Spring Cleaning – The Crafts Dept. Great list of places to take all those old craft supplies so that they will find a new home.

Grocery Bag Basket | Pintester. She includes some good clarification of the directions, and I wanna make this now.

The Perfect Gift: Gold Leaf Plaster Votives. These are gorgeous, and easier than you might thing. The post includes full directions.

Let’s All Make Emergency Engagement Rings | The Hairpin. How to craft an origami ring for that last minute need. (Note: video.)

DIY Brushed Text and Polka Dot Tea Towels and Tote – Home – Creature Comforts. The polka dot tote here is simple but oh so nice.

How to boot cuffs from a sweater, at Petit Elefant. So simple and add a nice visual touch.

Current Crush: DIY Paper Diamonds and Gems – Creature Comforts. Links to so tutorials for awfully pretty paper gems.

Laura’s Loop: Reversible Stripes Scarf – the purl bee. I’m really taken by this reversible stripe pattern, I’m also taken by the fact that it lies completely flat.

Faye’s Super Soft Merino Chunky Cable Hat – the purl bee. Simple and very pretty.

Past & Present: Uten.Silo & DIY Wall Organizer | Design*Sponge.

Faceted Vase DIY + Free Template, at Oh Happy Day.

How To: Make Washi Tape Magnets » Curbly.

Technique – Wheat Paste – How Did You Make This?.

swissmiss | Touchscreen Glove Kit. Have you tried any gloves meant for touch screens and found them, er, lacking? Me too, I’m ready to DIY this solution.

From the mailbag: flickering LEDs in series | Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.

Technique – Finish Strings of Beads with Bead Tips – Luxe DIY.

Flower Party Blowers at Oh Happy Day.

Cool Tools – OLFA Auto-Lock Utility Knife. A simple, safe and inexpensive utility knife.

Cool Tools – Strapworks.com. Recommendation for a store that carries all sorts of fasteners and buckles.

Laura’s Loop: Cashmere Cuff – the purl bee. These are chunky grown up friendship bracelets.

DIY Vintage Salt and Pepper Shakers | Say Yes to Hoboken.

School House Craft is coming up! It’s September 21st to the 23rd at the Phinney Neighborhood Center (a really great old brick school) here in Seattle. School House Craft is “a three day conference for those in the creative small business community. A weekend of classes, networking and building lasting relationships”. They have classes from “Facebook 101 for Business” to “Behind the scenes at Urban Craft Uprising”. Teachers include such well informed and generous people as Jennifer Shea (who founded Trophy Cupcakes), Andie Powers (creator of Assemble Shop) and Shauna Alterio and Stephen Loidolt (of Somethings Hiding In Here). The founders of School House Craft, Kristen Rask and Andrea Porter have years of running their own small business and big events such at Urban Craft Uprising. (They also just happen to be among the people who started the Grassroots Business Association with me so I’ve seen up close how focused and experienced they are.)

If you’re starting out a craft related business or want a great environment to consult with others School House Craft is fantastic (the food sponsors alone might be worth it, chocolate!). I was a speaker last year (yaaay!) but this year I’ll be out of town (boo). Right now you can still get one, two or three-day passes at early bird prices (you can also get tickets to individual classes). And you can enter to win a three-day pass. Not bad.

Super Long Taper Candles DIY at Oh Happy Day.

Etsy Jackpot: Geometric Land Source! At Dismount Creative.

DIY how to make balloon fringe tassels, The Alison Show.

DIY Um maxi colar de camiseta | SuperZiper. Turn a t-shirt into a big necklace. The instructions are in Spanish (big oops) Portuguese but the photos are so good you won’t need them.

Vintage Marquee DIY from Oh Happy Day. Some cardboard and spray paint and you’re all set, I like this a lot.

The Ravenna Girls » Blog Archive » Security Envelope Sparklers. So simple! So cute!

Once Upon a Pedestal: Flowers from Wafer Paper and Frosting Sheets. A familiar looking dahlia made from edible paper.

Pintester | Fucking up Pinterest pins so you don’t have to. This is a genius site, she tests out all the oh-so-easy looking things on Pinterest and tells us how it went. I particularly adore what she found out about the miracle mask.

diy project: mesh screen beach bag | Design*Sponge.

The Top 10 Resources for DIY + Craft Supplies at Stripes + Sequins. Via Dismount Creative.

How-To: Use Sewable LED Sequins @Craftzine.com blog.

DIY: Constellation Jar at Design Mom. (A warning: I have cut my finger quite badly when cutting apart the aluminum from disposable baking sheets like this.)

8-bit popup cards | Mini-eco. Via Laughing Squid.

How to Paint Leather Coasters | Freshly Picked.

DIY: Handmade Clay Pots | Say Yes to Hoboken.

How To Make a Statement Necklace | Making it Lovely.

How To: Make Your Own Paper Pencils » Curbly | DIY Design Community.

DIY wrap bracelet from Honestly WTF

DIY pop-up cards from Oh Happy Day

Long streamer decorations from Style Me Pretty, I like that these are fairly simple and very striking

Edible flower in a lollipop from Sprinkle Bakes

Put a marble in balloons to keep them hanging upside down, from Bayside Balloons (Website not available as of the moment I typed this.)

Hanging copper gutters as planters from Martha Stewart, we could use this one on our deck

Meet the Mini-Marthas! Suddenly, Hipster Homemakers Are Cleaning Up | The New York Observer.

How to Make a DIY Terrarium | Making it Lovely.

make grow gather – Posts – diy confetti napkins.

Cupcake Liner Mason Jar Tops · Edible Crafts | CraftGossip.com. A very simply idea makes a handy punch-through top for straws.

Behind the Scenes at Martha Stewart @Craftzine.com blog. Thanks Meg for the inside looks!

// Between the lines //: Leather and gold bag :: the DIY instructions. Really great instructions, via Dismount Creative.

Thanks to Cakies, I made a flower crown | helenjane.com. So adorable!

By Hand: a lifestyle magazine for people who make and do by Susan Gibbs and Jeannie Bloch — Kickstarter. Darnnit! I’m late to this party, so a belated huge high five to By Hand magazine for holding such a successful campaign, cannot wait to read the magazine!

The Farmer’s Nest: How to Make Liquid Hand Soap from a bar of soap {DIY}.

Big Stitch Knit Rug – the purl bee. So pretty and inviting looking. I wish my feet (and my wallet) liked alpaca yarn more.

Ombre Star Garland | Say Yes to Hoboken. This is really lovely! And making those stars can be addictive, I find it relaxing the way knitting can be.

Whit’s Knits: Big Cuddly Bunny – the purl bee. Also the Big Snowy Owl. I really want to make these for myself.

DIY Surprise Lantern at Oh Happy Day. I love this simple and festive idea.

sewing 101: recycled paper basket | Design*Sponge. This is adorable and useful.

I’m doing a craft project and would like to install two red LEDs that are powered by a battery pack with an on/off switch. I would love your opinion-advice on what to buy and where to buy it. | Ask MetaFilter.

DIY Striped Camera Strap at Dismount Creative. I like.

DIY Modern Typography Art @Craftzine.com blog.

Paint Pail Mittens – the purl bee. Love the neon with beige.

make grow gather – dip-dyed filter garlands. Simple and so pretty!

Sequin Photobooth DIY at Oh Happy Day. Love!

A Femme’s Guide to Improvement: Solid Perfume | The Hairpin. Love the talk about American Girl lockets.

I got a copy of The Colette Sewing Handbook by Sarai Mitnick and I think I swooned a little. I’ve been a fan of Colette Patterns and her tutorials for a long time. The book contains five principles (a thoughtful plan, a precise pattern, a fantastic fit, a beautiful fabric, and a fine finish) and five patterns (a scalloped-hem skirt, flutter-sleeve blouse, sweetheart neck sheath dress, asymmetrical flounce dress, and a lined dress with gathered sleeves). Each section of the book takes you through creating each garment, teaching you techniques as you work.

The book has my favorite spiral binding so it will stay open while you work, as well as a set of patterns in the back.

The book takes you through the basics, showing tools and techniques very clearly explaining the benefits and uses for each kind.

Each section of the book uses one of the patterns in the back and acts as a complete lesson in sewing a garment from start to finish. This is how I learn, I need a real project to work all the way through, so I adored how this book was arranged. You build your knowledge with each project.

She gives very basic and practical tips so you don’t have to struggle. Every step is clearly displayed and explained.

And of course all the items in the book are things you definitely want to wear. Easy enough to take on, with just enough clean detail to be super cool. Just look at this top, gorgeous. If you want to learn to sew your own clothes and need a set of lessons to start you off this book is perfect.

diy project: leather envelope phone case | Design*Sponge.

make grow gather – why, hello etsy!. A review of the event in SF that I wish I could have been at!

Freshly Picked: How to Sew a Basting Stitch, How to Machine Baste. When I sew I over-use basting stitches, it’s my secret super power.

adventures in home-making: The world’s best sewing tutorials in no particular order..

All About the Packaging: Candy Button Punch Box Tutorial | Celebrate the Big & Small. Really great and colorful idea for a party game.

I’m so happy to let you know that my friend Kelly Wilkinson, Make Grow Gather has a new book out! Congratulations! It’s called Weekend Handmade it’s it’s full of useful and fun projects. Congratulations Kelly! And with her book tour stop here today she is sharing some thoughts on Saturday afternoons, enjoy:

Hi everyone! I’m so thrilled to be here at with Not Martha as part of the
blog tour for Weekend Handmade. Over the course of the tour, I¹m breaking my
ideal weekend into its different parts, and posting about each part on a
favorite blog of mine. I’ve been lucky enough to spend a leisurely weekend
afternoon with Megan so it only feels natural to be here for the tour ­
thanks Megan!

Saturday Afternoons

An ideal Saturday afternoon for me is equal parts action and leisure. And
nothing embodies that more than being in the garden. There are plenty of
weekends that require errands or full days of work, but if I can being
completely indulgent and moving at my own pace, you¹ll find me in our little
vegetable patch in the fresh air, with dirt under my fingernails, planting
or weeding or harvesting.

I created a whole chapter of projects inspired by the outdoors, including
decorated planters and a tea towel apron that¹s equally at home in the
backyard as the kitchen. If I feel particularly ambitious, I¹ll even set up
some sunprint cloth to ³print² while I¹m out back. But inevitably, I get
thirsty. Megan and I both love a good shandy ­ and I happen to think they
taste best sipped out of a big Mason jar. This requires some planning ahead
for me, because I live in a San Francisco apartment. Our garden access is
out the kitchen door, down two flights of stairs, and through a little
alley. My husband and I like to mix half ginger ale (or lemonade), half
beer, and a lot of freshly-squeezed lime while we¹re up in the kitchen, and
bring it downstairs. But if you ­ like me ­ don¹t regularly keep lemonade or
ginger ale, here¹s a quick little trick so you¹re never without shandy
fixings:

Quick Shandy:
Squeeze 1-2 lemons or limes into a Mason jar
Add a couple tablespoons of sugar, fill halfway with water, screw the lid
closed and shake to dissolve the sugar. Open back up, fill the rest of the
way with beer and you have yourself a homemade shady!

Photo credit: Photos by Thayer Allyson Gowdy.

Tiny Animal Origami at Design For Mankind and Giant Origami at Design Mom.

How to Print DIY Patterned Fabric » Man Made DIY | Crafts for Men.

Crepe Paper Source at Oh Happy Day, including where she buys crepe in San Francisco and Paris.

Ballet Flats Tutorial @Craftzine.com.

MegAllanColeCrafts’s Channel – YouTube. I love Meg Allan Cole and her entire channel is great. Right now I especially love this video for Neon Colorblock Heels.

Modern Parents Messy Kids: Book Week: Preparing for Preschool with a Personalized Photo Book. This is so sweet! A book of what the new school room will look like to make it familiar place for your child.

A new Kraftwerk-inspired LED tie kit? – Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. “Now, if you’re anything like us, the most important question going through your head at this point is something along the lines of ‘why am I not wearing a tie like that right now?’” Exactly.

Butterfly Shrimp and Other Fun With Laser-Cut Nori – Seattle Restaurants and Dining – Voracious.

DIY Sun Printing on Fabric. I used to make tiny sun prints when I was a kid, this larger scale is quite pretty.

Hanging succulent garden | Skinny laMinx. With a tutorial for basic macrame. Via Prudent Baby.

say YES! to hoboken: DIY: Mason Jar Sewing Kit. So cute.

make grow gather – Posts – summercraft: coozie makeover. Turning something that is usually ugly into something lovely.

past & present: pajaki chandeliers + get your own | Design*Sponge.

How to make your own scratch-offs | How About Orange.

True Up | All Fabric, All the Time » Kei Honeycomb Dots. Such simple and colorful fabric. I want some!

poppytalk: How to Make Your Own Leather Passport Holder. This looks like a nice introduction to leather work as well.

Random Recast: Corks Day 2 – DIY Life. Very simple, using corks as a place to stick all those sharp needles and razor bits in your craft room.

crepe paper flowers | Hip Hip Hooray!. A how-to for a full garland, lovely!

Magnetic Googly Eyes: For the Benefit of All Mankind – Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. Simple project that could add some levity to your space.

diy project: solid perfume pocket watch locket | Design*Sponge.

Hi there! Today is a stop on the blog book tour for 1, 2, 3 Sew: Build Your Skills with 33 Simple Projects—Bags, Accessories, Home Accents, and More written by Ellen of The Long Thread. The book is filled with happy and useful projects and has a whole section for organizers. If you head on over the the book’s page you can find a preview of some pages, and you can also see the book trailer on YouTube. It’s stop motion and I’m sort of in love with it.

There is also a free tutorial for the Market Tote which is completely adorable. I must make one.

Next up on the blog book tour is Modern Kiddo, and you can see the whole schedule right over here.

How-To: Hedge Maze Area Rug @Craftzine.com blog. I have a special litle spot in my heart for hedge mazes.

make grow gather – summercraft: picnic weights. These super easy polka dot rocks are so cute it hurts.

Rocket Candy Crackers – The Crafts Dept. I am Wish I’d Thought Of That level in love with this.

swissmiss | Woven Gift Toppers. Very cool.

Make Your Own Stationery: Pop-Up Cards | The Hairpin. More pop-up cards!

o l g a j a z z y :Cable Braided Necklace. A clever and simpler than it looks pattern to use up that little bit of good yarn you have floating around. Via Craftzine.

julies blog: Flower Hair Clip Tutorial. A nice and quick project to create some pretty folded-felt flower clips.

Sophie-World: Rubik’s Cube photo collage. This is really clever, let guests fill in their own photos with colored backgrounds to create a huge Rubik’s cube for the table.

How-To: Portal Sentry Turret Egg Cup @Craftzine.com blog. Oh, cool.

Crepe Paper Garland for Cinco de Mayo | Family Style. Via Jordan Ferney on Twitter.

Jordan Ferney | Oh Happy Day!: DIY Pop Up Cards. Simple and fantastic.

How To: Make Tree Branch Magnets » Man Made DIY. These are great.

How to dye buttons | Rit Dye. This is a very good bit of knowledge to have if you sew or knit. Via Craftzine.

DIY Faux Enamel Necklace · Dismount Creative. Love this, so very simple. Via the awesome Design Crush.

What’s going on here? My site started ten years ago this month and to celebrate I’m giving away something each weekday. Because I like you.

Today I’m tickled to have a copy of Alicia Paulson’s second book Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living to give to one lucky winner. Alicia is one of those people I’ve known online for almost as long as I’ve had an internet connection, and whom I’m happy to say is just as awesome and warm in person, and I adore the love and care she puts into all her work. Her take on embroidery shows a fondness for the past but has a modern and cheerful way about it. She also has a delightful blog, Posie Gets Cozy where she talks about food, dogs, gardening and the joys of hammocks. And she produces patterns for sewing, crochet and embroidery as well as offering the occasional carefully compiled craft kits which sell out crazy fast, her latest was the Daisychain ABC Sampler, and I love her felt Christmas ornaments. You can find everything at her online shop Rosy Little Things.

If you’d like to win the copy of Embroidery Companion please leave a comment with this post and, if you’d like, answer this question: What is the first craft you remember doing? Though my mother has evidence of earlier creations the first thing I remember was using cut fruit as stamps to decorate t-shirts on a rainy afternoon during a vacation. Your turn, you’ve got until Friday, May 27th at 10 a.m. PST to enter, the fine print applies. Good luck! Closed, thank you so much for entering!

What’s going on here? My site started ten years ago this month and to celebrate I’m giving away something each weekday. Because I like you.

Today I’m thrilled to say that Juniper Moon Farm has offered a Yarn CSA for one lucky reader, the 2012 Spring Shearing worth $175 (that’s some serious yarn). The Yarn CSA works like a farm CSA but instead you get a yield of the scrumptious yarn that is produced from the sheep and goats they lovingly raise. Juniper Moon Farm is amazing run by a small group of people who are dedicated to what they do and are fantastic about sharing what is going on with share holders, visitors, and readers of their blog. The farm was started by Susan, whom I’ve followed since she started (back then it was the Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm, which you might remember if you’ve been reading my site long enough) and I’m astounded and so pleased to watch how it’s grown. If you’re not already I encourage you to read the blog, follow along as lambs are born in the spring on the LambCams, see what the farm dogs are up to, you can attend shearing day and even stay at the farm for a week or long weekend. It’s really amazing to watch the farm work all year and then find yarn at your door that reflects all of the care and attention that they put into it. I just want to hug the whole farm. The blog isn’t just about the farm, I’ve loved all the Probably Something You Would Like links posts, her recent pictures from Preakness, her famous world’s greatest granola recipe and how she went paper towel free on the whole farm (it involves making a lot of your own cloth napkins, enough so you always have plenty of clean ones).

Would you like to win this amazing Yarn CSA? If so please leave a comment with this entry and let me know the following: Have you ever spent time on a farm? I spent a few summers on my uncle’s farm in Oklahoma, he had cattle, two greyhounds, a small lake with a rope swing, a tiny farmhouse and bales of hay that seemed to be piled taller than the house itself. I loved it there. Ok, you’ve got until Tuesday, May 24th at 10 a.m. PST to enter, the fine print applies, good luck! Closed, thanks so much for entering!

Today is a bit of synchronicity, my month of giveaways coincided with the blog book tour for World of Geekcraft, Step-by-Step Instructions for 25 Super-Cool Craft Projects. The author is Susan Beal, a super cool lady who writes for Craft, Stitch, ReadyMade, CraftStylish, Geekcrafts.com, has her own site at West Coast Crafty and whose many books have appeared on my site before (most recently see Modern Log Cabin Quilting). But more importantly she is one of those people whom I’ve known online (and in person) forever, very close to a decade. To learn more about the World of Geekcraft book check out the blog and you can find PDF instructions and templates for the Pow! Zap! Magnets right here. The book tour is headed over to House on Hill Road and Public School tomorrow, go and visit.

If you’d like to win a copy of World of Geekcraft please leave a comment with this post. You’ve got until Friday, May 13th at 10 a.m. PST to enter, the fine print applies. If you’d like something to mention answer this question: What was your favorite geeky tv show or movie when you were a kid? Me? I’m gonna have to go with Buck Rogers. Alright, good luck! Closed! Thanks for entering!

Today I have a wee finger puppet made by the amazing Moxie for one lucky person. Moxie is a fiber artist and needle felting wool by hand is her usual (but not only) medium. She creates breathtakingly amazing sculptures, both large and small, some are lifelike and some hilarious while at the same time a bit heartbreaking. You can see some of her most recent work on her site: icons & totems & pieces of the past, a recent show in NYC, and her sets Hungry and Hungry 2 are hilarious. If you’re interested in learning to needle felt keep an eye on her schedule, she teaches classes.

If you’d like win this sweet bit of the genius please leave a comment with this post. If you don’t mind I’d love to know: Have you ever tried needle felting? I have, but I’m afraid it’ll take a lot more practice for it to become something that could be called presentable. You’ve got until 10 a.m. PST Friday, May 6th to enter, the fine print applies, good luck! Closed, thanks for entering!

Welcome to Day #2 of my website’s birthday month of giveaways! There is a bit more information here.

I’m very pleased to have a One Day pass to the School House Craft conference happening here in Seattle Sept. 23rd to the 25th to give to a lucky somebody. School House Craft grew from the Conference for Creative Entrepreneurs that happened here last summer, and which was amazing and packed full of hard learned helpful information from small business owners. It’s happening in the Phinney Neighborhood Center here, a charming community space in an old school which happens to be a favorite spot for a lot of the locals. More about the conference:

School House Craft is a dynamic new three day conference for people wanting to gain the skills to run a successful creative small business.

Are you considering staring your own business or do you already own your own business that focuses on craft, art or design? Do you have a shop on etsy, sell to shops and galleries, sell at craft fairs or want to start a new venture turning your passion into a business? If the answer is yes this is the conference for you!

Do you have or want to set up a craft business and can you get yourself to Seattle in September? This is for you! To enter please leave a comment with this post, you have until Wednesday, May 4th at 10 a.m. PST to enter, the fine print applies. If you’d like please answer this question: If you could spend your days doing any craft at all what would it be? I’ll go first: After my recent work on the Papier-Mache Easter Eggs I think I would love to spend all day creating delicate pinatas while surrounded by colorful and cheerful tissue papers. OK, good luck everybody! Closed, thanks so much to all who entered! #48 is our winner and she’s been contacted.

Science & Crafting – The Crafts Dept. I love the projects they’ve gathered here.

Tiny Baby Bunnies Knitting Pattern @Craftzine.com blog. Cute!

Shoe makeover, DIY – a set on Flickr. Such cute results!

Molly’s Sketchbook: Braided Handle Canvas Tote – the purl bee. I like how simple and calm this is, there is a link to the pattern at the bottom of this post.

versus: Sunburst Pillow Tutorial from Guest Anna of Noodlehead. I’m going to make some of these, simple and impressive. Via Capree Kimball on Pinterest.

say YES! to hoboken: DIY: Making a Beach Tote Bag. I like the size of this one, and of course I like the nice bright yellow and white stripes as well.

For Easter I made papier-mache polka dotted eggs.

I made small pinatas using water balloons and tissue paper.

I filled them with candy, then sealed them shut.

You can also put toys or notes inside.

They have to be ripped to open them, which is way fun.

Click here: Papier-Mache Easter Eggs to find (much) more detailed instructions on how to make them.

Homebrewing: How to Dry Hop Your Beer | Serious Eats: Drinks.

AURORA 430 « make something. This is the sewing machine that somebody who owns a sewing workshop buys to use at home, great recommendation.

Jordan Ferney | Oh Happy Day!: DIY Paper Flower Corsages.

I’m so pleased to be showing you Susan Beal’s latest book, Modern Log Cabin Quilting, and offering a sweet giveaway today. You can read why Susan loves log cabin quilting and view projects from the book made by others at the Flickr group.

This book introduces you to log cabin quilts, gives you all the information you need to sew your own, including tools and techniques, and offers a range of projects.

This is the Bright Furrows quilt, I like the cheerful colors. There are a whole range of quilts using both huge blocks and lots of small ones. There are a number of special quilt projects including a t-shirt quilt to save those worn out shirts that hold memories, an Anniversary quilt and the cozy Winter Woolens quilt.

Above is the Northwest Modern quilt, I like how it’s random. There is also a whole section on household items like tea towls, aprons, pillow cases and a pincushion.

I like the Red Cross bag which uses both corduroy and cotton fabrics. There are a nuber of bags, including a super simple drawstring bag, a zipper pouch, and a market tote. (A way to use up your fabric stash and make gifts at the same time!)

This Charming Camera Case is easy (and uses some stealth velcro).

I’m thoroughly charmed by the quilts and projects in this book, they are fresh and inspiring. So I’m very happy to have both a copy of the book and a fabric kit to give away. If you’d like to enter please leave a comment with this post, and if you’d like please do take the time to share any quilting projects (or disasters) you’ve undertaken. I’ll go first: I’ve never quilted anything! Clearly I will have to change that very soon. You have until noon Pacific time on Thursday, April 7th to enter. The usual fine print applies. Good luck! The winner as chosen by the Random Number Generator is #45, Emily. Congrats! And thanks to everybody for entering!

Decor Hacks | Quick, Cheap, and Stylish. A new DIY blog, via Craftzine.

V and Co.: V and Co how to: jersey knit bracelet.

Customization: the jacket of the 16 buttons at Superziper. A simple modification for a boring cardigan, install a row of snaps instead. (Note: this is a Google translate page of an excellent Spanish Portuguese (my apologies!) language craft blog.)

ArtMind: How to make a scratch off lottery ticket? So clever, must use this some day.

Whit’s Knits: Joelle’s Favorite Vest – the purl bee. I like this, check out the pattern to see how very simple it is.

Tips for Felt Sewing Projects – ever kelly. Via Craftzine.

Splityarn » easiest knitted sweater zipper install ever. So nice!

Little Green Notebook: The Best Inexpensive and Heavy Duty Sewing Machine.

Jordan Ferney | Oh Happy Day!: Confetti Invitations + Template. Refashioning party poppers, really great idea.

How-To: Prop Glass Breakaway Bottles from Sugar @Craftzine.com blog.

How-To: Crepe Paper Flowers @Craftzine.com blog.

poppytalk: DIY : Print Your Own Fabric.

Freshly Picked: Taking in Jeans at the Side Seam Tutorial.

iPad Bag | Luxirare. Near the bottom of the post she shows how she layers, shaves, stitches and burnishes the leather straps for the bag. I love this invitation into how things are made.

Looking for great craft/DIY project resources! | Ask MetaFilter.

Made by Me. Shared with you.: Yoga Pants from T shirts. Made from a technique at Cut Out and Keep, I like the different colored waistband. Very clever and easy idea.

Savvy Housekeeping » Turn A Bar of Soap Into Liquid Hand Soap. Via Craftzine.

Blush & Bashful: DIY: Crepe Paper Flowers. Via Pinterest.

DIY Spicy Sugar Scrub, at Whole Living. Cloves, orange zest and sesame oil.

How hard is it to learn to sew? | Ask MetaFilter.

Design*Sponge » diy project: knitting needle case.

T-Shirt Mod: Boxy to Foxy @Craftzine.com blog. Turning a t-shirt meant for a man into one flattering on a woman.

Jordan Ferney | Oh Happy Day!: Fringey Streamers DIY. Easy and so festive!

DIY: Oilcloth Zippered Pencil Case | Momtastic. Simple and satisfying project. Via Craftzine.

workplace | unechambre. Huge plastic flowers to adorn a wall, similar to my felt dahlia and completely amazing.

thelongthread.com » Monster Tooth Pillow, for holding money from the Tooth Fairy. So vicious! Via Craftzine.

Quilted Purselete at make something. I like the shape of this bag.

WHOLE CLOTH QUILT : NYC SUBWAY MAP at make something. Love.

clothes hanger ribbon holder | Flickr. Clever way to keep a bunch of ribbon untangled.

Birthday Candles – The Crafts Dept. DIY festive personalized candles.

Crafty Art Selections by Garth Johnson @Craftzine.com blog. Must get myself there! Luckily it runs through July 9th so I have plenty of time.

One of the most asked questions about my Christmas Tree Ornament Mobile was how I was planning on storing it. Some people were curious how much space it would take to store, others wanted to know how I would do it without it getting tangled. So, here is a photograph of everything that comprised the mobile excepting the ornaments themselves. The ornaments went back into their packaging (in this case tubes about the size of rolls of wrapping paper which will be easy to store with the paper). Otherwise I took the mobile one set of string lengths at a time starting with the outer rings and working my way in. So, I took off all the longest strings, tucked away the ornaments, took off the hooks, looped all the strands and tucked them into an envelope together. I used orphaned envelopes I had left over from various greeting and Christmas cards, so they are all reused. I have separate envelopes holding each set of string, numbered from longest to shortest, on bag holding all the ornament hooks, I left the hooks on the grid rack itself on, so it will be a snap to reassemble the next year we use it as the spacing is already in place. It’s flat, and just about as big around as my wreath so they’ll be stored together.

See-Through Valentine Candy Favors · Edible Crafts. I love containers you have to destroy to open.

How to turn old clothes into new clothes – diy fashion remake | Ask MetaFilter. Great list of DIY sites.

How-To Do A Hook Rug – ThreadBanger Forums.

How-To: Make a Potluck Dish Cozy from an Old Sweater @Craftzine.com blog. Doubles as a trivet, smart!

Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business: French Pleat Curtain.

A Merry Mishap: DIY-painted porcelain.

weaverknits: Button Coil How-To. Very clever, I like this a lot.

Tron Bag with EL Wire @Craftzine.com blog.

Here is how I made my Christmas tree ornament mobile, it was easier than it looks, promise.

The Supplies

• a 17″ steamer rack from a restaurant supply store
• about 5 feet of lightweight jack chain
• a small carabiner
• 100 basic ornament hooks
• one roll, 500 feet, monofilament jewelry string (not the stretchy sort)
• 200 jewelry crimp beads or tubes
• jewelry crimping tool
• 100 lanyard hooks
• 100 ornaments

Note: In the photo above I show earring wire instead of ornament hooks. I changed that later as I found ornament hooks made it far easier to move ornaments around after they’d been hung. Also, my supplies are based on a 4 foot tall mobile using almost 100 ornaments, you’ll need to adjust amounts if you make one larger or smaller.

Creating the Mobile Frame

Creating the frame for my ornament tree mobile turned out to be fairly simple. I used a lot of hooks to allow for easy adjustment and additions as the mobile was being assembled. I gathered materials from a restaurant supply store, a hardware store and the jewelry section of a craft store.

For the top of the mobile I needed something that would allow me to easily secure a lot of hanging points without them sliding around too much. The perfect thing turned out to be a 17-inch steamer rack bought for about $6 from a restaurant supply store (I found mine at Encore Restaurant Equipment in the SODO neighborhood of Seattle). The rack comes with folding feet attached that were easy to pop out with a little bending.

Turn the rack upside down and the spots where the legs were secured neatly become four hanging points.

I bought some inexpensive jack chain to use for hanging. You can open and close the links in the chain with needle nose pliers so there isn’t any need for heavy duty wire cutters. I separated four lengths of chain, attached them to the points using lanyard hooks found in the jewelry supply section of a craft store.

I joined the chains using another lanyard hook, and put that on a little carabiner which hung from the hook in the ceiling.

Notes: Why so many hooks and bits? Because it makes it is simple to adjust and shorten the chain and can later be disassembled and reassembled with very little effort and without needing tools. I kept the same thing in mind when creating the lines that the ornaments were suspended from. This added a bit of visual clutter but made the entire thing mobile easy to adjust and reuse in another year.

Suspending the Ornaments

I used jewelry monofilament secured with crimp tubes to hold the ornaments. I simply created loops at both ends. I made a bunch of different lengths (details on that below). I secured each line to points in the rack grid using lanyard hooks, and hung a basic wire ornament hook at the bottom ends. The lanyard hooks at the top are strong enough to hold heavier ornaments, and because they close they won’t fall off if the mobile is bumped. The basic ornament hooks allow one to easily move ornaments around from one spot to another. My tip to you: Keep the lines as separate as possible while you’re working with them. I spent more time untangling clear threads than doing anything else on this project. It was maddening. After I discovered just how maddening I started hanging them in groups by length from a curtain rod and weighing them down with an ornament to keep them separated, doing this made the hanging of the ornaments go quickly.

Notes: The use of ornament hooks allows for ornaments to easily be moved around. It does add visual clutter, though. If you want to create a mobile that would only be used once securing the monofilament line directly to the ornaments would look much tidier. I initially planned to use earring wire hooks that closed to hang the ornaments but quickly found that they were frustrating to fiddle with every time I wanted to move an ornament from one spot to another. They were prettier, though, and because those close as well would hold ornaments more securely if the mobile is moved around. (Which I don’t suggest as it tangles the lines horribly. So horribly.) Crimp tools come in three sizes Micro, Regular and Mighty (large). I used the regular size. I did try to use nylon sewing thread but found that the crimps didn’t secure it well enough. I did consider using nylon sewing thread with micro crimp beads and the micro crimping tool but think one would need a lot of patience and really great lighting to get all that done. The monofilament jewelry string is pretty stiff and easy to work with.

Determining Placement and Lengths

Figuring out where to put the hanging points on the rack involved a bit of math, most all of which I abandoned. I’ll do my best to describe what I did.

I decided to create rings on the rack, with the longer threads hanging on the outside rings to create the cone tree shape. Actually it creates tiers, think a tall skinny wedding cake. I figured that my ornaments were usually about 2 or 3 inches in diameter so I needed to space the rings a little more than 1 inch apart so that the ornaments would have room to hang without being crowded by the longer threads around them. I spaced the rings about 1.5 inches apart. This gave me a center point and 6 rings to work with, with the last ring being the outer edge of the rack, like so:

I determined I wanted my tree to be about four feet in total height from the top ornament to the bottom. I made the first ornament, the center point, hang 3.5 inches, and added length from there. For my needs, each set of string needed to be 1.75 inches longer than the last. Each ring on the hanging rack held for different lengths of string. I added 2 inches to the length of string I actually cut to allow for the loops.

To figure out how many ornaments per ring I, well, completely made it up. I decided the first ring should hold seven ornaments and went up by four from there. So the number of ornaments went: 1, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27. I divided the four lengths of string between those, giving the longest length more ornaments to help the triangle effect. Whew. So I cut this many at these lengths for these rings:

• For the Center Point: 5.5″
• For Ring 1: one at 7.25″, one at 9.0″, two at 10.75″, three at 12.5″
• For Ring 2: two at 14.25″, two at 16.0″, three at 17.75″, four at 19.5″
• For Ring 3: three at 21.25″, three at 23.0″, four at 24.75″, five at 26.5″
• For Ring 4: four at 28.25″, four at 30.0″, five at 31.75″, six at 33.5″
• For Ring 5: five at 35.25″, five at 37.0″, six at 38.75″, seven at 40.5″
• For Ring 6: six at 42.25″, six at 44.0″, seven at 45.75″, eight at 47.5″

In order to make the measuring a cutting go as quickly as possible I taped a cloth measuring tape to a tabletop and marked each length with the number I needed to cut with sticky notes. So all it took was to stretch some string out and clip at the needed point. Keep these in groups at this point forward, it will make it far easier later. I looped and crimped the ends, then hung them in groups on a curtain rod weighted down by an ornament.

To figure out where my rings would fall on the rack I tied a cotton string to my center point and marked it at 1.5 inch intervals. Then I swung the string around and put as many hooks as I needed on each given ring. I usually put them on the X and Y axis first, then filled in the quadrants. It went faster than it sounds, promise. I spaced the hooks, aka the hanging points, like so:

Looking up at the mobile from below you can sort of see the rings emerging:

And after this I attached a hook into my ceiling and hung the rack. I found the best way to hang everything is to work from the center out, hang each set of lengths of monofilament string spacing it around it’s designated ring as evenly as possible, then hang ornaments before moving on to the next set of lengths of string. By weighing the strings down as you go along it will help them from getting tangled as you work. You can add or move string, and move ornaments around if needed. I didn’t worry too much about getting everything just perfect and I think it worked to my advantage, the slightly controlled randomness gives it a nicely organic look. At least I hope so.

If I were to do it again I would make my tree taller and more dramatic. I think I would try to squeeze in one more ring and stagger the ornaments with even more lengths of string, maybe in increments by the inch. As it was I found that there are lots of spots where two of the same length are side by side. If I had more money to devote I would buy glass ornaments that don’t have a metal cap, just a glass loop at the top, and would skip the ornament hooks to make it look tidier.

I’m growing more and more fond of the mobile with clear glass ornaments.

update: Here is a photo of the mobile taken apart and ready for storage, the ornament hooks in a bag and each set of lengths of string committed to it’s own numbered envelope. The envelopes were orphans from previous years of Christmas cards that I had saved (reuse!). I left the hanging hooks on the rack so when I return to put it up again next year it will be very quick and easy.

This year we decided to do something a little different with our tree and I created this Christmas tree mobile consisting of ornaments suspended on clear threads.

When I was shopping for ornaments to use found a lot on sale and went a little crazy. I decided it would be worth it to see how three different options would look. I did a variety of silver ornaments that came as a boxed set, green ornaments with three different textures and three sizes of clear glass ornaments that look a bit like bubbles.

Here is the mobile in context of our dining room (please forgive the mid-present wrapping clutter). We have room to put presents below it, and are still able to peek out the windows to see if the neighbor’s cat is visiting our front porch.

The view from below.

The ornaments are hung on regular ornament hooks attached to jewelry monofilament secured with crimp beads. I’ll put up details of how the mobile was created tomorrow. Instructions on how I made it are right over here.

I want to thank Real Simple for including me in this bunch of 14 Creative Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas. I made this easy Warm and Fuzzy Felt Mug Wraps for a little holiday cheer, instructions are over here and below are a few extra photos from the making of. Check out all the ideas, they are fantastic.

I’m so pleased to be holding a book giveaway for Crafting A Meaningful Home by Meg Mateo Ilasco as part of the virtual book tour today. The book is full of projects for your home (created by people whose names I am familiar with!) and each craft has a story about family behind it.

I’m squeezed for time and didn’t get a chance to do my usual photos of a few pages, but there are plenty of page previews over at Amazon. I’m glad they included pictures of the oversized crocheted area rug, the Doily Rug, as I think it’s amazing. You can also read more about the book and view the video made to celebrate the launch of the book right over here at Design*Sponge.

If you’d like to enter to win a copy please leave a comment with this post, the fine print applies, I’ll have the Random Number Generator choose a winner on Friday at 4pm PST. Updated: Yikes, I didn’t realize that would leave less than two days to enter, so I’m moving the deadline to Tuesday Dec. 14th at noon PST. Time is up! Thank you so very much to everybody who left comments, the stories have been heaps of fun to read!

To give you something to actually say in your comment I’ll ask you this: Do you have an item, handmade or not, in your home that has a family story behind it? I’ll go first, though I don’t have one here in my house (but intend to get one when I next visit my parents) my favorite thing growing up were the pot holders I or my cousins made on that little square loom while on the long road trip to Oklahoma. I remember giving one to an aunt when we arrived and having her pull out older and well used ones to show me. She said they were always better than any other pot holders and she was happy to have more to add to her collection. I think those pot holders were one of the first times I was aware of being able to design something to my liking within the constraints of what I had available, that being my choice of six colored loops. I remember figuring out how to make a gingham-like pattern and being so excited at discovering how it was done.

Your turn, good luck!

I came across solar powered LED Christmas lights the other day and decided to make a lit wreath. I’m excited because the sensors in the solar panel turn the lights on when it gets dark outside and turn them off during the day, which means I won’t have to try to remember to turn the lights out every night. (The solar lights work the same as the automatic on/off LED lights used as path markers which I have previously turned into homemade sun jars.) I tucked the solar panel in the middle of the wreath and used the ornaments to disguise it, making it perfect for hanging on a door as there are no wires coming out of the wreath.

This project turned out to be about the same price as a regular pre-lit wreath, but less than most pre-lit solar wreaths I’ve found. The strand of 24 lights was $15 and the artificial wreath and ornaments (on sale) came to $12. I used a cluster of ornaments but a wreath ribbon would work just as well. I used long green twist ties, found in a gardening section, to attach everything. Though, I ended up trimming down the twist ties so a handful of regular length ones nabbed from a grocery store would work just as well.

First I fluffed out the branches of the wreath and found the barest spot. If you have one too make this the bottom of the wreath where we’ll be attaching the solar panel and the decorations.

In order to avoid having a wire coming out of the wreath I tucked the solar panel right into the wreath itself. The solar panel came with a removable spike, meant to anchor it into the ground, which we won’t need. In order to attach the solar panel to the wreath I created loops using duct tape. They aren’t pretty but they won’t be seen. Then I wired it so that it sits in the bottom of the inside of the wreath, mostly hidden behind branches.

I attached the lights by running the cord around the wreath from behind, making sure each bulb was facing out towards the front, and securing with a bit of twist tie. For a 22″ wreath the strand of lights went around twice so I attached the lights first to the smaller and then to the larger hoop of the wreath frame.

Next I made clusters of ornaments by simply threading them onto the twist ties. (I’ve just typed “twist ties” too many times and it’s turned into one of those meaningless phrases.) I used the same twist ties to arrange them at the bottom of the wreath to disguise the solar panel. String or regular wire would work just as well here.

Here it is on our (terribly boring and beige) front door. The solar panel is mostly hidden but angled upwards and still able to catch sunlight. I’ll get a picture of it lit at night as soon as I can.

Two paper lanterns: flowers and pom poms – Craftynest.

Hemp pendant lamps – Craftynest.

ikat bag: Owie Dolls.

Learn a Lesson in Label Making, at ReadyMade. I like these clean, minimalist labels on glass jars.

the birthday crown – how to – i make stuff.

Basic Wig | FamilyFun. How to make a yarn wig using panty hose and yarn. Via @parenthacks on Twitter.

Super cute sewing tutorials | How About Orange.

swissmiss | Woolfiller.

10 Free Tote Bag Patterns and Tutorials | Skip To My Lou. I love all of the bags shown here.

How to Sew with Bias Tape | Prudent Baby. A very excellent tutorial on how to sew on bias tape, this is my favorite way, as well as dealing with the corners.

Our Felt Sources – The Crafts Dept. Great list to keep around.

Knit Kit, at Outblush. Looks like everything you might need in a tidy little plastic box.

Lovely Liberty Coin Purses – the purl bee. Instructions on how to create a coin purse, and don’t miss the Liberty coin purse kits that they have for sale.

DIY Paper Cupcake Stands · Edible Crafts @ CraftGossip.

In-Depth Review of Shelter yarn created by Jared Flood at Knitter’s Review. I’m smitten with this yarn and I find wool unbearably itchy, here is why: he sourced wool from sheep in the US and from US breeds, the yarn is spun in a US mill. Also, this description from Clara made me swoon: “The fibers were then scoured, dyed, and carefully blended together to create 17 different colors — not dunk-dyed unidimensional solids, but gently nuanced heathers built upon at least two, sometimes three or more different hues.” Buy Shelter here, Jared Flood patterns for this yarn are here.

Soap App · Bath and Body @ CraftGossip. An app that calculates amount for cold process soap, wow.

Soap and the Finer Things in Life: Mondo Bath Bombs. Via Craft Gossip.

Craftzine.com blog : Denim and Leather Bag Tutorial.

Craftzine.com blog : How-To: Felt Flower Bouquet.

Make Fabric Hair Flowers, at Readymade.

The Hooded Scarf – Bolt Neighborhood. I think this is the answer to my inability to like rain hats and my shyness over sporting one of those clear plastic rain hoods that little old ladies in Ohio used to wear so they didn’t mess up their perfectly set hair.

Craftzine.com blog : Fabrickit for E-Textiles.

angry chicken: getting ready for cooler weather. With recommendations on books and sources for making your own herbal goods.

angry chicken: toy theater out of a moving box. I came across this yesterday and really love it, it even has three slots for backdrops.

Grosgrain: Poppy Boutonniere Tutorial. Inspired by the fabulous Emersonmade flowers.

betz white: funky chunky. A collection of projects made with huge yarn. “I love how the ordinary becomes extraordinary just by a massive change of scale.” Agreed!

Yesterday was Scott’s birthday. I wanted to use the message paper gift topper (show below) from MSL The Crafts Department blog to decorate but I was lacking a bit in both time and paper length so I settled for just using his name. (Not shown: Scott wearing the gift topper like a party tiara.)

I also wanted him to open the boxes in a certain order so I numbered them, attaching the numbers so that they would fold down. The stacked boxes and the paper ribbon hid the numbers until he started to unwrap the bundle.

I have had this stack of colored paper for years, I bought it when we lived in San Francisco, and I usually pull it out just for gift wrapping. I somehow never seem to have wrapping paper in the house when I need it, but I always have a roll of brown butcher paper around. I buy in huge rolls and use to recover the top of my cutting table. So, I’ve been using the colored paper to decorate packages and I’m nearly out of lime green, oh no!

What was in the boxes? One held a little Tinysaur Display Kit to hold the T-Rex Tinysaur that Scott assembled earlier this summer. (It’s impressively small, smaller than any of the pictures manage to portray.) The other was this awesome T-Rex Belt Buckle, also made by Everything Tiny, which came with a nice black leather belt that just the right size.

Here is the MSL Crafts Department message paper gift topper, so fantastic:

Crafts With Kendra: Simple Picnic Caddy – Holidash. This caddy is charming. Quick, make one before summer goes away!

Design*Sponge » diy project: peaches’ coffee filter flowers.

Parties from the bookshelf: If You Give a Moose a Muffin | Hip Hip Hooray!. I like the evergreen tree shown here.

Thread Heaven – Bolt Neighborhood. Some love for this thread conditioner that will prevent tangles.

inchmark journal – a balloon party. Such a great invitation! And: a balloon pinata – the how to.

DIY: Skinny Ties, at Design Mom.

This past spring I was sitting at my desk thinking up things to make. I was staring at my blocks of sticky notes designed by Snow & Graham and figured that maybe I could make something similar using rubber stamps and Post-it notes. I found out that it’s possible, probably, just not by me. Trouble was that I decided to do a woodgrain, meaning I’d stamp a solid light brown first and then use a large woodgrain stamp in a darker brown on top. Easy right? Not so much. First I forgot to take into account that Post-it notes don’t come in cubes, they come in pads. After some searching I did find some white almost-cube Post-its at OfficeMax, yay.

Then when I was doing research I discovered that Martha Stewart Crafts had done this already, and quite recently! They used this blank memo cube from the Oriental Trading Company. I also found plain paper memo cube at Impress here in Seattle. But I don’t use memos the way I use sticky notes, so I was determined to stick with them.

The result? Tragically unevenly stamped sticky notes. Oh well. That said, I think if you can track down the white Post-its (they were at OfficeMax in a separate section for the In Place organizational goods) and use smaller stamps you could create some very good looking things for your desk. Just learn from my mistake and use small stamps, you’ll be happier.

Craftzine.com blog : Natural Dye for Homemade Playdough.

Jordan Ferney | Oh Happy Day!: Balloon Invitations. So sweet.

Craftzine.com blog : How-To: Make a Pretty Twist Tie.

all buttoned up.: The Buying and the Storing. With good guides to how much to buy, overbuying is something I’m guilty of.

annekata: Make Your Own Summer Sandals. Oh, cool, an answer to my I-Can’t-Wear-Flip-Flops problem. She modifies flip flops and uses strips of t-shirt jersey as ties. Thanks to Kelly for sending this link to me!

Design*Sponge » diy project: mailing tube wine rack.

balloon cupcake favor | Hip Hip Hooray!. So sweet.

Craftzine.com blog : How-To: Lovely Fabric Flowers.

Crafts With Kendra: Simple Picnic Caddy – Holidash. This caddy is charming. Quick, make one before summer goes away!

Bag making for newbies: part 3 – Machine Needle know-how – U-handblog. Really helpful walk through on how to pick machine needles, via Craftzine.

Paper Gift Topper « The Crafts Dept. I love how joyful this is.

Yes Paste – The Crafts Dept. Something to seek out.

I was so happy to be asked to contribute an easy summer project as part of a series over at Make, Grow, Gather. I made some decorated paper lanterns using ones that we had left over from our wedding reception last summer. Remember that childrens craft that involves twisting small squares of tissue paper around the eraser end of a pencil, dipping that in glue and then using them to decorate something, usually a paper plate? I did the same thing, only larger. They turned out looking like flower pomanders, as well as looking a bit more festive. Here is a before and after:

Craftzine.com blog : Sewing 101: Hems.

Craftzine.com blog : How-To: Sew a Tissue Paper Garland.

Molly’s Sketchbook: New Year’s Garland – the purl bee – the purl bee.

My latest project is up over at Holidash! This time for Father’s Day, it’s a car kit full of useful things for your dad (or your favorite father) to keep in his glovebox. I’ve included things like a flashlight, pen, sunscreen, digital tire gauge, tissues, bandages, and disinfecting wipes. All stuff that will make dad into a well prepared superhero for any situation. I have full instructions on how to create the easy organizer with ideas on how to personalize it. I even provide the super dad logo if you’d like to use it.

V and Co.: tutorial: flower corsage for celebrating mom. This is lovely, and uses satin ribbons to form the flower.

Cocktail Party! « The Crafts Dept.. I really like this clever cocktail party invitation.

Prudent Baby: How to Make Bias Tape. Via Craftzine.

12 free bag and purse tutorials | How About Orange.

Design*Sponge » diy project: brittni’s cork containers.

You Tell Us – Banpresto Bath Bomb Maker.

d.Sharp Journal: Bestow. More flowers! This one crepe paper, and lovely.

Remember the Mother’s Day Felt Dahlia Corsage I created for Holidash? I made a bunch more to send out as Mother’s Day gifts and wanted to write down a few notes on what I learned.

note on forming the petals

Making a whole stack of these, I quickly discovered that clothespins work really well to hold petals as the glue sets, shown above. Admittedly I went out and bought these for this purpose ($2 for 50 or so at Target, laundry basket aisle), but I’m finding all sorts of potential uses. Including, uh, actually hanging laundry. If you’re going to make more than three dahlia pins I highly recommend seeking out some clothespins.

notes on giving them

I used matching thread for the backs. (I apparently have so much thread now I can match almost anything, yay? or too much?) I also included a little one-fold card with a message, and a rounded tab that says “pull me” so that it wouldn’t be overlooked.

Then I wrapped them up all mysterious like.

notes on various weights of felt

Here are three flowers I made from different felts. The one on the bottom is a test flower, made using polyester felt. From this I learned I wanted lots more petals, and a more rounded shape to them. The top-left is made from nice, thick wool felt and is one of the ones I used for the pictures in the tutorial for Holidash. The top-right is made from slightly thinner wool felt and I cut the petals much rounder. The thinner felt was easier to form and glue, but in the hand the thicker felt feels better, more substantial.

notes on where to find felt

For those living in Seattle here is what I learned about buying felt locally, with huge thanks to @dancingsheepnw and @raintea for the source tips on Twitter. The sturdiest felt with the most saturated colors was found at Clover Toys in Ballard. It comes in sheets and it was $2.50. (But I seem to have bought all the bright and dark reds, sorry about that.) Nancy’s Sewing Basket has wool felt in sheets and yardage. It was a bit thinner but the colors were still pleasing, I think it was $1.75 per sheet. Both Stitches and Pacific Fabrics have polyester felt for around $.75 per sheet. This was much thinner, but in the reds didn’t have the shiny/fake quality that polyester felts in the green range seem to. With the polyester felt the petals didn’t have as much structure, but still make really nice flowers.

Online I have two felt sources to recommend (I have not purchased from either, but they come recommended from multiple sources): Filzfelt and Joggles.

notes on adhesives, needle felting and tacking the petals down

For my dahlia flowers I used Fabri-tac glue, but I had considered a few different options. Needle felting and hot glue guns were passed over due to the potential to stab or burn one’s fingers, and because of the extra supplies needed. Sewing each petal down individually sounded like an awful lot of work, and I was afraid that the petals would shift around too much on the soft base before it was attached to a stiff backing, making it a frustrating process. I initially used fast grab Tacky Glue, but found it wasn’t strong enough to give a good hold on the thicker wool felt (I had a big tragedy moment finding this out) so I switched to Fabri-tac (it’s more expensive and therefore wasn’t the first adhesive I tried) for the final project.

All that said, each of the above options were used by other people, thrilling! Ansley of Bleu Arts made this one in blue using the quick grab Tacky Glue. Kristin at Briney Deep needle felted the whole flower and attached it to a headband, she includes notes for needle felting. Laura from Bugs and Fishes tacked everything down with thread and the petals turned out with a less rigid arrangement, I think utterly charming. And in the comments from my initial mention of these Megan (no relation) reports that hot glue worked just great and didn’t weigh down the flower.

Two more dahlia corsages I’ve found are at Fries In A Cone, a lovely snowy white, and Urban Comfort in a range of pinks.

if you’ve made one I want to see!

Did you make a dahlia corsage? If so I’d love to see it, and I’ll add a link to this entry if you’ve posted it online (Flickr, Twitter, your blog). Let me know!

inchmark – inchmark journal – a party for bee. I love this pinata. Via Oh Happy Day!.

Sew to Speak: How To: Attach Bias Tape (with mitered corners). Via Craftzine.

Lovely Fabric Flowers Roundup | giverslog.com.

Flint Knits » supersad news generates supercute pattern: Willie!. Like she mentions, this would be a great first project to introduce yourself to intarsia knitting. It was created to help with some vet bills for this adorable puppy who broke his leg, poor guy. And there is a Juniper Moon Fiber Farm CSA giveaway for those who buy the pattern by May 3rd.

Wool felt sample packs | How About Orange. This is the second time in a week that Joggles.com has come across my radar.

Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » biz ladies: how to design the perfect packaging.

Holidash asked me to create something for Mother’s Day and I came up with this felt dahlia flower brooch. It’s got a secret on the back, you’ll have to go see to find out what it is, and how to make one (or many) for your favorite mom.

update: I have put together a few notes on what I learned after making about a dozen of these and how flowers made by others turned out (wonderfully!).

…i heart fabric…: Fabric Stash Purge Party coming up….

Craft Templates from The Martha Stewart Show – Giant Paper Poppy Flower Decoration.

Tree-Stump Trivet, on marthastewart.com.

True Up » Where to Buy Liberty of London Fabric. Very helpful guide, with links to more about the history of Liberty of London and what all the fuss is about.

When the Liberty of London stuff arrived at Target I went there the day of thinking it was going to be another Orla-sized rush. And it was, by the time I arrived most everything had disappeared. I really like the peacock feather print above and I bought the last two peacock pillows thinking I’d, I don’t know, make a skirt. Trouble is there isn’t enough fabric in the two pillows to make a skirt. So I kept them trying to decide if I wanted to find a way to use the fabric in a skirt, somehow. Panels maybe? Or maybe they will go with my theoretical future couch and whatever way we decide to decorate the tv watching living room and I could actually use them as the pillows they are meant to be? A month passed and I finally talked myself into returning them. Then on my way to buy a dish brush at the other end of the store I spotted a pile of new peacock pillows, more than enough to make a skirt. So now I remain undecided. What do you think? Commence project skirt? Or will that lead to (minor, silly) heartbreak?

I just finished reading Sweater Quest by Adrienne Martini and today I’m happy to be able to ask her a few questions. Sweater Quest is the story of knitting Alice Starmore’s Mary Tudor sweater pattern within one year. If you’re a knitter you might understand why that sounds far easier than it actually is. If you’re not a knitter you should know that it’s an insanely complicated sweater for which the pattern is out of print and difficult (and expensive) to find, the yarn hasn’t been made for years, and the knitting technique is intricate. It was an interesting read, I learned all about Alice Starmore and why she has the reputation she does, there are meetings with lots of the biggest knitting celebrities, trips to knitting meccas, historical facts about Mary Tudor, and musings on why we knit.

One of the things you ponder in the book is whether your sweater is really an Alice Starmore design since you didn’t use the original Alice Starmore yarns. I do not knit with wool and one of the first things I learned to do was substitute yarn so this concern about authenticity was something I’d never considered before. Did you have any further feelings on the this in general or about your Mary Tudor in particular after the book was wrapped up?

For most designs, substituting yarns is no big deal. You might wind up with an object that doesn’t drape or feel like the original but who cares? You’ve made something that pleases you. With Starmore, it makes a huge difference what yarns you use because she is a master at color. Swap out any one skein and you’ll wind up with a mess — and I know this because I tried to do just that. I saved the swatch from that misbegotten disaster and it is hideous.

I’m still not certain is my Mary Tudor is a true Starmore, frankly. I used a yarn (Spindrift) that is very, very close to the original Starmore yarns but isn’t identical. I substituted one color in the blue background bands. It might be close enough to a Starmore to fool the non-connoisseurs. But I wonder how it would fare if put next to the original.

So tell us, did you hear from Alice Starmore or her people once this book came out? Did you ever consider writing to her during your project?

I haven’t heard from Starmore or her official people at all. I have been vigorously taken to task by a few people on Ravelry who claim to be her bosom buddies. But, given the nature of such things, you can be almost anyone you want on the internet. So, really, who knows?

Frankly, I’d love to hear from her and wished that I could get her side of the story directly from her mouth. The publisher’s lawyers were twitchy, however, and I was firmly advised to not make contact. I’m not thrilled with this, mind, but will abide by their advice, even though I wish the world were a different place.

After finding how carefully and how well Alice Starmore uses color, if you were to do another Alice Starmore sweater would you seek out the specific yarns called for? If somebody else was going to tackle a Starmore would you recommend they get the particular yarns?

If — and it’s a big if, given how many other things I want to knit — I ever take on another Starmore sweater, I would get even more obsessive about it, which is hard to imagine, I know. I’d track down all of the original yarns, just to see if it really does make a big difference. For those who aren’t quite as compulsive as I can be, I’d say to just do what you feel is right. To get the best result, you have to use wool, I think, and swatch like a mighty knitter who swatches. Other than that, just do it – because if you can manage a decent knit stitch, you can do Starmore’s Fair Isle.

Do you ever get requests from people who would like to see your Mary Tudor in person? (I have to admit I would.) Are you taking it on your book tour with you?

The Mary Tudor is my constant traveling companion. She doesn’t eat much but does take up a lot of room in my bag. I still get a little thrill when the audience at a reading makes appreciative noises, even though I know it’s wrong to take such pride in a sweater. There are some pictures online, if you can’t make it to where I am, see it here.

Is there any significance to the knitted border design on your book jacket?

Not that I know of. I’ve been working on getting the jacket designer to confirm that the yarn in the main picture is Lamb’s Pride. The designer thinks it’s hilarious that anyone would ask that sort of question about stock art. Clearly, he doesn’t know knitters.

Indeed, thank you Adrienne!

Adrienne will be at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA on April 15 if you’d like to see the Mary Tudor for yourself, and you can keep up with her on her website, martinimade.

Fabric basket and bin tutorials | How About Orange.

Craftzine.com blog : Easy-Threading Sewing Needle.

Ruche: DIY – Wall Decor from Ruche’s Lookbook. These large paper wall decorations are amazing, and luckily they show us how to make them. I think these would be great for a wedding or party. Via Design*Sponge.

Que Sera cardigan: Knitty Spring+Summer 2010. I like this one, too bad I sold all my Blue Sky cotton a while back.

DIY Tiered Cupcake Stand Tutorial | giverslog.com. Via Edible Crafts.

Draft & Sew a Custom Fit Reversible Coat. This is amazing, and she talks you through drafting your own coat. Via Craftzine.

Design*Sponge » diy project: ikea celeber decal food jars. Love this!

Jordan Ferney | Oh Happy Day!: Quilts. A quilt made from Muji map handkerchiefs, neat.

Free black and white wedding printables | How About Orange.

Earlier I made Chocolate Easter Surprise Eggs. I really enjoyed making them but realize, of course, how complicated they were. I am clearly a crazy person. Here is something similar but much easier to make. To sum up: dyed eggshells filled with candy and/or toys and sealed at the bottom with paper.

Before:

After:

You will need:

• enough time to let dyed eggs dry overnight
• one dozen eggs (or however many you’d like to make)
• boxes of both regular and neon McCormick food coloring
• assorted candies or toys small enough to fit into an egg
• mini muffin papers, or paper nut party cups, or regular paper, or big roundish stickers
• glue
• a cookie cooling rack, or skewers stuck in some styrofoam, or six sets of takeout chopsticks stuck in a vase (for drying the dyed eggs upside down)

Handy but not necessary:

• an egg topper or a Dremel

These are a re-do of surprise eggs I made ages ago. (I think that was one of the first tutorials I put on this site.) I took inspiration from both Kinder Eggs and Cascarones, eggshells filled with confetti usually cracked over the head of a friends or family. (Note: some of the images below were reused from my earlier tutorial, so they might look familiar.)

Emptying the eggs

To prepare the eggshells I followed Martha’s Stewarts instructions for making chocolate filled real eggshells. I didn’t have a Dremel so I used an inexpensive egg topper to cut the bottoms of the eggs.

This egg topper isn’t the best tool for the job and often leaves jagged edges. If you don’t have this you can use a pushpin to carefully crack an opening, and I’ve seen mention of using nail scissors to carefully cut a tidy hole. Really though, you don’t need to worry about beauty here as we’ll be gluing something over the edges of the opening at the end.

Sterilizing the eggs

This again is from Martha Stewart’s instructions. I carefully rinsed out each eggshell, using a finger to scrape away the last bit of the egg white that is attached inside. Submerge in a large pot (I could fit a dozen eggs in a 4-quart pot) and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Skim foam from the top as it appears, if you forget about the pot it will cook into a weird stiff foam.

To cool the shells lift them them one by one from the pot, letting the hot water run out, and submerge them into a bowl of cool water. If you just fill the pot with cold water the boiling water will linger inside the eggshell, so be careful. (Go on, ask me how I learned that.)

Set them upright on a cookie cooling rack or a kitchen towel to drain and dry a bit while you’re preparing to dye. (I found eggs taken right from water and put into dye didn’t do as well. I could be wrong.)

Dyeing the eggs

Since I find empty eggshells too delicate to decorate after sterilizing I wanted color to be the main attraction, so I spent time finding the right number of food color drops to create really vibrant color. I wasn’t necessarily going for a rainbow but that’s what I came up with.

You might also consider doing all the eggshells one color and using candies that coordinate well. (Oh man, am I really suggesting you coordinate your eggshells to your candy? I am, but it’s pleasantly striking in the chaotic world of color that is Easter decorations. I show an example below.)

You’ll want to dye the eggs in a non-reactive (not metal) container. I used Pyrex measuring cups and porcelain mugs. Don’t agitate the eggs, I learned the hard way that this makes them blotchy, instead just turn them over about half way through the dyeing time.

These instructions are for the familiar McCormick food coloring you can find in any grocery store, one box of regular colors and one box of neon colors. Each below will cover one egg at a time, you can either double the ingredients or let a second egg soak just a bit longer.

For each of these I used:

• 2 Tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 cup just-boiled water
• 10 minutes of soaking, turning the egg over half way through (15 minutes where noted)

red

• 10 drops neon pink
• 1 drop neon purple
• 2 drops red

orange

• 20 drops yellow
• 5 drops red
• soak for 15 minutes

yellow

• 15 drops yellow
• 2 drops neon green
• soak for 15 minutes

green

• 20 drops neon green
• 2 drops neon blue
• 1 drop green
• soak for 15 minutes

blue

• 6 drops neon blue
• 1 drop blue

purple

• 7 drops neon blue
• 5 drops neon pink

magenta

• 10 drops neon pink
• 2 drops neon purple

If you’d like to make your own colors know that I found starting with neon colors and adding regular colors to tone those down worked the best in most cases for me.

I used skewers to lower and lift the eggs out of the dye. I let them dry by hanging them on more skewers stuck in a styrofoam cone I had in the house. I dabbed with paper towels to catch drips.

You could also simply set them on your cookie cooling rack, or hang them off of takeout chopsticks that have been arranged in a vase, anything that will allow them to drip downwards and have lots of airflow so they can dry. Last tip? Wear your least favorite black clothes, the drops of food coloring seem to get everywhere.

Filling the eggs

If your eggs are for kids I suggest buying slightly larger candies that will be easy to separate from the shards of eggshell, maybe sticking to wrapped candies. It can be frustrating to pick shards out of everything. (Though, egghshells are edible, as my father always liked to remind me.)

If you’re making these for adults (may I suggest those who are cubicle bound?) there are a number of surprisingly delicious and itty bitty candies I found while making the previous version, these are my favorites:

• Valrhona Perles Craquant (bb-sized dark chocolate around crunchy centers, found near the fancy cheeses at Whole Foods, you should use these on everything)
• dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds from Trader Joe’s
• chocolate and candy coated sunflower seeds
• those tiny peanut butter cups also from Trader Joe’s
• Robin’s egg blue candy coated caramels from The Confectionery in Seattle (I found similar versions at Peet’s coffee thanks to a tip from somebody on Twitter).

One candy I wish I’d found are the tiny wrapped hard candies called Glitterati, made by Chipurnoi. They are available in bulk online, but I’ve seen them in smaller bags at Trader Joe’s around Christmastime.

The easiest way to make it a bit more elegant is to stick to three colors. My favorite was to dye the eggshells to match (well, almost match) some Robin’s egg blue caramels. Then I only used gold and dark chocolate candies inside. Keeping it to these three colors made for a nice presentation. You could do the same with silver. And metallic Jordan almonds may be cliche at weddings but I still find them pretty/shiny and very worthy of using here.

You could also fit small toys or gifts inside. For my previous eggs I made miniature crepe paper flower corsages and found small pipe cleaner chicks. I was also thinking about folding small fortune tellers to slip inside.

Sealing the eggs

I found the easiest thing to do was to use a mini baking cup, cut it down to about half the height, and glue it on. If you don’t want to trouble with cutting down the baking cup you can just use it as is. If I’d had the time I would have sought out baking cups that are more colorful.

You can also trim and use nut (or souffle) cups, or just some paper.

In Paris I saw these, which appear to be simply covered with a sticker:

I like to include a “Crack Me” message. You could write on the egg using a colored marker, or put a sticker on it. I printed out this little message to include with the eggs and simply tucked it in the glued down cover:

And now one can open the egg by either cracking it, or just tearing off the paper base. Cracking it is way more fun.

See also

Chocolate Easter Surprise Eggs, I put layers of chocolate on the inside to be like a Kinder Surprise egg and also included small toys. They, uh, take a bit longer to make.

These dyed Easter are real eggshells that have been coated on the inside with chocolate and stuffed with candy and a small surprise.

Everything I used to decorate the eggs is edible. I used jumbo sized eggs, though this wasn’t necessary. I stuffed them with the smallest things I could find.

I was hoping to try to make my own version of the chocolate filled real eggshells that Martha Stewart created a few years back, but I wanted mine to be more like a Kinder Surprise egg with a toy or small item inside. I also took inspiration from hollow chocolate eggs that contain smaller chocolates and candies, as these make a pleasing rattling noise when you shake them, and I can never wait to find out what is inside.

I learned a lot through mistakes along the way (which I’ll go into obnoxious detail about in a later post), but here is what did work for me.

dyeing the eggs

The Martha Stewart instructions for preparing eggshells for filling with melted chocolate involve using a Dremel tool to neatly widen the hole. I do not have a Dremel and didn’t want to buy one just for this project. (Not that that has stopped me from thinking about all the things I could have used it for, leading to me now, of course, drooling over a Dremel.) Short of buying an expensive but fancy egg topper, I decided to go buy the $6 one. It has adorable teeth:

It’s meant to be used on soft boiled eggs with cooked whites, so it’s a bit treacherous using it on raw eggs. The method I did was to grasp the egg and hold down the topper securely with one hand:

Gently squeeze the handles of the egg topper so the teeth are touching the eggshell. Then to squeeze the handles quickly and with purpose, like a quick punch. If you squeeze the topper too slowly the egg cracks. If you hold the egg too tightly it cracks. This is, obviously, not the best method to get eggs open. Even at the height of my egg topping flow I would still completely crush one out of ever 12 eggs, and lots were left with hairline cracks. My advice? If you have a Dremel, go ahead an use it here. If you have an egg topper already, try it. But if you really, really want to make beautiful chocolate filled eggs to give away, you might consider asking all of your friends if they have a Dremel they could loan you.

Rinse out the insides of the eggs carefully, I took to poking inside with a finger to get out the stubborn bits of white that were attached to the top end. Might seem icky but it’s much easier than trying to dislodge cooked white bits later on. Submerge the eggs in a large pot, bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes to sterilize the eggs. Skim the foam from the top of the water frequently, if you forget to check the pot they cook into a bubbly foam. I found I could fit 12 eggs in a 4 quart saucepan.

To cool them I suggest lifting them with a slotted spoon and lowering them into a bowl of cold water. If you instead move the pan into the sink and put cold water into it know that boiling hot water will sneakily hide inside the eggshells, so proceed carefully.

If you’re going to dye the eggs you can do this right away. If you’re not going to dye them hang them to dry as I show below, overnight at least. I was trying to match the color of some Robin’s egg blue caramels I found and did a number of different trials combining various McCormick’s food coloring combinations. In the end I found that this was just about perfect:

• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 4 cups boiling water
• 24 drops neon blue
• 6 drops blue

Martha Stewart’s directions call for you to dip each eggshell into vinegar before lowering into the dye, but I actually found this left the egg streaky. I simply submerged the eggshells carefully into the dye and let them soak for 10 minutes (15 minutes for a second batch of eggs in the same bowl).

I learned this the hard way, don’t agitate the eggshells. They’ll be covered by little bubbles and that made me obsessively try to knock the bubbles off, but it left me with blotchy color. Instead, leave them as still as possible and turn them over about half way through. Don’t crowd the bowl, I did four or five eggs at a time.

I lowered and lifted the eggs using skewers, and dried them on this tree I made using skewers and a styrofoam cone I had in the house. Catch drips at the bottom of the eggshells with a paper towel. Let the eggs dry overnight.

It was so cheerful to have these hanging out the dining room for a while.

coating with chocolate

I tried, I really tried, to use excellent tasting chocolate for this project. But in the end I had to switch to Merckens real chocolate coating wafers with some chocolate thinner mixed in. (I had them left over from an earlier project.) It tastes fine for an Easter project, and it was easier to work with than the Callebaut bulk chocolate I had originally purchased. (update: Scott pointed out that the Merckens chocolate tastes better than the chocolate you get with a Kind Surprise egg, a good point!) The trouble was that the Callebaut chocolate post-tempering was too thick to work with, even after adding a generous amount of chocolate thinning flakes.

My hang up is that I wanted to use both dark and white chocolate to imitate a Kinder Surprise egg and I couldn’t find white couverture chocolate in stores around here (I’d waited too long to order anything online, I’ll never learn that lesson). Couverture chocolates, as learned from consulting my Field Guide to Candy book, are “professional quality chocolates with a high percentage of cocoa butter, which helps them melt smoothly and temper easily.” I did find couverture chocolate on the baking aisle shelves of my local, tiny yet impossibly well stocked natural market. I believe the Valrhona feves (which you might remember best as the ones asked for in the NY Times chocolate chip cookie recipe), are what the Martha Stewart directions call for: “We used Valrhona dark chocolate in this recipe because it is relatively easy to temper”.

(p.s. If you live in Seattle I can tell you that Valhrona feves or other couverture quality chocolate can be found in dark, milk and white varieties at both DeLaurenti market and ChefShop. I only found the dark chocolate feves at Whole Foods, it was near the good cheeses.)

I don’t have a microwave or a chocolate tempering machine so I used the seeding technique for tempering chocolate. If you’re up for tempering chocolate two of my favorite explain and teach entries are at Serious Eats: How to temper chocolate and at Cooking for Engineers: Tempering chocolate. If you don’t have couverture quality chocolate you might consider tracking down some chocolate thinning flakes at your nearest cake decorating shop. (Here in Seattle I highly recommend Home Cake Decorating Supply Co., they have everything and are generous with instructions and information.) The flakes are best added just after you’ve raised the chocolate to the high temperature and before you’re starting to cool it. If I forgot and added the flakes when the chocolate was down around 95 degrees the flakes wouldn’t melt and I’d have to start over.

If you’re not up for tempering chocolate (it always takes longer than I expect) I suggest going ahead and using candy melts. Bakerella recommends Merckens brand melts. For these, you just melt and use, they come in pretty colors. They taste like sweet vanilla, not something I’d normally eat but let’s face it, the inside shell of my surprise eggs are unlikely to be eaten in favor of the chocolates inside the egg. Note that if you’d like to color your own candy melts you will need to use a coloring that is not water based, so no regular or gel food coloring. You can find oil based chocolate colorings meant just for this purpose.

Martha Stewart used a piping bag to fill the eggs with chocolate, but since I was filling each eggshell and immediately inverting it, my pouring chocolate would harden too quickly. If I tempered my chocolate in a mixing bowl over a saucepan then transferred the chocolate to a Pyrex measuring cup with a spout, it also hardened too quickly. So I took to melting my chocolate in the Pyrex measuring cup. In order to keep steam from the water getting into the chocolate and causing it to seize I kept the temperature to barely a simmer. Whew, you got all that?

I inverted the egg onto a small salt bowl, poured melted chocolate inside catching drips with a small silicone spatula, then immediately turned the eggshell to coat the inside and let the excess drip out, back into my measuring cup. I put the egg on a drying rack to let excess chocolate drip out and did the next egg. I set the eggs in the fridge for an hour or so to let the chocolate set, then I did it all again using white chocolate.

The chocolate will form a lip at the opening in the egg, this is good and I’ll be using it later on, so don’t level this off or wipe it away.

Painting the eggs

I used some Super Gold Luster Dust mixed with a few drops of tequila to paint “crack me” on the eggs. (This is an idea I initially got from these Golden Chocolate Easter Eggs which were on The Kitchn a few years ago.) I used a tiny brush.

Be aware that the painted on gold will wipe off, so at this point forward handle the eggs carefully so you don’t wipe away the writing. Or be smarter than I am and leave the painting until last (I was afraid the chocolate seal would melt in my hand).

A tip for you, Gold Pearl Dust made by Wilton isn’t nearly gold enough, it looks more golden colored, but the Luster Dust was a really nice effect.

I painted cracks running up the back of the eggs.

Filling the eggs

By far my favorite part was shopping for what to put inside the eggs. I knew I was going to be dealing with an opening less than one inch wide, so most candies won’t fit. And I really wanted a toy of some sort.

I deicded to make mini Spring flower corsages using crepe paper. They could be scrunched thin to fit inside the egg then unfurled to be worn. I did this for six eggs, my favorites were the daffodils, but the gathered and fringed versions were easier to make.

For the other eggs I found cute pipe cleaner chicks which collapsed easily.

For both of these I put them inside small 2″x3″ zip top bags, just in case they absorbed oil from the chocolate inside.

For the corsage eggs I decided to stick with a gold-blue-and-dark chocolate theme and filled them with one Robin’s egg caramel, one gold Jordan almond, small Valrhona Perles Craquant (which are like mini crunchy malt balls) from Whole Foods, and Dark Chocolate covered Pomegranate Seeds from Trader Joe’s. And a gold foil wrapped chocolate egg if I still had room. The smaller candies made noise when you gently shook the eggs.

For the eggs with chicks inside I went with more color. I used one Robin’s egg caramel, a few of the Trader Joe’s mini peanut butter cups (so addictive), the dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds and TJ’s candy coated sunflower seeds. (I had to abandon the jelly beans shown above, there wasn’t room left.)

Sealing the eggs

This part was the most difficult, and had me wishing I’d invested in the Dremel tool to begin with. Initially I thought I might use chocolate to glue a trimmed down mini muffin tin liner to the bottom of the eggs but it was too easy to simply pull the paper off to get at the contents. I wanted people to have to break the egg to get inside. (I have a fondness for things you have to destroy to enjoy.) I decided to mold some dark chocolate inside nonpareil molds, which were about the size of the opening and melt them to the bottom of the eggs.

I warmed a knife in a saucepan of water, wiped it dry and ran it over the opening of the egg, melting the edges of the chocolate while making the surface flat. Then I pressed a molded chocolate into the bottom.

This sort of worked, but not as well as I’d hoped. It works as a base for the egg to stand on but it’s still easier to pry this off than to crack the eggshell. If I had time to do it again I think I would fill the nonpareil molds, let them set just a bit then upend the filled egg into the mold. This would create a stronger bond, and sink the rough edges of the eggshell into the small puddle of chocolate. However, you’d also glue some of the contents of the egg into the chocolate on the bottom, so ideally I’d have a foil wrapped candy nearest to the bottom. (update: Tried that with some leftover eggs, the sealing worked but the base was too messy and it was basically inadvisable.) Still, I’m pretty happy with the way they turned out.

To present them I put them in a bakery box with some tissue paper grass.

I had a huge amount of fun making these, and see different versions in my future. Maybe Halloween eggs? July 4th eggs? Mother’s Day eggs?

Last notes

I made these with the intention of giving them to adults. There is a bit of picking egg shards out between the candy, and I don’t think a kid would find that so much fun. I’m currently working on an easier version of these because dang they took a long time to make, I admit it. Will report back soon.

Here is a list of the Seattle sources I used, put here if only to remind myself where to look the next time I need crazy supplies. I didn’t end up using all of these items, and some are just places I wished I’d stopped in as I found they carried what I needed too late:

• Home Cake Decorating Supply Co. – Luster Dust, nonpareil molds, chocolate thinner, chocolate wafers, chocolate coloring, advice
• The Confectionery – beautiful Robin’s egg caramels and gold Jordan almonds
• Packaging Specialties – bakery box, tissue grass, small zip top bags, inspiration
• Artist & Craftsman Supply – incredibly cheap paint brushes
• Trader Joe’s – so many small candy options
• Whole Foods – elegant small candy options
• Display & Costume – pipe cleaner chicks
• Mrs. Cooks – egg topper
• University Bookstore – Blas-Fix egg blower
• ChefShop – good couverture chocolates
• DeLaurenti – good couverture chocolates

See also

Easter Surprise Eggs (the easy version). These are simply vibrantly dyed eggshells, filled with candy and sealed with mini baking cups (or whatever paper you have around). Much faster to make, but I think they are equally charming.

The other day I was passing by Wallingford Center and decided to stop in and have a look at the new home of Fabric Crush, which recently moved over from Magnolia. I was very excited to visit the shop for the first time after hearing good things about it from Robin of Red Bird Style.

The space is lovely, the tall windows let in lots of natural light and there are wide open spaces for you to wander in. Every fabric shop should have this light. The collection of fabrics, books, patterns and notions is very well currated and it’s so lovely to wander around looking at nothing but excellent fabrics.

She even carries some great oilcloth and laminated fabrics. Most fabrics are quilting weight cottons and it’s full of Amy Butler, Alexander Henry, Michael Miller, Free Spirit, I even spotted some of the Jessica Jones (aka How About Orange) home decorating weight fabrics.

I was surprised to find out that she carries some fabric lines that have local connections. Clothworks Textiles is based in Seattle. I know I saw some of the Fleur Nouveau fabrics designed by Don Baker. They carry fabric wheels of the Robert Kaufman fabrics designed by Josephine Kimberling. And I found out that Kona Bay is a Washington company. Fabric Crush stocks some of the Japanese fabrics they import each year and offer at good prices.

Fabric Crush is lovely and if you live near Seattle I highly recommend you rush right ove to have a look. It’s right next to Bad Woman Yarn and just down the hall from Trophy Cupcake, it couldn’t get much better.

Cool Tools: Fire Mountain Gems. “The McMaster Carr of the jewelry world.”

Rose Barrettes – the purl bee. Exceptional cuteness, via How About Orange.

DIY Fabric Poms | DIY Wedding Blog | Once Wed. Via lushlee.

angry chicken: bias tape tutorial (all by machine).

PlushYou!: Debbie Stoller’s new yarn. Yay Debbie!

Design Mom: valentines-for-classmates. I am swooningly in love with these! Many extra exclamation points here!

Suburban Bliss: Valentine’s Treats 2009. I love how simple and colorful and absolutely cheerful these are.

Craftzine.com blog : Free Coin Purse Pattern From Cotton And Cloud.

Cloudy Crochet: Brioche Stitch Explained. Thank goodness.

Where on Earth can you find BORING fabric? | Ask MetaFilter.

I have this thing about winter hats, they never quite cover my earlobes. I forget all about this until I’m out in the cold and then it’s too late and I end up tugging the hat down trying to keep my poor ears warm. Even the Calorimetry, which I love, doesn’t quite cover my whole ear (maybe I have freakishly large ears?).

The hat shown here is my rough draft and is riddled with mistakes. I closed the short rows on one side incorrectly, I missed when to cable and did some at every five rows, some at six and one a seven. Despite this it’s still my favorite functionally warm hat. And I have enough yarn to make a more polished one. It’s pictured here on a styrafoam head that is considerably smaller than my own head.

The hat shown pulled down over the forehead.

I was telling a friend, Maggi, about this and my requirements. I didn’t want to have a staggered cast on (I like tubular for hats), I didn’t want to have tie anything under the chin, I didn’t want to go back and knit ear flaps later on (they don’t seem to do anything but hang there anyhow). Then Maggi, all effortless like, suggested short rows. She is a genius. I’ve only just wrapped my head around how short rows work so I gave it a shot.

The hat shown pulled back a bit.

I made the short rows on this hat like you would do for a sock heel (each row was shorter than the previous), and the result was that they curl inward and hug underneath the ear, a nice unexpected outcome. I used the Chunky Cabled Beanie pattern from Stitch Cafe as a starting point. (Here found at the Internet Archive after it disappeared during a site redesign sometime in the last two days.) I added a pattern repeat, for a total of seven cable/rib sections, and placed the short row areas centered over cabled sections closer to the back of the head, if you are counting from the join at the back of the head they would be over sections 2 and 6.

The hat is shown above flat. On the left is the hat from the front, and on the right is the hat from the side (if worn one’s face would be pointed to the left). I’m trying to show how I didn’t center the earflaps but set them back a bit, they seem to be well placed for me.

(I’m no good at getting photographs of myself in a mirror, this is the only one that shows the hat well enough.)

There are a few short row earflap hats already out there including this very tidy one from QueerJoe’s Knitting Blog, the Brioche Helmet Hat from Interweave Knits, Earflap Hat from Sunshine Knit Designs, and Cameron’s Cap by Sarah Peasley (note: that link is to a PDF).

I’m not sure if it uses short rows but I like the cabled had from Rebecca shown by Action Hero in her roundup of winter hats. Another ear covering hat that comes immediately to mind is the Amelia Earhart Aviator Cap. On Ravelry I found the Mimipita Earflap Hat, which is written in Japanese but uses a universal chart, and the Cabled Earflap Hat which is sized for a baby but easily made larger using a larger gauge.

There are also plenty of cute earflap hats that have chin ties that I wouldn’t mind having: Cabled Chullo, Snowboarder Hat That Rocks and 18 Seconds to Sunrise.

One last note, I still really like Japanese short rows. The best tutorials I’ve found are at nonaKnits and for Japanese short rows in the round Adorabubble Knits works through it nicely.

p.s. My project is here on Ravelry in case you’re interested: red cabled short row earflap hat.

angry chicken: screenprinting on fabric made easy (really!). With a discount for EZScreenPrint, a good excuse to try it out.

all buttoned up.: The New Stitch Magazine and My Perfect Cookie.. The thermal pot luck carrier is fantastic!

lovelydesign: perfect boxes + drawer dividers. With instructions.

swissmiss | Inkjet tattoo paper. For DIY temporary tattoos. Must keep in mind for future Halloween projects.

I recently came across the concept of reversible cables, what a lovely and tidy thing, especially for a nice thick scarf that won’t curl in on itself and you won’t have to worry about having the correct side facing out. I used the free pattern Palindrome, which is very easy, and added a pattern repeat. I’m using Berocco Comfort Chunky yarn on size #8 needles to keep the ribbing nice and tight. I bought four balls of yarn and I’m half way through the third ball, the scarf is long enough that I might make a hat using the same reversible cable pattern.

I did a 2×2 tubular cast-on and it’s rounded edge makes me happy.

Lucky me, just as I’m discovering how much I like reversible knitting comes out a book: Reversible Knitting: 50 Brand-New, Groundbreaking Stitch Patterns. I’m looking forward to seeing what is in there.

design is mine : isn’t it lovely?: portland local : more from ink & peat.. I love the velvet wrapped pumpkins here.

How to make a ruffled felt pillow | How About Orange.

Marimekko Blog » Marimekko: From Sketch to Printed Fabric.

Kitchener Stitch without a tapestry needle :: Rebecca Blood.

This is cool, as part of the new Repro Depot stuff for Chronicle Books they are releasing two different surface pattern books with a CD containing patterns you can use to make your own stationery, crafts and anything you can think of. They have Folk and Flora, both with a foreword from Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge. The collection also includes stationary, notecards and a journal.

knitbot, by Hannah Fettig » Kindred Knits Collection: Zip Up Cardigan. This is a good mens’ sweater, dare I make one for Scott?

Obsessiondujour: Reversible Cable Scarf.

Clover Extra Large Pom Pom Maker. I knew about the small and large pom pom makers but not this extra large one. Pom pom rug here I come.

Posie Gets Cozy: Free Embroidery Pattern at Sew, Mama, Sew! This is lovely and might just get me to attempt an embroidery project again (last one was in, gulp, high school).

craftlog » spoonflower marketplace. Looks like you’ll be able to order other people’s Spoonflower designs, neato.

Yay, Amy Karol’s second book, Bend the Rules with Fabric, is officially out. I have a copy and I really like it.

The book talks about all the things you can do to decorate and personalize fabric for purposes of clothing, accessories and toys. The beginning of the book talks about supplies and techniques, and I was especially pleased to find that none of them require you to buy a huge amount of expensive equipment.

She covers things from dying fabric to printing on fabric using your home computer printer. One of my favorites is using freezer paper to put silk screen like effects on fabric. I like these sheets:

The book is full of simple but stunning ideas for decorating everyday things including undies:

and shoes:

and some simple stitching to make a plain shirt into something that looks very nice indeed:

I’ve focused on the projects that appeal immediately to me, but the book is full of projects for kids and ones you can do with kids, including transferring drawn images onto clothing and making custom printed dolls.

Amy Karol’s blog is Angry Chicken where she documents life and gives instruction all sorts of great projects. Her first book, Bend-the-Rules Sewing, is equally as awesome. I talk about more here.

I’m happy to let you all know that Kristen Rask (she who owns Schmancy and curates the annual Plush You! show) has a new book (it’s a kit too) coming out in mid-September called Creature Crochet. To celebrate she is giving away a copy to one lucky reader. I got a look at the copy she brought to the summer UCU but, sadly, wasn’t able to rip it own and play with the yarn inside.

To enter simply leave a comment with this post. If you want you can tell us the creature-centric crochet project you’ve ever taken on, or if you’ve never crocheted in your life. The Fine Print applies. I’ll be closing comments and letting the random number generator choose a winner around 10 am on Wednesday, Sept. 2nd, PST, so you’ve got a week to enter, good luck!

I’ve been experimenting with oh so famous the Martha Stewart tissue paper pom poms as decorations for our upcoming post-wedding reception in Ohio. (You know what is so brilliant about theses? You can ship them mostly assembled but flat and just poof them out when you get there.) I discovered that these smaller ones, shown here as napkin ring decorations, made with larger rounded ends make for especially charming faux flowers.

To make them I followed the usual instructions using four sheets of tissue paper cut into 4″ by 6″ rectangles. I folded in roughly 3/4″ accordion folds and trimmed the ends like so:

Separate the layers and you can use a bit of floral tape to attach them to a floral wire stem. These are currently gracing my dining room.

Kitchener stitch dog tag – Patternworks. Dorky, but useful.

Dolce & Gabbana Ruched Nylon Knitting Bag. Love it but what a price tag.

Cardigan Empire: How to Hem Jeans in 3 Easy Steps. Via Mary Sheely on Twitter.

Short row heel vs. heel flap [Archive] – KnittingHelp.com Forum.

Knitty: universal toe-up short-row sock formula.

Flickr: thedailypurl’s sock knitting bag.

Look at that, I have a heel on my sock. I only needed to rip back four times to get it all right. That dark line of thread you see is a lifeline that I got a whole lot of use out of. I used the Japanese short rows from nonaKnits which explains the basics, but I found this tutorial for Japanese short rows in the round at Adorabubble Knits to be the most useful. Though, I turn, slip, then add a pin. That difference didn’t seem to affect how the gaps closed on the last go around. I will try the turn, add a pin and then slip next sock to see if there is a difference. I’ve also discovered that stringing pins on my yarn ahead of time, just like you would if you were knitting with beads, saves a lot of frustration when I’m in the midst of short rowing. Thanks again to Amy Singer for her excellent Favorite Sock Recipe, I suspect I would have given up on other forms of short rows.

One could not go to Sock Summit and come away not having gained at least enough knowledge to start a basic sock. In this case I took Amy Singer‘s class called Knitting Without Wool where she gave us Amy’s Favorite Sock Recipe, taught us Japanese Short Rows (there at nonaKnits) and showed us a super secret stretchy bind-off that will be published in Knitty in the Autumn. (I’m, apparently, a bind-off geek and am gleeful to have learned three new stretchy bind-offs at the summit.)

So, this is a toe-up sock knit in Fixation, started with Judy’s Magic Cast On. The picture above shows the cast-on end with the ball of Fixation holding the sock open. Isn’t the cast-on breathtaking?

This pattern uses an ankle gusset (is that the right thing to call it?) and, at least from what I can tell so far, a fairly shallow turned heel using the aforementioned Japanese Short Rows. I have a high instep so I think this combination will work out well for me. I got to the short rows last night:

The technique uses placing pins at turns, and using those later to lift the bit of yarn up and over the needle. In class we talked about using coiless safety pins. You can use locking or split ring stitch markers as well but I think those are awfully big for a sock (and I don’t already own any).

I set out to find coiless pins and ended up with these Button Pins from Joanns. The only other coilless pins I could find were in the beading section and were 1 1/8th inch and seemed a bit big at that size. The button pins have a little bump in the wire but are only 3/4ths an inch and work really nicely. Here is the package:

In my research I also came across these coiless plastic safety pins that Riot of Daisies uses as stitch markers. They are 1″ long and still a bit big for socks, I think, but if you want to break free of the peach and mint green locking stitch marker monopoly these would work well. See also Colonial stitch markers (which I didn’t see in the mega-store) and 3/4 inch coiless safety pins at Angelika’s Yarn Store, as well as larger sizes.

Next I decrease the ankle gusset stitches and then it’ll just be a question knitting a tube up to to the top. I did buy four balls of Fixation just be to sure I would have enough and at this rate it looks like I’ll have a pair of knee socks before I’m done.

The marketplace here is enormous (and open to the public, in case you are nearby and happen to be a knitter). Here are some booths that caught my eye:

Splityarn Handmade zipper boxes, flat pouches and camera straps, she has such beautiful fabrics (and is a super sweet person!).

Queen Bee Creations felt bags with these darling flowers, they don’t have zippers and would really nicely for your knitting. They also have all the fabulous vinyl bags and pouches they are famous for.

Hazel Knits yummy yarns. She also has a very popular sock club.

5elementknitr makes these super handy stitch markers, they have a detachable short crochet hook for the moment when you drop a stitch but don’t have a crochet hook handy. She also makes some in lovely sterling silver.

Other booths I took note of with the help of the wool-loving Maggi:

• sets of six 5-inch, very bendy and smooth palmwood DPNs at the Laurel Hill Needles booth ($16!). I have some Laurel Hill #5 needles and love them dearly.
• Miss Babs, lovely yarns (the sport weight is on sale)
• Signature Needles, you can compare the mid and stiletto tips
• try out some square needles at Kollage
• Wool Candy, bright and happy colors
• Simply Socks Yarn Company, very nice price for soft sock yarns
• Namaste small bags (very Hobo-y) perfect for a small projects on DPNs at the Tanglewood Fiber Creations booth
• Van Der Rock, yarn from Canada
• you can put your name in a drawing to win a set of DPNs at the Sock Stix booth

Vegan Knitting…and then some: Vegan Sock Yarn List.

i_heart_fabric: Factory Auction…. Cool peak inside a sewing factory, fascinating machines, thanks Suzy!

How About Orange: Fill-in-the-blank printable invitation.

Making Things: Learn Machine Knitting on YouTube!.

Crepe-Paper Flowers. Poppies, at Martha Stewart.

Flowery Swizzle Sticks. Made from tissue paper, at Martha Stewart.

Shaped Crepe Flowers. These are also in the tissue paper kit from Martha Stewart Crafts.

Crafted Bouquet. More tissue paper flowers, at Martha Stewart.

Yarn Farm, Part Three: A Tale of Two Yarns. At Twist Collective. This is another fascinating view of a yarn mill.

decor8 » Daisy Janie: New Organic Textiles For Spring!.

Can I dye normal clothing to super black status, thus fitting into my all-black work dress code? | Ask Metafilter.

Craftzine.com blog : How-To: Make Real Oilcloth.

French Novel Flower Bouquet Tutorial, by Jordan Roberts. Make gorgeous paper roses, from Offbeat Bride.

DIY J Crew Astrid Sweater with Ruffles, ooh la la, at Mighty Girl.

I declare the new name in knitting bags to be… Mario Batali! Presents Knits on why Mario Batali’s lunch bag makes an ideal knitting bag.

DIY Purse Organizer, video on YouTube.

I got some good news for those of us who would like to learn about making our own soap: Anne-Marie Faiola, the CEO of Bramble Berry, is hosting a free DIY soapmaking series on YouTube. It’s called Soap Queen TV and a new episode will appear every Thursday. The series will walk you through the basics of melt and pour and on to things like swirling, embedding and layering, secrets of packaging, and bath fizzies. The first episode, Fragrance and Essential Oils, is up at the Soap Queen YouTube page.

Her blog Soap Queen is also full of great advice and instructions, and you still have time to make the Sea Salt Foot Scrub for Mom.

Midori Ribbon will be holding one of their Outlet sales this Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. here in Seattle on Friday, May 1st. It’s at 708 6th Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109. It sounds like a few new things will be revealed at the sale so it may be well worth the trip.

I’ve admired Moop handbags for a while now, and I’ve been jealous of the fantastic fabric that she buys to make her bags. She is moving her family and business to Pittsburgh and is selling off some of her fabric in an Etsy shop called Five Yards. This is something to jump on if you are looking for excellent mid or heavy weight fabrics, there is even some organic orange duck.

She’s also having a seconds sale over at Supermarket, and I agree with everything she says here about handmade items and sales.

A time of high stress and not much time left before a big important deadline is, as everybody knows, the perfect time to start a new knitting project. I ripped out my top down raglan experiment sweater for the time being and started in on these fingerless gloves just in time for it to hit 70 degrees in Seattle. These are Fetching from Knitty, made a little longer and using a tubular cast on and bind off. That little section of orange stitches is where the thumb will be picked up to knit.

I’m using some leftover Dark Horse Fantasy yarn on size 6 needles. I’m using two circulars for most of the project, and dpns for the thumbs.

I’ve made very little progress since my last report but I need some advice: Do you think I’m going to run out of yarn? I started with ten balls and have four and a half left. I need at least six inches more on the body and both of the sleeves. I know sleeves can use a deceptively large amount of yarn. Here are harder stats:

yardage: 93 per ball, I have 930 yards total, and have about 415 yards left
my gauge: 13.5 columns and 22 rows over 4″
needle: 10.5
yarn: Lana Grossa New Soft

The sweater right now would come out very large on me (I’m going for comfort not looks with this one) and I’m happy enough to rip back to mid-shoulder and make the sweater slimmer if I need. So, what do you think? Will I make it with the yarn I have left?

DIY Origami Cherry Blossoms at Curbly

new: hable construction fabrics at Design*Sponge

fabric covered magnets at How About Orange

Sweet Art: A Tutorial on How To Make Fake Cupcakes at Cakespy. She leaves these around Seattle as nice-as-can-be guerilla marketing, genius.

Modern Seamster is a new quarterly magazine that “fills the needs for a smarter, fresher, and more innovative sewing magazine” and brings together domestic sewing and fashion design. The first issue is available to download for free as a PDF. I’m enamored. The first issue is filled with familiar things from Seattle, an interview with the Seattle Craft Mafia and story about R.E. Load Baggage, and San Francisco, a tour of Britex Fabrics (including a picture of the only employee who was kind to me there, looking sharp as ever on the ladder). The magazine is well balanced with articles about high design, music culture, an advice column and sewing practice. So far it’s love. via Pink of Perfection.

The Handmade Nation movie has started screenings and Faythe Levine is currently in Australia with the movie (congrats!). There is a film event in San Francisco with the ladies from Rare Device. Upcoming showings are in Chicago, Madison, Eureka, Portland OR, Vancouver BC, West Bend WI. More information can be found on the Handmade Nation blog.

I didn’t get far with my improvised top-down raglan before I found the arms were going to be too wide and I was going to run out of yarn, so I started over. This time I’m improvising something similar to a top-down version of the Button On Blanket, except not ribbed all around and with the button band worked as I go along.

As I got further down and found I nearly had all the width for the body I wanted, but not for the sleeves I started skipping every other row of increases for the body and it seems to have worked out well. I’m nearly to the point where I’ll be working on the body itself.

I moved the points where the increases start close to the tops of the shoulders, like the B.O.B. has them, but I lined them up with the ribbing on my collar. So far so good.

The books on my desk right now:

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table (p.s. Molly is signing her book in Portland at Powell’s tonight)

Button It Up: 80 Amazing Vintage Button Projects for Necklaces, Bracelets, Embellishments, Housewares & More, by Susan Beal of West Coast Crafty (due to a little shipping mix up I have an extra book so expect a giveaway of it next week). Congrats to Susan!

Linen, Wool, Cotton: 25 Simple Projects to Sew with Natural Fabrics, by Akiko Mano, gorgeously simple projects with well explained diagrams.

Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home: No-Nonsense Advice that Will Inspire You to CLEAN like the DICKENS, I’m hoping this will inspire me to get a little spring cleaning done.

Weekend Knitting: 50 Unique Projects and Ideas, this is a classic that has recently been released in paperback.