Have you noticed that little “admire” button hanging around your listing pages? If not, go check it out! It can help you share your favorite items on Goodsmiths with your friends (and save your sweet finds for later).

When you admire items, it’s more than just “liking” them. You’re actually saving them to your collection. You can peruse your admired items later or share them online. In your profile, you’ll see a small list of what you’ve admired so far. If you have more than eight items in your collection, you can click the “more” button to see everything you’ve collected over time.

Use your collection to build a wish list or gift ideas, or just to show others what you’ve found on Goodsmiths. You can even share a link to your collection that anyone (not just your Goodsmiths friends) can see.

Best of all, the admire button integrates directly with Facebook. So when you admire something, it shows up in your Facebook activity feed. It doesn’t show up on your wall unless you change the setting in your Activity Log — but that’s easy enough. Just click the open circle next to the activity (which looks like this: “You’ve admired pumpkin bath and body set on Goodsmiths.”) Select the “Shown on Timeline” option, and voilà. There’s a nice link and photo on your timeline.

So get out there and start admiring! And let us know how it works. We’d love to know how much of your traffic comes from Facebook friends. Or friends of friends. Or friends of friends of…. you get the idea.

So this morning I woke up to find several bananas that were going brown on me. I have yet to finish a bunch of bananas before at least one has over-ripened.  There are many options for these.  You could make a smoothie (and if I had berries on hand, I would have).  You could smash them up and freeze them…or freeze them whole, for that matter.  But this morning I decided to go ahead and make some mini muffins. They make such a great little snack.  I tried out a new recipe to me, by Tyler Florence.  They are a little different in the way that you mix in the bananas.  The only change I made to his original recipe is I exchanged pecans with walnuts.

I clearly forgot to put one of the ingredients in this photo.  But since I know I have very wise readers out there, I’m not going to stress over it.

You’ll need the following:

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 4 overripe bananas
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/2 pecans, chopped (I used walnuts.)

First, you need to mix the first three dry ingredients:  flour, baking soda and salt.  Set that bowl aside.

Next, take two of the bananas and mash them with a fork, leaving them still a bit chunky.  Then set that aside for later.

Take the remaining two bananas and put them in a mixing bowl with the brown sugar.  You’ll need to mix this for 3 minutes.

If you do not have a stand alone mixer and you need to get the clothes out of the dryer, feel free to use a 2-year-old.  Any toddler will do, but cute ones work best.

Next add your melted butter (which has been cooled slightly), eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Then add your dry ingredients and mix just until it’s all incorporated.  You’re done with the mixer now.  Fold in the nuts and banana chunks with a spoon. Now you’re ready to put them in your tins.

Preheat your oven to 375.  Spray your tin with non-stick spray. (Although Tyler’s recipe says to butter it.)  I chose to make mini muffins, and I believe this tray made about 72.  If you’re using a regular sized muffin tin, it should make 12.  I used a mini cookie dough scooper to get the dough in the tins. It worked pretty quickly with no mess.

The perfect time for my oven was 10 minutes.  I let them cool slightly in the tin, and then removed them to a rack.  (Regular sized muffins need 18-20 minutes.)

These turned out quite tasty!  So if you have an old brown bananas on your counter this week, give them a try. I literally could not keep Meg’s hands off of them.

One of the things we pride ourselves on at Goodsmiths is listening to our community and then building features that we know you want! Today we are excited to announce that Vacation Mode is now live on Goodsmiths. Here is how it works.

Once logged into your account select the Settings tab from your dashboard. Select Payments & Policies and scroll to the bottom to find this little gem:

Once you select Yes and the save button, you are ready to go on vacation- which hopefully involves a beach and some frosty beverages.

But wait? Will my items still show up on your awesome site? Yep! The purchase area will appear just like this:

Vistors will still be able to share off your item & admire it on Goodsmiths to save for purchase when you get back. And don’t forget to turn your shop back live when you return!

In the future we will be rolling out some other cool stuff like notifications to interested buyers when you return and the ability to set a start and end date for your vacation.

Enjoy your time away, and if you get a sunburn here are some helpful tips!

Has anyone else noticed how beautiful wrapping paper has become over the last few years? From department stores to specialty stores. Organic stores to online stores. Wrapping paper can be bought anywhere, any price and any design. I have found using wrapping paper can be an inexpensive and fun way to decorate around the house. Here are just a couple of ways that I have used wrapping paper.

In our home we have lovely built-in bookcases. Eventually I would like to finish them in a color that fits our personality. However, this will be time-consuming and a bit pricey, so I found some wrapping paper that I enjoyed and made it a temporary backdrop.

Taking pictures is a fun hobby for me and over the years we  have accumulated different styles and colors of picture albums. I love having these albums on display but they didn’t match the decor. I simple used plain black wrapping paper and made book covers.

I have also used wrapping paper as a “mat” for picture frames and pictures. Here I had an over sized frame and used this fun paper to finish off this fun wall hanging.

These are just a couple of ways to use wrapping paper. How have you used wrapping paper?

We’re in full nursery planning mode around here.  Which means lots of art projects for me…and lots of moving heavy furniture around for my husband.  Poor guy.

I found this project on Better Homes and Gardens and thought it would be an interesting way to display a quote…something a little out of the ordinary.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Computer print out of your quote & Carbon paper (or a stencil)
• Poster board or cardstock
• Exacto knife
• Self healing cutting board
• Fabric backing
• Frame

Once again, I went for the carbon paper option…so I could choose my own font.  But you can definitely use a stencil instead.

I printed my quote out big enough to carve around and fit inside a frame…so I had to cut each line out and tape together on top of the card stock I used to carve the words out of.

My husband’s dad has passed away….so I used a lyric from one of my favorite Elliott Smith songs to remind us that he’s still part of this little person’s life.

I placed the carbon paper between the quote lines and the card stock and traced them all.

Next I started carving out all the letters.  This was definitely the tedious part of the project…I think it took all of Sunday night HBO TV to get through it….but I’d rather carve and watch anyways.

And finally, cut out a piece of fabric and tape onto the back of the card stock and frame.

And you can just switch out the fabric…which is what we’ll do once we decide on our colors.  But for now, I think it’s sweet to have in the living room – especially because every time I see it I hear a song.

I wish we could meet in person, but (for now), this will have to do. I’m Riane! Nice to meet you. I’m joining Goodsmiths as the community builder, which means I get the lucky job of connecting with the coolest people on earth: makers.

I fell in love with the creative community via ReadyMade magazine, where I wrote about DIY people and killer projects every day. When the mag was shuttered last June, I couldn’t jump the maker train, so I kept riding. I started tweeting for Handful of Salt, an online mag that explores the intersection of design + craft. I met the managing editor of Offbeat Home and started working with her. I took over a monthly event for artists called drink & draw, where we get together and, well…. drink (and draw). And I started working with Market Day Iowa to promote and organize the monthly craft fair.

I’m passionate about the creative community, so I’m really (really) excited to be with Goodsmiths. You’ll find me doing a bunch of things online (and in real life) to represent and build the Goodsmiths family — but mostly, I’ll be working for YOU. Because let’s be real — you’re awesome, and you deserve a really great community.

If you want to connect (which I would love!), feel free to say hey. I’m online frequently (…er, all the time), and you can find me here, @rianeM.

In the search for a perfect outdoor accessory, I wanted to find something that wouldn’t blow away in the wind (we live outside of Chicago, so many outdoor lawn ornaments fall victim to the howling winds) and that was economical. Here is where my cement garden globes come in.

What You Will Need:

• Quick-setting concrete (you can buy a bag or bucket at Home Depot or Lowes or other hardware store)
• Lighting covers (try finding these at a thrift store or flea market first, then check hardware stores for sales or the cheapest options they offer – you are going to break them after all!)
• Non-stick cooking spray (yes, the kind you use in your kitchen!)
• Small garden shovel
• Hammer
• Gloves (for when you break the glass)
• Large piece of cardboard or trash bag to perform project on
• Old towel or blanket

What You Will Need To Do:

1. Spray the inside of the lighting covers with non-stick cooking spray. The spray will help the glass break away from the cement when you break it.
2. Set the glass ball in an old towel or blanket so it can’t roll away while you’re filling it and as it’s setting up.
3. Now it’s time to make the concrete. Pour the dry mix in the bucket and then add water until it reaches the consistency of peanut butter (See image below).
   

   Step 3: Mixing the cement. Step 7: Breaking the globes.

4. Use a small garden shovel to fill the balls. After every scoop, give the ball a shake or twist to help it settle and break up any air bubbles.
5. Fill the ball to the top and try to make it as level as possible. You might have some concrete left over depending upon the size of your globes, however I was surprised how much concrete it actually took.
6. Let the balls sit for at least 24 hours to fully set-up (See above image).
7. When the concrete has turned light, use a hammer to lightly tap the glass and break away pieces off the concrete ball. Make sure you wear gloves so you don’t injure yourself. Throw away the glass and you’re done. This is where performing the project on cardboard or a trash bag will aid in clean-up.

All done! Now place the globes in your garden for the perfect added touch. After seeing them in place, I think I am going to paint them in bright vibrant colors – whenever I get around to it!! For now they are perfect!

I decided to tackle a project I’ve been thinking about for a while this week….a growth chart.  I’ve always thought they were such a sweet tradition…and it made me sad that so many people had to leave them in the house they grew up in because they just marked on the wall.  So I wanted mine to be moveable…and re-moveable.

I actually found some scrap pieces of wood when we were cleaning out the garage the other day and thought they’d be a good fit for this project…but you can also just buy a piece at Lowe’s and have them cut to an appropriate size.

Next, I taped off a chevron pattern over the whole length of the wood.  I didn’t measure out the spaces between the patterns…but you definitely can if you want it to look perfect.  Then I painted every other space navy blue…let that dry (not all the way) and then peeled off the tape.  After that, I painted the blank spaces white.

Now…what you could do here so you don’t need to be careful keeping your paint brush in the lines on the second color of paint…is just spray paint the whole thing the base color and let that dry and then tape off your chevron pattern and paint the second color.  The reason this didn’t work out for me…is because my blue paint was so thick, I thought the white spray paint looked funny.  So just play around and see what works for you.

Let this all dry overnight, then use a yardstick to measure and mark every inch the whole way up the wood.  Just make a small mark in pencil at each inch.  I used my navy and my white paint to emphasize the marks…by using the opposite color on whatever chevron color I ended up on.  For the numbers to mark the feet – I found a font I liked online and printed it large enough for my wood.  Then I traced each number using my carbon paper and painted in the lines.  You could also make this easier on yourself and buy a stencil…but I like to be thrifty whenever possible.  I also have a pretty steady hand, so hand painting doesn’t bother me.  Oh, and also, I didn’t really like the stencil selection I found at the Hob Lob last time.

I’m going to keep playing with this…I’ve still got to figure out how to mark the child’s height….and I think it may need some color.  But I’ve got time….Shane and I are having our first baby in October…so it will be a while before he/she needs to be measured.:)

Etsy has been getting a lot of press lately — bad press. Resellers are coming out of the woodwork, touting items with a “Made in China” tag. That’s a good reason to be frustrated.

When you build an online shop, you trust the people handling your goods. You want to work with people you can trust to be on your side and defend the integrity of makers, crafters and independent artisans. Not people who promote resellers and products made by laborers overseas. As one seller recently said, “It certainly feels as though Etsy simply doesn’t care if mass producers or resellers drown out true artisans.” And we think that’s heartbreaking.

Today, over 3,500 Etsy shop owners have decided to close their shop doors in protest of Etsy’s response to the reseller scandal. If you’re one of them, this message is for you: We at Goodsmiths are committed to serving YOU, the maker, and promoting only authentic, handmade goods. We promise not to allow or support resellers in any way. We’re working every day to support a strong, independent maker community, and we want you to succeed as shop owners and artisans.

So we invite you to join Goodsmiths and see what we’ve made for you. We may be new to the scene, but Goodsmiths has created amazing discoverability features with Facebook, to help you get involved with your fans and fellow makers and get more sales than ever before. More importantly, we’re your advocates, and we’ll fight for the integrity of your work.

There are alternatives to the Etsy empire. Goodsmiths is ready to help you make the switch to a new way of selling — one that has helpful tools, social features and a friendly and caring team that is (really!) rooting for you. Our fees are so low that it is literally FREE to setup shop. There are no monthly fees. On a successful transaction, the fee is 2% for 2012 through our launch promotion. After that, it’s going to be 2.5%, cheaper than what you currently pay.

To open your Goodsmiths shop, visit www.goodsmiths.com. You can even import your Etsy listings with one click, which makes switching a breeze. We are also running a contest to win a new iPad 3 when you Stock your Shop!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us or leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you — and, more importantly, we’d love to help you. Come find your place in our Goodsmiths family, and see what a difference it makes.

Hello friends! We are excited to announce that we have reduced our regular Goodsmiths transaction fee to 2.5%!

What does this mean for shop owners? Not only will you receive the 2% transaction fee in 2012 for any completed sale — we are looking forward and dropping our regular 5% fee to 2.5%. Our competition charges listing fees — we do not. Our competition charges anywhere between 3.5% to 5% — we do not. Our competition offers no real solutions for getting you discovered — WE DO!

For buyers, this means tons of amazing products from handmade makers across the United States. Now that Goodsmiths is live with both Paypal and Dwolla, the possibilities are endless. Our team has already bought several items for our new office, and with Mother’s Day this weekend, our moms will receive some beautiful things as well! See you soon on Goodsmiths.

Calling all shop owners…Don’t forget you can enter to win a new iPad® when you have at least 5 published items in your Goodsmiths shop. Tell your friends too!