I know you’re thinking of really making this year a handmade holiday right? You’ve probably already gathered your ingredients for all the cookie platters you plan to make for parties, clipped all the necessary recipes from various resources and maaaaybe didn’t look away from the TV while some lady named Martha prattled on about ‘easy table centerpieces’.

But now you’re too tired to knit that hat or solder that pair of earrings right?  So where can you find people who have done all the crafty hard work for you?

You’ll find them at the Bloomingdale Holiday Art Market! This annual holiday market returns to the Big Bear Cafe in Washington, DC on Sunday December 5th.  6 top-notch, DC-based crafters  have done the work for you and will be selling unique handmade goods from 4-9pm (full disclosure, I am one of them but I assure you, we are the notchiest).

Organized by the artistic husband and wife team of Goshdarnknit’s Rania Hassan and Scenic Artisan’s Sean Hennessey Big Bear Cafe (now with alcohol!) is hosting this event with many things to do. Caroling! Buy a Christmas tree! Have a Bloomingdale photographer snap your holiday portrait! And let’s not forget the spiced rum… let’s never forget the spiced rum.

Other vendor offerings include luxe, one-of-a-kind handmade bags by Eve VanDalsen , the green (as in recycled) jewelry of Figs & Ginger and the kid-centric embroidery of  60 Bugs. And… oh yeah, me! I make plush animals out of recycled sweaters .

The Bloomingdale Holiday Market is Sunday, December 5 from 4-9 pm at Big Bear Cafe located at the corner of 1st and R street NW in the adorable Bloomingdale neighborhood.

I can’t seem to stop purchasing these beasts for my own home, and have thus become friends with their maker (and thus rendered myself ineligible from jurying her for Crafty Bastards) & will say this: If the world runs out of color, we needn’t worry. There’s a stockpile of rainbows in Strunge’s utopian Baltimore studio. I’ve seen it firsthand.

Check out Cotton Monsters in the vendor gallery and at Crafty Bastards at October 2, 2010.

Plush Sculpture and Toys Class with Beth Baldwin
Sunday, April 11 at the FREEZER
633 E Street Rear SE
2 to 4 p.m.
$25 suggest donation

In this week’s episode, Beth Baldwin finds herself stitching the words ‘thug life’.

Click here to download the episode (right-click and choose “save as” on PC, or control-click and choose “save as” on Mac)

You can check out Beth’s shop online at http://www.tigerflight.etsy.com. Check out a gallery of the Mortal Plush show.

It is Luke in the dead Tauntaun from Star Wars. She writes that this piece is for a show later this summer called Stitch Wars .

Is it just me, or doesn’t this piece need blood? I guess that is kinda what I like about it. I think it is interesting that she leaves the blood out.

Check out Heidi’s blog for more photos of this amazing piece.

Crafty Bastards 2009 planning is underway and vendor applications will be availble soon!  Please forgive the outdated info on the site.  We are working to get everything updated.  A couple notes about Crafty Bastards 2009.

There will not be a Crafty Bastards show in Silver Spring, MD in June. However, the folks at Pyramid Atlantic have paired up with Party Hat Rodeo (aka Kimberly Dorn) and 60Bugs (aka Debbie Lee) to produce the first ever Handmade Mart in Silver Spring.  Vendor applications are being accepted through April 30th.  Read more here.

The fall showing of Crafty Bastards is scheduled for Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 from 10am-5pm in Washington, DC.  For 2009, the City Paper has joined forces with Hello Craft and promises another awesome showing of handmade goods you won’t find anywhere else in the area.

Applications for Crafty Bastards 2009 will be online soon!  We will announce when applications are ready on the blog and to the Crafty Bastards email list.  Stay tuned so you don’t miss out!

One of the cutest new items that I saw at Crafty Bastards Silver Spring was the tiny Tofu for Obama plush by Chris Creatures. Not only is this tiny tofu cute, he includes a removable t-shirt and an Obama sign for rallies. He’s ready for campaigning!

Chris was nice enough to chat with me about this little guy.

Question: Where did this silliness come from?

Answer: I’m a huge Obama supporter, so for a long time I kept trying to think of how I could show my love. I’m also a big fan of tofu (fried, steamed, grilled, you name it, I eat it!). In my world, tofu would be an Obama supporter. I’ve made the tofu plush before, but he always seemed like he was missing something. I thought it would be funny to give him a sign and a removeable Obama t-shirt.

Question: You sold these at Crafty Silver Spring, what was the reaction?

Answer: I sold the Tofu for Obamas at Crafty Bastards in Silver Spring. It was fun to see people’s reaction to it. They stopped to laugh and take pictures. I made 30 of them for the fair. They sold out and then I took advance orders. I spent a couple of days after the fair sewing those little guys.

Question: Have you sent one to Obama?

Answer: I have not sent one to Obama yet. What is the best way to send it to him? That is the question. I fear that the tofu would sit in a pile of unopened mail for months. He needs to breathe!

I promise to make more for Crafty Bastards in September. A portion of the purchase will go to the Obama 08 Campaign.

The question that Chris didn’t answer was: What food would be for McCain? Pork chops? Sardines?

Be sure to check out Chris Creatures on September 28th at the Marie Reed Learning Center, 2200 Champlain St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, DC.

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at I Like Seamonsters.com. She is currently being vetted for the V.P. slot.

You can find Sewing Stars at Crafty Bastards this Saturday. Stuff this cute sells fast, so get there early to witness her booth in all it’s plushy glory.

First up is Spooky Daddy and his pantyhose zombies, the Shrunken Punks!

Spooky Daddy writes:

When my mom was around my age she used to sit and sew pantyhose into little granny heads and hot glue magnets on the back. I bet she would have never imagined one day her son would be making the same thing, only much much creepier. It doesn’t take much. Just a small ball of stuffing, some thread, and of course a small section of pantyhose. Some people paint eyes or use regular beads to make the eyes, but I opted to hand paint little white beads to look like bloodshot eyes. Where many others that have come before me and seen chubby cheeks and a place to add little country wire glasses I see a shrunken head! I spent many hours painting eye after eye after eye. All it is really is shaping the pantyhose with stitches, pulling in, pinching out but before you know it you have a little dude smilin back at you! The variations are truely endless cause I don’t even know if I could make the same one twice if I tried!

Here is a photo of Spooky’s little guy next to one made by his mom:

Look for more little zombie guys like these as well as pirates and maybe even fancy skulls from Spooky Daddy at the fair this June. He also writes that he would love to hear from you if you know where to get colored pantyhose. Sounds like he might need some green! Just email him.

This is seriously what I love about Crafty Bastards. Knowing that there are all these vendors out there coming up with so much awesome stuff to show off. You can share your preparations with us by sending photos, text, video, whatever to craftyupdates@washingtoncitypaper.com.

Now get to work!

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at I Like Seamonsters.com. She thinks you work too hard and should eat more Pez.

I would totally watch Sesame Street again if Cousin Loomis replaced Elmo. Ok, maybe not Elmo, maybe just Telly or Grover.

Are you making creative videos with your handmade goods? Be sure to share them with us by emailing us at craftyupdates@washingtoncitypaper.com.