Homemade Dryer Balls

Homemade what?

Well folks, I know that you use these already...

Found on www.sweetadditions.net

And there are PLENTY of great uses  for them. BUT I found this on some blog and thought it would be great and easy to make! I used this tutorial for guidance, with a little help from this one as well, but I originally found the idea here. VERY simple. I made these while I caught up on the sermon that I missed last week. It's a mindless job and great for doing in front of the TV or on a conference call...

ANYWAY! Here's my take on them. I used wool yarn instead of wool roving...just because it seemed easier I guess, but I'd like to take a stab at both to compare.

(And look at the neat things you can do with roving!)

Thanks to www.happygreenbabies.com


I got some 100% wool yarn in two pretty colors, blue and purple on sale at Hobby Lobby.

I made the starter balls.

 The tutorial shows tucking the end of the yarn under with a crochet hook...well, I don't have one so I improvised ;)

I also kept getting VERY frustrated because as I was winding the ball, it would fly out of my hand. So I had to get creative and find a better way to hold it. I just couldn't pinch it well enough with my left hand, but this did the job!

The end result! (before washing) Thankfully I had some knee highs I don't use to wash these in.

After finishing, I realized that here are the only things you need to make these (+washer and dryer and pantyhose to wash in). The blue will go around the outside of the purple.

I wrapped the blue yarn around the purple starter balls and washed/dried as above and ended up with this finished product:

I learned they should go through a hot wash and dry at least 2 times to make sure they're felted enough to not come apart. They're still in the knee high since I'm still working on felting them, but here they are and I love them!! Although one got taken to PA with my parents after getting stuck in my dad's sock. Gotta watch out for those!

Next time I'll try roving, but let me know if you try them as well!

So what's this blog about anyway?

It's something that I've been trying to figure out.

What is my goal with this blog? Why bother to do it? What am I looking to get out of all these projects I take on?

1.) Self-encouragement/productivity check  I can be LAZY and not want to do anything but surf the web and watch movies. Writing down what I've done encourages me and shows me my progress and helps keep me in check to make sure that I AM getting stuff done and needs to be.

2.) Decoration inspiration  I've been inspired by a lot of blogs that I've found around the web. It's amazing what people can do and what they come up with! And it's so great of them to help others learn how to do it as well. I don't come up with my own ideas, I pretty much just get them all from another blog, but this is my way of inspiring people to DIY as well - it's fun! I enjoy the satisfaction when I complete a new project and see the finished result.

3) Save money  A large part of why I DIY is because I'm broke and trying to be frugal with my money. I don't want to/can't afford to go out and buy all new furniture, so I rely a lot on what I am generously given and what I can scrounge around on the side of the road or get off craigslist for little to nothing. I want others to see that they don't need to spend a lot (if they can afford the time) and can create a beautiful house.

4) It's not about the things  I want to encourage people, even though I have a lot of projects that I'm doing to get my house in order and decorated, that how my house looks is ultimately not the biggest thing in my life. Yes, I do appreciate a beautiful house, but mine's not anything you would see in Better Homes & Gardens. And if it never is, I'm happy with that. Beauty can be appreciated but it's not ultimate. Living my life for Christ is. And I think that includes not pouring my money into having the newest, greatest, and latest, but freeing my money up to further His Kingdom.

5) Fighting perfectionism  I struggle every day with perfectionism. It can consume my mind and I can get literally stuck in projects because I don't know what to do next because it could be "wrong". DIYing gives me the flexibility to screw up and play. These things fight against that perfection black/white thinking and helps me stretch my imagination and free my soul from the box I put it in. It forces me to look at things differently and smile and say it's beautiful, even with flaws.

6) Struggling with me  I want people to not just see what I do, but to see who I am. To see what I struggle with and open up so that others can be encouraged and know that they're not alone in their struggles either.

7) Share with those that can't be here  I have a lot of friends and family far away from me that CAN'T be around to see what's going on in my life. I try to saturate my posts with pictures and details so they can feel like they're there with me. :)

8) Documentation  So I know what I've done and how I've done it! For me and for others who are looking at tackling similar things. One thing I'll get better at doing is keeping up with how much I spend on each project. I know when I'm looking to start something, I never know if it's going to fit in my budget and I don't know how much things are yet. (I guess I need to live a few more years and get some more experience on me!) I hope that will help some of you if you're looking to pick up a hobby!

9) Time management  I do a lot. I work a full-time job and still try to have time for all of my projects without being home most of my non-work time. I'm figuring out how to juggle everything. If I figure any of it out, I'll share my wisdom. Until then, I'll keep trying to find easy projects with big payoffs that will fit into a busy schedule that all you other busy people can do as well :)

The main goal of this goal is in the (current) title: Life in the Spirit. I want to proclaim what the Lord Jesus is doing in my life and my desire is that my posts will not only be entertaining, but encouraging, uplifting, and glorifying to the One, true God.

PS. I still haven't totally settled on the title for this blog, so bear with me if I continue to change it every week to try other things. As well as the layout. It needs to be perfect :P

PPS. And I changed from WordPress to Blogger because I like the subscription ability better.