Stocking Stuffers

Need some fun and inexpensive stocking stuffers this season? How about crafting something unique for your friends and family? A quick trip to the craft store and a little bit of quiet time can yield special gifts made just for them.

In the spirit of the season and in support of "making", I'm pulling some easy tutorials from our archives in hopes of inspiring you to create something special for the ones you love. Pick up your materials this week and set aside a little time this weekend to focus your holiday love into these fun projects. The end-result is sure to be appreciated. :)

- Alex

What the Kids Are Wearing - Easy-peasy pop-tab bracelets for girls, boys, and even grown-ups (depending on the lacing materials you choose). Check on YouTube for variations and put your own spin on it to ensure that your gift fits the receiver's personality.








Making Your Own Hand Lotion Bars - An awesome and easy idea, hand lotion bars can be taken anywhere and are great for dry, cracked winter skin. Personalize with the receiver's favorite scent - or make it "unscented" and enjoy the pure smell of the oils.







Bread Baking Without Fear - Seriously, who doesn't love a loaf of homemade bread? And you can personalize it by adding the receiver's
favorite flavors - garlic, herbs (rosemary, thyme), cheese, etc. This easy, easy recipe will have them all believing you're the next Top Chef. :)






Rainy Day Crafts - Two simple, but impressive, crafts that will bring a smile to even the Grinchiest of faces. Make t-shirts with a stencil and a bleach-pen or paint your own mugs (or plates or any other white,
ceramics). These are the ultimate in personalized gifts and are super-inexpensive and fun to do.




Handmade Holidays - A list of links to various resources for holiday craft tutorials. There's some great stuff in here - especially for making holiday ornaments!

Creative Community

We makers tend to find each other. Before the interwebs, we had knitting groups, sewing and quilting circles, and canning parties. But, with the advent of social media, we've REALLY come together.

Knitters meet, share, and create on Ravelry. Aspiring home chefs find friends on Food52. Crafters of every ilk convene on Craftsy.

And the best part is that physical boundries don't matter! I can do a Knit-Along with people from all over the world. I can learn how to make perfect Birani rice from someone living in India. And I can get sewing tips from that cool quilter I met who lives the next state over. The only thing we're limited by is our abilty to communicate. The Internet makes me want to learn ALL the languages.

Let me take this small space to thank all the people of the world who have chosen to learn English as their second language. You're spoiling us but I really appreciate that I can talk to you. :)

This brings me to what I want to share with you today - Instructables.com.

I totally stumbled on this site when I was looking for an example of how to make something that I wanted to make as a stocking stuffer.

Here's what I love about Instructables:

1. If you can conceive of it, there are probably instructions on this site about how to make it.
2. The site is VERY simple - more of an expanded forum than a slick social media site like FB.
3. There are tons of opportunities to connect with other makers - provide feedback, get help, etc.
4. And there are so many projects that I want to try, I don't even know where to start!
5. It's a deep well of inspiration.

A couple of things I'm not crazy about are:

1. In its simplicity, it can also be a bit clunky and a little difficult to navigate.
2. There seem to be a lot of ads that are not clearly ads (ie: they're mostly text and are, randomly, in the middle of the instructions sometimes.)

That being said, right now I'm lost in the Play section. There's a whole "channel" called Handmade Toys with instructions for everything from making your own Play-Doh to how to make your own light saber. This is holiday heaven! My next stop is going to be the section on holiday crafts.

Oh! And I totally forgot to mention that YOU can contribute to Instructables (of course) and they have contests that you can enter or participate in by voting for your favorites. I'm thinking about entering the Soups and Stews contest or maybe the Reuse contest or maybe the Holiday Gift contest or... yeah. All the contests.

So, if you're looking for a last minute project for the holiday or you just need some inspiration, check out Instructables.com. I promise you won't get bored.

- Alex

Handmade Holidays

I love handmade gifts. I love to make them - and to make them perfect for the person receiving the item. I love to give them because I'm very prideful of my work. And I love to receive them and see other people's work.

Last year's holiday scarf for my niece

In that spirit, we're going to feature a number of our tutorials in the Mighty Distractible sidebar during the holiday season. Hopefully, this will inspire you to make gifts for the people on your list. As Cassandra is fond of saying whenever we knit a gift, "Every stitch is knit with love".  Of course, she's usually saying it sarcastically while knitting something problematic but there is a smidge of truth to it regardless.

Also, today's post contains links to a number of my favorite holiday craft resources. I found some great ideas around the web and really wanted to share them.

Happy holiday season - regardless of which one you celebrate. :)

- Alex

Pinterest is always an amazing resource:

• Christmas Craft Ideas
• Hanukkah crafts
• Winter Solstice Crafts
• Gift Wrap Ideas

Meant as crafts for kids, this is a nice post of Winter Solstice craft ideas - The Crafty Crow

Everythingetsy.com is one of the best online link resources for crafters. Here are just two of my favorite posts:

• 101 Handmade Holiday Tutorials
• 101 Handmade Ornament Tutorials

And, of course, no one does it better than Martha!

• Christmas Crafts
• Christmas Gift Wrapping Ideas
• Hanukkah Crafts

I'm a Sensible Girl?

I am a person who tries to pay attention to what the universe is saying to them. I take note of my dreams, the things that seem to catch my eye on TV or online, and the stuff that comes up in basic conversation. Sometimes a trend develops, and that's when I have to delve deeper into that subject. Right now I am being drawn to the idea of simplicity.

I know, I know...simplicity is one of those buzzwords like creativity that inspire people to the navel-gazing that leads to a grand proclamation about sweeping life changes... and in the end you just stay the same. Trust me, I'm tired of the hype too. So, instead of saying that I'm simplifying, I am being sensible.

This is what a sensible person's pantry looks like.

If I'm being honest, living more simply means being more like my Great-Grandmother. And she was wonderfully sensible. Her home was warm and inviting with useful handmade items everywhere. It was neat as a pin (from basement to walk-up attic) because there was a place for everything. Cleaning for her must have been a snap because there was no time spent on clutter-clearing. She had beautiful things that you could really appreciate because there weren't distractions everywhere. That house had the vibe I'm striving to manifest in my own home.

Putting stuff in bins is not cleaning.

Sensible Home = Peaceful Mind

Much like the addict who hits rock bottom and never touches their vice again, I think I've had enough of the clutter in my world. Literally and mentally. First and foremost, I need to pare down. Shed things that are no longer useful and make a sensible place for everything I do need. This is quite a task! My first step is to fill my car with items to be donated. Then I can start to evaluate my space and find sensible places for sensible items.

The donation box is one of my best friends.

Once I get a handle on my environment, then I can turn my attention to the other parts of my life that need this treatment. Sensible foods, sensible gardening, sensible yada yada... happily turning back the clock 75 years and sharing the wins and losses with you.

–Cassandra