Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

Please join us in welcoming the newest member of the Think Crafts team… Taysa! She loves creating DIYs for the home, garden, and for all of you!

That’s right at any given moment you might find me armed with a glue gun, a can of spray paint, or shopping the aisles of my local craft store! 

By Guest Blogger Allison from the blog Dream A Little Bigger

Allison’s voice and style shows through with her whimsical home decor creations, crafts to wear projects, craft tips, and more on her blog Dream a Little Bigger.

If there is one thing crafting does, it is make waste. We cut away at fabric, foam and the like to get the shape or area that we need. While sometimes the rest is still useable, it is often trash.

One of the scrap items I have been accumulating are lace scraps. Maybe I cut a piece just shy of the length I actually needed. Maybe decided to go another direction and what I cut went unused. It happens a bunch of different ways and very frequently.

So, I gathered some of my lace scraps along with some pretty lace my Mimmie gave me and glued it onto a pair of canvas sneakers. Now these sneakers I meant to dye beige, but crafting while I am ill means that I grabbed the wrong box and didn’t realize that the water was the wrong color. I think I would prefer if they had been beige (I was hoping that it would appear kind of nude, like the canvas wasn’t even there) but these are pretty awesome, too.

Want to make your own? You will need:

• lace in many patterns
• fabric glue
• scissors
• x-acto knife
• tennies in your choice of color

Read the rest…

By Kid’s Craft Contributor Tracey, from the blog We Made That.

I remember making these yarn dolls when I was little.  We made them in the Girl Scouts and I gave them to my step-father.  He actually hung them up by his rear view mirror in his truck and kept them there for about 10 years.  I remember being so proud that he liked them and kept them there for so long.

The other day when I was thinking about it, I thought it would be fun to make these with my oldest.  We changed things a little since I did not have any cardboard to wrap the yarn around like we used when I was a kid,  so we just used a mouse pad, which worked fine.  Then the next set we made (because we had to make more than one set since I have two kids and a fight would surly break out if we made only one) we used one of my youngest daughters books which I think worked even better since it was harder.

Both my girls love them and each have their own set. However, I will not be hanging them in my car since they will not part with them for me to do so.  Oh well, at least they each now have a new fun toy to play with!

Supplies

• Pink Yarn (could use different color)
• White Yarn (could use different color)
• Mouse Pad (could also use a book)
• Scissors

Directions

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By Home Decor Contributor Typhanie, from the blog Shoebox Decor.

I’ve wanted to try this project for some time now. I love the thought of this mirror in a little girl’s room or some chic boutique hotel. I hope you guys love it and give it a try. Let me know if you have any questions…Happy Decorating Everyone!

Materials Needed:

• Mirror
• Frosted Glass Spray
• Silhouette Cutout
• Adhesive
• Paint {optional}

Read the Tutorial After the Jump…

Read the rest…

By Craft Celebrity Mark Montano, from the blog Mark Montano’s Big Ass Blog.

Silver Antiqued Mirror

I like the look of antique crafts and silver leafing paints. Silver leafing looks very elegant. Antiquing isn’t a new technique, but finding a new way to add an antique look is always fun. This Silver Antiqued Mirror is done with 3 easy steps. You just need foil tape, gold & green acrylic paint and metallic spray paint. Take a look, it’s easy and looks great.

By Kid’s Crafts Contributor Stephanie, from the Blog Geek with Glasses.

Enter an enchanted world with this adorable, durable crown! My daughter, like most children, loves fairy tales.  A lot of fairy tales include a prince and princess, king and queen, or super hero of some kind.  Crowns are a big part of the dress up accessories.  We have made all kinds of crowns such as paper ones that tear and the wearer is heartbroken, then the fix is to tape it or staple it and it’s never quite the same.  Felted crowns are beautiful but as with all things felt – in a house with shorthaired dogs, felt is a magnet.  I have spent many an hour with tweezers trying to pick the fur out of the felt toys.  So, one day I was at the fabric store and they had a large bin of Leather Remnants, a beautiful selection of colors and textures, and I thought this would make an indestructible crown fit for a king, queen, princess – you get the idea.

The benefit of this crown is that it is completely adjustable, it can grow with the child.  This crown will be 19″ in circumference, with the laces pulled tight it fits my 3 year old fine. Loosen up the laces a little and I’m sporting the crown. PLUS – it can be wiped down with a damp cloth.

Supply List:

• Ridged Leather remnant – 19″ x 6″
• Eyelets
• Leather Lace
• Leather Punch
• Crown Patterns
• Pen
• Eyelet Setter

First, print and cut out the Crown Patterns, trace it on the backside of the leather, make sure to mark the eyelet holes.  The patterns provided are set up to trace one side, then flip it on the center edge to make a mirror image to trace the rest of the crown.

I use basic scissors to cut the leather, nothing fancy.

Once the crown is cut out punch the holes for the eyelets.  I have a punch that uses a hammer but there are hand held punches that work like a paper punch.  If you don’t have either of those a nail and hammer will work. 

Push the eyelets through the hole from the front (good side), set the eyelet, by setting the eyelet setter on the back of the eyelet and hammer.  A couple of whacks is all it takes, be careful not to hit it too hard or the face of the eyelet will misshapen.

Next, lace up the eyelets like a shoe using a leather cord and tie a bow.  Place it on your head and take over a kingdom!

We like the simplicity of the leather, but these crowns can be decorated with gem stickers or glitter glue.

By General Crafts Contributor Mina, from the blog Mina’s Journal.

Stamps are great for motifs or words that you use often in your crafting projects. They all don’t have to be store bought. Your own customized foam stamps are easy to make. Start making your own stamp stash with this easy project. Use up your left over foam shapes. These really work and are re-useable.

Craft Materials

• foam shapes/letters
• white glue
• scissors
• polystyrene food tray

A good idea would be to make stamps of the child’s name and other family members names or for words that you will use often. Words that come to mind for this are ‘Joy, Love, Happiness, Cute’.

Making the Stamps

Sort out the shapes you want to make stamps from.

When making words turn the letters upside down and placing the letters from right to left and glue them onto some kind of base to make a mirror image.

I used a a polystyrene food tray for this. Find out more about foam meat trays.

Cut around the shapes or words to make individual stamps.

Using the Stamps

Apply paint to stamp with pieces of kitchen sponge for quick, even coverage.

Cleaning the Stamps

Rinse under cold water and dab them dry, or just let them drip dry.

Further customization

Make your own shapes with stencil templates and foam sheets.

Find an image, silhouette you like and trace shapes with an old used-up ballpoint pen

Foam craft sheets are great for making your own shapes with. They are easy to cut with scissors. There are plenty free printables for shapes and outlines. Here’s a sheet of basic outlines to begin your own stamp stash collection with.

Download Foam Stamp Shapes Template

A heart, star, hand, bird, arrow, sun and moon. Finding other shapes is easy. Do an online search for silhouettes, shapes, outlines and stencils. You may need to resize them according to your needs.

Have fun with these… Happy Crafting!