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The Crafty Chica DIY Project Library: a collection of fabulous handmade ideas by Kathy Cano-Murillo, the Crafty Chica! Thursday, December 31, 2009iLoveToCreate: Chihuahua Pillow!  With five Chihuahuas in my house, it is no wonder that I designed a Chi Iron-on trasnfer for my product line!This is an adorable toss pillow made from a cloth napkin, fabric scraps and the transfer! Supplies: Flocked Chihuahua Crafty Chica™ Iron-On Transfer™ 1 cloth napkin Assorted fabric scraps 1 piece of fabric to go behind the transfer Pillow stuffing Straight pins Iron, sewing machine Directions: Sew the fabric scraps together into one panel that is 1/2" wider than the napkin. Hem the edges of the panel. Iron on the transfer to fabric and use your pinking shears to trim around it. Sew it to the center of the fabric collage panel. Line up the two panels of fabric (the napkin and the fabric collage), pin around the edges, and sew. Leave a 3" opening so you can insert the pillow stuffing. Fill with stuffing, pin and sew up the open area. Add trims or tassels if you want. ** MY NEW BOOK: "Crafty Chica's Guide to Artful Sewing: Fabu-Low-Sew Ideas for the Everyday Crafter". See the new line of Crafty Chica products at HERE Amazon.com!! All content/photos copyright, © Kathy Cano-Murillo, 2009. Labels: home decor, pets Thursday, February 26, 2009Pet Love Shrine For most of us, our pets are extensions of our families. They love us unconditionally and are always there to keep us company and bring smiles to our faces. Creating a colorful Crafty Chica love shrine is the perfect way to capture your pet’s adorable face and bring a smile to yours! Keep it close by as a cheerful reminder of your furry little family member.
Instructions1. Paint front panels of the box purple, backside of box black and inside box and feet red. Let dry.2. Paint star shapes inside box with white. Let dry. 3. Coat the inside area with glue. Working over a sheet of paper to catch the excess glitter, pour the glitter over the wet glue. Tap off excess. 4. Choose a picture of something or someone you love and glue it in the center of the box. Or you can use the picture that is included. 5. Paint curve of front panels with white and green stripe. With white, paint little paw prints in lower part of front panels. 6. Cut out heart designs from Mojito paper, glue on front side panels. 7. Add the flowers, leaves, and charms. 8. Trim the edges with the sequin trim. Print out "You can't help but love me." onto cardstock, cut with pinking shears, glue to front. ** MY NEW BOOK: "Crafty Chica's Guide to Artful Sewing: Fabu-Low-Sew Ideas for the Everyday Crafter". See the new line of Crafty Chica products at HERE Amazon.com!! All content/photos copyright, © Kathy Cano-Murillo, 2009. Thursday, September 18, 2008Chihuahua Pop Out Card  I happen to be a big fan of little dogs with pointy ears - more specifically: Chihuahuas! We have four of them! Here's a cute card I made using the Crafty Chica Mojito Papers, Crafty Chica Glitters and Crafty Chica Loteria Game. You also need pre-scored jumbo-sized cards, Aleene's Paper Glaze, a glue stick, small piece of foam core or thick cardboard. Take one sheet of the Crafty Chica paper of your choice, cut it in half. Use a glue stick to affix it to the front of the card. Next, take one of the large Loteria cards from the caller deck and carefully cut out the main image, Chihuahua (or other image). Glue the background of the image to the front of the card. Add a small piece of foam core to the back of the Chihuahua. Now add more glue and place it in the center of the background picture. Add a trim of Paper Glaze and pour on the glitter before it dries. NOTE: You can also do this with any photo at all! CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A CLOSER VIEW *** See my new product line at select Michaels stores or buy online at Amazon.com! Other links: STORE * BOOK * T-SHIRTS * MY SPACE * FLICKR * All content/photos copyright, © Kathy Cano-Murillo, 2007. For more artsy goodness, check out CraftyChica.com * for awesome crafty resources check out DuncanCrafts.com Wednesday, June 21, 2006Puppy Paw Protectors Meet Lola. She is my sister's beagle. We like to take her on walks. But when the Arizona pavement is hot enough to melt a stick of butter, an outing is out of the question. So I crocheted these booties from lightweight cotton yarn. Lola gives them five barks and two paws up. NOTE: I'm reposting this from last year because I hate to see people walking their dogs on the hot asphalt and when the poor pooch run towards the grass, the owners tug them by the leash and say, "Come on! Behave! Stay over here!" I even saw one dog stepping in his owner's footprint shadows thinking it would be cooler. These paw protectors don't take very long to whip up. Just because it's hot doesn't mean Fido should be stuck in the doghouse. So take him or her for a walk already, and don't worry about the heat. Here's a fashionable way to protect your pooch's paws from the searing pavement. You can buy a set for $20 at the pet store, or take up the art of crochet and make your own for less than a dollar and less than an hour's time. This project is perfect for summer; the loose crochet stitches combined with lightweight cotton yarn will keep those footsies cool from top to bottom. Pavement Paw Protectors Supplies: Measuring tape 1 skein of lightweight cotton yarn 1 Size J crochet hook Scissors 24 inches of ribbon Directions: Measure the width of your dog's paw. Next, measure the length and add two inches to that number. This is how wide and long you need to make each bootie. For a medium-size dog: Begin by holding the end of the yarn, making a slipknot and inserting the hook through the loop. Make 6 or 7 chain stitches; at the end, join them to make a circle. Begin to create the bootie by adding stitches around the circle, using the double stitch. Continue to build up to desired height and then finish off. Cut four pieces of ribbon, each 8 inches long. Weave a strand through the top row of each bootie so you can tie it on the dog's paw. Variations: For smaller dogs, decrease the amount of chain stitches; for larger dogs, increase. For more durable booties, sew a small piece of suede onto the bottom. Add decorative stitching at the top. If you do not want to crochet, you can make the booties out of fleece and use Velcro straps for closure. *** STORE * BOOK * T-SHIRTS * MY SPACE * FLICKR * All content/photos copyright, Kathy Cano Murillo, 2006. Photos property and courtesy of Arizona Republic and AzCentral.com. For more artsy goodness, check out CraftyChica.com * Labels: outdoors, pets, wearable art Monday, April 03, 2006Puppy Photo Book I can sniff out a cool craft project anywhere. At the shoe store, the bank and even the hair salon. Recently, while my hairdresser was snipping my split ends, something wonderful caught my eye. Up on his supply cabinet was a little brag book themed around his new puppy. My hair guy had just adopted an adorable Australian shepherd, and its mother's owner, Kathya Hidalgo of Laveen, was kind enough to create an accordion photo album for him that doubled as a tip book. One side has photos and captions, the other has little pockets that offer feeding, grooming and discipline tips. I fell in love with the idea, not only for its design, but also for its function. Puppy Tip/Memory Book Supplies 2 pieces of mat board covered with decorative paper, 5 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches each 1 piece of heavy art paper, 24 by 5 1/2 inches 4 card stock pockets 4 card stock tags with ribbon Assorted scrapbook paper Assorted pictures Pens, rub-on letters, embellishments, rubber stamps Glue stick or other paper adhesive Directions: Accordion fold the art paper five times to create even-size panels. Affix one end of the panel to the inside of each piece of mat board. If desired, cover each panel with decorative scrapbook paper. One side of the book will be filled with pet-care tips, so affix the pockets to each panel, write tips on the tags and insert them. For the other side of the book, affix pictures of the pet and use the pen and rub-on letters to write phrases or notes. Decorate the covers with rub-on letters, rubber stamps and embellishments. *** STORE * BOOK * T-SHIRTS * MY SPACE * FLICKR * All content/photos copyright, Kathy Cano Murillo, 2006. Photos property and courtesy of Arizona Republic and AzCentral.com. For more artsy goodness, check out CraftyChica.com * Labels: collage/paper, pets Thursday, December 08, 2005Paw Print Ornament Don't leave your pooches or kitties out of the decorating scene! Just take a paper mache ornament and use their paw as a stamp (water-based non-toxic paints of course!). If you don't want to do that, just paint on what looks like a paw print! * By Kathy Cano Murillo, copyright 2005. Photos property and courtesy of Arizona Republic and AzCentral.com. For more artsy goodness, check out CraftyChica.com * Friday, July 29, 2005Pavement Paw Protectors by Kathy Cano Murillo - Jul. 30, 2005 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic Just because it's hot doesn't mean Fido should be stuck in the doghouse. So take him or her for a walk already, and don't worry about the heat. Here's a fashionable way to protect your pooch's paws from the searing pavement. You can buy a set for $20 at the pet store, or take up the art of crochet and make your own for less than a dollar and less than an hour's time. This project is perfect for summer; the loose crochet stitches combined with lightweight cotton yarn will keep those footsies cool from top to bottom. Pavement Paw Protectors Supplies: Measuring tape 1 skein of lightweight cotton yarn 1 Size J crochet hook Scissors 24 inches of ribbon Directions: Measure the width of your dog's paw. Next, measure the length and add two inches to that number. This is how wide and long you need to make each bootie. For a medium-size dog: Begin by holding the end of the yarn, making a slipknot and inserting the hook through the loop. Make 6 or 7 chain stitches; at the end, join them to make a circle. Begin to create the bootie by adding stitches around the circle, using the double stitch. Continue to build up to desired height and then finish off. Cut four pieces of ribbon, each 8 inches long. Weave a strand through the top row of each bootie so you can tie it on the dog's paw. Variations: For smaller dogs, decrease the amount of chain stitches; for larger dogs, increase. For more durable booties, sew a small piece of suede onto the bottom. Add decorative stitching at the top. If you do not want to crochet, you can make the booties out of fleece and use Velcro straps for closure. * By Kathy Cano Murillo, copyright 2005. Photos property and courtesy of Arizona Republic and AzCentral.com. For more artsy goodness, check out CraftyChica.com * Labels: pets, wearable art About Me
Mommy, wifey, artist, author, left-handed middle-child Sagittarian. Craft designer, product developer, former newspaper columnist. My first novel, WAKING UP IN THE LAND OF GLITTER debuts March 1st!  
Note to visitors: Hola! This site is the archive of all my past projects for Gannett News Service and The Arizona Republic. These ideas are for personal use only. I make a living as a craft designer, so I will be using these ideas in my published works. If you are thinking of selling or using these ideas for profit, please give respect and "twist" them to make them your own - put your own stamp on them to make them different. It will work out for the best for both of us! Thank you and much respect from one creative person to another! — Kathy Have a burning crafty question? Visit my Ask Crafty Chica blog or drop me a line! Project Categories
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