Must-Have Monday: Reporting for Duty

Being a military family means that you may have to move. A lot. So this Must-Have Monday is paying tribute to things that are definitely on the list of things helping the move seem a bit less "impersonal."

Military Love necklace with patriotic ribbon charm and heart dogtag from ArmyChic4Life.

You can share your love for your military ties with the world, wearing this fashionable necklace - good at anyhome and showing support of the men and women who support REAL dog tags to support our freedom!

Home Of The Free Because Of The Brave Army Navy Air Force Marines Primitive Wood Sign from SawdustNStitches.

Easy to add to any wall, this sign can be the first thing up in your new home.

Caribbean Holiday Palm Wax Square pillar Candle 3 x 6 from SmokeyMountainScents.

Moving can take a lot of any person, but military moving is above and beyond the norm. One should always have nice, relaxing candles to light to help relieve stress from the move. And in the off chance that the movers don't get there on time, it's great for light!

Love photo album from PaperonParade.

With family and friends all over the country, and even the world, it's imperative to have a nice place to keep all of them close to us.

Business Card Holder/Fabric ID Luggage Tag from Camp Cupcake Designs.

Long flights to new destinations, including hauling loads of luggage. This ID tag is a great way to help you find your loot in the mass of grey and black.

Very Modern Thanks 4 pack from MrsDStahl.

Sometimes it gets old sending the same old, Wal-Mart purchased "We've moved" Cards. Jazz up this move with a pretty custom-designed set, or even send out a "Thanks" to those you are leaving.

No matter where we end up in this life, there will always be someone there if we keep our mind and hearts open.

Want to see some more great finds from the Homefront Team? Just search "homefront team" on Etsy!

Happenin' How-To: Pretty Boxes

This week's Happenin' How To comes from Mallory of Mallory Alisabeth, 8 year old daughter of a Guin from Camelot's Treasures and an Active Duty Sailor. One day she was incredibly bored and kept complaining she was BOOORED, but her mom was a little busy working on a project of her own. So she gave Mallory a book of origami and some construction paper to keep her busy and out of her hair. As Mallory was busy constructing little sculptures of paper, she hatched an idea to make little boxes perfect for wrapping little gifts in and selling them in her store and local craft shows she attended. These boxes were so popular this past season, Mallory actually ran out of them after her 2nd craft show!

And in the sharing spirit, Mallory wants to share how to make these great boxes with the Homefront Team. They are pretty simple, and make your packaging a little more special! So here goes:

First you need some paper, any pretty paper will do, as long as it's not too stiff. I like to use scrapbooking paper, because there are a lot of choices out there. Once you select your paper, you need to decide on how big you want your box to be - but keep in mind these boxes are supposed to be little. If you use a 12" piece of paper (BTW it must be square) then your box will be around 4" x 4" x 2" (deep), this size is good for bracelets and necklaces.

I've included a video of how to fold the box, but here are the step by step instructions:

1) Fold the paper in half lengthwise. Crease, then unfold.

2) Turn the paper 90 degree and fold paper in half lengthwise again. Crease, then unfold. Your paper should have 4 even sections.

3) Take one corner and bring it all the way to the center point/fold. Crease. Repeat with all corners; you will end up with a smaller square.

4) Fold the paper in half lengthwise. Crease, then unfold.

5) Turn the paper 90 degree and fold paper in half lengthwise again. Crease and then unfold.

6) Set the paper so a straight side is facing you. Fold the side into the center, it should meet the crease that you put in the paper in the last step.

7) Turn the paper around so the opposite side is facing you, and fold the other straight side into the middle, just like the other side. You should end up with a rectangle. Crease well, then unfold.

8) Turn the paper 90 degrees and repeat the same steps, just with the other two sides.

9) Pull out two of the triangle corners, at opposite ends (so East and West OR North and South). Fold in the sides that you didn't pull the corners out [see first picture at right].

10) Push the sides up, so they are now walls.

11) If you put in all the creases where they belong, you should almost be able to push the triangles straight up without effort, to make the other walls. You might have to guide the corners into the box with your fingers [see second picture at right].

12) Once you have the Triangles standing straight up, make sure to crease the inside corners to help keep the box stable. Then fold the triangle down into the box, again follow the creases you have already put in the paper from previous steps.

13) To secure the flaps in the box, you can either use double stick tape (my preferred method) or glue.

14) To make the bottom part of the box, you will have to cut down the paper, to make it fit. Depending on the size of paper/box, you may have to cut off between 1/8" to 1/2" off on ONLY 2 sides of your paper (remember you need to keep it square). And then just repeat all the steps!

I like to decorate my boxes with tags, ribbons, and jewels! Here are some that I have made previously in different sizes for different seasons.

This can be a lot of work, but for my mom and I we can sit watching TV and bang out a bunch of these without thinking about it! So if you like these little boxes, but don't have the time or patience to do it yourself, feel free to stop by my shop http://www.malloryalisabeth.etsy.com/ or search "boxes" on Etsy for other great crafters doing these! Thanks for reading my tutorial! ~ Mallory

Featured Artist - CLeeDesigns

Our second featured artist for January is Carrie Lee from CLeeDesigns. Carrie Lee has been a member of Etsy since May of 2006, and has an eclectic mix of crafty creations in her store.

Tell us a little about yourself:
My name is Carrie Lee, and my husband is now retired Navy after more than 24 years served. We have two grown children, daughter 21, and son 24 and two doxies, Peanut & Guinness. ;o) Currently we are living in MD, until my husband finishes his second career and then who knows where we will land.

When did you start selling on Etsy?
Started my shop on May 14, 2006 and listed a few things the same day.

When did you make your first sale?
I believe it was within a couple of weeks that I made my first sale. I remember being surprised that it happened as fast as it did.

How did you find Etsy?
I believe I found Etsy from someone mentioning it on one of the Yahoo groups I'm a member of and the discussion was on alternatives to selling on eBay.

What makes Etsy different and/or better than other online shop communities?
I like Etsy for their fee structure and lenght the listing is live. They also seem to do a fair amount of advertising for Etsy as a whole, then folks can come find what they want while there.

When you’re an Etsy shopper, what are things you look for in a seller before you purchase?
I tend to look more at the item, how it seems to be made, quality, etc. I do check the feedback of the seller prior to buying but I've haven't been burned by an Etsy seller.

What has kept you on Etsy for so long?
I actually do more customs than selling of items from my shop! LOL I like being able to keep an eye on the customs section and bidding on items. I've made some customs from folks coming across my shop and sending a note asking if I could make this or that for them. I actually do enough custom work on and off Etsy that I'm finding it rough to find time to stock my shop!

It's so great to find that so many wonderful sellers on Etsy have been around for awhile, and we have a handful of them right on the Homefront Team! They are definitely a great resource for when newer sellers might need a little pick-me-up or advice on shop keep!

Check out all the great Homefront Team members, new and old, by typing in "homefront team" at Etsy!

Happenin How To's: Reinvented Pillow

This Weekly Happenin How To: Comes from one of my new fave blogs. Reinvented....It is a fabulous place on how to take something old....and turn it in to something new and fabulous....One of my New Years Resolutions is to be more eco-friendly as well as frugal.....so this blog is right up my alley!

Happy New Year's Everyone!


This is taken directly from Kimm at Reinvented!


LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…


I sewed something.


Seriously. I didn’t even have to use my new seam ripper.


It all started at the Goodwill store. All good stories do, don’t they? I found this pretty red wool sweater.

It is a medium and I’m NOT a medium, so I thought PILLOW.

Yep, P.I.L.L.O.W.

You see, I have been dreaming lately about felted wool, and since I’m a graduate of “You Can Never Have Too Many Pillows University”, I wanted to felt wool AND make pillows.

So I washed the sweater and threw it in the dryer. “Cuz I recently learned that that’s how you felt wool. It made me feel all nervous inside, ‘cuz I usually follow those “dry clean only” instructions.

I already had this pillow filler thingy.

Next, I went to JoAnn’s and bought some fake linen fabric. I found it in the “red tag section.” You know, that fabric not cool enough to be in the front of the store

I got out my new sewing machine, and looked up a pillow cover tutorial that I’d seen on All Things Thrifty.

I sewed my FIRST hem. (if you shake your head real fast while you’re looking it won’t look crooked)

The tutorial is for an envelope style pillow cover (perfect for those of us who aren’t ready for zippers), so the finished cover looked like this from the back.

found some clip art flower shapes, enlarged them and cut them out to use for patterns.

I pinned the paper flower patterns on the sweater and cut out the felted wool daisies. Embroidery floss and a button secured them to the pillow cover quite nicely.

I am so stinkin’ PROUD of myself, I can’t stand it.

THIS. WAS. FUN. I can’t wait to sew more

Featured Artist - Scarletdgn

January is a month for reflection; where we delve into last year's endeavors and find out what worked and what didn't. So this month, we thought it would be a great idea to have our featured artists be members of our team that are the oldest to Etsy.

Our first featured artist is Kate from Scarletdgn is a Scrapbooker's dream with an assortment of fun scrapbooking supplies and doo-dads! She has been a member of Etsy since July 2005.

Tell us a little about yourself:

My name's Kate and I became an Army wife in October of 2006. We have lived in Albuquerque,New Mexico since Nov of 06 on Kirtland Airforce Base. We currently have one son together who will be turning 1 January 2,2010.

When did you start selling on Etsy? When did you make your first sell?

I started an etsy store July 10,2005. I started out selling handmade jewelry and made a first sale December 12,2005.

How did you find Etsy?
I found out about etsy from a crafty forum I was on at the time and decided to give it a try. I had been trying to get my jewelry mainstream for awhile and was not having any luck.

I took a year or so off from trying to sell on etsy from lack of sales and got back into selling again after going the Homefront Team and getting some better marketing ideas.

Near the end of my pregnancy with my son I ended up getting carpel tunnel in both hands and I couldn't make jewelry anymore and decided to go in a different route with paper goods and scrapbooking supplies and it ended up being the best choice I made I gained 300+ sales last year.

What has kept you on Etsy for so long, as a buyer and a seller?

I've stayed with Etsy for so long because it was one of the first of its kind to be able to bring crafters together and gave an outlet for people all over the world to see their work. I've had to take some time off to take care of my son and etsy gives me the ability for people to still see my work even when Im busy chasing him all over.

I joke that everything I earn on etsy gets put right back into someone else's hands because I love to shop here. I love finding one of a kind things and look for sellers who take the time to answers questions and get back to a buyer. It means a lot. If I have a great expirence with a particular seller Im definately going to be a repeat buyer.Most of all I just love being able to create and share with people all over the world.

What a great community to be able to change our craft to meet our personal lives and the ever-changing wants of the customer! Thanks Kate for sharing a little of your world with us!

Check out Kate's store at http://www.scarletdgn.etsy.com/, and visit all of the great Homefront Team members of Etsy by searching "homefront team" at http://www.etsy.com/!