Never too later for some last minute Valentine’s project though it is just 3 days away. I have compiled 40 Valentine’s DIY tutorials for you to choose and many of them are my favorites too. Hope you will find them inspired to make for your sweetheart

This is the fourth and the last compilation for 2012 Valentine’s Day projects to make. If you have missed out the first 3 Valentine’s Round-ups, here are the links: Sew Valentine Round Up, Food Of Love Round Up, and, For The Love Of Yarn Round Up. 4 of them total up to 100 projects for you to make for Valentine’s Day, which will also inspired you to adapt the method and turn into some projects for special occasion through out the year. Happy crafting and …..
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

1. Valentine Heart at The Idea Room.
2. Say It With Love – Paper Heart Garland at Happy Clippings
3. Crayon Heart Valentines at Whipper Berry.
4. DIY Ombre Heart & Striped Canvas Totes at Four Flights Of Fancy.
5. “Love Struck” Pillows at Homestitched.
6. Painted Cross Stitch Pillow at Craft Berry Bush.
7. Painted Heart Bag at V And Co.
8. Sparkly Valentine Banner at Lemon Tree Creations.
9. Homemade Heart Soaps at Sun Hat And Wellie Boots.
10. Asterisk Heart Garland at How About Orange.
11. Paper Punch Heart Garland at Oh! Crafts.
12. Love You Bookmark at Mmmcrafts.
13. Book Love at Craft Berry Bush.
14. Upcycled Valentine Garland at Just Something I Made.
15. “52 Reasons I Love You” Cards Tutorial at Papervine.
16. DIY Project: Valentine Lightbulb at Design Sponge.
17. Pipe Cleaner Heart-Shaped *LOVE* Goggles at Make And Takes.
18. Heart-Shaped Paper Clips at Design Sponge.
19. Clothespin Planter at Family Chic.
20. Valentines Day Countdown at Infarrantly Creative.
21. Valentine Gnome at GardenMama.
22. Puzzling Cards for Your Valentine at Make And Takes.
23. Birdseed Hearts: Eco, Easy and Inexpensive DIY at Intimate Weddings.
24. Valentine Garland from Plastic Grocery Bags at Aunt Peaches.
25. Doilies & Hearts Tied on Jars with Strings Tutorial DIY at Crescendoh.
26. Chalkboard Hearts Ornaments at Embellishing Life.
27. DIY Chalkboard Picture Frame at The Moody Fashionista.
28. Salt Dough Hearts at One Clever Mode.
29. Salt Dough Tags at Intimate Weddings.
30. Gold Beaded Heart Pendant at Mod Podge Rocks!.
31. Chalkboard Craft at Creative Organization.
32. Love Letters Picture at 30 Handmade Days.
33. Clay Valentine Necklace at 365 Days Of Crafts.
34. Valentine Love Boats at Green Jello.
35. Love Potion no. 9 Labels at The Idea Room.
36. Friendship Bracelet Valentines at Dandee.
37. Love Pop Up Card at Under A Cherry Tree.
38. Pop Up Love Card at Cut Out And Keep.
39. Pop Can Key Chain at Diary Of A Crafty Lady.
40. Quilled Heart Pendant at Craftzine.

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Amigurumi: Bunny Pencil Holder

Picture 1 of 2 (Click arrow for more pictures)

My first back to school craft for this year – Bunny Pencil Holders. They can be done by using some stash yarns and the free crochet pattern below.

This amigurumi bunny pencil holder is not quite an usual “amigurumi” that we stuffed with poly-fill. I crochet a cover following the shape’s of the vitagen bottle, then decorated it into a bunny. It is an amigurumi craft because of the tight stitches and its toy-look, but not quite an amigurumi because it is not stuffed Therefore, I called it “non-stuff” amigurumi, agree?

I started making amigurumi since I know how to crochet, some 30 years ago during my childhood years. I wasn’t even told the crochet I did has a name “amigurumi” which was meant for crochet stuffing toys. With the affluence of Japanese craft, the first non-stuff amigurumi I made was using this empty vitagen bottle. I remember I also made a bunny out of that, similar to this bunny but of course not so welly done. Too bad I didn’t keep that precious first amigurumi piece to show you.  Well, it is not a nice good looking one to show off, but it was my first piece which deserved a place in my craft museum. What do you think a 10 year-old school kid can produce on her very first crochet toy?

I hope you like this bunny pencil holder. It doesn’t need to be for putting pencil, it can be used as a utensil holder for toddler’s utensil, or as a vase for flowers, or just anything you can think of.

Difficulty Level: Amigurumi Beginner

Materials & Tools:
1. Empty Vitagen bottle
2. Yarn stashes of pink & white colors (medium worsted weight), red & blue (light weight baby yarn)
3. 3mm, 1.5mm crochet hook
4. 5mm wiggly eyes
5. Tapestry needle
6. Stitch marker
7. Strong multipurpose adhesive
8. Scissors
9. Beads and string for the necklace.

Note: I am not sure if you can get Vitagen worldwidely but it is popular in SE Asia. Find alternative if possible. Another brand you can look out for is Yakult but different country will have different bottle shape.

Dimension:
Empty Vitagen bottle: 2″ base, 3 1/2″ tall. The neck begins at 1 1/2″ from base.
Finished size: approx. 2 1/4″ wide (exclude bunny tail), 6″ tall (include ears)

Abbreviations:
st = stitch
ch = chain
sl st = slip stitch
sc = single crochet
sc2tog = single crochet 2 together (decrease) [suggest to use invisible decrease]
mm = move marker
fo = fasten off
[ ] = the number indicated in the bracket is the total sts in the round

Crochet Pattern:
(from bottom to top)
Bottle [make 1]
Base
PINK medium worsted weight yarn with 3mm hook
R1: ch2, 6sc in 1st chain, mm [6]
R2: 2sc in each st around, mm [12]
R3: *2sc in first st, 1sc in next st, repeat from * around, mm [18]
R4: *2sc in first st, 1sc in next 2 sts, repeat from * around, mm [24]
R5: *2sc in first st, 1sc in next 3 sts, repeat from * around, mm [30]
Body
R6 – R13: sc in each st around, mm [until you reach the bottle's neck]
R14: *sc2tog decrease, 1sc in next 3 sts, repeat from * around, mm [24] {do invisible decrease}
Change to WHITE medium worsted weight yarn
R15: sc in each st around, mm
R16: *2sc in first st, 1sc in next 3 sts, repeat from * around, mm [30]
R17 – R19: sc in each st around, mm
R20: *sc2tog decrease, 1sc in next 8 sts, repeat from * around, mm [27]
R21: *sc2tog decrease, 1sc in next 7 sts, repeat from * around, mm [24]
R22: *sc2tog decrease, 1sc in next 6 sts, repeat from * around, mm [21]
R23: *sc2tog decrease, 1sc in next 5 sts, repeat from * around, mm [18]
fo & hide yarn end.

Ear [make 2]
WHITE medium worsted weight yarn with 3mm hook
R1: ch2, 6sc in 1st chain, mm [6]
R2: *2sc in first st, 1sc in next 2 sts, repeat from * around, mm [8]
R3: *2sc in first st, 1sc in next 3 sts, repeat from * around, mm [10]
R4: *2sc in first st, 1sc in next 4 sts, repeat from * around, mm [12]
R5 – R11: sc in each st around, mm
fo with 4″ – 6″ tail.

Red Flower [make 1 for female bunny]
RED light baby weight yarn with 1.5mm hook
R1 – ch2, 6sc on 2nd st from hook, slst to the first ch to make a ring.
R2 – *slst on next st, ch3, dc, ch3, slst, repeat * 6 times to make 6 petals.
fo with 4″ tail.

Blue Necktie [make 1 for male bunny]
BLUE light baby weight yarn with 1.5mm hook
Row 1: ch2, 1sc on 2nd ch from hook, turn
Row 2: ch1, 3sc on next st, turn.
Row 3: ch1, 1sc on 1st st, 2sc on next st, 1sc on next st, turn.
Row 4 – Row 10: ch1, sc in each st, turn.
ch around the neck, slst to the last row of the necktie.
fo with 6″ tail.
Stitch the necktie to the male bunny body, and make another stitch on the necktie for the knot shape.

Crochet Vitagen Bottle cover

Get ready a clean empty vitagen bottle, medium worsted weight yarns (white & pink), 3mm crochet hook, stitch marker, tapestry needle and scissors.

Crochet a base according to the “base pattern” above. The base should be slightly bigger than the bottom of the vitagen bottle.
Getting the right tension is important in order to follow this pattern. For intermediate amigurumi level, if you can’t get the right tension, you might need to do some modification on the pattern to suit the bottle size.

Work upright with the “body pattern”. By R13, you should reach slightly above the groove line of the bottle.

R14 is the decrease round to make the cover follows the contour of the bottle.

Change yarn to white at the last loop-over of the of R14. Continue to crochet with R15.

Follow patterns from R16 to R23, if the tension is right, you should reach the mouth of the bottle.
Cut and fasten off the yarn, hide yarn end into the body.

Bunny In The Making

Crochet the ears by following the “ear pattern” above.
Make a mini pom pom by following this tutorial.
Spare some pink yarns for facial features.
Get ready a pair of wiggly eyes, multipurpose adhesive, tapestry needle and scissors.

Shape the ear by folding the 2 sides to the center and make a few stitches on 3 rows of the sticthes.

Sew the ears securely to the bunny body.

Sew some wiskers on the cheeks and a nose at the center.

Attach the mini pom pom to the back of the bunny.

Attach the wiggly eyes to the bunny, set it aside to dry.

Crochet a red flower by following the above pattern, sew it to the ear.
Make a beads necklace and put in on.
Alternatively, crochet a blue necktie for the male bunny.