Awesome baking project for Halloween. Read the rest

Lil' Cake Toppers makes beautiful, custom wooden figurines for placing atop cakes, but they're so versatile that they'd work for any occasion or simply as decorations. Discounts are available for sets.

Every (wooden) person is different and unique. So before you get started, ask yourself: what makes this person SO them? Design is in the details and small things like hairline, ear shape and eye placement make a big difference in ensuring your cake toppers are two-of-a-kind. After all, wedding toppers donʼt have to be a gown and tux, thereʼs a whole world of outfits, accessories and expressions to choose from!

Creator Esther Mun, co-founder of a NYC design studio, describes her inspiration:

I’d had enough of gifting pots & pans or donating cash to friends through impersonal wedding registries. So, I started customizing wooden cake toppers I discovered at a designersʼ fair and gifting them instead. People loved them, and the more I made, the more I experimented with different topper designs, looks, accessories and occasions.

There's an inexpensive DIY Topper Kit too for people who think they're crafty. Read the rest

Enjoy this satisfying video of an engraving expert fashioning a hand-engraved hammer, without a forge. Read the rest

Carving and reshaping coins, often called hobo nickels, is a classic art form that is getting an update by Russian artisan Roman Booteen. Some even have mechanisms added: Read the rest

Wakuneco uses wool felt to make amazingly detailed custom-ordered cat portraits that look uncannily like the subjects. Here are how the finishing touches like whiskers get done. Read the rest

This relaxing video shows a miniature chess set being made with rotary tools, lathes, saws and other equipment. It's not quite a DIY guide, unless you already have a fabulous shop, but it definitely makes me want a nice chess set. Read the rest

M.N. Projects got a lot of questions about how he etches his initials onto his metalworking projects, so he did a quick HOWTO for those who want to try it themselves. Read the rest

Yeochang Yun makes lots of remarkable handmade leather items, but this colorful steampunk piece with cogs and locks is especially impressive. Below are a few other examples: Read the rest

From first sketches to first bass caught, watch Nate Marling create a fishing lure that looks and moves like a cricket. Read the rest

Northumbrian needle felt artist Simon Brown turns old worn out brushes and other household items into bases for his charming creatures. Read the rest

This short documentary visits Lite Brite Neon in New York to see how neon lights come to life, with a piece being made from start to finish. Read the rest

Pressing On: The Letterpress Film has just released a trailer for their film that been screening at film festivals to great reviews. It's a beautifully shot homage to the art and craft of letterpress. Read the rest

Lindybeige takes viewers on a wistful tour of a Helsinki model shop while remembering the now-closed shop of his youth. Read the rest

Artist Salavat Fidai creates all sorts of cool art, but his work sculpting the tips of pencils really stands out as an impressive achievement. Read the rest

Nerikomi is a classical form of pottery where different colored clays are rolled into cylinders, then cross-sectioned to reveal a pattern. So soothing to watch the string cut through!

Faith Rahill has a great step-by-step demonstration here:

Nerikomi (often referred to as “neriage”) is a decorative process established in Japan that involves stacking colored clay and then slicing through the cross section to reveal a pattern, which can then be used as an applied decoration. Nerikomi designs provide a wonderful way to work three dimensionally with patterns and images. The results reflect a combination of both careful planning and accidental surprise, plus it’s exciting work for those who love patterns and are drawn to the wet-clay stage of pottery making.

Here are a couple more examples with far less annoying music. The agate pottery revealed after firing the glaze is especially nice:

• Centuries old pottery gets new layer (YouTube / NHK WORLD-JAPAN) Read the rest

Anyone who was a hippie or who grew up knowing a hippie or two probably saw these intricate carved candles here and there. They eventually went mainstream in the 1970s, like macramé. Read the rest

Robin and Julia Rogers team up in this video to make a giant blown glass rabbit that barely fits in the kiln. Read the rest