Wide World Of Sports, Crocheted Kitsch Edition!

You've heard of extreme sports.  Extreme snowboarding.  Extreme skateboarding.  Extreme BMX.  But my favorite extreme sport gets far less attention than it deserves.

Extreme Cheapskating!

Can you relate?  I know you can!  From now on, it's going to be a brand new category on my blog.  For the inaugural Cheapskating post, take a gander at these (ahem) lovely (ahem) garments:

Crocheted polyester.  A dollar each at a thrift store.  Machine-made in China.

Okay, sports fans!  Apply a bit of careful snippage with small pointy scissors...

She scores!  Crocheted flowers for crafting!

Eighty-eight of them.  (Yes.  I counted.  We Extreme Cheapskaters will do that.)

The pink poncho had obviously been washed several times, and the flowers had floofed out somewhat messily.  You could still craft with a floofy flower.  But on a whim, I tried something weird - and it was so cool I have to share!


Pick one up with tweezers and hold it eight inches above the stove...

Poof!  It will shrink up instantly, becoming darker, prettier and more stable.  (Note: it takes a mere second!  Be quick so it doesn't burn.)  Here's a comparison photo.  Top row floofy, bottom row not floofy:

With the ones on the left, I rather painstakingly picked off all the little connecting threads for a neat and tidy flower.  On the right, I just snipped around the flowers quickly, leaving many connecting threads and saving lots of time.

I like both styles!  In fact, the quicker version is so lacy and pretty, I think it's really my favorite.  Now, what shall we make with these Extreme Cheapskate crocheted flowers?  Here's the first thing I thought of.

Take a needle and thread and just a few minutes, and embellish a warm fall scarf.  Instant replay:

And the crowd goes wild.

These are going to be so much fun to play with!  They'd make great earrings, necklaces, brooches, oh, my!  Let's hear it, people...what would you guys use them for?


In my next post, expect to see these fleurs in a new, fun upcycled jewelry tutorial.  Check back soon!