T-Shirt Upcycling Part Two – Guerrilla Screenprinting

Once upon a time there was a princess with a dream. She dreamed of wearing nothing but custom T-shirts, constantly adorned with odd designs and sarcastic proclamations. In order to make this dream come true, our fair princess priced a complete screen printing setup and nearly fell into a 50-year swoon at the price. It was pretty steep even on a princess’s salary. She went through a period of making stencils for her shirts with freezer paper and an X-Acto knife and ended up with awesome shirts with a side of carpal tunnel. Finally, she made a wish on a magic frog (or maybe Google), learned of Mod Podge screen printing, and lived happily ever after. (more…)

By sarah, ago

Tea Time: Alice in Wonderland Art Display

Everyone knows someone who loves Alice.  Go Ask Alice, she’ll tell you, 10 feet tall or not.

Vague references to psychedelic 60s rock aside, everyone really does know someone who wants to live in Wonderland.  I, myself, want to live in Wonderland, but I still know at least 10 people who would undoubtedly sell a kidney to join me.  As this week’s Christmas in July offering, we’ll make 4 x 4 Eat Me/Drink Me art pieces and create a bizarre ledge to display them! (more…)

By sarah, ago

Easy Etched Coasters

Fabulous people go to lots of fabulous parties during the most wonderful time of the year, and unless you were born independently wealthy or inexcusably rude, you may find that your need for host gifts puts some stress on your already strained pocketbook.  (P.S. If you actually carry something you call a pocketbook, I kinda love you.)  With this quick, easy project, you can dazzle your hosts all December long without breaking the bank (more…)

By Cindy Jo, ago

Creating Cool Clocks for Cool People

Like most of us, I have been making holiday gifts by hand for more than a decade, which means that I’ve baked, burned, sewn, sworn, crocheted, ripped up, stamped, smudged, and scrapbooked my way into a mid-December coma more times than I care to remember.  This year, however, I have come up with a ridiculously simple project that couldn’t drive me crazy if it tried.  It’s cheap, it’s easy, it’s customizable, and best of all, it makes a great excuse to haunt the local antique mall!

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By ann, ago

Make Your Own Multifunctional Cake Stand

All of the awesome people I know like food.  Yet how many of those people have an awesome cake stand on which to serve their food in a hip and appealing way?  With this project, you can create a fabulous gift for the next wedding, birthday, housewarming party, or graduation on your calendar AND help to curb this frightening epidemic.  Oh, and by the way, the multifunctional part means that your cake stand can serve everything from crackers and cheese to hot wings to pizza.  Just don’t tell the cake.  It might get territorial.

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By ann, ago

Giving Gift Cards with Style

Between Father’s Day, graduations, and weddings, the month of June can push our present-making abilities to the edge.  Hell, some people even have the nerve to have BIRTHDAYS in June!  Once in a while, even the craftiest among us does not have time to put together a handmade gift, but with this easy tutorial, you can still personalize your presents – with style! (more…)

By Cindy Jo, ago
Eye Heart Potholders

T-Shirt Upcycling Part One: T-Shirt Yarn

I don’t know what it is about the mating habits of T-shirts, but they seem to multiply faster than rabbits.  Possibly even faster than bacteria. I could abandon my relatively comfortable life and embark  on a quest to educate the humble T-shirt on various methods of contraception, but instead I’m going to cut them up and do a three-part series of upcycling tutorials.  Way easier and probably way less awkward.

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By sarah, ago