What to Do with a Leftover Crochet Motif?

A couple days ago, I blogged about a Crochet Car Seat Toy and Free Crochet Bird Pattern I'd made for the littles back home in the US. Here are the results of that fun, little project...

My plan was to make two car seat toys, using three of each motif -- crochet birds (find the free pattern here), stars and granny diamonds -- for each toy. As it turned out, that would have made for a rather crowded, busy car seat toy. So I ended up having a few extras leftover. What to do...what to do?

Using my blog friend Rain's star pattern, I completed the leftover yellow stars and then came up with the idea to turn them into Star Coasters to brighten up mornings and make coffee-drinking more special.

And for someone who enjoys reading, one of the little crochet birds grew very, very long legs like a Sand Piper and morphed into a whimsical, colorful crochet bookmark.

 

Making the Car Seat Toys was a lot of fun. Repurposing the leftover crochet motifs for something else smile-worthy was also an enjoyable experience. Hopefully, I'll have three happy recipients from these projects now, instead of two!

Admittedly, I haven't spent a lot of time learning about crochet motifs. Did you know that even a granny square is a crochet motif? A crochet motif is considered to be any crochet piece that must be sewn or stitched together with other pieces in order to create the finished project.

What kind of crochet motifs have you created? Have you ever had leftovers that you used for other purposes? I invite you to join the conversation about crochet motifs...a topic I thought I had little experience in but, as I discovered was something I'd known about all along.

Free Crochet Bird Pattern & a Crochet Car Seat Toy

Six little birdies came out one day,

flapping their wings and ready to play.

Off they went, toward the sky so blue,

ready to spend the day with you.

I've been indulging in some "happy projects" lately. Recovering from the dreary, gray weather we've had here the past week (and missing my family back in the US, if I'm honest) has led me to turn to my yarn for some uplifting activities and diversion from stress. 

This week, while taking a break from my Cath Kidston-inspired giant granny afghan (which is now the size of a lapghan...pictures soon, I promise!), I got the hair-brained idea to make one of those dangly sort of toys moms string from their baby's car seat, bouncy seat, or crib. Since my girls both have two-month-old babies, I asked them what such a toy is called. Neither really seemed to have an exciting-sounding name. Apparently, they're referred to as car seat toys, take alongs or tag alongs. 

But even without a fun-sounding name, it certainly was fun to come up with ideas for the car seat toy I made. I've been anxious to show you the pictures, so here they are!

And the Big Reveal!....

After crocheting the stars, the granny diamonds with tassels and the crochet birds, I simply crocheted a chain of about 32 inches long. Then I attached the danglers by little, mini chains, leaving plenty of room on the ends for the toy to be tied to a car seat or crib. For those who don't have any babies in their life, I think this would also make a lovely springtime bunting to cheer up a room a bit after a long, dreary winter.

I have a free pattern for the crochet birds, which I'll post below. But first I have to give kudos to my dear blog friend, Rain, who posted the star pattern on her blog here. Why reinvent the wheel? Rain did such a wonderful job with her star pattern, I decided to use it. For this car seat toy, I modified by doing only two rounds for the star, instead of three.

The diamond shapes are just two-round granny squares edged with a single crochet and finished with a tassel on the bottom. I enjoyed making these and the stars because they were both so simple, but happy-looking.

Finally, I needed one more dangler for each car seat toy and wanted something that said "spring" but not "Easter". I enjoy listening to the birds singing outside, and it was their lovely songs one evening that inspired me to come up with a simple crochet bird pattern that could be used for a variety of projects. 

Crochet Bird by Go Crochet Crazy

Supplies

Cotton yarn, perfect scrapbuster
Hook size H 5mm

Bird's Head & Body

Ch 4, join with a slipstitch (or use Magic Ring)

Round 1: Ch 2 (counts as first HDC). 14 more HDC into ring (15 sts) Join last stitch to top of first stitch with a slipstitch.

Round 2: Ch 1 (counts as first SC). Into the same stitch, crochet [1 HDC, 5 DC, 1 HDC, 1 SC] to make the bird's head. *Continue with same yarn or fasten off and switch to complementary color.* SC in each of next 10 stitches (around the bird's belly).  Into the next stitch, work [HDC, ch 1, DC, ch 1, HDC] to make the bird's tail. SC once in each of next 2 stitches. Then slipstitch into the next stitch to complete the bird's back. SC once in each of the next 8 stitches to outline the head. Slipstitch into the next stitch, then join the last stitch with the first with a slipstitch.

Fasten off, weave in ends.

Bird's Beak

Join yellow yarn at 1 stitch above the base of your bird’s head. Ch 3, then slipstitch into the stitch below (the stitch at the base).

Fasten off, weave in ends. Use wet blocking to get a nice point on your bird's beak.

Bird's Feet

Count six stitches from the bottom of the beak to the belly. Attach yellow yarn into the 6th stitch with a slipstitch. *Ch 3, HDC into the 2nd stitch. Slipstitch into the first stitch*. Slipstitch into the 7th stitch from the bottom of the beak to form the next foot. Repeat from * to *. Fasten off and weave in end.
(You can also make the bird without feet if you don't want dangly things hanging from the belly. For a baby, I like the dangle. For my own project, I'd probably leave the feet off.)

Bird's Eye

With black or white yarn and a big yarn needle, sew an X onto your bird’s face for an eye.

Tweet, tweet...aren't we sweet?

This crochet bird pattern and the whole car seat toy thingie might have actually been TOO FUN to make. But, then again, I don't think there's ever such a thing as too much fun. 

What fun creations have you made on a whim, or to fight the doldrums or escape stress? Creativity is such a wonderful thing. Not only for the pretty and functional things it brings forth into the world, but for the wonderful, happy feelings it gives each of us.

This Week I'm Linking Up With:

Memories by the Mile Treasure Box Tuesday
Kathe with an E You're Gonna Love it Tuesday
VMG206 Brag About it Tuesday Link Party 
Oombawka Design Weekly Link Party
Small Things Yarn Along Wednesday
Crochet Addict UK What Are You Doing Wednesday?
Easy Life Meal and Party Planning Four Seasons Blog Hop
Krafty Inspiration Thursday Link Party 
I Gotta Create Wildly Original Link Party 
Sincerely, Paula No Rules Weekend Blog Party
Be a Crafter xD Crafting Along Link Party 
Interior Frugalista DIY Sunday Showcase