March 11th, 2010
Posted by Morgan Levine
Inspired by Blake’s “Easy Valentines” post last month, and in a rush to decorate for a friend’s birthday party, I came up with another use for those Bistro Chalk Markers.

I used mini clothes pins, monofilament, and a bunch of balloons to make this colorful birthday garland. The bistro markers wrote on the balloon beautifully, and it’s easy to wipe off if you’re nervous about your penmanship.

Tags: balloons, birthday, decorate, garland, party
Posted on March 11th, 2010 in Make It | direct link to this entry |
March 10th, 2010
Posted by Athena Preston

I thought this post would be a nice follow-up to Silke’s recent post on care packages. I’ve been putting together a package myself, to send to a best friend and her family who moved far far away a year ago. Taking inspiration from Silke’s advent calendar, I’m sending lots of small gifts to be unwrapped one per day just for fun… I’ve been gathering my offerings for quite a while (this was originally conceived as a christmas package, yikes) so I thought I’d share some of online sources I’ve made use of – some of which are new to me. Pictures of the package to come in a future post… and Hope, if you’re reading this, stop.
The plate above was found on etsy, made by the ceramicist Whitney Smith, whose work is really nice. Collected by Tas-Ka is a really sweet online store selling a combination of handmade and vintage products. I love their selection. Bell’Occhio is an old favorite of many here at our offices and has so many beautiful and charming things. KIOSK is a great shop with such an inspiring approach in every way, definitely have a look if you haven’t already. I love these paper balloons from Ugisu. And though I think we’ve posted about this amazing source here in NYC, its worth doing so again, because what’s better than a great candy store! And I recently purchased no less than five copies of this book to give as gifts to the little people in my life- it was my absolute favorite growing up and has been out of print for a long time. Anyway, we’re wondering what your favorite sources are!
Posted on March 10th, 2010 in Around Town, On The Web | direct link to this entry |
March 9th, 2010
Posted by Hosanna Houser
I think anyone who has a cat is familiar with the scenario of getting set up to craft, or already totally immersed in crafting, to suddenly find a feline friend who is extremely interested in what is happening.
Equally amusing and frustrating I present my two non-helper helpers. It never ceases to amaze me that they want lots of attention at the precise moment when my hands are their busiest.

After finally getting my embroidery floss organized so I can get to work on a new project, FN decides it’s the perfect moment to distract me with her pretty eyes.

Slate finds that the bag full of poly-fill is clearly the best spot to observe the progress of my glove animal.
If you are looking for more entertaining/distracting photos of helping paws, check out the flickr pool Crafting with Cats.
Tags: craft, Craft Department, embroidery, needle craft, organizing, Pets, sewing
Posted on March 9th, 2010 in TV Crafts | direct link to this entry |