Crochet Alice in Wonderland Doll and Mad Hatter Hat

As previously posted there are an abundance of baby showers. The one we are going to on Sunday (June 29th) is Alice in Wonderland themed and her nursery will be the same. That is exciting!

I know that it is going to be difficult for them to find a lot of "baby" items that are along with this theme though.. so I contributed. Here is a link to my previous post which included a picture of the registry present we got them in addition to these.

Two items:
1. Mad Hatter Hat (decor)

2. Alice doll (I'm amazing lol)

I'm going to preface this (kind of?) with the fact that I didn't write this pattern. I'm not doing a blog post on how to make either of these items because they have been done before.

Click here for the mad hatter pattern
Click here for the Alice doll pattern

That being said I'm kind of going to tutorial the hair for the Alice doll because it wasn't covered extensively in the pattern. I found this part particularly challenging.

The main differences between my finished doll and the pattern provided are as follows:
1. I used larger eyes. I decided to use size 25mm safety eyes (the size used for the pattern wasn't provided)
2. Her smile is larger (I think I had to make it bigger because of the large eyes
3. I crocheted a chain and sewed it on for her headband instead of using 3 pieces together.
4. I went traditional Alice and didn't give her stockings. Alice only has red/white stockings in Through the looking glass.

The main differences between my finished mad hatter hat and the pattern provided are as follows:
1. I made it green!
2. I didn't at the pins because it is for a BABY'S room.
3. I used blue/green ribbon instead of ..fushia?

Disregard the quality of the mad hatter photo by the way.... I didn't take it. :/ I actually snatched the photo used off of her Facebook page.

Hair Tutorial!

1. Cut strands 14 inches long. I honestly have NO idea how many I used but it was something like 160?

2. Fold the piece in half and create your hairline first. Use one strand in ALL holes all the way around her face. Just in an upside down U shape around her face. There is no need to make a hair line in back as the hair we put in later will cover this. For the hairline I recommend counting stitches out from the eyes. Don't try it willy nilly because pulling them out later to make it symmetrical, sucks. COUNT!

 3. Push your hook through the hole and grab onto the loop you made and pull it through the hole.

4. Then grab the strands and pull them through themselves (the loop on my hook I just made)

I started from the base of the hairline I made on one side and went around the back, every other hole, until I reached the other side of the hairline. Then I added one every other hole for five rows.

For the top of the head (just as the original pattern suggests) I used one strand in every hole to fill it in. This covers the holes skipped. In some places I noticed some thinning and added a second strand to holes just to get more coverage. This is the reason I can't remember the exact number of strands I cut. I also did a lot of backtracking.

She absolutely LOVED them though. :D I'm planning on making two more of these but giving them regular outfits and matching their hair to the child. I'll place those updated photos below.

Thank you so much for following along!

Super Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

It's almost JULY! That means Picnics, BBQ's, Baby Showers and Weddings, right?!?!?

I'm booked for one picnic and two baby showers already. Plus, east coast vacay in July. I have mixed feelings about the trip. A little anxiety that I think everyone has before flying. Airport/Plane/Packing/etc...

I'm taking the summer off from school (mainly because there aren't any classes offered for my degree.. lol)

Both of the baby showers I'm going to are "potluck" style. I need things to BRING! This is the dish I decided to bring to the first! I always bring sweets to potluck events.

PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

This looks super easy and I already have all the ingredients.

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:
1. Bring the sugar and the milk to a boil.

2. Boil them for 2 1/2 minutes, then remove from the heat. (Make sure not to overcook. If its turned brown you've cooked it too long!)

3. Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla.
4. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper (I'm using a 8x11 because..I can't find my 8x8 lol), grease it with butter, or use a cooking spray like I did.

5. Pour the mixture in quickly! Don't over-stir like I did. Just stir until its creamy and pour it in.

6. Pat into the corners.

Let set for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator. Once set cut them into 1 inch squares. This will make approx. 16 pieces. (Unless your me.. in which case you chop indiscriminately and end up with a weird collection of choppy pieces)

And you're done! Stay tuned for the next treat I'll be making.

Here is one of the gifts we chose!

Adorable, right? We chose this as a gift but I also made two customized gifts for them which will be in the next blog!

Couldn't help adding a picture of it wrapped up. Isn't this wrapping paper ADORABLE? Ahhh. The mother-to-be loves owls too.

Thank you so much for following along!