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 […]

Upcycle a Shoe Box & Old Board Games I love board games! Electronic games can be fun, too, but there is something special and intimate about playing board games, whether with family members or close friends. Even the pieces scream “FUN!” … colorful glossy game boards, clattering dice, and tokens make of plastic, wood, or metal. […]

Pretty Snowflakes with no Scissors or Scraps If you are bored on a snow day, here’s an activity that can keep you (and/or the kiddos) busy for hours — go to the Make-A-Flake web site and design your own snowflakes. You can save the results as JPEG files, in case you want to use them […]

Upcycled fashion Let me just say, I have a “thing” for boxes. If a box is pretty… or particularly sturdy… or interestingly-shaped… I have a hard time throwing it away, even if it’s going into the recycling bin. It may be genetic, because when I was a girl there were certain boxes — for example, one marked “Tom and Jerry […]

Shared at Our Family Table I think it must be true of all families, that some of the warmest memories involve cooking (and eating!) Special dinners, birthday cakes, holiday cookies… And perhaps most of all, heartfelt conversations around the kitchen table.  At a bookstore several years ago, I remember seeing the book Kitchen Table Wisdom, and […]

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 […]

Love on deck  I ran across this idea on the Craftster web site last year, and instantly fell in love with it. (The artist of that “52 Reasons I Love You” card-deck book said the idea had been around a long time, but I’d never seen it before.) What a great way to make someone […]

Spiraling swirls of hearts and flowers My husband, Bill, and I have been married many years, and he is not only my True Love, he is also my dearest friend. The other day, I was reminiscing about our romantic courtship and the early years of our marriage. We didn’t have much money back then, but we […]

Pocky pocket! Are you familiar with Pocky? It is a Japanese snack, in the form of a stick that has been dipped in a flavored coating. Pocky sticks are great — low-fat, tasty, and not too sweet. They also add an elegant and unusual flourish to ice cream desserts or fancy cupcakes. And the boxes are so cute! […]

Yet another fabric journal… I have been ill, so haven’t been crafting as much lately. So the only way I can keep posting is to pull out some old projects. For this post, I dug out another one of the Teesha-Moore-inspired fabric journals I’ve been making for the past few months. I finished this one sometime this past […]

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 […]

Scrapbook of attended events So, my eldest neice, Anna, is in college in New York, and she is studying theater. As you can imagine, she goes to lots of public performances: plays and shows and concerts and the like. And she is also heavily involved in staging events like those. This year, I’ve been enthused about making fabric journals. Now, […]

Mixed media memory book This past summer, my husband and son and I took a vacation to Los Angeles. The weather was blissful, the sights were breathtaking, and we did, in fact, see an actual TV star in person. When we got home, we missed it so much that I decided to make a memory book, […]

Super chain! Here’s just what you’ve always needed. An enormous, oversized fake chain! If you are in charge of props for a school play or community theater group, or if you need a mondo-humongous chain for a Halloween or haunted house decoration, this is the project for you! My sister Cindy, who often acts as prop mistress for […]

I was enchanted when I saw some wonderful, roughly-quilted scrapbooks on one of my current favorite web sites, Craftster. The creator of these lovely books, Craftster’s Phizzychick, credited Teesha Moore, who has a series of YouTube videos showing how to make these gorgeous journals and scrapbooks. I owe my cousin a wedding present, so it was […]

Pull-string surprise egg This is a fun way to bestow Easter treats. When the recipient pulls the embedded ribbon, it breaks the paper mache egg in half to spill its hidden treasures. What you will need: An oval balloon Several yards of ribbon Tissue paper Your favorite papier mache glue (I use wallpaper paste) Glass jar […]

How to make a business card holder from scrapbook cardstock   Here is a quick project that only requires some patterned cardstock from the scrapbooking section of your local craft store, some scissors, and some glue or double-stick tape. From these, you can create a stylish business card holder to sit on your desk or sales […]