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Got a tablecloth with a rip or tear in it? Here’s how to mend a torn tablecloth in just a few easy steps! I love vintage linens, and one of my favorite pieces in my collection is a butterfly print tablecloth in beautiful earth tones. I use it in my studio to create hidden storage in a low bookshelf, but I sometimes pull it out for parties, too. Before it lived in my studio, I had this cloth on a dining room table, and it got sliced with an Exacto blade at a craft night....

Sure, you can buy new frames and pay to have your pictures matted and mounted in them, but–and feel free to call me crazy for this opinion–I don’t really like the look of professionally matted pictures. Even with all the mat board colors in the world and every style of frame under the sun, they all just look kind of the same to me, you know? I have it as my mission to mount and frame all of my pictures myself, and to make them look good....

I am cheap. Cheap, cheap, cheap. Oh, and also eco-friendly, but mainly just cheap. My favorite thing about the DIY lifestyle is that it’s also a thrifty lifestyle. It’s inspiring to take an unwanted, perhaps even damaged material something that someone else might discard or donate, and turn it into something that’s beautiful and useful again. Take those sweet, knitted or crocheted afghans that I’m always coming across in thrift stores or dumpster-diving, or that often get re-gifted to me because I like handmade stuff....

Where do we go from here? I can only speak from personal experience, but I’ve watched Strange Folk take on a life of it’s own. In only it’s third year, it’s already one of the most attended festivals in the area, even at a fraction of the budget of other annual events. Indie craft is prevailing in an ordinary suburb of the country’s 16th largest city which happens to be equidistant between the metropolis of Chicago and the buckle of the bible belt....

Sue Whitney is the ultimate when it comes to taking a piece of whatever and re-purposing it into awesome decor. Examples: an old grate becomes the centerpiece of a magnificent winter wreath, washboards and a printer’s drawer become a stylish outdoor patio table, a tire and drum become a side table, a vintage wooden milk crate becomes a garden cart, dominoes become a soap dish, an old urinal becomes a planter…and that’s just ideas from the Junk Beautiful Outdoor Edition....

Kids love to make their own toys, and when they upcycle those toys from stuff that you’d otherwise put in the trash or the recycling bin, then they’re not only having fun and saving money, but also learning valuable lessons about eco-friendly creativity. Here are upcycling projects to get your kids started (but don’t be surprised when they also come up with something truly unique!): T-shirt + plastic bags. Let a kid practice their beginning sewing skills by sewing together a stuffie using an old T-shirt for the fabric–jersey knit won’t ravel, so it’s a great fabric for kids to sew with....

I’m currently in the midst of my own labeling journey/process/fiasco/desperate drive to have at least some of my kids’ stuff make it back home with them at the end of camp, and because I’m the dorkiest dork who ever dorked, I’m also determined to upgrade this year’s labels from last year’s “just slap some masking tape on it, Bro” labels. Fortunately, it IS possible to DIY eco-friendly labels for all your stuff....

Name how many men you know who own a sewing machine. You might be shaking your head thinking, “Well, that’s obvious.”… because I tailored my request to resonate with women. If you’re a guy, you’re probably wondering, “What is this crazy bitch getting at?” That’s OK, because I’m banking on the fact that most of our readers are, in fact, the gentler sex. Maker Faire blows most craft shows out of the water in terms of vendors and exhibits....

Dear Senator Lugar (I wrote each member individually, but Senator Lugar went first), I’m a stay-at-home mom of two little girls, and in my free time I make hand-crafted toys out of recycled and/or natural materials. I sell my work at craft fairs and online—my girls are able to be with me, playing happily, and the small amount of money I earn is one of the things that enables me to stay home with them....

Some of the best holiday decorations come from nature! 19 Nature Crafts for Christmas 1. apple pomander. Here’s a traditional Christmas gift from the pioneer times. 2. aromatic ornament. Add cloves or other scented spices to your ornaments to make them extra aromatic. 3. birdseed outdoor ornament. The birds are going to love you this year! 4. bottle and branch Christmas tree. Construct your own mini Christmas tree from an old bottle and lots of little fallen branches....

The Nairobi startup Ocean Sole has been collecting washed up flip flops and using them to make upcycled sculptures. The finished pieces raise awareness about senseless waste and allows Ocean Sole to create local jobs in Eastern Africa. Aisha Abdelhamid at our sister site The Inspired Economist wrote a thoughtful piece on Ocean Sole’s efforts in Africa. You can read it below! Recycling Flip Flops From the Ocean Shores of Kenya by Aisha Abdelhamid The world’s oceans are vast, floating dumps for plastic pollution....

The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt My favorite book quilts are inspired by actual books. This quilt is made to resemble the cute quilted ghost in The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt. It’s the perfect picture book and quilt handmade gift! Bookshelf Quilt This bookshelf quilt is a real labor of love, but it’s such a sweet gift for a loved one who loves books as much as you do!...

One of our awesome readers, Abby, asked if we had any projects for old computer parts. In response to her question, we put together a round-up of 5 cool crafts with old computer parts! Grab your keyboards, circuit boards, etc, and get crafty! 1. Upcycled Painted Keyboard Rocket Console by Doodle Craft Especially in this generation, children love to pretend that they’re typing. If you have an old keyboard, or if you find one at a thrift store, turn it into a rocket console like Doodle Craft did!...

I learned about Remade in Britain when Jeff McIntire-Strasburg over at Sustainablog shared the video above and a great article about the company. He’s right: Remade in Britain looks like an awesome place to do some holiday shopping with less waste. And for British upcyclers, it looks like a super cool outlet to sell your crafts to an upcycling-centered audience. Check out the launch video from Remade in Britain above, and you can read Jeff’s piece on them right here!...

At least, so say the commenters to my DIY business card round-up. Normally, you speak and I obey, but I’m not quite ready for a custom-made stamp just yet. Need a logo first. Instead, I tried to the second most popular solution–the DIY stamp kit. Short story: I like my DIY stamp kit, the 2000 Plus One-Color Do-It-Yourself Kit from Staples, a lot, but I don’t love it. I like that this DIY stamp kit is easy....

Even if you’re an experienced sewer, however, three-dimensional design can be hard. I sew well, for instance, but when my daughter asks me to sew her a stuffed dinosaur toy or I want to sew a stuffed turtle for the child of my partner in a Craftster swap, it’s many (silent) swear-words later before I can come up with something half-decent. So unless I’m trying to create something really weird, I often check out from the library the crafting books that have the best patterns for stuffies, and I’ll make or modify those....

I happen to love undyed, unfinished building blocks–I think they provide a little more scope for a child’s imagination, you know? However, sometimes you just want something a little more colorful, a little more personalized. A building block makeover, if you will. Take these particular building blocks. PlanToys gave them to my kids for free specifically so that we could do fun stuff to them, give them a makeover to personalize them....

Fortunately, I love to sew, because it’s my constant burning obsession to use up my shameful fabric stash. Cotton is sewn into patchwork, denim is sewn into thick and sturdy quilt tops, flannels make colored pencil rolls and pajamas, and fleece makes for even warmer pajamas. But those odd little remnants and cuttings left over after every project simply destroy me. I’ve got what looks to be a 50-year-long postage stamp quilt project in the making for the teeny-tiny bits, and my girls have recently discovered the ages-old activity of making doll clothes out of the slightly bigger bits, but my special project for cotton fabric in novelty prints is the I Spy quilt, an easy, entertaining, and educational gift to sew for a baby or younger child....

Stay tuned until next time, nature crafters, because this round-up is all about recycled crafts: Reverse applique your child’s handprint onto a shirt that she already owns to make her a handprint turkey shirt. Felt wool sweaters in autumn colors (or not!) and hand-embroider these split-stitched felt leaves. Tack those leaves onto felted wool napkin rings made from the cuffs of sweater sleeves. Fill a wicker cornucopia with all the pinecones, walnuts, acorns, and beautiful leaves that you harvested as craft supplies....

I’m going to tell you a secret: My children are superheroes, and their regular selves are just their secret identities. They call themselves The Awesomes, and although they usually use their superpowers to put on performances in floor surfing and the high-flying aerial arts, they’re not opposed to solving the occasional mystery or fighting the occasional crime. What they lacked, however, and what all superheroes need, of course, are costumes....