This video of Dia de los Muertos happening in the streets of San Francisco's Mission district, posted by YouTube user documentdocument, is an otherworldly creation. To me, it embodies so many wonderful things about the art and craft of life and death. The participants of the event are an almost overwhelming subject. The face paint transforms the living into the dead, masks identity, and unifies the crowd. The costumes range from quite simple to overly elaborate, and the candles, props, and dance all complete the atmosphere.

The film itself is a spectacular piece of storytelling. Splicing in bridges and tunnels seems like the perfect metaphor for crossing over after death. The impact of this piece is made even more poignant by the way that the musicians and dancers in the parade are visually rendered silent with the musical overlay. We can see the drummer playing, see the horns pass through, watch the accordian bellows open and close, but we can't ever hear a single one of their notes. This helps the film replicate how the memories of the dead can flash in our minds, but never really be heard again.

[via Mission Mission]

This is the kind of awesome that happens when you bring together two guys over two months with a whole bunch of yarn. The second vid is the equally enticing making-of. [via Jeanne Jo]

I think it's fairly clear that the craft world is in the midst of a trend. A trend almost as big as bird silhouettes, almost as big as the skull and crossbones, almost as big as the octopus. It's the mustache, and it seems to be, ahem, growing on everyone. From 'Nifer's amazing pieces of nose decor, to the laser cut 'stache necklaces on etsy, nose neighbors and soup strainers are here to stay. And the Petaluma Whiskerino is celebrating with an old school exhibition. I will be at the event on Saturday, starting at 3pm at the Petaluma Farmers Market. I plan to be sporting my own colorful facial hair, and will have my felting supplies so that anyone who likes can join in the fun.

The Annual Bill Soberanes Memorial Whiskerino Contest has been around for longer than anyone I talked to could reckon. I got the details from Fred Abercrombie, who has been competing for the last 5 years. Last year Fred, his wife Melissa, and some of their neighbors created a campaign and took up the task of promotions. Their efforts included some clever material, including handlebar mustache stickers for the mirror, and a postcard that can transform anyone from clean shaven to hirsute in an instant. They've even made chocolate mustache lollipops! As a bonus, this year Fred created a time traveling video, of his face sprouting what I consider to be true art.

Time Lapse: My Hairy Commute from :: Fred Abercrombie on Vimeo.

I had been in denial about the 80s coming back into fashion, but I don't think I can deny it any longer. Even if you don't think fanny packs are hip again, this threadbanger tutorial is a great primer on deconstructing thrift store finds.

Etsy recently gave us a look inside the Nature Lab at Rhode Island School of Design, a collection of natural specimens originally established for nature drawing. I remember visiting the Nature Lab on my visit to RISD as a prospective student, and it just blew me away. They even have taxidermy mashups of animals that don't really exist.

Download the appliqué anchor for the skirt.

In this CRAFT Video, learn to make and use a pinhole camera from materials you probably already have around the house. This is a great project to do with your kids over the summer, or just to learn something new on your own. When you make one, post up your photos and cameras in the CRAFT Flickr pool!

Subscribe to CRAFT in iTunes or download the m4v video.

Supplies and tools:

• container for camera (oatmeal, tea tin, etc.)
• black electrical tape
• black spray paint
• small piece of aluminum foil, brass shim stock, or aluminum can
• fine sewing needle
• utility knife, scissors, or drill
• RC photo paper (I used Ilford 5x7)
• Kodak Dektol paper developer
• fixer
• stop bath
• plastic photo chemical jugs
• developer trays (3 or 4)
• darkroom safelight
• funnel (not for food use after)
• food thermometer
• water
• photo tongs (optional)
• vinyl apron (optional)
• paper towels

To make your camera, cut a small hole in your container, about one inch square after spray painting the interior black. Using a piece of aluminum foil, brass shim stock, or aluminum can that's slightly bigger than the hole on your container, poke a very small hole in the center with a needle. Only the point of the needle should pass through the material, not the upper (widest) part of the shaft. If you're using brass shim or a tin can, sand the hole on both sides with some fine sandpaper to get rid of the material pushed in by the needle (but you can't sand aluminum foil). Hold the piece up to the light to see that it's a nice round circular hole. Tape the piece over the hole in your container so that the pinhole is in the center. Use black electrical tape to prevent light leaks.

Read on for more info on loading your camera, exposing your paper, and developing your photo!

Tara Young at Etsy writes:

Three years ago, Alice Saunders, a.k.a. Forestbound, and Francesca Zmetra, a.k.a. Thirteen Eighty-Five, became roommates in an old house in Jamaica Plain, MA. They didn't know each other at the time but because of their similar styles, they bonded instantly and became close as friends and creative colleagues. Alice's aesthetic tends toward old military Americana with a collection of canvas bags, found bones, birch bark, vintage lace and postcards. Francesca's taste is more feminine, influenced by wartime beauty parlors and apothecaries.

Check out more about these two lovely ladies.

Craftzine Contributing Writer Rachel Hobson led this informative demo on hand embroidery basics at Maker Faire Bay Area 2009. She goes over tools, supplies, and a few stitch techniques to get you started!

Subscribe to CRAFT in iTunes or download the m4v video.

More:

CRAFT Video: Embroidery Pattern from a Photo

Etsy video maven Tara Young went inside the studio of Birdhouseaccents, a couple based out of Canton, CT who build and sell birdhouses:

It took Fred Jakubiec from Birdhouseaccents 25 years before he made building birdhouses his full-time job. It was well worth the wait. After 13 years as Area Supervisor at various fast food establishments, a stint at a steel mill and years of driving for Fed Ex, Fred decided working for other people just wasn't fun anymore.

He and his partner Lynn Patrick regularly took trips to Amish country to go thrifting and flea market shopping. During one visit, Fred discovered primitive style woodworking, and it was then that knew he found his calling. Building birdhouses and decorating them with special recycled accents was the perfect niche for this one time woodworking tinkerer turned birdhouse entrepreneur.

Anna the Red made this Google Chrome logo in bento box form, and she made a video of its creation. I knew bento boxes were complicated, but egads! Via New World Geek.

Check out this video highlighting Gwen Neucall of BeyondThePicketFence who makes natural soaps. She goes through the process of soapmaking, from selecting and combining ingredients to testing out experimental natural colors.

I love watching ceramicists throw pottery on the wheel, it looks so meditative. In this video, Kim Westad shows us around her studio and reveals her process for creating her work.

When I was in Portland, Oregon last month, I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Garth Johnson of Extreme Craft. He gave me a copy of his new DVD, Re-Construct: Eco-Friendly Crafts Made Easy that features "11 original recycled home decor projects." Garth stars with product designer, Jeanee Ledoux, who designed and produced the DVD.

The pair tackles hip projects like floating book shelves, fabric painting and making cardboard furniture. The DVD is a lot of fun, and I love that there is a philiosophy not only of recycling and reusing behind the projects, but also of using craft to enrich your life. That's good stuff! You can read more about the DVD and subscribe to the Re-Construct blog through their web site, as well as preview the DVD above and see a bonus project below. Enjoy!

Todd Oldham also photographed Amy Sedaris for the cover of CRAFT: 10! Pick up the issue today in the Maker Shed.

Tamie will be at Maker Faire as a vendor at Bazaar Bizarre and will be doing a demo at the CRAFT booth on "Making Successful Amigurumi". Stay tuned for more info on that and all the craft demos at Maker Faire later this week!

Sew up this little colorful brooch using a LilyPad tri-color LED and three small potentiometers for a customizable color wardrobe embellishment. No programming required!

Subscribe to the CRAFT Podcast in iTunes, or download the m4v video.

Potentiometers are variable resistors. They change the amount of electricity that can pass through them based on the turning of the knob, thereby dimming and brightening the three channels of the tri-color LED. The colors mix and diffuse through the roving, producing any color in the rainbow. Here's the front,

and the back,

and here's the diagram for sewing the components together.

Materials and tools:

• conductive thread (E-sewing Kit)
• coincell battery (E-sewing Kit)
• sewable battery holder (E-sewing Kit)
• LilyPad tri-color LED (Sparkfun)
• 3 small 1K-ohm potentiometers (Digikey)
• small on-off pushbutton switch (Digikey)
• brooch template (cardboard or illustration board)
• fabric
• needle and thread
• pin back
• wool roving
• felting needle
• felting surface (upholstery foam scrap works great)
• scissors
• pliers
• alligator clips for prototyping

More:

• CRAFT Video: LilyPad Arduino 101
  
• CRAFT Video: LilyPad Arduino Blinking Bike Patch
  
• Electronic Embroidery - CRAFT Video Podcast

In the Maker Shed:

LilyPad E-Sewing Kit

Cool Hunting Video got up close and personal with the three men who run Grafica Fidalga, a printing press in São Paulo, Brazil. They use a machine from 1929 using hand-cut wooden letters. The way the machine works is mesmerizing.

More:

A Visit with Hello Lucky - CRAFT Video Podcast

Etsy just did a video tour of the home of Hannah from Made With Love by Hannah. The video shows off her truly epic stash of nicknacks and kitchy art collection.

More:

Revamp Thrift Sweater Vest to Dirndl Bodice-Like Top

From the pages of CRAFT: 06:

The Crafty Chica's 16 year-old daughter, Maya, did some tie dye this weekend, and she made this super awesome video describing the process. I'm so impressed with her video skills!

Etsy's handmade portrait series recently featured Stacey Gordon, a puppeteer in Phoenix, AZ. What an awesome video!

Get started with the LilyPad Arduino! It's a sewable microcontroller that lets you embed lights, sounds, sensors, and much more into your wearables, perfect for clothing and accessories. In this video I'll show you how to attach the LilyPad and power supply to each other, and upload a basic program that blinks an LED. You can use Arduino with Windows, OS X, and Linux. Next time I'll show some more advanced topics including hooking up a sensor and using it to change the circuit's behavior.

Subscribe to the CRAFT Podcast in iTunes, or download the m4v (iPhone) or mov movie.

Download the code you'll need for Arduino to execute this example. It's also here:

In the Maker Shed:

Lilypad E-Sewing Kit

LilyPad Pro Kit

More:

Electronic Embroidery - CRAFT Video Podcast

On March 19th, I had my book release party for Fashion Geek: Clothes, Accessories, Tech at Pop Lounge. It included a fashion presentation of all of the DIY electronic fashions in the book. Here's a look behinds the scenes of making the DIY projects into a fashion presentation.

Jen Parker and Elizabeth Owusu were the hair stylists armed with headbands to give the models' hair Gossip Girl style. About an hour before the show an EL wire driver breaks! Edith Kollath steps in and helped hand sew a replacement EL wire driver on the back of a model's skirt, just 15 minutes before the show's start time.

Finally, the models are in place on Fashion Geek platforms. Fashion Indie did a fantastic job running the event. They helped find the location Pop Lounge, managed the guest list, told the models when to smile, and the DJ's where to stand. As the guests begin pouring in, someone noted that the nerds tended to congregate towards the back of the room, while the fashion designers stood in the front near the models. Everyone munched on bacon toffee and chocolate covered Pop Rocks from Danielle Bilton. We listened to digital music from Eric Skiff. Then DJ Joey Mariano played digital music live from his hacked guitar and hacked Game Boy. In the end, I think everyone all had a good time.

You can watch a video of the fashion presentation by Bre Pettis here:

Thanks to CRAFT for letting me share my behind the scenes with you. I'll be back here later next month with a fashion project. Until then, catch up with me on my blog Fashionnerd.com.

Here's all the Behind the Scenes posts:

• Behind the Scenes of Fashion Geek: Designing Fashion with Electronics
  
• Behind the Scenes of Fashion Geek: DIY Fashion Show
• Behind the Scenes of Fashion Geek: Quick Update

In the latest Etsy "process" video, we get a glimpse inside Holly Stalder's studio, where she creates unique wedding shrugs from mainly vintage materials.

This week's question is from Violet:

Quite often when I'm crafting, I find that I have a need to sew a "loop" of elastic - similar to what you'd find inside the waistband of your favourite 'jamma pants. I slightly overlap the two ends of the elastic and, using my machine to run a quick line of stitching, I try to attach them together. Inevitably, I'm left with a gigantic mess of thread - knotted and clumped - on the underside of the elastic. Sure, it holds the pieces together, but it's not pretty and it doesn't lay flat and, in short, NOT GOOD. Can you help? My machine is in great shape (regular tune-ups and care) and I'm using sharp needles.. What's the correct process? What am I missing?

I have the same problem. In this video I show three ways to help prevent this from happening. The main problem with sewing elastic is that the unstretched rubber easily catches (with a lot of friction) on the needle and thread in the sewing machine, causing various forms of unsightly and decidedly non-flat knots of thread. One method is to stretch the elastic while sewing it, helping pull some of that looseness out of the bits of rubber so they can't catch the thread so much. Another is to zigzag between the two pieces of elastic so you're not sewing through two layers at once. The third is to anchor the elastic to its casing (your waistband, for example) at the same time as you join the ends of the loop. The extra layer of fabric between the elastic and the bobbin/feed dog area will help uncatch the elastic from the needle and thread as it passes through the layers. Be sure to email me your crafty conundrums at becky@craftzine.com!

Subscribe to the CRAFT Podcast in iTunes, or download the m4v (iPhone) or mov movie.

It was so fun to see my friend and CRAFT's Old School columnist Cathy Callahan appear on Martha last week making her vintage straw flowers on an episode that celebrated Lily Pulitzer's 50th anniversary. Here's the video of Cathy with Martha.

Related:

• CRAFT Video Podcast: Vintage Flower Looms
• Mending Month: Cathy Callahan's Old School: Iron-On Patches
• Craft Biz Q+A: Cathy of California

In this week's video, I'll show you how to turn a 2D barcode into a knitted scarf! This is a fun way to get information from a garment into an electronic device, such as a cell phone equipped with a barcode-scanning camera. Anyone who takes a picture of my scarf can decode the message. I used Photoshop to modify the QR code I got from Kaywa (whose barcode scarf inspired me to make my own!) into a usable knitting pattern, but you could easily use graph paper instead. I programmed the pattern into my computerized knitting machine, a Brother KH 930. If you know how to do stranded knitting (learn how here), you can knit this without a machine - just use really small needles! As a side note, a friend and I are working on an interface to download patterns directly from the computer to the knitting machine, instead of having to sit there and input every colored stitch. We'll keep you posted!

Subscribe to the CRAFT Podcast in iTunes, or download the m4v (iPhone) or mov movie.

More:

• QR Code Cake
  
• Semacode Needlepoint
  
• Space Invader and 2D Barcode Scarf
  
• Skeleton Cardigan - CRAFT Pattern Podcast
  
• Skeleton Cardigan Part 1 - CRAFT Video Podcast
  
• Skeleton Cardigan Part 2 - CRAFT Video Podcast
  

Next up in Etsy's Handmade Portrait series is this video about Holly Stewart, aka Artstew, who makes artwork using dispersed dyes on polyester. Great story!

Kayte Terry of this is love forever show's how to make an embellished mat in a frame or a custom fabric frame from scratch in this Etsy How-Tuesday video. Find the full project materials and write up of the how-to on Etsy.