Soft and Jolly Apparently, I will not be satisfied until I have one of these yarn-wrapped wreaths for every single season and holiday! I particularly love the soft plushness of the red background on this Christmas wreath. I used a yarn called Starbella Arctic, which has one lacy/net-like edge and one fuzzy/plush edge. When I […]

Candy Cane Stick Horses These ornaments remind me of childhood in so many ways! First, they conjure up images of kids romping around riding stick horses, pretending to be knights or Mounties or cowgirls. They also inspire me to reminisce about my own girlhood, when my mom would do crafts with us. The pattern for these […]

DIY Fall Décor Just a quick post to share another yarn-wrapped wreath like the ones I made for Halloween, Easter, and Winter. I made it using the same yarn I used for the Halloween wreath, but brown instead of black. I’m not sure I am crazy about the yarn on this one. It looked great […]

Frightfully Tasty! This is just a quick post to give you some ideas for ghoulish goodies. The tree in the Edward Gorey-esque scene above, above was made from spaghetti, soaked briefly in water with black food coloring. I spread it out on waxed paper to dry (it twists and curls up as it dries), and […]

Jewelry from Salvaged Belt Loops & Vintage Buttons I volunteer at the local recycled art materials shop, a nonprofit that benefits the public school system. The other day, I was tasked with salvaging belt buckles. The belts themselves had already been cut off — no doubt they wound up in the scrap leather bin. As I was […]

A Swag of Flags This colorful swag of fabric flags makes a great decoration for parties… or for no reason at all. By the way, what is the right name for this thing? A garland? No, that is supposed to be flowers or leaves or something. Banner? No, that is supposed to be one long strip. […]

Acrylic Frames Become Memo Holders Looking for quick and easy volunteer appreciation gifts? Or maybe a craft activity for a group of kids (scout troop or school classroom) for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day? Or maybe an inexpensive teacher gift? Here is an idea for you! It is very easy to make these cute little memo stations that […]

Stacked Stone Necklace I am crazy about my local recycled art materials shop, where I find all kinds of amazing materials at rock-bottom (yes, I did just say that) prices. On one trip, I ran across some cool geological slices, irregularly-shaped concretions of translucent and opaque stone. There were also some smaller round, polished stones. I […]

Rabbit Wreath from Recycled Sweaters As you may know, I recently made a wool felt bunny. I couldn’t decide what to do with him, so I decided to make him a home — a springtime wreath. These wreaths are so much fun to make and decorate that I cannot stop churning them out. I guess […]

Spooky Wreath For at least a year, I had been yearning for Martha Stewart’s Mambo yarn. It has such a sketchy, Edward Gorey-esque appeal! But I couldn’t figure out exactly what I would do with it, so I resisted. Then  I started making yarn-wrapped wreaths (see previous posts), and when the Mambo yarn went on sale a […]

Hand -Stitched Sweet Bunny I have a deep affection for bunnies. While I have never really owned a live rabbit, I feel as though I do, since our large backyard often has a rabbit or two wandering through it. I love watching them from the kitchen window, as they hop and nibble and twitch their […]

2 Fine Girls and a Fine Dog Last week, I ran across a picture of my sister, Cindy, and I posing with our childhood pet, a chubby fox terrier named Ginger. (We insisted that her name should be Ginger, despite that fact that her fur was black as coal.) I have a strangely vivid memory […]

Dr. Who Dalek Pendant This is just a short post to share a necklace I made for a Craft Swap partner, who is a big fan of Dr. Who. The base is stiff leather, with thin punched and embossed copper and other metal and bead embellishments, stitched and wired together through punched holes in the […]

Groovy! So as you may know, I have been using vintage LP record album covers to make spiral-bound notebooks. In most cases, this means I have the actual records left over, so I wanted to find fun, creative things to do with them, as well. So I took advantage of their round shape and center hole, to decorate […]

Recycled T-Shirts Rug I recently saw this technique online (sorry, I can’t remember where… If anyone knows, please speak up with a comment and let everyone know!)  You cut old t-shirts into 1-inch strips and then crochet them together with yarn to form a cushy, soft rug. The one I saw online was very girly, in […]

Aluminum and Elastic   These bracelets are popular with young people, and are very easy to make. Step 1: Collect the materials. I think my version of this bracelet (fairly large) took about 24 tabs. It also required about a yard of elastic. You can use almost any kind of elastic that is narrow enough […]

Spiral-bound bounty I just cannot stop making these notebooks/journals. I guess I need to start selling them… although they take so long to make that I’m not sure I could price them within reason. The covers of the ones above, came from a vinyl 33rpm LP record album cover. Again, the interior pages are an odd […]

Upcycled Ephemera Notepads I am a frequent customer at a local “Overstock and Closeouts” store. You know the type. There is an odd mishmash of products — some of them very nice brand-name items — all priced amazingly low. It is one of my go-to craft materials suppliers. One day a few months ago, I was […]