Pucker up, broke people! Are your lips cracked up like mine are every winter? If they ARE then you’re in luck, I have a super-soothing lip balm remedy for you. And wait! Before you note that, you always buy lip balm and then put it in a pocket of one coat and then put your other coat on and then there’s no lip balm in your pocket when you need it – I have the solution to that problem too. This DIY lip balm recipe is quick and allows you to make enough for every bag and pocket in your possession. Just call me Ms. Fix-Your-Lips-For-the-Winter. Well actually, don’t because you’re going to do it yourself. (more…)

Wait till they find out about Regretsy.

Remember Paul Ryan? He was that child actor the Republicans hired to try to run in between Barack Obama’s legs while he was carrying pork to the socialist BBQ, only to watch him suplexed by Joe Biden and fade away. Until this week, when Obama’s inaugural speech reminded us of Ryan’s oft-repeated “takers vs. makers” catch phrase. Jon Stewart on Wednesday used that as a chance to take a swipe at the most notorious “makers” in the world: Brooklyn-based Etsy. See the clip below: (more…)

Sure looks bizarre. Via Brooklyn Night Bazaar.

Brooklyn’s answer to the recession: make consumerism a party! The Brooklyn Night Bazaar is back for a festive holiday season run of shopping, food, music, booze every Friday and Saturday from Nov. 23 through Dec. 22, 6pm-midnight, at 45 N. 5th St (b/t Wythe & Kent) in Williamsburg. Featuring more than 200 of the top local makers, artists, vendors, brewers, and artisanal food purveyors, plus a curated music lineup each night, you can get all your shopping done while getting drunk and listening to a hip soundtrack in a massive warehouse. Multitasking, Brooklyn-style.  (more…)

Drink and Draw in full effect at 3rd Ward, every Wednesday.

Brooklyn can make you pretty self-conscious if you didn’t crochet your own tea cozies or can the heirloom cucumbers you didn’t grow last summer. I’m always down to bead a couple necklaces but the second the clock strikes happy hour I tend to lose motivation for all things sober. Thanks to the latest trend of combining liquor with crafting I get to be crafty and I don’t have to worry about my level of alcoholism; everyone’s doing it! Here’s a run down of four boozy art classes that are taking over this borough. One of them is free, but most of the others come with free booze. (more…)

Baggins. Via Bags for the People

As a recovering Trader Joe’s employee, I can confirm that yes, in fact, your cashier probably does sit in judgment of you if you keep coming back every week using the uber-wasteful paper bags instead of bringing your own. If those 99-cent TJ’s bags you can buy right at the counter aren’t your style, check out the latest free hands-on workshop from those clever crafters at Etsy tomorrow. The workshop is on how to make your own reusable tote, either out of cloth you sew yourself or by weaving extra plastic bags into a new tote. (more…)

Snow small wonder, these cake pops from Pinterest. Nice work, Tori Jayne.

Thank goodness DIY everything is still the rage this year, so we can all sneak in another year of homemade gift-giving without looking like the family cheapskate. And now there’s Pinterest.com, a social media hub where crafty fashion, food and decorating obsessives share their latest inspiration (Aaand now you will never get at least 4 hours of your life back…  happy browsing!). The virtual pinboard is also a veritable font of DIY gift ideas we want to try this year. Here are 10: (more…)

We’re all about the DIY gifts around here — but not the lame ones. That’s why we’re heading to Third Root in Ditmas Park tomorrow (Sunday, Nov. 27) for a workshop on DIY body cream, facial cleanser and body scrub. For a $15 materials fee and a $5 to $15 sliding-scale instructional fee, you get to take all three products, along with a lifetime of homemade beauty know-how. Details:

Sunday, November 27
2 to 4 pm
Third Root Community Health Center, 380 Marlborough Rd. at Cortelyou.
RSVP in person, by phone at 718-940-9343 or by email at rsvp@thirdroot.org

Led by Liz Neves, maker of Raganella’s Botanical Solutions

[via Krrb]

Cat-hair necklace, $220.

Move over alpaca scarves and sheepskin sock… here comes cat hair jewelry!

In the most impressive recycling feat we’ve seen since the dryer lint Last Supper, a San Francisco artist is turning her cat’s fur into a jewelry line. Flora Davis is selling a (surprisingly beautiful) line of necklaces on Etsy – all made of a cat-hair “felt” she created by rolling the fur between her hands.  As she tells Wired: (more…)

If you’re a member of “Dude, Where’s my Kombucha” then you already know. Kombucha, the ancient Chinese remedy known by the Qing Dynasty as “the tea of immortality and the elixir of life,” has been yanked from store shelves around the country. As we speak, Kombucha is being poked and prodded by the government to see if the fermented drink’s alcohol content is just a bit higher than advertised. If so, new labeling and taxation (and a valid ID at purchase?) might soon be in order, and it looks like it could be some time before the stuff’s back on the shelves. So, does this mean panic-time for you jittery devotees desperate for a fix? Maybe, or you could just brew up the booch (hooch?) yourselves. (more…)

Now put some air under them.

Why fly a kite? Because it’s “an excellent way… to gain a feel for aerodynamic forces,” says NASA. Because we don’t look up enough. Because you can spend an afternoon adrift with the breeze for next to nothing. Whatever your reasons, kite-flying is one of the summer’s simple pleasures. And Brooklyn’s full of wide-open spaces where you can take part. Here’s how to put sticks to string and get your Ben Franklin up in the air. (more…)