For all the crafty ladies out there - I wanted to share a site that is really fun and has some great patterns and tutorials. It's called You Can Make This. Some are free and some are for purchase. But the cool thing about the ones that are for purchase is that they aren't from big corporations or companies, they are thought up and uploaded by women just like us! So check out this site and support the small business, stay-at-home mom, crafty diva, etc.
While cruising this site a while back I found this great tutorial for a teacup pin cushion. I instantly thought of my friend Becky - and decided she needed one for her sewing/craft room. So I went to the local thrift store (where they sell single china pieces) and found one that matched some fabric that I had, then I got to work. Get the tutorial here
Having very thick hair is fun but it can also be quite a drag. Since I was a teenager, I thought it would be fun to shave my head - my mom wanted no part of it! :) And everyone one said - "Please don't do that to your beautiful hair!" So I decided it was best to take into consideration all of the comments and put it off until I had the guts or a good reason to do it.
A couple of months ago I found out that a very dear family member has breast cancer and they are starting her out with chemo to reduce the golf ball size tumor. Through her treatment she has already started losing her hair. She has not gotten to the point of shaving it - so I thought - why not do mine anyways to show her my support! I asked my hubby if it would be ok to shave mine and donate the 24+ inches of thick hair to Locks of Love. He said he would love to do the honors.
Perks of having no hair
use less shampoo
got to see that I have a pretty head under all this hair - although very white! :)
it's just hair - it will grow back
get to try out fun wigs
less hair in the drains
Cast your vote in the comments below - KEEP the Mohawk or SHAVE the Mohawk?
P.S. if you know the identity of my family member - please DO NOT share it on facebook or on this blog. We would like to keep it private. Thanks!
With a year full of birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, promotions, graduations, etc. why buy gifts at a large retail store when you can make them your self? One thing that is a lot of fun is to have a craft party. Everyone brings what they are currently working on. You can learn new crafts by watching what others are doing during the party, or you can host a tutorial party yourself. Be creative! Have fun! Happy crafting!
Here are some of my absolute favorite sites that feature tutorials (some are free and some are for a fee).
The Long Thread - at the beginning of the year they listed their Top 100 Tutorials of 2009. So many great ideas!
Photojojo - Make Your Own Photo Journals and Notebooks
You Can Make This - This is a great site that has both free and ones for purchase. So many creative people and ideas!
Etsy's How Tuesday - These are fun and for all different levels of difficulty.
Lara Cameron - my favorite is the reversible notebook cover.
ThreadBanger - I love this site - it has video tutorials and awesome ideas!
For many years I have wanted to learn how to make journals with book binding techniques. Not to go into business doing it, but just as a fun hobby. So this year with the help of YouTube, I learned how to make journals using the coptic binding and also ones using leather (or vinyl in my case) as a cover. I am sure that there are plenty more techniques out there and I plan to try to learn them all. For Christmas this year, I wanted to make my dear friend a book that she could write her stories and ideas in. I have to admit that I am a bit of a perfectionist, especially when it comes to making things for others. So it took me a couple of days. But I am very pleased with how it turned out.
I started out using this awesome green vinyl that I had bought prior in the year. I matched it with a cute fabric that I bought on Etsy and the ideas just started flowing! I made a place on the right for her to keep her pencils in and used a piece of left over vinyl as the strap to keep it closed. It was a process, but I enjoyed every minute!
With a year full of birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, promotions, graduations, etc. why buy gifts at a large retail store when you can make them your self? One thing that is a lot of fun is to have a craft party. Everyone brings what they are currently working on. You can learn new crafts by watching what others are doing during the party, or you can host a tutorial party yourself. Be creative! Have fun! Happy crafting!
For many years I have wanted to learn how to make journals with book binding techniques. Not to go into business doing it, but just as a fun hobby. So this year with the help of YouTube, I learned how to make journals using the coptic binding and also ones using leather (or vinyl in my case) as a cover. I am sure that there are plenty more techniques out there and I plan to try to learn them all. For Christmas this year, I wanted to make my dear friend a book that she could write her stories and ideas in. I have to admit that I am a bit of a perfectionist, especially when it comes to making things for others. So it took me a couple of days. But I am very pleased with how it turned out.
