Page 163 – the long thread

October 5, 2009

Halloween Jars and Cans

A couple more ideas to add to your list of Halloween decorations using recycled materials. Here, I used etching cream to create a jack o’ lantern face on the jars. It’s a subtle effect, but would be pretty with an orange votive. I simply put masking tape on the jar, cut out the shapes with a craft knife, and let the etching cream sit for about twenty minutes (not a kid-friendly project, obviously).

And for the jack o’lantern cans, I cut out the face with a craft knife and glued the paper onto the can. A quick tip for holding the paper in place while you wait for the glue to dry — painter’s tape. I love painter’s tape and use it all the time in my crafting.

More Halloween crafts with bottles and cans (just clap your hands).

Martha Stewart’s Tin Can Jack O’ Lanterns.
Martha Stewart’s Jar O’ Lanterns.
Decoupage Jar Jack O’ Lanterns from Instructables.

October 2, 2009October 2, 2009

Handmade Gift of the Week

Ready to do some holiday shopping? Boost the economy and support a crafter by buying handmade. It’s nice to know where your gifts come from and it feels better to give your money directly to the maker of an object. Last year I featured a handmade toy each week, but this year I will feature gifts from all categories.

This week’s featured gift is from Silhouettes by Carolin. Her hand-cut portraits are beautiful and reasonably priced. I think a hand-cut portrait would make a lovely gift, becoming a prized family heirloom. Carolin’s work ranges from traditional individual profiles to full-body portraits with background scenery. Not only does she create portraits of children, but her hand-cut portraits of couples would make a lovely wedding or anniversary gift. The photo below shows the intricacy of some of her work. Here’s a bit about Carolin, in her own words:

I was born and raised in southern Germany and moved to the US with my American husband in 2000. My sweetheart and I have two adorable girls (5 and 7) and enjoy being close to the coast here in South Carolina.

Starting as a very young girl I drew just about anything around me, mostly with soft pencils or graphite. That’s all I needed. I was never a “color person” (but I adore all those beautiful colorful things others make!) so the step towards black and white papercuts came natural. I always enjoyed arts and crafts and being around children so I had the idea of combining the two by starting my own silhouette business a few years ago, cutting silhouettes of children as keepsakes for their families. Since then I’ve cut probably hundreds of silhouettes. A lot of them are what I call the “classic silhouette profile” but I also did many full body silhouettes (of children and adults) and custom orders of just about any kind, like houses, landscapes, animals, scenes, logos and my newest addition bookmarks with custom designs on them.

Not until this summer did I join Etsy and it has truly been a wonderful experience, with all the orders (some of them rather challenging though) and great feedback. Hope you like my stuff and let me know if there is anything you would like to see cut.

Visit her shop on Etsy for more details.

October 2, 2009October 2, 2009

Etsy Finds Friday

Boo! Welcome to October.

All Hallow’s Eve Shadow Puppet Set, $30 from Orange Moon Toys.

Modern Aspen Letterpress Cards, set of 10 for $11 from Dingbat Press.

Mini Mile End Pillow, $20 from hazel and hunter.

Hand Engraved Glass Candle Holders, set of 2 for $14 from Daydreem Designs.

Candy Corn Halloween Bunting, $30 from pamwares.

Vintage Owl Utensil Holder, $25 from Sweet Love Vintage.

Haunted House Hand Carved Rubber Stamp, $8 from Cupcake Tree.

Ginger Spice Cookies, $9 per dozen from Lynsey & Harper Confections.

Fallen Leaf Handspun Yard, $24/140 yards from Simply Twisted Yarn.

October 1, 2009October 1, 2009

Quick Crafty Round-Up

craft-tutorials10-1-09

One Hour Softies from Ric Rac.

Glasses Case from Design Sponge by Kata Golda from her new book Hand-Stitched Felt.

Etsy’s How-Tuesday features a felt pillow with rosette clusters from Anne Kyyro Quinn’s new book Felt Furnishings.

Learn to embroider with the Stitch a Day from the Hand Embroidery Network.

Doily Ideas from Maya Made (doily hoop idea from Resurrection Fern).

Reversible Drawstring Bag from Sew4home (link via Craft Gossip).

Knitted Pincushion from Craft by contributor Kristin Roach of Craft Leftovers.

Snowflake Pumpkins from mer mag (link via Craft).

And support your favorite crafters. Here are a couple of things you can buy to get ready for the holidays:

Ornament Kit from Alicia Paulson.

Amy Karol’s mail order kit #4 with Halloween banner.

September 30, 2009

Winner of The Fabric Bar Giveaway

Erin, #400, is the winner of The Fabric Bar giveaway! Thanks to all of you who entered. Be sure to visit The Fabric Bar and take advantage of the coupon for a 10% discount on all orders of $50 or more. Simply visit The Fabric Bar and enter the code thelongthread at checkout anytime between now and October 10. Happy Sewing!