One Hour Craft

Supersheroes: Introducing Megan from Not Martha!

Remember the great interview we did with Ismoyo?

We have another great interview for you… I would like to introduce to you a long-time craft blogger and all-round super crafty person, Megan of Not Martha *Megan enters the stage to raucous applause and cheering*.

Mia:  Hey Megan, it is great to meet you.  Your craft blog Not Martha, was the first craft blog I ever started reading,over three years ago. Actually your marble magnets tutorial was the first craft tutorial I followed on the Net.  I made a whole heap and gave them to friends and family – my sister Em still has them on her fridge.

Megan: They are very addictive, I hope everybody got a lot of use out of them. I’m still using the ones I show on the page. Thanks so much
for taking the time to ask me some questions.

Mia:  Firstly I would like to ask some personal questions, like, where do you live? and what is your day job?

Megan: I live in Seattle and I make knitting needle cases as The Organized Knitter.

Mia:  Well, I have been reading your site for ages, what year did you start the site?

Megan: Not Martha was started in 2001, I think that makes the site 20 in Internet years.

Mia:  Why did you start the site?  What were your goals?  and what were your inspirations?

Megan: I started the site as a place to keep notes on the things I was making, at the time it was lip balm, and I included a weblog as a way to keep interesting links and inspirations. I didn’t have any goals beyond that but I really enjoy keeping the site.

Mia:  You include so many cool tutorials to make some really interesting things, which tutorial is your favourite?

Megan: I’m a little embarrassed to admit this but I haven’t gone back and visited many tutorials in a while. It’s hard to have a favorite as lots of them are a few years old. I enjoyed making the Tiny Pinatas most of all, they were from a Martha Stewart project and a lot of messy fun.

(Tiny Pinata Tutorial photos from Not Martha)

Mia:  What is your favourite craft?

Megan: It’s difficult for me to say, I enjoy knitting, but I know a lot more about sewing. I have avoided getting into making cards, I think the amount of papers and decorations would be overwhelming.

Mia: Can you describe for us your studio or craft space?

Megan: I have a small room with shelves on three walls, and shelves in the closet. I use it mainly to run The Organized Knitter so I’m surrounded by rolls of fabrics and bolts of interfacing. A cutting table, sewing machine and ironing board dominate the room. I also have a collection of magazines and bins of yarn on the shelves. It’s a bit disorganized but colorful.

Mia:  Yeah, this sounds a lot like my studio, a  small room that is kind of chaotic but really colourful.

Mia:  What are the things which inspire you the most?

Megan: I seem to want something specific first, then set out to make it, so inspirations come along as I’m doing research. I tend to admire things which are clever or functional in some way. Lately, I’ve been admiring confections and items for celebrations – clever advent calendars, Christmas crackers and Humbugs.

Mia:  What is your favourite magazine?

Megan: Right now I think it’s Imbible, a magazine about spirits, beer,wine, coffee and the culture of those worlds. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I am surrounded by people who are very connected with their coffee and beer, and living in a good food town, I’m around lots of great wine.

Mia:  Do you have any future goals for your site?  What are they?

Megan: I hope to update most of the early tutorials, so much more information exists on-line now since I made the lip balm and bath-bombs, for example. And I really would like to redo the tutorial about turning jeans into a skirt.

Mia:  Apart from inspiring all of us, what do you hope to be doing in five years time?

Megan: I hope to continue to learn to cook, maybe I’ll have mastered a stew or creme brulee by then. Cooking is something that is certainly not innate for me, I find it difficult and mess up a lot of food.   But that challenge makes it fun as well.

Mia:  Anything else you would like us to know?
Megan: I truly appreciate the Internet community and how much information is freely shared, and how much support is given. It’s been great.

Mia:  Well thanks so much for letting us interview you.

Megan: Thank you for the interest.

Hope you enjoyed meeting Megan!

Don’t forget to visit…

Mia

Broochs from our December Challenge: Feast Your Eyes on These!

Wow! I couldn’t believe it when I decided to look at the entries for the first OneHourCraft Challenge. The Challenge was to make a brooch or boutonniere. Below are some of the gorgeous entries.
Visit our flickr group to see all the entries….

Thoughts?

Happy Christmas and the Christmas Dress

Here is the Christmas dress all finished.  Is a simple halter-neck dress with elastic in the back.   The brooch is a little hard to miss since it takes up most of the front of the dress.  I am so pleased with it and so is my little girl.

And the back view…

The children loved riding Auntie Julie’s horse.  And yes, this is what the weather is like for our Christmas.  Just perfect.

Have a wonderful warm Christmas….

Mia

Jewellery: How to Make a Quick Adjustable Bracelet

I have been meaning to include some good basic jewellery tutorials for a while…

(Above photo from Slumpidedooda)

And here is a great beginner’s Tutorial to Make a Quick Adjustable Bracelet from Slumpidedooda .   I have taught a lot of teenage girls to make jewellery and they love it.  Pre-teen girls also love it but they may need a little help from you when it comes to using the round-nosed pliers.

These would also make great quick last-minute Christmas presents for teenage girls and little girls, oh and the ladies, of course.

A Christmas Gift Idea:  If your teenage girl or wife is wanting to take up making jewellery making you could buy her a kit for Christmas. The things to include for a  kit to begin to make jewelllery are:

• a pair of round-nosed pliers used to make loops
• a pair of flat-nosed pliers
• a pair of wire cutters
• some silver wire (or you can buy some silver-coated wire which is cheaper)
• Some earring backs to use
• Some glass beads.  Bead shops have such an enormous variety.  Be sure to choose her favourite colours or she may never touch them.

To get her started you can show her this tutorial.  There are also loads of great books showing you how to make super-easy jewellery.  As part of her Christmas present you could also enrol her in one of the many jewellery classes which are held in bead stores, community workshops, art studios etc.

Enjoy!

One Hour On the Net: Great Christmas Crafts for Kids (and Kids at Heart)!

Well, I have been searching the Net and have come up with some more great crafts for Christmas to make with your kids.

Visit these sites for some of the best crafts the Net has to offer:

• Gorgeous Christmas Gift Tags by Anna Maria Horner.  You can print these out on card and give them to your child to colour in.  Aren’t they just gorgeous?  My little girl spent hours doing this yesterday and she loved it.
• Stunning Paper Garlands from Kiddley.  Once again you can print out a load of these and set your children up for a long time, with pens, pencils, cut outs, glitter, pompoms, crayons etc to decorate them before they go up in the house.  I love the birds, they are so lovely.
• Christmas Criss-Cross Coasters from Allsorts.  These are stunning and could also be made in colours that would suit your table all year round.  Teens would be able to make these and pre-teens would be able to help with parts of them.  Then again, why not try them when the kids have been put to bed and quiet reigns in the house.   Note:  When you get to the site, you will need to click on tutorial to take you there.
• A VeryYummy Gumdrop Wreath by Alicia Paulson.  This is so yummy.  And the kids would love to make it, I’m sure.

I am sure that this will keep you busy for a long while….

I also wanted to say a big “hi” to all those home-schooling moms and children who are reading this site!  Thanks for all the comments and the emails.  I hope you find this a useful resource!  As you have probably worked out by now, I am a primary school teacher.  Anyway,  have a great Christmas!

Enjoy!

Mia

Kids’ Craft: A Golden Star for the Christmas Tree!

Need a last minute something for the top of the Christmas tree or an easy activity to keep your young child busy during the silly season?

Here is my Tutorial to Make A Golden Star. 

You Will Need:

• Cardboard to cut out a star
• An old toilet paper roll (without the toilet paper)
• A paintbrush for painting the glue onto the star
• White craft glue
• Lots of raw macaroni (or anything else you want to use to stick onto the cardboard)
• One tin of gold spray paint

How to Make a Golden Star

1. Trace or draw a star shape onto a piece of cardboard.
2. Cut out the shape.  If your child is older than five, then encourage him/her to do it!
3. Get the macaroni ready in a bowl.
4. Show your child how to take the paint brush and paint a little section of the star with glue.
5. Then show your child how to stick the macaroni to the glue.
6. Repeat this until the whole star is covered in macaroni.
7. Allow the glue to dry.
8. Turn the star over and glue the toilet roll on the back of it.
9. Leave this to dry.
10. Place the star onto a sheet of newspaper and spray paint the whole front gold.  Leave to dry.
11. Turn the star over and spray paint the back gold.
12. Leave to dry.

(Photo above is of the back of the star with cardboard roll stuck so that it can be placed on the top of the tree)

And there you have your golden star.  It can fit easily onto the Christmas tree with the roll holding it there…

Your little one will be so proud that she made the star for the tree.  I know mine is!

Tip:  You can also use nuts and seeds that you find in the park to cover your star, or gemstones from the craft store, paper cut outs.  You can also get crepe paper, break of pieces and scrunch them up, then you can glue these scrunched up pieces to the star for a colourful star.

There are many different shapes of pasta available to buy and use like this! Take your child on a special shopping trip to pick up all the things needed.  Let her choose the pasta to use.

Enjoy!

Mia

My First Brooch for the December Challenge and More Talk!

Hi Ya, We are back from a bit of a rest. Well, not a great rest because we all came down with gastro and are just getting over it now.

But I am excited to show you this…

My first brooch for our OneHourCraft December Challenge.

There is a story behind this brooch. It is a huge brooch which is for the middle of a summer dress (yeah, it is stinking hot here in the Southland) for my little girl. It goes smack bang in the middle of the dress and looks so cute on.

The dress is not finished yet, but will show photos as soon as. The bahtik fabric, I bought in an op-shop last week. The fairy fabric was from my stash and looks so good with the bahtik fabric.

Well, I am thrilled. Don’t forget to make your brooch and upload it to the OneHourCraft Flickr group so we can all have a look!

Mia

Talk Talk Talk: Holiday Time!

Hello lovely readers!

We at OneHourCraft are taking a one week holiday.  So, this site will not be updated until next week when we will have a load more tutorials and crafty loveliness to share with you.  Until then we hope you enjoy all the tutorials and ideas already on here.

So, while we’re away, tell your friends that OneHourCraft is very cool!  and don’t forget to upload your brooch to our flick site!

Love ya,

OneHourCraft Team

PS Mia will be having a major E-bay sale soon, so will keep you posted!

An Incredible Find: How to Make Your Own Loofah!

Well when I discovered these photos at GroovyGreen, I was really amazed and knew that I had to share. Thanks to the contributors at Groovy Green for letting me include this!

(Photos above of luffa plant, kindly given by Groovy Green)

Now, can you believe that you can grow your own loofah for the shower?

I always thought they came from the tree. But. No. They are grown on a vine – and you can grow your own at home. Now, don’t tell me there is anything cooler, because I just won’t listen.

(Above photo is of the finished loofah, the exfoliator extraordinaire)

Visit Groovy Green for this Great Tutorial to Make Your Own Loofah!

I love green ways of doing things. What a perfect gift to include in a ‘green’ pamper pack for Christmas (well, unless you have your own luffa vine growing at the moment, next year may be the perfect time!

Thoughts?

Are there any other really cool things you can grow to use in the house etc?

Mia

PS We have started a new category called “It’s Cool to Be Green”, and we are sending out for many more green tutorials.