written by threadslinger

My mom, already acting in her grandmother role, sent us a ton of kitten toys*. The kitties were so happy and acting like it was Christmas. However, after a day or so all the toys were lost, either stuck under the couch/bed or knocked behind the dishwasher, etc. So, as I was vacuuming today I retrieved all the toys and decided to make this kitty toy box to store them in. They love it cause all their toys are in one place and we love it cause it means I won’t have to wake up in the middle of the night and accidentally step on a furry mouse toy and nearly have a heart attack. This is also super easy and fun.

Materials needed:

1 box (I used a small package box about 10 x 4 inches)
pretty paper (I used 1 sheet of scrap booking paper)
Paper ribbon (can be found at most craft/art stores)
glue
Magazine cut outs and things to decorate it with.

Directions:

1. Cut off the top of the box. Then cut a rectangle out of the front of the box.
2. Cover with paper both inside and outside the box, like so:

3. After box is covered put a glue a ribbon along the top so that it creates a “seal” for the paper on either side of the box.
4. Decorate as you wish. I put the names of my three kitties on the front of the box but if you have any other ideas use them. And, now you have a pretty box that will make both you and your kitties happy.

*I realize this is the second cat related craft Miss Marie and I have posted. I promise this is not going to become a cat crafting blog we just both happen to be crazy cat ladies now, okay?

written by marieann

This is another project from the 99 Ways to Cut, Sew, Trim, and Tie Your T-Shirt into Something Special by Faith Blakeney — the Justinia. This is also a no sew shirt. You should definitely check out the book to find 97 more ideas.

Materials:
T-Shirt

Tools:
Scissors

Instructions:

1. Cut the sleeves of the t-shirt off into a tank shape. ( I cut the sleeves hole too big, don’t do that too.)

2. Cut the neck of the t-shirt off into a tank shape.

3. Cut a long triangle from the left-over sleeve material.

4. Poke a hole in the shirt just below the neckline.

5. Thread the long triangle thru and loosely knot it.

written by marieann

This relatively healthy, vegetarian (and I think vegan) is an instant family favorite. It’s a snap to make, makes a lot, and you can eat it slightly warm or even chilled with salad greens (like spinach!) for more healthiness. I’m not too good at photographing food so you’ll have to use your imagination a little. Also, I got this recipe out of the Friends cookbook under the Phoebe section. Yes, I do own that book. No, I wasn’t being ironic.

Ingredients
3 cups of cooked rice
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 large red (or green) bell pepper, diced small
1/4 cup sliced (or whole) almonds, lightly toasted
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves (or parsley)

Instructions
1. Prepare the brown rice according to package directions. Stir in the chick peas, bell pepper, and toasted almonds.

2. Whisk the oil, lemon juice, vinegar, curry and salt together. Stir in the basil.

3. Drizzle the dressing over the brown rice salad and mix well until the salad is evenly coated.

written by threadslinger

It is barely fall and already I couldn’t wait to start crocheting again. I am not very professional with my crochet directions because I still have no idea how to do all the super cool crochet stitches (see this post for my directions on how to make a hat if you don’t know how to read crochet patterns). I basically just think with my head I want to make “x” whatever that is and then I play around with the yarn until it is made. So, here are my very limited crochet instructions, but I suggest that you use your own judgement for your own feet. These are tailor made to my own foot, (ie as I was making it I kept on trying it on) and I suggest that you do the same thing if you want your toes to be super cozy.

Materials needed

2 kinds of soft yarn
1 6 MM crochet hook
1 9 MM crochet hook

Directions

1. Do a single crochet chain, for my foot I did 8 crochet stitches across.
2. Flip and repeat doing a single crochet stitch until you have about 4 rows.
3. Then do a single crochet stitch and the loop yarn around hook without going through a crochet loop. Repeat process for the next 3 rows.
4. Continue going back and forth doing a regular single stitch (step 2) and then do the skip stitch (step 3). While you are doing this keep on trying on the “sock” and fitting it around your foot. This should be done until it gets midway up your ankle.
5. Now, your sock is essentially done but I made a little crochet heart for the ankle. I also reinforced the heel (cause those always wear out the most) by crocheting a little rectangle and then stitching it to the sock. And, after that you are done! Welcome to cozy feet city.

written by admin

My friends came over for my birthday and brought a case of beer. My new kittens loved to jump in the box and hide in there. I didn’t want to keep a Budweiser box in my apartment but I didn’t want to throw their house away. So I made them a kitty house. This is quite simple but adorable.
Supplies:
Colored paper/magzine scraps
Kitten sized boxed (beer or soda boxes work well)
Cellophane (do NOT use something thiner like plastic wrap)

Tools:

Tacky glue
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Knife
Ruler

Instructions:

1. Draw out a design for your house — complete with windows.
2. Trace the windows on your cardboard box and cut them out with a knife.
3. Using the hot glue gun, glue cellophane over the holes on the outside of the bare cardboard box. You don’t have to trim the cellophane close to edges as this will be covered.
4. Glue a solid sheet of paper (with holes cut over the windows) on the sides of the box.
5. Cut paper from old magazines, cardstock, etc. to form the houses (leaving holes for the windows).
6. If you want the house to stay in good shape, then cover the whole thing with packaging tape.
7. Play with the kitties with it! They especially like it if you roll a ball into it, they’ll chase it inside.

Please be sure to supervise your kitties when they play with this so that they don’t tear and eat the cellophane or anything.

If you’d like to see more of my kittens, check out their blog.

written by marieann

My best friend just got married. She had a gorgeous rainbow theme for her wedding because she loves bright colors — so I knew I’d choose similiar colors. I also love Hawaii (and details!) so I chose the pineapple pattern. Each strip is a mere 1.25 inches wide! I had it machine longarm quilted for the pretty quilting design. If you’d like to see more photos, including progress pictures, check them out here.

written by threadslinger

Since we are always encouraging our readers to make our projects and then send us pics of the end result I thought I would have a go at using Marie’s excellent circle skirt tut and show the results here to encourage you all to do the same with our projects. The only difference is I used cotton instead of stretchy knit so here are some directions on how to make a circle skirt with cotton fabric.

Materials
Same as Marie’s tut referenced above except use cotton fabric and you need enough elastic (I used the 1 inch thick kind) to go around your waist of skirt.

Directions

1. Same as Marie’s except at step number 3 cut out another copy of the waist band fabric.
2. Cut out elastic band long enough to go around waist.
3. Sew a “tube” out of the additional waist band material by folding it around the elastic.
4. After tube is created go back to step 4 of Marie’s instructions and just sew the elastic tube into the waist band. This will allow you to be able to pull the skirt on and off. If desired you can sew additional tubes to sew into the skirt if its not stretchy enough.

And, here is the finished product, albeit a pretty awful picture of me, but you get the idea.

written by threadslinger

In case you haven’t noticed, I am a big modge podger. This journal is great because you can customise the journal to express certain things about yourself or certain ideas you want the journal to inspire.

Materials
- Blank journal (these are usually super cheap)
- Magazine cutouts
- Modge podge
- foam brush

Directions:

1. Start with blank journal like this:

2. Then place different pieces of magazine cut outs on journal until you have desired design. Everyone does modge podge collages a little differently but I think that it is good to try and layer on different sizes intsead of just cutting out squares.

3. After you have the magazine pieces placed you can brush on modge podge over the magazine cutouts. It will look white at first but don’t worry it drys clear. And, then you are done and you have a lovely new journal.

ps these also make great gifts!

written by marieann

My guy co-worker requested a Hello Kitty t-shirt. I knew he’d wear it to be ironic but I just couldn’t bear to make him a little girl Hello Kitty so I made it “manly” with the pirate take. It’s perfect for any gender who loves HK’s style but wants to be unique.  Also, this post marks our return to regular weekly tutorial posting — there are many more projects to come!

See my previous posts, here, for general stenciling tips and here, for bridge building instructions.

Click on the pattern to view/print the full size stencil (you may need to re-size larger to cover your shirt as you wish). Only cut out the solid lines and the full crossbones.