Craft Test Dummies

Ever realize that you need  a little gift for a teacher, hostess, or neighbor- like RIGHT NOW? Well, if you’ve got some alcohol ink and plain ceramic ornaments, you can whip up a giftable ornament in no time. That’s why I’m calling these my Last Minute Ornaments! I made you this video to show you [...]

‘Tis the season to be crafting, so in the spirit of celebrating the holidays with handmade goodness, I tried out Christmas Woolens, a lovely traditional felt ornament kit from Rachel’s of Greenfield! I came across this kit while browsing booths at CHA last winter, and the muted colors and thoughtful details stopped me in my [...]

Last month hubby and I headed to London for a week. I love that city, and it was my first time being there around the holiday season. I was entranced by  English Christmas Crackers (not the food, the party favors!) and even took a class at Handmade London on how to make them. Sadly, you cannot [...]

A few weeks ago the Martha Stewart Circle Edge Punch went live on HSN, and almost immediately I started getting questions about where folks could find the pattern for the paper angel embellishment that was shown on a gift bag. I searched, but couldn’t find a pattern. So I made my own to share with [...]

About this time of year, my kids get the itch to start making gifts for friends, teachers, and grandparents. I came up with a kid-friendly craft that will enable them to give a gift they’ll be proud of- and it’s a great way to share those wallet-size photos from school pictures! I used a manual [...]

  If you are looking for a last minute Christmas tree decoration or Christmas gift, here are some chic and fun bird ornaments to make using supplies you likely already have in your stash, plus Lumiere paints from Jacquard Products. Created by Mel Designs, these birds were painted with Lumiere (read Jenny’s review of them [...]

You’ve spent all that time shopping for (or making, I hope) that perfect gift. Then you carefully wrapped it so that it was beautiful. Don’ ruin it by putting on a store-bought gift tag, when you can made one that is lovely and a keepsake in it’s own right in just a few minutes. It’s [...]

Last week I shared my overview of the new dry adhesives from Aleene’s (ILoveToCreate) and one of my faves was Tacky Line Roll- fun on a roll, my friends! I was smitten with using it for glitter and foils..and you know how I am with Homemade Washi tape…so I designed these holiday tags using both [...]

Well, friends- it’s that time of year again. Thanksgiving is on it’s way and then we’ll be in the mad rush towards the holiday season. This year, I’m giving lots of handmade gifties- especially jewelry- and that’s a pretty small box. So I got to thinking that I should make the box a gift in [...]

My kids have been out of school for a week and already they are going a little stir crazy. Here’s a fun, snow day/ sick day/school break craft that will keep them occupied for a while: coffee filter snowflakes! This is an oldie-but-a-goodie craft; they are lovely, but so fragile! We take our version up [...]

Another last-minute gift idea folks, from the gal who is becoming the QUEEN of “Last-Minute!” We’ve been making these little tempting treats for our holiday parties for years now…but they don’t seem to have a name! Our family just calls them “those little chocolate nummies” and we all know exactly what they are- and what [...]

As I shared yesterday, I have a fascination with sequinned ornaments because my great-grandmother left some beautiful examples behind. This year I decided to try a few myself, with a modern twist. Since I’m working with what I love and have available, I decided to skip the cheap-o seed & plastic beads and use…wait for [...]

I have a legacy of craftiness. On both sides of my family, I had amazing grand- and great-grandparents who made functional and decorative items. Even better, those items survive as a living reminder of who they were and their sense of artistry. Today, in honor of the Christmas holiday, I want to share some ornaments [...]

Thanks to all who read my review of Glamour Dust Paint by DecoArt and left a comment for a chance to win! We had 23 comments, and I drew lucky number #3!! Kelly Says: 10. December 2010 at 6:19 am eI love painting everything. In fact, that was really what started my passion for arts [...]

In our family, we still have kids who await Christmas day with absolute wonder and breathlessness. This year, instead of marking the days with (more) (unhealthy) candy, or (more) (unnecessary) trinkets, we are using a holiday countdown calendar  to keep us on track! You can make one of these in a few hours and then [...]

This is a post I wrote for CraftsUnleashed.com for their “Christmas in July” series- so I thought it was about time I shared it here, too! Here’s a fun and edible craft for your Christmas parties! This time, we’re going to use the Cricut Cake to cut frosting sheets to make amazing holiday cookies you’ll [...]

While I’ve tried traditional knitting in the past, it’s only left me frustrated. I’ve had problems with tension, wrist fatigue, and dropped stitches- but all of these issues have been erased with the knitting loom. It’s easy, fun, and success-oriented. You can make your first baby hat in under 2 hours! So here’s my project. [...]

It’s a chilly, snowy day here in my neck of the woods, and my kids are home for a snow day. I’m content to stay inside and quilt, sew, and bead- but if you have a yen to craft with snow, here are a few ideas for you! Snow Tie-Dyeing. Visit Bunk’s Blog for the [...]

‘Tis the season to go to parties! And it’s a big no-no to go empty handed. What better way to show your host/hostess some LOVE than to make your own seasonal Snowflake Ornaments? They can be hung on a tree or in window to add some seasonal sparkle and shine. I made mine using Swarovski [...]

I like to give gift cards for the holidays- but as we know presentation is everything! Make this cute gift card ornament- a craft that says “handmade.” (But the perk of being a little more “generic”, so to speak.) Great for teacher’s gifts, treats for the mailman, hair stylist, etc. Have fun! Created with Admarket’s [...]

Need a quick and easy craft for a kid’s (or senior citizen’s) winter holiday party? You are not alone! This is one of those totally random things- I was in the craft store yesterday and I overheard a woman asking the sales clerk about crafts for a pre-kindergarten party. Well, the clerk had nothing to [...]

Thinking about crafting an Advent Calendar? Yeah, me too, and so I thought I’d find a few projects to share. My critierion for this round-up is that they have to be SIMPLE…because the first of December is right around the corner! This is a super-cute and RECYCLED craft, using styrofoam. The is a full tutorial [...]

This is an article I published at my Craft Therapy blog…but since I cover re-using stripped wallpaper, I felt it was good enough to share here. {I’m also going to shut down that blog at the end of the year, and don’t want to lose this content!} Anyway, enjoy the story, steal the idea, make [...]

You have to check out this video from Ana Arujo… it’s a hoot. She’s trying to convince her daughter that dough ornaments are a good thing… and her daughter is not enjoying the mess. That being said, bread dough ornaments ARE fun, easy, and cheap!!!! They would be fun to make on a snow day, [...]

If you are here, than you know that my mission and passion is to bring the joy of hand-crafting to everyone. BUT… if time has gotten away from you, or you have extra, last-minute gifts to GIVE and no more time to MAKE, I have an excellent solution for you. Visit WorldofGood.Ebay.com, and you find [...]

I wasn’t going to do another give-away so soon, but I ran across this book in my collection and figured I’d better pass it along before the season is over. The book is called Spirit of Christmas by Leisure Arts and is CHOCK-full of all kinds of Christmas crafts in different styles: Southwest, Romanic, folk-art, [...]

So I wasn’t sure if I should share this now, or wait until after the holidays. I figured that if you’re like me, you still have last year’s holiday cards, or if not, make sure you don’t toss them on December 31st! Here’s the deal: Aileen from Aileen’s Musings came up with the idea of [...]

OK, the holiday season is upon us, and many of us would like to give a hand-made gift. But since time is growing short, I thought I’d toss out an idea for a fun afternoon field-trip that will result in a great holiday gift for someone. Even you! I’m talking about a paint-your-own-pottery store. Sure, [...]