Crafting projects + charities = DIY for good
We’ve been talking about the hurdles of learning to sew recently and got a great comment that made me think: can charities + crafting = DIY for good? If you’re learning to sew, quilt, crochet, whatever, is there a way to donate your crafted items to a charity who needs them? Sees like a no-brainer. I decided to find out.
Bollocks, Pulp Fiction, & Oregon Trail: 9 subversive cross-stitch patterns
When you’re more about the LOLs and less about the “live laugh love,” these are the subversive cross-stitch patterns for you. Most are DIY patterns you can download, but a few are available to purchase completed, so you can find something no matter your skill level.
From bollocks to Pulp Fiction to IT Crowd references to Oregon Trail, the cross-stitch market has gone hilarious…
Intimidated by learning to sew? These are the resources you need (with reader advice!)
Back in the day we had a great discussion about sewing anxiety from a reader who wanted to learn but didn’t know where to start. Our amazing readers stepped up to the plate to offer some great sewing advice on where to start and how to wrangle a needle and thread. (My favorite resource is Threadbanger on YouTube!) I pulled some of my favorite comments so that we can share in their collective sewing knowledge and start making clothes, totes, costumes, and whatever strikes your fabric fancy.
How to carve an everlasting jack-o-lantern (from a foam pumpkin!)
I’ve loved holiday-specific crafts my entire life: gingerbread house building, Easter egg dying, and most especially, pumpkin carving. I moved to Louisiana seven years ago. The first few years I was down here I’d carve a real pumpkin, and due to humidity it would be moldy in three days or less no matter what I did to try to preserve it. That’s when I discovered foam pumpkin carving!
These inspiring studio spaces will make you pine to finally get your arts and crafts shit together
If you make art, crafts, furniture, or other kinds of creative endeavors, you probably spend some time pining over amazing and inspiring studio spaces of fellow artists who actually have their shit together.
Here are some of my favorite inspirational studio spaces of artists, designers, and crafters (plus a few solid pieces to get you started if you keep scrolling!)…
Where can I find more subversive and offbeat stickers for scrapbooking?
“I’m starting to get into scrapbooking, and am wondering if there is any place or website that has offbeat stickers and designs? Some of the stickers sold for scrapbooking are too sweet for my taste.” Great question! If you’ve been searching “scrapbook stickers” and only seeing happy-sappy and precious ones, that’s no surprise. There are a lot of cooler and more offbeat stickers out there, you just have to dig a little outside of the scrapbook market. Here are are some of my favorite sites to find more unique, subversive, and offbeat stickers to illustrate your adventures…
8 DIY dollar store design hacks on the cheap
This honeycomb painted wall was DIYed with paint stirrers and diluted paint to create that gradient effect. It’s just one of the zillion ways you can grab something from your local dollar store to craft up a cheap and cheerful design or organization project.
Here are eight of my favorite ways to turn a cheapo dollar store item into something way more useful and stylish…
You can DIY coloring pages from your own photos
We featured this in-depth tutorial on how to create DIY coloring book pages from your photos for weddings, but they’d kick ass at kids’ parties, family gatherings, or just for your own zen coloring needs. Imagine a coloring book or coloring calendar as a holiday gift this year!
Yep, you can totally do this yourself if you have access to a program like Photoshop, GIMP, or Pixlr. My tutorial focuses on Photoshop, but I’ve linked other program tutorials in the post as well.