I had an old pair of shoes I rarely wore, so I decided to make them AWESOME.





These are definitely more my style. I coated them in fine glitter, sealed them with polyurethane, and added some hand sewn felt appliques to the toes. Now I have something unique to wear to parties (or the the grocery store, whatever). I love them so much that I put together a tutorial on my blog. Check it out! http://alternamommy.blogspot.com/2012/03/tutorial-glitter-monster-shoe-makeover.html

I made this little guy for the Coraline swap (really, what Craftster member could see that movie and not want to make one of these?). I've seen a few knitted and crocheted versions but I have no idea how to do either of those, so I made one out of fleece instead. I just kind of winged the pattern, trial-and-error style, until I was happy with it. He's mostly machine sewn, but the legs and bottom are attached by hand. The button eye is polymer clay.





He was hard to part with. I think I'm going to have to make one for myself too. 

I don't paint very often and I'm definitely no pro, but I have a lot of fun when I do. Here's a little portrait I painted of our family almost a year ago.

It's acrylic on canvas board, with permanent marker for the outlines

How exactly does one go about organizing a swap? What are the first steps you have to take to start one? I know that you need to post signups, assign partners, leave feedback, etc., but I guess what I'm asking is how do you BECOME an organizer? Do you have to contact a swap mod or do a magic dance of some sort? I feel like I'm missing something. If there is a forum topic about this already please direct me to it! Thanks 

My daughter wanted to go as her favorite insect this year. I showed her some pictures of those cute bee dresses you see in costume shops (you know, a striped top and fluffy yellow tutu) but she insisted on looking like a real bee. She told me she had to have six legs, a thorax and abdomen, and a ball of pollen on her leg. This is what I came up with.



The extra legs are connected to wristbands on her arms with black thread, and the "pollen ball" is carved and painted styrofoam, attached with an elastic band.

A friend who was cleaning out his house gave me six duckpin bowling balls to use as I wish in my crafty endeavors. For those not familiar with duckpin bowling, its like regular bowling, only smaller. The balls are about 5 inches in diameter and have no finger holes. I love the idea of creating something with these balls but I have no idea what to make! I've seen people cover regular bowling balls in mosaic tiles and use them as garden decorations, but I'd like to do something more unique. Any suggestions?



A ball in my hand, for scale

I made these wings and costumes for my daughter and I to wear to the Maryland Faerie Festival. It took several tries before I could get the wings just right. The pantyhose method didn't work well with the wire I was using, so I used a sheer white curtain that had been lying in my stash for years and hot glued it to the wire frames. I also tried painting them with regular acrylic paint and a sponge brush but the color came out too opaque for my taste. Instead I decided to try spray paint and that worked perfectly.

Hers...


Mine...


She asked for a shirt and pants with blue on the top and orange on the bottom, so I made a pillowcase top and bloomers and dip dyed them to her specifications. The "belt" is just blue ribbon with a flower hot glued onto it, and the headband is more of the same wire I used for the wings.



I made myself a headband out of ribbon, elastic, felt, and more fake flowers


And I made my skirt by cutting up a dryad costume I made years ago for my boyfriend's LARP


And because this post doesn't have enough pictures yet, I also made a pair of wings for my boyfriend's niece's birthday. This time I whip stitched the fabric to the wire after hot gluing it in place, to make it extra secure. She's a bit of a wild child and I was afraid she would destroy them. She really loved them, though, and according to her mother she wants to wear them all the time now.

I'm thinking about closing my Etsy shop--my heart's just not in it anymore--and starting up a new line of gifts and accessories that caters to a more "alternative" crowd. I just think it would suit my personality better. One of the things I'd like to sell are a collection of zombie dolls like this one:



Do you think there'd be a market for cute, cuddly zombies? Would you buy one? How much do you think they should sell for?

I was thinking of making each doll one-of-a-kind, with different hair, eyes, clothing, injuries, etc. Possibly even offering custom made zombies where the customer can design the doll themselves.

After making a valentine zombie for my boyfriend I decided to try making more. They're just so much fun! I made this one a little differently; she's much larger--21"-- and more like a ragdoll. I named her Sarah, after a girl who used to pick on me in high school 



Closeup of her horrible injury:



The fun part was spattering her with the "blood" (watered down acrylic paint) after she was all finished. I think it gives her more personality. 

I made more! This is Tara...



And Alex...

I found this project in Mark Montano's Big-Ass Book of Crafts, and fell in love with it instantly. Many many hours and many many little paper circles later I have a bathroom trash can made from recycled magazine pages. I'd like to use this technique to make more items for my home. Maybe some coasters or little storage boxes.


 
Looking down into it. The bottom is a big disk made from strips of paper coiled together and I filled in the center hole with a bead of hot glue.