Year: 2023

gingerbread house.

Published by

Many years ago I decided I wanted to make a gingerbread house from scratch, and it was way too much work. So now I’m now a huge fan of kits; there are so many variations! I’m kind of obsessed with the kits I’ve found at Michaels and Joann – a Godiva village*, a Super Mario gingerbread castle*, and more traditional gingerbread homes. I was bit ambitious in buying four kits; we had five family members on build duty and we only had mental and creative capacity to get through almost two kits in one sitting. Here’s the Godiva village kit, which I suppose you can count as five kits in one! The structures were mini (so cute!), but IMO just the right size for social crafting. For this kit, we had to snap apart the walls/roof cookies before assembly. I have embraced that these decorate-your-own cookie kits never turn out like the picture on the box, which makes the process much more enjoyable. How’d we do? 🙂 Here’s the semi-complete Super Mario kit. It seems …

curtain tie backs.

Published by

I’ve been using a macrame-ish curtain tieback for a few years now (pictured on left below) and it was time for an upgrade. Modern Macrame rope and idea to the rescue! You know the drill – Cut two strands 10 feet long and one strand 12 feet long. Fold the two 10-foot strands in half and hang the midpoint onto the ring. Using the 12-foot strand, create sinnet of square knots. If you’re using 5mm rope 14-16 square knots is a good length for gathering one curtain; I would start with a longer working cord and do maybe 20 square knots if you want a tie back to gather two curtains together. This is the perfect project for some footwork. 🙂 You can also hang the hoop from an S-hook if you prefer not to use your foot. Leave a gap after your first set of square knots – make sure your ring has room to slip into the gap – and continue making 5-6 square knots. Modern Macrame suggests to switch out two of …

stop and smell.

Published by

Have you visited the Berkeley Rose Garden? May is a lovely time to wander the garden. I especially appreciate a sunset visit. Sometimes Hubby tricks me by saying something adventurous and romantic like ‘let’s go to the rose garden,’ but what he really wants to do is check out the Rose Garden tennis courts (yes, they have tennis courts!). I’m not mad about it though; look at these blooms and the view! There are plenty of spots to sit and levels of garden to wander. I not-so-secretly would love to be able to name off varieties of plants so I like that the rose bushes are labeled with common names. Also fun: There’s a tunnel that connects the Rose Garden to Codornices Park across the street which has a playground, lots of grassy hang out space, a creek, and hiking trails. For more rose garden adventures, try the Morcom Rose Garden in Oakland or the State Capitol Park World Peace Rose Garden in Sacramento, too. I hope you get to take some time to enjoy …

dye party.

Published by

It had been a minute since my crafty lady crew gathered for a crafternoon. We’d been dye-ing to create together, and we’d each been hoarding loads of fabric for the occasion! Here’s how it all went down. We prepped our materials. One day prior, we washed our fabric in natural detergent (for best results!). On the day of we mixed powder dyes plus warm water in squeeze bottles (for classic tie dye) and in buckets (for dip dyeing). We set up our work stations so we had an area for fabric manipulation and soda ash water soaking, an area for dyeing, an area for fabric resting before rinsing, a rinse station, and an area for hanging (and taking photos, let’s be honest). Next we folded fabric. I like to fold all my fabric at the same time, then dye all at once to limit having to rinse or change gloves too many times, and also the chance of me getting unwanted dye on the next fabric I touch. But the process is up to you! …

brigadeiro.

Published by

Chocolate dessert craft time! I purchased an Easter Egg decorating kit from Tiny B Chocolates in South San Francisco. The kit came with everything I needed to fill an Easter egg chocolate shell with brigadeiros! Popular in Brazil, brigadeiros are like fudge bonbons. They are bite-sized pieces of decadent, rich chocolate covered in various toppings like sprinkles or nuts. The Easter Egg kit came with the brigadeiro filling, three ‘filler’ chocolates already in piping bags, assorted sprinkles and candies, and a handpainted Easter egg chocolate shell, plus instructions. Look at these eggs! First, I filled the shells with chocolate, then used the different pastry bag tips to add texture with the yellow and red chocolates. I rolled the brigadeiros into small balls and covered them with sprinkles. This got a little messy, but it was definitely the most fun step. You can make about a dozen brigadeiros with this kit. I decided to decorate the eggs with just a few brigadeiros, so I had plenty left over for snacking. To finish off I dotted with …

sushi cake.

Published by

Need an alternative idea to cake? Why not a tower of sushi! You could take this a step further and make your own sushi, but if you have a favorite sushi spot, you can whip this ‘cake’ up in five minutes or less! When it comes to celebrating Hubby’s birthday, I get excited when I come up with a new cake alternative. (Remember the sandwich cakes?) For this sushi cake I picked up some of our favorite rolls from Kyoto Sushi in Berkeley. This was the first time I had created such a cake so I had a hard time visualizing how many rolls I’d need. I ended up getting enough sushi to make two cakes (~6″ at the base and 4 tiers tall), but no one is mad about extra sushi. I used about 35 pieces of California with and without roe, smoked salmon, and mackerel rolls stacked on a 6″ cake stand*. For the base I used the bigger rolls and for the top tier the smaller rolls. I topped the whole thing …

market bag.

Published by

I’ve had this 500-foot spool of gorgeous mustard rope hiding in my craft closet. I thought maybe I would get 3 or 4 projects out of the rope, but I ended up choosing a 400+ foot market bag project. Look at this beaut! This project was from Modern Macrame by Emily Katz.* I cut out all the lengths of rope*, attached to my feet, and got to knotting. I didn’t use the suggested rope (jute) so partway through I realized I had to adapt the pattern slightly and add an additional 8 strands to my project. It’s such a pain to undo knots, but it made sense for this project otherwise I would have had major gaps in the bag for more falling out potential. There were so many new-to-me macrame techniques in this project. I learned how to create a bag opening and strap, how to connect two panels (the front and the back of the bag), and a crossing technique to add dimension to two sinnets of square knots. My favorite part in …

chandelier.

Published by

So…our floor lamp toppled over and broke. But it’s ok, because this macrame chandelier lamp project was in my queue. (Ay.) This project was a kit from the Crafter’s Box (now Crafter) by Modern Macrame*. The kit included*: You’ll also need*: I won’t share the pattern here because it’s Modern Macrame’s design and part of a kit, but you can see it uses two basic macrame knots – reverse lark’s head (or you can use lark’s head) and square knot. There is also a series of wraps (around the larger hoop) and basic overhand knots at key rope-hoop connection points. This project took about 3 leisure hours including photography time (ha!). Hubby got excited because he thought maybe I was making a basketball hoop – and now I want to make one of those! The first part of the project (along the hoop) can be done on a flat surface; then you’ll need to move to a hanging situation. It definitely looks like a basketball hoop here. If you’ve never tried a Crafter workshop before, …

heart garland.

Published by

I’m a big fan of hearts so I Googled “macrame heart garland” and was inspired by artist Isabella Strambio. It looked daunting because this was my first try at creating a shape with knots (versus shapes/images with color blocking). It was easier than I thought it was going to be; and it only uses two knots. Bookmark this craft for Valentine’s next year. 🙂 Materials*: How to: For a garland with five hearts, cut one strand of rope at least 6 feet long. This will be your base cord and the length will give enough extra rope between each heart and hanging cords on each side. I like to tie ends with an overhand knot to create hanging loops. For each heart, cut twelve 4-foot strands of rope. Tape down the hanging cord as you knot. Attach twelve 4-foot strands to the hanging cord with lark’s head knots. Ensure the knots are not squished too close together. The hearts are made up solely of square knots (SK). Here is the pattern: You can also create …

hanging garden.

Published by

On my crafty wish list: get better at macrame. So for March (National Craft Month!), I’m sharing all macrame projects, all the time. First up is a 4-plant pot hanger featuring a Modern Macrame pattern and rope. You will need: Shop supplies on Modern Macrame and get $10 off your order with my Modern Macrame affiliate link*. Macrame instructions are the only time I enjoy following a pattern. For any other craft I prefer to make it up as a I go. I hope to one day grow my macrame skills to design patterns more consistently and create more intuitively. Note: I won’t share the pattern here because it’s not mine to share, but I hope this project inspires you to support a small business or to be inspired to create your own hanging garden! The Modern Macrame pattern is fairly basic with a row of lark’s head knots and series of square knots throughout. I like the addition of the chunky ceramic beads for added texture. And these handmade beads from their shop are …