I Like You is having their third Annual Ornament Show on November 21st at their shop. Decorate your tree with handmade ornaments by Minneapolis crafters. Though I’m not living there anymore, I have a few needle-felted animal ornaments there again this year:)

I know. I already posted about Chicago, but this is a huge change! I’ve never moved farther than 15 minutes away from the house I grew up in! I’m on an excited, nervous, happy, and sad roller coaster. In celebration of the big move, I bring you some of my favorite Chicago items on Etsy.

Shedd Aquarium Beluga Whale Collage, by Chicago resident geministudio.
I love the style of this collage. It is made of layered strips of antique paper and newsprint on a vintage canvas. The beluga has a vintage, children’s book-quality, which I think is really neat. And this is especially appealing to me because when the Duffs and I (before I became one) were in Chicago a few summers ago, we went to the Shedd Aquarium and got to see these adorable creatures. There were BABY belugas, too! They had special, colorful toys to train them to do tricks, while the adult belugas just had plain, old rods. Their heads are all jiggly!

Chicago Flag Soap, by another Chicago resident, Epically Epic Soap.
I love handmade soap. The cabinet under my bathroom sink holds the evidence. I really don’t even shower that often, but when I do, it’s with creamy, foamy, sweet-smelling, handmade soaps. This soap is skillfully detailed to look like the Chicago flag. It is 100% vegan with the fragrance, Midwest Sky, “a light, airy scent that reminds me of storm clouds blowing in the wind,” describes the Epically Epic Soap’s owner.

Chicago Skyline T-Shirt, by Chicagoan So Silly Stuff.
Here is a really cute and stylish rendering of the Chicago skyline on one of those decadently comfortable American Apparel T-shirt. I love the bright blue print against the neutral T-shirt.

Midwest Is Best Tote, by Chicago designer Megan Lee Designs.
This is a great item that honors my homeland, Minneapolis, and hails my new destination! Midwest is best!

The lovely ladies of Crafty Planet, a fabulous fabric/crafting store in Northeast Minneapolis, are coming out with their book, One Yard Wonders! Rebecca Yaker and Trish Hoskins have created the book with 101 unique and stylish ways to use just one yard of fabric.

I can’t wait to get my hands on this book! There have been so many moments when I’ve been at a thrift store or a yard sale, and decided I NEEDED to have a certain piece of fabric for no reason (other than it looking really cool). Hopefully this book will motivate me to thin out the huge stash of super-cool fabric (in quantities of about one yard, often times less) I’ve been dragging around with me for years.

I’ve taken a few sewing classes at Crafty Planet taught by the awesome and talented Rebecca and Trish. I’m really excited to see what they’ve come up with and to watch their success grow.

The time has almost come for Milton and Margie’s to pick up shop and move to Chicago! The big day is November 1st. I still plan on keeping my candles in Minneapolis shops, too, so Milton and Margie’s will be branching out to two Midwestern states.

I’m really excited to see what new crafty opportunities living in Chicago will bring. Here are a couple of the local handmade shops I’ll be checking out.

Renegade Handmade

This shop is located in the Wicker Park neighborhood, carrying handmade goods from more than 300 artists. The shop was created as the home-base of the Renegade Craft Fair, which is held in a bunch of major cities in the U.S. I’ve heard so much about the show and how cute the shop is, so I’m really looking forward to being able to go there.

Wolfbait

This shop is in the Logan Square neighborhood, featuring only Chicago clothing designers. This is right in the neighborhood we’re moving to! I will be so, so stylish.

Halloween is coming up, and I never end up executing a really good costume. I always have such grand plans, but they are never realized. But not this year! So I went looking on Etsy for some handmade inspiration.

Zombie Girl Cosmetics Kit, by glittersniffer.

A high-quality Halloween costume makeup kit! Look how cool that looks! All you people that do that Zombie Pub Crawl stuff around here should try this kit out. She has it on a discounted price of $16 right now, too! It may be a bit more expensive than what you would find at Party City, but it is a lot less scary-looking than those cheapy face-paint/vampire teeth kits (not “scary-looking” as in “a successful, scary costume,” but “scary-looking” as in “this product will probably poison your skin”).

Hulk Hogan, by thrills.

For the Hulkamaniacs, here is the Hulk Hogan costume kit. It includes: handmade/painted bandana, hand-dyed wristbands and knee pads, handmade tank top and hot pants (slightly different than the shorts pictured), and handmade boot covers with laces.

The Hamburglar, by dirtybirdyvintage.

I love things to do with The Hamburglar. This awesome kit includes: black hat, red curly wig, black vixen mask, black and white dress, striped bloomers, striped stockings, attached cape, vintage 1975 McDonald’s fry purse, red gloves, and handmade burger tie.

I was at my family’s cabin this weekend, and they had some envy-inducing mugs and juice glasses. They all would have made such cute candles! But since I can’t have those, I’ll fantasize about these (some of my Etsy favorites):

They had one almost identical to this!

Osayin Holistics‘ soaps are fantastic. I recently purchased the Triple Butter Soothing Chamomile Cucumber Soap from her shop (as seen below), and it smells fresh and light and has a very thick, silky lather. It is definitely the best soap I’ve gotten on Etsy! (And I have gotten quite a few soaps on Etsy in my day). Not to mention, the shipping was extremely fast, and a delightful free sample was included:)

Many of her items are vegan, organic, and/or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)-free.

*Sodium lauryl sulfate is a harsh chemical compound used to create a thick lather in products like soap, tooth paste, shaving cream, and shampoo. If you have sensitive skin, it has been found to worsen skin problems, and make it even more sensitive. It is also used in engine degreasers and floor cleaners; yuck!

Take 25% off any purchase at Milton and Margie’s! The sale begins today and goes until September 1st.

You will be refunded via PayPal after your purchase.

My boss at work went to Japan earlier this year and brought back a bunch of cute candies. This container and the little grass were part of one of the cute candy sets. I, of course, didn’t feel right about getting rid of the container and grass, so I made some needle-felted sushi to go with them. I haven’t really decided what I’m going to do with these, yet. I could make them into Christmas ornaments, or just have them be little toys.

]]> http://jesserino.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/needle-felted-sushi/feed/ 0 jesserino http://jesserino.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/caffetto-arts-and-crafts-fair-fun/ http://jesserino.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/caffetto-arts-and-crafts-fair-fun/#comments Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:32:24 +0000 jesserino http://jesserino.wordpress.com/?p=259 ]]>

The Caffetto Arts and Crafts Fair was a ton of fun! Met some great artists/crafters, listened to live music, ate a chili dog, and got a sweet tan.

Artist Steve Tomashek carves intricately detailed, tiny animals out of wood. I was amazed by his work, and still can’t get over it. He sells the miniature figures themselves, as well as photography of them.

Here’s a picture of me and my mom hanging out at the booth:
<From Candles