I once again thwarted my own efforts to avoid buying new craft supplies in order to make these adorable chicks! I could not resist, so I purchased a bundle of wool-blend felt sheets from an Etsy shop called Felt the Love. (It was a happy surprise to realize when I received my package that she […]

My son is obsessed with Minecraft, which means I spend a lot of time trying very hard not to appear utterly bored when he wants to talk and talk and talk about it ALL THE TIME. But when he got invited to a birthday party for a girl he may or may not have a crush […]

While I really like having the opportunity to make gifts for little girls, I must admit, I find sewing doll clothes _ particularly tops _ very frustrating, what with all the tiny sleeves and hems, etc. But in making my latest batch (birthday gifts for my best friend’s 7-year-old daughter),  I found some easy workarounds.

Knitting a […]

With Valentine’s Day falling during the Winter Games this year, I thought it would be cute to come up with an Olympics-themed Valentine. But what can I say? My son is more crafty than athletic (Gee, wonder where he gets that …) and he decided he’d rather make his classmates rubber band bracelets instead. But I […]

I have two new Valentine ideas to share, but I have to wait til next week, when an article I wrote for AP is published. In the meantime, here’s a roundup of all my past Valentine projects all in one place. I don’t think I’ll ever top the light saber Valentines from two years ago!

Click on […]

I am making a bit of progress on my unfinished projects! (Which is the upbeat way of saying, “I finally delivered these Christmas gifts nearly a month late!”)

It took only a few minutes to finish these “Snowball buddies,” so I really had no excuse for procrastinating. Though they are designed to be Christmas ornaments, they were […]

The problem with being all smug about making Christmas gifts in part to avoid crowded stores/malls is that you can then find yourself in a panic at 10:30 p.m. Christmas Eve still racing to finish say … a stuffed Perry the Platypus …. and then almost dissolving into tears when you accidentally cut a hole for […]

I really am starting to enjoy knitting, though I’m always nervous about giving away the results as gifts because I feel like I’m not quite good at it enough to produce flawless items, and I’m not sure the recipients truly appreciate how much work goes into them!

This is the Miss Marple Scarf, a free pattern on […]

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was quite good, even though I of course did not finish all the handmade gifts I had planned. I really thought I’d have plenty of time this year because I had Fridays off during December (in exchange for working Sundays), and thus had some prime crafting time while […]

First things first: The winner of my giveaway is Crystal! I’ll send you an email to get your address. Thank you to everyone else who entered.

Here’s a little tutorial on how to make those rubber band bracelets that seem to be all the rage at my son’s school. I was pleasantly surprised that he has shown […]