weave in loose ends. TA-DA! That's it. What a simple and sweet little flower.

I like to use my flowers to make hair clips like the ones sold here on my Etsy site.

Here is a bookmark that I made using a crocheted flower and heavy cardstock! I just used a glue gun to adhere the flower to the cardstock. What a simple and unique gift!

Thanks for reading and trying out my tutorial!

Please remember to check out my sites on Facebook and Etsy!

Newborn Hats

I made a few more newborn hats this week. I'm in full nesting mode (only 2.5 weeks left til my due date!); at least as much as I can be since I don't have my own house

(5 weeks til our projected move-in date!)

I made these hats using the tutorial and pattern I posted here.

Something really exciting is that a friend of the family is working with a church group to make hats and blankets for the local hospital (the same hospital where I'll be having the baby!) She said that some of the moms have nothing for the baby and the hospital staff has to scramble to find a blanket for them to take home. So my friend is going to use my pattern to turn t-shirts into hats for these underprivileged babies.

I'm thinking that I'll take my extra newborn hats in my hospital bag and leave them with the nursing staff to give to moms in need. My baby can only wear a few...it IS July, after all!

Yellow and Gray Zippered Ruffle Pouch

I love the color combo yellow and gray. You may be seeing more of it from me.

I made this pouch using the same procedure I did for the tutorial found here. The only difference is that this pouch is 5" x 7". I made it to protect my itouch.

Part of it is even repurposed: I used a zipper from a pair of pants I ripped apart to make

into maternity shorts.