The squeal heard round the jury-room for Jennifer Strunge’s Cotton Monsters explains why they sell out so quickly in her etsy shop whenever she does an update. The Baltimore seamstress works without patterns to create each and every colorful little beast, and uses almost exclusively recycled materials (except the stuffing, which she buys new). Strunge [...]

Each week, the Hello Craft Podcast collects stories of making and buying handmade. 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 [...]

There are few places on the earth where you can find as much plush as you will find at Crafty Bastards this Sunday. From the expressive eyes of Tigerflight’s upcycled owls, to the spotty heads of My Paper Crane’s mushrooms, to the furry weirdness of Jenny Harada’s monsters to the simple wonder that are Spooky [...]

From now until the fair, we’ll be spotlighting awesome items that you will find at this year’s Crafty Bastards. Check out the complete vendor gallery to plan your shopping! 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 [...]

Got old sweaters? Make some seahorses! These lovely seahorses ($40 for the set) by Snaulkter are made from 99% recycled materials; old (washed) sweaters and plastic shopping bags in the fins to make them crinkle. Not only do I love these guys because they are upcycled, but they are totally kid friendly. I could see [...]