Quilt? What Quilt? You Mean You Craft?

You know, I've written about beauty and food a lot lately, and by that I mean almost exclusively since MARCH! It seems I've fallen back into my old procrasticrafting ways. Doing my makeup, getting dressed (how basic do I sound right now??), cooking/baking, and taking photos of those things has just been easier than most of the craft projects I have on my endless to-do lists. But that's such a terrible excuse!

As predicted, my desire to crochet diminished significantly a couple of months into my quilt project. Before I knew it, it was 80° here in Chicago and I couldn't even think about warm blankets, let alone crochet one! With low's in the 60's all week, I finally picked up my hook again. I consider this a small victory.


Anyone remember my cat face sweater from NOVEMBER? Yikes! I blame this one on my lack of embroidery knowledge, specifically the doing-it-on-stretch-fabric variety. None of the fabric stabilizers I had on-hand worked out, so I gave up in a literal heartbeat. Even after creating and printing my cute kitty patterns and everything!


On Memorial day I embarked on a new sewing journey, and promptly stopped. I did tape the pattern printout together though, so at least there's that! Honestly, it's the serious button situation I'll have to tackle that has held me back on this project.

(Photos courtesy of Natalie)
Looking at Natalie's instagram photos wearing her finished skirt is the perfect slap in the face I need to get crackin' on this one! She looks so cute in it and I also want to look that cute in it.

Ugh. This post is so heartbreaking! Can you feel my shame?? Excuse me while I go and quietly drown myself in a river of my own tears and self-imposed to-do lists...

Blogiversary + Giveaway (CLOSED)

It's hard to believe Hippopotamuslee has been around for three whole years! What?? I'm so happy you've stuck with me for this long, and to celebrate, I'm having my first giveaway! Yay! There are two prizes because I know this blog isn't centered on one specific topic so I want to appeal to those of you who are here for X even when I'm babbling on and on about Y.


Prize Pack for Crafty Followers:
Sew Darn Cute by Jenny Ryan, Lion Brand Bonbons Yarn in Brights, 2 1/2 yards of Iridescent Rick Rack, Extra Small Pom-Pom Makers (3/4 inch & 1 inch), Jumbo Yo-Yo Maker (3 1/2 inch), Large Yo-Yo Maker (1 4/5 inch), and 2 Fat Quarters! Plus some bonus goodies!

Prize Pack for Nail Enthusiasts:
China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Dance Baby, Sweet Hook, and Turned Up Turquoise, Sinful Colors Nail Art in Bad Chick and Love Me, Sally Girl nail polish in Glitzy, Later, and Way 2 Disco, 8 mini viles with multi-colored "caviar" beads, 8 mini viles with confetti, combination brush/dotting tool, Gem Nail Kit (240+ gems, wood stick and top coat), and a polka dot zip pouch from Forever 21! Plus some bonus goodies!

The Nitty-Gritty:

1. This giveaway is a thank you to my followers, so you must follow Hippopotamuslee using Google Friend Connect, Bloglovin', e-mail, etc...
2. Leave a comment below letting me know which prize pack you'd like to win.
3. Good news! This giveaway is open to international readers!
4. The giveaway will close at MIDNIGHT, Monday April 15th, 2013.
5. Winners will be selected using RANDOM.org.
6. I will announce the winners in a future blog post but be sure to include your e-mail address when commenting so I can contact you if you win.
7. Only one entry per person! Good luck!!

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored giveaway and none of the items in either prize pack were provided to me. This is coming from me as a thank you to my awesome followers! I also promise to be more present in the future, promise.

WIP: Round Two

Just a super quick quilt update! I finished another 24 hexagons and moved on to the next set a few days ago. A whole 48 down and only 73 to go! I would be way more enthusiastic about my progress if it weren't for all of those ends that need to be sewn in. Somehow I only just managed to realize this... Yikes!


Just in case you missed my previous posts on this project:

• Quilt Making? Me?
• WIP: Round One

WIP: Round One

Ahh, look! Look! I've made a bunch of progress on my hexagons, you guys! When I wrote about my new quilt project, I was still unsure of what colors to use. I ended up getting rid of the solid black yarn because of our two very hairy dogs that shed a lot, a whole lot. Just made more sense.


My goal of one a day got a little boring by day two, so I decided to go about it a bit differently, and, well... I guess I got carried away? 24 down, 97 to go! So, instead of one a day, I'm working from the center outward for each set of 24. I started on the first round of the next 24 but I'm giving my fingers a little break. Especially after starting this baby:


I'm using Colour in a Simple Life's awesome (and free) Granny Bobble Spiral pattern. I love it so much it hurts ☹. It works up really quickly, too. I think I'll make it into a pillow for our bedroom once it's big enough for a standard insert. All this crocheting of course renewed my interest in Ravelry. Are any of you on there?

Quilt Making? Me?

Snow has been falling, my nose won't stop leaking, and my intense seasonal desire to crochet has come back in full force. So much that I've decided to make a quilt! It's ok to laugh, we all know my track record! I'm not even sure what the difference between quilts, throws, blankets and afghans is, but I'm crocheting a big warm thing and I'm excited. My hands were aching to stitch mindlessly while watching movies, so I figured why not? Plus I hate going out in this cold/snow...

I'll be using Red Heart's Crochet Hexagon Throw Crochet Pattern (a bit wordy there, huh Read Heart?) plus a little help from Jacquie over at Bunny Mummy. She has a super great, easy-to-follow tutorial with a variety of beautiful bright colors, but I'm sticking to a smaller, muted color palette to match our living room:
You know me and my need for visuals. I spent a good 2 hours figuring out 120 color combinations using the 5 colors up there (orange will be my border—maybe), making sure there were no repeats. I'm sure ~pro~ quiltmakers have a better solution than mine but whatever.


The original pattern is an 11x9 hexagon grid, but mine will be 11x11, which means there are 121 hexagons! I'll have to figure out what to do with my center point when the time comes, but for now an orange placeholder will do. My (low pressure) plan is to crochet one hexagon a day which'll have the quilt done just in time for freezing June weather! Ha! Here's hoping I can get it done faster.


Originally, I thought about using this color palette but the orange and brown made it feel so... I don't know, retro? Not that retro is a bad thing.


I have all of the colors except brown in my stash already, but I'm not totally sold on either color scheme… Any opinions?

Pom Poms & Junk Food for the Holidays

With the return of my most excellent tree, giftmas has completely consumed my world again. I mean it. Andrew and I were in Las Vegas last year, so I guess this is me making up for lost time? Whatever the excuse reason is, decorating has been a top priority in the Santosquez household, specifically with pom poms.

I WANT TO MAKE ALL OF THE POM POMS

— JLV (@HipOh_Potamus) December 12, 2012

...and I did. Well, more like 50 but for someone who has made two in her lifetime, that's basically the same. Our living room looks incredibly silly now and I love it.


One of my favorite new additions, other than all of the pom poms, is this precious baby I was too weak-willed to stay away from (of course I tweeted about that too). I did make it a full week before going back to buy him. No giftmas of mine would be complete without Dollar Tree decorations, either. The flocked hearts, adorable white trees, and the gingerbread man and cupcake snow globe (!) are all Dollar Tree purchases. All of my wrapping supplies, too!


The itty bitty junk food ornaments covering my Ikea tree were the inspiration behind the "stockings" I just finished making. Nothing like last minute holiday crafts to fill your time while counting down to midnight!


Now that they're filled and hanging over our "fireplace," Andrew and I are just about ready to start the unwrapping. Happy holidays, everyone!

Kitty Faces on EVERYTHING!

This post is essentially a tangent about finding the source of the so-twee-it-hurts image below, for which I required more info because of the outfits, the ladies, the props and accessories, but most importantly, the sweater! You've been warned...

(Jung Min Hee and Park Sora for Style Nanda)
After a few "cat+face+sweater" google searches, Opening Ceremony seemingly made the adorable sweater they're wearing, but only carried it in men's for a whopping $150. Turns out I was wrong, though. They're actually wearing a Korean knock-off by Style Nanda ($43.93)!

Opening Ceremony on the left, Style Nanda on the right.

Along my searching I found that Opening Ceremony also carries this sweater for $99:


Completely unwilling to pay more than $20 for a cat face on a sweater, I decided I'll do it myself. I don't know which cat face I should try, but I've purchased new floss and two sweatshirts that are in the wash as I type this. So excited for the 9-year-old Cats (the musical) fan in me who definitely owned this shirt.

Weekend Adventures

Near our apartment is a large nondescript warehouse-type building. After passing by it countless times, we finally figured out it's an archery bow range (whaaat?). Andrew and I decided to be adventurous and signed up for a group couples' lesson last Friday night. One of the small highlights was the lol-worthy confirmation email which referred to Andrew as my archer of significance!


Yes, Andrew has a mullet; he's very proud of it.
For only $40 we were given an introductory lesson, equipment rental and use of the space for almost two hours. We totally want to go back again. Have you ever been? I suggest everyone try it if there's a range accessible to you! It's so much fun. Promise.

Next up: Intergem! While Andrew was out racing Sunday, I ventured up north and checked it out again. I actually have a bunch of beads left over from the last time I went. Surprise, surprise, right? Every year it's held at the same time and location as Comic-Con. I always feel real cool passing all of the young people and heading up the escalators with all of the hip, older crafty ladies.


Crappy phone photos as proof!


I'm quite pleased with my haul, though I always forget to pick up findings! We'll see what comes of all these beads...

Nails & Friendship Bracelets

Lately I've been in a little bit of a funk. It's become this weird cycle of wanting to do one million things at once, overwhelming myself with planning, and nothing really getting done. Painting my nails is one of the few things I managed to do outside of work last week. No super cute designs either because I've dropped not one but two of my nail art brushes AND a dotting tool in my gallon container of acetone! Pitiful. Solid colors, tape, and half brushed nails are where it's at until I find replacements.


Itching to see something through to its completion quickly (other than food/nails), I decided to hop on a trend a bit late and start making friendship bracelets again. For the first time since I got this Klutz book in '96!

Having tons of embroidery floss and stacks of books laying around definitely helped. They're such simple, low commitment projects and you finish in no time. I finished this one before Andrew even uploaded the photo to flickr.


There are tons of super awesome and involved free patterns online but right now I'm obsessed with hearts. I've made a few for my BFF (not just for myself, I promise), too.

Happy Valentine's Day

Once upon a time, I would actually sketch random adorable things. Shocking, I know! Then I'd obsess over these little sketches and make them into more involved projects, like this one that went from a dinky little pencil sketch to this illustration:


Which then turned into a printed Valentine's Day card I sent to friends and family:


Then it turned into a small sculpture using clay, a glue gun, and a 2x2" wooden base:


The sculpture has since broken into tiny little pieces from moving but I'll always love the photos. It was just so cute. If you've checked out my design website, this is old news, but if you haven't, I hope you like it as much as I do! Happy Valentine's Day ♥

Surprise Balls: A Tutorial

Have you ever heard of the glory that is a surprise ball? I hadn't until I happened upon the blog Oh Happy Day. You could literally spend hours mesmerized by all of the lovely things on that blog, I know I have... But these balls are just magical! My family is quite large so we choose to focus on the kids during the holidays, and I immediately knew surprise balls would be perfect.

I had such a great time getting all these goodies at Party City and Uncle Fun (which happens to be one of my favorite stores of ALL time), I totally felt like a little kid. I figured I'd write up a simple tutorial so you can get in on the fun, too!

Stickers! Chocolate! Dinosaur Masks! Nail Polish! Bug Pins! Bird Pins! Bouncy Balls! Moustaches! Finger Puppets! Tops! Erasers! Bubbles! Temporary Tattoos! Candy!

After gathering all of your small treasures, prepare your crêpe paper. I found that cutting strips in different lengths then folding them in half worked best. Otherwise the paper is too wide and it looks a bit wonky. A plus side to the wider strips is more coverage, so choose whatever works best for you.



Begin with the largest, roundest, or most obscure-shaped object and get wrapping.



My first one started out a bit rough and ended up more egg shaped than circular. It's good to remember the balls will be unraveled so no need to be a perfectionist!

Don't forget your life fuel :P


They really are super easy to make, just be sure to round out your ball by layering strategically placed goodies.



Confetti and glitter are nice little fillers to add in between the bigger items. Smaller items like stickers and temporary tattoos, too!



To finish these babies up you can use tape or a small sticker on the edge of your last strip of crêpe paper. Then decorate it to your heart's content! I used red and white pipe cleaners and holographic ribbon from the dollar store.



Shipping these to New York was a nightmare but they made it! The obscene amount of bubble wrap I used cushioned them well enough but their ribbons and ornaments fell off. You know, the only way I knew which ball belonged to which kid! Everything ended well, though, thankfully, and each kid got their ball. Next year I plan to make mini piñatas because I love crêpe and tissue paper so much! Gahh!