Crochet cake dome

Crochet cake dome  .

This pretty cake dome is perhaps more decorative than practical but for the doll's house I  guess that need not be a real concern.  If you like you can make yours to fit over  a glass or plastic dome and make it more practical . Or you can use the lace version  as decoration only in a  shabby chic setting.

What you will need :

A dome shaped something. It could be an existing cake dome, bottle cap or whatever you like. I used the cap of my glue bottle.

DMC tatting thread ( fil dentelles  or similar thread ) and a 0,60 mm crochet hook

Plastic ( wrap or a small bag)  and rubber band.

Fabric stiffener of your choice. I often use a mix of water and white craft glue, but for this one I tried Mod Podge which worked really well.

Small brush

Bead for the handle of the finished dome

Tacky Glue.

The plastic lid I used .

The dome is worked in rounds starting at the top of the dome , all rounds are closed with s slip stitch.

sc=single crochet

st= stitch

dc= double crochet

Start with a magic circle and work 6 sc  into the circle. Close with s slip stitch.

Round 1. Chain 1, work 2 sc  into each  stitch. Close round with slip st.

Round 2 . repeat row 1.

Round 3. *  Chain 3  , skip one st, 1 sc. in the next st,  *  repeat from * to *  till end of row and close with slip st.

Round 4. Work as row 3 but chain 4  instead of 3.

Round 5. Work as row 3 but chain 5 instead of 3.

Round 6 :  Chain 3, work 4 dc in the first chain 5 loop,  Work 5 dc in all other loops and close round  with slip st.

Now we are going to  shape the sides of the dome.

Round 7 :  Chain 4, skip one dc  and work one dc in the next dc, *  chain 1 , skip id,  1dc in next dc  * . Repeat from *till *  till the end of the round and close with slip st.

Round 8 : repeat row 7

Round 9 : repeat row 7

Row 10 : chain 1 and work 1 sc in every st.

Finish off and weave in thread ends.

Crochet finished.

To stiffen your dome:

Wrap your dome shape in plastic and use an elastic band to make sure the plastic stays in place.

Put your crochet shape over the plastic shape making sure it fits nice , straight and tight.

Paint your dome with the fabric stiffener of your choice and leave to dry overnight.

Peel the dome of the plastic covered dome , add the bead at the top so you have a knob or handle.

Admire your work.

Ti p : if you are not totally happy with the shape of your dome. Put it in a bowl of warm water for a few hours. Leave to dry and start again.

Turning and old pumpkin lantern into a cute pumpkin shop.

Just a fun little project.

Started with an old damaged lantern from the thrift shop.

Added a floor ( air drying clay) and a branch to hide some damage.

Added a wooden disk for a base and put the whole thing outside to dry .

Made some pumpkin themed stuff   to put inside  and outside.

Here is my pumpkin shop ready for customers to come and enjoy  everything pumpkin even some pies.

Autumn provides free mini stuff.

I love september because free mini items are falling from the trees  and my garden too is willing to provide me with lots of free stuff.

Here is my harvest for today, picked up on my trip to the grocery store.  You may think plain old acorn caps and beech nuts husks.........but think again.

Take a close  look at these little baskets in my Gnomie "s shop .................. Yes they are all acorn caps. Different types from different trees that grow around the village. i pick them up whenever I go for a walk or whatever.

If you are worried about bugs, rinse them in water with a little bleach and let them dry well.

. Handles can be made out of tons  of things. You can glue on little handles made out of rope ( bottom right) Use a piece of wire  ( bottom middle and left). You can even drill a little hole and fasten the wire to the basket if you like.  I have been known to use cherry stems because they remain very flexible even when dried out. ( the big basket with yellow seeds in it )

Baskets can be decorated to look completely different  by adding some moss, lichen,or little leaves to the rim and outside of the basket.

Filling the baskets is a lot of fun too. Use moss, seeds and seed pots, stuff from your spice cabinet like peppercorns , flowers work well too as do little berries.

Eric wanted to try a beechnut husk as a hat.  I think it is adorable on him ,Must make him an outfit to go with it.

Last year I cut some of these into  parts and used them as roof tiles . Looked very nice. 

Must try some new idea with them now that they are all over the place again.

Go out and gather those free mini's now.

At last ......the pattern for the mini angel for the christmas tree.

 For a long time Blogger did not pass on any of the comments to this blog. So I did miss the fact that some of you did ask for the pattern for my little mini angel for the Christmas tree.

Angel shown with my fingers for scale.

Several of my angels in the tree on the left in this photo.

I have been a very good girl today and right  after breakfast I sat down, made two angels and wrote down how I made them.

I hope they are worth the wait !

The angels are done in crochet and please note that if you have not got a bit of crochet experience it would be best to first try making one with regular yarn and a matching crochet hook first , Size does not really matter as long as it is bigger than the really tiny stuff . Believe me this is fiddly stuff even if you are used to mini crochet.

For mine I used :
crochet hook 0,60 mm
DMC tatting thread in white or a similar thread
Tacky glue
Needle
Small pearl bead.
 ultra fine glitter ( optional )
Fabric stiffener of your choice ( optional)

Angel is worked in rounds. Rounds are not closed so please use  a marker ( like a piece of colored thread) to keep track of your rounds.  They are supposed to look like a little bell shape when they are finished. Another comment : I have made tons and even though I follow the pattern  they all look different just like real angels would !

Start with a magic  circle and work 6 sc into the circle.
Close the circle by pulling the thread and working  slip stitch.
Round 1 : work 2 sc in each stitch. Take your time ! And yes saying bad words is allowed.
Don't close the round !
Row 2- 6 :  This is going to be easier : work 1 sc in each stitch and do not close the rounds.

Row 7 :  2 sc in each stitch. , finish off and cut thread. This will add a ruffle to the skirt.

Feel free to experiment with the number of stitches and the number of rows and even the tip of stitches. This is just a very basic pattern to start with. The possibilities are endless.

                                             Showing the basic shape for the angel.





I did use some fabric stiffener on mine for I wanted them to stand up and look a bit crisp but you can use them as they are.
Weave in all lose ends before you add the fabric stiffener.  Leave to dry.

For the head : Glue a tiny pearl bead to the top of the bell shape. The hole in the bead can be used to add a loop for hanging your angel. Just thread a piece of  yarn through the hole and the body and back and tie together.. To camouflage the hole in the head ( also when you are not doing a loop) apply some ultra fine glitter to the head for hair. You can also use bunca or yarn for hair.

To make the wings :

Chain about 16 chains. Check on your angel if you feel this is the right size for your angels wings . If you want them smaller 14 chain will be nice, if you want them bigger,  try 18-20 chains,

Make the chain into a circle using a slip stitch. Fasten off and knot the threads together. I always add a little bit of glue to the knot.

Glue the knot to the back of your angel and then glue the top of the circle to the knot so you end up with two loops one at each side of the body.


And there is your tiny little angel.

I am so sorry

To everyone who wrote nice comments to my blog : so very sorry for not reacting !!

What happened is : Blogger did not show any comments all summer so  I did not see them. Suddenly today I got a ton of them in my mailbox.

I am very grateful for all of them and I am enjoying them so much. But...Blogger will not allow me to reply on the blog. So I cannot send any reactions to comments or questions.

So if you have asked a question and did not get a reply that is the reason. I feel very bad about this.
Please drop me a line if you have something to ask or tell that is important to you "
furryfriends@onsnet. nu will do the trick.

The book is for sale

A wonderful fully illustrated, step-by-step, 30 page Ebook in PDF format by Marianne Colijn.  Great miniature desserts made with common objects you might find around the house-- no polymer clay needed! 

 Very creative and lovely desserts where even a beginner can get great results.   Tarts, cakes, petit fours, pies...LOTS of treats.

You can order  it as an ebook from my favourite mini shop online :
.http://www.minikitz.com

http://www.minikitz.com/ZenStoreP1/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2364#.V8lTue1zMEI.facebook

Button cakes

Button cakes 

So much fun to make and so very easy.

  The ingredients are very simple :

Some pretty buttons with a flat back,

 Acrylic paint in a nice pastry color

  Window color ( glass )  paint to add a nice finish. Brown glass paint is perfect for this.


I have tried the stuff from the dollar store as well as  Window Color by Plaid.  The Plaid gives a somewhat better result but if you are only going to make like one or two cakes the cheap stuff is fine.

Select a nice button and paint with the acrylic paint. Leave to dry.

If you feel the cake is too thin/flat you can glue a wood disk or a ring or something to the back to make it look better. Do not forget to paint this too.

Paint the raised areas with some glass paint to  add a nice shine and more definition to your cake. Hide the holes in the middle under some fruit or cream. I used some Aleene's  True snow for the cream.






The flower shaped  cake    use the button at the  top left in photo )

To make this pretty cake you will need the same ingredients as before plus  :
Some red no hole beads and red glass paint.

Make the cake as before and when the glass paint has dried fill paint the holes in the cake with some red glass paint. Sprinkle some red no hole beads on top. Leave to dry. Finish with a little dab of glass paint ( red!) on top of the beads for the final effect.