Make Your Own: "Knick Knacks and Ric Rac"

I am a huge fan of Etsy, the website featuring handmade things. In fact, I've made a resolution this year to buy as much as I can directly from artists, or from fair trade sources, or from the co-op – if I can't first make my own!

Clicking over to Etsy is an invitation into many small art galleries with excellent, personable, oftentimes quirky fun service. It's like being at a great flea market filled with creatives who are exceptional renovators and innovators. They are unabashedly obsessed with their art, something I find very refreshing. And they invite you home to tour their studios!

My DIY friend Nicole sent me to this very fun site yesterday, Knick Knacks and Ric Rac, a peek behind the scenes of the Etsy site madewithlovebyhannah. This artist makes silkscreened skirts, dresses, tops, decorative objects, and she hosts crocheted items made by her grandma. While I'm not too likely to make mushrooms out of styrofoam, hers are ingenious and she offers tutorials. Here are some free downloadable knick knack gift cards.

The blue tablecloth is from Hannah's great-aunt Deda, from Germany, who embroidered it when she was about 12 or 13 years old. (The craftsmanship looks remarkable.) For a tour of delightful kitsch-en goodness, visit this site and be amazed. (Nor, the Dutch skirt above is for you, in memory of that border in your Irvine Avenue kitchen, mentioned in the comment on Lois Lenski!)