This book is delightfully different.   It is unavoidably motivating for mums with a retro inspired crafty itch.

While there are many gorgeous crafty books that I find generally inspiring, Vintage Craft Projects has really whipped that inspiration into something far more focussed and intentional.    As in the title, this is a true workshop.

The projects are not lightly  crafty….they  are simple,  though often require specific materials and skills  that achieve brilliant results.  Ican’t wait to get started, but I need a few  particular tools I don’t have in the kids’ craft cupboard…but when I do get started…whoaa!  stand back!

Cathy Callahan is a talented woman inspired by  crafts from the 60s and 70s.  She gives them a fresh approach…from  macramé, appliqué, decoupagé, and more!

With an eye toward style, not kitsch, superstar contributors including Diane Gilleland, Jill Bliss, and Derek Fagerstrom and Lauren Smith offer their unique interpretations on 24 vintage projects.

Brimming with inspiration shots straight from Callahan’s vintage craft books, colour photographs of the finished projects, profiles of the original crafters, and tidbits about this unforgettable era, this spirited book makes vintage crafts perfectly stylish for today.
Plus, it’s easy to get started with step-by-step instructions, how-to illustrations, perforated template pages, and a handy back pocket.

Vintage Craft Workshop has just been released and is  @ tribe RRP $27.95

wall art by love mae

handmade pirate girl blocks by stack

pirate sock toy by supersockmonkeys

mermaid doll by tadpole creations

mermaid sisters paintig by rkdsign88

sea creature alphabet at sea urchin studios (divine!)

and @ tribe, this delightful pop-up book that started it all!

next post we’ll talk about ROBOTS!

5 little Easter thoughts, onto the tribe shop floor…Bec chose the first  one, then there were four.

Four little Easter gifts, two and two, you see;

Renee took a carload of the next one, then there were three.

Three little Easter ideas, before we knew,
Natasha swooped that one up for her little ones…. then there were two.

Two little Easter gifts; oh, what fun,

One little Easter bunny; see me run!

if I keep on eating these! soon there’ll be  none.

easter chic at tribe

Poppy and I spent some of the weekend experimenting with crafty Easter ideas. We experimented with the silk dye Easter egg kits we have at tribe at the moment.  As an obsessive Virgo perfectionist (in my own little way), I was reasonably happy with the results. 

Take a peek…

If you do decide to venture down the silk dyeing Easter egg path, i’ve got just a couple of extra tips…

1. it is recommended in the package that you hard boil your eggs.  My friend Kim has successfully blown and dyed her eggs, so you could make an Easter egg tree display.

2. wet the silk as you wrap it around the eggs to get a nice close fit so that the patterns transfers brightly.

3. don’t overlap your silk pattern on the egg-only wrap once

4. buy nice small eggs..we bought “first lay “eggs which were very sweet and tiny.    and buy them as light in colour as you can..ideally…

our next crafty idea was recycled wax crayons…

mmm….they look a bit yummy don’t they?

especially the chocolate ones…

 how to make your own easter  crayons…

 you will need-

• recycled crayons
• glass jug
• stirrer
• microwave or oven
• cheap easter shaped molds from the $2 store

we simply gathered up all the stubs of old crayons in the house, peeled off the wrappers (mildly therapeutic), made little piles of like colours and broke the bits into small pieces.

take a pyrex glass jug or similar and pop your first batch of colours in the jug and into the microwave.  i’d read somewhere to put a little glass of water in the microwave too, for some safety reason.  we did that, just in case. i set the timer to 10 minutes and stopped and stirred with a chop stick every 2 minutes.  I learned along the way that you don’t want the wax to boil and bubble over..the little air holes are quite disturbing for a smooth chocolatey finish

let the mix cool a little (careful, as its super hot!!)…and when cooled a tad, pour into molds.  The shapes will set at room temperature or are accelerated by cooling in the freezer.  When cool,  ease out of mold into soft hands, not hard bench.  I think that if you have any trouble with the shapes not coming out of the mold, you could use a non-stick spray.

we are going to wrap ours in cellophane with a ribbon anda little bit of that paper Eastery grass….

this is what happens if you eat too many chocolate egggs….

only joking.  ..we were happy to see Darci’s front tooth fall out over the weekend, with an awful lot of coaxing…

More Easter projects coming soon…..let us know any clever, crafty Easter ideas your family may have….

and finally…

vintage lucy’s  here at tribe.

..we made cupcake wrapper flowers. 

 it was dead easy.

if you are interested in how to do it,  don’t hesitate to ask.

and we made cookies too.

recipe from the awesome retro inspired kids cook book Look and Cook.

new @ tribe

handmade with love

finished with freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals, moonglow + sunburst acrylic beads

here

in store at tribe now.  

 here and here

perfect party invites are here