Amigurumi Box of Chocolates

I have been participating in a Valentine Swap in which partners exchange handcrafted Valentine-themed items and thought I would share one of the items, an amigurumi box of chocolates, made for two swap friends, Kristy and Sparkle.

Before telling a little about the chocolates, I should share about the swap. The swap is a special event this year within a group called From Trash to Treasures, a subgroup of ravelry. Ravelry.com is a free, online organization that boasts a membership of more than one million international knitters and crocheters (with some weavers and spinners, too). Through ravelry, members document their projects, share patterns and ideas, participate in subgroups from among thousands of choices, communicate with like-minded crafters, and, in general, extend their handcraft skills. I belong to five ravelry sub groups; most ravelry members belong to many more.

Before joining ravelry, I had never heard of the word amigurumi. Amigurumi is a Japanese word that combines ami, which means crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, which means stuffed doll. Amigurumi often refers to small, stuffed crocheted or knitted animals but can also be used to apply to items of other representational shapes that are aesthetically pleasing but particularly that are cute or fun.

Above is a box of amigurumi chocolates that I made as part of my swap items. I crocheted the chocolates (and the chocolate dipped strawberry) from regular worsted weight yarn and embroidered some of the tops with embroidery floss.

The folded box, just over four inches across, is comprised of two pieces of 12 inch square paper: one for the top and one for the bottom. However, I trimmed the bottom box (the white part) by about 3/8 of an inch on two sides (side and top) so that the paper was a slightly smaller square. When folded, this smaller size made it possible for the top of the box to fit snugly down over it.

I purchased little candy wrappers from the grocery store to hold the amigurumi chocolates and adding to the fun and to suggest that the sweets are real. Eventually I glued ribbon on the box top so that it appeared on the outside but did not have to be removed to lift off the top but I did not take a photo of the finished box.

February 10, 2011:

Here's a second box of chocolates I finished yesterday. By adding this set my purpose is to share two things: an acknowledgment to a friend and a great hint for anyone wanting to make a box of chocolates, too.

First, I want to acknowledge Christina, a friend of mine, who made amigurumi chocolates for her mother-in-law for Valentines. Over the phone I walked her through the process of making a box for them to fit into and then when she was done and I saw the pictures of her chocolates, I was impressed with a few that she embellished with tiny crocheted flowers. I told her that if I made another set I was going to add delicate little flowers, too, because hers were so perfect. Well, I had a few chocolates already crocheted and thought it might be good to finish the set to put into another box and put little flowers on a few of them. Now for the great hint: This set of chocolates was embellished with puffy paints. I happened to have a few colors on hand, one of which was brown, perfect for the swirls and drizzles on some of the milk and dark chocolates! Then, with a few of my pastel colors, I created tiny little decorated flowers on the tops of two of the chocolates. This is a super duper hint because:

1.) it is a fast and easy way to embellish amigurumi chocolates and

2.) the puffy paint glistens like real icing

Of course you have to wait several hours for the puffy paint to dry (I let the chocolates dry overnight) but then they can be positioned in a box without fear of disturbing the finishing touches on the tops.

Thanks, Christina, for your idea of tiny little flowers on your chocolates. It's great to have creative, sharing friends.

Valentine Brooches

Christmas is over, mitten making and selling on etsy are slowing down, and that means I can breathe again. Well, just for a moment, because now I am making brooches for Valentine's Day at my second etsy store (fabriq). But I thought I would take a little time to share a sample of the brooches here on my blog.

Above: This is an enlargement of one of the more traditional Valentine brooches. Actually, the little pins measure only 2—2.25 inches across.

Below: Here is a photo of nine of the brooches so you can see a greater variety. The brooch shown above is in the upper right hand corner of this photo.

Background info: When I was cutting felted wool this fall and winter for mitten making, I saved scraps in a paper bag beside my chair thinking I might find some use for bits and pieces. In addition to this scrap bag, I have two trash bags of sweaters that felted up too much to use for mittens. I thought I might also find other purposes for these. I don't like to toss materials out if I think I can repurpose them in some way.

I didn't have an idea in my head for using the scraps but, as my husband quotes from time to time, "Luck is preparation meeting opportunity." Opportunity happened in the "From Trash to Treasures" group on ravelry when some of the group members signed on to participate in a Valentine Swap. As Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday, I sort of promoted the swap and was glad when others came forward to moderate the event and still others embraced the idea. Okay, so back to luck, preparation and opportunity....

One of the possible swap suggestions was to create something wearable in a Valentine theme for our partners. Before being assigned a partner, I started knitting a pair of red, wool mittens but when assignments were made, I learned that my partner (Jenn) was allergic to wool. Okay...I guess that wouldn't work so I decided I could list them on my etsy mitten shop after I embellished them with felted wool hearts cut perfectly using my Sizzix machine. Worked like a charm! If you don't know what a Sizzix machine is, it's just a little manual die cutter with a handle to to cut shapes. I happened to have one die with four different size hearts on it. Here is the pair of Valentine mittens I knitted and the heart embellishments.

Well, since I couldn't include the mittens to Jenn, one thing led to another (luck, preparation and opportunity...) and I was inspired to create a Valentine brooch for her piggybacking on the embellishments I made to put on the mittens. Of course, I had to make a brooch for Jenn out of fleece but most of the brooches I have made are of felted wool.

Materials: Felted wool (or fleece), beads, satin roses, embroidery floss, thin ribbon, buttons and other plastic embellishments make up the creative part. On the backs are pin clasps. (See below.)

Tips: Above are two felted wool pins, one face forward and one from the back. The brooch on the left is made of fleece. I found the fleece more difficult to work with compared to the wool, in this regard: I can crochet lacy edges on the wool but have to embroider the edges of the fleece because even a tiny crochet hook will not penetrate the fleece.

The main reason for sharing the above photo is to show the clasps. I always check the clasps first to see that they open and close easily, that they are not bent or misshapen, and that they are right side up. I hand-sew the clasps to the largest heart before assembling layers so I can hide my stitches and knots on the reverse side. At first I was using regular thread but found that by stitching with embroidery floss I don't have to make as many individual stitches because there are multiple strands of floss. I was using three strands and that meant it was like making more passes of stitching through the clasps with one stitch. I matched the floss to the color of the felted (or fleece) heart. It is best NOT to glue the clasps because the dried glue will make your pin stiff and the clasp will not be as secure.

I did use glue, however, to attach the satin roses. I used glue intended for fabrics (Liquid Stitch) but didn't want to use it to attach the heart layers or the pins would have been rigid to the touch. By embroidering layers together, the brooches are soft and more visually and tactilely appealing. To secure the roses in place while the glue is drying, I use little plastic clips to hold them. The clips are not as strong as clothespins and therefore do not smash or flatten the satin roses.

To visit my second esty shop that features these brooches for Valentine's Day, Click Here

(The name of my second shop is called fabriq.)