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Archive: CRAFT Projects

March 17, 2010

How-To: Plying Yarn

UpCraft!

By Jamie Marie Chan

After I watched Becky Stern's Ask Craft video about plying yarns, I was inspired to try plying some of my scrap commercial yarns together. Plying is simply twisting two or more single threads together, traditionally in the opposite direction from which they were spun. Plying puts more strength into a yarn, balances irregular singles, and in this case makes an interesting novelty yarn. I'll show you how you can use up the yarn you have in your stash, to create your own plied yarn.

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March 16, 2010

Flashback: Computer Cursive

How cool would it be if every time you tippety tapped on your keyboard, the font that resulted was your very own unique handwriting? Pretty cool, if you ask me. If you haven't heard of Fonifier yet, read on to see how you can create your own handwriting font for under $10. This week's Flashback comes from the pages of CRAFT Volume 08 and the author is none other than the fine captain of our CRAFT ship, Natalie!

Create your own digital handwriting font.
By Natalie Zee Drieu

In my youth, I loved everything about the art of writing, spending hours improving my handwriting and even learning the art of calligraphy. Even today, I have nice penmanship, but oftentimes jotting down a quick note ends up as an illegible nightmare. I'm out of practice! Like most people these days, I spend way too much time typing on a keyboard rather than writing with a pen. But we are living in the digital world, right?

Enter the Fontifier (fontifier.com), where you can create a digital typeface from your own handwriting. For $9, you'll be able to add a personal touch to your digital photos and craft projects without lifting a pen. I'll be the first to admit my handwriting is no art form, like others I know, but it's mine with its own special curves and curls.

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How-To: Upcycle a Skirt with Ruffles

How-To Tuesdays

I've become obsessed with ruffles. The theme this month on CRAFT is upcycling, and ruffles are a great way to re-vamp tired pieces in your wardrobe. This week I am sharing my method for adding a new flouncy trim to a simple old skirt. My ancient copy of Vogue Sewing has many ways to create ruffles, but generally instructs the seamstress to fold, iron, and pin them before sewing a single stitch. Ruffles can also be constructed by basting along a piece of trim, and then gathering the stitches by hand. But, seriously, that is way too much work for a crafter like me! I want instant gratification and I'll do anything to get out of the tedious pinning process. By sewing a wide trim straight down the middle onto the edge of a skirt, I can make a double ruffle without a single pin. It's a dramatic effect, and will instantly transform the hem of any boring skirt.

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March 15, 2010

Pretty with Pool Noodles

UpCraft!

By Jessica Wilson

When I was a kid we didn't have pool noodles, we had boogie boards. While boogie boards were very cool in their own 1980s way, they were not nearly as versatile as the candy-colored pool noodle. There are all kinds of nifty things you can do with a pool noodle. You can float on them, build with them, turn them into swords and lightsabers, and even make nifty gear-styled walls, all sorts of fun things.

You know summer is almost upon us once the pool noodle pops up everywhere. From fancy-schmancy flower- and star-shaped noodles to your regular old round noodle, they are ridiculously easy to find. Once summer ends, though, you're left with a slightly squished and has-been candy-colored thingamajig. Don't throw it away -- turn it into a lightsaber, car wash, or sword, or follow along with me to turn a pair of noodles into some nifty room decor.

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March 13, 2010

Recipe: Enchiladas Verdes de Jocoque

My mother turned the entire family onto this particular flavor of green chile enchiladas several years ago. Being from New Mexico, we'll try anything that has real green chile or red chile sauce in, on, or around it. The sour cream (Jocoque is a sour-cream-ish product in Mexico) and sharp cheddar combined with the fiery green chile (if you're lucky), make for some dang good eatin' in this particular dish. These enchiladas have quickly become a favorite in our households; my mom's husband asks for them on a weekly basis, and the smell of the sauce cooking on the oven draws everyone into the kitchen whenever I make them.

For my immediate family, I've cut the sour cream in half, and was recently thinking I'd experiment with using crème fraîche instead of straight sour cream. To make my own version of crème fraîche quickly, I use equal parts sour cream and whipping cream, shake them up in a jar, and let this mixture sit out until it reaches room temperature. Recipes I've found online use buttermilk and whipping cream, but I rarely have any buttermilk in my fridge.

I'll let you know how my experimentation goes, and please let me know in the Comments how you like these enchiladas if you make them!

Enchiladas Verdes de Jocoque
(Green Chile Sour Cream Enchiladas)

Ingredients

3 cups chicken broth
9 corn tortillas
3 tablespoons flour
1.5 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup cooked chicken
1 cup chopped green chile
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup sour cream
Vegetable oil for briefly frying tortillas

Directions

Combine 1 cup cheese and the sour cream in a medium-sized mixing bowl. If you like your onions mostly raw, stir them in as well. Set aside.

Whisk 1 cup of broth with the flour in a medium-sized saucepan.

Add the remaining broth and cook on medium heat until thickened. If you like the onions slightly cooked, add them now and simmer for 4-5 minutes.

Stir the chicken, green chile, garlic powder, and salt into the broth and set aside.

Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a heavy pan on medium-high heat. Dip each tortilla briefly into the oil until softened, about 5-10 seconds or less per side, then drain the tortillas on paper towels.

Assemble the enchiladas by placing 1/4 cup of sauce on each dinner plate, followed by a tortilla, 1/4 cup of sauce, and 1/3 cup of sour cream mixture.

Top with the remaining sauce and more grated cheese.

Place in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes, or until the cheese melts.

NOTE: Enchiladas in New Mexico and in nearby environs are often topped with a fried egg as the pièce de résistance. I prefer the egg with red chile enchiladas only, but knock yourself out if you'd like an egg with your green chile.

Related Recipes

Green Chile Stew

New Mexican Frijoles

March 11, 2010

How-To: Collapsible Bowl from Granola Wrappers

UpCraft!

By Tiffany Threadgould

Your granola may be packed with crunch, but when the packaging is left behind, what's an eco-crusader to do? Rather than tossing it away, craft it into this simple collapsible and reusable dish. All it takes is a few cuts, folds, and some hook and loop fasteners to transform the packaging into a multi-purpose bowl.

When you've finished with your granola wrapper, you can move on to all sorts of flat food packaging. Simply scale the instructions up or down based on your tastes.

If you've completed this project and still have more Bear Naked granola wrappers than you can bear, check out the TerraCycle wrapper brigade to collect and send them in. Your wrappers will be transformed into new products, and better yet, your collection will earn money for your favorite charity. These granola wrappers will dish up a lot of upcycling potential.

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March 10, 2010

Flaky Cheddar and Ham Biscuits

In the Kitchen

By Katie Goodman

If you have trouble making tender and flaky biscuits, give this recipe a try. The combination of the two different flours and the very cold butter makes a big difference. I like to use a box grater to grate the butter, as opposed to cutting the butter using other methods such as a food processor or pastry cutter. It works great for me this way, but it certainly isn't the only method that works. I do think it's faster than cutting with a pastry cutter and definitely has less clean up than a food processor, but feel free to use whichever method you prefer.

When kneading the dough to form a ball, it helps to press to flatten and then fold over, press to flatten and then fold over, repeating until your dough comes together. Folding the dough on top of itself helps form layers to create flaky, pull-apart biscuits.

We like to cut the biscuits in half and fill with scrambled eggs for a yummy breakfast or dinner egg sandwich. Serve with a side of fruit.

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March 9, 2010

How-To: Tin Can Punch Light

How-To Tuesdays

Punched metal is a classic technique used worldwide that transforms tin scraps and old cans into beautiful and delicate pieces of art. This project uses a recycled tomato can filled with ice to create a sturdy and safe candle holder. The standard motifs for this type of project include hearts, stars, and spirals, but I was inspired by the flickering lights of the EQ sound frequency display on my car stereo. Download the PDF of my pattern, or print your own onto photo paper to make a template to work from. Photo paper is my secret weapon because it resists the condensation and holds up to the nail and hammer.

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March 8, 2010

How-To: Turn Soda Bottles into a Desk Organizer

UpCraft!

By Diane Gilleland

I love digging in my recycling bin for potential craft materials. A recent surplus of empty plastic soda bottles inspired this easy organizer, which is endlessly customizable. Use any size bottles you like, and arrange them in a configuration that fits on your desk or in a drawer.

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March 5, 2010

Bike Tube Headband

Upcycled accessories are fun and easy to make. Watch and learn how to make your own chain-link headband from a busted bicycle inner tube in this week's CRAFT Video! I got this project idea from Britt McMaster, who showed us how to make a chain-link necklace from white leather over on her blog, cucumbersome.com. You can download her template for the figure-8 shape to make your own recycled chain-link accessories. You can get broken bike tubes from changing your own when they get punctured, or by asking for them at your local bike shop.

Subscribe to the CRAFT Podcast in iTunes, watch it on YouTube, Vimeo, or download the m4v video.

Photo by Nathan Rosenquist.

More:

How-To: Easy Ribbon Rosettes

Delicate embellishments are a classic way to spruce up just about anything. I remember having tiny pink ribbon roses on my favorite pinafore when I was young, and the dainty trend is retuning in a big way.

Materials:
Wide wired ribbon, about 1'
Thin ribbon, about 2'
Large eye needle

Thread a large eye needle with the narrow ribbon. Don't knot it, just hold it in the needle with your fingers. Then run the whipstitch through a larger ribbon with a wired edge. Don't worry about making a good even stitch, un-even and crooked whipstitching will make an interesting flower too. Then scrunch the wide ribbon down into a rose. To hold it all together, tightly knot the thin ribbon on the back side of the rosette. Beyond easy.

March 4, 2010

Retro-Style Running Shoes from Old Tires

By Andrew Salomone

A few years ago a friend of mine brought me to a little town in Mexico to see the Tarahumara race. The Tarahumara are an indigenous people who live in a massive canyon and run incredible distances in sandals, called huaraches, made from old car tires. When I tried to wear a pair of these homemade huaraches, the straps chaffed the top of my feet and pulled at my leg hairs as I walked. It was terrible. But I still wanted to wear shoes made from old car tires and other upcycled materials. So I decided to make a homemade running shoe, similar to the type of shoes Bill Bowerman made for Steve Prefontaine — the original Nikes.

Materials and Tools

Aluminum foil
Old pair of running shoes
Shoe adhesive
Old tire or a flat piece of rubber about ¼" thick
Old pair of jeans or other durable fabric
Fabric scraps
Grommets
Hammer
Sewing machine
Sewing pins
Thread
Rubber bands
Clothespins
Good pair of large scissors
Marker
Shoelaces
Utility knife

Step 1: Get an old pair of running shoes that fit you well. Cut a sheet of aluminum foil long enough to wrap around the entire length of one shoe. Wrap the aluminum foil around the shoe so that the 2 ends meet at the heel and the entire shoe is covered.

Read on after the jump for the rest of the project!

More shoes from CRAFT and MAKE:

Tire Sandals by Tim Anderson from MAKE, Volume 10 (preview in the Digital Edition | purchase back issue)

Repurposed House Slippers by Janaina Vaughn from CRAFT, Volume 02 (preview in the Digital Edition | purchase back issue)

CRAFT, Volume 07 (preview in the Digital Edition | purchase back issue)

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