howto

Woven Greetings :: Weaving Cards :: How To!

Quite some time ago I was in a Knitter’s Tea Swap and my swap buddy sent me this amazing card that was a little tapestry weaving in a card. I had always wanted to make my own and when I picked up Time to Weave at the library 2 weeks […]

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How to :: Fixing broken ornaments

Last night I had a bit of a tragedy. After I took my pictures of the popcorn garland the whole tree fell over! It was my fault. I had put all the ornaments on one side because I haven’t had a chance to make enough to cover the whole tree […]

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How To :: Quilling Leaves

When I was growing up I loved putting ornaments on the tree and there were quite a few that really burned their way into my mind. One in particular was curly Q’s of wood shavings, glued together, and lots of sparkly glitter. Of course the glitter was globbed on not […]

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How To :: Transferring Embroidery Designs :: Free Pattern!

For quite some time I’ve been curious to know, “what’s the best way to transfer designs from paper to fabric for embroidery?” And “what’s the easiest way to that doesn’t use iron on transfers?” These are pretty simple questions I’m sure, but as a novice embroidery, the answers have defied […]

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How To :: Fabric Covered Button :: Part II

In the last How To post I said something about sewing on a button without a shank and how I would show you how at some point. Well, I decided that really, this would be just an extension of the last how to post and if you make some fabric […]

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How To :: Making Fabric Covered Buttons

For this month’s Craft Leftovers Monthly I included vintage fabric covered buttons in everyone’s package. And one thing I noticed while looking through them all is that they are pretty easy to make (without a kit) from just a washer, some

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How To :: Making Butterfly Bobbins

I first learned how to make these great little bobbins in my beginning weaving class at Northern Illinois University. They are great for weaving, especially tapestry weaving, but also when working brocade on the floor loom. The thing is, they are great for knitting and crochet and pretty much any […]

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Boxing Up Giving

These boxes are great to add a little extra something special to any small gift. I like them for any kind of jewelty, stitch markers, and other small handmade goodies for friends. I love these boxes and have been making them for quite awhile. I figured it was about time […]

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How To :: Potato Stamping

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I love printing, just about any kind really. From the copy machine to silk screening to block prints and monoprints. I love it all. And one of my favorites, that’s the easiest, quickest, really fun and super easy to clean up is potato printing. You can print about on anything with them and they are cheap and the supply list is short unlike silk screening or even block printing really. Granted, you can’t get realllly detailed, but it’s great for greeting cards, pots of plants, even fabric really.

howto - journal - patterns & tutorials

Aceraceae Crochet Cowl

This cowl was inspired by three things. I wanted a scarf that would keep my neck warm in the upcoming months of cold, but that would lay flat in my pea coat… or maybe not have to be tucked into my neckline at all. The issue though is that little […]

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Dresser Remake :: Part III = Slow Going

It seems that the dresser was varnished more vigerously than the drawer fronts were. That and I ran out of my good sand paper, which I didn’t realize was my good sandpaper because I didn’t realize there was a better and worse. With the limited selection for my little mouse […]

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How To:: Recycling Sweaters for Yarn

Shortly after I learned how to knit I read about how one could recycle a sweater for the yarn. Sweet! Cheap yarn I thought! I went to the Salvation Army and picked out a sweater I thought would be good for recycling. Huge, an XXXL, and 100% cotton. It was […]