Design by Night

Find one of a kind  gifts, clothing, handbags, plushies, ceramics, soaps, kids’ toys, mixed media, amazing jewelry, and great art at this year's Merry Mart! Support handmade (like me) and shop local this holiday season. Merry Mart will take place Sunday, December 2nd from 11-5 pm and will feature the areas most talented artist and crafters in the Baltimore area. Merry Mart will be held at the Creative Alliance, located at 3134 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD right in the heart of Highlandtown. Merry Mart showcases high quality handmade arts and crafts from indie crafters, such as, members of the Charm City Craft Mafia, the Baltimore Etsy Street Team (BEST) and fine artists and crafts people from Highlandtown and across the region. Merry Mart is also please to have two worthy artistic non-profit craft organizations at this year’s Merry Mart, Mother Made Baltimore and the Baltimore Love Project. Enjoy a brunch in Clementine’s and do your holiday spending locally! Drop off ...

Come visit me at the Greenbelt Festival of Lights Art and Craft Fair this weekend. Fabulous and funky! Featuring juried professional artists and crafters selling their own, handmade wares. Where: 15 Crescent Road Greenbelt, MD 20770 ( click here to see a map ) When: Saturday, December 1, 10am-5pm Sunday, December 2, 11am-4pm Hope to see you their!

Come see me this Satruday at the Charm City Craft Mafia's Holiday Heap! December 1, 2012 10am-5pm 2640 St Paul St, St John’s Church To see a full vendor list click here . 

I have a bunch of cheapy long bead plastic necklaces that I have picked up over the years. You can usually find them at yard sales and thrift store for a quarter. I often put them on then take them right off, until now! Rework your necklaces with a few minutes, some ribbon and a pair of scissors. Here's how: I used 3 necklaces and some grosgrain ribbon. Cut the ribbon into four pieces, two-12" and two-18". Take one 18" piece and loop it through all the necklaces. Tie a into a single knot. Take a 12" piece of ribbon and center it on the knotted ribbon. Using the ribbon that is already knotted to the necklaces tie the 12" piece to the mix. Take the 12" piece of ribbon and tie it into a bow. Trim ribbon ends as needed. Repeat with the other side.

Obviously I can't have enough felt flower pins in my wardrobe for this winter because I have come up with yet another felt flower tutorial. I can't help it, I love to add them to outfits in the winter for a little something extra. Hopefully you feel the same way too. Supplies: Hot glue gun 1/8 of a yard of three colors of felt 1" pin Scissors Pinking Shears Needle & Thread Printer Print out the pattern below. (Use the scale to make sure the print out is the correct size). Cut six of each size petal from the felt. I used three colors so I cut 6-large petals from one color, 6-medium petals from another and 6-small petals from the last. Cut one backer. Take all of your petals and organize them from large on the bottom to small on top. Pick up one set of petals and pinch them together at the end. Using your needle and thread, sew threw all the folded layers on the bottom of the petal. (I used a light thread color just for the sake of this tut...

And the obsession with flowers continues. I don't understand I was such a tom boy as a child and now all I think about are flouncy, flirty, girly, fabric flowers. I blame it on the time a brick was dropped on my head and my mom thought it was hysterical...from tom boy to tutus! Anyway here is another no sew flower. However, this one is a bit trickier because of the light weight of the fabric and the hot glue. So BE CAREFUL not to burn yourself, it if very easy. No one wants hot glue gun burned fingers! Supplies: Hot glue gun Butter Knife (I used a plastic one so I didn't ruin a good one) Small piece of felt Chiffon (about an eighth to a quarter of a yard) Tulle (about an eight of a yard) Medium to large sized decorative shank button Print out the pattern below. (Use the scale to make sure the print out is the correct size). Out of the felt cut one 2.5"circle. Using the square, cut 30 pieces of chiffon and 10 pieces of tulle. Take a square of the ...

Come see me and Mike this Saturday, October 13th at Festival on the Hill! It takes place on the 1300 block of Bolton St. and Lanvale between Jenkins and Mason. Music and Festival activities will begin at 11 am and run til 5 pm. Come and enjoy the music, food, drink, and artists. And for the young Festival go-ers, the Kid Zone is the place to be. Funds raised from the Festival go to support Memorial Episcopal Church and local non-profit organizations.

Fall and felt just go hand in hand. So what better fall craft to make than out of felt? This cute headband is easy to make and would be great for those back to school outfits. Supplies Felt (I used 2 colors) Headband (optional, I put mine on a headband but you can easily make this into a pin or clips) Scissors Computer and printer or compass Button Hot glue gun Print out the pattern below. (Use the scale to make sure the print out is the correct size). Out of the felt cut two 2.75", two 2.25" and three 1.75" circles. I used 2 colors so I cut one of each color in each size. As far as the odd 1.75 circle that is left the color can be either one because it is the backer to attach the flower to the headband. Holding the two largest circles together, cut slits all around the edge to create a fringe affect. Repeat this step with two of the 2.25 and 1.75 circles.  Put a dab of hot glue in the center of on of the larger circles. Place the other large circ...

Need instant gratification? Well this is the tutorial for you. These quick and easy no-sew felt flower bobby pins will take you no time what so ever! Supplies Felt Bobby Pin Scissors Button Hot glue gun Cut five 2" circles out of the felt. Place a dab of hot glue slightly off center in the middle of one of the felt circles and fold in half. Place a second dab of glue in the center of the folded felt along the folded bottom and fold in half again. The final petal should look like figure 3. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with three more felt circles. Take the last untouched circle and fold it in half. Carefully cut a small slit in the center. Thread the bobby pin through the slit. Glue the petals to the front of the bobby pin backer. Add a dab of glue to the center of the flower and add a button to finish (I would suggest a shank style).

Sorry I have been a total slacker lately and haven't wanted to craft. Can you believe it? Not wanting to craft never happens to me! Well I decided my slacker-dum had to come to an end so I brought out my favorite fall weather fabric (felt) and started crafting. I came up with three new tutorials which I will share in the upcoming weeks starting with this one...Pinwheel bobby pins! I used these pinwheels for hair pins but I could see them being used in a number of ways…cupcake toppers, party favors, jewelry, etc. Supplies Needle and Thread Felt Bobby Pin Scissors Computer and printer Button Hot glue gun Print out the pattern below. (Use the scale to make sure the print out is the correct size).  Cut a piece of felt using the 2" square pattern. After the overall square is cut out, cut along the dotted lines making sure not to cut into the center area. Do all four corners. Fold one of the corners so it touches the center, stitch it into place. Repeat wi...

Summer is ending, kids are going back to school and the holidays are just around the corner so it's time to get ready for Merry Mart! Me ( Design by Night) and my partner in craft crime Jill Popowich ( Jill Popowich Designs) will be coordinating this year’s event. We will be accepting vendor applications for the Sunday Dec. 2nd show starting now! We are looking for high-quality, handmade work in a variety of media. Merry Mart is an annual holiday craft show held at the Creative Alliance, and has become a tradition now that people look forward to! Click here to apply now ! Applying is FREE…so get to applying Please remember to read the application carefully. And don't worry, there's no fee to apply. Applications must be completed and submitted no later than 11:59 PM on Friday, September 28, 2012. Vendors will be notified of acceptance by Friday, October 5th.

Come see me ( Design by Night ) this Saturday Hampdenfest! My table will be in front of Kiss and Makeup (and after the festival Kiss and Makeup will sell Design by Night Accessories!) Hampdenfest celebrates all things Bawl'meron on September 8th with 4 stages of live music, a mac and cheese cook off, and toilet bowl races among many other interesting events. Hampdenfest September 8th 10am - 7pm "The Avenue" On the Avenue, 36 St. between Falls and Chestnut For more information, visit hampdenfest.blogspot.com .

When making quick and easy-to-sew flowers lace is the way to go. However, I am often aggravated by the limited colors that you can get lace in…usually only white, cream or black…BORING! So when I saw Simply Spray fabric paint I was super excited. Simply Spray is exactly like it sounds, spray paint for fabric. It is quick and easy compared to mixing up dye in pots. Plus, you can use exactly what you need unlike mixing vats of fabric dye. I decided to try use the fabric paint to make an ombre piece of lace for a fabric flower pin. Supplies: 40" of 1.5" wide lace in white or cream Simply Spray fabric paint for upholstery Rubber gloves Drop cloth or old towel Millinery needle Thread Glass beads Pin Gator clip Felt X-acto or utility knife Scissors Water Marking Chalk Hot Glue Outside or in a well ventilated area spread out your drop cloth. Wearing your gloves, take the lace and saturate it with water. Lay the lace on the drop cloth in a straight line. U...