Craftiness at it's cleanest

It's not everyday that a craft as clean and fun as this one comes along! 

I'm in awe over this crafty little project posted on Soap Queen. And family and friends should, if not already, learn to fall in love with these little bars of soap too because they'll be recieving bundles of them for every birthday and holiday from now until I tire of them.

However, it's not likely I'll tire of this anytime soon. With such an endless array of colour combinations, sents, and inset possibilities this craft has long-term potential!

 

Photos by Anne-Marie from Soap Queen

Mother's Day DIY

It’s a lot harder to shop for a perfectly amazing mother than you might think (Hi mom!)

If you’re anything like myself, you’re still scouring the shops for the perfect Mother’s Day gift. And it really shouldn’t be surprising that I have yet to find anything that’s perfect enough for my mom…hence my decision to take the DIY route. And this Flower Brooch isn’t necessarily something that will wind up hanging on the fridge, if done correctly I think it will actually look quite lovely on my mama bear!

Photos by Megan Reardon

WallFabric

An easy to remove wallpaper - perfect for the indecisive and notorious mind-changers

If my own papered wall didn’t put me in such debt, I’d be ripping it down and replacing it with the above fabric (what doesn’t Etsy have?). The blog How About Orange… featured a recipe for some homemade cornstarch glue, said to be strong enough to stick fabric to a wall but still easy to remove - simply peel it off!

Yes, the idea is a little Trading Spaces-ish but I think it’s worth a shot.

Also, loving The Needle Shop’s Etsy store, seriously considering buying one of their dress patterns…learning to sew just became my new summer project.

Candid

Just a quick candid I took while sitting front and center at Martha’s Canada Bloom’s presentation. No big deal.

Cadbury Creme Egg cupcakes with marshmallow peeps

Nothing says ‘Happy Easter’ better than a self-induced sugar coma…Oh, be still my Cream-Egg-loving heart! I thought my life became complete after sitting front and centre at Martha Stewart’s Canada Blooms presentation, but clearly I was very wrong.

Now that I’ve feasted my eyes upon the messiah of cupcakes, nothing will ever be the same. A simple cupcake will never be able to live up to this - ever.

It kinda takes your breath away.

The kind people at The Cookbook Chronicles are geniuses, and worthy of a Nobel Prize or something…

And heck, why not skip the convenience of buying cheap peeps and use Martha’s ‘simple’ marshmallow recipe to further impress your Easter guests? Follow her marshmallow pipping guide and with a few flicks of the wrist, you can top your cupcakes with the traditionally shapped ’Peep’ or an adorable Easter bun. Easy peezy.

Recycle old plastic bags into pretty new plastic bags!

A clever little project from Etsy that will turn your collection of plastic bags into crafting gold!

Because throwing out plastic bags fills me with such a deep sense of guilt, I’ve managed to gather an impressive stash. I try to remember to bring my own bags with me to the store, but sometimes it just kind of happens that you wander through a store (ie: Shoppers Drug Mart) and just so happen to leave with a giant basket of stuff you didn’t realize you needed — hence requiring extra bags to carry those very necessary things home in.

Luckily for people like me, Etsy posted this amazing craft that has just become my new favourite! Simply fuse (iron) aprox. six plastic bags in between two sheets of waxed paper, cut desired pattern and sew together! Definitely making either a tote or a bookcover — or both!

photo by Anda

Missed connections

I’ve just developed a small obsession with a newly discovered blog.

Sophie Blackall scours through the New York edition of Craigslist’s ever popular ‘Missed Connections’ in search of the most humourous and endearing entries to illustrate in her blog (appropriately titled Missed Connections). This results in an adorably addictive site that you’ll definitely want to bookmark and revisit!

What’s also noteworthy is her shop on Etsy, where Missed Connection prints run for $40 US.

Handmade vacation-esq goodies for a worthy cause

One of my favourite things to do while on vacation is to browse through local shops and take a peek at what the local artisans are creating. And since I may not have a chance to escape the dreariness that is Canada’s winter season, I’ll just trick myself into thinking I’m on holidays with a spray tan and couple purchases from buildanest.com.

Nest provides women in third-world countries with interest-free loans to start their own craft-based businesses and become self sufficient. With their loans the women can buy supplies, gain training, or rent space. Instead of repaying their Nest loans with cash, the women are asked to provide a few of their handmade products to be sold on the site - a term Nest calls ‘microbartering’.

I’m a sucker for bags, so I’ll be adding this pretty little patchwork sac made by a loan recipient to my bday wish list ;)

Take a gander through the ‘e-market’ for your own one-of-a-kind find!

Mmm Helvetia cookies

I’m going through a bit of a cookie-cutter obsession right now. It all started with the Message-in-a-Cookie Cutters I bought at Williams Sonoma last month, which I used to make personalized dog biscuts for my lucky puppy ;)

And the obsession now extends to these Helvetia cutters, the perfect kitchen accessory for any graphic designer who enjoys baking - such as myself. Although I rarely use Helvetica in any of my designs (i’ve always been more of a Franklin Gothic Demi Cond kind of girl), i’d be willing to put aside my personal design tastes to incorporate this font into my baking. I want these!!

Handmade paper beads

kail - please take note, this might be a great way for you to earn some extra cords!

Last time I was in Nicaragua I was lucky enough to nab an over-priced paper bead necklace from a local gift shop (unfortunately for my wallet the San Juan Rasta’s have yet to tap into this segment of the handmade jewellery market). Although 200 cords was way more than I had ever expected to spend on nica jewelry, I’m always prepared to splurge on something unique. Made from old magazines, no two paper beads are exactly the same and when strung together they create an interesting one-of-a-kind piece.

You can attempt to make your own paper beads by following these steps or you can help support a group of women in Uganda by purchasing a package of handmade beads (both options are equally satisfying).

Needless to say, I’ve found my next rainy afternoon project.

Pop bottle decor

Kind of amazing, and somewhat trendy. Obviously these are chandeliers, but what’s not so obvious is that they’re made out of the bottoms of plastic pop/water bottles. My boss just blogged about something similar to this that’s being done in the windows at Anthropologie. Pop bottle decorations were pretty popular in Nicaragua too - but displayed in a completely different way. Who knew plastic bottles were such a versatile accessory?

I want to try this, but I have a feeling mine would look a little different…

Click here for the full article

knit knack

My first craft related post (second actual post) is dedicated to my dear friend Amy! She’s a seasoned pro when it comes to knitted scarves, and I thought this might be of interest to her since she also enjoys labels. Kidddding.

The knitPro is a web application that lets you upload an image, then it magically provides you with a knittable pattern! I don’t knit - nor do I have any idea if this program actually works. All I know is that Amy knits, and I enjoy afghans, the colour black, Micheal Jackson’s silhouette, and March 25th….take from that what you will.

Surprise!

Surprise! I have a blog.

And unless you enjoy crafty Martha Stewart-esq projects, 'Surprised Kitty' is about as interesting as it's going to get for you...

Enjoy :)