If you're anything like me, you have a lot of stuffed animals. Like, a LOT. I used to keep them on my bed or on a shelf, but I recently had an idea to hang them up somehow. I realized that my amature crochet skills could come in use here when I saw these hanging hat holders; I figured I could do a way simpler version of that to hang up some of my plushies!

So, this instructable is for crochet beginners (such as myself), or really anyone who has a similar collection of plushies and is looking to display them more creatively. As someone who likes to crochet mainly for the vibes and is counting-averse, this is a great project because there isn't really a pattern, just a bunch of double crochet stitches until you have enough for what you want to hang up!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Supplies

This is a great project for your left over yarn, since there is no real "right" way to do it! Just pick a color (or two, or three) and do some simple double crochets and you're good to go! So as far as supplies, I just needed:

Yarn (any texture/amount) - I used two colors here for illustrative purposes (but I also liked the bold combination
Crochet hook (not pictured, but it would be based on the weight of yarn you use)
Scissors
Tapestry needle
Plastic stitch markers (optional but highly recommended, you could also use safety pins)
A "hanger," which would be anything you use to hang up the crocheted base on. In my example, I am using a plastic ring that used to hold copper tape. In another one I did, I used a combination of a skewer and a pipe cleaner. You could even use an actual hanger if you want to make one that is that wide! This depends on what you want to make. Consider trying to re-purpose something you have lying around!

Step 1: Crochet the Base

So I didn't take picture of this step, but all I did was double crochet until I ran out of the yarn.

I did about 6 double crochet stiches per row, and it is about 100 rows (in my example, each plushie has about 20 rows of space, but you will want to adjust this based on your own needs).

I'm going to attempt to write it as a pattern, but if this is confusing just default to whatever works best for you! There really is not a wrong way to do this :)

Row 1: chain 8

Row 2: Dc in 4th ch from hook and in chain across: 6 dc.

Rows 3-100+: 6 dc

Step 2: Add the Hanger

To hang up the base, I opted to add in a "hanger" to the top by re-purposing a plastic loop that used to hold tape. You really just need something that could hold a little bit of weight, so a regular clothes hanger could even work!

To attach them together, I folded one end of the crochet base over the bottom of the hanger so that it overlapped a little, and then used the tapestry needle to sew the two sides together. You can see this in the images, but I did my best to go in between each of the stitches at least once so that I had a strong connection. I ended it by tying a knot at one end.

Step 3: Adjust the Spacing for the Plushies

Now that you are able to hang it up, you'll want to start placing the plushies on the crochet backing.

To do this, I first placed all the plushies that I wanted to hang up on the crochet backing, and organized them where I wanted with the spacing I wanted. Then, I marked where I would want to tie them to the crochet backing using plastic stitch markers. Using the markers makes it easier to remember the spacing, but you could also just re-do this step every time you attach another plushie.

Step 4: Add the Plushies to the Base

At this point, you will want to decide how you will attach them to the crochet backing. I opted to use yarn to basically tie the plushie onto the backing, while not damaging the plushie itself.

I did this mainly by fixing the string underneath the arms or some other protruding part of the plush, which I marked in the step before with the stitch marker.

In the pictures, I show the process for one of the baby yodas I attached. I started by using a tapestry needle to feed one end of the string through the stich I had marked. Then, I took a length of yarn long enough to go around the body with a lot of slack, and cut it so I could tie a knot where I inserted the needle.

I then turned the whole thing around, with the plushie in position, and started sewing the slack of the string into the crochet backing. I did this in the same row as the knot that I had made earlier, so I would make sure that it was as even as possible.

I ended this part by tying together the two ends of the string for a secure hold, which won't be seen from the front.

Once you've gotten the first one, the rest are pretty straight forward. You'll just repeat this process for each one of the plushies you want to hang up!

Step 5: Hang It Up

Once all the plushies have been attached, you're ready to hang it up!

I used a regular nail to put the hanger on, and then I used a thumb tack to put through any stich closer to the bottom. You don't have to add anything on the bottom, but if you make a thin crochet backing (like I did in this example), then it tends to turn around a lot, or not hang correctly. Putting in a thumb tack was an easy solution to just keep it in place!

I included a few images of the other one I made, which is wider and therefore didn't need anything else at the bottom.

I hope you enjoy making this, and seeing your plushies all in the same place on your wall!