Ruby & Charley Cactus Crochet Kits - Review & Giveaway

This review and giveaway is sponsored by Global Backyard Industries, but the opinions are my own.

Ruby & Charley are adorable amigurumi cactus kits from Global Backyard Industries. Charley is the short round one with a little star shaped flower on top, and Ruby is tall and skinny with a pretty pink flower.

What’s Inside?

Each kit comes with everything you need to complete the cactus, including the pattern, hook, needle, yarn, straw, stuffing, and plastic canvas base. Ruby also comes with a bit of embroidery floss, and Charley comes with the red star pre-made for you and all ready to sew on!

Easy and Fun

Both patterns are beginner friendly, fun to make, and work up quickly, though Ruby has a couple extra steps compared to Charley. First, there’s some seaming to help create the ridged shape of the cactus top. Then there’s the extra pink flower for the top.

The product page for each kit shows a fantastic tutorial video by Vickie Howell. In the video, she takes you through all the steps and techniques used in making both patterns. You’ll still need the patterns, but you can really see how it all comes together.

Get Creative

Of course you know I’m not the type to just follow a pattern as written…I always have to add my own little thing to it. In this case, I decided to decorate the pots with some cute embellishments. For Charley, I added a chevron border in surface crochet, and some needle felted flowers and hearts. For Ruby, I crocheted eyes and a mouth to make a face. I thoroughly enjoyed these little cactii, and they’ve found a permanent home on my bookshelf!

The kits do not include the materials for these embellishments. I was able to make them with items from my stash. I also created a series of tutorial videos, so you can see how the embellishments are made! You’ll find all three videos on the Global Backyard Industries blog, or in this YouTube playlist.

Enter to Win!

Are you ready to make your own Ruby & Charley? Enter below to your choice of one of the kits! This prize is generously provided by Global Backyard Industries. Whichever you choose, they’re so much fun to make you’re going to want to buy the other one too!

To be eligible, you must be 18 years of age or older, with a valid, US shipping address. The winner will be contacted by email, and must reply to that email and provide the shipping address within 1 week in order to receive the prize. If the winner does not reply within 1 week, a new winner will be selected. The giveaway ends on April 15th, 2018 (at 11:59pm, central time). Hurry and enter here!

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