Online Craft Faire 

  Previous: Crabzilla Takes Tokyo | Next: Check Out My Flow

Story Tools

Story Images

Click thumbnails for full-size image:

Rants + Raves

• More »

START

• MLB.com levels baseball’s playing field
• The 1,350-hp, jet-turbine Beetle really flies
• Phew! The best apocalyptic near-misses.
• More »

PLAY

• Sufjan Stevens’ avalanche of odes to Illinois
• A mecha makeover for Japanese monster flicks
• Online craft faire – Linux blankie, anyone?
• Meet your next favorite game guru
• More »

POSTS

• Monk ebusiness
• Superheroes go ape for Stan Lee
• Lessig examines Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth
• More »

Looking for a Mister Cutie Bear iPod cozy? How about a Mario Guevera T-shirt? Head to Etsy.com, a DIY eBay where you can commission an artist to make custom jewelry, stuffed animals, furniture – almost anything you can imagine. Post a request (“I want a macrame owl”) and members respond with bids. Pick the one with the right price and turnaround time; the maker pays Etsy 3.5 percent of the sale price. To test the service, we let Etsy’s more than 12,000 artisans know that we were looking for handicrafts in any medium featuring our favorite flightless waterfowl, the Linux penguin. Here are the treasures we had made.

BURNED-WOOD PAINTING
Supplier: JB Creations, Canyon Lake, California
Cost: $46
Turnaround: 3 business days
Comments: We commissioned this portrait thinking we’d love a pyrographic painting, but the washed-out colors and ragged lines on this rustic canvas left us kinda cold.

BLANKET
Supplier: Amber’s Afghans, Oxford, Michigan
Cost: $59
Turnaround time: 6 business days
Comments: Rich, vibrant colors and a big, beautiful penguin landed this comfy 2 x 3-foot afghan on the top of our Etsy heap. We especially love the dark green racing stripes along the edges.

DIAPER BAG
Supplier: Baby Goin’ Places, Port Matilda, Pennsylvania Cost: $64
Turnaround: 5 business days
Comments: The emblem could be bigger, but the design and the customer service were so good that we’re tempted to order a matching burp cloth and changing pad.

FIGURINE
Supplier: Car’s Clay Art, Utica, New York
Cost: $75
Turnaround: 10 business days
Comments: Car’s Clay Art responded admirably when shipping issues delayed the arrival of our figurine. It’s utterly adorable ... but for 75 bones, our 5-inch-tall penguin looks a bit shrimpy.

BEER STEIN
Supplier: Thistlecraft, Gatesville, Texas
Cost: $36
Turnaround: 6 business days
Comments: Thistlecraft initially offered to make a faux stained-glass windowpane for us, but they were more than accommodating when we requested artwork with a more, um, functional form.

- Roger Thomasson

   Previous: Crabzilla Takes Tokyo | Next: Check Out My Flow