Odd Obsession

loodmila & bud.jpg Originally uploaded by ash966 I can now reveal my super-secret craft project. I made some stupid sock creatures using this book and some socks from Savers. I sewed them by hand since I don't know how to work my sewing machine yet. It wasn't as hard as I feared, though I did mess one up when I put the tail hole on the same side as the mouth hole. Here's some more photos.

I am truly loving the Post Office this year. You all may have known about Click 'N' Ship already, but I just heard about it . No more lines at the Post Office for me! I knew that postal scale and those sheets of label paper would come in handy (sometimes being a packrat is good). I've never had something lost in the mail, but UPS has lost things. Someone sent me something with a slightly wrong address but the right zip code for my birthday, and UPS sent it back. I almost didn't get a Shogatsu present because they needed a signature and all the retired people in my building are either escaping from the building, hiding in their apartments, or watching the contractors like hawks so they don't accidentally break their Hummel figurines. Oh, will this HVAC project never end? With USPS, if they can't deliver it, you can go to the post office. It's not my favorite thing, but at least it's on a bus line. The only problem I have with Amazon is that every now a...

Well, it's Shogatsu time again at Casa Jfro, so I'm working on some super-secret craft projects. I can't go into detail, but it involves sewing. Homemade gifts are economical, show a personal touch, and if you are sensible about it, not really very hard at all (Shhh!) I once saw a decorated matchbox at one of those little-gifty stores for 5$. C'mon! Anyone can slap on a picture cut from an old magazine on a matchbook and glue little beads on it, it's not rocket science. Now, I love hipster craft sites and mags like Gothic Martha Stewart , Readymade , Craft and Craftster , but there are certain key words in instructions that always give me pause: 1. Saw : My little secret--I am very bad at straight lines. My little condo does not need to be full of random wood scraps that are only good for firewood. You can have the guy at Ace cut it for you, but that kind of defeats the point of DIY. 2. Solder or weld. I actually learned how to solder in Sculpture class. It...