Continental DIY at Search Magazine (and MOAR!)

 

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:

Autumn Chandelier

Cardboard Halloween Banner

Halloween Shoe Wreath

Re-Purposed Black Topiaries

Search Magazine Action!

 

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:

Upcycled Fall Florals

Mini Pumpkin Garland

Gothic Litter Box Plant Disguise

Love is Love Skeleton Wreath

Author Spotlight Video!

 

What does it mean to be a writer for an online magazine in the 21st century? 🤔

Kristin Battestella shares some of her typewriter beginnings and new media adventures in this Author Spotlight with Search Magazine!

Get the Latest Free Issue of Search Magazine or follow SearchMagSF on Twitter for more Highlights!

The Time for Women's Hockey is Now – Blast from the Past Search Issue 

KristinBattestella Search Magazine Author Spotlight

More Search Magazine Articles from Kristin  

Sewing on a Budget Video

Antiquing on a Budget Playlist

Thank you for watching!

ICYMI: Horror Addicts Guide to Life Book 2 Press Tour

 

Still riding on the press train for the Horror Addicts Guide to Life Book 2? Here's a round up of my appearances supporting several of my Frightening Flix editorials and Kbatz Krafts featured in the Horror Addicts Guide! 

Interview at Tomes and Tales

Horror Addicts Featured Instagram Author

What Inspires Horror: Kristin Battestella

Horror Addicts Interview: Kristin Battestella

Kbatz Krafts Excerpt

Get YOUR copy of Horror Addicts Guide to Life Book 2 on Amazon! 

Horror Addicts Guide to Life Book 2 Press Tour!

 

It's Friday the 13th and time to talk about the Horror Addicts Guide to Life Book 2! 

Your Friendly Neighborhood Kbatz is featured with several Kbatz Krafts articles as well as Frightening Flix horror film editorials. 😱

Here's the Official Blurb:

Do you love the horror genre? Do you look at horror as a lifestyle? Do the "norms" not understand your love of the macabre? Despair no longer, my friend, for within your grasp is a book written by those who look at horror as a way of life, just like you. This is your guide to living a horror addict’s life. Our month-by-month almanac with important dates, movie lists, puzzles, crafts, articles, and recipes will guarantee your whole year is occupied with delightful horror activities. Don’t miss our monster guide with articles about vampires, zombies, ghosts, and some creatures that just can’t be categorized. Enjoy interviews with creators of horror content and hear perspectives from different cultures and backgrounds. Read stories of real hauntings, nightmares, and vile vacations. Allow us to curate your horror lifestyle.

With articles by: A. Craig Newman, A.D. Vick, Alyson Faye, Angela Yuriko Smith, Brian McKinley, CM Lucas, Camellia Rains, Carrie Sessarego, Chantal Boudreau, Courtney Mroch, Crystal Connor, D.J. Pitsiladis, Dan Shaurette, Daphne Strasert, Dee Blake, Emerian Rich, Geneve Flynn, H.E. Roulo, H.R. Boldwood, J. Malcolm Stewart, James Goodridge, Jaq D Hawkins, Jeff Carroll, Jonathan Fortin, Kate Nox, Kay Tracy, Kerry Alan Denney, Kieran Judge, Kristin Battestella, Ksenia Murray, Lee Murray, Lionel Ray Green, Loren Rhoads, M.D. Neu, Mark Orr, Martha J. Allard, Michael Fassbender, Mimielle, Naching T. Kassa, Pamela K. Kinney, Priscilla Bettis, R.J. Joseph, R.L. Merrill, Rena Mason, Renata Pavrey, Rhonda R. Carpenter, Russell Holbrook, Selah Janel, Steven P. Unger, Sumiko Saulson, Tabitha Thompson, Theresa Braun, Trinity Adler, Valjeanne Jeffers.

I'll be having some tour appearances with my fellow Horror Addicts Renata Pavrey at Tomes and Tales and Selah Janel later this May so stay tuned and get your copy of the Horror Addicts Guide to Life 2 on Amazon!

(Clicky it's big!)

A Year in Kbatz Krafts aka 2020 🥴

 

Late last year, I put out a Kbatz Krafts survey for my work at HorrorAddicts.net, asking if the community not only enjoyed my Halloween crafts, but wanted to continue to see spooky DIY, goth sewing, and vintage upcycle crafts year round. When everyone said YES PLEASE, I kind of didn't know what to do. This January, I though a craft per month theme around a holiday, season, or event would be a good way to start. Masquerade Masks! DIY Flower Pens!

Then of course, you know, 2020 went to shit. I was in the middle of organizing my craft space and fixing up my basement with some Dark Shadows inspirations. So I went with it, deep diving into one project after another. From hot glue guns and a needle and thread to paint brushes and power tools, I documented everything at HorrorAddicts.net, doubling my content with DIY articles and step by step How-tos as well as Videos both standalone and 3, 4, or 5 part vlogs. This has been the most productive I've been since having had Lyme Disease, and while it's somewhat disappointing that this creative energy didn't manifest in the form of fiction and the completion of a novel like in those days of old; I strove on in my quirky, crafty endeavors if for nothing else but to keep me occupied from watching the rage inducing, scream worthy, and sob despairing news.

Here then is a rundown of this year's Kbatz Krafts to date – because most of them are Halloween (which begins on August, honestly) and I do still have a few tricks up my hand sewn sleeve for November and December. Blogger had to go and change it's format and be a dunce, of course because 2020, so if the pictures and videos don't work here, please click on the links for the spooky scoop.

Upgrading Masquerade Masks

Gothic Alterations & Thrift Finds

Strolling Through the Pine Barrens Tours

Goth Parasol Upgrade

DIY Flower Pens

Silver & Black Spider Ball Topiaries

Gothic Dark Shadows Mock Sconces

Decorating Like Dark Shadows Basement Series

How to Do Your Own Gothic Gallery Wall

The Unfinished Purple Modern Regency Sewing

Drab to Glam Lampshade Trimmings

DIY Halloween Repairs Video Series

How ~not~ to Make Mystical Glowing Orbs

Halloween Thrift Haul aka “Haulloween” and Trip 2

Halloween T-Shirt Pillows and Masks

Halloween 3D Canvas Art

Love is Love Rainbow Skeleton Wreath

His and Hers 3D Skeleton Frames

Mini Macabre Bone Wreath

Pot O' Bones Tower

Halloween Cat Shelter

This smorgasbord also led me to the equally technologically troublesome Instagram and a new Kbatz Krafts Facebook Page. Neither is the best resource, but I wanted to be able to have photos of my work somewhat organized and easy to find. I don't know that the masses are looking for any of it, but perchance you may also be inspired into discovering your own artful peace of mind. Or at least you can laugh at my admittedly totally crappy camera angles and cheap trash. I look at something and see not what it is, but what it should be.

Conferences, 'Grams, and Craziness

We're 1 WEEK away from the HorrorAddicts.net Online Writers Conference coming February 25-27! Are you ready to chat with authors near and far and get your writing brain on in your pajamas from any and all time zones? 🙋

On one hand, it's much easier to plan an online conference than a real world one. Last year I didn't participate in or host and cover any writing events. Was I too busy, were there not that many events anyway, and did real life just get in the way for a lot of my local literary friends? Time, surgeries, families, travel, work, and more can all impact the energy and inclination to just sit down and write.

We've all been there. In fact, one of my workshops for HOW addresses real world setbacks and finding inspirations. There is of course, a different apprehension that comes with an online event. You begin soft promotion in December inviting participants, but people can have a change of plans in the coming months, forgot about it, sign up and not come back, or just plain forget. With an online event, sometimes people don't realize it is a real thing until you tweet about it fifteen minutes beforehand while I panicking and pray there are no technological issues as people continually ask where is it, what is it, and how does it work? 😕

HOW is just a forum message board, presenters post workshops, articles, and writing tips and you can comment and they will get back to you. There are real time Shout Box live chats with publishers and authors, so the platform runs on ye olden time boards and chats, you know, like what us oldsters used before social media - leave a message and I'll get back to you after the beep and party lines with everyone talking at the same time.  ☎

(on top of the crazy, exercise for Lent!)

On that note, somehow I made the decision to join Instagram as Kbatz Krafts. Of course, after the fact I realized making it two Zs would have been cute, but meh. In no doing Craft DIY articles and Halloween How-To videos year round, I need another place to put photos and step by step documentation. The trouble is, when you are doing a project, I find it very difficult to...stop and take photos and document everything step by step. I don't use a smartphone - gasp get over it - so I video and photograph with my tablet. I'm not in the habit of taking it everywhere, and for me, projects aren't about stopping to show everyone everything at all times. Accomplishing a goal is reward in itself, and as a writer first and foremost, my second joy comes in then writing down everything that I've done.

To me, one reading how I did it is what's the best part, not waiting for the little heart thing on Instagram to light up. It's a little extra craziness to keep refreshing to see who liked a picture or how many views a Youtube video has. Look at that SPAIF segue there! I've never been one to seek attention and validation, so all these like me, please like me social media promotions to highlight my work still feels weird to me, oldster that I am. 👵

This month almost feels like it is more craziness than I can handle. The heck with timeliness and deadlines! Kick rocks 2020! Yeah right. So join HOW if you can, morning, noon, or night, and follow me on instagram, subscribe to my youtube channel, and follow me on twitter but above all, read what I write, mkay? 🙏

Crafts, Capes, and Carols, Oh My!

Tis the festive season my friends, and that means like most of us, it is the busy, busy, busy time of the year for me. Most of that I brought on myself in making Christmas gifts, baking, baking, and doing yet more baking, and did I mention there's more baking yet to come? Pizzelles, people, pizzelles. 

Some of my efforts, however, can be found at HorrorAddicts.net, as I've taken my crafting skills from Halloween into the merriment with some kind of pseudo Victorian ensemble featuring an outrageously tacky bonnet, shiny red cape, and a goofy little muff made with the leftovers. Oh, there's a bell brooch, too, so I can jingle all the way. What I thought was going to be a day's worth of hot glue and done turned out to be a quadruple fold project that took more than a week. You can head over to our Horror Addicts Facebook Group and discuss how I rolled with the sewing punches and made my lemons into some spicy ye olde wassail or you can laugh at my video of the glue gun drama. Whenever I actually get to finishing the video and putting it on Youtube, that is. It should have been today!

Naturally, this means a lot less of priority number one aka writing has gotten done this month. For me the point of documenting projects and making crafts, videos, audio, and all the other bells and whistles is to notify each audience of the writing behind it – the how to article, reviews, and essays. So, it's tough to balance doing everything in December when all the happy festivities intervene moreso than the rest of the year when real life obligations always push the pen and paper to the back burner. My fellow authors know exactly what I mean! Will the craziness chill by time we get to the next Horror Addicts.net Online Writers Conference in February 2020? I hope so.

And did I almost forget about our Horror Addicts special holiday Pumpkin Podcast? Yes I did. 

Fortunately, for those two of you who have missed my literary events, author panels, and speaking engagements, I will be taking part in A Christmas Carol reading alongside a Carol Hymn Sing at the FUMC Hammonton! If you are looking to belt some old time Christmas tunes or are just local Dickensian trash like me, feel free to join us 6 p.m. Sunday December 15. My spats, pocket watch, and top hat are ready!

"Wake Me on Christmas Morning."

Halloween Crafts at HorrorAddicts.net!

It's that time of year again!

Time for Yours Truly to take over HorrorAddicts.net with another batch of How-to, Do It Yourself, Cheap and Loving It Kbatz Krafts!

October's burning Daylight Savings, so let's cut the fluff and get to all the crafts from this year and last because there's even MORE to come:


How to Make Cardboard Tombstones Video

Re-Purposed Black Topiaries
Halloween Candle Clusters
Yogurt Turned Ghost Candlesticks
Pumpkin Ottomans, Oh Yes

It's a Pumpkin Cat House (that the cat didn't like but at least I'm not bitter...)
Creepy Cloches
Tea Stained Labels and Spooky Bottles
How NOT to Make a Spooky Spell Book
How to Make Stuffed Pumpkins Video

Visit HorrorAddicts.net or join our Facebook Group for new and upcoming crafts and decoration conversations including:

DIY Cardboard Coffin
Mini Coffin Trays
Cardboard Tombstones Photo Shoot
When in Doubt, Paint it Black

Whew! We're NOT stopping until Thanksgiving, either, so stayed tuned for MOAR Podcasts and Audio Specials thankyouforyourtime.

One Con Down, One to Go!

Greetings all!

My brain is still infused from our first HorrorAddicts.net Online Writers Conference. HOW about you?! 🙋 


The Conference archive remains to inspire all, so even though our week of writing smorgasbord is over, you can still give us a browse!

Here are a few of the Round Up Posts from HorrorAddicts.net to use as a HOW Guide:

HOW Guest Authors

Chat Transcripts

Our Video Workshops

If you're still unsure about how the HOW forums work, you can always go back to my How to HOW Video, too.  


Or, if something more spooky is to your liking, don't forget you can watch my Video Reviews for Horror Addicts, including Dark Shadows and Edgar Allan Poe.

 (I gesture, sue me)

Speaking of spook-tacular, don't forget March 29-31 your friendly neighborhood Kbatz is going to the New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival doing coverage for HorrorAddicts.net! 

If you're in the AC area be sure to stop by and say hello! Follow the NJ Horror Con on Facebook for guest announcements and join our Horror Addicts Group for my con updates and more!

See you soon! Wooohaaa 

 

HOW Conference This February!

Happy 2019 Everyone! 

I don't know about anyone else, but I need to get on the writing ball! It's tough to focus and get on schedule post holidays. It feels like the entire month of January becomes a hibernation month!

Fortunately, HorrorAddicts.net has our writing backs! This February 24-28, I'll be taking part in the HorrorAddicts.net Online Writers Conference. 

It's Free, It's Online - all I have to do is show up from my easy chair. This I Can Do! 

I am a supposed to be a writer, but I need a refresher on HOW (get it?!) to do the little things. It also seems like folks have forgotten how to use internet forums, because everyone keeps asking me HOW the Conference is supposed to work. Writers, Staff, Editors, and Publishers from HorrorAddicts.net and company will post articles, essays, prompts, and workshops on the forum, and participants can comment and interact all week at your own speed and leisure. There will be some chats too and live events, but again, I like a go at my own pace project, none of this deadline stuff! 

Big caveat also, this is NOT JUST HORROR! It's important to gain general writing and non genre wisdom, amirite?


So where is all this happening? Again, simplicity:
http://horroraddictswriters.freeforums.net

If you would like to participate or submit a workshop, all the details are already on the Conference Forum.

You can also forcibly remind yourself to check us out with our Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1998091380240780/

 

See you at the Conference! 

 

South Jersey Writers Conference Media and Mayhem!

Was YOUR November busy? 

Ditto, in no small part thanks to the South Jersey Writers Conference that was November 7&10. This 2 day conference is the inspiration that keeps on, well, inspiring thanks to the wealth of photos, videos, and media captured by Yours Truly!

To those who didn't want to be photographed and were reluctant to be on video, I am so, so glad we have your words of wisdom and author stories now saved for posterity! 

 

But enough grandstanding! Here is a complete rundown of the videos and playlists from the South Jersey Writers Conference on my Youtube Channel, and dual coverage can also be found at HorrorAddicts.net.


Networking Night speaker Ilene Schneider

Brainstorming 101 Workshop

Authorship 101 Workshop

NaNoWriMo Community speaker K.A. Magrowski Part 1 and Part 2

Paranormal and Horror Author Panel Parts 1-5 Playlist

Fantasy and Speculative Fiction Panel Parts 1-5 Playlist


You can also follow along with more happenings from the South Jersey Women Authors or visit the South Jersey Writers Conference on Facebook for MOAR!

 (Meta...)

In case you haven't heard yet, we're also taking the Conference theme one step further, as Horror Addicts.net is hosting a Free Online Writers Conference this February! If you're interested in participating, visit the HOW (get it?) forum. Register early and join the Pre-Conference area or submit your workshop!

Keeping it simple, right? http://horroraddictswriters.freeforums.net/



And lastly, my article on Military Records Research is feature in the latest All Veterans issue of Search Magazine. Hip, hip huzzah!

Festive Fall Appearances!

October tis the season for Horror Authors, amirite?! 

Saturday October 13 I am jumping back into the talking shop foray at the Indie Authors Day, 11 a.m. at the Heggan Library in Sewell. 

Yes that is tomorrow. Yes I realize I didn't blog about it until now. But who really reads a blog for the latest these days? Get with the social media, I've been tweeting and posting about this all over the place! If there is a real world event, and no one posts about it on social media, did that event really happen?

And now here is my obligatory picture:

If you follow my social media, you will also notice the hullabaloo everywhere about my November event. The Mount Holly Conference is now The South Jersey Writers Conference. New Name! New Venue! Even More Writing Inspiration! Our Dates are still the same with chances to Mingle November 7 in addition to an entire Conference Saturday November 10 and a Dinner Reception, however our venues are now in Berlin. 

Is it short notice to change a conference a month a way? Yes. Did I accomplish planning in a day what our old venue complicated for over a month? Also yes. The folks in Mt. Holly were great to help us start the conference, but we had a feeling it was time to leave the nest and expand, so we did. 

That is one of the biggest most important things about being an author - going with your gut. I could have delayed and risked a time with winter weather or played it safe with a sub par event, but the time was now! When you are a writer, you have to decide if you are going to write right now, sign on with that agent asap, or accept that publisher's contract. There is no time to twaddle. 

That's all my free nuggets for today. If you want more from even bigger and better and more fancy authors than me, See You at the Conference! RSVP: facebook.com/groups/southjerseywritersconference/

GASP - Sometimes I Forget to Blog!

Hello All!

It's going to be a busy Spring between book fairs, podcasts, and getting good and dirty in the garden - “I'll be planting soon....” a la Sophia Petrillo.

Between our upcoming Mount Holly Book Fair April 29, HorrorAddicts.net delectables, ten year anniversary hi jinks at I Think, Therefore I Review, and you know, life, sometimes a writer just forgets to blog. 

 (Because every fricking thing you do has to come with visual media or its trash right? Word.) 

Shameless plugs aside, there are those the increasingly turbulent and wish I didn't have to use it Facebook dramas and the murky navigation of the crowded tidewaters on Twitter. You're either a noise maker, consumer commentor, or a constant content maker. It's all self promotion at its finest aka marketing. Authors must do it. You can't not do it when every publisher wants to see your brand, every magazine expects retweets, and ever link needs a #hashtag. It's become standard, normal, spitting in the internet wind insanity. Who has time for any long form click bait when we do all the little unnecessary necessaries 24/7?

In trying to meet my latest April deadlines, I realized it was time to check on my own blog, as a stagnant post from a few months ago ( We fudge and front for everyone too when it has actually been six months!) would be viewed quite negatively by literary peers, publishers, agents, or anyone you want to find you. Even if that post proves you are on the book tour circuit, active in freelance, and involved with your writerly peers.

For writers trying to make it in this book business, it isn't enough that you are here with blogs and social media, easily found with contact information for when you want them to notice your actual writing. You have to be instant, the latest, rising with your #amwriting – which I still don't know if it is meant to be 'I am writing' or 'A.M. Writing' but whatevs – before posting a picture of your go to coffee and literary lunch on Facebook, which has to be shared on each of your book pages, your profile, all the book groups, and tagged with all your writerly friends who will totally **get** the struggle. It was all probably conveniently shared from Instagram, too.

Maybe the trending topics, food photos, challenges, or contests lead to a great inspirational nuggets and your next blog post – guilty as charged I suppose – but all the social media chasing, promotion, and forgetting to blog, pinterest, Google +, and who the heck knows what else only leads me back to one thing every single time:

When in the heck are writers supposed to actually write? Amirite?!

Oops, I can't end there, every post has to have all the big links, right?! So Be sure to

SEE me at the Mount Holly Book Fair April 29!

HEAR me during the latest HorrorAddicts.net podcast season!

READ me at I Think, Therefore I Review, or someday whenever I publish some fiction again, whenever the heck that me be.

Toodle Loo until my next two times a day post – which translates to eight months in writer time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯