Done any exciting crafts lately? I told y'all about the leafs & wax paper thing -- now you tell me what you've done.

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2000

Answers

I did some paper mache death masks for halloween decorations. You just get some heavy-duty aluminum foil, spread it over a face (yours or someone else's..I used my dog) to shape, and then use that as your mold for the paper mache. They turn out pretty cool.

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2000

I want to make my own body scrub stuff, and I'm sure someone here knows how to do it, right? I'm using some now that has sugar as it's exfoliant, and has little dried up rosebuds in it, but I can't figure out what's being used for the moisturizer.

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2000

I made oatmeal scrubbie soaps, out of oatmeal that I blended until it was almost fine, and added it to melted facial soap that I bought at Michael's for soapmaking.

This weekend while I was walking around the Blue Ridge Mountains I found a tree that had a bunch of tiny pinecones. I took a bunch of them home to do something crafty, but I'm not sure what to do with them.

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2000

Oh boy! An excellent topic for me right now! I have quit smoking (two weeks now and I haven't cheated once...long story, but a hospital stay has turned my wicked ways around). So, what do do with all this time? Spouse gave me green light to go spend to my heart's content on new craft stuff; here's what I've got going on so far:

Fingertip towel for the holiday bathroom, cross-stiched "welcome" with silk ribbon embroidery flowers/leaves. Silk ribbon is pissing me off, this one is on hold for a few days.

Trio of stuffed, felt Santas with blanket stitch detailing for my grandmother for xmas. Did two sets three years ago for mom and mom in- law, had cut out third set and just got sick of looking at the damn things. Benefit on this project is I had it about 75% done when I put it away, found it yesterday and am fully geeked about it.

Snowman banner with matching snowman doll, out of felt: this I'm going to do for me, for my bathroom. We're having the family over to our house for the first time, and I'm taking EVERYTHING out of the bathroom and replacing it all with xmas stuff.

Little felt mittens for buffet table, to hold silverware settings...I think I need to make about 15 of these, but they should go quickly. Too cute.

Curtain for doorway that separates kitchen & laundry room: tired of looking at dryer, so I made this curtain out of a yellow calico, then I added this little skirt thing at the top out of a print of bright peppers on a black background...but the skirt is too long and it's needs a-fixin', so I have to rip out and adjust. Hate that.

Handpainted mirror in frame: had this small, kinda cute mirror I ordered from Current like 10 years ago, but it was all pastel southwestern painted wood, totally NOT our decorating style anymore. I almost threw it away and then said WAIT! I can paint this to do in xmas bathroom! It's red, so far...I'm not sure what I'll do to it. Any ideas?

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2000

You can make pinecone wreaths. And spraypaint them gold. Or not.

Thanks for the tip about Michael's! Seriously, I never go in there because I usually wind up buying some $60 cross-stitch thing that I never finish. But maybe I'll do this for my crafty-Christmas thing.

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2000

A few months ago I made a picture out of Pansies. You dry the petals and stems between pages of a book for a few weeks and then you glue them on to watercolor paper. It came out really nice. I got the idea out of a Good Housekeeping Do It Yourself magazine.

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2000

Gardanna, how do you paint them? I mean, what colors and stuff? I'm not sure what you mean by death masks, exactly.

I've been working on Halloween costumes. After those, I plan to make refrigerator magnets. I bought a bunch of plain round magnets. I have a bunch of tiny fake soda bottles I got from a Mexican import store. I have little doll heads from Wal-Mart. I have metallic Barbie boots. I have my wits and my resourcefullness and a glue gun. I'm ready.

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2000

I am starting on a pair of those glove/mitten things for my Dad for Christmas (the ones with the half-finger gloves and the mitten tops that you can push back if you need to do something with your fingers...argh, not explaining well but hopefully you know what I mean). I never know what to get him and he likes it when I knit things because his mother was a master knitter, so I thought this was a good idea.

I'm way into stencils right now. With some nice paint, sponges, and plain lampshades or whatever you want to use you can make some beautiful things. I love the sound of the snowman thing for the bathroom... snowmans are my favourite craft-type thing to make for Christmas.

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2000

Good grief, I can't believe I wrote "snowmans"... yes, I know, snowmen. Sorry. The husband-to-be and I spent the whole day walking to places to investigate new apartments and my brain is fried.

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2000

I love southwest stuff. My house is all in the southwest flavors and colors with pottery and RC Gorman stuff. So I purchased this awesome southwest motif material from this yardage store in Dunsmuir northern California when I was up there this weekend. I'm going to make some bedspreads for the big beds in the house. I purchased a futon from "Ickia" and didn't like anything they had for spreads so I'm making my own. You know. The really fluffy kind about 4" thick. With matching pillow cases. And I got some other southwest style material with panels of different Indian pottery motifs. I'll make throw pillows out of them. My wife just rolls her eyes when I do stuff like this. But I always finish the projects. She wants the house done but I get tired of working on it so I take breaks and do cool arts and crafts stuff. I have an idea about those bags with the candles in them that will be an awesome picture. And Gwen missed out on a cool book I found. It was cooking trailer trash style. The Trailer Trash Cook Book is the title I think but she wouldn't trust me with her address so I can't send it to her. Or have my landscape maintenance people redo her garden. Oh well. And my house just stinks to high heaven with all the irises I was going to send her. James

-- Anonymous, October 23, 2000

Most of the stuff I make is sold on the web to benefit rescue. I make martingale leads, paint mailboxes, sports chairs & cookie jars, sew bait bags, crate covers. I also make pin-back buttons and laminated stuff (like badges), plus the usual crossstitch, etc.

A couple of neat things I did for awhile included making copperwire spider webs with little "jewel" spiders in them, and I make wreaths out of Christmas tree balls. That sounds tacky, but they look really cool. I saw one in a catalog for $45, and just knew I could make one just as good for a whole lot less.

-- Anonymous, October 24, 2000

Gwen, I made voodoo masks that I got out of a book. Since they're just paper mache, you can use poster paints or really any kind. I got those cheapo paints from Hobby Lobby that I'm really blanking on the name right now... The dog ones look really scary. If you can get a dog to sit still long enough to use its face.

-- Anonymous, October 24, 2000

Yeah, those sound cool. I wonder if I could borrow a dog to do that. Mary Ellen, are your crafts for sale on your site, or in other places?

James, I started to write back and send you my address but then the FBI was taking so long to send me the results from your background check... you know how it is, don't you?

-- Anonymous, October 24, 2000

The only things I make that even come close to "craft" these days are friendship bracelets. I know, sounds lame, doesn't it. My wife teases me about it, exclaiming about her 34 year old husband making bracelets like some 12 year old girl. Tough. I like coming up with cool designs, working on them usually takes me a long time so it's kinda relaxing, and I enjoy wearing some of them. Some friends of mine have commented to me that they'd like some for themselves. Seems people forget about stuff like this once they grow up.

-- Anonymous, October 24, 2000

I don't have my stuff up on my website. I donate it all, so it's easier to let the fundraising coordinator take all the orders and handle all the payments. Right now they're at:

Stuff for sale

I do items number 2, 31 and 23. They put my other stuff up from time to time, but like to rotate things in and out.

-- Anonymous, October 24, 2000

Well, I've just finished a quilt for my daughter. The pattern is called "Baby Rosebud" and basically it looks like light pink roses buds with two green leaves on a white background. The rosebud blocks alternate with hot pink plain blocks. The quilt has green inner and pink and green outer boarders. My daughter loves it. Since giving it to her I've started a new quilt. It uses scraps of red and green fabrics, along with dark brown and white fabrics. For this quilt, you sew strips of red, green, brown and white fabrics together, then cut off squares of the strips. You then piece 4 of the squares together in a "parquet" type pattern. Then you sew all of the "parquet" squares together. It looks very cool overall. It should keep me busy for quite some time.

-- Anonymous, October 24, 2000

Michelle, isn't that called "Railroad"? Rock on. You too, Paul. Y'all go with your crafty selves.

-- Anonymous, October 24, 2000

Those damn guys. That was a long time ago and I hoped the judge had forgotten about it. He told me he didn't inhale. Don't let them know you know me Gwenz. Mulder and Scully can really grill you. But if you still insist on giving me a mail boxes ect address I'll understand. James

-- Anonymous, October 24, 2000

Why do you wanna send me stuff so badly, honey? You barely know me.

Anyone can get my real address from my domain info, actually. I'd send it to you, because I know that no one would bother to drive all the way out to Leander to kill me. But I just wonder why you wanna be so nice to a stranger like myself.

-- Anonymous, October 24, 2000

Just to back Gwen up: Leander is REALLY OUT THERE. Seriously, I live in Austin, and I don't think I could drive that far. :)

-- Anonymous, October 25, 2000

I need to finish this cross-stitch I started 3 years ago for my little brothers. It's a Mary Engelbreit of two boys and a dog- my youngest brother is excited about it because he thinks it means my parents will have to get them a dog to make it accurate. After that I'm doing a cross-stitch for my best friend which I got at the JFK library- it's a replica of a pillow that JFK had in the Oval Office. It's much simpler so hopefully I'll have them both done by Christmas.

I really want to learn how to knit, but worry it's too hard.

-- Anonymous, October 25, 2000

scrnwrt, by coincidence, I want to learn to knit as well. I tried getting a how-to book and it was of minimal use. I contacted this Yarn store (i think it's actually called "Yarn Barn", but anyway) and the lady there said she'd teach me for free as long as I bought my stuff there. So, maybe you could find some place like that?

-- Anonymous, October 25, 2000

Gardanna, I think you mean Donna's Yarn Barn. Donna gave me a lesson once. I just can't get into knitting, though.

-- Anonymous, October 25, 2000

I just think it would be cool to make my own sweaters. And scarves. Not that I don't already have more scarves and sweaters than anyone could possibly need.

-- Anonymous, October 25, 2000

Wow, you're right, it *was* Donna's Yarn Barn.. I was thinking Dee Dee's, but Donna sounds more accurate. I mainly want to be able to make wearable stuff. I vacillate between wanting to knit and wanting to sew. I can't do either, so no harm done.

-- Anonymous, October 25, 2000

i licke to paint those paintby number pictures! im realy good at them to!! i have them all over my place and some times i give them as gifts. my favorite on is the one i did of jesus.

-- Anonymous, October 25, 2000

The craftiest thing I do is look pathetic and ask my mother-in-law for help. After all, who but a tiny manic woman would glue gun thousands of feathers onto a sweatshirt for my son? He wanted to be a bluejay for Halloween, and I was stymied. If I can't throw a colored sheet over them and call them a blueberry (last year's lame-o costume), I'm lost. So, I just casually drop into conversation that I'm thinking of making the boys' Halloween costume again this year and she starts to sweat. "Oh, Really? What are you making?" "Well, they want to go as a bluejay and an Alaskan timber wolf, but I don't feel I've exhausted the fruit idea yet." Before I can say "You're a grapefruit, son", the blue feathers and gray fur is flying. Now that's crafty!

-- Anonymous, October 26, 2000

I've really been getting into Collage lately. It kind of represents how your mind puts things together in pictures and dreams. Lately I've been looking at life as one big collage that just keeps adding and growing. Some parts fade and other pictures are more prevalent but it's just one huge abstract collage of life.

-- Anonymous, October 26, 2000

Gwen, to answer your question about "why so nice to a stranger like myself" here's how I look at it (actually I was asked that same question by a friend of mine about why I was sending that tape.) I love periodicals, and spend good money on magazine subscriptions, some of which aren't half as entertaining as your site. I figure it's a cool investment to share stuff with you because it seems to come back 10 fold in laughs. If nothing else, it might show up in the journal as "I got the most bogus____ in the mail today." Plus, I am not so jaded to think I can't read good karma sometimes, even through the web. I've met a couple of very cool email friends through the web (some even send stuff from London! Talk about too far to drive!) so what goes around comes around I guess. ---- Did I even answer that question?

-- Anonymous, October 26, 2000