Pinterest made me do it: Retro flower bag

 Here I am with the first finished crochet project of the new year. I started this a month or two ago, so I finished it pretty quickly by my standards! I wanted it done before Christmas and nearly had it finished, but last minute food and gift preparation got in the way. I actually completed it in the last days of December, and photographed it in the first days of January, and then it's taken a bit more time to get it up here on the blog! That's ok. Good things take time, as they say.

 I was inspired by this pin, the Almond Blossom Bag from Colour in a Simple Life. I love the fun flowers and retro feel, and I had a pair of bamboo handles I'd been waiting to use. Most importantly, I wanted a bag in colours I like to wear. I used the palette from a favourite scarf and came up with a warm mushroom brown, dusty pink and cream.

The original pattern has a second round of petals inside the first. I did that at first but something was wrong with it and it bugged me. It may be that the paler shade of pink I was using just didn't go with the other colours, but I ripped it out and continued without it feeling much happier. It took a couple of goes to sew the hexagons together properly (which would have been avoided if I'd just read the pattern properly in the first place!) and I even made and sewed in a lining.

I have another pair of bag handles to use... I think a chevron design could be next!

Pinterest made me do it: Heart shaped wreath

Oh, Pinterest. Such a great way to spend an hour or an evening, browsing and finding inspiration and being able to save it to come back to later. That's what I tell myself anyway, as I create boards and pin picture after beautiful picture, mind buzzing with ideas and creative plans. The reality is, I have hundreds of ideas pinned and while I love every one of them, I'll never get through them all in ten lifetimes. You might remember at the start of this year I decided to take 12 of my unfinished projects and finish one each month? Well, I fell off that wagon pretty quickly. That's why it's worth me celebrating when I actually finish something, and if it's come about because I saw it on Pinterest, that's fine too! So here's the first thing Pinterest made me do... a heart shaped wreath.

I was inspired by this pin. It's pretty simple... a wreath shaped like a heart with a few delicate roses attached. I used flax to make my wreath, and joined it together with fine wire. Then I wired on some leaves and roses.

They used paper flowers in the original but I thought I'd try attaching some of my Cecille Brunner rosebuds, as they should hold their shape when they dry. The cherry tree leaves got floppy quickly so I used some double sided tape to hold them in place. It will be interesting to see how this holds up as it dries - I may end up using paper flowers in the end if I don't like how it looks.

For now I love this easy and completely home made piece of decor! How about you... has Pinterest inspired you to create anything?