We've moved!

Come find us on Wordpress. All future blog posts will be over there, so please follow us to the new page! www.thewondercraft.com/blog

Handmade round-up: Baby boy

Lately I've been seeing so many cute baby girl things, that I was on the hunt for some baby boy cuteness for my little man. I discovered these awesome handmade goodies which we'll have to see about carrying in the shop:


1- Little Sidekick on Etsy (found via Austin Craft Riot)
2- Little Goodall on Etsy (another Texan!)
3- By Laura Design on Etsy
4- Crochet Baby Boutique on Etsy
5- BabyBolt on Etsy (Available in our shop!)

You can view more of my handmade baby selections on my Pinterest board.

Here's a pic of the little dude sporting his mama's Mustache Onesie, always available in our shop.

Announcement: Brick & Mortar!

For those of you who guessed it was a Loft on the East side, you were right! Our new space is in the "Waterstreet Lofts" building at 1601 East Cesar Chavez at Comal. The space is perfect for us with concrete floors, open floor plan and big front windows. We're having a blast planning the displays and choosing paint colors.
The thing we're most excited about is to debut the space not only as a retail store but also as a new creative space for crafters & makers. We aim to provide a social atmosphere where all types can come in and make something, use our tools & supplies and workspace. We'll have planned projects, guest instructors & specialty tools to entice anyone with an itch for DIY.
Some of you may be wondering 'What about Stella the airstream?' We've got plans for her too! We'll be keeping her just down the road at her current location at Starving Art (2324 E. Cesar Chavez) and having her available as another workspace for classes, parties, and private rental. Her new (preliminary) set-up will debut TOMORROW NIGHT at Etsy's Craft Party put on by Austin Craft Riot. The party is free to attend and we'll be screen printing in Stella while tons of other crafty activities go on upstairs in the gallery. Friday June 10th, 7-10pm at Starving Art.

Stay tuned for our planned opening in late July and of course a huge party to celebrate down the road!

Renegade Craft: We need YOU!

Next weekend is the hugely awesome Renegade Craft Fair! Its at Palmer Events Center, Saturday and Sunday 11-7. We're bringing Stella right into the mix again this year and have a whole new craft for you. Upcycled Cardboard Matchbook Wallets! Which is why we need your lightweight cardboard, like cereal boxes. If you have any of this stuff lying around please let us know & either bring it to the show or arrange to drop it by beforehand.


See how the wallet looks like a matchbook? You'll be able to cover it with a collage of papers and packing tape or use duct tape for the classic look.
We'll have a boat load of magazines, book paper and other materials to use for collage, but feel free to bring your own stash!

Crafting From the Collection: Recap

Yesterday we missed First Thursday because we took a road trip! We were invited by the Amon Carter Museum in Ft. Worth to present several crafts for their quarterly event, Crafting From the Collection. The above pic is our fabric flower piece inspired by a still life of flowers at the museum. (Some of you may remember us posting about it back in January, that scheduled date got postponed due to the "snowpocaylpse")

In preparation for the demo, we made several example pieces along with a tutorial, which will be available in our Etsy shop and our boutique.We had a great group of very crafty ladies. Everyone quickly picked up the technique and got creative.

We loved the variations on our tutorial, the creative leaves and just the awesome vibe everyone brought to the event. We hope the Amon Carter will be interested in having The WonderCraft come up again to get crafty with another great group.

Before the event started, Jen and I visited the other museums right next to the Amon Carter, The Kimball & the Modern. We loved the architecture, the collections, and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather. This steel tree sculpture ('Conjoined' by artist Roxy Paine) was particularly cool.
How are you inspired by fine art?

Jesyka's Pinwheel Tutorial

Making the Pinwheel

Don't forget your materials!

1) Take your square of paper, and create guides from each edge toward the center, about 2/3s of the way down. Mark the center. You can do this with either a ruler, or by folding the paper in half from corner to corner, and cutting along the folds.

2) Cut your paper from the edge to the guide. If you are using a paper cutter, it's easy to align the edges across a diagonal to ensure that your cuts all point toward the exact center.

3) Punch a hole at the bottom right corner (or bottom left -- just make sure its the same corner!) of each triangular flap.

4) If your hole punch doesn't have enough give to punch the center hole, use the edge of the skewer to punch the hole. :) If you manage to punch a hole with your hole punch, place the center hold on the edge of a skewer. This helps to keep the holes lined up while we fold in the edges.

5) Put a dab of hot glue near the center. Try not to cover the skewer too much (a little is okay), or you'll have a difficult time getting the skewer back out.

6) Place the holes on the edge over the skewer. It's best to go in a rotational order. Glue in between each layer if needed. Now we have a basic pinwheel! I prefer to have a more finished piece, so I like to make a centerpiece to go over the little flaps in the center.
Making the Centerpiece

7) Get out your small square of paper and corner punch.

8) Punch those corners!

9) Using your hole puncher, punch a hole in the middle.

10) Add a bit more glue to the center.

11) Place the small paper over the skewer. I like to place it so a corner of the the small paper is in the center of each flap.

12) Place an eyelet in the center. Use the eyelet setter to really help it stick together, and keep it sturdy. The pinwheel is done and we are ready for the next stage!
Making the Pinwheel Stick

13) Place a small dab of hot glue at the blunt end of the bamboo skewer.

14) Cut your ribbon at a 45° angle and place the edge flush against the top of the blunt end of the skewer to get the ribbon to twist nicely and evenly around your skewer. To ensure you have enough ribbon, do not cut the ribbon from the spool until we are done wrapping.

15) Continue wrapping the ribbon around the skewer.

16) Place a small bit of glue at the tip of the skewer.

17) Cut the ribbon after you wrap it around the glue. Now get out your wooden beads!

18) Place the bead on the end of the skewer. Add some glue to make it stay! (not shown).

Assembling the Pinwheel

19) Slide a couple of beads on to the pinhead.

20) Next, slide the pinwheel on, front facing the pinhead.

21) Pull the pin through the back.

22) Add a few more beads to the pin.

23) Stick your pin through the ribbon-wrapped skewer about an inch and a half down from the blunt edge. If you're having trouble, use an ice pic or a nail and hammer to start the hole. :) At this point you'll want to make sure it spins, so blow on your pinwheel. If it gets stuck, you'll want to add more beads between the pinwheel an the skewer (you can see how I added a fourth bead to ensure that it spins nicely).

24) Using your wire cutters, trim the excess pin.

25) There will be a little knub left, which could cut someone, so;

26) Put a dab of hot glue over the knub to protect fingers. You could cover with another bead or another piece of ribbon if you want to distract from it.

27) Glue a bead on the top, if you have not already done so.

28) And we are done! Admire your completed work. :)

Jesyka's Pinwheel Tutorial: Materials List

I made these sweet pinwheels for favors and decor for my daughter's birthday party, and although I know there are plenty of pinwheel tutorials out there in blogland, I thought I would make my contribution seeing as these are a bit more elaborate than I have seen elsewhere. Since the materials list is long, (and I need a bit more time to prepare the step-by-step guide--Laelia is napping less and needing mommy more!), I'm releasing the materials list first, and hopefully I'll have the tutorial ready to go tomorrow! Stay tuned!

1) Paper! A lightweight cardstock works best, too thin and it doesn't have enough substance, and too thick it's too hard to fold, although any paper will definitely work. We even used some spray mount and glued some wrapping papers together to make some pretty double sided sheets (wrapping paper is great for many things, it's so cheap compared to the expensive sheets used for scrapbooking!). We did 6" x 6" for the large wheels, and 4.5" x 4.5" for the smaller wheels.

2) Scissors - For cutting slits in the paper. Alternately, you can use a paper cutter. I used both, depending on what was closest, they both have their advantages and disadvantages. A paper cutter will assure you a straight measured line, but there is something satisfying about picking up and just eyeballing a 45° angle...

3) Wire Cutters - The sort you'd use for jewelry making will work just fine. These are to cut the backs off the pins once we have them through the skewers.

4) Ribbon - To wrap around the skewers. Make. Pretty.

5) Eyelet Setter - To help set the eyelet in the center of the pinwheel. I have this set from JoAnns.

6) Beads - I used some glass beads I have had for about 15 years! Any beads larger than a seed bead has potential to work here.

7) Eyelets - These came as a set with the eyelet setter I bought. Use these at the center of the pinwheel.

8) Pins - A pin with a decorative head will work best, or you can glue a button or a cabochon will work as well. Just make sure that the pin head is large enough to hold on a bead. I bought these pins to hold the ribbon on the bouquets for my wedding. :)

9) Large Wooden Painted Beads - These go on the ends of the skewer to finish it off nicely. I bought a big pack of wood beads like these from JoAnns.

10) Hole Punch - You'll use this to punch holes, of course! Use a small hole punch.

11) More Paper! - These are 1.5" x 1.5" pieces of paper that get prettied up and are used in the center of the pinwheel.

12) Fancy Edge Cutter - To pretty up that piece of paper I was just typing about. :)

13) Bamboo Skewers - Use as the base of the pinwheel.

14) Glue Gun - We can always use a glue gun!