Hands Occupied

Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

My Work Elsewhere

Twinkle in Your Eye Sunglasses

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This DIY is so simple, easy and fun, you might just be tempted to make five pairs for yourself and one for each of your friends. Inspired by the glint in a hollywood cartoon smile and the twinkle in a mischievous eye, these cheeky sunglasses will add a pinch of fun flair to your summer wardrobe!

Why I Learned to Knit Left-Handed

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A weird thing happened out of nowhere last fall. Weird, but super exciting! I got three emails in a span of two weeks from magazines wanting to work with Hands Occupied in 2014. Finally last weekend, months after those initial emails, I opened my mailbox to find a surprise. A hard copy of my first magazine feature in “the UK’s bestselling knit mag,” Let’s Knit! Visit the full post for a piece I wrote for them on the time I thought I’d never knit again.

Dimensional Easter Egg Earrings

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I feel like Ms. Frizzle would 100% wear these earrings given half a chance. They’re about as festive as it gets, and they involve ribbon and sparkle. I’m a huge DIY accessory lover, and part of what I love is making accessories you might not find in stores. These, admittedly are totally cray, but for something I’ll wear for fun to an Easter brunch or egg hunt? Heck yes I’m going to hang a couple of sparkle Easter eggs on my ears! Maybe I’ll even pair them with my astro turf Peter Pan collar…

DIY Comic Book Compact

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Inspired by a love of action movies and lifelong wish to BE Sydney Bristow, this made-over compact makes me smile every time I reach for it in my purse. I used to carry around a vintage gold compact for powdering my nose, but the wear and tear on it was no good. Then I switched to a plastic, non-vintage compact, so it was ok when it got scratched up by keys or other purse ephemera. But it was looking pretty bad. The solution? Bust out the Mod Podge!

Hacky Sack Crochet Pattern

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This week the lovely Marie from Make & Takes invited me to design & share an easy crochet pattern in her crochet-a-day series, so I went old school and put together an easy (and super addictive) crochet hacky sack pattern.

DIY Color Blocked Glitter Bangle Bracelet

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Don’t you just love a DIY that takes something that cost a quarter and makes it look like a million bucks? Well, maybe not a million, but more than 25 cents! I got a bangle bracelet at a thrift store years ago and realized I hadn’t been wearing it at all as it was, so a quickie makeover was in order!