In an effort to support local crafters I signed up as a volunteer for the Craft Lake City marketing team. Craft Lake City is a non profit organization whose mission is to "educate, promote and inspire local artisans while elevating the creative culture of the Utah arts community through science, technology and art". Throughout the year, Craft Lake City organizes workshops that are taught by local artisans. Once a year, Craft Lake City holds a DIY Festival where all of the vendors are from Utah. I'm pretty excited to be a part of the events. If you are going to be anywhere near Salt Lake City on August 8th or 9th, make the trip and stop by, I promise, you will not be disappointed!

If you have never made an icebox cake before, let today be the day to try something new. It is perhaps the easiest cake ever. Essentially you layer cookies with whipped cream or pudding then place it in the fridge overnight and the cream seeps into the cookies making them soft. It is like cookies that are already dipped in milk. So amazing!

The idea of drafting a pattern used to terrify me. I always thought of pattern making as something that only professionals could do. Then, a little over a year and a half ago, I was looking to turn a men's dress shirt into a baby dress and stumbled upon The Metro Dress by Shwin & Shwin. Their website is chock full of wonderful patterns as well as instructions on various sewing techniques and even how to draft your own sewing patterns. I thought back to The Metro Dress last month when I saved one of my husband's dress shirts from the good will pile. Below is the upcycled version of said shirt. 

A couple of weeks ago, we went on a little staycation with my husband's family. We rented a nearby cabin and everyone was assigned one meal to prepare. We got breakfast and ended up having one package of bacon leftover from the soiree. To use up the leftovers, I came up with this ultra cheesy bacon pasta that is a spin off of Rachael Ray's Macaroni and Cheddar Cheese. If you are looking for something full of fat a comforting, look no further. This was soooooo good!

One of my least favorite things to knit/crochet is a blanket. Basically, I get bored. Most recently, I made a blanket for my newest niece. That blanket was frogged at least 4 times, probably more, because I couldn't find a stitch that I actually liked. Finally, I settled on the lovely Sea Mist Shell Stitch by Crochet Geek. I did a small rectangle and planned to crochet a border, but again, I couldn't find a stitch that I actually liked. I remembered Ricky's Blanket that I made about a year and a half ago, where, instead of knitting more length or a border, I sewed fabric around the edges. So, that is what I did with this little blanket. To do this, you would treat the knit/crochet part like a fabric blanket and add a border the same way. If you would like a tutorial for this technique, head over to Ricky's Blanket. 

As I have mentioned before, my crafting desires come in ebbs and flows. Generally I will knit/crochet like crazy for a couple months then I will sew like crazy for a couple months, then go back to knit/crochet. When I am in full knit/crochet mode, I like to take my projects with me, however, I haven't had a great bag to do this. Usually I end up using a large purse to carry everything and my hooks/needles get lost among diapers, snacks and other basic purse worthy items. I thought of this large tote to solve this problem months ago, but didn't get around to making it until now. Below is the tutorial.

Over the past week or so, I have added a few new listings to my Etsy shop, KitsCrafts2012. I thought I would highlight these items as they are a bit different from what I have made in the past. Enjoy!

Nothing is more essential for a child's room than storage and it is always helpful to find an adorable solution. I was on Pinterest a few weeks ago and stumbled upon the perfect tutorial by Make It and Love It. I used a basic gray duck cloth because that is what I had around, but how cute would this be in a bright pattern?! Anyway, today is a shout out to the tutorial for this lovely little bin.