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!

Saturday, the friendly people who like to bring you things Burning Man related in Los Angeles are graciously throwing a free clothing swap!

Trade in all those leftover and unwanted remnants of fabric you have laying around, meet some cool strangers, then leave with oodles of new (to you) odds and ends! Craft supplies are also welcome. This is quite possibly the perfect timing to have a anything to do with clothing or creativity with the little holiday of Halloween peeking around the corner. Just enough time to put the last minute touches on and late enough to know what you’re doing. Hooray!

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What: Stuff With A Past Clothing And Supplies Swap
When: Saturday, October 17th, 1 – 4 pm
Where: Smashlabs @ 1714 Albion St., Los Angeles
$$$: FREE!!!

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!

When you were little, did you ever read that book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes?  So sad/touching!  When I found out about the Butterfly Project earlier this week, I immediately thought of the book and of origami.

What’s the Butterfly Project?  The Holocaust Museum in Houston is collecting 1.5 million butterflies between now and June 30, 2011.  One for each of the children that died in the Holocaust.  It’s sort of a downer, I know, but imagine how cool it will look when all 1.5 million are displayed in the museum.

You can make any type of butterfly you like as long as it’s no bigger than 8″ x 10″ and they prefer 2-D submissions, but any medium is fine as long as it doesn’t involve glitter.  When you’re finished with your butterflies, send them to the museum and they’ll be displayed. Check the website for complete shipping details.

To all you aspiring artists out there, it’ll be pretty cool to say your work was in a museum!

Create whatever butterflies you like, but I’m already working on a bunch of origami ones.  Learn how to fold butterflies here.

Also, while we’re on the topic of origami, I found a really cool centerpiece.  Normally, Rachael Rae makes me want to rip my hair out, but sometimes even she has good ideas.  This is one of them.  She says it’s good for kids, but I say I’d want it at my dinner party, too!  Learn how to make a paper airplane centerpiece here.  Her instructions are literally a paragraph long, so it’s super easy.

Sink skirts sometimes head into the realm of awful and tacky, but if you do them right, they can be an awesome way to hide the ugly pipes under your sink, and add some extra covered storage.  Most of the ones you can buy in the store go on the outside of the sink, but that just strikes me as a little gross.  I mean, who wants to try and wash off the icky crusted up toothpaste that missed the sink and dripped down the edge?  Yuck!  My version goes on the inside of your sink, so it won’t work with all sinks, but it will with a lot of older ones AND you can make it without sewing.  If your sink doesn’t have a way to put the skirt on the inside, you can follow all the directions and attach it to the outside.  Just make extra sure the fabric you use is machine washable.

What you need:

-Fabric of your choice (something a little heavier is better).
-Tape measure
-Tailor’s chalk, fabric marker, or Sharpie
-Scissors
-Steam-a-seam
-Iron
-Ironing board
-Thread
-Needle
-Sticky Velcro squares
-Steel wool/scrubby sponge
-Soap
-Towel

Now put it together:

1) Before you buy your fabric (or choose which fabric to use from your stash), use your tape measure to measure the distance from the bottom edge of your sink to the floor and also the distance around the edge of the bottom of your sink.
2) Using the measurements you just took, calculate the amount of fabric you’ll need.  Add 1″ to each measurement to allow for seams.  Your piece of fabric will need to be as long as the distance from the bottom of the sink to the floor and the width should be 2.5 or 3 times the measurement you took of the distance around the edge of the sink, depending on how ruffly you want the skirt to be.   The rufflier you want it, the wider your fabric piece has to be.  Example: my sink ends 24″ above the ground and is about 32″ around.  My piece of fabric was 81″ x 25″ to allow for seams.
3) Purchase a piece of fabric that is at least that big and cut your fabric to the appropriate size.
4) Use the Steam-a-Seam to hem your fabric rectangle on all four sides.  Follow the instructions on the box for the appropriate iron temperature.  As far as creating the actual seams, you can do it however works for you, but the way I do it is: Fold 1/2″ of fabric over to the back of the fabric along each edge and use your iron to press the crease.  Then, cut your Steam-a-Seam to the appropriate length, insert it in the fold you’ve made, and then iron slowly over to set the seam.  Make sure there’s no Steam-a-Seam sticking out from the fabric fold or it will melt onto your iron and create a sticky mess.  I find it easiest to do one edge at a time all the way through, but you could do each step on each edge before you move on.
5) Once you’ve got a hemmed rectangle, thread your needle with a length of thread that’s longer than your longest fabric edge.  (E.g. in my case my thread would have to be more than 81″ long).  Along the top edge of your fabric, sew long, loose running stitches.  Each stitch should be about 1/2″ long.  This is called basting.  If you’re not quite sure what I’m talking about (it’s hard to describe!), click here to look at pictures.
6) When you’ve finished sewing, pull your thread tight to gather the fabric into ruffles.  Make it as ruffly as you’d like it to be and then tie off the thread so that the ruffles stay.  You can cut whatever excess thread you have.
7) Attach one side of your sticky Velcro squares to the inside of the fabric at appropriate intervals.  My sink is pretty small, so I used six squares, but if you have a larger sink or are using really heavy fabric, you might want to use more.  If you’re worried about the fabric coming unstuck from the squares, sew a few stitches through each square to make sure it stays in place.
8) Before you attach the other side of the squares to the sink, be sure to clean it really well and dry it off.  If it’s an older sink, like mine was, it’ll probably be rusty on the inside, in which case a good scrubbing with steel wool is in order.
9) Once the inside of your sink is clean and dry, stick up the other side of the sticky Velcro squares (at the same intervals you stuck your squares to the fabric) and hang your sink skirt.  It’s all done!  And then, if you ever need to wash it, just un-Velcro it and wash away.  If you want, you can create more than one curtain and rotate them.

I know this seems like a lot of steps, but I made mine in well under an hour (not including time to buy fabric, since I got mine from my stash), so it’s definitely do-able.  Happy crafting, kids!

This weekend, CineFamily @ The Silent Theater will feature Faythe Levine’s 2006 film Handmade Nation. The movie documents the extents of DIY culture in the contemporary, post punk and post knitting circle, landscape.  You’re sure to get some crafty ideas (right, lola?) and probably a warm and fuzzy feeling from a motivating glimpse at active people around the country who haven’t entirely sold out, bought in, or turned into complacent robots.

Matty8080 slings her goods on Etsy

The film also looks at art collectives, online communities, and independent creative businesses.  Cinefamily notes that the film features, “papercut artist Nikki McClure, the Rhode Island-based feminist art collective The Dirt Palace, X-rated latch hook creator Whitney Lee, and Houston’s yarn-based graffiti crew Knitta.”  Yarn graffitists?  I’m there.

Q&A will follow the Saturday 12pm screening, and ticket holders will score some gift bags.

Also on Saturday, from 2-6pm, Cinefamily will host a mini-craft fair featuring some talented LA makers and hands-on activities where you will get the chance to put your creativity cap on (and maybe make AN ACTUAL THINKING CAP).  Faythe Levine will be around to sign her book, same name as the movie.  This fair is free to everyone!
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WHAT: Handmade Nation and Craft Fair
WHEN: Sat 12pm (gift bags and QA and Fair from 2-6), Sat 7pm; Sunday evening at 3, 5, 7, and 9
WHERE: Cinefamily @ The Silent Theater
$$: movie $12,  but the fair is free

Remember way back when I showed you how to make waterproof fabric out of old plastic bags?  I said I was going to make a lunch bag and I finally did it!  Sure, it’s almost 6 months late, but it’s worth the wait.  And now I’m going to teach you how to make your own.

Oh, and if you don’t want to make your own plastic fabric, you can buy oilcloth or use an old vinyl tablecloth, but the plastic bags end up looking pretty cool.

Cut out the pattern from paper.

What you need:
-Enough fabric to cut out the pattern.  Since I used plastic bag fabric, it wasn’t an exact science.  But if you’re using regular fabric, you could probably get everything out of a half yard with fabric to spare.
-Scissors
-Sewing machine (or needle and thread in a pinch)
-Paper grocery bag or newspaper to cut out the pattern
-Ruler
-Marker

Trace the pattern onto your plastic fabric.

Now put it together:
1. Cut open your paper bag so that it’s flat and then trace the pattern onto the bag.  You’ll need to cut out two rectangles: one that’s 10.75″ x 6″ and one that’s 27.75″ x 4″.  Cut out your two rectangles.

2. Use the pattern you’ve cut to trace outlines onto the wrong side of your fabric (for the non-sewers out there, the wrong side means the side of your fabric you want to be on the inside of your bag and the right side means the side of your fabric you want to be on the outside of

Sew your hems.

your bag).  You’ll need to trace two of the 10.75″ x 6″ rectangles and one of the 27.5″ x 4″ rectangles.  If you’re using fabric made from bags, you might not have a long enough stretch of fabric to get the whole 27.5 inches in one go.  That’s cool.  Just  cut a lot of 4″ wide strips that total about 29 or 30 inches long and you’ll sew them together later.  I used three strips and it ended up looking pretty cool.

3. Fold over the top of your 10.75″ rectangles and sew a hem.

Sew your 4" wide strips together to make one big strip.

4. With right sides together and wrong sides out, sew each of your 4″ wide strips together.  When you’re finished, measure 27.75″ and cut off the excess.

5. Fold a hem on either end of your 27.75″ pieces and sew both hems down.

Allow your cat to examine your new bag.

6. With wrong sides out, pin the 27.75″ strip around the edges of one of your 10.75″ rectangles.  Sew along that edge leaving about 1/8″ seam allowance.  Be careful not to sew over the pins if you’re using a sewing machine.

7. Pin the other side of your strip around the edges of the other 10.75″ rectangle, again with the wrong side out.  Sew along the edge leaving about 1/8″ seam allowance.

8. Turn the bag right side out, trim the ends of the threads and voila!

If you’re new to using a sewing machine, the best way to turn corners on a project like this is to leave the needle in your project, lift the foot, and manually turn the project 90 degrees so that you’re now sewing in a new direction.

Shut it with a clothespin and you're done!

If you want, you can sew a buttonhole and a button, but I’ve found that a clothespin works pretty well and looks cool.

Happy crafting, kids!

It is summertime and we all know that means; it is time to start storing away food for the winter (unless you are some kind of freewheeling grasshopper), and the  good folks down at the Machine Project are here to help.

On Sunday join the Fallen Fruit Collective and whip up some homemade jam.  Just bring by some frozen or fresh fruit and some clean empty jars, and let the jamming begin.  According to the Machine Project’s website they hope to try some new exotic jams like basil guava in addition to more traditional fare (the jam actually made will depend on what type of fruit shows up).  So get down to the Machine Project and get preserving, because I just made a batch of from scratch scones, and I am coming over Sunday night.

_______________________

WHAT: Make your own fresh jam and jelly.
WHEN: 10am to 1pm Sunday, August 2, 2009.
WHERE: The Machine project
$$$: FREE!  Bring any fruit you want to turn jammy, and some empty glass jars (sounds like they will have extra for the fruitless).

Yeah, you could buy your own undies, but what’s the fun in that?  From what I’ve seen, they’re crazy easy to make out of old t-shirts (or pillow cases, tablecloths…whatever you want basically).  All you need is a little stretch elastic, an old, beat up pair of knickers to act as the template, and the fabric of your choice.  Oh, and a sewing machine would help, too.

Panties in progress on Cut Out + Keep.

For exact replicas of underwear you already own, give this tutorial a shot.  I was so excited when I found it.  Now I can replicate my favorite boyshorts over and over and over again.  Yippee! And, while you’re at the blog, take a look at her amazing quilts.  She’s incredibly talented.

If you want to make copies of current underwear, but add pretty lace to the edges, check out this tutorial on Cut Out + Keep.  I’m not sure that I would want Stewie Griffin on my ass, but the polka dot half of the undies is pretty cute.

Boxers! With skulls?

Oh, and for the menfolk, Threadbanger also has a great tutorial on making your own boxer shorts.

So, make some cute underwear for yourself or that special someone.  It’s cheap and recycling fabric is good for the planet.

Happy crafting, kids!

One of the downsides of the hanging plant holders I wrote about a few weeks ago is that they’re sort of tricky to water.  You have to either figure out a way to water through the screen (messy) or go outside to water them (easy to forget).  Enter a seemingly-perfect solution: a plant nanny.  I found a doohickey on Michael Chiarello’s website, Napa Style, that lets you use your old wine bottles to deliver a steady, slow stream of water to your plants.  Unfortunately, it costs up to $50.  Not quite worth it.

Cool idea, but crazy expensive!

 I didn’t want to give up on the idea of recycled wine bottles entirely, though.  Reusing them to water your plants looks really cool and its eco-friendly.  So, I figured I’d give the whole thing a shot sans expensive Michael Chiarello spike and just fill up the wine bottle and stick it in the pot.  Guess what?  It worked!  Admittedly, the water came out more quickly than it probably would have if I bought the spike, but for water-loving plants, it would work really well.

So, give it a shot.  All you need is a wine bottle, a potted plant in need of a little love, and some water.

This tree is cute, but not quite the real deal.

Okay, first things first, sorry sorry sorry this is late.  But better late than never, right?  Anyway, I was cruising the Urban Outfitters website (looking at clothes online is the best kind of shopping for broke people) and I saw this jewelry tree.  Draping necklaces over tree branches seems like a pretty sweet idea to me, but something about this fake tree rung, well, false.  And then it occurred to me: I can make one of these for free with a real tree branch and it will look so much better.

And so make I did.  Unfortunately, my camera charger got lost in the ether of moving, but rest assured, it looks pretty damn cool.

What you need:

-A tall-ish jar.  I reused one from pasta sauce.  Just soak it in warm soapy water for a while and the label will come off a lot easier.
-Enough rocks to fill the jar.  I used a bunch that I’ve collected over years of visits to the San Juan Islands in Washington, but if you don’t have any rocks already collected, go on a scavenger hunt around your neighborhood.  Or you could buy some from pretty much any store that sells candles (definitely at Target), but then this project wouldn’t be free.

Real trees are amazing, but not useful for hanging jewelry.

-A tree branch that looks about the right size.  Make sure that it has plenty of places to hang jewelry from.  I found mine while on a walk, but if you can’t find one on the ground, you can cut one from a tree in your yard…just cut off all the leaves.  Whatever branch you get should have an end that’s long enough to reach all the way to the bottom of your jar with the rest of the branch still sticking out the top.
-Jewelry for hanging

Now put it together:

-Fill the jar with your rocks (wash the rocks first if they aren’t clean already). 
-Stick your branch into the jar of rocks and wiggle it around until it’s held pretty tightly and standing straight up.
-Put your jewelry tree wherever you want it to be and drape jewelry artistically.

Seriously, it couldn’t be simpler.  Happy crafting, kids!

What with Kogi being all popular lately and others following suit with anything from upscale ice cream to mobile cupcakes, you now have the opportunity to get your own little corner of the market.  Right on the corner of your desk!

Make your own taco truck thanks to goopymart.

Click here for the designs.

Good Magazine and Trekking LA open up their summer season at El Mercado La Paloma.  This venue was at one time a sweatshop, but is now a community project that serves as an incubator for small businesses.

At the event you will experience some of the best street food from Southeast Mexico, Thailand, and Peru.  There will be Son Jarocho music from Vera Cruz, Mexico.  You will also be able to make a street art (although it hasn’t been specified what kind).

Click here to RSVP.  Do it by NOON day-of, though.  Otherwise you’re out of luck.

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WHAT: Street Food Festival & Music
WHEN: Thursday, June 24th @ 6-9 PM
WHERE: Mercado La Paloma
$$$: Free to RSVP, food will most likely cost a little

Genara wrote last week about the Great American Bake Sale that she went to at Scoops.  It sounded like it was awesome time AND it’s for a good cause – all the money goes towards ending childhood hunger.  You can hold one, too, if you sign up here.

In the spirit of summer bake sales, here are a bunch of crafty ideas to make your bake sale great!

Food ideas:

- Make delicious chocolate cupcakes with a secret peanut butter center.
-And speaking of chocolate, layer chocolate chip cookies with melted marshmallows and chocolate for a s’more sandwich.
-Show people that tie-dye isn’t just for Grateful Dead t-shirts with this crazy rainbow cheesecake.
-Let Martha Stewart, America’s favorite ex-con domestic diva, show you how to decorate cupcakes in style. (Each word’s different, BTW)

Great decorations to DIY:

-Use a balloon to make paper mache lanterns to light up your table.
-Tissue paper, wire, and a little elbow grease = sweet paper flowers.
-Show off just how domestic you are with a cute strawberry apron.
-Make a chalk bunting to advertise your bake sale.
-The example is for a graduation,but this paper banner would look great adorning your table as well.

Oh, and a little tip of my own: people are going to want to take things home with them, so get a bunch of plain paper lunch bags and use an X-Acto knife to carefully carve a big eraser into a rubber stamp. Grab an ink pad and stamp your design onto the bags.

Happy crafting (and baking), kids!

It’s time to take down the I Like You(r Art) collection at the Ragazzi Room and bring some new images to the walls. Do you like to create? Are you a painter, a poet, a closet collager? If you have a painting or two, a photograph or four, maybe even a few framed poems, send jpegs to freeArt@boredLA.com. Not to add any pressure, but we’ve already started filling the space with reprieving favorite local artists: David Phillips, Benjamin Koffman, and Yasmin Alishav.  You don’t need to have a fancy shmancy website or experience to submit and be considered.  We just want to see something you’ve done, something that’s hangable, and something SOON!  If you want to sell your art, wonderful!  The Ragazzi Room asks no commission.
Photo: Liz Ruff
__________________________
WHAT: Your Art at the Ragazzi Room (Again)
WHEN: As Soon As Possible – Deadline is Wednesday June 17th
WHERE: Ragazzi Room
$$$: free

This week, I was inspired by a photo set I saw on Apartment Therapy of an Echo Park woman’s incredibly simple outdoor living space.  It looks lived-in and sweet without being high-maintenance.  One of my favorite details were the votives in glass jars on the window sill. 

Which got me thinking about another blog I read often: Chez Larsson.  Benita, the blog’s creator, recently wrote about etching glass and it seemed really easy with great results. 

Anyway, to make a long story short, it would be super cool to combine the two and make etched glass candle holders out of old jars.  I haven’t actually tried it yet, but once I’m done moving in a couple weeks, it will be on the top of my list.  If you try it before that, let me know how it goes!

What you need:

-Glass canning jars (you can use ones you already have, or buy them at most grocery stores).
-Etching paste
-Vinyl stickers, letters, or tape
-Tool to smooth down the vinyl
-Gloves
-Votive candles
-Wire (if you want to hang your jars)
-Wire cutters 

Now put it together:

1.Benita’s photo tutorial on her etching experience is spot-on, so I won’t try to outdo her. Go here to see how to etch glass. 
2. Once you’ve got your jars etched and cleaned, you can insert votives, set them on a table, and light up.  It’s that simple
3. If you want, you can also hang the jars pretty simply.  Cut a length of wire equal to the circumference of your jar plus an inch or two more.
4. Wrap the wire around the rim of your jar, making sure that the wire is underneath the section of the top where the lid screws on (that way the jar will be able to hang in the wire loop).  Once you’ve done that, wrap the remaining wire around the loop to secure it.
5. Cut a second length of wire about 1o inches long.  Use this to make a hanger for your candle to hang from.  Wrap the ends of this wire around opposite sides of the wire loop that you’ve just made.  Make sure you wrap securely.
6. Hang your new votive holder from somewhere safe and enjoy.  If you make a lot of these, it would be a great way to decorate a patio.

Happy crafting, kids!

With plenty of time before Father’s Day I present to you an easy, thoughtful gift you can give on the cheap (if your dad is hip!): turn a photo into Warhol-esque pop art collage.  I’m making one for my brother (eyes off, bro!) of his son, my adorable nephew.

Start with this picture of him after bathtime.

What you need:

-A digitized photo of your choice
-Photo editing software
-A flash drive (or some other way of getting your file to the photo printer)
-Four frames in the appropriate size

Now put it together:

1. Pick out the photo that you want and then crop it into a perfect square in your photo editing program.  Make sure that the photo you choose has a high enough resolution that it will look good when printed.  If you’re getting it straight off of your digital camera, then it’s a pretty safe bet.
2. Save your picture as whatever file name you want.  You’re going to make four different iterations from here on out, so make sure that you save it as a different name each time.

I did magenta first, then green, yellow and blue

3.  Use the Colorize function of your photo editor and colorize the picture with the color of your choice.  I chose magenta.
4. In the Brightness/Contrast control of the picture, up the brightness, contrast, and saturation of the picture until some of the details are obscured.  There shouldn’t be too much grey.  For my picture, I made the contrast +100, the brightness +70, and the saturation +100.
5. Save your picture as a different name.  Mine changed from Nephew.jpg to NephewPink.jpg.  Make sure that each time you save, you do it at the highest resolution possible.

When you're done, they'll come together to cute, cute pop art.

6. Now, go through and do the process again in three different colors, saving as a different file each time.
7. Take your photos to a place where you can get them printed out on a high quality photo  printer.  You can do this at most pharmacies for less than a dollar a print.  Print out each of your pictures in a size that you like and can fit into a frame (4×4 works well…or you could do 10×10 or 12×12 if you want to go bigger).  Whatever size you want them to be, make sure that they are saved as that size before you go to the store.
 8. Put the photos in your frames.

It’s just that easy (and cheap) to make a trendy Father’s Day gift for the hip dad in your life.  Good luck, and happy crafting, kids!

Heard of Elephants, that wonderful music, art, and all around creative collective based in Los Angeles has something new up their sleeves for the end of May.  This Thursday, Danger Bees, howardAmb, and Tomes will shake the socks in your shoes at the Unknown Theater.  The Unknown Theater is a happy little space that has a stage with theater seating in the back and a lounge bar in the front where, this Thursday, you can check out art by Anna Ayeroff, Kelly Jeanette  Berg, and Kaleb Higgins.  There will also be live art by Juice Box, $2 art raffles that add some mystery to the evening and give you the chance to take home a piece of LA, and some free beer to help you sink into the excitement of the evening.
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WHAT: Heard of Elephants presents: Kaleidoscope
WHEN: Thursday, May 28th.  10pm-1am
WHERE: Unknown Theater
$: 5 (…but free beer while it lasts)