Search results (tags) for: "tutorial"

News from the Etsy Labs: 12/1 Craft Night

2008-11-26T13:32:00Z

Have plans on Monday night? Well, you do now! Dust off your crafty pants and come join us for our weekly Craft Night at the Etsy Labs in Brooklyn. Each craft night is also broadcast live into in the Treehouse room of the Virtual Labs. All demos will be shown both in the Labs in Brooklyn and in the Treehouse online.

Craft Night occurs every Monday from 4-8pm at 325 Gold Street, 3rd floor in Brooklyn, New York. Each week the Etsy Labs organize a skill-sharing project. We provide supplies, tools, snacks, and know-how. Participants are also welcome to bring their own project to work on independently. Craft night is a time to make things, learn new skills, and hang out.

This week, on Monday, December 1, we will be making ornaments! We will demonstrate how to create lovely ornaments using felt and the versatile blanket stitch. These plushie ornaments are perfect to sell in your Etsy shop, decorate your home over the holiday season, and to give as gifts to friends and family.

If you are joining us virtually for Craft Night this week and would like to make ornaments along with us, you'll need a few supplies: felt, thread, scissors, sewing needle, pencil, and any embellishments you'd like to add to your ornament (buttons, lace, trim, etc). Or, just be ready to take some notes and see if this is a project you'd like to try out later on.

Upcoming Craft Night Projects:

12/8: Paper gift bags with melangerienyc

12/15: Snowglobes with Ryan Green

12/22: Linocut giftwrap with julieincharge

Want to learn more about the Labs? Check out our FAQs. Want to receive email updates? Join our Etsy Labs mailing list. Will we see you Monday? Let us know in the comments!

How-Tuesday: Snowflake Gift Wrap with the NewNew Team

2008-11-25T11:00:00Z

YouTube | blip.tv | MP4 | Subscribe in iTunes

This week, Etsy How-Tuesday presents Kari aka ikyoto and Stella aka lookcloselypress of The {NewNew} York Team. Today we're going to learn how to screenprint our own snowflake gift wrap for the holidays. Kari and Stella remind us that recycling paper bags is a great source for materials for this kind of project.

The snowflake screenprint graphic was designed by the NewNew Street Team with each individual snowflake from a different member of the team. To download the unique snowflake graphic for this project, check out their team blog. The following members contributed a design:

redbridge.etsy.com
pulpsushi.etsy.com
cakehouse.etsy.com
Jantar.etsy.com
mshoelace.etsy.com
AdornmentsNYC.etsy.com
ikyoto.etsy.com
lookcloselypress.etsy.com
Kimmchi.etsy.com
karensmonsters.etsy.com
citybitz.etsy.com
allenelaspina.etsy.com
bungaloe.etsy.com
mayluk.etsy.com
luckx4.etsy.com
cajajewelry.etsy.com
bshorr.etsy.com
lapistolera.etsy.com
linguanigra.etsy.com
Fubabee.etsy.com
wabisabibrooklyn.etsy.com
jdavisstudio.etsy.com
bluestitchbooks.etsy.com

For more of their work, simply search "newnewteam".

Materials Needed:

Silk Screen
Squeegee
Paper Bags / Junk Mail / Card Stock
Scissors
Ink Spreader / Spatula / Stirring Stick
Iron
Ironing Board
A flat protected surface (table with construction paper works just fine)

Steps for Making Screenprinted Gift Wrap:

Cut up your bags until they lay flat.
Iron the bags with the iron on a cotton setting with some steam.
Lay one bag on a flat protected surface (you can tape the edges down if you like).
- Place the screen over the bag.
- Have a friend hold the screen firmly in place.
- Use an ink spreader, spatula, or stirring stick to put some ink evenly along one edge of the screen.
- Using a squeegee firmly press down and pull the ink across the design holding the squeegee at a 45º angle.
- Carefully lift the screen, while holding the paper down to separate the two.
- Repeat swiftly until you notice the ink starting to gum in the screen at which point: rinse!

For more about burning your own screen to print with, check out this tutorial with Pete and Matt.

Watch more how-to videos and check out these how-to projects too!

The Etsy Seller Handbook: All Our How-Tos about Selling

2008-11-24T08:19:00Z

Dear Sellers!

Below you'll find a handy index of all the useful How-Tos about Selling on Etsy. We're calling it the Seller Handbook. We'll be adding all new how-tos for sellers to this index.

You can also search the Storque tags for "Seller Handbook" for a chronological list of all our published how-tos related to Selling.

Your Shop 101: How-Tos for Getting Started on Etsy
Please also see the Setting Up Shop Help Guide, Selling Dos and Don'ts, Selling FAQs, Listing an Item Help Guide.

[photo by Artsy]

Photography How-Tos

[image by TwoHiddenHeads]

Alchemy and Custom/Reserved Listing How-Tos

[image by moxiethrift]

Shipping How-Tos

[photo by missplum]

Advertising How-Tos
Please also see the Showcase Help Guide.

[photo by Earmark]

Business and Pricing How-Tos

[image by NewDuds]

Promoting & Marketing How-Tos

[image by DancingMooney]

Craft Show & Events How-Tos

[image by MiNDJACKET]

Social Networking, Blogging, Podcasting & Video-making How-Tos

[image by houseofharriet]

Legal Info for Artists

[image by jessgonacha]

Tagging How-Tos

[image by Anda]

Team Tips

[image by iheartmoustaches]

All about Etsy & Site Features

Comment below and let us know what other topics would be helpful for sellers! If you'd like to write a how-to for the Seller Handbook, pitch to the Storque editors.

Kayte Terry's Vivienne Vest How-to

2008-11-21T17:00:00Z

Transform a basic piece into a wardrobe statement or an inspired gift. Kayte Terry, aka loveforever, shows us how from her book, Complete Embellishing. Download the full project instructions here, or follow along below.

Vivienne Vest
I love argyle patterns, but sometimes they can be a bit, well, stuffy. With its frayed edges and yarn embroidery, this vest is more punk rock than prep school, à la Vivienne Westwood, one of my favorite designers. If you don’t like vests, this pattern can easily be adapted to a skirt, a dress, or even a tote bag.

Materials
Chalk-backed dressmaker’s paper
Pencil
Lightweight cardboard

Paper scissors

Tailor’s chalk

Old plaid wool skirt or 1⁄4 yd. (.23m) plaid wool fabric
Vest in wool or synthetic knit
Fusible webbing
Iron
Sewing machine

Matching sewing thread

Worsted-weight yarn in three colors
Size 18 chenille needle

Step 1: Enlarge a basic diamond pattern to desired size. Use dressmaker’s paper to transfer diamond onto cardboard. Cut out template. (See “Transferring with chalk-backed dressmaker’s paper” on page 30 of Complete Embellishing.)

Step 2: Trace around template using tailor’s chalk onto plaid wool. Make sure that fabric weave is parallel with edges of diamond. Cut out three diamonds. Then fray 3⁄4 in. (19mm) fringe on all edges.

Step 3: Mark a line down center of vest using tailor’s chalk.

Step 4: Cut fusible webbing for each diamond. Remove paper from one side of webbing. Following manufacturer’s directions, use iron to fuse webbing to wrong side of each diamond. (See “Appliqué” on page 56.)

Step 5: Remove paper from webbing. Place top diamond on vest approximately 2 in. (5.1cm) below neckline. Have points of diamond on chalk line. Use iron to fuse diamond to vest. Fuse middle and bottom diamonds to vest along chalk line, making sure points of diamonds touch slightly.

Step 6: Using straight stitch, machine-sew diamonds to vest 3⁄4 in. (19mm) from all edges.

Step 7: Referring to photograph, use chalk to draw stitching lines for embroidered diamonds. Use running stitch and yarn to embroider fabric diamonds along stitching lines and chalk-marked diamonds. An embroidery hoop isn’t necessary. (See “Running stitch” on page 20.)

Thanks to Kayte for sharing! In other loveforever news, if you're in the New York area, catch Kayte and the whole {New New} crew... that's the New York Etsy team... in person at their Handmade Cavalcade, the one-of-a-kind holiday shopping event on December 6. Kayte gives us some highlights:

The first 200 shoppers who RSVP at handmadecavalcade.com will receive a complimentary goody bag on the day of the event. Shoppers who arrive before noon will receive exclusive coupons for discounts at and after the event, and everyone who attends will have the opportunity to enter into a free raffle to win creations from participating vendors. Plus, we're going to have fun cocktails and snacks!

For more great projects from Kayte, check out her book, Complete Embellishing... and this Ribbon Embroidery project she shared with us this summer.

More How-to Projects on Etsy's Blog

News from the Etsy Labs: 11/24 Craft Night

2008-11-19T13:13:00Z

Have plans on Monday night? Well, you do now! Dust off your crafty pants and come join us for our weekly Craft Night at the Etsy Labs in Brooklyn. Craft Night occurs every Monday from 4-8pm EST at 325 Gold Street, 3rd floor in Brooklyn, New York. Craft night is a time to make things, learn new skills, and hang out.

This week, on Monday, November 24, we're hosting an open craft night! Instead of an organized project, this week we are throwing the doors of the Etsy Labs wide open and letting you work on any project that suits you. Bring along any project to work on during this week's craft night: that half-finished scarf you are knitting, paper you would like to bind into books, an embroidery-in-progress, a skirt you would like to alter, a jewelry project, a holiday gift you're making... The sky's the limit!

If you need help with a project that you are working on, we are happy to put in our two cents and share our expertise. If you learned a skill in a past craft night or class, here is your chance to develop that skill further. As always, our tools and supplies are available, so join us for a crafty free-for-all.

Not in Brooklyn? At 7pm, we will be turning on the webcam for a Show and Tell for Sellers in the Lounge room of the Virtual Labs. Come share what projects you are working on! Everyone will get their own time to talk about a project they are working on and get feedback. Come with links to pictures of your work in progress, or if you have a webcam, you can show us live! Craft night participants at the Etsy Labs will also have a chance to share their projects with the online community.

Want to learn more about the Labs? Check out our FAQs. Want to receive email updates? Join our Etsy Labs mailing list.

Will we see you Monday? What will you be working on? Let us know in the comments!

Seller How-to: PayPal Coming to Etsy Virtual Labs!

2008-11-13T11:00:00Z

blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes

UPDATE: Please download the PDF file so you can follow along with this audio podcast of Deb Popek's Paypal Virtual Lab. It's a very thorough resource for sellers who use Paypal. Thanks for listening and thanks to Deb for doing this! Below, we've typed up some highlights from the talk as well as some other tips Deb shared with us while visiting the Etsy Labs.

Web Accept Express (WAX Payment): Paying with a credit card without a PayPal account
Sellers have the option to offer the WAX payment through their PayPal account settings. There are spending limitations for buyers who use WAX. The spending limit follows the specific credit card they selected to use for a period of four months. At the end of the four month period, the limit will be reset to the standard pre-verified (by PayPal) spending limit. The buyer may use a different card, which will have it's own four month period and spending criteria.

PayPal Mobile: Manage your business by phone
* Check balance
* Send and request money
* Buy things from mobile websites

PayPal Shipping Labels: A convenient service for Etsy-sized businesses
* Create postage-paid shipping labels in just minutes
* Pay for shipping and insurance with your PayPal account, with no monthly fees or surcharges
* Create and print a pre-filled packing slip, detailing what you are shipping to your buyer
* Ship internationally with PayPal-provided Customs forms
* Track and confirm the arrival of your shipments with delivery confirmation
* Void your shipping label and get a refund for misprinted labels canceled within 24 hours
* Print multiple U.S. Postal Service labels at once with MultiOrder Shipping

Benefits of using PayPal:
* Free for Buyers
* Fast
* Financial information is kept private
* Payments are deposited instantly
* Seller Protection Policy
* Transfer money from PayPal account to bank accounts
* Fraud prevention protection

Business or Premier Account?
Both accounts offer all of the following services with the Business account offering one additional feature: Multi-user access.

* Send money
* 24-hour fraud surveillance
* Customer Service availability
* eBay Tools
* Merchant Services
* Accept credit or debit cards
* PayPal Debit Card

Fight Phishing Emails:
PayPal is working with Iconix eMail ID, which can reduce phishing by confirming whether or not an email is really from Paypal. It's FREE, and it works with most major email services. More information: http://www.iconix.com/paypal/

PayPal Resources:

Merchant Support
1-888-221-1161

Merchant Tech Services
paypal.com/mts

PayPal Radio
paypal.com/paypalradio

Online Merchant Network
onlinemerchantnetwork.com

PayPal Blog
thepaypalblog.com

[the following was originally published on October 30th, 2008]

Dear Sellers,

We are very excited to announce that PayPal customer service representative Deb Popek will be hosting a live Virtual Lab on November 6, 2008 at 3PM EDT. She is here to answer your questions and walk us through some of the features and tools that PayPal offers.

A few of the topics she plans to cover include:

1. The benefits of using PayPal

2. Survey results

3. Premier/business accounts vs. personal accounts

4. Maximizing your global footprint/new world marketing

5. PayPal account settings and security

6. The many ways to send/receive payments

5. WAX (Web Accept Express) payments, i.e. using a credit card to pay without a PayPal account

6. A review of PayPal resources

This is also a unique opportunity to get your PayPal questions answered directly by an expert. Please bring your queries to the Virtual Labs, or better yet list, them in the comments below!

News from the Etsy Labs: 11/17 Craft Night

2008-11-12T13:40:00Z

Have plans on Monday night? Well, you do now! Dust off your crafty pants and come join us for our weekly Craft Night at the
Etsy Labs in Brooklyn. Each craft night is also broadcast live into in the Treehouse room of the Virtual Labs. All demos will be shown both in the Labs in Brooklyn and in the Treehouse online.

Craft Night occurs every Monday from 4—8pm at 325 Gold Street, 3rd floor in Brooklyn, New York. Each week the Etsy Labs organize a skill-sharing project. We provide supplies, tools, snacks, and know-how. Participants are also welcome to bring their own project to work on independently. Craft night is a time to make things, learn new skills, and hang out.

This week, on Monday, November 17, we will be making lip balm! (We had so much fun at our past lip balm craft nights that we decided to do it again!) The lip balm we use for demos will be given away at our booth at upcoming craft fairs to help spread the Etsy word. Come help us make this happen! All participants will also take home their own completed lip balm tubes, as well as the knowledge to make lip balm independently. We will demonstrate the melt-and-pour technique of lip balm making that is perfect for creating fun promotional items for your own Etsy shop, as well as gifts for friends and family. We'll also cover tips on labeling, sealing, and packaging your lip balm containers.

If you are joining us virtually for Craft Night this week and would like to make lip balm along with us, you'll need a few supplies: lip balm base, essential or flavor oil(s), pipettes, a microwave, a glass measuring cup, spoons, lip balm containers, shrink bands, paper towels. Or, just be ready to take some notes and see if this is a project you'd like to try out later on.

Would you like to lead a craft night project? Send your ideas to labs@etsy.com with "Craft Night idea" as the subject line.

Have you participated in Craft Night? Share your photos with the Etsy Labs Show and Tell Flickr group!

Want to learn more about the Labs? Check out our FAQs. Want to receive email updates? Join our Etsy Labs mailing list. Will we see you Monday? Let us know in the comments!

How-to Make the Cutest Belt with Cluttershop via Sprig.com

2008-11-06T15:39:00Z

In this video, cluttershop shows us how to make a simple belt by recycling an old apron. Way to go, Cluttershop!

Sprig.com, "Your Daily Green Style Guide," is looking for more Etsy sellers to contribute how-to videos with a green twist. Let Etsy know about it too, so we can post it here on our blog as well. We are always looking for video-making Etsians (see our Getting Started in Video series, if you need a leg-up).

See more how-to videos!

Search for Fabric Belts | Search for Aprons

News from the Etsy Labs: 11/10 Craft Night

2008-11-05T12:02:00Z

Craft Night occurs every Monday from 4-8pm EST at 325 Gold Street, 3rd floor in Brooklyn, New York. Each week the Etsy Labs organize a skill-sharing project. We provide supplies, tools, and know-how. Participants are also welcome to bring their own projects to work on independently. Craft night is a time to make things, learn new skills, and hang out.

This week, on Monday, November 10, Wendy, a regular craft night superstar, will be teaching us how to transform junk mail into snazzy envelopes and mini matchbook-style notebooks. These techniques are great for making eco-friendly holiday cards and small gifts. This project is open to everyone, regardless of crafting experience. Please bring along your finest junk mail, including old envelopes with security lining and old greeting cards or postcards. All other supplies will be provided. We'll start demos on this week's project at 5pm (rather than 4pm). If you're an early-bird, you are welcome to participate in open crafting from 4-5pm.

If you are joining us virtually for Craft Night this week and would like to craft along with us, you'll need a few supplies:

old envelopes from credit card, utility, bank companies with security lining on the inside (make sure not to include private info!)
old greeting cards or post cards
scrap paper, envelopes or copy paper that's been printed to make pages for the notebook
paper scissors and craft scissors (the kind that cut interesting shapes)
stapler and staples
glue sticks
templates (circles or different shapes) to make designs to collage onto envelopes
trimmings, glitter, beads, sequins to add onto notebooks

Or, just be ready to take some notes and see if this is a project you'd like to try out later on.

Upcoming Craft Night Projects

11/17: Making Lip Balm

11/24: Open Craft Night

Would you like to lead a craft night project? Send your ideas to labs@etsy.com with "Craft Night idea" as the subject line. Have you participated in Craft Night? Share your photos with the Etsy Labs Show and Tell Flickr group! Want to learn more about the Labs? Check out our FAQs. If you'd like to receive email updates, join our Etsy Labs mailing list.

Will we see you this Monday? Let us know in the comments.

How-To: Making a Needlefelted Turkey

2008-11-04T16:28:00Z

I was recently shopping local and bumped into two great Etsy shops for heartfelt and natural kids toys, winsomehollow & littleloveblue. Turns out these Etsy sellers are sisters! I invited them down to the Etsy Labs to do a live how-to in the Virtual Labs and luckily, they were thrilled to share with the rest of Etsy. Here's a gorgeous photo tutorial they put together for those who can't make it November 6th, Thursday at 7pm EST. (Note: After the how-to we'll be showing our favorite kid's toys on Etsy. So come on by and get some holiday shopping done! For a good starting point, check out our Top 10 Waldorf Toys.)

Materials:

Core wool (Wool batting)
Felting needle (very sharp!)
Foam (for a felting surface)
Roving in various colors (brown for the turkey, with various colors for the feathers and a yellow beak)
Needlefelting supplies on Etsy!

Here are the basic steps for the turkey:

Pull off a large handful of wool stuffing, spreading the wool into a long piece. Roll the wool tightly into a ball shape. This will be the basic size of the turkey's body. You can add or remove wool to change the size.

Using the foam felting surface, place your wool ball on the foam and begin poking the ball (and poking and poking!) all around and through to the center with the felting needle. Do this until the wool is relatively firm and equally dense around.
Tip: Try to poke the needle at a straight angle, so as not to bend or break the needle!

Pull of some small pieces of brown roving (your base color for your turkey) and spread thin layers around the ball, again using your felting needle to poke and attach the color to the ball.
Tip: After applying the color, gently roll the ball around in your hands to smooth the wool surface.

Continue to poke what will be the bottom of your turkey's body, until the bottom is a flat surface. This will make the turkey stand upright.

To make the head, roll and felt another smaller wool ball (this is for the turkey's head). This time leaving a section at the end unrolled for the turkey's neck. Roll and poke this unrolled section until firm and shaped like a neck. Cover the head in brown roving as well.The turkey's head can either be sewn with brown thread onto the front of the larger ball (more firmly attached), or needle felted onto the front of the larger ball.

To create feathers, pull off small, thin strips of various colors of wool roving, and smooth into long fluffy pieces. Again using your felting needle, attach one end of these pieces of roving, in alternating colors, in a semicircle around the back of the larger ball, so that the pieces stand tall like turkey feathers.

Roll a tiny piece of dark roving between your fingers for the turkey's eye, poking this piece onto the face of the turkey with your needle. Repeat on the other side. Remove another small section of roving for the turkey's beak, felting one end of the piece onto the turkey's face.
Tip: Wet your fingers to smooth and shape the roving into the pointed shape of a beak.

The basic wool ball can be made into any number of sweet little animals. Add a round head, long ears and a small fluffy tail to make a bunny. for a a hedgehog, elongate the head into a more pointed shape, (adding a cute little nose on the end and two ears on top!), and cover the body with a coarse fluffy brown roving.

Don't forget: to see this how-to live, join us November 6th at 7pm EST in the Virtual Labs!

Top 10 Autumn Prims | Top 10 Waldorf Toys | More How-to projects

Cannibal Pumpkin: A Halloween How-To

2008-10-29T19:09:00Z

Halloween is day after tomorrow — you better get carving! Not enough gruesome pumpkin eye candy for your Halloween baskets? Not to worry! Tom Nardone, crafty author of Extreme Pumpkins has a few more tricks (and treats) up his sleeve.

Life requires bravery; if you're timid, the cannibals will eat you for sure. To illustrate this point, each year I buy a giant pumpkin and feed other pumpkins to it. A ruthless jack-o'-lantern munching on the flesh of its own kind really frightens all the sweater-vest types. Here's how you can scare your neighbors, too. You can follow along below or download the pdf file here.

Tom with a few of his pumpkin pals.

Get inspired to get extreme! Buy the book here.

And his other book here!

Pumpkin season is popular here on Etsy. Don't forget to taste the Flavors of Fall, or bask in autumns favorite color, Orange, Beautiful Orange. Did Halloween sneak up on you this year? There's still time to put together a killer costume! Oh, and don't worry about what to bring to that party on Friday, we've got some spooky cupcakes that are sure to cause a scream or two.

More pumpkin treasures can be found in the related items below. Seach Etsy for all types of handmade pumpkin items!

How-Tuesdays: Spooky Shadow Puppets by Crankbunny

2008-10-28T11:00:00Z

MP4 | YouTube | blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes

This week on Etsy How-Tuesday, Norma AKA crankbunny shows us how to make spooky shadow puppets for Hallow's Eve! MAUHAHAH! crankbunny, a talented animator and artist, often works with layers of paper in her projects. Check out this animation she made for Etsy about robots.

Today's project is about dead guys and cemeteries! crankbunny has provided the templates for making her signature Gravestone Shadow Puppet and Dead Guy Shadow Puppet. You can use these templates, or come up with your own designs — either way you will most certainly have your own spooky Halloween shadow show.

Things you will need for the Gravestone Shadow Puppet:

Get the Template and print it out
- Grave Stone Shadow Puppet Template
Scissors or Craft Knife (Exacto Art Knife)
Rod (can be bamboo skewer, chopsticks, thin wooden dowel, a stick - the longer, the better)
Tape or Glue (non-toxic please)
Stiff Paper (card stock, cardboard, chipboard, etc)

How to make Gravestone the Shadow Puppet

Transfer the puppet template onto stiff paper stock.
- Tip - Print out the template on regular paper, use spray adhesive or glue to adhere the print out onto the stiff paper stock.
Cut out the gravestone puppet using scissors & a craft knife. Remember to also cutout the white areas inside the gravestone puppet.
Attach one end of the rod to the dotted area on the gravestone template using glue or tape.
- Tip - Customize the gravestone shadow puppet by cutting away shapes from it.
By making a few of these, each customized and cut differently - you can make an entire cemetery scene.
Project the shadow puppet by shining a flashlight onto it in a dark room.

Things you will need for the Dead Guy Shadow Puppet:

Get the Dead Guy Shadow Puppet Template here and print it out
- Dead Guy Shadow Puppet Template (page 1)
- Dead Guy Shadow Puppet Template (page 2)
Scissors or Craft Knife (Exacto Art Knife)
Rod (can be bamboo skewer, chopsticks, thin wooden dowel, a stick - the longer, the better)
Tape or Glue (non-toxic please)
String (cotton warp, yarn)
2 Brads (paper fasteners)
Hole punch (regular or 1/8th if you wanna get specific)
Drinking Straw
Stiff Paper (card stock, cardboard, chipboard, etc)

How to make the Dead Guy Shadow Puppet

Transfer the puppet template onto stiff paper stock.
- Tip - Print out the template on regular paper, use spray adhesive or glue to adhere the print out onto the paper stock.
Cut out the puppet parts using your cutting tools. Punch holes over the indicated circles with Xs. Use the punch and cutting tools to create your own eye shape on the puppet's head.
Attach one end of the rod to the dotted area on the puppet's body shape using glue or tape.
Cut a one inch (3cm) piece of straw. Align the end of the straw with the line found on the lower part of the puppet's body shape. Have it rest against the rod vertically and tape it down securely to the puppet.
Cut 2 pieces of string. Each should be 12inches (32cm) in length. Tie the end of each string to the outer hole on each puppet arm.
Make a spacer out of some scrap paper. A spacer is basically a small square of cardboard/heavy paper with a wedge cut into its side.
Join the arms to the body of the puppet with a brad using the spacer. Match the arms by each letter, the uppercase letter part always over the lowercase part. Remove the spacer once the brads are fastened. This will make each joint loose.
Run each string through the top of the straw. Make a looped knot to join both strings together. When you pull the end of the strings, the arms should move up. When you release the strings, the arms should move back down.
- Tip - Customize the shadow puppet by cutting away and adding shapes to it. Adding fangs, horns, buck teeth, pirate hats, hooks, top hats, etc to customize your puppet.
Project the shadow puppet by shining a flashlight onto it in a dark room.
Have a spooky Halloween!

See more how-to videos on Etsy!

All Etsy videos are licensed under a Creative Commons: Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike. If you like a video we produced, we encourage you to post it on your website, blog, myspace, etc. You can help us spread the word about the handmade lifestyle through video by:

1. Clicking the link button on the bottom right hand side of the video player at the top of the article:

2. Selecting the embed tab, then copy & paste the embed code into your blog or website:

News from the Etsy Labs: 10/27 Craft Night

2008-10-22T14:25:00Z

Have plans on Monday night? Well, you do now! Dust off your crafty pants and come join us for our weekly Craft Night at the Etsy Labs in Brooklyn. Craft Night occurs every Monday from 4-8pm EDT at 325 Gold Street, 3rd floor in Brooklyn, New York. Craft night is a time to make things, learn new skills, and hang out.

This week, on Monday, October 27, we're hosting an open craft night! Instead of an organized project, this week we are throwing the doors of the Etsy Labs wide open and letting you work on any project that suits you. Bring along any project to work on during this week's craft night: that half-finished scarf you are knitting, paper you would like to bind into books, an embroidery-in-progress, a skirt you would like to alter, a jewelry project, a costume you'd like to stitch together, a pumpkin to carve for Halloween... The sky's the limit!

Note: We do have some pumpkin carving tools and templates on hand, since Halloween is just around the corner. So, if you'd like to carve a pumpkin, it is B.Y.O.P. (That is, Bring Your Own Pumpkin.)

Not in Brooklyn? At 7pm, we will be turning on the webcam for a Show and Tell for Sellers in the Lounge room of the Virtual Labs.Come share what projects you are working on! Everyone will get theirown time to talk about a project they are working on and get feedback.Come with links to pictures of your work in progress, or if you have awebcam, you can show us live! Craft night participants at the Etsy Labswill also have a chance to share their projects with the onlinecommunity.

Want to learn more about the Labs? Check out our FAQs. Want to receive email updates? Join our Etsy Labs mailing list.

Will we see you Monday? What will you be working on? Let us know in the comments!

Recycled Glove How-to: Make a Chipmunk Softie

2008-10-17T15:34:00Z

Gloves (like socks), while born to be part of a pair, often end their days in lonely solitude, separated from their mates by the forces of the universe that conspire at every turn to pull them apart. Alone, they sadly serve little purpose (aside from the occasional show biz appearance for only the most sparkling among them), and are left to languish in the backs of a drawers and bottoms of closets — that is, if they're not disposed of all together. Ah... but it's a new day. Crafter and author Miyako Kanamori has a plan and she's ready to share it!

With her book, Happy Gloves: Charming Softy Friends Made from Colorful Gloves, she's given hopelessly single gloves a new lease on life as cozy companions. In her able hands, one glove's worth of material becomes an elephant, a penguin, a donkey, a bunny — you name it — all set free to romp and play together. (Can't you just hear the claps of cheer?)

Try your hands at this chipmunk to start your very own menagerie of recycled glove critters. Download complete instructions here or follow along below.

Thanks to the Penguin Group for sharing this project from Happy Gloves.

Author Miyako Kanamori is a crafter who lives in Tokyo. She is also the author of Sock and Glove. You can see more of her work at her website: bananawani.org/nuiguroom.

For more cute critters made from recycled materials, search "Recycled Softie". Some examples plus a few other autumn-inspired creations can be seen in the related items below.