Friendship bracelets tutorial

Those new "friendship"-style bracelets that are all over are so easy to make, there's no need to shell out the big bucks for them.

I'm gonna show you how to make the super easy braided bracelets. All you need is some cotton braiding cord, or really any cording that you like, and some scissors.

Take 6 pieces of cord about 16 inches long each. You can vary the colors however you want. Take all of the cords together and loosely knot one end about 2 inches from the ends of the cord. Then just start braiding like you would with your hair. Don't pull the braid too tight. You want to keep it kind of loose, so it will lay flat. Once your braid goes almost around your whole wrist, loosely knot the other end.

We kept the knots on the ends loose, so you can even out the braid. Make sure you have about an equal amount of loose cord after the knots. I always end up making my braid too long for my wrist, so I will undo a little of the braid in order to get it to be short enough to go around my wrist, but not all the way. Once you have your braid the length you want it, tighten the knots. After the knots are tightened, you'll need to cut some of the extra cords (only keep 2 or 3 per side). Cut the other cords as close as you can to the knot.

 

Now, gather all the long ends and tie a knot at the end to keep those together. Now, you can stop here and just tie the bracelet around your wrist. But I'm on my own and don't have anyone to tie my bracelets, so I make a slide close.

To make the slide, first cross the ends of the bracelet over each other. Then, take a piece of cording about 6 inches long. Make a loop near one end and hold across both of the ends of the bracelet. You should have one short cut end and the loop at the other.

With the long part of the cording, wrap around the bracelet ends 4-5 times (start wrapping from the cut end, and finish near the loop. When you are done wrapping, put the long end through the loop and pull on both ends. Check to make sure you can open and close your bracelet. You can cut the extra ends of the slide cord, but I like to make a knot very close to the wrapped cord and then cut.

Now, just slide on your bracelet and rock your new creation.

Did you ever make friendship bracelets back in the day?

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Sharpie mug

The sharpie mug is a craft that's been rolling around the internet for a while, but I had never given it a try. I needed a new mug for the new office, so I figured it was a perfect time to make my own sharpie mug.

I got this mug at Dollar Tree, for, you guessed it, a $1. Can't beat that. I already had sharpies at home, so all I had to do was come up with a design. Deciding what to draw was the hardest part for me.

Luckily, even though it is sharpie, you can erase. (Thank God for that!) I drew in pencil, then wiped off. Then I finally went over something in sharpie and didn't like how it came out. Just use a little rubbing alcohol and your sharpie will wipe right off of the ceramic.

I finally decided on the "drink me" tag with some little accent dots. Then I added some dots along the bottom of the mug too.

The other two sides were too empty, so I added a little dotted heart on one side.

And on the last side, a little dotted D, cause I had to initial it.

And some dots along the handle too.

After all the designs were done, I baked my mug at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I made sure to let it cool completely before using or washing it. It's best to hand-wash your mug to not mess up your design.

This was such a fun, easy project. It's not my usual craft, since I got to draw (which is not my strong point), but I liked making it. It would make a great gift for any occasion and would be good to try with kids.

Have you ever made a sharpie mug?

Glitter shoes tutorial

A great accessory for any costume are some glitter shoes. They can make a fairy or princess even more perfect, and can just add that special touch to a normal outfit. I made some glitter shoes for my Halloween costume this year.

I had some old thrifted shoes that were perfect to glitter up for my costume. Glittering shoes (or glittering really anything) is so easy.

Here are the supplies you'll need:

Mod Podge

Glitter

Sandpaper

Paintbrush

Newspaper

Pour some Mod Podge into a container (I use a disposable bowl for ease of cleanup) and then add the glitter right to the Mod Podge. This is the key to this technique. Since you mix the Mod Podge with the glitter, it seals the glitter in place, making way less of a mess.

Next you'll need to prep your shoes. All they need is a light sanding with some fine grit sandpaper. You just want to take the shine off of the shoes, so the glitter will stick even better.

Stuff the inside of your shoes with newspaper to make sure the inside stays clean. Take your paintbrush and paint on the Mod Podge/glitter mixture. It might take a couple of coats to get the color you want. Just paint a coat on and let it dry a bit before adding more. It will look white, but the Mod Podge will dry clear and you will be able to see the glitter really sparkle.

Then wait for them to dry. After you have done all of your coats, let them dry overnight, so they will be really dry before you wear them.

Once they are dry it's like you have a whole new pair of shoes.

And voila! Your very own glitter shoes. You can use any color of glitter and any shoes you want to get the look that would be perfect for you.

Any guesses on my Halloween costume this year?

Playing with washi tape

I just had the urge to do a little crafting last night, so I decided to finally personalize my mini journal. I ordered these a while back, and they were just plain board, but there were endless possibilities to make it really my own.

I looked through my non-sewing related craft supplies and found some washi tape that I still hadn't used. Washi tape is a Japanese decorated tape, kind of like masking tape. But, very pretty masking tape.

I grabbed the washi tape and some old school Crayola markers and got to work. My tape wasn't that thick, I was just covering up a mistake I made. See, you can really make a mistake into a design element.

I covered up the spine of the notebook with washi tape too. I have a slight obsession with neat ends. I love how my little notebook looks now, it's so much more me!

I think I may need to order more washi tape after finally using it I can see why other crafters love it. You can give something personality so easily, with just a little tape.

Have you ever used washi tape?

Rainy Sunday

The last couple of days here have been rainy and gross. Sunday it barely stopped raining. It rained so much my pool is pretty much full.

Since I was all couped up on account of the rain, I decided to get some stuff done. So I made some homemade peanut butter. I used the recipe from A Beautiful Mess. (I had to make sure it wasn't poison, so I made my self some peanut butter toast after for a taste test.)

After making my batch of peanut butter, I joined Chantilly (of My Girl Thursday) and Elycia (of Love Elycia) for their online Crafternoon. We made this cute bike bag. It was so fun sewing along with these ladies, and everyone else that was online, it made my rainy day a little brighter. Plus, I have a cute new bag to show off.

After all the crafty-ness the rain finally let up a bit, so I was able to take my doggie outside. She wasn't too happy with the wet grass though. This morning was equally as gross and rainy, but I'm stuck inside the office, so no crafting for me today.

So how do you spend your rainy days?

Craft Carnival, my own craft show

I knocked another one off of my list! This past Saturday (Nov. 5th) was the Craft Carnival. A craft show that I not only participated in, but also organized from the ground up.

My awesome craft sisters (cause they are more than friends now) from Handmade Miami and I really worked our butts off to get this show to happen. It was our baby and we can't wait to see it grow year after year.

Me, Frances, Julie & Vanessa... the ladies that made it happen!

I had Mom and Grandma helping me at my booth. I even finished my items a week before the show! That's a real record for me, but I had a rack full of aprons, and I don't think I would have had any more room if I would have made more.

Abuela watching my booth

Mom had an area in my booth too. She made the scarves and cowls that she usually makes, but this time she also made these awesome stuffies! Aren't they cute? The little owls all had their own personalities and the pillow pals were so snuggly

Mom's area! her stuffies were all so cute!

Look at all those vendors in the room! We had about 40 vendors in the show. They sold everything from vintage suitcases to handmade soap and awesome unique jewelry. We were happy to have some first time vendors too, and they had really great items!

the show about to open

A big thanks to all of my customers new and old that shopped with me. I just love helping aprons make a comeback. And Melanie (a return customer) has another designed by Diana apron to add to her collection now.

a satisfied customer, Melanie

The last few weeks were crazy, but I'm glad to say the show was a hit. It ran smoothly and everyone had a great time. If you wanna see even more pics, check out the Craft Carnival Facebook page.

We're already getting our gears moving for the Craft Carnival 2012, so stay tuned and I'll let you know what we have in store.

Are there any great craft fairs in your area? Do you like buying handmade?

You're the crafty one...

... so can you help me with this?

This is something I hear from people a lot. Luckily, I most of the time it's something I can totally do, so it's no problem to help.

This time the question was asked by one of my co-workers. She asked me to make a dress for a mini-dressform she had bought. She was gonna use it as a decoration for a quinces. Cute idea, I thought. So I told her this shouldn't be a problem, but when did she need it? She told me the next day! I was busy making the Handmade Miami aprons, but she was really wanted it, since the quinces was a spur of the moment thing, and she wanted to make it special for the birthday girl.

So I took home the dress form ans tried to formulate a plan. I decided to make it a cute strapless dress, that looked like something a teenager would wear to a party.  A couple of seams on the machine, and then a combination of hand stitching and hot glue made the dress come together. Then I added a brown stain ribbon to tie the colors of the party together (brown and pink) and give the dress a finished look.

This little dressform (which is actually a jewelery stand) is going to be used as a kind of guestbook. There will be little tags where you can write your wishes for the birthday girl and then hang them on the hooks at the bottom of the skirt. It's such a cute idea!

I was slightly amazed at how easy this idea and the actual execution was. I work well under pressure I guess. How do you like my first foray into tiny dressmaking?

Churchy Crafting

It's a week before Easter and when I got to my Mom's house this Sunday morning, she had her palms from church (since this Sunday was Palm Sunday).

I asked her if she was going to do anything with them, and she told me she would of course be making them into crosses before they got too dry. So I asked her to make them while I was there so I could take some pics.

These are made with a single palm frond. You just whip them around and do some palm origami and voila in no time you can have a cross or anything else you can make. Some people get more complicated or have to use two fronds to make a cross, but you can do it with one.

Now after 13 years of Catholic school, I've made my fair share of palm crosses. You always struggle to remember how to start at first, but then it all comes back to you, every Palm Sunday. Now it's a little known fact that this craft is always done better while in church. The palms are always freshest and most pliable when you first get them, so if you want to make anything from them the earlier the better.

Now I'm off to see if I can hijack my Mom's DVD of Jesus Christ Superstar, so I can watch it before Easter. Cause nothing says Easter like a rock opera. :)

My Beloved Bias Tape Maker

If you've checked out my store, you can see that one of the aprons that I make is completely contoured in bias tape. Now buying it at the store was getting expensive and not giving me the color selection I wanted, so about a year ago, I decided to get myself a bias tape maker. I'd been eyeing it a JoAnn's for a while, and it finally went off of sale, so I got it with my coupon for a great deal.

This little machine makes TONS of bias tape in no time, and let's me get to making the Retro D Apron a little faster. So this weekend, in anticipation of Odd Duck coming up, I was making some more Retro D Aprons. I had about 8 yards of bias cut and ready to go through the machine to get nice and ironed and made into neat bias tape. So I got everything ready. I was about to turn on my machine when I noticed I didn't have the power cord. So I looked... and looked. In my new craft room, in my old craft room, in my bedroom, in my grandma's sewing area in the garage. I even looked in my brother's audio studio room. But nothing. Somehow my power cord has mysteriously disappeared. :(

So I'm posting a missing person's report for my power cord. Thank you for all your service, but please come home soon, I miss you terribly. And if as my friends said, that little gnomes walked into my room and stole it, I plead to the gnomes of the crafting world. Please return my cord and I will reward you with ribbons and notions and fabric that you can keep.

I hope I find it soon....

Etsy Craft Party Miami

Friday, June 18th was Etsy Craft Party day all over the world. Here's a peek into our party here in Miami. It was a great event and we had an awesome turnout. It was great to see that so many Miami crafters are out there. Though we didn't make it into the top 50 parties to be able to get one of the gift boxes from Etsy, with our own ingenuity and some extra supplies, we were able to have a great party with plenty of crafts and giveaways for everyone. Plus everyone had a fun time making things and meeting new friends.

Our Miami Etsy Craft Party was held at Sweetness Bake Shop & Cafe. Everyone really enjoyed all the goodies they had to offer. It was a hot Miami summer night, but everyone kept cool with iced coffees, gelato and of course, who could resist the Sweetness's gourmet cupcakes.

Right outside the front door we set up our sign-in table. People came, signed in and got their name tags. Then it was time to pick up the goodies, we had some of the tutorials and templates printed out from the Etsy Craft Party Kit. We also had coloring pages for the kids (and the kids at heart) and our friendship bracelet kits.

We filled up the place, and had a great time crafting the night away. Etsians and non-etsians alike all got in on the fun.

After some trial and error, everyone got busy making their friendship bracelets. After a few tips and a little mini-refresher course, people seemed to get the hang of it and really got going. It brought back memories of making them in middle school!

Some people opted to color or draw. Some even make their own Etsy Birthday party hats! We asked our Craft Partiers to make handmade Birthday hats in honor of Etsy's 5th Birthday. We had some great handmade birthday hats at the party. But hands down the winner was Johanna, who made these great blue hats for her and Elizabeth. (There is Elizabeth showing off her hat) Vanessa treated them to some yummy dessert shots from Sweetness.

We also got to meet some great etsians and just plain craft folk from the area. It's always nice to know that someone else out there has an unhealthy JoAnn's obsession and totally has stacks of project cut out, but not sewn.

I think the Etsy Birthday party is definitely gonna become a yearly event around here. And we're definitely gonna start getting together as a Miami crafting community more often. There are already plans for another meetup this week. So if you want to be included, just leave a comment, and I'll add your email to the list.
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Etsy Craft Party

Have you heard about the Etsy Craft Parties yet?

On Friday, June 18th Etsy challenged its members and local creative communities to create, join or step up to organize an Etsy Craft Party in their town. Along with the awesome Vanessa of Sophie's Keepsakes, we're organizing the Miami Etsy Craft Party.

We're having our Etsy Craft Party at Sweetness Bake Shop & Cafe. They are a new family-owned bake shop and have the most yummy desserts around (and yes I stopped by twice this week). Anyone can stop by between 8pm and 10pm, meet some cool crafty people, learn to make a friendship bracelet and have some goodies. By the way, the friendship bracelet supplies are free :).

Vanessa also had a great idea for the party. We're asking everyone to make a handmade Etsy birthday hat. The hat that gets the loudest cheers will win a dessert of their choice from Sweetness, courtesy of Vanessa.

It's gonna be a great night and is sure to be the first of many.

Check out the Etsy Storque article about Craft Party night. And check out the Meetup Everywhere site to find an Etsy Craft Party in your town. So this Friday get out there and get your craft on!