I'm a writer, crafter, Zombie Preparedness Planner, and homeschooling momma of two kids who will hopefully someday transition into using their genius for good, not the evil machinations and mess-making in which they currently indulge. I'm interested in recycling and nature crafts, food security, STEM education, and the DIY lifestyle, however it's manifested--making myself some underwear out of T-shirts? Done it. Teaching myself guitar? Doing it right now. Visit my blog Craft Knife for a peek at our very weird handmade homeschool life, and my etsy shop Pumpkin+Bear for a truly odd number of rainbow-themed beeswax pretties.
If you’ve got a grown-up wandering Jew, some extra pots, and good potting soil, then you’ve got yourself another six to a dozen wandering Jews right there for the taking.
How to Propagate the Inch Plant: It’s Super Easy! Read More 👉
Need a new bookshelf? IKEA is NOT the answer.
20 Upcycled Bookshelf Tutorials Read More 👉
Our local food pantry badly needed something fun (and quiet and still) for kiddos to do while their parents shopped for groceries.
Kid-Built, Decoupaged, Donated Bookshelf (with Ample Parental Help) Read More 👉
Dyeing Easter eggs can be such a pain in the butt!
Handmade Reviews: Earth Paint Natural Egg Dye Read More 👉
If you want your kid to love and be good at math, but you’re not interested in unleashing more plastic pennies onto the world–or you just don’t want to spend your hard-earned money on junk like plastic pennies–then you’ll love these great ideas for math games, projects, and activities, all made from natural and recycled materials.
21 Cool Math Games and Activities from Natural and Recycled Materials Read More 👉
Got a kid who’s learning her multiplication facts?
Forget the flash cards! Instead, build this cool math game to play with your kids.
Cool Math Games: DIY Multiplication Touch Read More 👉
Please, won’t YOU rescue an ugly Prom dress today?
Pretty in Pink Once Again: 23 Prom Dress Refashions Read More 👉
Prom dresses are some of my favorite articles of clothing to upcycle. Thrifted, that fancy fabric is cheaper by the yardage than purchased new, and they always include gorgeous embellishments and perfect hardware that careful cutting can preserve.
Clothing Refashion: Prom Dress Pants Read More 👉
We ALL have laundry to do (right now, probably…), but conventional store-bought laundry detergent, with its petrochemicals, optical brighteners, and synthetic fragrances, isn’t great for the environment OR your skin. And the super-fancy natural stuff? Well, it’s out of *my* price range, for the most part.
Instead, I rely on my homemade laundry soap. It’s easy to make, the ingredients cost pennies per load (about three, give or take a penny), and it’s much healthier for your body and the environment than most store-bought laundry detergents.
Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe–It’s a Money-Saver! Read More 👉
Store-bought furniture polish may make your wood table look beautiful, but the chemicals in it are skin, eye, and airway irritants, and it may be aerosol-based or contain petroleum byproducts.
Seriously, you don’t want to rub something like that onto the table where you eat.
Homemade Wood Polish with Only Two Ingredients Read More 👉
Want a pantry that’s as crafty and creative as the rest of your house?
Save money, eat more healthfully, and use your imagination to boost the flavor of your favorite foods when you restock your kitchen with these DIY pantry staples.
DIY Pantry Staples: 35 Crafty, Creative Recipes Read More 👉
For those who might wonder if making your own potato chips from scratch is more work than just buying potato chips from the store, then the answer is yes.
Obviously.
Seriously, why would you even wonder that?
Create Custom Potato Chips from The DIY Pantry, by Kresha Faber Read More 👉
Tired of your boring old clothes?
Turn them into new clothes!
38 Clothing Refashion Tutorials to Upcycle Your Wardrobe Read More 👉
My kid and I have this thing in which she designs an outfit and then she and I (mostly me) sew it. The Most Fabulous Scrapwork Orange T-Shirt now exists in the world, and here’s how we created it.
Clothing Refashion: A T-Shirt Refashion Done by My Kid Read More 👉
Got kids who want to sew?
Let them at it! There are tons of easy, fun sewing projects that kids can do almost completely independently, projects that will result in cute, useful, genuinely satisfying results.
Kids Can Sew! 13 Easy Sewing Projects Just for Them Read More 👉
Got a kid who’s eager to learn to sew, but you don’t have the skills to teach them?
Kids Can Sew with Felt and Embroidery Floss Read More 👉
You DO love your kitties, though, right?
You DO want them to have the bestest, cutest, most catnip-filled mice that human hands can make, right?
Handmade Reviews: Stashbuster Catnip Mice from Crafty Creatures Read More 👉
We needed a way to store and display our family photos.
We own an antique card catalogue.
We combined the two, and came up with a card catalogue photo drawer, an accessible, out-of-the-way, organized, dust-free way to store photos.
Reduce, Reuse, Redecorate: Card Catalogue Photo Drawer Read More 👉
It’s not right that I have to drench my house in toxic chemicals just to keep the puke bug away.
Handmade Reviews: DIY Disinfecting Wipes from Homemade Cleaners Read More 👉
Winning is fun.
Make it even more fun by adding swag!
Tutorial + How-to: DIY Award Ribbons Read More 👉
This DIY infused vinegar isn’t for pouring onto your salads. It’s for making DIY cleaning supplies that actually smell good for once!
Make Infused Vinegar for Good-Smelling Green Cleaning Read More 👉
Want an eco-friendly wedding with plenty of handmade components, but you don’t necessarily want it to *look* like it was cobbled together by a gang of amateur crafters?
Rustic chic is the look that you’re looking for. A rustic chic wedding emphasizes vintage and natural materials, and a simplicity of construction that both makes the projects more do-able, and keeps them from looking overdone. With rustic chic’s additional emphasis on salvaged, one of a kind components over mass-produced commodities, it’s also a look that works well with modest budgets.
Handmade Reviews: Rustic Chic Wedding, by Morgann Hill Read More 👉
Hole in your pants?
You can fix that.
Clothing + Fashion: The 14 Best Ways to Patch Jeans Read More 👉
Why is there a hole in the butt of my jeans?
Why did I sew a dinosaur patch over that hole in the butt of my jeans?
These are questions that you probably shouldn’t ask, and that you definitely do NOT want the answer to.
What you DO need to know is how I did it, and that’s what I’m going to tell you!
Clothing + Fashion: How to Patch Your Pants Read More 👉
Worried about the ethics of the floral trade?
Struggling to find organically-grown, fair trade cut flowers?
You may want to skip the politics altogether, and simply make your own bouquet and other floral pieces for your wedding. You’ll invest more time in the process, definitely, but you’ll definitely save money, and your wedding will be all the greener for it.
Weddings + Showers: 18 Eco-Friendly DIY Wedding Bouquets and Flowers Read More 👉
Was it just luck?
Or, does the winner of the Make Your own Candy kit from Glee Gum just somehow love candy more than the rest of us?
Made Buy Hand: Who Won Some Candy? Read More 👉
I’ll be honest: for years, I never considered the survivalist/prepper crowds as target audiences. I mean, we’re on totally different ideological wavelengths, right? I’m not into shooting things, and they likely think I’m a touchy-feely hippie…
DIY Home + Garden: DIY Prepper Projects that You Can Use Now Read More 👉
1) Want to eat candy made from sustainably raised ingredients harvested in fair trade environments?
2) Want to make that candy yourself?
3) Are you feeling lucky?
If you answered YES to the three questions above, then this is the giveaway for you!
Made Buy Hand: Win a Make Your own Candy Kit from Glee Gum Read More 👉
Ever wondered if you could make your own chocolate?
You totally can!
It turns out that chocolate is a pretty do-able DIY project, and easy to customize with your own mix-ins and flavor combinations. Never had a peanut butter/sesame seed/dried cranberry chocolate bar? Well, now’s the time to make that happen.
Handmade Reviews: The Make Your own Chocolate Kit from Glee Gum (and a Giveaway!) Read More 👉
Got a few last-minute Christmas gifts to wrap?
Don’t stress out about cute wrapping paper, matching bows, and festive tags. If you’ve got some chalk and a little creativity, you’ve got almost everything you need to create a nicely-wrapped present with chalk art embellishments.
Holiday Crafts: Chalkboard Gift Wrap Read More 👉
Want a way to preserve the memory of what your child wants most for Christmas this year?
Holiday Crafts: The 2013 Upcycled CD Wish List Ornament (with Free Printable Template!) Read More 👉
One of your kid’s T-shirts (at least!) has a mystery stain that nothing will remove.
Here’s an easy way to make that gross shirt look brand-new, completely concealing that ugly stain while adding an adorable festive motif! All you need are fabric paints, vintage buttons, and a creative kid to do the art.
Holiday Crafts: Christmas Tree T-shirt with Vintage Button Ornaments Read More 👉
Got some teeny-tiny treasures?
Some scrap craft supplies?
How about just some of the colored sand or rice or pony beads that your kids play with?
If you do (and you totally do!), then you’ve got almost all the makings for an easy, special, stash-busting Christmas ornament craft.
Holiday Crafts: Filled Christmas Ornaments Read More 👉
Your kid’s vintage wooden sled is way more awesome than those new-fangled plastic ones.
Tutorial + How-to: Clean and Polish the Metal Sled Runners on a Vintage Wooden Sled Read More 👉
You can never have enough ornament hangers!
Tutorial + How-to: Upcycled Beaded Ornament Hangers Read More 👉
