Winter is rough on my skin. Without a moisture boost, it gets super dry and painfully cracked. Here are DIY winter beauty tips to help you kick your winter skin and get ready for spring. The weather here in Atlanta has been so up and down lately. It’s been going from shorts weather to freeze warnings and back again. But those warm days have me dreaming of spring. I am so ready to get rid of that winter skin and get back to shorts weather!...

The pretty weather and gorgeous sunshine have given me a hankering for beautiful spring colors in my yarns. Thankfully Tahki Sky has it covered. Made from 100% biofil cotton, this super soft yarn comes in a variety of mouth watering sherbet colors perfect for the season. Similar to organic cotton, biofil cotton touts itself as grown without pesticides, chemical fertilizers or defoliants – nasty chemicals that make the leaves of plants fall off....

How about one that looks like it was a LOT more work than it actually is? How about one that’s totally customizable, letting you pick the perfect ingredients for you to obtain the exact results that you want? And let’s say that you also want all the ingredients to be 100% natural. Oh, but you also want to be able to source your ingredients from the grocery store and the local hardware store....

2. Mix and Match Painted Rock Faces by Teach Beside Me I’ve seen painted rocks before, but what about painted rocks that form faces? Teach Beside Me painted different rocks with eyes, mouths, and noses so that her children could put them together to make faces. They even used leaves and other outdoor items to make hair on the faces, too! This is a great way to explore emotions and talk about parts of the face....

SIGH! But with some creative thinking, there are still plenty of small sewn gifts that a teenager would love to see in, say, their Easter basket, and a young adult would be thrilled to find in a college care package. You just have to think a little more strategically, and take their interests into account. So don’t just pick any old thing from my go-to list of ideas here. Instead, think about the teenager or young adult that YOU are sewing for, specifically, and figure out what they would most like....

But not all books can still be happily read, alas. I also like twenty years out of date guidebooks, four years out of date telephone books, picture books with crayon scribbles covering half the pages, and vintage classics that someone just found in a cardboard box in their grandpa’s woodshed and it shows. The only difference is that I don’t like those books for reading–I like them for crafting! Once a book has completed its useful life as a book to be read, it’s ready to live a second life as an altered book giving just as much joy in a different way....

Let your imagination be your guide! There is no limit to the magical art you can create from an old book. Don’t feel like you have to confine yourself to what’s already been done… but also check out the following list of my favorite altered book projects. These free tutorials can help you add all kinds of interesting embellishments and working parts to your altered book, getting you closer to the book art that you’ve been dreaming of....

Bottle cap wreath Recycled “firecrackers” Flag clothespin wreath (use low VOC spray paint, if you can) DIY rockets 4th of July cupcake topper Paint a flag on a glass window Patriotic tin can wind chimes Recycled cereal box stars Make a non-traditional flag with vintage fabric Paint stick and button flag craft Tin can luminaries Patriotic painted mason jars Eco-friendly “sparklers” Make a patriotic denim wreath (consider recycling old jeans instead of new denim fabric) Create a red, white, and blue tie dye shirt DIY patriotic rocks Make a 4th of July table runner with recycled jeans (use an eco-friendly fabric with the recycled jeans and make your own star stamp instead of purchasing a foam one) Simple Fourth of July garland (use recycled paper instead of new) 4th of July luminous wine glasses DIY denim pocket banner 4th of July recycled soda can wreath Patriotic button ring DIY patriotic shutter (use low VOC spray paint) Patriotic button art Recycled paper plant flag Which 4th of July craft do you want to try?...

If you have ever checked out BOBO wraps but were too intimidated to buy one because of the complex wrapping then this book is for you- filled with step by step detailed instructions to help you wrap these beautiful scarves. BOBO wrapping scarves are based on the ancient Korean tradition of wrapping items with bojagi. Patricia Lee grew up with the tradition of wrapping everything in bojagi but discovered how beautiful and sophisticated wrapping items with bojagi could be when she visited her aunt in Seoul during the early 90s....

Now, the term “yarn porn” is often thrown around in the craft world. In fact, you are reading a blog post by the proud owner of knittingwhorehouse.com (I collect domain names with the loftiest of intentions). But… “Soap Porn”? Smelly Chicks, you asked for it, and I’m going to goat’s milk this for all it’s worth. Ahem… First of all, this site is sexy! As a web designer myself, I’m super impressed with the graphics and layout of their WordPress theme....

I work almost entirely with found and recycled materials, so one of my biggest problems is the storage of…stuff. Old postage stamps, orphaned game pieces, costume jewelry, wrapping paper, comic books, beach rocks, buttons, and tinsel–you name it, and it finds its way into my work, and if I can’t see it and access it, I can’t use it. Yeah, I’m tempted every time I wander into some big-box store, 40%-off coupon in hand, by all those clear, organized, neatly-portioned craft bins they always sell....

One fallen tree branch, one handsaw, and a couple of easy cuts are all you need to make a ton of natural craft projects. Wood slices are hard to mess up, and they’re a very versatile craft supply. Add some paint, some wood polish, maybe a drill, and you can make for yourself any of the eleven cut tree branch craft projects listed below: checkers: Wood slices from thinner fallen tree branches, sanded and painted, make these easy DIY wooden checkers....

How cute are these DIY chair cushions that I spotted while teleworking at a coffee shop? I was having coffee at Urban Grounds in Avondale Estates (just outside of Atlanta) last week when I spied this very cute coffee sack reuse. They made boring old plastic chairs cute and cozy by adding DIY chair cushions made from old coffee bags. Their DIY chair cushions are covered in clear vinyl, but I think that you could make this work without quite as much plastic by using a fusible web to reinforce the burlap instead....

So how do you plan a Coraline party without giving any money to Gaiman? Well, you start by buying a used Coraline DVD for the main event (a library copy is just as good!), and you continue by DIYing, not buying, all of the party decorations, activities, accessories, favors, and other little things that make a party special. This oversized button garland is adorable, perfectly fits the party theme, and best of all–it’s completely DIYed and almost entirely upcycled....

I love the way this simple DIY furniture makeover transforms an old dresser into a statement piece. Emma at A Beautiful Mess updated a dresser from their book Happy Handmade Home. The dresser was already lovely. Sleek, minimal, and modern. And her DIY furniture makeover changes its personality completely. More DIY Furniture Projects: Shabby Chic Shelving Unit, Boring Table to Chalkboard Table Emma used a blueprint copy of a photograph to do this project, but you could really use any large paper that you like....

Are you ready for upcycling to hit the mainstream? A new DIY TV show may be just the nudge we need to popularize real crafty reuse. The folks at Pivot TV are teaming up with TerraCycle to create the DIY TV show Human Resources. The show premiers on August 8th, and you can get a sneak peek right here. Human Resources is a 30 minute comedy reality show that’s going to look at TerraCycle’s day-to-day....

So whether you’re obsessed with soothing symmetry like me, or you like to make your stitching free-form or representative, you can stitch the design of your dreams onto these embroidered cardboard ornaments. Here’s how! To make embroidered cardboard ornaments, you will need: upcycled cardboard. I know that I usually have a recommendation, but for this project, both corrugated cardboard and food packaging-weight cardboard work equally well. I prefer corrugated cardboard for smaller embroidered cardboard ornaments, just because I think the additional width keeps them from getting lost on a Christmas tree....

Stitch a little history into your sewing project with some beautiful, vintage fabric! There’s just something about vintage fabric. I love picking up yardage from the past and wondering about it’s story. The designs and colors speak of times when maybe things were a little simpler. Of course, you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon Miss Legacy’s amazing stash of vintage fabric! Janice, owner of Miss Legacy, has owned a vintage store for 15 years....

Even if you’re careful to only choose organic, sustainable fabric options, there’s a carbon footprint that goes along with any new materials: from production to shipping to your trip to the fabric store, all of that adds up. If you’re not a scrap-saver now, give it a shot! You’ll be surprised at how fast those bits and pieces accumulate, especially if you sew on a regular basis. Not only does sewing with scraps keep that fabric out of the waste stream, it’s super duper fun!...

We talk a lot about organic fabric around here. As with everything eco-friendly, you have to be careful with what you’re purchasing. Greenwashing is becoming more and more common, and certifications can be a huge help to the savvy shopper. One common fabric certification that we see on organic cotton is GOTS….but what does this certification mean? GOTS stands for Global Organic Textile Standard, and according to the GOTS website companies seeking this certification have to meet a number of different requirements for criteria covering “production, processing, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, exportation, importation and distribution of all natural fibre products....