If you’ve got an egg carton and and a packet of seeds, you can start your own garden in less time than it takes to boil the water for pasta (literally…I did it while I was making dinner a couple hours ago).  Growing from seeds can be a little daunting, but egg cartons make your little seedlings easy to start and simple to transfer once they get big enough to be planted in a proper container.

A simple start for basil seeds.

What you need:

-egg carton
-potting soil/dirt from your yard
-seeds for the plant of your choice (lettuce or nasturtiums are great bets…we’ll see how my basil turns out).
-mister or watering can
-spoon

Now put it together:

1) Rip the top off of your carton and Fill each compartment up with dirt using a spoon.
2) Read the instructions on your seed packet for how many seeds to plant in each hole.  Use your finger to make a small indentation in the dirt in each compartment.  Put one or two seeds in each indentation and gently cover it/them with soil.

Planted and ready to go

3) Gently water your new seeds.  A mister would be best, but you could use a watering can too.  Just don’t flood your dirt too badly.
4) Place your egg carton on a sunny window ledge (or anywhere where it will get plenty of sun) and leave it for a few days (the package will tell you how long the seeds should take to sprout).  If your carton is made of cardboard, place plastic underneath it so that it doesn’t damage the surface it’s on.
5) Make sure to keep your seeds regularly watered; they won’t grow well if they dry out completely.  Once your plants have grown for a few weeks, thin them out if more than one has sprouted in each compartment and carefully transplant them to a larger container.

Happy crafting, kids!

You can’t get much cooler than stop motion animation.  If you’re going to do it, this multi-plane animation stand will really come in handy.  This one’s a little bit more complicated than the pieces I usually put up here, but it’s still completely DIY-able.  Use it with the camera stand that I posted a while back and you’ll be good to go.

What you need:

- 3 pieces of 16″x20″ glass
- 4 pieces 0.75″ x 0.75″ x 36″ wood
- 8 pieces 0.75″ x 0.75″ x 17.5″ wood
- 8 pieces 0.75″ x 0.75 ” x 18″ wood
- 32 1″ corner braces
- 32 #6 x 1/2″ wood screws
- 16 nails
- hammer
- drill & bits
- screwdriver
- masking tape/gaff tape
- small rubber feet to keep glass from slipping

Now put it together:

1) First build two “ladders” to make either end of the stand.  Use corner brackets to secure, and make sure to rough it out with the wood pieces before you drill or screw anything!  The bottom 17.5″ piece should be flush with the ground.  From there, the holes you drill for the corner brackets should be 7″ apart.  That means that the top piece will be at about 22 3/8″ from the bottom of the 36″ piece.  Mark where your holes should go, then drill accordingly.  Use screws to attach the brackets. Take a look at the diagram to see exactly what I’m talking about.

2) Use nails to reinforce the joints you just made.  Again, see the diagram in step 3.
3) Connect the two “ladders” using the 18″ pieces, corner brackets, and screws.  Just like when you built the ladders, make sure that you rough everything out before you drill or screw anything.  Once you’ve got it all lined up correctly, mark where your holes should go and then drill.  Use screws to attach the brackets.

3) Put your masking/gaff tape on the edges of your glass to keep it from cutting you.  Then put feet on the corners to keep it from slipping as it’s on the wood.

That’s it!  Animate away.  If you have any questions about the diagrams, leave them in the comments.

I’ll admit that I haven’t actually done this project yet (because I have two HUGE projects in the works for the next couple of weeks), but it seems like a great way to use your leftover Mardi Gras or St. Patrick’s Day beads.  A quick trip to the thrift store, a swipe of spray paint, and some glue and you’ve got yourself a really cute picture frame!

See the beads? Pretty sneaky, huh? Click the photo to go straight to the Ruffles and Stuff tutorial.

-An old picture frame
-A strand (or more) of Mardi Gras beads
-Spray paint in the color(s) of your choice
-glue

Take a look at the post on Ruffles and Stuff for the full tutorial.  It’s really easy.  Definitely one of those “why didn’t I think of that?!?” projects.  She made hers all white, but you could choose bolder colors or even do different colors for the beads and the frame.  Maybe a good gift idea if you’re thinking ahead to Mother’s Day?

Happy crafting, kids!

Peeling labels = bad news

I can’t be the first person in the world to come up with this idea because it’s so easy.  In fact, I’m sure I’ve seen it elsewhere before.  But, considering I have a hard time remembering to feed my cat, it isn’t surprising that I can’t recall where I saw it.  I guess I’ll just cut to the chase: if you’re a candle person, unless you have $$$ to spend on those amazing smelling Voluspa jars from Anthropologie, you probably have a hodgepodge of ugly ones in your house.  Maybe, like me, you tried to peel the labels off the ones you got on the cheap from Ikea…and failed.  Fortunately, you can make your candles look way better in less than five minutes with products you probably already have in your house.

ick

What you need:

- Ugly jar candles
- Origami paper (or wrapping paper, an old map, interesting magazine pages…)
- Scissors
- Tape

Oh, okay. That's better

Now put it together:

- If you’re really OCD, measure the circumference and height of your candle and cut a piece of paper to match those dimensions.  If you’re like the rest of us, wrap a too-big piece of paper around and then cut to fit.  Either way, if you’re using origami paper like I did, you’ll probably need to tape a couple pieces together to make it the right size.
-Once you’ve got your paper to be the right shape, wrap it around your candle and tape it to secure.  Make sure that there isn’t any paper above the lip of the jar (to lower your risk of the whole thing catching on fire) and you’re all set.

Looks way better, huh?  Happy crafting, kids!

Didn’t get to be George Clooney’s plus one?  That’s too bad.  Guess you’ll have to watch the Academy Awards on TV like the rest of us.  Fortunately, you can impress everyone else at your Oscar party by bringing some sweet desserts taken straight from the Best Animated Feature category.  Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Coraline Button Cookies and the piece de resistance, UPcakes.

I found both of these awesome treats on the Bakerella blog and just in time — rumor has it I won’t be able to get into the party I’m going to tonight without something punny.

Coraline cookies with the poking straws in the middle

Bakerella explains in perfect detail how to make the Coraline cookies, but I’ll add my two cents here as well.  I didn’t dip mine in chocolate like she did and they turned out just fine.  I tried dipping a few and I thought that the plain ones were actually better (which means a lot coming from me because I am a huge chocoholic).  Also, I usually LOVE Paula Deen’s peanut butter cookie recipe because it’s so ridiculously simple.  You can’t go wrong with only three ingredients.  However, in this case, you might want to with the mix like Bakerella suggets.  Mine came out okay, but they were a little more crumbly than the ones she used, so my button edges weren’t perfect.

Whoops...mini jellybeans didn't quite work out.

For the UPcakes, I followed Bakerella’s instructions…mostly.  Seriously, click over and check these out.  Mine aren’t assembled yet and I don’t want to steal her picture, but it’s pretty cute.  I used this Martha Stewart recipe for coconut cupcakes, but added six drops of blue food coloring to make the batter sky colored.  I also topped the white frosting with coconut shreds to make it look even more cloud-like.  If you use the Martha Stewart recipe, don’t put the balloon toppers into the cupcakes until right before you plan to serve them because the noodles will warp from the moisture of the cake and the balloon toppers will fall over.  I discovered this last night when I came back from Point Break Live.  Fortunately, everything was salvageable and I’m going to leave the toppers and the cupcakes separate until this afternoon.  I guess you could also just use toothpicks if you need to make them in advance.  As for the sprinkles, you might have to do a bit of scavenging to find them.  I couldn’t find them at Vons or Albertsons (and instead attempted to use mini jellybeans…didn’t work).  I finally found them at Jon’s of all places, so try there if you can’t find them elsewhere.

Get baking.  The Oscars are only a few hours away!

We’re in for some chilly nights coming up (at least by LA standards) and so what’s better to warm you up than a steaming mug of hot chocolate topped with a couple marshmallows?  I saw a recipe for homemade marshmallows on Smitten Kitchen the other day and thought that it seemed like a pretty ridiculous thing to DIY, but might be fun to try.  Even if they weren’t better than the store-bought kind, it would be a fun experiment.

Wow, did I luck out.  Homemade marshmallows are leaps and bounds better than the ones from the store and they’re pretty simple to make, though you do need a few kitchen gadgets.  Unfortunately, the batch I made got completely devoured by hungry friends before I had a chance to take pictures, but take a look at the tutorial and hopefully the beautiful photos there will convince you that they’re worth trying.

What you need:

-saucepan
-candy thermometer
-electric mixer (stand or handheld)
-powdered sugar
-granulated sugar
-gelatin
-water
-sugar
-corn syrup
-salt
-vanilla extract (or peppermint, almond, orange…depends how experimental you’re feeling)
-egg whites
-food coloring (optional)
-rectangular baking pan
-cooking spray
-knife
-fridge

Got it all?  Head over to Smitten Kitchen and follow her instructions there.  They’re spot on.  If you only have a hand held mixer, you might want to enlist a helpful friend to trade off mixing with you because your arms will get tired of after almost 20 minutes of beating. If you want them to be a color other than white, add a few drops of food coloring as you’re stirring the sugar mixture in with the egg whites.  I added about five drops of red and it made mine a sweet pink color.  Also, since these have raw egg whites in them, you might not want to feed them to babies/old people/pregnant women/the immunocompromised, etc.

Oh, and if you’re not a fan of hot chocolate, pick up some graham crackers and Hershey’s bars and have a marshmallow roast over one of the burners of your stove.  My friend tried it and said it turned out well.

Okay, so it’s Valentine’s Day – a little late for figuring out what to get your sweetheart, so I’m focusing on the post-mortem.  I figure that no matter whether or not you have a hot date, a relaxing heating pad could come in handy.  Dateless? Party with friends, try bikram yoga, or climb up Mount Hollywood.  Got a date?  Well, you might still be engaging in aerobic activities.  Either way, this heating pad is just the ticket to heal those sore muscles you didn’t even know you had.

What you need:

- A fat quarter of fabric (or just a regular 1/4 yard)
-Scissors
-Straight pins
-Needle and thread (and sewing machine if you have one)
-Rice
- Essential oils
- Funnel or a sheet of paper
-Bowl & spatula

Now put it together:

1) Cut your fat quarter in half.
2) With the right sides of the fabric together (the sides with the pattern on it), fold the fabric in half again and pin together.
3)  Sew around all 3 edges using a

straight stitch with about 1/2″ of seam allowance.  Make sure that you don’t sew it closed entirely, though.  Leave about 3 inches open so that you can fill it up later.
4) Turn your fabric right side out.
5) Put your rice in a bowl and add a few drops of the essential oil(s) of your choice (I used orange and bergamot, so it smelled like Earl Grey tea) and mix thoroughly.

6) Use either a wide-mouthed funnel (like what you use for canning) or a piece of paper rolled into a funnel and fill your bag about half-full with rice.
7) Turn down the edges of the opening in your bag and then use whip stitch to sew it closed.
8) To heat up your pad, put it in the microwave for about a minute, then test it.  If it needs more

time, heat it up in 30 second increments until it’s warm enough.

Happy Valentine’s Day, kids!  Lots of love from BoredLA.

(Also, if you don’t have rice, you can make these with other grains, too…though I’ve never tried it.  Apparently barley works well.  If you try something else, be sure to let me know how it works!)

Okay, this one falls into the crafting for the craftily challenged category.  Seriously, it requires no specific craft knowledge and, minus shopping time, can be completed in less than five minutes.  How awesome is that?

The whole magnetic spice rack thing started when I moved into my current apartment.  The kitchen is kind of lacking counter space, so I didn’t want to use a spice rack, but it seemed silly to dedicate an entire drawer to storing spices (I cook a lot).  I figured that, if I could store them on the side of the fridge, they would be at hand when I was cooking and would be pretty much out of the way.

I could get those fancy magnetic spice containers, but they’re like $2 each, so no.  And I tried gluing magnets directly to my spice bottles (as you can see in the picture) but the bottles didn’t stay and that sucks anyway because you have to glue a new magnet every time you get a new spice bottle.  Last week when I was shopping for supplies to organize my desk, I came upon the solution: a DIY magnetic spice rack.

What you need:

- Heavy duty round magnets (you can get them at the craft store or the hardware store)
-A hot glue gun and glue sticks…or maybe super glue would work
-Metal office supply holders that are deep enough for a spice bottle to fit.  Mine are 2″ deep and they fit perfectly.  That seems to be a pretty standard depth, but check the dimensions just in case.

Now put it together:

I’m sort of stating the obvious, but glue a few (4 is a good number if yours are as wide as mine are) heavy duty magnets to the back.  The more the better as far as sticking to the fridge goes.  Make sure they’re fastened securely.

Put your newly magnetized bins on the side of your fridge, insert spices, and you’re all set!

If you get mesh organizers like I did, you will be able to see the spice bottle labels, but you could also use pieces of tape or address labels to label the lids of the bottles so you can know what’s in each of them more easily.  Also, be sure that you arrange your magnetic spice rack so that the shelves on the bottom have enough clearance to get the bottles out.  Again, stating the obvious.  Sorry.

If you’re not a big cook, you could use these for pretty much anything that’ll fit.

So I have two New Year’s resolutions.  The first is to eat seasonally and locally, making at least 75% of my meals at home from scratch. So far so good on that one.  The other one is to finally tackle my storage and get organized.  Long story short, I’m halfway through which means that all of the time I

Disney made an old button down into this neat bolero.

would normally spend crafting has been spent sorting and cleaning for the past couple weeks.  I went through my closet and found a whole bag of shirts that I just didn’t wear much.  I was planning to give them to Goodwill, but then I realized that I could do a little crafting and make them way cuter.

I’ll admit that I haven’t actually done it yet, but once my sewing machine gets unearthed from the piles of crafting detritus I’m gonna get to work.  Here are some of the tutorials I plan to try out:

• Sachiko at Tea Rose Home shows how to turn two plain t-shirts in to one ruffley one.  Very Anthropologie!
• If you have any of those giant freebee tees laying around, CraftStylish has an easy way to turn them into a cute tunic.
• My Mama Made it turns an old long sleeved jersey t-shirt into a ruffled tank.  Simple, but sweet.
• Got an old button down?  Turn it into a bolero with Disney’s tutorial at Ruffles and Stuff.

Hope these inspire you.  I’ll let you know what happens when I revamp my tees.  And look forward to some major projects in the next couple months.

Happy crafting, kids!

If you celebrate Hannuakah, your holiday crafting had better be done.  But, if you celebrate Christmas, you’re in luck – you still have a little over a week to get all your presents ready.  In the spirit of procrastination, I will be featuring a few projects this week that have some things in common: they’re pretty inexpensive, they require very little crafty talent to complete, and they take an hour or less from start to finish.

Today, I’m featuring the glitter frames.  Not going to say who I made them for lest she read this, but there’s a certain person on my gift list who loves all things sparkly.  If you have someone who needs a little bling in his/her life, these are perfect.  I whipped up all four of these frames in less than a half an hour and they were super easy to make.

What you need:

-Glitter in whatever colors you want.
-Glue (Elmers works really well for this.)
-A paintbrush
-Picture frames (I used the black ones that come in 2 packs at Ikea)
-Lots of newspaper or junk mail to cover your work surface

Now put it together:
1) Remove the backing and glass from your picture frame.  Cover your work surface with newspaper.
2) Squirt a nice, thick line of glue along each edge of your picture frame. Use your paintbrush to spread it around so that there is a layer of glue completely covering the front and all of the side edges.
3) Liberally sprinkle your glitter all over the frame.  Don’t skimp – whatever isn’t needed will easily shake off once the glue is dry and can be returned to the jar.  Make sure that all the edges get well-covered.  If you don’t have enough coverage, try tapping the edges on your newspaper so that they pick up the extra glitter from pouring it onto your frame.
4) Let the glue dry – overnight is best- and then gently shake off your frames to remove the excess glitter.  Fold your newspaper in half to collect the glitter and dump it back into its container.  Replace the glass and backing on your picture frame and you’re all set.

That wasn’t too hard, was it?

Need a gift idea that works just as well for guys as it does for girls?  You’re in luck!  These felt laptop cases are a completely unisex option.  They’re also easy for even the most craft-challenged of us; if you can use an iron and scissors, you’re set.

What you need:

Photo from Design Sponge

-3/4 yard each of two different colors felt
-Steam-a-seam
-Scissors
-Iron & ironing board
-Velcro dots
-The dimensions of the laptop that you’re crafting for
-Optional: pinking shears, hole punch, X-acto knife

Now put it together:

-Find out the measurements of the laptop that you’re crafting for.  If you know what time of computer the recipient has, you can Google it and find out the dimensions.
-If you want your laptop case to have a little visual interest, there are a few things you can try:

• Use a hole punch to punch holes in the top layer of your felt so that the bottom layer will show through.  You can do this all over or just in selected areas.
• Use pinking shears to cut the top edge of your fabric so it will be zigzagged.  You probably only want to do this on the flap that will be on top when you fold everything up together.
• Use an X-acto knife to cut shapes out of your top layer.
• This one’s a little hard to explain, but for the flap that will be on top when you fold everything up together, make the bottom piece of felt about 1″ longer than the top piece of felt.  Then, when you put everything together, fold that extra 1″ over top to make a stripe.

-Take a look at the tutorial on DesignSponge and follow the instructions for cutting out the  felt.
-Design Sponge recommends that you use fusible interfacing to connect the two layers of felt.  That’s not a bad idea, but I had an easier time just using the Steam-a-seam strips along the edges.  Either way, make sure the edges are stuck together really well!
-Fold the case up and apply your velcro squares.

That’s it – you’re finished!  Once you get the process down pat, you can make one in under an hour.  I’ve made these for a bunch of people on my list and I’ll probably make a few more in the next couple of weeks.

Happy crafting, kids!

First off, sincere apologies for being a day late on this one.  I had to get a new camera cord, so now the posting can go on as usual.

Back to the cake stand.

This is seriously one of the easiest things you could make as a holiday gift this season…and it looks way more expensive than it actually is.  There is a day or two of hands off drying time, so you have to plan a little in advance, but the actual crafting time is minimal and even those of you who aren’t craftily inclined can easily pull this off.

Another tip: make more than one and stack them and then put different cupcakes on each level.

What you need:

-A candlestick…the wider the top the better.  (The one I used had a flat base with a spike to stick into a pillar candle instead of a taper holder…hard to explain but that kind works best…maybe look at the picture if you don’t quite get what I’m talking about).
-A plate of your choice.  One that is completely smooth without any dips or ridges will work well for a cake.  If you’re going to put cupcakes or anything else that’s small-ish, any type of plate will work.
-A screwdriver or scissors to pry off the spike if you’re using one of the candlesticks with the spike.
-Gorilla Glue
-A heavy book to use in lieu of a clamp.

This is what happens with just a little glue, so don't overdo it.

Now put it together:

1) Head to the thrift store and look for your candlestick and plate.  Any candlestick will work, but, like I said earlier, the wider the top of the candlestick, the more durable your cake stand will be.
2)  Thoroughly wash your plate and candlestick.  Buff your candlestick or polish it if it’s tarnished (or don’t, if you like the shabby chic look).
3) Carefully cover the top of your candlestick with a thin layer of Gorilla Glue.  Don’t use too much because it expands as it dries, so the underside of the plate will get super messy if you use a lot of glue.
4) Place the candlestick on the bottom of the plate.  Make sure it’s well-centered and even, then put a heavy book on top of the stack you just  made to weigh the candlestick down and act as a clamp.  The order should be plate on top of your table, candlestick on top of the plate, book on top of the candlestick (i.e. the whole shebang should be upside down and weighted with the book).
5) Let the glue dry for a day or two.  It should be done in a day, but leaving it there for two can’t hurt anything.

That’s it!  Minus shopping and drying time, the whole project should take you less than 15 minutes and people seriously won’t believe you made it yourself.

Happy crafting, kids!

Soap in a sweater: it’s the bathtime accessory you never knew you needed until you had it.  Okay, so maybe felted soap won’t change your life, but it’s really cool and super easy.  (FYI: I’ll be featuring a crafty gift idea every week from now til the holidays are over.)  You will need to buy roving, but you can get enough of it to make 8 or 10 of these bars for less than $15, so you can make lots of these for very little money.  Wrap a few of ‘em up nicely together and voila, insta-gift.

Water does all the magic here .  If you’ve ever accidentally washed and dried a wool sweater, you’re already familiar with the phenomenon, but basically, you wrap the soap in wool and get the wool to shrink down to the size of the bar using hot water.  As the bar gets used up, the wool will shrink with it.

This is what roving looks like before you felt it.

What you need:
-Roving in as many different colors as you want.  If you’re feeling adventurous, get this.  Unless you’re serious about doing this, buy it by the ounce, not the pound.
-Bars of soap (I tried a bunch of different kinds and ones with rounded edges work best.  Trader Joes sells some good, reasonably priced bars.)
-Large bowl of water as hot as you can stand to keep your hands in.
-Towel

Now put it together:
1) Wrap your bar in thin layers of roving in a pattern that you like.  If you’ve never tried felting before, you might want to try your first bar with just one color so you can get the hang of it.  Make sure the bar is completely covered, but don’t overdo it…if your roving is too thick, you’ll have a really hard time getting it to felt down to the size you need.

This is what your wool should look like once the felting is finished.

2) Once you’ve got it wrapped the way you like, hold your bar in one hand.  Use your other hand to gently dribble water over the bar until it is completely wet.  Don’t pour the water too hard or you’ll dislodge your wool.
3) Once it’s completely wet, squish the bar between your hands, still being careful not to dislodge the wool.
4) Repeat the wetting and squishing until you feel the wool begin to get tight around the bar of soap.  Once it feels a little felted, you can dunk it all the way into the water.  Again, just keep working the wool in your hands.
5) Keep this up until the wool is completely felted.  It will feel very tight around the bar of soap…you’ll know it’s not going anywhere.
6) Once the wool is done being felted, run it under cold water to complete the process.  Then roll it up in the towel to get the excess water out and let the bar dry.

Enjoy your fun soap and happy crafting, kids.

Got any books left over from the book sale in Atwater?  Some may say there’s never an excuse to rip up a book, but for something as pretty as this I beg to differ.  Living with Lindsay has a great tutorial for book page wreaths and they look like something you’d find at Anthropologie for 239 million dollars.  Fortunately, you can make it for under five bucks if you head to the dollar store.  Lindsay got lucky and found exactly what she needed at Dollar Tree, but I don’t think we have those around here.  Fortunately, if you aren’t averse to destroying tacky Christmas decorations, you can get what you need at 99 Cents Only.

What you need:

My haul from the dollar store.

-A 10″ foam wreath base (aka tacky snowman wreath)
-1 or 2 paperback books (one of these took me all of Pirates of the Caribbean and part of the dictionary…I guess you can’t be picky when it’s 99 cents)
-Brown or grey paint
-Paper towel
-Ribbon piece
-Hot glue gun and LOTS of glue sticks (I went through almost an entire small bag to make one wreath)
-Something to use to press the pages onto the wreath so you don’t burn your fingers
-2 straight pins (optional)

Now put it together:

If you follow the instructions on Living with Lindsay, you’ll be golden.  However, if you buy the 99 Cents Only snowman wreath, there are a couple steps to do before you begin.

1) Rip the snowman off of the wreath.  It’s attached with a stick, so it requires a little finesse to get it off without ruining the wreath.
2) Pull off as much of the fake snow as you possibly can.  You won’t ever see the wreath base, so the looks don’t matter too much, but if you leave the fake snow on, the pages will have a hard time sticking.  Once the snow is gone, get started folding and gluing pages.

Once your wreath is done, you can of course hang it on the wall.  I also placed a simple vase of succulents in the middle and used it as a centerpiece at the dinner table.  Pretty cute.

Happy crafting, kids!

Ever pawed through the art in the back of Goodwill?  There are definitely some gems there and one of them could be your Halloween costume if you have an Xacto knife.

Thanks to the wonders of Photoshop, this is what I would look like if I cut a hole in the official portrait of Governor Jesse Ventura and wore it to my graduation.

What you need:

- A tacky vintage painting.  Old portraits are good…or paintings of pets.  Basically, anything with a head
-Pencil
-Sharp Xact0 knife
-Tape measure
-Clear nail polish

What to do:

1) Buy your painting.  Make sure that you can cut out a piece the size of your head and still leave it somewhat intact.
2)  Measure the circumference of your head so you’ll know how large to cut your hole.
3) Trace an oval the approximate shape of your head onto the front of the painting.
4) Cut according to the lines you’ve made.
5)  Use your clear nail polish to seal the edges of the oval you’ve just cut so that it doesn’t fray.
6) Stick your head in and walk around.

Super easy, super kitschy.  Happy crafting, folks!

What child doesn’t dream of being Max and playing with the Wild Things?  Next weekend I’m hosting a Halloween party for the kids I teach and so I had to come up with a costume that wasn’t scary and might be someone they’d recognize.  Thanks for the inspiration, Spike Jonze!  I searched online for adult footie pajamas (I figured they’d be the key to a successful costume) but they’re all so freaking expensive.  Then I went to Home Depot earlier this week and it came to me: a hazmat suit!  You, too, can make your own Max costume for less than 20 bucks.

if Max had myspace...take 1

What you need:

-A white, hooded jumpsuit (in the painting section at a home improvement store)
-Stapler and plenty of staples
-White cloth 2″ medical tape (like what you use to tape gauze)
-Yellow poster board
-4 black pipe cleaners
-1 pair white gloves
-White craft foam sheets
-1 pair white socks or sneakers

Now put it together:

1) Try on your hazmat suit.  If you got it at Home Depot, the only size they have is XL, so it’s probably going to be huge on you.  Fortunately, there should be a seam down the middle of the back.  You can make the suit fit more snugly simply by stapling the inside of the back just like you would take in a seam on a regular garment.   Put in a few staples, then try it on and make sure it fits you well before putting in lots.  Once you’ve got the right size, staple close together all the way down the seam.
2)  The hood of your jumpsuit will be edged with elastic because it’s designed to keep particles out.  That’s no good for being a Wild Thing, so cut along the edge of the elastic and get it all off.  Don’t worry about making your edge neat just yet.  Once you’ve got the elastic off, cut along the edge again to make it neat.

I opened the bag before I took the picture, but this is what you're looking for.

3) Once you’re done cutting, the hood will probably not quite cover your head.  Enter the cloth medical tape!  Cut a length of medical tape that is the same length as the edge of your hood.  Place it on the edge of the hood and fold it over to the underside of the hood.  The medical tape will act like bias tape and both extend your hood while stopping the edge from fraying.
4) Take your pipe cleaners and fold them in half.  Try on your suit to see where the whiskers would logically go on the side of the hood.  Punch the tip of your pipe cleaner through the edge of the jumpsuit and twist the two halves together so that one pipe cleaner forms two whiskers.  Use a staple to secure.  Do this again for the other three pipe cleaners (two on one side, two on the other).
5) Now make your horns.  Cut horn shapes out of foam and carefully staple them to the top of the hood.  Then use your medical tape to edge both sides of the bottom of the horns (tape them to the hood) so they stand up straight.

Max on myspace...take 2

6) No Max costume would be complete without a gold crown.  Cut a 6″ wide strip out of the poster board.  Make sure it’s at least as long as the circumference of your head.  Then cut triangles out of it to make the points on the crown.  Staple it so that it is the right size for your head while you’re wearing the jumpsuit and horns (don’t do it on your bare head or it won’t fit later!).
7)  In the book Max wears mittens, but I’ll need to use my hands while I’m wearing the costume, so instead, I bought a pair of cheap, white stretchy gloves and cut off the fingertips.  It’s the best of both worlds: my hands are white, but I can still use my fingers.
8) Last but not least: monster feet. Cut feet shapes out of the white foam and staple them to the ankles of the pants.  Then wear either white socks or tennis shoes underneath depending on whether you’ll be indoors or out.

Happy crafting, kids!

Search zombie silhouettes on Google images and you'll find tons of inspiration, like these cool cutouts.

Halloween is 27 days away!  That means for the next few weeks, I’m going to bring you lots of tips and tricks to make your house as spooky as can be.  Arguably, there are a few things spookier than zombies (Ghosts, perhaps?  Or witches…).  But nevertheless, zombies are pretty Halloween-y.  So, pop in a copy of 28 Days Later or Shaun of the Dead and start cutting up some cardboard boxes.  In no time flat, you’ll have zombies of your own.

I was inspired by bumblev at tried&true, who came up with a great way to make zombies for your windows.  Basically, cut out a zombie shape from a window-sized piece of cardboard, spray paint it black, and then prop it up in your window.  Voila, instant zombie invasion!

Happy crafting, kids…and keep your fingers crossed that your new zombie friends don’t try to eat your braaaaaaain.

The Santa Ana winds are coming this week, but you can bet once those are over it’s gonna start to get chilly.  There’s not much that’s worse than waking up in the morning, getting out of bed, and having to walk across a freezing cold floor when you’re half-awake.  What’s a crafty guy or gal to do?  Make your own rug!  Problem solved.

ReadyMade magazine has a really easy tutorial for making your own chevron pattern rug out of a rug pad and felt.  But, here’s the thing: you could take this tutorial and make any pattern you want.  Straight lines will be easier to sew than curved ones, but you’re really only limited by the colors of felt you can find, your sewing skills, and your creativity.

Oh, and another hint.  You don’t even have to sew.  It will last longer if you do, but if you want something a little bit more decorative, you can use the same Steam a Seam that I used to make the no-sew sink skirt.

Happy crafting, kids!

First, a confession: the amount of crafting I’ve done this week is close to zero.  However, I have been cooking up a storm trying to enjoy the last couple weeks of summer produce from the farmer’s market.  Lately, I’ve been getting really into old school cooking – baking lots of bread and canning jam and jelly.  It’s so much better than the stuff you buy at the store.

I’ve never found a better explanation of how to make your own preserves and can them than here (part 1 and part 2) on The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  Not only that, but Ree Drummond is sort of an honorary Angeleno.  Before she moved out to the country to live on a cattle ranch with the cowboy that swept her off her feet, she was a recent USC graduate.  And her food photography is mouthwatering.

If you don’t want to go to all the trouble of canning, you can make smaller batches of jam in the microwave.  It tastes just as good and is unbelievably easy.  You just have to keep whatever you make in the fridge.  This recipe teaches you how to make microwave jam out of figs, which will be plentiful at farmer’s markets for the next couple weeks.  If you’ve never tried a fresh fig, it’s high time.

Today’s Craftiness is a beautification in two acts.

Act I: Dollar Store Flower Headbands

If you’ve set foot in Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, or Anthropologie in the past six months, you’ve seen some variation on the flower headband theme.  They’re awfully cute, but I’ve always passed them up while shopping because $10+ seems pretty steep for something so simple.  Well, when I was at the dollar store last week, I realized just how right I was.  I got all the stuff to make 5 or 6 of them for only 2 dollars.

What you need (to make 1):

-elastic headband in the color of your choice
-large silk flower or three smaller silk flowers
-scissors
-hot glue gun with glue sticks or Super Glue

Now put it together:

1) Remove your fake flower from the stem (you should be able to do this by pulling hard) and then cut off the remaining stem from the back of the flower so it is as flat as can be.  Leave the backing, though (see the picture if you’re confused!)
2) If you’re using more than one flower, arrange them how you like and glue them together.
3) Put a large dollop of glue in between the backing and the flower.  Then insert your elastic headband in between the backing and the flower.  Press the backing and flower together until the glue dries.  Make sure to push your headband as far into the center as you can so that your flower will sit evenly once you put on the headband.  And be really careful not to burn yourself if you’re using a hot glue gun like I did.  It hurts like hell.
4)  Once the glue is dry, put it on and boast to others about how cute and creative you are.  Suggested locations for being seen in your new hipster regalia: Intelligentsia Coffee, The Silent Movie Theater, and Wurstkuche.

Act II: Oops, I Got Sunburnt! facial mask

Maybe you spent the day at F Yeah Fest without putting on sunscreen…or maybe you did what I did and went to the USC football game yesterday slathered in high SPF and still managed to look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  Either way your face is sunburnt, which sucks.  Aloe is great, but sometimes you need a little more.  Enter a DIY facial mask that soothes and replenishes your skin.

What you need:
- 1/2 a small/medium ripe avocado
- A few tablespoons of honey
-1/8 cup of plain oatmeal

Put everything in the blender and blend it together until the avocado bits are completely smooth.  The oatmeal should be in smaller bits, but probably won’t be liquefied completely.  Pull your hair back if it’s long, then smooth the mask over your face.  Leave it on for 10 minutes.  (Maybe spend the time turning the other half of your avocado into guacamole?)  You’ll look like a leper, but it will feel really good on your skin.  After 10 minutes, GENTLY wipe the mask off with a towel soaked in cool water.

And don’t think I’m making you smear the contents of your fridge on your face just to see if you’ll do it.  The honey and avocado are both great skin moisturizers and the oatmeal will help calm the irritation that sunburn causes.  This mask is also great in the winter if your skin gets dried out and chapped because of heating and/or skiing.

Happy crafting, kids!  And enjoy looking pretty for pennies.