{NewNew} Valentine's Gift Ideas for Infants/Toddlers That Don't Involve Sugar

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Valentine's gifts for infants and toddlers can't really be a box of chocolates or a bouquet of flowers. However, Valentine's Day gifts for the little ones don't have to just be worn or seen for one day of the year either. {NewNew} team members have created a wide variety of gifts that are appropriate for boys or girls, baby or toddler that are adorable, lovable, and will be cherished by child and parent. The above items from Smallest Friend, Lenny Mud, Burry Babies, Copa Bananas, Felt It, Panda with Cookie, Curious Urchin, Windows of Agate, NY Crochet, and Overall Baby are just some examples of the fabulous items to be found from the
{NewNew} team on etsy.com.



Anne
Felt It
www.muppetloon.etsy.com

From Muddy To Marvelous: Nordea's Soaperie encounter with Neko Case

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Anyone who vends at one of the many craft shows and markets that take place in New York City knows it can be hit or miss. Sometimes it can really test your tenacity. Especially with the economic climate...and the climate itself!

The {NewNew}'s very own Nordea of Nordea's Soaperie can attest to a day that was less than stellar. It was a day at the All Points West Music Festival when she was selling her fine handcrafted soap. Nordea described how there was just mud everywhere and her favorite shoes were a real mess. Still, she endured the festival and the commitment she had made to display with other crafters.

This story shows that you never know what great things can come out of a day that didn't at first seem all that special.

Nordea recounted to me that a few people bought her Lemon-Poppy Body Polish scrub. Little did she know that a few weeks later, an order would come in for several more. And that the order would come from one amazing singer: Neko Case! Her backup vocalist, Kelly Hogan, also ordered it!

Last Monday morning I received a quick email from Nordea which was very short and to the point:

"Can't give you all the details now, but a singer bought my scrub and wants to invite me as a VIP with a guest for a show tonight, you in??"

My reply: "Heck yeah!!"

After the wonderful (and sold out) show, Nordea and I proceeded to the VIP area to wait patiently for Neko's meet and greet session. After briefly saying hello to some other VIP's, Neko almost instantly spotted Nordea and came over to us and gave us both hugs! I stood by with such a smile on my face as Neko spoke with Nordea to explain how being on tour offers few chances for pure bliss and how Nordea's scrub really was one of the highlights of her tour so far! It was magical, if not surreal. Neko Case is now a bonifide fan of Nordea's Soaperie and has vowed to help Nordea spread the gospel of her handmade soap, as she is a huge fan of the entire handmade revolution herself. Neko even offered to grow plants and herbs at her farm in Vermont especially for Nordea's Soap! She also said that she would try to visit our Holiday Handmade Cavalcade on December 5th!!!

Neko then asked us if we'd like to grab a drink with her and the band at a bar on the Upper West Side not far from the Beacon Theatre. How could we refuse! So off we went and hung out and spoke with, among others, Neko's backup singer Kelly who was also so down to earth and ranting and raving about Nordea's scrub!

It was an unforgettable evening, and I believe that Nordea emerged a rockstar! And in all this, I also believe that everyone can take away valuable message from Nordea's story: You never know when a muddy day will take a turn for the marvelous!

I would like thank Nordea for sharing this moment with me!


by Lorina Pellach-Ladrillono of

The Original Beadscarf

DIY Halloween Costume: The Black Knight

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"T'is but a scratch"

Having shown his warlike tastes by spending his previous Halloweens as a ninja, a War of 1812 ship captain and a Revolutionary War drummer boy, my son decided he would be something humorous last year - the black knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That was the character in the rather bloody scene where King Arthur discovers his path blocked by a knight who refuses to stop fighting even after all his limbs are cut off. I figured with black jeans, a belt, and a black hooded sweatshirt, this wouldn't take too long to make. I already had a nice big Lord of the Rings plastic greatsword for him to use while he still had his arms, so all he was really going to need was a surcote and a helm after I convinced him he was not going wear one of my real helms from my days in the Society for Creative Anachronism.

Materials for costume for 10 to 12 yr old
Two 22"x40" rectangles of black fabric
9" square of red fabric
3 black craft foam sheets
red and white acrylic paint (acrylic gloss is optional)
x-acto blade
glue gun
masking tape
fabric adhesive spray
sewing machine
ruler

Sew the shoulders of the black fabric together, leaving a nice wide openning for the head and neck. I also sewed a pleat on either shoulder, so the surcote wouldn't hang over my son's arms too much. I cut out two triangular flaps and my son painted the bloody stumps, which turned out well and as his friends remarked admiringly, "Really gross." It took a day to dry, and then I also brushed it with some acrylic gloss. These flaps I sewed underneath the shoulders, so my son could tuck them in or out, depending on when he wished to be armless.
I screen captured the boar on the chest of the black knight's surcote and hand drew it onto the red fabric. Any one could enlarge the picture below instead. I then cut it out, sprayed the back with the fabric adhesive and machine appliqued it to the front.
The helm was made with 3 pieces of black craft foam. The back piece measured 12" wide by 8.5" high. The front piece was 14" wide and came to a point below the chin at 10.25", while it was 8.5 at the sides. I marked the eye and air slits from the back and cut them out with the x-acto blade and a ruler.
The top was an 9" by 7"oval.
I used masking tape to hold the parts together and then made things a lot more permanent with a glue gun. I also cut little circles of foam to be the rivets. I was going to spray it silver but my son liked it the way it was, & so it was done. A nice light helm, good for running about in at school and while trick or treating.
"NONE SHALL PASS!"

Jody



Crafts In Chelsea Deadline Extended!

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Save the date - October 17, 10am to 5pm
PS 11 in Manhattan is partnering with us - The {NewNew} - a local NY Metro group of Etsy Sellers, to close 21st Street between 8th and 9th Avenues, to host Crafts in Chelsea. A fall handmade street fair of the finest handmade arts and crafts the New York Metro are has to offer. From elegant jewelry to unique upcycled handbags, to cutting edge fashions, artwork, and more! All handmade within the New York Tri-state region.

There will be something for everyone with free food for kids, games, bouncy castles and a petting zoo inside the school - all to occupy the children, leaving the parents free to shop the best handmade goods in the Metro New York area!

Applications are still being accepted for this unique handmade event happening in the heart of Chelsea! Contact us or you can download an application here http://thenewnewny.com/CraftsInChelsea.pdf You have until Sept 12!


-Kimm
KimmChi.etsy.com

How-To: Gum Wrappers, Mom, and Me

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the big one!

When I was a little girl, my mother taught me how to make folded paper chains from gum wrappers. This humble paper craft introduced me to the concept of making something decorative from what would otherwise end up in the trash. It was like learning a magic trick. There was a lot of treasure-from-trash activity going on in the 70s -- my grandmother's crocheted kitchen mat made from plastic bread sacks, my mom's Christmas tree made from spray-painted tuna fish cans! But the gum wrapper chain was my first attempt at upcycling, and it's still my favorite.

We took gum wrapper chains seriously in our house. My mother was the Gumkeeper and Chain Maven that made it all possible. We had a drawer in the kitchen that she always kept stocked with gum and loose wrappers to work on when the mood struck. At the height of our wrapper-folding enterprise, the chain stretched from one end of our house to the other (and beyond!).

Sadly, the chain we made got lost in a move, but I have a chain of my own now, which I started making when I was 17 years old and living away from home for the first time. I was an exchange student living abroad, at times terribly homesick. I'm sure that repeating that same sequence of folds my mother had taught me years before must have helped a little at easing the sadness of being so far away from her and dad.

Here are the instructions for making your own Gum Wrapper Chain. I usually work in stages: tear a big batch of wrappers in half, then fold all the halves into links, then assemble the links at the end.


step 1 step 1b
1. Fold gum wrapper in half lengthwise. Give it a nice, firm crease, then tear wrapper along fold line. Each half-wrapper will eventually become a link in your chain!


step 2 step 3
2. With blank side facing up, fold each half-wrapper in half lengthwise and crease.

3. Open the fold, turn the edges in toward the center crease, and refold. You should be left with a nice thin strip.



step 4 step 5
4. Fold strip in half, forming a large "V."

5. Turn both ends inward toward the center fold. You will now have a link that resembles a small "v."



step 6 finito
6. Now it's time to assemble your little links! Grab two links and insert the tabs of one link through the slots of the other link. Repeat and repeat and repeat until you run out of links. And there you have a gum wrapper chain!

(NOTE: If you're not a gum chewer, you can use other types of paper to make a chain. Skip step 1 and instead cut paper into 1" x 2 5/8" ( 2.5 cm x 6.7cm) pieces, which is the same size as one-half of a wrapper. Also note that paper that is too thin or slick will make chains that are prone to getting twisted and tangled.)



Happy Mother's Day and happy folding!



Lisa H.
parallelbotany.etsy.com

Wardrobe Refashion: Thanks Mom!

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We learn a lot of things at our mother's knee. And I learned pretty quickly from my friends that they didn't learn the same things from their mom. I was secretly happy about this. But maybe that's another story.

This story is supposed to be about handmade things. First and foremost, my mom made a lot clothes for me growing up. She knits, she sews, she even macrames. I loved going to the fabric store. I could touch everything and somehow from just an idea my mom could make an entire outfit. It was magic.

Although there came an age when I thought I was too cool to wear clothes that my mom made, luckily I grew out of that.

Going to a Father-Daughter Dance, my mom made both the shirt and skirt. That was one of my favorite outfits for as long as it fit. My mom reminds me that there was a vest that matched the skirt too. I was really into vests.

My first knitted hat. We can't remember if my mom made it when I was 4 or 5, but it was ... ahem... a little big. It and the matching scarf served much better when I left California for Upstate NY. I'd grown out of the mittens by then though.

Still one of my favorite skirts that I wear almost all summer.

This was my wedding dress (we're not so traditional). I was so honored when my mom offered to make this for me. And then I was amazed that it fit perfectly despite the lack of fittings since she lives across the country from me.

So thanks Mom! Besides a love of handmade you encouraged every project and creative endeavor. I'm so happy to follow at least a little in your footsteps.

And thanks to all the rest of the moms out there who are giving their children things they make with their own hands. There's no substitute for it.


- Karen
Karen's Monsters