In case you needed another reason to love Etsy.com, here it comes. All good CollegeCandy readers know that Etsy is a genuinely awesome online marketplace, where artisans from all over peddle their own unique brand of wares, whatever they may be.

Not only do I love Etsy for the seemingly endless supply of lovingly crafted goods for sale – jewelry, clothing, photography, stuffed animals, frames, glasswares, knick-knacks, and on and on and on – but I love the creative kick in the pants I get every time I visit. I see an awesome silkscreened dress and my mind immediately starts perusing my closet for items I could adorn myself. I see jewelry made out of old piano keys, or skeleton keys, or medical skeletons, or anything, and suddenly the overflowing basement in my family home is brimming with possibility instead of junk!

The Storque, Etsy’s brilliant and multi-faceted DIY blog takes this burst of creative energy (which, for my scattered self, often fades in light of the overwhelming possibilities) and makes all things seem possible. Some of their most frequent topics are as follows:

Step-by-step projects:
A la CC’s DIY Tuesday, The Storque offers up clearly written, well-crafted project ideas of all shapes, sizes and ideas. Now that all my cousins seem to be having babies, I am going to test out this adooorable squishy donkey pattern, as a way to turn out simple, personalized baby gifts to all the new additions! There are tutorials on making your own stamps, gussying up your old clothes, and making your own lip balm – and everything in between!

General craft hints:
There are a fair number of pesky instructions or terms that you run across in the DIY world that you seem to be expected to know; those pivotal and oft-screwed-up creative steps. The Storque seeks to fill in those gaps so that nothing stands between you and artistic greatness! Some examples are lessons in how to correctly measure for clothing, to properly frame your artwork, and working your color wheel. Read More »

A while back, a friend called me and broke some news to me that has changed my life completely.

Cassie: Girrrrrrrrrlllllll, don’t hate me, but I gotta tell you about a website.

Me: Why would I hate you for telling me about a website? Is it porn?

Cassie: It’s craft porn.

Me: Craft porn?! What’s the url?

Cassie: www.etsy.com You’ll never get off of it. You’re gonna be hooked. But you’re gonna love it.

Two months later, I still can’t get off of etsy.com. It’s kind of like ebay, but there’s way cooler sh*t and no lame bidding. Artists and craft-sters from around the world put their hand-crafted items on etsy with a price. If you like something, you buy it.

Yes, it sounds like the same-old shopping website, but it is so much cooler. The stuff on there is home-made and all kinds of awesome.

From tote bags made from seat belts to mushroom shaped salt and pepper shakers, etsy is seriously everything a craft-lover could ever dream of. It’s like going to Arts & Craft fairs from around the world without getting off your lazy ass.

It is the perfect one-stop-online-shop for all of your gifting needs: everything is unique, lots of the stuff is super cheap (those mushroom shaped salt and pepper shakers were on there for 5 bucks!), and you get to discover new talent from around the world.

If you love the idea of personal and crafty gifts, but you’re too lazy or talentless to make your own, definitely scope out etsy. You are going to love me it!