Cheap Thrills

Martha Stewart is debuting a new line of more than 600 crafts, food packaging and scrapbooking products that will be sold exclusively at Michael's in 2007. Items range from $1.99 to $79.99 and feature Stewart's signature touches-- classy colors, coordinating patterns and clever ideas...all high quality, all beautifully packaged.

Fresh off a scouting trip at our local Michael's retail store, we have good and bad news to report:

The good: The variety is overwhelming. DIY foodie crafters will gravitate toward hard-to-find craft accessories like beautifully patterned goodie bags ($9.99 for 12), boxes ($9.99 for 18), glassine paper ($4.99-$7.99 a roll) and color-coordinated labels ($1.99 and up). Scrapbookers may like heavy hand punches in more than a dozen shapes ($9.99 each) and nifty embellishments, photo corners and stickers.

The uninitiated (or simply time-crunched) customers will scoop up pre-packaged, ready-to-assemble craft kits-- animal face paper bag puppets ($3.99), a tissue flower centerpiece ($19.99) or 6x8 accordian cards ($9.99).

Entertainers can easily piece together a perfectly themed party with festive collections of trinket bags, paper lanterns and such.

The bad: Pre-packaged convenience, quality and style come at a price. One and a half-ounce pots of glitter in more than a dozen colors are $4.99 each. A clever scrapbooking paper and accessory organizing/storage binder costs $39.99. Monstrous 18" x 18" post-bound scrapbooking albums with archival-quality covers and pages seemed like a wonderful idea until we spotted the $79.99 price tag (and the $1.99 per sheet 18" x 18" background paper). Sigh.

For full details on the new collection, visit MarthaStewartCrafts.com

Photo by PRNewsFoto/Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.

This week's featured crafter describes herself as a sassy newlywed and a longtime fan of all things crochet. Let's meet Aisha Hunt ...

Name: Aisha Hunt, 30
Hometown: New York, NY
Craft: Crochet

How did you get into crochet?
As a little girl, my mom wanted to teach me how to crochet because it was her passion and she wanted to share it with me. It’s only as I’ve gotten older that I’ve learned to enjoy crocheting more.

What inspires you?
I like creating things that may cost more in the store, but costs less to make on my own. Plus, I enjoy seeing the response of my friends and family when they appreciate the crocheted blankets, sweaters, and pillows that I’ve made for them.

Where do you get your supplies?
I get my supplies from craft stores, such as So Crafty in Yonkers, NY or I buy online. At LionBrand.com, I can easily get the materials I need, whether it’s a pattern, needles, or yarn – all in one shot.

What’s your biggest challenge?
I’d say finishing a project. When I was younger, I would never complete anything and then I’d give up because it took too long. I’m learning to stick with it.

What’s your next craft project?
In the future, I would like to learn how to make homemade soap, candles, and incense.

Do you have any advice for beginners?
With crochet, you must be patient and take your time. Sometimes even the easiest pattern can be confusing or challenging, but in the end, you’ll enjoy making something special.

Pictured below: Aisha recently crocheted pillows for her home.

Want to show off your creative side? Send us an e-mail with pictures showing off your favorite craft and you might be chosen as our next DIYer of the Week!

Who doesn't love Fudgie the Whale from Carvel? As a kid, my birthdays weren't complete unless I had a slice of this delicious ice cream cake.

Well, my pal Fudgie is turning 30 this year and Carvel is celebrating by offering cool bargains during the week of April 23-27 in the form of various buy-one-get-one free deals on their ice cream cones, shakes, sundaes and more!

There are plenty of Carvel stores in NYC/LI. Click here to find one near you.

Happy Birthday Fudgie!

Spring has sprung and summer is just around the corner. It’s time to get glowing skin!

Here’s a great little recipe for a sugar scrub that will help exfoliate your skin in the shower and leave you feeling soft and supple.

I love sugar scrubs because they’re fairly simple and cheap to make from ingredients found in your own cupboard. Plus, you can give this away as cool summer gifts to all your friends and they will think you're soooo crafty!

Basic Sugar Body Scrub:

1 clear plastic jar
1 cup sugar (can be brown, raw, turbinado or any type will do)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
A few drops of a scented oil (optional)

Directions: In a plastic bowl, mix the sugar and olive oil and if you like, you can add a fragrance to make it more fun. Try lavender essential oil to soothe your senses or a citrusy fragrance oil for an energizing experience. Fragrance oils are safe for use on skin and can be purchased at your local health food store or online. Put the mixture in a plastic container or jelly jar and keep in the bathroom for use anytime.

This scrub works best in a shower. Rub all over your skin and rinse off. Enjoy!

Note: After time, it’s normal for the oil to rise to the top and the sugar to settle to the bottom. Give the mixture a quick stir and you’re back in business!

Photo by From Nature With Love, my favorite supplier of natural, organic ingredients for making beauty products.

April in New York is always rainy. Sad news for some, but for me, it’s the perfect excuse to stay indoors and get crafty. Yippee!

On Saturday, I attended my first stamping and card making workshop hosted by my new friend Heidi Davenport, a Stampin’ Up Demonstrator in New York City.

Boy did I have fun! I dragged along my dearest, non-crafty pal Jeannine and now we are completely hooked on stamping and card making!

Stampin’ Up is a company that sells products to stampers and scrapbookers. Their demonstrators host themed craft parties where you can enjoy learning a new technique or purchase cool tools to take your crafts to a whole new level. For more details, check out their Web site. For ideas and techniques, click here.

Heidi is very fun hostess and organized too. She set up individual buckets of materials and tools for each of the five cards we learned to make. I went home with beautiful creations that I can give as gifts for any occasion. Creating cute, handmade cards isn’t hard at all, especially if you have cool stamps, glitter, and some colorful card stock. You must go out and try this craft!

It looks like another crafty obsession is born!

Want to learn? Contact these Long Island stampers:

Terry Going -- Bayshore, NY

Kathleen Gisbert -- Deer Park, NY

Terry Molineaux -- Lindenhurst, NY

Bonnie Allers-O'Neil -- West Islip, NY

Pictured below: Just a few of the cards we made on Saturday.

Craftistas are invited to Etsy Labs, a crafty community center in Brooklyn, NY, for afternoon tea. It's a weekly event where crafters of all stripes meet up at the lab to check out the space and enjoy tasty beverages. Go there to network, discuss ideas, plan events. It's totally free!

Etsy Labs offers its members a space to work on their creative projects, ample workspace and tables, computer workstations, kitchen, craft supplies, and so much more!

Tea is served every Wednesday at 4 p.m. RSVP for this event: rsvp@etsy.com

For more information on Etsy Labs, www.etsy.com/labs

Got a crafty event coming up? Drop us an e-mail and we'll consider posting it here on Cheap Thrills!

I looove Martha Stewart. My friend once told me, "You pray at the altar of all things Martha." And, I do!

My family calls me Martha whenever I get the urge to be crafty and make homemade beauty products or when I take something that's bland and do it up fancy -- "marthastyle." LOL

Well, I adore Martha Stewart because she is a shrewd businesswoman and creative force to be reckoned with. Plus, she's a dog lover and owner of three beautiful dogs named Paw Paw, Sharky and Francesca. So adorable! I love when she dedicates space in her magazines or show to dogs.

In a previous episode of her show, Martha invited a fellow crafty lady named Lori Marie on her show Martha to demonstrate how to make a giclee of Martha's dog Sharky, a French bulldog. Lori Marie's company is called Pretty Little Things and her crafts are awesome!

Hello!

Thanks for checking out the Cheap Thrills blog.

After weeks and weeks of being a “friend of the blog,” Shawna kindly invited me to start blogging here with her about all things cheap and crafty. I'm really excited!

I’ve been in love with the “F word”-– freebies -– for years and I relish a good deal. Whenever I hear of a super sale or an opportunity to get something for free or dirt cheap, you’ll see it here on the blog.

My second love is crafts, including making my own natural soap and yummy bath goodies. When I’m not working at Newsday.com, I can be found whipping up a batch of my favorite sugar scrub or hanging out with fellow craftistas from a club I created called The NYC Soapmaker’s Circle.

As for the Cheap Thrills blog, there will be new and interesting additions and I hope you’ll be one of them. If you are a cool crafter or savvy sales hunter, please contact us! We’d love to hear from you and you might even wind up on the blog.

I’m looking forward to sharing with y’all!

Cheers,
Corris