I wanted to make a rug with roses, so back to Pinterest I went and sure enough there were a couple of examples of crocheted rose rugs and they were gorgeous. That was it, I now knew exactly what I wanted to create, a beautiful crochet rug made to look like a bed of roses.

Have you ever considered purchasing a gourmet food gift? In many cases it can be the perfect gift. When you are stumped and just can't decide what to give, when the receiver is one of those people who has everything, when your recipient is someone you don't know very well, then offering a gift with […]

Diamond Painting is a newer craft that is similar to a paint-by-numbers type of activity without the paint. The finished piece also reminds me a bit of a cross-stitched piece, but instead of using embroidery thread, like DMC floss, the image comes together by placing faceted resin diamonds to a sticky canvas with a design […]

One of the many things I have missed in my office is having a Month-at-a-Glance calendar where I could write in the upcoming special events-important dates such as dinners with friends, birthdays, appointments that I want the family to also remember, travel plans, etc. There are calendars in many office supply stores that are dry […]

For Easter I was tasked with bringing a fruit salad for our family dinner. I like fruit salad, but I often feel like a large bowl of cut up fruit needs a little something, maybe a bit of sugar or honey, some fresh mint is always a nice addition and I could certainly mix in […]

Creating this video was a difficult process. I went through several variations of how to heat the beeswax onto the fabric and most were messy and required too much dedicated equipment or supplies. As a Beekeeper I have work with beeswax a little bit. I have separated wax from honey. I have purified wax to […]

I have long desired to play with quilling techniques and use quilled paper designs on handmade cards. I have purchased some of the basic tools over time and for one reason or another I had lost track of them. While perusing one of my local craft stores I saw a small selection of quilling tools […]

Winding thread onto bobbins and finding an easy storage solution for them became a necessary task when I got a new sewing machine that also had an embroidery function. The sewing machine I use is not overly expensive, but for the small purchase price (under $400) it is a real work horse. I have the […]

When you watch the video about making the Perpetual Annual Calendar on the Cricut Maker it is important to note that this is a follow up to the video about making the Perpetual Monthly Calendar. This video has a bit less detail, but all of the instructions are included from the point where the SVG […]

I designed the Forget-Me-Not Easter Egg Sugar Cookies to be a wonderful beginner sugar cookie project. Royal Icing is not for the meek—there is a learning curve—but I assure you it is not a steep curve. With patience and practice your cookies will start out a little rough, but drastically improve as you work on […]

The Cricut Maker is the latest digital cutting machine made by Provo Craft. It is able to cut paper, vinyl, cardstock, chipboard, bass wood, balsa wood, leather, fabric, felt and iron-on transfers...and I'm sure there is more! This is an elegant machine that is perfect for the home crafter and solid enough to make industrial […]

I was inspired to make this piece when I saw a similar necklace worn by a good friend. It featured brilliant crystals in a matched rainbow color combination that flowed to a centered tassel pendent of brilliant yellow silk. My friend paired the necklace with a black velvet top and ballerina skirt and looked sensational. […]

  Learn to create a Crochet Cast On! It is a useful tool in your knitting tool box! There are a variety of uses that make this in invaluable cast on and I would put it in the intermediate to advanced category. Intermediate or advanced, because if you have not crocheted before then holding the […]

If you are going to create a ribbed piece on your knitted garment, for example, you are making a classic sweater and you want a ribbed waist band, the last thing you want is to lose all of that valuable stretch by starting with a classic cast on. The Cable Rib cast on is an […]

Wow! I am very happy to you want to learn how to do the Ribbed Bind Off. I am assuming you are a beginning to intermediate knitter, and you are expanding your skills in the knitting arena, and of course I may be wrong, but for some reason you stumbled onto this page and wanted […]

So, you’ve done all this work! You have learned to cast on and you have knitted up a beautiful item. Now you need to know how to finish this piece, maybe it’s a scarf, or something more elaborate. It is time to learn how to bind off (or cast off) your knitting. Knowing how to […]

Every year for Christmas I host a “Family Baking Day” where I make dozens of sugar cookies and prepare colorful tubes of royal icing and we have a great deal of fun creating beautiful Christmas Sugar Cookies.  I have had a bit of practice working with sugar cookie dough and royal icing and I have […]

I enjoyed making earrings with wire, crystals and resin filled bezels a great deal. Working with the Thing-A-Ma-Jig Deluxe was very easy and there are so many patterns you can follow to create jewelry components. Shaping wire with the jig is very easy and your work will be consistent by using such a cool craft […]

It is not difficult to learn to knit and to learn properly, in my opinion means that you also learn the purl stitch. Some knitters never move to the purl stitch, yet it is so easy and really expands your creativity. Be fearless when you are learning because if you can learn one half of […]

A Cable Cast On is perfect for neat edges on a knitted project. When you knit this cast on it makes a perfect, firm scroll accent and if you are knitting a blanket or a coat where you want to see a firm edge with lovely detail, then pick the cable cast on. This cast […]