Confession: I’m a very highbrow, sophisticated tea drinker. When sitting with tea, people are not allowed to look me in the eye. Some have claimed to experience an “intellectual high” while in my tea-drinking presence. Yes.
My mom loves tea and, more and more, it’s becoming my drink of choice. Brain juice! In 2008, I made my first attempt at creating a tea from scratch. It seemed like 1) a fun activity, and 2) a great gift idea. I selected some Chinese green tea and combined it with dried pear and a very little bit of lavender. I think it was a big hit.
This year I made my best friend a 2010 blend using Chinese green tea, dried papaya and dried pineapple. Essentially, you can combine any flavors that you think might mingle well together. With the selection of the herbs or fruits or any other flavoring you just want to make sure that you choose food-grade products (not, um, potpourri). Throw a spoonful of your mix into each teabag (many coffee shops or tea houses carry the empty satchels).
By far the most fun to be had here is the “design” portion. I found a small box, designed a cute label and placed my tea bags inside. Each teabag is sewn shut with just a few stitches of regular thread and topped off with a tiny cardstock tag. Previously, I illustrated little objects onto each individual tag. This year I used my typewriter to personalize them with my buddy’s nickname. Ta-dah.
Drink up, nerd badasses!
Handmade notebooks that I made by hand! Neat-o, eh? They are made with sweat and gallons of affection from all sorts of cards and old papers.
While I procrastinate writing or simply want to take a mental vacation, I make stuff. The notebooks have been my favorite project over the past several months because almost everything can be made into one. I’m really conscious to save scraps from everywhere now so that I can incorporate them into new books—the Figaro ones (above, bottom right) were check booklets from one of my most favorite French restaurants.
Once I select the right cover, then I use fresh grid paper and colored embroidery yarn and bind it all together.
Originally, I thought I might sell them on Etsy. I created a shop and everything but then never placed them up for sale. It’s been much more fun to give them away as surprise gifts. It makes me happy to know they’re one-of-a-kind, each with its own individual perfections and flaws.
Inside this toolbox are my secret materials that make crafts. I can’t show them to you.
The container came as pictured, dressed like a flashy figure skater minus the sequins and fringe. Every time I’d take it out, it seemed to scream at me. With jazz hands. Ultimately, that’s just not quite my style. I decided to turn my craft toolbox into a craft project of its own.
Take a mental picture. I got masculine with a can of spray paint this weekend, and I made the colors disappear. I’m a really butch dude, you guys. Like, really manly when I get right down to the sewing ‘n stuff.
Behold my toolbox makeover below the fold!
Read more…
This is a doll. I want it.
Perhaps someone who would not suffer a punishing exchange rate would like to gift it to me? Or we can all just gaze at it on the computer and pretend we have it in real life. He comes from Matilde Beldroega, the handmade doll shop of artist Rita Pinheiro.
I’ve already named my bearded, bespectacled pal. His name is Sandoval. And if this makes me a creepy doll person, SO BE IT.
(Swiss Miss, a great barometer for online cool, spotted this one first. Kudos.)
We went to Portland, OR in October and I made a point to save any papers, tickets or memorabilia that I came across there. Trips are a great time to gather unique scraps that I can later incorporate into handmade projects. I found a really sweet neighborhood flyer in Lower Burnside and a few weeks ago I transformed that into a notebook for my friend Kimberly. Today, I used train tickets, business cards and rubber stamps to make bookmarks for Cameron and myself. It was very easy.
Originally, I had been using the train tickets as bookmarks alone, but they’re so thin and, unless they are sticking out of the top of the book, they get lost in the pages on their own. I decided to reinforce the tickets and glue them slightly to cardboard cards that I picked up at Stumptown Coffee. Then, on the backside I stamped each of our initials. Mine is above, obviously. My “A” is a little off, I know. Such is handmade.
