I LOVE my Knit Picks interchangeables, but hate how they aren’t labeled by size. So, I decided to make some point protectors and size labels in one. I used this amazing modeling foam clay from Daiso. It is perfect for the project, but detail is impossible. I ended up just rolling it into cone shapes, and making them into little gnomes. I tried making some mushrooms, but they didn’t turn out as cute as the gnomes. They fit very snug on the needles, because they are squishy foam. I love them!

Right when we moved into our apartment, I was really annoyed by our huge, clunky heater. It made arranging furniture really difficult, and was just an eyesore. So, I decided to turn an eyesore into a piece of art!
I had ZERO craft supplies, so it is a box the router came in, some metal bits found on the ground, a black piece of paper, and a white wire hanger.

I love seeing him every day, and he does quite a good job at keeping me warm. When my best friend/excellent interior decorator finally saw my apartment, she took one look at my robot, and said, “That is such a Jessica thing to do. Only you…” While laughing and shaking her head. What can I say, I like home decor that makes me laugh!

The brown/blue one is black tea, the pink one is red tea, and the green flower one is green tea!

The penguin is my teaboy. I LOVE him! He automatically lifts my tea from the water when the timer goes off, so I never over-brew my tea again!

Crocheted Boo:

Gnome, Mario Mushroom and Boo. These guys are made from polymer clay and the gnome is about an inch tall:

Hand carved stamp:

Stationary. I made magazine envelopes to go with too:

Everything together:

I also made a wooden ring for her, which is not pictured. It is the beech wood with beeswax finish, like the ones available in my shop.

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I’m still inspired by my roommate. She bought the cutest mini garden gnome (it came with a book, too!) and I couldn’t resist. I had one very small block of white sculpty so I made the gnome a mushroom. But then I decided he needed another gnomey friend.

The guy on the left was my first try. I found it was far to hard to add detail on a 1 inch tall guy when all you have is a pencil. So, I made the guy on the right and painted the detail. His nose is lumpy because he got punched in the face. Actually, it’s because I couldn’t get it right and painted over it too many times!

What should their names be?

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Etsy :: Exotic Mozambique Wood Ring

This wood is what inspired us to find a good food-grade polyurethane to use on our rings, because the wax really hid the gorgeous grain. We made samples of all our previous rings with the poly finish, and posted them. They really turned out quite nice if I do say so myself:P

We also bought one more kind of wood, but the samples are still in progress. I’d count all these in with my 50 in 2007, but that would feel like cheating!

I discovered she has a thing for gnomes, even though she’s never heard of David the Gnome! So, I carved her a little stamp so she can have gnomes wherever she goes! It’s only about 1.5″ tall, and I’ll tell you, making sure I didn’t accidentally remove his little itty bitty eyes was a true test of my motor skills… I think I’ll make a set of stationary with him and give it to her as a set!

The first picture is my pencil sketch, and the second is the stamp:

Sketch vs. Stamp

#9 of 50 

So you wanna make a paper box, huh?

You can create this box with just about any paper, but I prefer old greeting cards. The thick cardboard makes a sturdy box that (usually) doesn’t require any tape or glue to keep it together.

First, rip or cut the card down the fold. Be sure to keep the back, since it makes the bottom of the box. You can make the box as big or small as you want, but I usually use the width of the card as the dimensions of the card. Using this measurement, cut the card into a square. The center of the square will be the top, so try to center it around something you like on the card. (For this example, I centered it around Santa’s bag; there’s a small chipmunk in it)

Turn the card over and draw lines from corner to corner.

Fold each corner to the center. Carefully crease each edge.

Take the top and bottom edges and fold them to the center, carefully creasing. Once the top and bottom edges have been folded, open it up, and repeat on the other sides.

Cut along four of the creases you just made. Only cut far enough to snip both layers of paper, no farther)

Open the two corners that you just snipped.

Grab the two points to the side of one of the open corners. Bring them together as shown in the picture. Take the corner with your other hand and wrap it over the two points.

Crease the edges of the box. The four corners should meet in the center. To make the bottom of the box, follow the same exact steps as above, except make sure the square is around a quarter of an inch smaller. The thicker cardboard, the smaller the bottom square needs to be.

Once finished, you have a cute, unique box that carries a special meaning. Unfold it, and you still have the message from a loved one, written inside.