Any DIYers?

[GreenGato]

I love DIY. From knitting and embroidery to sauerkraut and kimchi seeing something transform from a bunch of odds and ends into a pair of leg warmers or a jem like jar of jam is one of the closest things to alchemy I've ever seen. Talk about turning objects into gold! Hand someone a fresh made jar of apricot jam and you'd think you handed them a gold pendent!

I love to spin, ferment, cook, stitch, and knit.

What do y'all like to make!? I'd love to see or discuss any projects you're working on!

[Firebird]

I would love to learn how to spin.
Lately my apple tree is loosing some fruit, so we have been having lots of applesauce! Thats what I usually do with the apples anyway, then freeze the sauce. This year I'm going to save some seeds. Some of the coven members had expressed a desire to plant children of this sacred tree in their own yard, grafting may be an option too.
Pickling is something I'm sorry to say I don't do enough, I used to make a giant tub of kim-chee every now and again for my husband, but haven't in a really long time. Guess energy had been a factor.
I would love to hear some of your recipes. My grandma made the most awsome watermelon rinds, I would love to try that.
Course I make incense like a crazy person, probably should try to sell it.
Blessings, Firebird

[GreenGato]

I'd love to give incense making a go! Do you use combustibles? (I'm a sucker for science-ey stuff)

I get most of my recipes from Sandor Katz ( The Art of Fermentation, Wild Fermentation) and online (Punk Domestics, Tastespotting). Right now I have a happy batch of red sour kraut in the fridge but I think I'm most proud of my radish seed pickles (which are vinegar pickles not fermented). They are honestly not for everyone but they remind me of capers.

Grafting is fascinating! I've read a ton of guides on how to but have never gotten the opportunity. Apple reproduction is so amazing! Literally infinite (but mostly inedible) possibilities with seed to tree methods. What kind of apple tree is it?

[Firebird]

Haha!... a little salt peter in your blend, eh? ?..no, I make the non combustable kind, so much less messy. Though I would love to make some of these blends burn on a stick. Fred Solls has the best stick incense in the world...in my opinion, it is just like the resins you would burn on a coal...now if I can just figure out how he does it...Here's a link to Freds website http://www.fredsoll.com/home-page-slide-1/
Anyway, I also just found out about jujube's, the neighbor across the street has a couple trees and the fruit is falling off like mad...apparently these fruits are supposed to cure everything (course I exaggerate). I think you can dry them like a date, but I got to get over there to pick some up here's more about this amazing fruit...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujube
The sourkraut sounds yummy, I have a book about the secrets of ancient fermentation, it's called "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers", by Stephen Harrod Buhner...boy do I need an extra room for the concoctions, I feel like I would make more if I had the pickling porch! How do you deal with the storage of
1. the tools
and
2. the finished product
???
Blessings, Firebird

[GreenGato]

I almost never make everything at once, I usually go in excited spurts. Last year I got really into soap making, so I dedicated a flat bottom bag for all the oils and supplies for that. For knitting I made a big strechy bag for all my yarns. I tend to only make things with every day use (wash cloths, lotion, snacks) so I tend to store them in the kitchen and bathroom. There's also a pretty trunk from a thrift store that odds and ends go into.

Honestly, I love really nice things but can almost never afford them. DIY really helps with giving me access to non-allergen bath products, healthy food, and medicines which can get pricey otherwise.

[YanaKhan]

Oh, man, do I love DIY projects
This is something I've always liked and despite rarely having time, I always have million projects. The latest one is making Kombucha tea. But I'm actually the kind of person to see something and try it like RIGHT NOW!
This is my blog blog so I don't describe all my projects. But if you would like to discuss something in particular, I'll be happy to discuss it with you
Thanks for the thread, I think it's brilliant.

[Aderyn]

I love and adore making homemade gifts and receiving them! I don't do much crafting anymore, but I do love to sew and bake. There's something about a homemade gift that can't be replaced; the love and time put into it is refreshing. I also love putting together baskets for people that have self-care items in it, such as: handmade soaps and body washes, essential oils, incense, things like that. ^____^

[GreenGato]

YanaKhan if you ever have any left over scooby you wanna get rid of... ... ... Komboucha is something I really recently got a taste for and it is amazing! I may or may not have swooned over your calligraphy (hint: I swooned). There's just something about beautiful letters that gets me!

Aderyn- My favorite gifts I've ever gotten were really well thought out baskets of goodies. They just look so good piled up in the basket and I always got excited taking out each item and then seeing another in there!

[YanaKhan]

Thank you, GreenGato
I would love to send you scoby, but I think shipping from Bulgaria to where you live, except if it's in Bulgaria, will cost more than if you buy it from where you live (waffle, waffle). Kombucha tea is great - I was quite skeptical on the taste of it, based on the smell of the starting tea I got, but hey, was I wrong
About my calligraphy - thanks, I like fancy lettering and you should see Xiao Rong's work - she's fantastic.

[Echo_of_shadows]

I love to crochet. I make mostly random stuff off the top of my head, or from a picture. I honestly couldn't read crocheting directions to save my life. I'm crocheting a plush reindeer as a Christmas present for my mom.
I'm all over the place when it comes to making anything. I have a terribly short attention span, so I go from project to project like a little bee.

[YanaKhan]

I love to crochet. I make mostly random stuff off the top of my head, or from a picture. I honestly couldn't read crocheting directions to save my life. I'm crocheting a plush reindeer as a Christmas present for my mom.
I'm all over the place when it comes to making anything. I have a terribly short attention span, so I go from project to project like a little bee.

Oh, Echo, I LOVE crochet workings! Can you make some pics of your work? I know the basics, but never had the patience to finish a piece. Just like I made half a sweater when I was younger - knowing how to doesn't make you a master
I totally understand what you mean about short attention span - I usually learn how to do something and then get bored
This is why I took classes in everything I could when I was a kid (drawing, several types of dancing, pottery, astronomy, I participated in a choir, took advanced math classes, poetry class, knitting class and few more ) and only never got bored of the piano

[Echo_of_shadows]

Oh, Echo, I LOVE crochet workings! Can you make some pics of your work? I know the basics, but never had the patience to finish a piece. Just like I made half a sweater when I was younger - knowing how to doesn't make you a master
I totally understand what you mean about short attention span - I usually learn how to do something and then get bored
This is why I took classes in everything I could when I was a kid (drawing, several types of dancing, pottery, astronomy, I participated in a choir, took advanced math classes, poetry class, knitting class and few more ) and only never got bored of the piano

I'd love to learn to play piano. I've always that it was so sophisticated.
I've got a bunch of doll clothes I could take pictures of and post. I've got some stuff made with yarn and plastic canvas I could share too.
Let this be a challenge to my fellow crafters: show me yours and I'll show you mine.

[YanaKhan]

Since I've put pictures of what I've created in my blog, I think I deserve a tiny picture
But if that's not enough - here's a video of me playing with the mandolin orchestra. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=32 ... =3&theater This was in Croatia and was not supposed to be this bad but oh well

[smogie_michele]

I love to knit, crochet and cook...
My fiance promises me a sewing machine for christmas this year and I cannot wait

[BabyBear]

good to see theres alot of diyers other then me, i diy pretty much all my stuff for my altar and in life in general
i either makes something, do my own art for my statues, or find a cheap way to make something expensive like febreeze or house hold cleaners, you would be surprised the many uses of vodka, lemon juice and baking soda lol

I have to say my fav diys are either making costumes/clothing cus i cosplay
or making something artsy like my wolf head for my altar or making statues, props or miniatures for my table top games with clay (something ive not done in years but use to love lol) or something as simple as a papertowel role and some paint

i love making faces and sculpting something with my two hands that actually looks like a person or character or represent something to me

in fact im working on some tree miniatures for a gaint forest table top thing



but i started it and was like this would make a wonderful tree of life for my altar so im making a new one for my altar lol figured before i started i would draw some empowerment and banishing of negativity sigils on the trunk and then get to work making it
this is how im making them basically ....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... J-ZvGMnTIM
only im going to use a paper towle for the tree of life and tp rolles for the branches to make it more savanah/bonsai ish