Arrested Development Fridge Magnets

A few weeks back I discovered the Arrested Development Paper Doll Collection illustrated by Kyle Hilton. I loved them so much that I felt they needed to be a set of refrigerator magnets. Paper dolls are cool, but magnets are better!

I have only made the Tobias and Lindsay sets so far, but now that the rest of the family is available, I’ll make those, too.

Below are the steps I took to make mine.  Office supply shops do sell printable magnet paper, but the magnets are really weak, so I went with stronger stuff.  The laminate paper makes the magnets easier to handle and less prone to wear.  This technique also works well for any other printed materials.  It works great with decals and bumper stickers!

Supplies

• Arrested Development paper doll PDFs
• Self-adhesive laminate sheets
• Self-adhesive printer paper
• The strongest magnetic sheets you can get your hands on.  I found mine at SCRAP, but it might also be worth checking at shops that make magnetic signs and see if they are willing to give you remnant pieces.
• Arrested Development DVDs (optional)

Tools

• Color Inkjet Printer
• Sharp scissors
• DVD player (optional)

Using my color inkjet, I printed out the doll sheets on adhesive paper. These were attached to the magnetic sheets.  Once this is complete, the sheets were covered with adhesive laminate. Put on an Arrested Development DVD, and start cutting the dolls out.  Since the dolls are on magnets, you can cut off the tabs around the pieces since you won’t need them.  It only took half a season to complete our Tobias and Lindsay set, and now we have a terrific conversation piece.

Special thanks to Kyle Hilton for permission to use his artwork for this tutorial.

Catch and Release yarn bin

One of the trickiest things I have had to learn as a volunteer at SCRAP is that no matter how cool it is, I can’t take everything home with me. This realization was part of the motivation to start taking pictures of the cool and wacky stuff found during my shifts in the store. The other part of the motivation is that I am an archivist by nature, and I couldn’t let these interesting items pass me by without commemorating them in some way.

A prime example is some beautiful yarn I found a few weeks ago. It was teal stranded with copper thread, and absolutely breathtaking. There were several skeins of it, which doesn’t always occur. My mind raced with projects I could knit with the yarn, especially since I know several people who love the color teal. Then I took a deep breath and reminded myself of the dozens of other projects already in my queue. The yarn was worthy of affection, but it needed to be loved by someone other than me. I took a picture of it peeking out of the yarn bin, and continued sorting.

Belly dance hip scarf / coin belt / costume piece. Whatever you call it, it looks and sounds pretty!

Ready to make your own hip scarf for belly dance? I’m not talking about tacking store bought trim on some fabric.  You won’t weave the fabric or spin the yarn, but you’ll make the “coins” and crochet the trim yourself.

This is a proof of concept project I designed to refine my skills and find stumbling blocks before I make an elaborate hip scarf for my costume. Think of it as making a muslin to test a pattern before sewing a fancy party dress with expensive material.  You can use these techniques to design your own hip scarf.

Knowledge of beaded crochet will be very helpful. The project takes between 10 and 15 hours to complete, but the out of pocket costs are minimal. Consider taking apart thrift shop costume jewelry for beads. Metal coins for belly dance costumes are available for purchase at online bead shops if you want to skip making your own, but the costs add up quickly. I am using this one for dance practice, so it doesn’t need to be fancy. Continue reading 'Belly dance coin belt / hip scarf tutorial'»

Finished Zombie Slippers

Braaaaains! I can finally unveil the zombie slippers to the world because Christmas has come and gone and I no longer need to keep them a secret from the lucky recipient. This isn’t my first foray into slipper making, although it is definitely my most successful.  As is the case with just about every project I undertake, there is no such thing as an overnight success. It took a lot of trial and error to achieve the “look and feel” (ha!) I was working towards. Continue reading 'Zombie Slippers'»

Leafy Puppy rice yarn and the Celebrity Sun Hat pattern

I am averse to direct sunlight, so I am a big fan of large floppy sun hats.  When I discovered two skeins of Japanese Leafy Puppy Knitting yarn at SCRAP, I decided it is high time that I try making one of my own.  It can’t be that tricky, right? I am a knitter first and a crocheter third or fourth, but given a bit of time I can work my way through a crochet pattern.

Finding the right pattern was the trickiest part. After searching the pattern libraries at Ravelry, I narrowed it down and took one for a test drive. Continue reading 'A sun hat for me!'»