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I’ve got some bad news. (Whomp whomp waaaaaa) nothing terrible, but I made this video to explain and to try to make it up to you. If you’d rather read than watch: I had some sickness and life stuff and the first issue won’t be out at the date I originally announced. I’d just rather it be good than rushed and it isn’t ready. It’ll be out asap! The project shown is NOT the only project in the issue, just on the only one handy for the video. Can’t give you a sneak peek of everything you know! Though I probably would if you asked.Read More →

My Workbasket- a blog about crafts, traditions, the crafting of traditions, and the tradition of crafting

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If you have stopped by anytime recently or have been reading my last few posts you know I’ve decided to make some changes here. Well, the biggest change of all has been decided. I’m super excited!! I’ve been doing this blog for over 2 years, and I’ve changed quite a bit since the beginning, but this change is the biggest one I’ve tried yet. It’s BIG! I’m NOT blogging anymore. But don’t worry! I’m not going anywhere. I’ve decided to run My Workbasket as an online craft magazine instead!!! What does that mean exactly? Mostly that instead of posts and patterns bumbling it at variousRead More →

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I’m not a New Year’s Resolution kind of person. I am more of a constant thought and self-improvement, change as soon as you need it type of person. This year a few changes that I need just happen to coincide with winter break, then with the holiday happenings are easier to implement in the New Year. Mostly I think because I was able to really take time and just think. Only one of these changes really affects this site or what you’ll see here. By New Workbasket, I don’t mean my actual workbasket, which has been the same organized tote bag since I started thisRead More →

Colorful Wool and prepped for teaching kids to wet felt!

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I mentioned in my blog post Lately, that my son and I have been spending two days a week at a fun school for homeschoolers. I spend some of my time there teaching the kids various fun crafts and recently someone wanted to learn how to felt beads. We had a massive amount of wool donated so I took in some soap and taught them what to do.  Setting Up First I just pulled all sorts of wool out of our bin and made a big colorful pile. Once your hands get soapy it’s hard to get fresh wool without making a mess so IRead More →

Vintage Needlepoint in Progress - from a Kit

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November completely disappeared around me. It was here and now it’s almost gone. Like the autumn version of a hummingbird. I went to my parents house early in the month for their big annual camp out. Nothing much to report there, except I got a box full of new to me old magazines (you’ll see those popping up here sometime) and one needlepoint (shown below) but it did really effect my month in general. I was getting ready to go, then came home just in time to shop for Thanksgiving, and then cook for Thanksgiving, and then here we are, month almost over.  Besides theRead More →

Finished Sammy the Snowman- Crochet pattern from Annies 2018 Christmas special-- My Workbasket

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Is it too early to talk about Christmas and snowmen? My cold fingers and the electric blanket on my bed say no. My heart says yeah, it’s too early. I know crafts take time to make though, so if I want to talk about it, it’ll be too late! SO before it’s too late to talk about it, my cold fingers are typing this for you to enjoy. (My fingers are cold because it is cold and we keep our house a bit chilly. Save money and wear a sweater!) Recently I requested a review copy of the Annies special Christmas craft issue and theyRead More →

Finished plastic canvas Birdie Welcome sign-- My Workbasket

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I’ve mentioned a few crafts I was working on, and finally they’re all assembled. I had a stack of plastic canvas crafts and a crochet snowman just sitting and waiting to be put together. Here’s the plastic canvas pieces, a stack of Jack-o-Lantern magnets and a Welcome sign: Both of these patterns came from the same place, Annies Archive. I joined this site a month or so ago and still really like it. It’s a subscription service for just $2 a month and you get access to thousands of retired Annies patterns. I admit some of them are quite dated, but there is still MORE thanRead More →

Recent batch from the dyed pot. Handdyed wool that looks just like clown hair.

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Really, what else can you even call that??? The best part is that it didn’t get dyed in that stripe pattern, that happened as I rinsed it. It was dyed in clusters of color. I’ve had my dye pot going constantly for the last few weeks. I pretty much start a batch in the evening, turn it off to cool in the morning, then rinse and dump in the evening and refill it. I have about 15 pounds of my own stash to dye, PLUS the homeschool center got some amazing donations. Since we have limited time at the center I’m trying to dye someRead More →

Plastic Canvas Garland made from a kit

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I’m not sure if I mentioned over the summer what our school year would be like. In June we (my son and I) attended an open house for a new homeschool center. It was a dream come true, the same idea I have been wanting to build for years. I jumped on board the same day as a founder and facilitator. So in September, we opened for the school year and my son and I spend Monday and Tuesday with about 20+ kids and 3 other facilitators doing all kinds of fun stuff! This post contains affiliate links. If you follow them and make aRead More →

Great new book from Michael Delman about helping your child with their executive function issues.

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Do you know what executive function is? I’ll be honest, lots of people don’t and you usually only know the term after it’s a problem. When it’s a problem it’s a BIG problem, a parental tear your hair out nightmare. SO first, let me explain executive function, then I’ll tell you WHY I’m talking about executive function.Read More →

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Several weeks ago on my Facebook page, I shared that Interweave had a magazine subscription sale. (It’s over now, but certain magazines were $15 a year.) I thought it would be fun if I took the three I subscribed to (Spin Off, Piecework, and Cloth Paper Scissors) and did a magazine flip through video. Just a page by page glance at what was in the issue, what stuck out to me, what peaked my interest, or even what was just fun to look at. Here are the three videos for each one.  Usually, when I do a video it is uploaded to my YouTube channelRead More →

A flipbook flip through! Video shows the parts and pieces of my recent flip book and talks about what I did. A fun paper craft and snail mail item!

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I recently decided to spend a lazy Sunday working on some paper crafts. I have only recently been getting back into it and acquiring all the papers and bit and bobs required, so I really felt like “Could I pull of something nice? With what I have??” Of course to be playing around is the best way to figure that out, so I set out to make a “flipbook.” These used to be called folios, and you also see them tagged outgoing mail, snail mail, paper crafts, etc. It’s really just a fun crafty way to send a letter. After creating one I was prettyRead More →

A free crochet pattern for super simple cat ball toys!

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This pattern is almost to easy to bother writing, but I want to share it anyway. If you are a more experienced crocheter you can no doubt make these without a pattern, but you may still be interested in my stuffing. Our Kismet is still quite playful and I often will whip up a quick toy because he’s a bit of a biter when he’s playful. These super simple crochet cat balls fill that need, and the addition of catnip just really throws him over the edge! You can easily crochet one in just a few minutes! The Pattern This pattern really just takes theRead More →