5 Crafts to Make With Buttons

Ahhhh, buttons. Currency of the craft drawer. They're among the most coveted and hoarded of odds and ends, at least around here. When you're ready to show off a few choice specimens, here's a few crafts that are worthy of your favorites.

1. These Fruity Button Napkins by Martha Stewart Living are so cute. What a nice (and fast!) way to spruce up some boring old cloth napkins.


2. Bugs and Fishes has a cute idea to spruce up plain clothes:

Photo by Bugs and Fishes, of course. Check out her Button Sweater tutorial!

3. This flower bookmark by Pink Paper Peppermints is a really cute idea!

4. This Spring Bouquet by American Craft Studios would be great to work on during the more dreary days of winter. (AKA NOW.)

5. I saw this delightfully modern looking button bouquet on Flickr:

It's by Sunshine Walks. The tutorial can be found over on Kiddley.

10 Fun StumbleUpon finds

I find StumbleUpon very addictive. True, I may have started using it because some thread in the Etsy forums said it was good marketing (Uh, it isn't.), but I kept using it as my own bizarre bookmarking service.
(Oh, and if you are similarly addicted, here's my profile. Let's be friends, or followers, or whatever the kids are calling it these days.)
Here's 10 of the best things I've seen with it lately:

1. The Emerson House...aka the most stylish dollhouse EVER.

I could really see my flock of Chickenpants living in a place like this...

2. Jason Lee's amazing photography.

THAT'S why you have kids. Thanks for the reminder! (I forget a lot.)

3. Whatimade.com is gorgeous. The projects he dreams up are delightful, too!

4. Box templates! Glorious box templates! All sorts of paper boxes you can fold yourself. Handy!

5. I want to make the heck out of this Cocktail Umbrella Lamp Shade.

Hooray, there's a tutorial!

6. Cats playing patty cake...what were they thinking?

Oh, now we know.

7. How to make live culture pickles.

Although it may just be the picture talking, those pickles look amazing!

8. Getting over perfection - a really fabulous post by Finslippy.

9. I really want to try this Flourless Chocolate Cake.

10. You've no doubt already seen this, but:

Super Mamika!

5 Useful Things to Make for Babies

Sheesh, babies. Is that all anyone can talk about around here?
Alas yes, pretty much. (Today marks 35 weeks. Eeep.)
Babies apparently need a tremendous amount of stuff, much of it horrifically expensive. However, you can make some of it yourself (or as a gift). This gives one a wonderful sensation of "sticking it to the man". One does not get to feel that very much when one is pregnant, let one tell you.

Bibs
You'd be amazed at how crummy a lot of bibs are. A lot of them appear to be made out of kleenex. I can practically see the liquefied vegetables leaking through them all the way from the future.
Enough grousing. Chickpea Studios has an easy tutorial to make wonderful bibs. And there's even a downloadable pattern.

Burp cloths
A friend of mine has a baby with horrible reflux. That poor woman can barely keep a shirt dry. She's let me know that most of the cute burp rags are pretty much useless. However, these ones by Sew She Sews are excellent!
Burp Cloth Tutorial by Sew She Sews

Slings
One of the most highly recommended items has been a sling. "Get yourself a sling!" people keep telling me. "Do you ever want to use your hands again? Get a sling!" Who am I to argue? Using my hands sounds great.
Jan Andrea has put together a whole index of sling tutorials. Everything from ring slings to mei tais.

Breastfeeding cover
It's a glorified apron. It is also known as a "hooter hider". Egads.
Maybe I've been in the crafty community for too long, but my gut reaction is, hey, make one!
Freshly Picked has an excellent, photo filled tutorial to show you how.

Swaddling blanket
Can babies be swaddled? The experts say yes. The parents say "Eh, sometimes. At least for a little while."
You can swaddle in a receiving blanket, or you can whip up one of these awesome swaddling blankets:
Swaddling Blanket Tutorial by Prudent Baby

5 Must Have Etsy Apps

I like Etsy very, very much. However, there are a few little gaps that 3rd party developers have stepped up to fill, for which I am eternally grateful. Here are five of my very favorite, can't live without, as essential as coffee Etsy applications.

Statsy
Yes, you know Statsy. Everyone knows Statsy, right? With good reason! Statsy will notify you if you're on the front page. Statsy can schedule out your renewals for you. Statsy can tell you how far back in the search results you are. I love you, Statsy.

Favoritizer
I do most of my shopping from my favorites. This is only problematic in that Etsy offers no way to organize one's favorites. Favoritizer to the rescue! You can sort by creating lists that make sense to you, and then populate them simply dragging and dropping. Better yet, these lists are private, so your gift ideas can remain safely secret. (Of course, you can make them public if you wish.)

Etsy on Sale:
Yeah, Etsy just started offering coupon codes, and that's great. However, if you want to offer something other than a percentage off of everything, Etsy on Sale to the rescue! You can customize your sale in several different ways. Actually, it wasn't so very long ago that I was singing their praises right here on this very blog that you are reading now.

Craftopolis:
Another one that everyone knows, and for good reason! Their Shop Lovers page just gets better and better. It lets you see at a glance how many unique visitors, how much you've made, how many things are expiring, how many new shop hearts *deep breath*... In other words, it takes all that squinty Google Analytics data and makes it pretty. And easy. They also offer Edit Express, which allows you to make changes to a batch of listings at one time. How many times over the years this would have come in handy! The Tag Report is promising, too...but it's either slightly broken, or no one finds me through searches on Etsy, ever. (Which is possible, I suppose...)

Etsy Hacks:
It wasn't so very long ago that Etsy didn't offer a way to copy a listing. And it was in those dark days that I found Etsy Hacks. Etsy's done a bang up job with the whole copy/edit options, but Etsy Hacks still offers a wide range of applications that make Etsy work better. In the forums a lot? Downloading Forum Wrangler will make your life so much easier. Convo Linker rocks my socks. And there are tons more.
*Note: you must use Firefox to take advantage of these aps. And then you need to run Greasemonkey. But seriously, this is so easy. You can do it!

What are some of your favorite Etsy apps?

10 Fast and Easy Handmade Gift Tutorials

You need gifts. What you have is craft supplies. No problem! The internet to the rescue, again!

Make your own scented bath salts, courtesy of this Instructible by Belsey.


For the brown-bagger in your life, why not try making this adorable lunch bag?

Variations abound at The Long Thread's site, as well as a free downloadable pattern.

Speaking of portable, um, food:

An Altoids tin martini kit. Brilliant. Thank you, Spookylean!

This mini sailor's scarf is adorable! And with a sewing machine, it would come together in a snap. Plus, all you need is a fat quarter!

photo and tutorial by Because She Started Knitting

These button rings are really, really fast to make:

Tutorial and photo by CRAFT.

Perfect for the camera snob in your life: DIY Camera Strap Cover, with pockets so that pesky lens cap won't go missing (again).

Pattern & photo by Simply Modern Mom.

Make a Yoda hat for the Star Wars loving little ones in your life!

via Dollar Store Crafts

This Brown Sugar Scrub looks amazing!

Tutorial over on Craftzine.

Another one from the hallowed halls of Craftzine, this time by the very awesome Jenny Ryan:

It's a coloring kit! I know this is *technically* for kids, but I know several adults who would be more than a little thrilled to get it.

Finally, this may just be the ultimate tutorial on how to make surprise balls:

Not Martha for the win! (and the finale!)

10 Great Embroidery Project Tutorials

Man, do I love embroidery. It's not that I'm particularly *ahem* skilled at it. There's just something fantastic about taking a bland object, a few hours, and some gorgeously colored thread and making something wonderful.

That said, I can't always think of what to embroider next. Other crafters to the rescue! Here are 10 of my favorite embroidery tutorials from around the internets.

1. For learning the basics, The Purl Bee has wonderful step by step tutorials.



(photo by Aimee Ray)

2. Mini Bunny Quilt by Aimee Ray, the author of Doodle Stitching. (Which is a wonderful book, by the way!) Check out her blog Little Dear Tracks for more tutorials.

3. Queen Anne's Lace Pillowcase by Alicia Paulson (http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/) I especially love the clean modern look of this project.

4. Boy and Girl Pocket Pillows by Goody-Goody (http://goodygoody.typepad.com/goody_goody/)

5. The Party's Over pattern by Tamie Snow (of Roxycraft fame)

6. Already have a great image on your computer that you'd like to embroider? Wondering how to get it from here to there? Instructables to the rescue! Embroidery From Digital Artwork

7. Super-adorable My Favorite Things pattern by Peptogirl (http://peptogirl.blogspot.com/)

8. Yarn scrap embroidery sounds like kitschy fun. Thanks Craftzine!

9. Simple Embroidered Gift Labels, again via Instructables.

10. The secret to embroidering on stretchy fabric, plus a cute pattern! Thank you, Craftstylish! (Word of warning, this page unfortunately has a talking ad box. Blerg. Adjust volume on your computer accordingly.)



(photo by Erika Kern)

Do you have any embroidery tutorials you'd like to share? Post them in the comments! I'd love to see them.

Links and Lambs

"Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting people. Forget yourself."
-Henry Miller

I needed that reminder today. Because I feel like I am turning into a clump of random ailments. (Skinned knee for the first time in 20 years? Really? Also: 'tis painful.)
So instead of giving you a list of things that are going askew over here, here's a list of things that are brightening me up. And hopefully you'll like some of them, too.

These lamb photos are knocking my wooly socks off. Er, if I was wearing socks. Made of wool. Which I don't have. Also, it's too hot for socks. Anyway: lambs!!

Photo by YesandAmen. Check out her shop for more farmy goodness.

A post over on Rowdy Kittens called How To Stop Living for Others' Approval
Food for thought!

I found the Rowdy Kittens post through Michael Nobbs' excellent email newsletter, Your Important Work. Are you subscribed? It's pretty great!

What's inspiring you lately?

I am this kid...part two.

Okay, you've probably already seen this:

This kid is SO MUCH like I was when I was her age. It's probably for the best that I was raised in an age when video cameras were bulky luxury items. Anyway, I love this video.
Imagine my delight to find this:

Dolls! Inspired by Kittens! Made by the amazing Jenny Couture.
And then imagine my surprise when towards the end a certain chicken doll near to my heart pops up.
I think this is going to be the best day ever. And I'm not just saying that because I am drinking regular coffee for the first time in months. No, wait, maybe I am. Hey, am I typing really fast?

Best thing ever? Star Wars Uncut.

The idea is fairly simple: break Star Wars - A New Hope into 473 15 second segments. Let people re-film these segments any which way they choose, and then stitch them back together.
So brilliant.
It combines a few of my favorite things: low budget home made movies, old Star Wars, and...um...the internet.
The project isn't done yet, but you can watch the finished clips now. Each clip seems to be better than the last.
You've got clips made of legos:

Star Wars Uncut - Scene 303 from Hugh Rodman on Vimeo.

Clips enacted by little kids:

Star Wars Uncut - Scene 076 from essforgee on Vimeo.

Clips enacted with clip art:

Star Wars Uncut - Scene 093 from Ed Bear on Vimeo.

Lots and lots of paper beards and armor:

Star Wars Uncut - Scene 243 from Sam Vest on Vimeo.

And also, the purely inexplicable:

Star Wars Uncut - Scene 309 from Daniel Cassaro on Vimeo.

Hop on over to http://www.starwarsuncut.com/ to see more.

In which I have a cold...

I have way too foggy a head to try to construct whole sentences, so allow me to share with you clever things that other people are doing, heavy on the photos:

CRAFT blog has these amazing looking Carmel Apple Cookies:

Click here for the recipe...love all the photos!

I've been very much admiring these amazing cards by aviewto on Etsy:


One of my favorite sketchbookers/artists/bloggers, Tommy Kane recently went to Lebanon. The sketches that are popping up on his blog are really exciting! How much do you know about Lebanon? Me, not much. So this is pretty interesting stuff.

Okay, that's it. I think a nap is in my immediate future. I hope you all have much more exciting afternoons planned!

Chick dance floor!

OK, there are many excellent adorable animals in this great little video. But at the very end: CHICK DANCE FLOOR! Wait for it.

So worth it!

Inspired by Kittens

Shhh, just watch:

(via cute overload!)
This kid is exactly like I was at her age. If I had had access to a digital camera and the interwebs back then, I think this would have been me.
Seeing it brought back flashes of all the things I made my relatives and friends sit through...the puppet shows, the harmonica recitals, the dance routines...
*the shame, it burns!*
(Bonus embarrasing tidbit: I have a clear memory of putting on a puppet show all by myself, with puppets I made myself whilst playing a harmonica to the tune of the Hallelujah Chorus. Yes, I spent LOTS of time alone.)

Because apparently we're all Star Wars parodies, all the time

Blue Milk!

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

Coming down with a cold, apparently, but I'm getting back to work right now, I swear!

Star Wars Retold

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long, long time.

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.
(Just in case that isn't working, here's the link.)
Enjoy!!

Japanese Bean Dogs subtitled- You're welcome!

It's the best thing ever! Mameshiba!
Enjoy the random beany remarks.
Just in case the imbed isn't working, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpRBkhipQOs

If you're small and on a search...

Hee. This might be my new favorite song. This rivals "Chicken Payback" for best bird song.

Found via Mincing Mockingbird. it reminds me that I really need to refill those bird feeders on the porch.
That's it for today. I'm actually painting! Hopefully I'll have something new to share with you all soon. ^-^

Of books, blocks, and ArtFire

My thoughts are all scattered around, and the husb is home sick from work, so basically I'm home sick from work, too.
I've been looking a lot at analytics data, and realizing that I don't always do a good job of posting what it is I'm working on. So here are a few bits:

I'm reading Eric Maisel's Creativity for Life. I've been in a major, major creative slump lately, so I've called in some help. (On the plus side, my Animal Crossing town is doing great!) I've only just started the book, and although he is focusing on Art with a capital A, it's still very helpful. I bought it for the chapters on the artist's personality (i.e. depression, anxiety, narcissism, yadda yadda) because they seemed to ring true. And because I am in a dark spot. (Which is a soft way of saying "depressed and anxious and making everyone around me nuts") And I could always use some validation.
One of the main ideas that's struck me so far is that a lack of doing is very likely the heart of my problem. Although, I also got this same bonk over the head from a recent article on 43 Folders. (Have you been over there lately? Big change!)
I wanted to step back from creating for a bit to take an objective look at what I was doing, and to see if I should change. I think this was a mistake. For me, slowing down turned into stopping which turned into sadness. Manic creating = happiness. Sort of.

In other news, I've started up an ArtFire shop. (http://absolutelysmall.artfire.com/ It feels like I'm cheating on my beloved Etsy. I'm considering this to be an experiment. I'll hang onto the shop for a year or two, and see how the site evolves. Right now it's a ghost town. And it doesn't have the good design that Etsy has. But, they are advertising like crazy, so we'll see. If you want to conduct your own experiment in cheating on Etsy, join me, won't you? $7 a mo/ for life, no other fees, etc etc. (That's how they snookered me into joining!)
Now that Etsy has Google Analytics all hooked up, it should make comparing how things are going on both sites even easier. I'll keep you posted.

Something just as wonderful as macarons to share

I won't even start talking about the whole driving around for hours-then spending $20 on macarons-then having them be so special I'm a bit afraid to eat them debacle. No, wait, that's pretty much it.
Instead, let me share with you a delightful French treat via video:

Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

(Found via Scribble Nation)

Things that keep one up at night

A tree fell through the roof of a dear friend's family's house:
http://www.khsltv.com/news/local/story/Paradise-Family-Escapes-Injury-When-Tree-Falls/PhS6clGfB0yhEt3deOZq8w.cspx
I'm not sure what else to say. They're all ok, thank goodness. But still. Yikes.
Read up and join me in the freakout, won't you?

James Kochalka singing at GR2

Finally, finally, finally, I've gotten around to posting these little clips.
They're all up on my Blip.tv channel (http://chickenpants.blip.tv/) right now. And here's one of my favorites:

Dragon Puncher!
(YouTube is being quite poo at the moment and taking forever to upload. So they're not all there yet. And at this rate, may never be!)
*also, did you know you can subscribe to chickenpants videos in itunes? well, you can! http://chickenpants.blip.tv/rss/itunes