It's not too late to get your copy of the #GoingGlobal Issue of Search Magazine featuring my DIY Vintage Trunk How-To! Be sure to stay tuned for upcoming issues with more of my quarterly articles at @SearchMagSF.
Simply put, I haven't done as many DIY crafts and lengthy sewing video series because I've had so many other deadlines this year thanks to writing work, podcasts, and several guest appearances. It keeps me busy and away from projects, but I'm grateful for the opportunities I continue to have. If you're an outlet or website looking for written and audio or visual collaboration, my 2025 is already getting full! Here's a short bio detailing my expertise:
Kristin Battestella writes articles, editorials, and reviews for several websites, magazines, and print publications including I Think, Therefore I Review, Search Magazine, and Keith Loves Movies. Previously a traditionally published author of speculative fiction and the Fate and Fangs vampire novels, Kristin's DIY Halloween how-tos and Kbatz Krafts articles have been featured at HorrorAddicts.net and in two Horror Addicts Guide to Life anthologies. In addition to sewing and @KbatzReviews Youtube vlogs; Kristin can be heard on the Women InSession podcast at InSessionFilm.com alongside her written classic film discourse. For Kristin's latest happenings, follow twitter.com/vampfamwriter.
There's more to come, but in case you missed everything at I Think, Therefore I Reviews, here's a quick rundown of my guest Podcast and Video Appearances in 2024:
The Jay Days YouTube Channel – Jack Irish, Bound, The Convert
Bubba Wheat's Podcast – Bedtime Stories
Making Tarantino Podcast – House of Dark Shadows
For more trash to treasure crafting adventures, visit Kbatz Krafts on Instagram or for step by step progress photos of our DIY Vintage Trunk, follow our Kbatz Krafts Facebook!
Peruse our Kbatz Krafts Archive for more upcycle projects including:
After they so hated the Pumpkin Cat House, I have foolishly attempted to make another piece of cat furniture. This time, inspiration came from an old recliner cushion that the cats took over when we disassembled the broken chair and tried to throw away the pieces. 🤦🏻♀️
Since the pandemic, this obnoxious cushion sat in our front room by the window where the cats snuggled in at particularly sunny times. (You can even see this in my Gothic Cat Litter Box video!) Recliner mechanics remained on its underside – metal springs and broken wood framework I intended to remove before closing the open end into a more visually pleasant rounded cat bed. Disassembling the wood frame took some strength, but cutting open the back to remove filling and better shape the cushion was bemusing. I did not realize there was so much stuffing inside a commercial chair, and after cutting black zippers and Velcro strips from the hidden insides to perhaps reuse later, I realized that they might have been helpful in closing up the bottom of this new cat bed. Oops!
Instead I used a scrap piece of matching brown poly satin to close the underside cleanly, gathering the corners first with temporary stitches then again with finer sewing. In some tight spots, a curved upholstery needle would have been handy, but of course I didn't bother to use one. I folded and gathered, removing yet more filling as I drew the bottom completely closed. As I was repurposing something that was already upholstered, this only took a weekend's sweat equity, but of course, the ultimate test came after I left the new much more reasonably looking, able to blend in with the decor cat cushion in its sunny spot. Did the cats like it? Absolutely not.
I tried placing it up on the bench by the larger window, where one cat sat on it one time. Since then it has sat alone in our front room, sprinkled with catnip and positioned with their favorite toys but neither cat that loved the cushion when it was an annoying piece of broken furniture will snuggle upon this new custom made cat bed. They did however play with some of the scrap strips and pieces of fluff while I worked! Was this project a waste of time? Although I did learn new how-tos about cushions and upholstery, I also learned what not to do – mess with a cat's preferred spot. C'est la vie. 🤷🏻♀️
You can see more progress photos on our Kbatz Krafts Instagram and Facebook!
Visit the Kbatz Krafts Archive for More Sewing including:
Damask Blanket and Tie Dye Pillow
Victorian Guest Room Makeover Series
Spring means it's time for the #YesItsArt Issue of Search Magazine once again featuring a DIY anyone can do from Yours Truly!
Of course, publication schedules are often months in advance, and being the black Halloween heart that I am, this is a luxury looking Autumn Chandelier upcycle done in the fall for this Spring Issue. Yes, I appreciate the irony.
Could I have left the thrifted greenery and golden fixture as is? Of course.
Would that match anything in my spooky house? Nope!
I've done several DIY projects featured in Search Magazine now with more to come, and it's been quite a fulfilling privilege to seek out a budget craft and see the project become a reality to readers. Word limits and picture space mean that I don't always mention the minutia or reasons why I do a DIY or show the problems along the way, but it's exciting to share the concept beyond the magazine on social media. I like to pass along the idea and inspiration! Anything is possible with the right craft eye once you see an object not as what it is but what it could be.
For More upcycling and trash to treasures, visit Kbatz Krafts on Instagram or for step by step progress photos of the Autumn Chandelier follow our Kbatz Krafts Facebook!
Visit our Kbatz Krafts Archive for more floral crafts including:
Gothic Litter Box Plant Disguise
Though inspired by readily available hand casting kits, I'm too cheap and ill-versed in such a medium to make a grandiose attempt at that kind of keepsake. Instead, I resorted to the simplest way to make some holiday child mementos: cardboard and paint.
The idea is quaint and sound – Christmas ornaments with my three year old great niece's hand print on them, four for each female relative. I always keep a few pieces of cardboard on hand (which became quite savvy to soak up after a water heater leak!) and cut a strip into squares. Using a glue stick it was easy to smoothly apply a holiday print fabric found in a Goodwill grab bag to the front side of the cardboard. The back I left clear for my niece's name and the date, because of course. Fortunately, there was just enough of this white and green wreath print to fit the three squares and one larger rectangle intended as an oversize, gift tag style ornament. Next came the hole punch for a rustic tie at the top, but some of these went through cleanly and others did not, leaving some corners delicate or in need of touch ups because I turned the squares to be upright, diamond style. Another shape like a heart or not exactly punching holes on the diamond point might have been better placement, but it was too late to turn back now! I knotted the twine securely before tying on several dollar store bells each. I thought about sprigs of greenery or festive florals, however that seemed a top heavy distraction when the forthcoming hand print was to be the focus. Instead, pipe cleaner curls in holiday red and green and recycled ribbon saved from other gift baskets became hot glued bows.
With the prep and decoration done, now it was time for the hand prints, with yellow as our chosen paint because it is my niece's current favorite color. (In these snapshots, you'll notice she is wearing my paint smock – a retired nightgown that I cut apart to draft its pattern before sewing it back together. Have I edited the six months worth of vlogs where I turned said pattern into a wearable nightgown mock up, satin nightgown, brown dress, and housecoat? No.) Trying to keep things from being too messy with a three year old, I poured the acrylic onto a paper plate and used a small roller on her hand, testing a few prints on some recycled packing paper scraps – which of course I saved and stuck on my corkboard as my holiday hand print! It took a few tries to make sure there was enough coverage and not a lot of globs between fingers, but then there was nothing to do but slap her little hand on the fabric and give it a moment press. I am so very tempted to try and do this with the pets, but with my temperamental cats I know better!
The oversize tag where I wrote the to and from for the jumbo present that my niece also wrapped unfortunately isn't my favorite. Purple was the only marker that showed on the fabric, and though it compliments the yellow, it looks too fuzzy to me. In hindsight, a darker fabric may not show through the cardboard so much and might have really let the subsequent yellow paint and any print pop. The cardboard for these ornaments will probably bend, and I wouldn't put them near hot holiday lights. Certainly, the found materials are cheap, but the captured moment is priceless. None of the receiving family members were worried about finite crafting, especially thanks to my exceptional wrapping and ribbon curled gifts presented by said niece. She drove in her Pumpkin Car, played with her Cardboard Castle – wondering why it didn't have a door? – and tried on some of the costumes in the Victorian Guest Room's costume closet. She said they were too big and I gave her an old Simplicity pattern catalog to mark all the costumes she wanted to make. I guess I need to get cracking now!
Granted this holiday write up is belated. I had originally intended to do this for Mother's Day 2023 just before the turbulence of the year really hit when one of the mothers who previous received my Memento Mori Sewing and deserved a hand print of her own unfortunately passed. As my own health declined, August birthdays also came and went so instead these hand prints became my only handmade gift for Christmas. It's nothing new, but fortunately, this one day, free, timeless idea can be for any occasion – birthdays, valentines, an egg print for Easter or leaves in the fall.
For more photos, follow Kbatz Krafts on Instagram or Facebook or visit our Archive for more including: