Etsy represents the best and worst of the world’s creativity, or lack thereof (old doesn’t equal kitschy). With the magic of the internet, you can buy original handmade crafts and vintage treasures from all over the world. It’s a beautiful thing, but we at Brokelyn want to support our local artisans—especially those who go beyond the Scrabble tile cufflinks, things with owls on them, and stuff made out of tree bark that have become ubiquitous at craft fairs everywhere. With V-Day a week away, but really just because, we scoured Etsy for some Brooklyn-made merch that caught our fancy.

Papercraft bike model kit: These model bikes have a really neat geometrical look to them, which makes for a model-building project that you DON’T want to leave at your dad’s house. They come in a few sizes, and they would probably look pretty spiffy with some acrylic paint!

Half Moon Sculptured Gold Earring
These unique, yet yet refined earrings make us want to create an outfit around them. Probably with a tee-shirt that has pictures of recently deceased celebrities on it. They would be appropriate for the hipster who thinks she has everything cool already to your aunt who still keeps it funky.

Kitchen Conversions Poster: Never get your precious Apple product dirty again when, while mid-kneadning, you realize that you don’t know how many teaspoons are in ¼ of a cup. The convergence of elegance and practicality will rival any Google-channeling digital platform.

Faces of Death 2011 Tee-shirt Now you don’t have to choose which celebrity who died last year will grace your tee-shirt! Everyone from Andy Rooney to Osama Bin Laden to Nate Dog is beautifully illustrated on a tasteful cream-colored background. Yes, there is also a 2010 edition.

New York State Cutting Board: This cutting board serves the dual purpose of giving you a surface to cut veggies that isn’t your kitchen table, and reminding you that most of New York is taken up by places that are not Brooklyn.

Passion Necklace: Earrings too understated? For your own artistic inspiration rather than, say, your shopping list, we present to you a $2,800 necklace that apparently functions as a shirt. If this doesn’t want to make you want to tangle up all of your jewelry with your mom’s and sell it for enough money to to settle your credit card debt, it’s hard to say what will.

Does anyone have anything Brooklyn-made to add to the mix? Don’t forget to check out Etsy’s FREE Valentine-making party tonight, from 5-8pm at their HQ on 55 Washington St. (Suite 712). The first 25 people to check in get an Etsy totebag!

Your old clothes can carry on and on.

Oh, hey, you love The Strand? Us too! While it’s hard to argue with the merits of reusable tote bags — something about the environment, I think? — the folks at Williamsburg craft resource SPACECRAFT invite you to put down your Strand/Park Slope Food Coop/n+1 portable advertisement and pick up a needle and thread. This Saturday from 2-5pm, anti-plastic crusaders from Bags for the People will be on hand to lead Brooklynites through the basics of making reusable shopping bags with personal flair. Just BYO fabric scraps — an old shirt works, too — and for a $7 suggested donation, they’ll have stitching your way to sustainability in no time.

SPACECRAFT, is at 355 Bedford Ave. between S. 3rd and S. 4th Streets.

Cat-hair necklace, $220.

Move over alpaca scarves and sheepskin sock… here comes cat hair jewelry!

In the most impressive recycling feat we’ve seen since the dryer lint Last Supper, a San Francisco artist is turning her cat’s fur into a jewelry line. Flora Davis is selling a (surprisingly beautiful) line of necklaces on Etsy – all made of a cat-hair “felt” she created by rolling the fur between her hands.  As she tells Wired:

“Ordinarily I would have thrown the hair into the compost, but it felt so soft in my hands, I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away.”

Collecting enough fur from Gaia, a flame-point Ragamuffin in case you were wondering, can take two to three months per piece. The crafty cat lady gets $95 to $280 for a single piece, which got us wondering how our readers could make some change from their floor scuzz. No pets other than dust bunnies? You’re in luck.

Gaia the cash cat.

[Via Wired]

Craft owl at Etsy HQ - photos by Sarah Bibi

If you’re a fan of the Etsy Labs, get excited: not only do Monday’s Craft Night resume next week, the labs have moved to a larger space featuring more elbow room. If you have no idea what we’re talking about, let’s educate you: Every Monday from 4-8pm at Etsy HQ, the DIY sales site hosts a night of crafting and fun led by a wide array of instructors. It’s completely free and includes all the supplies your crochet-covered heart desires, but it’s not the only free stuff at Etsy.

Previous labs have including making felt puppets, jams, and glass ornaments. The first craft night of the year will be hosted by Heidi Kenney of Etsy shop My Paper Crane and author of Everyday’s a Holiday: Year Round Crafting with Kids. No word on the subject, but considering she makes these adorable plushes, it may be in that direction.

For those unable to make it to DUMBO Monday nights (or who are more comfortable communicating via avatar), Etsy also hosts virtual labs throughout the week. They’re hosted live in multiuser interactive chat rooms and include how-tos, show and tell, and shopping critiques.

Finally, the first Sunday of every month, Etsy hosts the Church of Craft from 2-6pm. UPDATE: The date was recently changed to the third Tuesday of each month from 5-8 p.m. After a great brunch, what’s better that a crafting free for all? It’s a time where you can hone your crafting niche, inspiring yourself to start that Etsy shop you’ve always dreamed of (which is the appropriate use for Etsy after all, ahem).

To keep up to date with the latest happenings at the Etsy Labs join the mailing list, the Meetup  group, or check their events calendar.

Free stuff
Arrive before 11 a.m. Saturday or Sunday to enjoy free coffee provided by Brooklyn’s own Crop to Cup.

Exhibitor schwag: pencils, pretty cards (that can be re-purposed as postcards); plus tables full of free copies of the May 2010 Dwell Magazine & New York Magazine’s Spring 2010 Home Design edition.

Ideas for things you could conceivably do yourself
Hook your spare/reclaimed wood planks together using leather hinges.

Stencil some birds on your wall.

Infuse your place with haute (not too pricey) local design

Do it Snug-it Style:

Make your own California king bed frame using three sheets of your own plywood or reclaimed wood paneling (cut to 3/4” thickness, rounding not important) for just the cost of the Snug-it connector pieces, which come in silver and any color you can imagine.

Or with hand-printed wall art:

So wallpapering your rented apartment is of course out of the question, but you might consider framing a 27” X 36” silk-screened narrative featuring femme scientists from the 1800s for $48. Unique over-the-couch or bed art on the cheap.

Some organic cribsheets, maybe:

Ridiculous sale for the brokesters with kids: Originally $185, you can snag this organic, butter-soft dinosaur set for a less-than-whoppin’ $49. They’re out with a new line of same pattern, only on a whiter background, and need to unload this back stock.

Here’s all the info you’ll need on the three-day event, May 7 to 9 at St. Ann’s Warehouse in DUMBO (38 Water St.). Tickets are $15; Students are $10 and ages 16 and under are free.

Safak Aydemir's hand-beaded necklaces.

Stroll down Bedford Avenue on a nice day and the life of a street-vendor can look pretty appealing. So free, so independent, seem those hawkers of books and sellers of handmade mobiles you pass on the sidewalk. You start to wonder what it takes to make a living like this—whether street-vending just might be a viable career path. We’ve certainly wondered all this, and now, after badgering a few street vendors and hard-working public servants, the idea doesn’t seem so far-fetched. For all the enterprising New Yorkers out there with a folding table and dream, the many strings attached and city regulations are no barrier to engaging in this barely tolerated form of commerce.

Like any business, peddling isn’t for the lazy or the risk-averse. A hard worker can make good money from week to week, but only if fortune smiles. “On a good week, in the right place, with the right product, I’ll make $1,000,” says Uta Brauser, who’s been selling handmade adult’s and children’s hats, gloves and hoods for 15 years. Bad weeks are more like $200.

Uta Brauser selling her knitted hats on Bedford Ave.

The Key, Uta says, is “figuring out things you can make in the least amount of time, which you can sell for a very high price.” Her hats go for between $25 and $45. The gloves, on to which she sews whimsical felt claws, sell for $18. But her overhead, at least, is low. She estimates spending just $3,000 a year on materials. “My business cost is labor,” she says, estimating a 40-hour week between making and selling her products.

Uta doesn’t have a vending license; obtaining one is a long, hard route. Each year, the city issues fewer than 900 of these to non-veterans (around 1,000 are available to those who’ve served). Competition for a food vending license is even tougher. And even those who have them are likely to answer frequent questions from the police about their business status.

But you don’t need a business license to sell certain items protected under the First Amendment. The list includes art or used books, records and DVDs—but some vendors have been successful stretching the definition a bit. Newspapers and any object with a political message are covered too.

And Uta Brauser has it pretty wired. After having seen her share of challenge from the police, she now sews a tag bearing Barack Obama’s likeness inside each item for that dose of free-speech protection.

Tony Ambro, for another, sells a seemingly random assortment of things on Bedford Ave.: old records,  CDs, figurines, and a selection of religious items like Catholic medals. Religious artifacts are also free-speech protected he says, but the definition of free speech gets somewhat hazy here.

All vendors run certain risks, and those who push the boundaries of free speech protection by selling, say, hand-knitted yoga mats could be fined, receive a civil summons or even be arrested depending on an officer’s judgment call. Uta says undercover cops still give her a hard time, even with her Obama images, saying things like “you think you just stick that tag on there and have the right to be here?”

A young Brooklynite exercising her First Amendment rights, by David Henry.

No matter what they sell, serious vendors get a tax ID number for their sidewalk business. This is from NY State, and it’s not a business license—it’s what vendors need to collect sales tax, which most do. Getting it is free, and it’s easy to register here. (For more general information about starting a business in NYC, this is a helpful tip sheet.) After about 20 days, a newly minted peddler gets a tax ID number and certificate, and must then start reporting quarterly earnings. Surely, some scofflaws skip out on paperwork entirely but they run the risk of being arrested and having their merchandise confiscated.

But, as with the business licenses, there is a loop-hole. It’s possible keep things very simple by selling tax-exempt stuff, like clothing or footwear. Uta’s got this down too. Her hats, for instance, are exempt, though she does have a tax ID number. She also has an accountant, but that may be unusual among vendors.

One of the trickiest aspects of the occupation is figuring out where to set up. Most vendors will stake out a busy shopping district, but some streets have restrictions against sidewalk vendors. And a neighborhood association with a less-than-positive attitude toward sidewalk sales is more likely to contact the police about such business.

The rules of vendery are complicated and easy to violate unwittingly. Many vendors, like Tony, seem to suss things out as they go. He has tried selling above Metropolitan Ave., but now stays well below it when he sells his assortment on Bedford Ave. Such is his relationship with the local police that members of the next precinct north helpfully suggested he move south where he sees less hassling. “If you’re just selling books, they won’t bother you, and if you’re a disabled veteran they won’t bother you,” Tony says. (He’s neither disabled nor a veteran, but a friend and sometime-partner is.) He also says that you’re much more likely to receive a summons on Saturday than Sunday.

Terrence Miele sells used books at the corner of Bedford Ave. and Grand St. Some rules, he says, like maintaining 12 feet of pedestrian space wherever you set up, aren’t always feasible. But in the end, he finds he has little to worry about unless a nearby business complains. And even then, the police don’t break his back over it, he says. “It’s just tolerated. [the police] have too much going on.” Once, an officer came to answer a complaint and told Miele, “I don’t want to come here for this. I don’t give a shit what you sell.”

The rules are so prohibitively twisted and, it seems, selectively enforced that there is a movement underway to give a little more wiggle room to those who ply this hallowed New York City trade. The Urban Justice Center’s Street Vendor Project promotes easing restrictions on vendors as a way to provide jobs by encouraging entrepreneurship at the lowest level.

Despite the unpredictable nature of life behind the folding table, there are those who will tell you they love it. Safak Aydemir is one. She sets up almost daily on the corner of Bedford and N. 6^th to sell her exquisite handmade jewelry and the colorful vintage clothes she culls from thrift stores. She had a small clothing export business in her native Turkey and simply likes working for herself. “I like business,” she says.

Photos by Eric Reichbaum.

How cool is this? To demonstrate the many things that can be made from a plain old t-shirt (in this case, an exceptionally attractive one), Park Slope-based writer and craftmistress Megan Nicolay has made a tote bag from one of our Brokelyn 1.0 t-shirts, and we’re going to give it away to a lucky reader.

But first, more about Megan, the author of two books—Generation T, 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt, and Generation T, Beyond Fashion: 120 New Ways to Transform a T-shirt (both from Workman Publishing)—that show how to fashion everyone’s favorite wardrobe staple into items ranging from quick, no-sew tops to an elaborately construct wedding dresses. With a few quick snips and stitches she can turn a humble top into something ready for a night out.

Megan discovered her talent as a teenager, when her father challenged her to use or lose a growing pile of old shirts in the closet. The initial heap was salvaged with batik, but her skills evolved with practice. Between the two books, there are nearly 230 projects to dig into (and even more on her website). The most impressive? It’s hard to choose one—aside from the Brokelyn tote—but who knew that a t-shirt could become a car mat? A plant hanger? A fully functioning cleaning lady? (Maybe next book…)

Megan’s books are available from major booksellers as well as independents. And as an early holiday gift, we’re going to give this amazing tote and (not one but) two books away to a highly fortunate email subscriber next week. To find out how to enter the giveaway, please join our email list by midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 4. All new and existing subscribers will be eligible, and you’ll be getting the contest details from us on Thursday, Nov. 5.

[via Thrillist]

PINE CONE CANDLES, $12
When you land an invitation to a richer friend’s roof deck/pool/house in the Hamptons on a 90-degree day, give them a Berdandbee pine cone candle and they’ll think you spent $30 on it. Then help yourself to a glass of their rosé.

RETRO POLAROID PRINT, $20
I love the idea of summer-ing your nest…this boozy, CaryOlivia’s moody beach pic is a perfect staycation for my bathroom. 

BUD VASE, $16
In a sea of letterpress cards and knit hats, these Curve Design bud vases stand out gloriously. So chic. Put them bedside with one bloom you steal from your local deli and be that girl for a while.

HOOKS, $22 a pair
Design alert! These functional-yet-beautiful hooks by Denise DeLong will definitely have friends thinking you’re shopping at DWR or Moss during your off hours.

MUSTACHE CARDS
There’s no price listed but how much can they be? These mustache cards remind me of  the annual event where a bunch of everyday-shavers put down their Mach3s for a some allotted time to see who can grow the best ‘stache. The results are achingly funny, and a little perverse (a lot of them look like they belong on a keep-away-from-your-kids-list). I’ll pick up one of these Virginia Kraljevic cards for our friend who competes….

BIRD FEEDER, $88
It’s a lot if you think of it as spending $88 on birds you don’t really know, but Perch Designs’ lunchbox feeder makes an affordable wedding present for a designy friend.

NECKLACE, $12
Something about Althea Logia’s necklace makes me want to rent the Wackness and drink wine coolers.

Renegade Craft Fair, Williamsburg’s McCarren Park, June 6 and 7, 11-7.