What is Amigurumi? I'd wondered that myself. It is, apparently, the "Japenese art of crocheting small dolls or toys."

On the Fairy Tale Novels Fourm, I was on an adventure with Yaviel. We metamorphed into purple penguins and got kidnapped by The Boss... well, long story short, I made a penguin for Yaviel!

I'd seen some pictures of crocheted dolls on Ravelry, and thought I'd go for it. I pulled out yarn scraps and set to work! I did not follow any pattern (I didn't even know it was called Amigurumi, and had never done any pattern similar before).

I did alot of things in very ineffective ways (I have since learned how to crochet multiple colors properly. All I did was sew white ontop of the purple). But I got a very cute little three-inch penguin! :)

I think I will be trying Amigurumi again. Although I might actually spend the time to find a pattern and/or basic amigurumi instructions.

This, like my Fairy Hairclips, is basically a bunch of beads that are held together by some randomly twisted wire. So, I can't really give exact instructions. Enjoy the picture, though. :)

I am, yet again, posting for the mere sake of taunting my few readers. :P

You see, I got onto the computer with the intention of posting at least six posts, instructions and all. That would be just a small fraction of the crafts/art projects/etc I have done recently.

I got onto the computer. Paint Shop wouldn't open up (and all of the pictures had bad lighting). Then, I realized I was on my brother's account and he doesn't have access to my files. And then I realized that my bedtime, one which I'd better not miss by even a minute, is in only a few minutes. I might/might not be able to post tommorrow.

Can you all pray for my family? Especially early this week? This being the internet, and this being a public blog, and this being a public blog that more than just close friends read, I can't put up too much info. But prayers would be appreciated. :) Danke!

Luna Lovegood' Radish Earrings

Luna Lovegood was the slightly-wacky girl... She wore a pair of beaded radish earrings (they are called dirigible plums in England!). These are not beaded... but they still remain very Luna.

I made them with Sculpey clay, stuck a wire loop in the top, baked, and attached earring loops! 

The time-turner, minus the chain.

Well, it's a bit sloppy... but it is a time-turner nonetheless. Best, all it took was some wire, a few beads, and Sculpey clay. AND it spins freely (well, until it decided to stop working).

I just messed with the wire and clay alot. I can't explain how I did it; I bet there is a much better way. Mine was rather ineffective.

It pales in comparison to the real thing... Oh, well. :) My bros sure don't care!

The "real" one, from Noble Collection

A stack of letters

It looks inconspicuous enough, except for the fact that it is Harry Potter themed. An envelope (which I wish I had "weathered") displays a very precise address (which is smeared in the picture). It reminds one of Harry Potter's acceptance letter: Harry Potter, The Cupboard Under the Stairs, Little Whinging, etc.

Other themed papers are in the stack-- a letter from Ron, a parchment from Hermione, a Howler, and a page from my brother's HP journal. All tied together with a fitting piece of brown cord.

But all is not as it seems.

Is that... a box?

It opens up, revealing a letter from Harry at the Auror HQ.... and... a box! And on the bottom of the box is a copy of the First Year Hogwart's booklist.

I wanted to make a hidden book box, but lacking a nice book ruined enough to use (since we cleaned our our bookshelves), I realized I had to improvise. So out came several envolopes, bits of paper, a printed page of the Daily Prophet and The Quibbler, etc. I stuffed the envolopes with old paper that hadn't yet made it to the recycling box. Then, I glued it all together. I made sure that the glue spread far enough that the box wouldn't affect it and small enough that you could still read the bits of paper. 

Then, I took the Xacto knife and cut out the box! It took far too long, because I had a very dull blade. I then coated the edges of the box with glue for added stability, tied the string around it, and voila.

Don't let my brothers know you know about their special box. Oh, and I never told you that it is home to their homemade Rings of Power. And I did not say that I will be sneaking a picture of those rings and putting them up on the blog someday. :)

The Golden Snitch jewelry set

Almost any familiar with Harry Potter will remember the Golden Snitch, a key ball in the game of Quidditch! I made a jewelry set based on the Golden Snitch. It is fairly simple.

I simply took three glass pearls (sizes may vary, or be the same). Then, I took six feather beads off of a necklace to use as the wings. My uncle Tom gave me a pretty necklace with these feathers for Christmas, but I didn't like the colors so much. I felt a little guilty about taking it apart... :P

Next, I took some floral wire, threaded the beads (a pearl sandwiched between two feathers/wings), and tied it into a loop at the top. The wings can be spread out, as I did for the necklace, or left side-to-side, like I did for the earrings. If the wing beads flop around the wire, hold them in place with a few daubs of clear fingernail polish.

My first set-- I did not like the size of the earrings or the fact that I forgot the Golden Snitch is, well, golden. But the white pearl is classy. :)

In addition to the clay Gold Evenstar, I have made several other Elvish clay creations based on the Lord of the Rings movies. To make these, all you need is some Sculpey clay.

 To make your thinner clay creations sturdier, paint over the peice with Mod Podge or another kind of glue. This will also work extremely well for gluing broken creations back together. My two year old brother smashed all of these pictured into at least three separate parts. Two coats of Mod Podge later, and you can't hardly tell they were broken. Also, for a more metallic, realistic look, coat with a glaze. I wore my Chase Buckle to a dance, and everyone thought it was metal and that I had bought it!

My brooch out of Sculpey clay

The brooch as sold by Noble Collection

 Arwen wore a butterfly brooch as a clasp on one of her many capes. I made my own version by rolling out the clay, using a toothpick to cut apart the main pieces (the wings, etc), rolled up bits for the antenna and swirlies at the bottom, and used a toothpick to carve the designs on the wings. Mine is two inches wide.

My simplified version of Galadriel's brooch

Galadriel wore a beautiful, intricate silver and mother-of-pearl brooch. Mine is all clay! I used the same techniques as above.

My version

Arwen wore this brooch (or is it a buckle? It is hard
to tell) on her Chase outfit. It was definitely confusing-- I realized that there are four "petals", two "leaves" and two "stems", with ends intricately wrapped and twisted around each other. My only suggestion, should you choose to attempt this, is to pay very close attention to the picture.

My Eternal Star, a failure in my opinion...

As sold by Tolkien Town

Now, this one didn't turn out so great. I have been using the pictures that came in a little booklet inside our Lord of the Rings DVD. You know, the ones where they try to sell you all the coolest, most expensive trinkets related to the movies? This was called the "Eternal Star" or something. I couldn't find the same picture online. I spiced up the clay with some beads.

There you go! My adventures with clay... and being a total Lord of the Rings geek. :)