All posts filed under: Guided Crafts

preggo halloween – part 2.

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Preggo Halloween continues with a costume that IMHO never gets old. Here we go! With a simple fitted maternity dress you can accentuate that bump, Ali Wong Hard Knock Wife style. For this outfit you will need: Fitted maternity dress in leopard print Red frame glasses (yes, these are my actual glasses) Chunky watch (didn’t have one to complete the look, but totally optional) Gold flats (I purchased ballet slippers so I could also dance in them after Halloween) Hair ties and clips for a top knot Red lipstick (I used a shade from Bare Minerals) Nunchucks (DIY below. You’ll need thick black felt, acrylic chain, hot glue, a rotary cutter, ruler, and cutting mat) Yessss. I tried to be serious like Ali Wong’s comedy special cover, but it hard. Let’s make a nunchuck! For this craft you will need: 12” x 18” piece of thick felt in black 12” acrylic chain Hot glue Rotary cutter Ruler or straight edge Cutting mat Scissors (optional) Cut felt in half widthwise with a rotary cutter. You’ll end …

candy corn.

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I don’t know anyone who likes candy corn, but I do love how they are an iconic Halloween candy. I also enjoy making them in felt form! Here’s a fun and simple candy corn decor DIY. Materials: Felt in yellow, orange, and white Fabric scissors Hot glue Alligator clip (if making a clip) Cut felt. Start with the yellow felt and cut out a tapered rectangular shape with curved bottom corners and an uneven top. Place the yellow felt on top of the orange felt, and cut the orange felt using the yellow piece as a template. This shape will be taller than the yellow piece; it will continue to be tapered with an uneven top. Place the orange felt on top of two pieces of white felt. Use the orange felt as a template and cut both pieces of white felt at the same time to complete the candy corn shape. Taper the felt and create a curved top. If you are making a clip, fold one white piece of felt in half and …

summer craft camp.

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As a kid, I don’t recall going to summer camp, so I created my own! This week I hosted my first Summer Craft Camp via my craft biz. We focused on macramé and created three projects: feathers, trivets, and plant hangers. I also made limited edition Summer Craft Camp pennants (as seen in the cover photo). So excite! First up was macramé feathers! I saw these trending on the interwebs a while back and was determined to figure out the perfect recipe to create the fluffy feathered look. This has been on my teaching wishlist for a while now, and I’m happy I finally got to share! Why it brings so much delight, I’m not quite sure, but they make for lovely wall hangings. You can find my complete macramé feathers tutorial here. Then, macramé trivets! I wanted to create a project that was beautiful but also functional and came up with this trivet design, made completely of square knots. I love them so much they might end up in all my Christmas gift bags …

crafty challenge.

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This month I am a featured maker in the CraftBuzz Crafty Challenge. Over the last couple of weeks, five creatives (including me) have been sharing easy DIY tutorials on the CraftBuzz Instagram page. I hosted a tassel tutorial! You can also learn how to create herbal bundles from the Rah Rah Collective, all about meditative drawing with Rae Miller Arts, furushiki gift wrapping with Bestowe Gifting, and tie dye with Crave Workshops. If you share what you make now through July 31 you are entered to win prizes from all of the participating creatives. This month’s Crafty Challenge benefits Black Artists + Designers Guild, too! Here’s the companion tassel tutorial in picture form! Materials and tools: Yarn Non-stretchy cord (like embroidery floss or baker’s twine) Tassel tool (can be a sturdy book or cardboard, select something that is at least the length of your intended tassel) Scissors How to: Hold your tassel tool in one hand. Secure your yarn either on the tool’s notch or under your thumb. Wrap yarn around your tool (do not …

felt flower bouquets.

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My last crafty event that was cancelled was my felt flower bouquet workshop at the Alameda Free Library, so I hosted a free online class instead! Like my online weaving workshop, I sold kits for those who needed materials. This was the perfect craft for spring, and also the perfect craft to host right before Mom’s Day! Per usual, I set up my craft desk on top of my bed. 🙂 It’s the best lighting in the apartment so it’s ideal for photographing product or shooting a video. I created a mini bouquet and answered questions live. Here are all the bouquets made during the demo as shared on Instagram. Thank you to those who joined me and shared their work. Yay, flowers to last all shelter in place! It’s funny because 2020 was the first year in my crafty biz existence where I felt so organized – I had six months of crafty programming lined up since January. Events are slowly being cancelled or rescheduled as online events as we work through this new …

cactus fiesta.

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Just because we’re on SIP doesn’t mean we can’t have a fiesta at home! Let’s make a cactus piñata! Materials: corrugated cardboard, box cutter, scissors, masking tape, crepe paper streamers, glue stick Cut two of the same shape for the front and back of your piñata. Cut 1.5-2in wide strips of cardboard for the perimeter; make sure the corrugation allows you to bend your strips along the length (corrugation should run parallel to the bottom). Decide where you want to place the piñata opening and start wrapping one of the shapes with the cardboard strips at the base of the opening. Use masking tape to attach strips to shapes. I prefer attaching the strips to the outside border of the shapes (versus in line with the shape perimeter); this makes it easier to bend the strips to conform to the shape. End with a flap that is not attached with tape. You may leave a slight overlap. Attach the second shape to the opposite side. For this step, you could add all the tape to …

weave along.

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This past weekend I hosted my first workshop on the interwebs (on Instagram!), and it was so cool because people actually joined me and crafted along! It was a free class, but I sold weaving kits complete with Crafterateur loom and assorted yarn for those who needed materials. Class was two and a half hours. I demonstrated a weaving from start (setting up the loom) to finish (adding a stick and hanging), and shared tips and tricks along the way. I also took questions as much as I could, but it was definitely a different experience not being able to see my students during class. Here’s the piece I worked on, plus some of the weaving stitches and techniques I shared. And here are some of the in-progress and finished works from makers across the state and nation! Tap through for weaving/photo credits; I’ve tagged all the makers’ Instagram handles. Thank you to everyone who joined my first online workshop! As a bonus I’ve recorded a few low-budget videos so you can craft along, too. …

egg hunt: zinnias.

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Here’s my last Easter egg design for the year! Complete your plant trio with zinnia Easter eggs. For this craft you will need: Plastic eggs Felt in colors of choice (I went with warm tones) Fabric scissors Hot glue Unlike the last two in this egg series, this flower requires strips of petals. Cut out 3-6 strips (the more you use, the fuller your flower!). For the center, cut fringe into two small rectangular pieces of felt. Roll the inner piece and seal with hot glue. Roll and glue the outer piece onto the inner piece. Glue to the top of the egg. Glue the petal strips onto the egg. Wrap each row with two layers of petals to get a fuller flower. Glue petals first to the top half of the egg. Then glue petals to the bottom half of the egg. Make sure petals don’t get attached to both the top and bottom halves of the egg so you can still open it. I like to keep the base bare so the flower …

egg hunt: succulents.

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I’m sticking with a plant theme for this year’s egg hunt (Did you catch the first one?). Egg #2 for 2020 is a succulent Easter egg! You might remember my cactus eggs from last year; this one is a total felt upgrade! For this craft you will need: Plastic eggs Felt in succulent colors, plus flower colors of choice Fabric scissors Hot glue Cut out succulent leaves. I like to cut out rectangles and cut the shape out two at a time. Succulent leaves can take on any shape; I went with teardrops in different sizes. You will need between 18-30 leaves for each egg, depending on how many rows of leaves you want, and how far apart you space each leaf. For a fuller succulent, use more leaves. Begin glueing on the smaller leaves to the top of the egg, and work your way to the larger leaves. Add hot glue to the bottom of a leaf and attach to the egg. Create one row of leaves around the egg by overlapping leaves. Add …

egg hunt: roses.

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Yay! You found the first of my hidden Easter egg crafts! For this Easter egg, I was going for tulips, but couldn’t get the petals to sit right on the shape of egg, so I went with more of a rose look, sans thorns. For this craft you will need: Plastic eggs Felt in rose colors of choice plus green Floral wire Fabric scissors Hot glue Pliers x2 (optional) Cut rose petal shapes; you’ll need between 12-18 petals for each egg, depending on the size of the egg and how far apart you decide to space your petals. Petals for each egg should be about the height of your eggs; they don’t need to be exactly the same size. Begin gluing petals to the top half of the egg with a little petal overhang onto the bottom half of the egg. Add a line of glue to the petal and attach to the egg. Make sure glue only touches the top half of the egg or else the egg will get glued shut. Keep adding …