Add a Hood to Any Shirt It’s my firm belief that nearly any shirt would be improved by the addition of a hood. Here’s how to add a hood to nearly any shirt! The trick is to choose a hood fabric that’s ideally the same type of fabric as the shirt/sweatshirt, or maybe just a little bit thinner. Hemmed Pants This is one of the most basic, but also most essential, clothing alteration projects that you can master....
You can make many traditional quilt patterns look seasonal simply by substituting appropriate colors, but I also enjoy specifically Christmas quilt patterns. Whichever YOU prefer, check out my list of Christmas quilt tutorials below, and find the next project on your to-do list! Christmas-Themed T-Shirt Quilt One of my favorite things to sew is a themed T-shirt quilt. I collect T-shirts on a specific topic (Star Wars, say…), and then sew a T-shirt quilt from them....
Small store-bought dice are fine for small board games, but for GIANT games, you need GIANT dice! Giant dice are great for outdoor parties and for kids who want some more movement, since the gross-motor activity of rolling giant dice is way better exercise than tossing teensy dice across a table. I’ve got two simultaneous tutes for making these giant dice for you here. Both ways utilize primarily recycled and stash supplies, but one makes temporary giant dice that are easy to pull apart and recycle–perfect for that kid’s party....
Games and Activities Thanksgiving Would You Rather game. Here’s a fun icebreaker for the kids’ table! conversation starters. Use these cards to get conversation going, or have people write their answers and compile them as a keepsake. Thanksgiving coloring pages. Did you know that here at CAGW, we’ve got a ton of coloring pages for every holiday? We do! Thanksgiving joke fortune teller. Kids will enjoy learning how to make and use this fortune teller....
Recycled paper. I used book pages. Crayons Recycled felt. You could felt an old sweater instead of buying recycled felt as well. Scissors Tape Hot glue/hot glue gun Wire. I used a red floral wire that I had on hand. A hole punch How To Do It: I used one toilet paper roll and one paper towel roll for this project. First, I cut the paper towel roll into two pieces....
The Great Gals: Inspired Ideas for Living a Kick-Ass Life by Summer Pierre is a fun and interactive book that can bring back your zest for life and help your creative ideas flow by giving you sneak peeks into the lives of great women like Ani DiFranco, Frida Kahlo, Alice Walker, Joan Jett and Joni Mitchell (just to name a few). The journal provides prompts that inspire, motivate and help create fresh ideas....
I had no idea that Gorilla Glue is “green”. My husband uses it all the time and I figured it was just another glue from the hardware store but it is actually non-toxic and VOC free. Though when I have performed searches for green supplies it never comes up. That’s just one reason why this book is so great. Green Guide for Artists: Nontoxic Recipes, Green Art Ideas, & Resources for the Eco-Conscious Artist by Karen Michel has fabulous recipes for making your own safe, non-toxic, “green” paints from natural materials, plants and pigments....
Did you read our review of Dalai Mama Patterns Waldorf doll clothing patterns? Did you enter the giveaway for three free clothing patterns from the Dalai Mama Patterns etsy shop? If you did, read on to see if you’re our lucky winner! The winning number, chosen by Random.org, is: This means that our winning comment is: Congratulations, Sara! Look for an email from Dalai Mama Patterns shortly, and be sure to write us and show us what you create!...
The project got started in 2006 when Edward Morris and Susannah Sayler began photographing landscapes that were affected by global warming. It’s since expanded beyond photography to include all sorts of different mediums. This introductory video gives some great insights into what the project is all about: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/ECOiEZPz8fU&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00] Does that video inspire you to salvage and make something crafty with plastic bottles or what? Projects include the photography that gave Canary its roots, as well as art installations, performance pieces, gardening, video, collage, and illustration....
Y’all have been holding out on me. Why, oh why, has no one told me that Artist Trading Blocks are a THING?!? Seriously, you know that I love building blocks, and you know that I love embellishing them, and I KNOW that you know that I love altering them, so why would you not tell me that it is now a thing to artfully embellish blocks and then trade them with other people who do the same?...
Even if you’re otherwise free from this annoying phenomenon, just try thrift shopping for outer layers and you’ll come across the donated corporate merch of others who simply gave up and gave their swag away rather than spend their nice camping weekend as a walking advertisement for the place they go everyday when they’d rather be camping. Fortunately, covering up that unwanted logo–or rip, or stain, or even just a tiny weird graphic you don’t love–is a super simple fix....
It’s chock full of eco-project goodness, and what green crafting smorgasbord would be complete without a signature rant by yours truly? Even former CAGW head writer, Victoria Everman, has contributed a list of web resources. Click here for an exclusive preview! If you are interested in finding out more about the concepts in my article, be sure to check out the Make Like a Tree series I wrote for Etsy....
My kids and I are pretty into this craft book series from Quarto, the most recent of which (still in pre-order for you guys, but safe and sound in our hot little hands!) is 51 Things to Make with Cardboard Boxes. Like the other books in the 51 Things series, this book focuses on projects that kids, sometimes with adult help, can make from easy-to-find stuff around the house. Unlike 51 Things to Make with Cardboard Tubes, however, the projects in this cardboard box book can be a little more complicated, since unlike cardboard tubes, cardboard boxes come in an endless variety of shapes and sizes....
By now you’ve heard all about the devastating earthquake that struck the capital city in Haiti. It is overwhelming, scary and getting the supplies, relief and money needed to make a dent in the utter devastation seems like an insurmountable task. But us makers are a crafty bunch, running sales, donations and silent auctions to raise money to help. So here are a few ways to rise to the occasion with the craft community:...
Altoids tins are icons of upcycling. Even folks who aren’t into DIY crafts often reuse these handy containers for things like storing change or organizing small knick knacks. With a little bit of crafty love, you can turn that humble Altoids container into all sorts of fun creations! 10 DIY Crafts for Old Altoids Tins 1. To Go Candle If you’ve got a bunch of old candles that have seen better days, you can recycle that old wax into a new one!...
Supplies Sewing machine and thread 1 large piece of fabric for your backing cut to 9″ x 65″ 8 pieces of scrap fabric, cut to 9″ X 8 1/2″ Pins Iron Directions Have you guys made a table runner before? I’d love to hear what you’ve been working on in the comments!
I think airports do a good job of labeling your bags these days, but that black and white strip isn’t much help when you’re wading through a sea of luggage that’s identical to yours. So what’s the remedy? Well, it’s the hotel key that you just found in your pocket. (Don’t you hate it when you forget to turn those in!) That plastic room key is the perfect starting place for crafting a bunch of DIY luggage tags....
Have you come across any driftwood or other fallen wood in your travels? Turn it into gorgeous painted flowers! Alisa Burke made her driftwood flowers to add a little bit of color throughout her home, and they came out beautifully! My favorite part about this project is that it’s not only gorgeous, but it’s a stash-buster. She didn’t buy anything new to make these lovely flowers. Instead, Burke dipped into her crafty stash for a little DIY decor without the crafty impact....
Whether you use a vintage feed bag or find it new by the yard, burlap is an excellent eco-friendly fabric option! Burlap fabric is often made from jute, an exceptional plant. Here’s some information about jute and a few burlap project ideas! Unlike conventional cotton, jute requires very few pesticides to grow. Many of the pesticides associated with growing conventional cotton are labeled as category I or type II toxins by the EPA....
We’re big fans of Daisy Janie fabrics around here, so you can imagine that I jumped at the chance to check out her brand new line: Geo Grand! Owner Jan DiCintio is a fabric & surface designer. She designs and self-produces all of Daisy Janie’s organic fabric collections. Her retail fabric designs made such a splash with eco-crafters, she’s now working on a wholesale line of fabrics that’s coming out this March!...
