Made By Kali » Arts and Crafts

2011 Con Season

Kali — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:49:56 +0000

Con season has started for me!

Thus far we’ll be at:
Setsucon (State College, PA – January 29-30)
and
Katsucon (National Harbor, MD – February 18th-20th)

I will also be trying to Otakon and AnimeUSA, but I won’t know for sure until later.

My button queue is still open for up to 500 more pickups, so if you still need 1″ buttons to sell at either convention, contact me ASAP. I’m also still open for shipped orders for April and later.

The current stock includes the usual parasols, buttons, etc, but I’ll also be bringing some plastic canvas cross-stitch and hair clips. If you have a request, talk to me ASAP so I can make sure I have what you want.

I will also be giving the ‘Parents and Fandom’ panel at Setsucon.

Easy Pumpkin Hat

Kali — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 20:50:59 +0000

X-Posted from my other blog A Family of Geeks

I whipped this up really quickly yesterday morning (about 10 minutes) because I knew Baby Geek wasn’t going to put up with wearing her costume all day.

I made this hat entirely out of scraps, but if you’re making this for an older child, you’ll need between 1/4-1/2 a yard of orange fleece (enough for 2 actually). I used scraps of jersey for the features and the leaves, but craft felt is easier to work with if you want to make proper appliques.

The truth is that if you’re making an item your child will only wear once in their life, shortcuts can make your life a lot easier. I will admit to cheating and hot gluing on the face and topper, but I will give directions on how to do it ‘properly’ for those of you looking to make a hat for a gift or that you expect to hand down.

Anyway, the easiest way to make this ‘pattern’ is to grab a hat that you know fits your child. If you don’t have one hanging around, you will need to know the circumference of your child’s head. Fleece does have some horizontal stretch, but you don’t want kiddo swimming in the hat. The height of the hat is less of an issue if you guesstimate it, because you want a little bit up top anyway.

Anyway, the basics:
The band length should be the circumference of your kid’s head plus about 1/2 and inch for the seam allowance. You can also be a cheater like me and just glue the leaves and stem onto the top of the hat with a dollop of hot glue. It’s really that easy.

How to Make a Cell Phone Lanyard with a Hair Tie – Method Two

Kali — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:39:40 +0000

I know I said “next week” in the last tutorial on how to make a cellphone lariat, but this is soooo easy I put it up today. This is the tutorial for the lanyard, the charm seen here was prepared via my How to Make a CellPhone Charm tutorial. You could easily use one of these guys as a zipper pull as well.

Anyway.

The ingredients: One elastic hair tie (any color), one split ring, one charm.

I told you this was going to be easy!

Thread the hair tie through the elastic.

Pull one end of the hair tie through the other.

Pull the hair tie tight.

… could it get any easier? Well, I suppose I could come over to your house and do it for you…

And here’s the finished product. Just thread your charm onto the split ring and you have a nice, stretch cellphone charm or zipper pull.

How to Make a Cell Phone Lanyard – Method One

Kali — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:52:04 +0000

A few people have been having trouble locating cellphone lariats for my Cell Phone Charm/Zipper Pull tutorial. So here’s a quick and easy way to make some.

First off, this is what we are hoping to emulate.

This is what you will need to make this silly thing.

That’s a split ring, 1 or 2 crimp beads, a pair of pliers and your string. I’m using fake leather cording, but you could use waxed thread, etc.

Cut your string to double the length you would like it to hang (I generally use about 5-6″)
Thread your thread through the center of the split ring.

Thread both ends of the string through a crimp bead and crimp it close to the split ring.

Now just close up the loop by tying the string ends together and applying either a little melted wax or glue to seal it. OR you could thread another crimp bead on and crimp it close to the ends. Just make sure the loop is good and closed.

Then, thread your charm onto the split ring and you have a cell phone charm.

Yes, it really is that easy.

Look for an even EASIER alternate method tutorial in a week or so.

Badge-A-Minit 1 1/4″ (1.25 in) Button Help – Non-Video

Kali — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:53:22 +0000

So here is the NON video Badge-A-Minit 1 1/4 in. button tutorial.

It’s long and has a heck of a lot of images, so dial-up users, you might want to click the break and then make yourself some tea or something.

Step One: Get Your Stuff Together!

Step Two: Put the Button Front Together

Note that the blue assembly ring has a notch. This is the “top” of your button and you should always make sure it’s facing away from you so you don’t put it together upside-down. The yellow ring goes in with the black indentation down. Make sure that it is pushed in all the way.

Step Three: Smush and *Thock*

Flip your button assembly over (making sure that the notch is still away from you) and insert the silver die with the indented edge up. Place the green die over it. Stand up (no really, stand up) put one hand over the other and push steadily and evenly until you hear a *thock* sound. If you do not push evenly here, the plastic cover will not properly be tucked into the pin back later and you will have to chuck the button.

Step Four: Setting the Pin-Back Up

Take out the silver and green pieces and flip the assembly back over. Take the red die and place it over your button front, notched side up. Push down with steady and even pressure until the red piece no longer moves. Making sure the red die remains in place. Flip the assembly over without removing the red die and give it a little more pressure. Now, double check the edges of the back of the button front. They should be of even length around the circle and be curled slightly towards the center. Also check to make sure the edges of the plastic cover match up to the paper. If things are uneven, save yourself a pin-back and chuck this button front now.

Notice that there are handy-dandy lines on the back of the blue ring. (The notch on the front of the blue ring is still away from you, right?) Take your pin back and line up the holes so that the shaft of the pin forms a line with the two lines on the blue ring.

Step Five: Putting it all together

Now, place the green die over the pin back. Very carefully flip the entire assembly over. If you feel anything move while flipping, back up and make sure all the pieces are in place. If you don’t, the pin will not form correctly.

Place the entire assembly on your press (or in your press if you are using a hand press), lining the notch in the red die up with the moving pieces of the press. Apply slow, even pressure only until the red die stops moving. Too much pressure can snap the parts. Uneven pressure will form the button incorrectly.

Step Six: Ta-da!

If all has gone well, you can now take the button off of the assembly and show it off.

Step Seven: Uh-oh!

Common things that people screw up.

Not applying even pressure on the green die in step three. Use both hands and cover the die entirely with your palm.
Not applying even pressure on the red die in step four. Use both hands and cover the die entirely with your palm.
Letting the red die slip out slightly while moving is in step five. If you feel anything at all move – check it out before you put the assembly in the press.
Applying too much pressure in step five. The press amplifies the pressure, a little goes a long way.
Putting the pin-back in “upside-down”. Not the end of the world, the button is still wearable, just awkward to put on.

Badge-A-Minit 1 1/4″ (1.25 in) Button Help

Kali — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:25:31 +0000

Non-video tutorial coming soon.

How to Make a Cell Phone Charm (or zipper pull)

Kali — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 22:34:03 +0000

I don’t quite understand the appeal of dangling things hanging from your cellphone, but who am I to argue with trends? This tutorial will explain, as simply as possible, how to make your own cellphone charm.

First, your supplies:

My three favorite tools, Round Nose Pliers, Chain Nose Pliers and Cutting Pliers. If you don’t have these, you can make do with a small pair of chain or needle nose pliers, a skewer and a really sharp pair of scissors. (Don’t borrow your mom’s/friend’s fabric scissors for this unless you wish for them to disown you.)

Head pins and Cell Phone Lariats. You will only need one of each, but you will not be able to purchase just one. I recommend buying both in bulk as it will save you tons of money and you can always repackage them in smaller lots for friends who want to make their own charms. Ebay is a good bet for a deal, but I’ve actually found smaller packages in my local Wal-Mart.

Crimp or decorative beads and your big bead for the charm. Here, I am using lampwork beads, because I find them to be unique and much more interesting that something that says “Juicy” or some such pop culture nonsense.

Onwards to putting this simple little charm together.

Start your charm by settling a small crimp or decorative bead on your head pin so the larger beads don’t go sliding off. This is an important step as nothing is more frustrating than hearing the clatter of your beads coming off of your project and then having to search the floor for them.

Continue placing your beads. I’ve chosen the froggy here because he’s cute, darn it. I like my charms to be symetrical, so I’ve ended with the same pattern of smaller, decorative beads that I started with. I recommend keeping your charm shorter than 3/4″ as well, because you will have to form the wire loop to hang it on your lariat, and you don’t want a charm that is larger than the cell phone it is attached to.

Take your cutting pliers (or scissors) and clip off the excess pin. You will want to leave around 1/2″ (more if you are unsure of your wire shaping skill) . It’s much easier to trim later if you have too much than it is to redo the entire charm on a new pin because you left too little.

Form the remaining pin into a 1/4″ loop on your round nose pliers. This may take a bit of practice, especially if you are are using a skewer and chain nose pliers rather than the round pliers. When you have formed the loop, apply a little force in the opposite direction to make the loop form a straight line with the head of the pin.

Getting the charm on the lariat is the same as threading anything onto a keyring. You will probably need the chain nose pliers to give you a hand unless you want to completely destroy your fingernails in the process.

The beading process for making a zipper pull is the same, you will just attach the charm to the lariat slightly differently. Start by stringing the loop of the charm onto the thread of the lariat.

Then slip the metal of the metal part of the lariat through the loop at the end.

Then simple pull the light taut. Attach the ring to your zipper and you’ve got a zipper pull.

Hey look, buttons!

Kali — Tue, 01 May 2007 20:40:20 +0000

And yet another set of buttons, this time from scanned kimono fabric patterns.

Still $1.50 a button.

MOAR BUTTONS!

Kali — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 15:50:25 +0000

Buttons #5-6
1 1/4″
Price $1.50 per button, incl. shipping

Buttons

Kali — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 01:24:18 +0000

I’m starting to get my buttons ready for Anime Mid-Atlantic. Here are the first four designs.

The picture doesn’t do the attorney badge justice. If you are not a convention go-er and want one of these buttons for some reason, it’s $1.50 incl. shipping.