House Warming Gift

As part of my getting back into blogging I found this post that I had written a while back and never posted for some reason that I can not remember at the moment but it is full of little craft ideas that are great for house warming gifts. so I shall share it now 

House warming Gift for a red and white kitchen.

My cousin recently moved into a new house and after some investigation I discovered that their kitchen was read and white, since it was near valentines day at the time I decided it was the perfect time to do a little kitchen care pack for them and their little girl.

This Gift includes a crochet dish cloth (hardly visible in top left corner) a crochet top dish towel (left) a S'mores in a Jar, a child's apron (right), all on a great serving tray and all tied up  with a bow and a chocolate lolly pop in the bow

Here is the Apron I made for their daughter, it is made from a valentines day tea towel and some decorative ribbon used as trim for the top.
1.  I just cut off some of the top to shorten the apron to the desired length
2. used a child's top to determine how big I wanted the arm holes to be and I then cut off the corners of the tea towel to match the shirt top.
3.  I ironed the cut edges over 2 times  and  sewed the edges down,
4.  Added the ribbons to tie the apron.
5. Used the piece cut off the top fold like bias tape then covered with ribbon to make the  neck tie.

 I did a quick drawing below to show you where I cut my tea towel.  I hope to be making more soon and will show you more step by steps pictures when I get time.

I have been making these S'mores in a jar for a while now,  I originally got the recipe form squawkfox but have made a few changes since then,  they make great hostess gifts with a tea towel or child's apron, at Christmas I gave them with little Christmas bears.

Dish Towel Topper

1: Cut the dish towel in half and fold the cut edge over twice to hide the rough edge.

Using the #7 Steel Hook, push the hook through the towel just below the fold and work a sc near the edge. 

Keep the edge folded as you work evenly spacing 56 more sc across the towel edge.

or you could use a sharp yarn needle and just did louse a chain stitch then use these as a sc.

 from the "Decorative Needlework" book, by May Morris.

Using a G Hook, ch 1, turn.

R2: Sc in ea sc. Ch 3, turn.

R3: (*Sk next unworked st, dc in next st, dc in st just skipped. [cr st made] 

Rep from * twice more. Dc in next st.) Rep from ( to ) across. Ch 3, turn.

R4-5: Cr st in ea cr st. Dc in ea dc. Ch 3, turn.

R6: Work a dc dec over the 2dc that form each cr st. Dc in each dc. Ch 3, turn.

R7: (Dc dec over next 2 sts) twice. *Dc in next st. (dc dec over next 2 sts) 5 times. Rep from * once. 

Dc in next st. (Dc dec over next 2 sts) twice. Dc in last dc. Ch 3, turn.

R8: *(Dc dec over next 2 sts) 4 times. Dc in next st. Rep from * once. Ch 3, turn.

R9: *(Dc dec over next 2 sts) twice. Dc in next st. Rep from * once. Ch 3, turn.

R10-19: Dc in ea st. Ch 3, turn.

R20: Dc in ea st. Ch 2, turn.

R21: Hdc in next 2 sts. Ch 1, hdc in last 3 sts. Ch 1, turn.

R22: Sc in same st as beg ch-1. 5 dc in ch-1 sp on prev. row. Sc in last st.

Fasten Off.

Finishing: Sew a button on the centre stitch of R10. 

The ch-1 sp on R20 is the button hole.

or a second pattern can be found here


MATERIALS:
Steel Hooks: Size 00 for crocheting and Size 10 for making the holes across the top of the dishtowel
Yarn: 4 ply worsted weight yarn ( I used Red Heart)
Dish Towel (one that has the same picture on each half)
Button, thread and needle.
Stitches used: ch, sl st, sc, dc, dc dec, tr.
Difficulty: MEDIUM

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BEGIN: Cut the dish towel in half. Use the #10 steel hook to evenly space 44 holes across the top of the dish towel approximately 1 inch from the cut edge.
ROW 1: Fold the cut edge down twice (just above the holes you made) to form a hem. You can pin the entire hem down or fold as you go. Attach the yarn using the #00 hook in the 1st hole made on the right side of the dish towel. Ch 1. Sc in each hole across the top of the towel. This will secure the hem as well as give you a base for beginning the topper. Ch 1, turn.
ROW 2: Sl st in 1st sc, ch 3, dc in each rem sc across (44 dc). Ch 3, turn.
ROW 3: Dc in next 20 dc, dec over next 2 dc. [ * yo, insert hk in next st, yo, draw through 2 lps. Rep from * once more. (3 lps on hk) yo, draw through all 3 lps ] Dc in last 21 dc. Ch 3, turn.
ROW 4: * Sk next dc, dc in next dc. Repeat from * across. (22 dc). Ch 3, turn.
ROW 5: Dc in each dc. Ch 3, turn.
ROW 6: Dc in next 9 dc, dec over next 2 dc (refer to row 3), dc in last 10 dc. (21 dc) Ch 3, turn.
ROW 7: Rep Row 4. (11 dc)
ROWS 8-9: Rep Row 5.
ROW 10: Rep Row 4. (6 dc)
ROWS 11-21: Rep Row 5.
ROW 22: Rep Row 5, but Ch 1 instead of 3 at the end.
ROW 23: Working in between the 3rd and 4th dcs on Row 22, work 8 tr in that sp. Sl st in last st, turn.
ROW 24: * Ch 3, sc in next st. Rep from * across the tr sts. Sl st in the last st.
FASTEN OFF

S'mores recipe

Ingredients:

Layer in a large wide mouthed quart mason jar or other similar large jar:

1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker crumbs mixed with 1/3 Cup brown sugar

 or 1 Cup crumbs mixed with 1/3 Cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup teddy Graham type cookies

1cups chocolate chips or mini Hershey Kisses or M&M’s

1 cup miniature marshmallows. (in a separate bag seasonal bags work well.)

Tags from squawk-fox can be found here

or print these instructions on a tag of your own.

S'mores in a 

Jar Directions

1. remove marshmallows form jar

2. Combine remaining ingredients with 1/3 Cup melted butter and 1tsp vanilla

3. press into a 9 inch square pan and top with marshmallows

4. Bake at 350 F for 15 or until marshmallows have melted and are slightly brown.

5. Let cool Completely (although they do taste good warm but are very messy)

6. Cut into squares and enjoy.

*Makes 12 Yummy bars that freeze well.