Felt Halloween Badge DIY Tutorial

Are you as excited for Halloween as we are? We've been dreaming up excuses to craft for our favorite holiday, and today we're sharing a tutorial for making your own Halloween prize badges from wool felt. We love these for Halloween costume contests, or just for fun for the holiday!

DIY Halloween Trick-or-Treat Bucket from Wool Felt

We've been crazy busy with a temporary move to Portland (just for the Fall - read about it in our latest newsletter), but we're not letting that get in the way of some serious Halloween crafting! We're brewing ideas on a daily basis, and are excited to share ideas with you on great projects you can complete with supplies found in our Etsy shop. Today we're sharing a Halloween version of our favorite felt bucket (we made one for Easter, too) -- easily completed in under an hour!

Our American Made Top Picks

We have had so much fun being a part of the American Made Awards competition, and mostly enjoyed having the opportunity to discover some new makers in the realms of design, technology, and craft over the last month. Today we thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite makers from around the country with you! Read on to see who inspires us.

Martha Stewart American Made Nomination

Hey crafty people! We up on the list of nominees for the Martha Stewart American Made Awards, and we'd love your support! From now through Sept. 13th, you can vote up to 6 times per day for your favorite American maker in a variety of categories (we're in the Craft section). Click here to read more about our company, and why we'd love for you to support us in this campaign! Tell your friends so we can continue spreading the crafty love everywhere we go!

DIY Tutorial: Origami Sleeve for Sunglasses

We've ruined many pairs of sunglasses by tossing them into our bag, unprotected from floating pens and other sharp edges. We've been meaning to make a sleeve for our glasses, and share the process with you! We aimed to make a sleeve that is simple, unpadded, but provides enough protection from lens scrapes (our biggest concern -- we've never actually crushed a pair). Follow along after the jump to see how we made our origami-inspired sunglasses sleeve, a simple project that requires very little fabric!

DIY Book Bag/Tote Bag for Back to School

We were recently asked to make a book bag for a tiny toddler heading to a new preschool. Excited to make something special and fun, we followed on the 2-year-old's request for "pink", staying within the school's limit of a 2 handle, 12" by 14" tote bag. As some schools stick to guidelines for what the kids can bring to school (to keep the bags wearable and manageable for the kiddies), it's a great opportunity for a parent to find something special and handmade -- and we had so much fun making it! Follow along to see how we did it, along with some tips on applique!

The Curatorial - Online Vintage Pop-Up Shop

photo thanks to thecuratorialatl.com

This week we're super excited for The Curatorial, an online pop-up shop of curated goods for the handmade-enthusiast brought to you by the Indie Craft Experience. We're thrilled to be participating in the August pop-up shop, themed Vintage Treasures. We love vintage -- and hope you'll love what you see in the shop! Read on to find out more.

A Peek inside Close Knit - Portland, Oregon

If you haven't heard, we're spending the next month in Portland, Oregon, from which we will be sharing every ounce of crafty inspiration we come across. We're super excited to have the opportunity to explore this incredibly creative city, and share what we find with you. If you're in Portland, we'd love to hear suggestions on new places we should visit, or events to attend!

Today, we are sharing a visit to a beautiful yarn shop on Alberta Street in NE Portland, Close Knit.

DIY Half Apron Sewing Tutorial

Continuing with our current obsession with linen, we'd like to share with you a super simple sewing project that makes a really great gift or addition to any kitchen. This half apron is customizable for your specific needs, and is a great item for any cook. We love having a place to clean our hands while we're cooking, and the lining on this apron makes keeping the front clean easy! It's the perfect apron if you don't have to worry about oil splatter on your top half, just enough protection and wiping space for typical cooking. Click more to see the full tutorial!

Beach Tote DIY Sewing Tutorial

The heat is really getting to us this summer, making us crave all things made from linen. Linen (and linen/cotton blends) are our favorite selection for summer sewing because the linen doesn't absorb as much moisture as cotton does, and leaves us feeling extra cool on these swelteringly hot days. We hit the fabric shop and bought a few yards of linen for a wide range of projects to share with you this summer! We had a Fan Friday giveaway on our Facebook page last week, and the winner was awarded a simple beach tote handmade just for them! Click more to see how we did it!