End of the Year Sales

Many of our team shops are having end of the year sales, including Car Don Creative Design - who sells Handcrafted Supplies. To find other shops having their end of the year sales, please search for Team ESST + Sale on Etsy!

Our team shops are looking forward to starting the new year with some new supplies in our shops. Please check back often to see what we have for you!

Happy Holidays!

And a Merry Christmas too!
- Team ESST

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you a Happy Hanukkah from Team ESST!



Looking through our team members shops, I found this Menorah stamp and some Hanukkah vintage gift tags too! We hope you have some time to get some crafting done during these next 8 fun nights!

Snowflake Ornaments -- How To

I adore snowflakes. Whether they're stylized or realistic, elegant shades of white or bright and garish colors, I love them all! Now you can make your own~

Materials needed --

Snowflake forms

Large round beads

Large white faceted oval beads

Large metal beadcaps

8mm silver beads

Metallic Silver ribbon - Available at supplycandy

Round nose pliers

Take one wire form. Working on one branch at a time, thread one spacer bead (I used vintage white lucite), a silver round bead, a beadcap, a large round bead, another beadcap, another silver bead, a large faceted oval, and a last silver round.

Using your roundnose pliers, make a loop on the end of the branch.

Repeat this pattern on each of the following 5 branches.

Your snowflake is finished, but you still need a way to display it. Decide how long you'd like the snowflake to hang, and cut a length of ribbon twice that long, plus a couple inches. Thread the ribbon through one of the loops you made and even up the ends. Tie an overhand knot, leaving a bit of a tail.

Now, you can display your ornament however you see fit. I like to make several in varying lengths and sizes to display in my front windows.

Sewing Supplies: Patterns - Gremly Girl

Gremly Girl is a great shop with vintage sewing patterns and other goodies. It is really easy to find exactly what you want in this shop, as the patterns are organized by decade. You can also search the shop by measurement, such as bust size. Gremly Girl has a return policy, so you can be confident with every purchase at this shop.

What Gremly Girl loves about vintage patterns is that each one is a little treasure, offering a glimpse into the past. She loves finding new designs, studying the changes in fashion, and running across notes and ephemera a prior seamstress might have added to a pattern. For more on her obsession, visit her blog at http://patternjunkie.typepad.com/.

Altered Ribbon - How To

Materials Needed --

• Cotton Ribbon
• Small Alphabet Stamps - Available from ESST or SupplyCandyDye Ink Pad - Your choice of 2 or more colors
• scrap paper
• paper towel

Decide what length of ribbon you need for your project. Cut it off, plus a couple inches.

Place some scrap paper over your work space. I like to use copy paper. Put the ribbon on that and run the inkpad over it until you reach your desired color intensity. I chose the weathered look for the sample.

Run your paper towel over the newly inked ribbon to remove the excess ink.

Using your small alphabet stamps, choose a message to stamp out. I like to spell out the message and space it out before committing. This also helps to avoid spelling errors.

Once done, set it aside to dry completely. I like to leave mine at least overnight.

You now have customized ribbon, with a handmade touch. I wouldn't recommend laundering this ribbon, but it's great for most projects.

Holiday Gift Tags

With Christmas around the corner, it's time to think about what those gifts of joy should be tagged with. A search on Etsy with the terms "Esst tag" will give lots of possibilities for tags galore. This gift tag is from Circle in the Sand's shop.


Here's another gift tag that I found doing this same search. These homemade, handcrafted tags are simply delightful details. The recipient will know that a lot of care and love went into your selection of their gift.

Begin your search for Holiday Tags here.

Posted by Natalie -- NKP Designs