Category Archive

crafts

Heal jeans with a monster mouth patch

How about turning a hole in the knee into a monster mouth? I decided to patch my partner’s jeans this way after spying this great idea on a social networking site. Here’s my version of the monster-mouth knee-patch.

Paint the handles of wooden spoons

…More like AWESOME idea of the day. Turn your old wooden spoons into a color-coordinated rainbow-dipped set. Crystal from A Little Bit Funky posted a whole tutorial on her site — including what she used to seal up the spoons safely. You could use them as art OR as useful utensils!

8 ways to express dinosaur appreciation in your home

I’m sure I’m not the only one here who had a thing for dinosaurs as a kid. My favorites were the plesiosaur and the duckbill. So I put together a craft round up of dino love — wait until you see the brachiosaurus’ new job.

How to make an awesome custom piñata

The fella and I decided we wanted to have an Awesome Wedding Piñata. Sadly, the options at the party store did nothing for either of us, and the usual "Coat a balloon in papier-mache!" method didn't seem likely to render a suitably Awesome result.

So I mashed together a few different online tutorials, and I now share the magic! 13 steps of magic!

DIY idea: make a mini biography for the baby in your life

The favorite little person in my life (not mine, but a friend’s) is turning one soon, and I really struggled with figuring out what to get a one-year-old. When it comes to gifting for people, I generally want my gift to be purposeful, pleasing, and personal.

Level up: How to spraypaint well

You have to practice spray painting. This came as a surprise to me, my sophomore year of college, my first year of art school, when I was trying to spray paint my Piet Mondrian-inspired birdhouse for Intro to 3D Design on the sidewalk outside my dorm during a very cold March. I guess I thought spray paint was magic — that it automated the process of painting — but I found out that wasn’t true, and that I didn’t know how to use spray paint at all.

Many projects later, I am a master spraypainter. I paint coatracks and shoes and art work and bones, and I really think this is one of the most valuable DIY skills I have. Being able to finish up a spray paint job with no drips or ripples can make the difference between a ruined project and one I LOVE. Having a good grasp of this skill means anything in my house can be ANY EFFING COLOR I WANT.

Let me teach you the right way to use a can of spray paint.

A Mystery Science Theater 3000 birthday party

I LOVE BIRTHDAYS. They make me very excited. Happily, I have a husband who, while less excitable, loves me for my super-planning tendencies. This is the birthday party I threw him this year.

6 ways to use strings of twinkle lights all year long

Hands up: how many Homies have a cadre of Christmas lights boxed up somewhere? Sounds like you have some project ideas to brainstorm this weekend — especially if you’re living in a dorm. These projects SCREAM “battling bland.”