DIY Hoodie Makeover: A Cozy, Feral Crafting Adventure
As a lifelong craft-idea hoarder (Pinterest is basically my natural habitat), I’ve been on the hunt for ways to jazz up my new plain black hoodie. I don’t usually get cold, but apparently this year my body decided to experience “winter” for the first time, so: hoodie season it is.
My goal? A battle jacket, but in hoodie form. Something patch-covered and full blown chaotic. And then I stumbled across the hoodie. Neon yarn. Ambivalent smiley faces on scrap fabric. A glorious explosion of vibes. I fell instantly in love.
Looking around the internet at places other than pinterest I found hoodies like this and other embroidery accented hoodies, costing $90 to over $100
Good thing I can 100% make this thing! I have neon(ish) yarn, and lots of random fabric and paint markers.
So, once I get a sewing needle that both has an eye big enough for yarn AND is sharp enough to go through the fabric of my hoodie, and maybe some neon pony beads, its game on! Then the DIY embroidered hoodie journey begins.
Probably mine will have a few less dangly threads in the end though. I feel like dangly bits on my hoodie would be begging an accident to happen.
So, what do you think. Is it too feral. Not feral enough? Would you try this kind of hoodie customization?
There is another yarn craft I want to work on that involves using a cardboard weaving loom. I’m a little afraid to try that one though, because nothing I can fin tells me exactly how big to make the loom, or exactly how much yarn I need, and the yarn for that project is about $20 a skein. When I tackle that one it will be a true “wing it and hope” situation—classic feral crafting.
Anyway, check back next week to hold me accountable for the DIY Hoodie goodness
Happy Sunday friends! This week seems to have gone by amazingly fast, and horribly slowly all at the same time. Its all a blur I don’t remember too much of. Not that I do much anyway. I work. I sleep. I get up and do it again.
Lets face it though….I’m in it just to make the faux newspapers every week. Look! This week there are cow jokes:
I’m still plugging away at The Butchered Writers Pinterest board. Its dropping in impression since the 31 Days of Free Horror ended. But even the best of us can’t put out a story a day infinitely (at least not if we want them to be any good.)
I have no major plans for the upcoming week really.
I have a doctors appointment tomorrow. Hopefully it will end up with me being able to come off my diabetes medicines. Or at least one of them. My at home tests have all been in range for a while now.
I want to write a story for the Horror flash fiction contest since I skipped the last 2 months. And there is a Butchered Writers anthology that a story is due for I need to get knocked out. (As soon as I get an idea)
Due to working several 6 day stretches and not having 2 days off in a row my mental health isn’t where it out to be. That means with my AuDHD I have an onslaught of doom piles growing, an I plan to tackle those this week, so you might have some before/after blogs coming up.
I also need to start working on crafting projects. I’ve started a TikTok that I hope to dedicate to my “Feral Crafts” and want to have at least one day a week here where I share what I’ve made, which means I actually have to make something. I have SO much craft stash built up I need to use it all.
After Halloween works its magic, the holidays all seem to turn into a combination of turkey and tension!
First comes Thanksgiving, and as a trial run to Christmas it can be a rough one. Suddenly you’re trapped in a room around a table with people you only see a couple of times a year. Even if you decide to ditch the family entirely and throw a Friendsgiving with your social circle, there are sure to be some tense conversations.
Sometimes the key to making it through a meal without Uncle Bob from starting political debates is sharing a little non-political Thanksgiving humor.
Whether you’re headed to Friendsgiving or hosting a full family feast, these funny Thanksgiving shirts will earn you a seat at the cool kids’ table.
Rumor has it that the first Thanksgiving started with the Pilgrims. They were so thankful for the Natives teaching them how to thrive in this strange new land that a feast was shared by them all. Nobody really explained to the turkey what his part was going to be in that meal though, but his ancestors caught on. This funny thanksgiving shirt has retro inspired art of a frightened turkey holding up a sign that says MOO! while being surrounded by a mob of hungry pilgrims. Do you think he’s fooling them?
Autumn vibes wouldn’t be complete without excessive amounts of pumpkin spice. While a lot of people are content to leave their pumpkin spice in their fall flavored lattes, others know that it is superior in pumpkin pie. Yes, this is a cute thanksgiving shirt, and you could wear this funny pie shirt for Thanksgiving dinner yourself, but its also a great pumpkin spice and pie lovers gift! Give it to the person who spent all day slaving over a hot stove to bring everyones favorite pumpkin flavored dessert. While not as funny as a turkey saying moo, its still a cute cozy fall shirt for foodies and a great Thanksgiving gift for dessert lovers.
This funny Friendsgiving shirt literally has Friendsgiving written all over it—well, almost. If you’re skipping the family drama this year and celebrating with your besties instead, this “Friendsgiving Squad Get Flocked Up” shirt is the perfect outfit for your turkey-day crew. Whether you’re hosting Friendsgiving, attending Thanksgiving dinner, or just showing up for the wine and laughter, this hilarious turkey squad shirt is made for good vibes and even better company.
Because really, who better to get flocked up with than all your favorite turkeys?
Even the hide and seek champion of the world gets sucked into Thanksgiving. Sure, he looks all festive with his capotain on and a pumpkin in one fist, but the frown on his face gives away his real feeling on the subject. Maybe he’s just unhappy because they told him it was his turn to bring the turkey. So, okay, he went through all the effort of catching a turkey. He even got the turkey its own little pilgrims hat. But he just knows, deep down in his big footed soul, that his family is going to be disappointed in him again.
Now, this last shirt is my favorite of the bunch. Plain, simple, black and white image of a turkey taking a selfie with a UFO. You might think, “Oh no! The poor turkey is gonna get probed!” But, little do you know that the flying saucer is there on his behalf. He has seen what happens to turkeys every thanksgiving. They get caught, they get plucked, they get stuffed, they get EATEN. So, this gobbler said, “Get me off this planet” and is taking a quick goodbye selfie with this interplanetary uber before making a break for it this year!
Am I writing my Week End Review on the first day of the new week instead of the last day of the old one? Why yes… yes I am.
Should I probably think of something else to call this little thing because we all know my procrastination won’t let me be regular? Probably.
This past week The Butchered Writers wrapped up their 31 Days of Free Horror Stories for October. They are all still up to read for free for now, and I do recommend going to read them. Some are halloween themed, but most are just your average everyday horror story. We don’t really have anything planned for November, but do have something up our sleeves for December, so stay turned for that.
I did finally finish reading 2 books this past week. I’ve been hopping from book to book and not actually finishing anything, so that’s a nice change of pace. Two book reviews will be coming up soon.
I’ve set a tentative release date of January 21st for Bushy-Tailed Demons, my squirrel themed horror anthology. That just so happens to be National Squirrel day, which I thought was just a fun day to release it.
I’m working on a novella using this years Inktober prompts to guide my chapters. I was going to do it during the month of October, but other obligations were in my way for that one.
Issue 2 of Zine of Uncertain Contents will be released early in December, so I’ll be working on that throughout the month as well.
Mostly my plans for the remaining November revolve around finding a rhythm that lets me do all the things that I want to do. That includes building up a portfolio of unused written fiction that I can draw on, getting a publication routine set up for Feral Coziness (blog) and Wild Verbs (substack) and Ko-fi, continuing to work on Z.U.C. getting some crafting time in while also continuing to work full time and somehow finding time to interact with my own family.
Okay, so clearly my October hasn’t gone like I’d planned, and I think I have given up on posting a blog entry every day. It is a lot of effort for very little reward. I’m all about reward. So, less forced content and just…do what I do.
So, what have I been up to?
First and foremost I have taken over the Pinterest board for The Butchered Writers.
I have been active on Pinterest almost since its conception, but I’ve never really put any thought into my personal pinboard. I’m like a crow collecting shiny things there. I like it, I pin it to one of my dozens of boards. I almost never create my own pins, just hoard others.
Free Horror Stories Every Day October 2025
For the group’s pinboard I have to be a little more strategic. There is a balance between creating new pins and sharing other peoples pins, and I’m trying to find the happy medium. But I must be doing something right, because the number of impressions has gone up 1.16k% in the past 30 days. Now, if only the board could get some followers and more engagement. I still haven’t figured the one out yet.
Speaking of The Butchered Writers, we have what I am calling a Halloween Horror Advent Calendar on our webpage. Every day we have been sharing a short horror story for free. Some of these have been pulled from Blood and Candy, a previous halloween anthology, but even more of them are brand new.
I have written 2 brand new stories for it myself. “Purdy,” a human horror with a southern gothic feel (and a pig), and “The Witch’s Grave” with a more supernatural antagonist.
Due to the work I’ve been doing with The Butchered Writers Pinterest, I have deiced to start one for myself as an author account. I haven’t done much with it yet and I’m not sure what to expect from it.
Outside of the 2 stories I wrote for the horror advent so far, I have not been doing much fictional writing.
I do have two projects in the works right now. I did get a submission for Bushy-Tailed Demons that I need to edit. I’m also working on a secret anthology that I was hoping to release this year, but I have a hard time stay on target, so neither of those will probably launch in 1025.
I am still brainstorming how to do my snail mail feral trinket lover newsletter. I still think it is a great idea and I love it, but I don’t know how to pull it off. Especially considering that even though I have a multitude of followers across different platforms I only have about 4 people who engage with any of my content, and most of them are members of my writing group. There is no point in trying to launch something if nobody is going to see it.
Meanwhile, I’m hoping to practice by utilizing my Substack and my Ko-fi accounts. Substack at least has more of a chance of me getting some readers as they are more social than anything else. A chance for someone outside my circle of 3 people to find me.
In all of the work I’ve been doing on Pinterest, I’ve also started using canva to create other things. I have a sticker for sell now that I created there (shown below) as well as a second one that is supposed to be on the way but I’ve not gotten yet.
I am also playing around with the idea of making printable on Canva and selling them on Etsy or Ko-fi. Activity sheets, zines, other things that might give me practice for my snail mail newsletter if I ever get it off the ground.
I KNOW that is not everything I wanted to cover in this but…it is what it is.
Lately I’ve been struggling, as I am working so hard to do something creatively that can also earn me an income because my “real” job is sucking all the life and soul out of me.
I asked for a digital tarot reading, a 5 card spread on if I will ever tangibly weave my writing and my crafting into something that can sustain me as being my own boss so I wouldn’t have to work full time for the rest of my life.
I know these readings are usually skewed to what you want to hear, but what if what you want to hear is what you need to hear to keep your hopes up.
Anyway, this is what was pulled for me.
1. The Root – The Magician You already have everything you need to create success — the skills, creativity, and spark. The Magician reminds you that your talents aren’t the issue; it’s about focusing your energy and trusting your own power. You can manifest this dream, but only through deliberate and steady creation, not waiting for the “right moment.” You’re the one weaving the magic here.
2. The Challenge – Five of Pentacles This card speaks to doubt, scarcity, or fear of failure — the worry that your work won’t sustain you. It can also point to feeling unsupported or unseen. The lesson here is not to let temporary lack define your worth. Feral Coziness may need unconventional growth — a path outside traditional structures — and that’s okay.
3. The Guidance – Queen of Pentacles A perfect card for crafters. The Queen of Pentacles thrives through grounded creativity — she builds beauty that nourishes others and herself. This is your sign to focus on turning your art into something tangible, marketable, and sustainable, without sacrificing warmth or authenticity. Treat your creative work like a real business, but keep the handmade soul alive.
4. The Momentum – The Star This card is pure hope and renewal. It tells you that the more authentic and whimsical your work becomes, the more people will connect with it. You’re not meant to chase trends — you’re meant to shine in your own strange, tender way. The Star promises recognition, though it may come gradually. Keep showing up; people are watching, even if quietly.
5. The Outcome – Ten of Cups This is emotional fulfillment, creative joy, and long-term harmony. It doesn’t necessarily scream “billion-dollar empire” — instead, it’s a life built around what you love. The cards suggest that yes, you can make it — but your version of success might look like a sustainable, joyful, independent life doing what you love, rather than traditional “fame.”
Cemetery Tacos and Other Delights is a new collection from author Nora B. Peevy. It’s currently slated to arrive in November from JournalStone Publishing, but I was lucky enough to get my hands on a coveted ARC copy.
Since the author self described it as a “weird little collection” I went into it fully expecting it to be full on bizarro, and was broadsided when the first story, “Knock, Knock,” turned out to be a straightforward grief centered horror that might or might not have made me tear up a little1. I blame it on the fact that the story revolves around a stuffed animal that plays music when wound up, and I have a musical teddy from my childhood.
That moved into the second story, “The Telling Place.” That one was another straightforward horror involving a family therapist.
By this point I concluded that this “weird little collection” was actually a strong horror collection that I could sink my teeth into.
In the end, Cemetery Tacos and Other Delights did end up serving a couple of weird tales, like “Carnivorous Cows from Outer Space” and even some with a more fantastical or sci-fi element, like “How Romeo and More Saved the World” and even a little humor with “Murder Hornet man Saves Milwaukee (Sort of)”, but those little gems of light serve a pallet cleansers before diving back into the more meaty horrors.
At 14 stories long, it felt way to short to me in the end.
The Author, Nora B. Peevy, has already released a novel, Flesh eating Turtles and a novelette For the Sake of Brigid. Both are currently available on Amazon. She is also a syndicate author for Thrill Ride eZine and The Butchered Writers, and editor for Baynam Books Press and a freelance narrator and editor.
(Let the records show that the defendant cried like a baby….) ↩︎
Today I spent several hours editing graphics for my Ko-fi page.
In the past I have kept switching back and forth from it being for my crafts to it being for my writing. Back and forth, over and over. Decisions are hard, and we’ve concluded already that I lack the ability to niche down at all. So today I decided that there, like here, I’m just going to stop trying to squeeze my square peg into a round hole.
Ko-fi is a site where you can take “tips” or “donations,” but it is much more than that. You can set it up like a patreon with hidden content for paid members. You can also open a shop there, which is something I hope to utilize to my advantage. The shop lets you sell both physical and digital items. So if I do decide to go digital with my mail club when I get it figured out then I’ll probably do it through there.
I can also use it to sell ebooks in the future if I so wish.
For now I plan to use it as one of the places I’m going to try to sell the things I craft, to help generate money not only for more craft supplies, but for further publications.
WIP Wednesday
Speaking of crafts, I have a few I’m working on that I need to get a move on. Right here is a SMALL cross stitch of a mushroom that I should be almost done with by now…but I kind of keep just not working on it.
Other Works in Progress include:
Tracing/carving some images onto/into rubber blocks for block printing.
Removing the sleeves from a torn t-shirt and using it as my first print on fabric test.
Work on/finish the diamond art that I’ve been working on for literal YEARS so I can move on to the next one I want to work on.
Make the large coaster I told my son I would make just for him to hold his chicken nugget plates on.
Finish the frog I have a commission for.
Get Settled into my new journal.
Chaos Journal
I have finished Chaos Journal #4 (the one on the left) and will be moving into #5 (the one one the right) today.
A chaos journal is sort of a beast of my own invention. A lot of journals have journal ecosystems, where they have a different book for every kind of journal they keep. I was trying to do that as well, only to find that I just….stopped journaling altogether.
So a Chaos Journal to me is an amalgamation of all the other journals I would like to keep. Dream journaling, book reviews, Commonplace notebooks, junk journaling, daily journaling, art journaling, bullet journaling, they all go into this one book.
It is handy to have all my brainstorming ideas in one spot when I want to remember something, and it is also fun to watch how the journal changes as I use it over time.
To be loved is to be changed.
Lastly for today, this is the social media link image I made for my Ko-fi today. I think it’s cute. I’m thinking of making a smaller one as a signature to sign off my different types of blog entries I might write.
How odd, my friends, that it has been a year exactly since I last sat down and wrote here. This wasn’t planned, I just noticed it as I sat down to write.
“Nobody reads personal blogs anymore”, I’d tell myself. “If you’re just going to be talking to yourself, what’s the point? You can do that on all of your social medias.”
There have been several times in the past year that I thought about writing. I’ve even gone as far as to open WordPress and stare longingly at the blank screen. Inevitably I always convinced myself to not post anything after all.
At which point I’d go back to my social medias and scream into the void. I do seem to spend a lot of time on Facebook for someone who never gets much engagement unless she’s complaining about something.
I’m tired of always complaining about something.
It is past time I reconnect with the Cozy part of my Feral Coziness.
REWIND
I accomplished a few things in the past year.
Through most of 2024 I was entering a monthly flash fiction contest, and through most of that time I placed in the top 5 every contest, even getting grand prize twice. The winnings, and the positive feedback I kept getting on my entries really reignited my passion for writing. And writing used to be THE passion in my life.
So, in November of 2024 I put out a collection of short stories. I had been talking about it off and on for years, and one day I decided to quit talking about it, to quit making excuses as to why I hadn’t done it yet, and just did it. And that started a pleasant chain of events.
Putting out On Darkened Wings and Other Short Horrors turned into me finally being brave enough to submit work to other anthologies and a couple of them were accepted. That in turn led to be being asked to write something for an invite only anthology. Then I was invited to join The Butchered Writers, a horror writers group that I had been stalking reading for several anthologies.
So, between November 2024 and October 2025 my work had ended up in 9 anthologies, with more to come for sure.
In non-writing related news, I started a new medication in May for my diabetes. I had been on metformin for a while and it wasn’t having the effect on my A1C that my doctor wanted.
A common side effect of this medicine is weight loss, and lose weight I have. I’ve lost enough weight to create a 7 year old child. 60 pounds in 5 months is no small feat. Of course, it is because this medicine has kept me horribly sick in every possible way for the past 5 months, but.. the good news is that my blood sugar seems to be pretty stable about where it ought to be so hopefully I can ease off ALL my meds soon.
CURRENTLY
My left hand is itching like crazy today. That means fortune is coming my way, right? Goodness knows I could use some. I have about $8 to my name right now.
I do have a lot of irons in the fire right now, though most of them are non paying, so I don’t see wealth coming from them any time soon. But lets see what I’m up to:
1. I’m putting together Bushy-Tailed Demons, a collection of squirrel themed horror stories. – It started as a novella (in progress) by me, and I’ve decided to make it into an anthology with some of my author friends. 2. I still need to finish 2 articles for The Butchered Writers webpage. 3. I need to get a couple of stories finished for the 31 SHORT STORIES being offered on the Butchered Writers webpage in October. That’s like a whole collection for the price of NOTHING. 4. I’ve got a frog commission to do, and I need to make a couple more frogs to put up for adoption aside from that.
LOOKING FORWARD
First and foremost I want to start blogging again. Not as self promotion, or to monetize, but because I used to have a lot of fun blogging, and damnit, I want to have fun blogging again. I want to talk about the books I’m reading, the crafts I’m making, the life I’m living and maybe….just maybe…I’ll find a secret tribe of personal bloggers to share my life with along the way.
I’m also hoping to work crafting/creating back into my life somehow. I don’t know how because I’m ALWAYS at work, but somehow. Right now I want to start making block prints on cards and clothes, and hopefully open a shop online again….etsy or Depop or storenvy or something somewhere.
I also haven’t given up on the idea of doing a newsletter type deal. I just can’t decide if I want it to be done digital as a PDF download, or if I want it to be more physical and mail it myself. Or if I want a combination of both. That might be a 2026 thing though, as I can’t get the logistics worked out in my head right now.
Once upon a time (longer now than it seems) I used to keep a blog on Xanga that was really more like a ‘zine. I called it Randomized.
Struck by a wave of nostalgia, I looked it up on the internet archive tonight. I ended up writing over 80 of these weekly entries, under the persona of “Zippy Bubblebuns”. It was a collection of bad jokes, random images, meme’s, links to games and other interesting websites I stumbled upon. I absolutely loved it!
I’m not sure why or how I came up with idea originally, but I’m pretty sure that I stole it from someone. But looking back at it now, I can see how it appealed to my mind so strongly. See, way back then I didn’t realize I was ADHD with a touch of the ’tis (as the kids say these days). My brain was always all over the place, and everything about blogging back then (and even now) pretty much insists that you niche down. Niche yourself right into a stuffy little corner and never leave.
We all know that’s not me.
Meanwhile, I also remember loving “3-2-1 Contact” magazine as a kid. And “Highlights for Children” too. Magazines with articles that also gave you activities to do. I loved activities! Crosswords and mazes and word searches and coloring pages and little experiments or crafts you could try at home. I still do love all these activities and even print them off from time to time to put on the break room table at work where it turns out the majority of teens and adults do not love the activities like I do.
Me, being the person with too many hobbies that I am, wants to start another blog like that. But remember that nobody reads blogs anymore (except for you. hI!)
Then, because I’m nothing is not consistent, I thought I could start a newsletter and put things in there instead. Like, all the silly jokes, and random pictures and memes. The consistency part comes from the fact that nobody reads (physical) newsletters anymore either.
I thought I could do it as an e-mail newsletter, whatever those are called this day. In fact there is one about the 90s that I get, and one called Afternoon Delight and another called Early Chirp. So the more I think of it, if there are at least 3 similar ones that I am subscribed to, then there MUST be a market out there for silly little content.
Then I also think I can do a physical version in ‘zine form and sell it on Etsy.
I don’t know. If I did a silly little newsletter full of the most random stuff out there, would you subscribe and read it? Or should I do it in blog form? If I do start an e-newsletter should I call it “Randomized” again, or come up with some other weird name?
LINKS The Internet Archive is pretty cool. In writing this I found out that you can read old back issues of some magazines there too. I thought I’d never see 321 Contact again! Also, the e-newsletters I mentioned.
