I've wanted to recycle my own yarn forever, but I haven't had the courage to try it before now. I found this really excellent tutorial on the process the other night and summoned up the courage to try it. I went out thrifting yesterday and found this glorious sweater at Goodwill. The yarn's a 60/40 Cotton/Acrylic mix, and the colors are dreamy. Plus, it only cost me $2! (sorry, the picture's icky!)

If you want to try this yourself, it's important to know what to look for before you get started. There are only certain sweaters that can be unraveled, some can't be due to the way they were constructed. Look at the tutorial above which shows really good detail example of the types of seams to look for. Once you get that down pat, the rest should be easy.

So, I've got my sweater with the right seams, and I started unraveling. The tutorial says to cut it, but I'm kind of a chicken, so before I started cutting, I spent some time with a small crochet hook unlacing it a bit. You can see the fine thread that the sweater's sewn together with, and once you know how to look for it, it's easy to cut. The sweater pulls right apart.

This blog entry was also posted on mabjewelry's own blog , go check her out there. You can also find her on Twitter and, of course, on Etsy! Enjoy your adventures into steampunk, and as always, be careful with the glue!!!


Okay, guys, welcome to my first tutorial: How to make your own steampunk pendant or charm. It's not all that difficult. You just need the right stuff and a lot of creativity and patience. If you can make a collage, you can make one of these cool little guys.

So, you'll need some watch guts, parts and innards, including cogs, sprockets, gears, and other delightfully little shiny bits. Please see my giant pile of said guts pictured above. I know, I know, it's excessive, but I have an addiction, and I'm working through it. I didn't get all of them available in the free market, so they can still be found.

One tip: Do not smash open a modern watch. Most of the innards are plastic, unfortunately. I learned this the hard way. But you can still use the casing if it's pretty, as well as the clock face, from a dead modern watch.

Other stuff you'll need:

• The blanks or settings that you'll use as the base of your pendant or charm. Here are four examples. You can pick these up anywhere anymore. Some metals do not like some brands of glue, and the metal will turn white upon contact with the glue. You won't know until you try it, unfortunately.

• Some kind of serious glue--I use Gorilla Glue in the super glue tube. Trust me, it will glue anything to anything forever. Beware, it will glue watch parts to your fingers, and your fingers to anything, including your lip. Ouch.
• A styrofoam plate and paper towels. It's just the easiest way to do it.

• Toothpicks, to smear and smudge the glue around, and to move itty bitty pieces into the right spot, thus decreasing the chance of gluing those pieces to your own skin. I get mine for free from the restaurants I frequent. Thank you, restauranteurs!

One last important supply: Junior Mints, or the nom nom of your choice. Crafting is difficult and intense work. If you're like me, and sit hunched over for three hours at a time, it's good to preplan some kind of sustenance to keep your energy up. Cheetos are not so wise, as they tend to leave a bright, toxic orange film all over things. Also, make sure not to glue the Junior Mint to your hand. Seriously. It happens.
Okay, poke through your watch guts and find some larger pieces that you want to use. It's easier to get the larger bits glued on first, and then go from there. Put a small amount (yes, I always get a little carried away) of your glue on the setting in the spot where you want the watch bit to go. Smudge it around with the end of a toothpick, to get a fairly even layer of glue.
This will help you get even adherence, and also help to keep glue from globbing out around the sides of the watch piece in an unsightly way.
Be careful where you place the gluey toothpick. It will stick to the carpet, your bead board or the cat. Honestly.
Put the watch bit on top of the glue and press down firmly. It will stick. This glue is no joke. A friend of mine fixed her roof shingles with this glue.
Glue the larger pieces on where they fit on your setting in a design that pleases you. I just kind of wing it.
After you get the larger parts glued on, add some medium-sized parts wherever you want them.
I sometimes layer the medium-sized ones in over the larger ones, and always mix gold and silver, shiny and matte. Just glue on whatever makes you happy however it makes you happy. There are no rules, and that's why this is wonderful.
Remember, Gorilla Glue is pretty unforgiving, so, if you let something set on it for more than a few seconds, you'll have a heck of a time scooting it.
Now, fill in empty spaces with the teeny tiny, itsy bitsy pieces. Use a toothpick to move these little bits into the desired spaces. It's also fun to drop miniscule pieces into the carpet so your vacuum will have something to do the next time you run it.
Add where you want to. It's easier to glue pieces with flat backs or bottoms. Leave blank space where you want blank space. When it reaches the point where you're happy with it, you're finished. The hardest part for me is knowing when I'm done and not just gluing five pounds of stuff to the setting. Usually, it just looks complete.
I leave the pieces to dry overnight, on top of the entertainment center, because that's the only place the cat will not jump. Then, string them with beads, hang them from chain, do what you do.
As for the Junior Mints, you can eat them throughout this activity, or save them until the end, as a reward for your creativity and hard work.
So, making your own steampunk pendant--it's that easy.

In anticipation of our August Trunk Show, we're going to be posting a series of articles all about the Etsy process. These articles will cover everything from the basics of Etsy (how to register, search, and purchase), how to use Paypal, to an indepth look at the Etsy Virtual Labs (where we're having the show).

This first look will be all about getting started on Etsy, how to register, and how to find what you're looking for.

Step 1: Signing Up: Welcome to Etsy.com!

The image below is the main page at http://www.etsy.com/

The red circle in the top right corner is where you should begin. Of course, if you already have an Etsy account, you would click 'sign in', but since we're assuming you don't, you click Register

The registration process is really simple, you just provide a username, password, and an email address. One thing to consider is that your username can NEVER be changed, so think about it before you choose it. Also, if you decide to become a seller, it would be your username too (unless you opened up a seperate shop, which requires a seperate email address.)

After this process, check your email for an email from Etsy confirming your sign up, and then you're good to go!! If you already have a Paypal account, you can start buying right away. If you don't have a Paypal account, you'll have to set one up, but it's pretty easy. Look for a coming tutorial on how to set that up in the next few days!



Step 2: Finding What You're Looking For



So, now you're signed up for Etsy, now what??

If you know what you're looking for on Etsy, it's as easy as typing it in the search engine and seeing what's out there. Looking back at the picture above, the search box is hard to miss on the main Etsy page. I've circled it with a big blue circle just to help out. You just pick a catagory from the drop down menu on the left (handmade, vintage, supplies, all items, or sellers) and then just type your search terms in the box.

Search tips:

To save you time, if you have a really specific item in mind, be specific in your search. The difference between 'knitted scarf' and 'green knitted scarf' is about 14,000 listings. So being specific is important.

Also, a great Etsy search feature is the word 'NOT'. Etsy sellers are allowed to tag their items with a series of search tags. Sometimes these tags can go against what you're looking for. For example, lets go back to that scarf search. If you search 'green knitted scarf', you get everything tagged with those words. Sellers who lists cowls or neckwarmers or shawls might also list them as scarves. But you're looking for a scarf, not a cowl. So you tell the search engine this, 'green knitted scarf not cowl' and it takes out all items tagged with cowl. You can keep adding to narrow it down as far as you can get it.

What's coming up in the Owls 101 series? More search tips and a look at Advanced Search, Alchemy, and also signing up for Paypal.

In anticipation of our August Trunk Show, we're going to be posting a series of articles all about the Etsy process. These articles will cover everything from the basics of Etsy (how to register, search, and purchase), how to use Paypal, to an indepth look at the Etsy Virtual Labs (where we're having the show).

We'll also be linking to some great resources straight from Etsy, including how-tos and FAQ's.

These will be great resources for anyone who hasn't seen Etsy before, but will also help Etsians who might not be familiar with the Labs be able to enjoy the show! We'll be starting this coming week, so stay tuned!!

• 1. One Box (about 14x14x14 seemed like the right size, just eyeball it. Eventually I’ll make one capable of holding my totes)


• 2. Scissors/Exacto Knife (to cut out your panels. Be careful, I sliced my fingers holding onto scissors and sawing…)


• 3. Parchment Paper (or anything to diffuse light… tissue paper, thin white fabric etc)


• 4. Poster Board (in white, and/or optional black)


• 5. Tacky Glue (tape works if you have strong packing or electric tape… which I did not.)

I forgot that my hubby and I live in a one-bedroom apartment, and we don’t have a lot to rummage through. So, I did purchase a few items. Box: $4.50 Poster Board: $0.49

1. Cut out three square panels from three sides (see photo). If you don’t want your hubby calling you “Alisa Scissor Hands” please be careful how you hold your sharp tools.

OPTIONAL: Cut out the bottom side of your box so you can take your light box outside and photograph immovable plant life and other items.

2. Cut parchment paper to match the empty panels plus 1 inch room on each side.

3. Glue the parchment paper to cover the panels. (I tried to use scotch tape, but I realized after taping ALL the panels on, that it didn’t work and it all fell off.)

4. While the glue dries, trim the poster board to a width of 14 inches and slide it into place.

5. Bada Bing, Bada Boom. You are done. Go take the best photos of your Etsy items!

Note: I have been using this outside with natural light (which works) but you can also use two lamps on either side.

Check out the above bracelet in the Etsy Owls shop where proceeds go 100% to Autism research! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5271044&section_id=5156130