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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Folded edges form multicolor stripes When I was young, I would occasionally help my mom or my sister fold and put away the bath towels. (In case my sister reads this, I should probably admit that it wasn’t very often!) Anyway, I remember my mom (or maybe it was my sister…) being very particular about how […]
Sharp looking pins These bejeweled sewing pins are pretty, but also practical — they sparle, making them easier to find in the folds of fabric, or if dropped on the floor. They make a great gift for anyone who enjoys sewing. To me, they look like fancy, antique hatpins. You can create a set by […]
Gamer fancies! Yes, I am posting yet more items that I made for a craft swap! This swap’s theme was the game Dragon Age. We sent our package in early April. Like the Hunger Games swap, I participated in tandem with my son Will, who came up with the ideas for the swap items we sent, […]
May the odds be ever in your favor! Have you read or seen the Hunger Games? My son, Will, was actually the person who got me started on the book series, and then the whole family saw the movie when it came out. As I so often do, I participated in a craft swap on the […]
Colorful translucent pendant You know those metal-rimmed string tags? Recently, I picked up a whole box of them, second-hand. Those tags always remind me of Martha Stewart. She seems to like them a lot… I picture her writing on them very neatly (in ink of course), with all of the tiny words correctly spelled, beautifully […]
Numerical tiny treasures Here is a New Year’s craft (or really “anytime” craft, since this calendar has no real start or end) that you will be able to enjoy – -and update, if you like– for many years to come. It is also a great way to display some of your favorite trinkets. I […]
Coiled zipper bracelet This wrist band reminds me of a coiled octopus tentacle. I made it from a vintage zipper from a craft stash I inherited from my mom. My mom was a church craft bazaar organizer, a girl scout leader, and a home sewer. The woman had accumulated quite a craft stash! When I went through […]
Build-your-own flower adornments Is it a hair clip? …a pin? …a headband or purse decoration? Surprise! It’s all of these, and more. This year, my little neices are getting these felt-and-fleece adornents, that feature interchangable multicolored flowers and leaves. The girls can stack the little flowers however they like. All of the flowers start out as […]
This summer my husband, son, and I went to Los Angeles for a vacation. While we were shopping, I found the most adorable key caps with tabby cat faces. Even though they do not say “Hollywood” on them or anything, those key covers turned out to be a great souvenier, because now whenever I use my keys (obviously often), those carefree California days come […]
My friend, Nichole, has three daughters and they like ribbon hair bows. But the bows can be rather expensive, especially in multiples of three! So she and her daughters (Taylor, Brieana, and Alivia) decided to make their own. They gathered pretty ribbons and hot-glued them in loops, then glued all the loops together to form bows. A […]
Bottlecap necklaces These are so cool I wish I could take credit for the idea, but they are all over the Internet. All you do is collect and clean some bottlecaps (or buy them at a craft store), glue little pictures inside, then turn them into jewelry! Here’s what I used for mine: A one-inch […]
