Duct Tape Roses and Amigurumi Hearts

I got a present!

This pretty rose, came from my best friend's daughter, and it's made of duct tape. I think it's absolutely beautiful, and I'm thrilled to find a kindred spirit in the home of my own bosom friend. (Okay, the Anne of Green Gables is starting to get to me!)

It actually turns out, that the little girl in question, who is 12, the same age as my oldest son :), asked specifically for colored duct tape for Christmas, and has been scouring the Internet for duct tape projects. She found the instructions for the rose, on YouTube. I did a quick search myself, and found a how-to-video, on YouTube, that looks quite doable. And, Cutout and Keep has instructions for making a duct tape, rose pen. Wouldn't that be fun as a teacher gift, or in bouquet form, at a ladies meeting? Now if I could only get my hands on some colored duct tape!

In the meantime, I wanted to reciprocate the gift, so after another quick Google search, I settled on these amigurumi crocheted hearts, for my friend's daughter, and her two sisters. My girls are all demanding hearts of their own, and I have to admit, I think they're pretty cute, but I haven't forgotten the lesson of Too Many Toys, just yet.

It was fun to practice a little more amigurumi crochet, though. The pattern, from Roxy Craft, is pretty simple, but I found it considerably more difficult than the Rimoli animals I made the kids for Christmas. I think it's because of the simplicity of the heart. There isn't a lot of room for error, and almost nothing, like big floppy ears, to distract from mistakes. But, it's a fast enough project, that if doesn't turn out, it's not too big a loss, to unravel the whole thing and start again.

It's great to be a homeschooler.