Think Crafts Blog - Craft Ideas and Projects - CreateForLess

By Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and has aspirations to improve her crafting skills.

What I love about crafts is the personal touch they add to your space, because you can create something unique and customizable. What I love even more is the spirited touch that holiday crafts add to your home. Well in this case, spooky touch!

With Halloween this weekend, it’s time to get ready! First I made a banner to hang above my front door to decorate the front where the trick or treaters will be. I also make sure to get the good candy so I can be one of the ‘cool houses’! Can’t take any chances with those trickers!

So I decided to make the Making Memories Spellbound Garland Kit. The kit came complete with 4″ Black glitter letters that spell out “All Hallows Eve”, 15 background squares, 10 chipboard shapes, 10 assorted buttons, 5 die-cut flowers, 5 yards of Black twine, and 1 sheet of adhesive foam squares. It was a breeze to put together because everything was all cut out, so I just got the fun part - decorating! All it takes is some glue to put the letters on the background squares. Then I added the buttons, die-cuts, chipboard shapes with the foam squares.

These Ravens add a little spook and glitter, and are easy to put anywhere. I hung some in my entry way above door. There are short wires on the back, so I attached some to frames, wall hangings, and even my plants!

Next I got Pumpkin Paper Mache Masks to decorate. I used Halloween Scrapbook paper and decoupaged the hat with mod podge. The Halloween 12×12 Paper Stack came with 24 designs that were bright, glittery and perfect for Halloween. I started with the polka dot paper for the top of the hat. I wanted a dark hat with some color. Next I choose the glitter spider web designed paper for the brim and used bright puff paint to bring out the webs.

My pumpkin looked bright and cheery so I decided that my pumpkin should be dressed up as a clown!

The masks are fun and very easy to decorate! You can use anything, be creative!

And look how nicely these masks are decorated! These are the cutest pumpkins!

Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

After building myself (and my daughter) a brand spanking new hair clip holder last week, I set out to fill it with, well, hairclips. And as always, I was astounded by the price of clips in stores. Now I know very well that I could make the clips myself, but I don’t always have the time to carefully wrap each clip with ribbon and embroidered little doo dads to stitch on top. But I do, I realized, have time for hot glue. So with a selection of ribbons, plain hairclips, buttons that match my daughters fall wardrobe (she’s into orange and green at the moment) I set off on a fifteen minute-hair clip extravaganza.

The key to this is to have all your supplies ready. And that doesn’t need to be hard. Next time you’re ordering supplies or shopping at your craft or fabric store, grab a few rolls of inexpensive, sold by the spool ribbon and a few packages of buttons that coordinate with the colors your child wears the most. I generally keep a selection of thin ribbon in a variety of colors around for general pony tail and or braid tying so I’ve gotten into the habit of grabbing a spool here and there when I see it on sale. Another great source is scrapbooking supplies. I picked up a bag of cardboard diecuts for this go round and loved the result.

Likewise, grab a package of plain hairclips of the variety that work best for your child’s hair. Personally I love the look of alligator clips but they do not stay in my daughter’s hair, nor do those cute little dinky bendy barrettes. For my purposes, I have to stick with the full sized bendy clips which, while not the cutest things in the world, offer a lot of surface area for decorations and stay all day and into the night in her hair.

With your glue gun ready, spread your supplies out and go to work. Mix and match and stack and glue the buttons and ribbons in different combinations. If you have a pigtail girl and are making two of each, be sure to flip the clip on one so you have mirror images. At the end of ten minutes or so you should have a nice pile of hairclips that will last you well into the fall months.

A few notes about the project, roughing up the back of the buttons and the tops of the clips with a little sandpaper can help the glue adhere more securely. You can also use a strong craft glue for this project, allowing, of course, for a longer dry time. And speaking of dry times, dont forget to be aware of your work surface when using hot glue. I glued a few clips to the table while pressing the button on. Good thing hot glue scrapes off easily!

By Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and has aspirations to improve her crafting skills.

I think a good, solid crafting session lasts at least an hour. A crafting afternoon is fun and stress relieving and is my favorite thing to do! I’ve noticed between my office job and my crafting hobbies, I’m sitting a lot.  And I feel old saying this but my lower back was starting to feel that. I wanted something to help with the back pain and relieve back stiffness. My co-worker suggested, The Gypsy Sit Upon.

I have to be honest; I was a bit surprised with the Sit Upon when I first saw it. It’s a purple, plastic pillow with nubs on the top. It measures 13″ across and 2″ thick. When you first sit down on it, you lean side to side because of the pliable plastic and air pockets. You actually have to use your muscles to sit up straight. It feels similar to balancing on an exercise ball, but you don’t have to worry about rolling over! The box said it helps to relieve back pain and fatigue by strengthening core muscles and improving posture. The nubs keep your chair cool and the description said that it helps improve blood circulation.

After a few days of sitting on the Sit Upon, I noticed some sore muscles. Muscles I didn’t even know I needed to sit up straight. So I knew it was strengthening my core, which lead to sitting up straighter. I didn’t notice how much I slumped over my desk until I was up higher! After a week on the Sit Upon my back was considerably less stiff after a crafting afternoon and now I take it to work with me to use in front of my computer. My back pain has never been unbearable, just sitting at lengths made me stiff and sore. Once you get used to it, you will start to notice a difference.

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

Halloween is my thing. I can’t help it. My last name is Grimm. How could Halloween not be your holiday with a name like that? It’s the only time of year where my name sounds cool rather than a little dreary! So planning for Halloween has become a serious undertaking at our house over the past few years. The decorations, the food, the pumpkins, it all culminated at our annual pumpkin carving party. 

In the past I’ve gone the silly Halloween route. Goofy looking jack-o-lanterns, licorice spiders, foam pumpkin stickers. All very little kid friendly. And while my children aren’t quite old enough for me to really do up the scary look, this year I’ve opted for a slightly more elegant/spooky style. Think Miss Havisham, but without the moldy wedding cake. At the same time I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, and I wanted the projects to be pretty quick and painless, giving me more time to plot my party menu.

My first order of business was to halloweenify my candles. Although I’m not quite the candle nut I once was (that kid friendly thing again!) I still keep candles around the house all year long. And while I didn’t want to buy candles just for Halloween, I did want to weave them into the themed decor.

This was achieved cheaply and easily by applying vinyl stickers (found in the scrapbooking section) and strips of black ribbon to the pillar candles that already sit on the tables and ledges of my house. The beauty of these stickers is that they are easily removed so come November 1st, my house can go back to normal, at least until it’s time to break out the Christmas decorations.

Next I decided to add a little fun to the bookshelves in the living room. I hit the local thrift shop and grabbed a basket full of ugly little odds and ends from the dollar shelf. If you don’t want to go the Goodwill route, look around under your cupboards and at the backs of your shelves and see if you don’t have a few ugly duckling vases and statues that are never going to see the light of day again.  

Grab a can of black matte or satin spray paint and go to work. You’ll be surprised how elegant that weird little dog statue looks once it’s been coated in slick black paint. 

Finally, I decided to spook up our wine glasses. Puff paint onto plastic bags, page protectors or transparency plastic, they can be peeled off to make mini-window clings. (Which, of course, means that you can also make these in larger sizes for your windows.)  Once dried and peeled off, apply to the outside of wine or beverage glasses for an instant Halloween look that can be peeled off again once the party’s over and November has arrived. 

Add a few jars full of green apples and plastic spiders and some ghostly music, and the house hits just the spooky note I was looking for. Bring on the trick or treaters!

By Guest Blogger, Sparkle E. Glitter from the blog “Sparkle Studio”.

This swirly pumpkin looks great in the center of my table where a little bit of light from the window catches the glitter and makes it sparkle.  I think I will leave it there until after Thanksgiving.  It is made from paper, glue and glitter….very easy to make and inexpensive too. You can make it in any size. Mine is about 10 inches tall.

Here is what you need for a 10″ pumpkin:

• bristol board, 300# (I bought a large sheet with a 40% off coupon, so the price was right and I have enough to make at least three pumpkins)
• Glitter: orange, gold, green
• white craft glue
• #2 pencil
• small flat paintbrush
• scissors

Try this:

1. Draw a pumpkin pattern with swirls, or print out mine and use the copy machine to make it whatever size you want your pumpkin to be.

2. Transfer your pattern to the bristol board. An easy way to transfer is to draw over the pattern lines with a #2 pencil. Turn the pattern upside down on the bristol board. Hold in place and retrace all the lines on the back side of the pattern. Remember to add a stem to the top of your pumpkin. Trace and cut out two pumpkins. Trace the swirl lines on both sides of your cut out pumpkins.

3. Cut a slit at the center bottom of one pumpkin. Cut a slit at the center top of the other.

4. Using the flat paintbrush, brush glue on the swirls. Sprinkle gold glitter over wet glue. Shake off excess. Let dry before glittering swirls on the other side of the pumpkin. Glitter all four sides.

5.  Brush glue to cover the rest of the pumpkin.  Sprinkle orange glitter over wet glue.  Shake off excess.  Glitter all four sides.

6.  Glitter the stems green on both sides.

7.  Slide the slits together so the pumpkin will stand up.  Place it wherever the light will catch the glitter and make it shine.

After Thanksgiving, you can take the pieces apart and lay them flat in a drawer or box until next year.

Wouldn’t it be cute to make small glitter pumpkins and use as place card holders?

Glitter on!
Sparkle

By Recycled Crafts Contributor, Anitra from the blog “Coffee Pot People”.

If I were to make a list of Favorite Things, “Books” would be right up at the top, and angling for position right next to that would be “Crafting”, especially using found/recycled materials. Imagine my delight then, just reading the title, The Big Green Book of Recycled Crafts.

And then I opened the book….oooh.

Flowers from pop cans

The book is divided into six sections: Plastic, Paper, Glass, Cans, Textiles, and Throwaways. That is, by the way, all the Table of Contents tells you, along with the page numbers that begin each section. It’s all right, though; you are going to want to leaf through page by page anyway. Be sure to have a stack of bookmarks handy for all the projects you’ll want to do!

Pumpkins from dryer vent hoses

Each project has it’s own page, sometimes two, with a photograph, materials list, and very clear instructions, with copious illustrations and photos where mere words might not suffice. Sprinkled throughout the book are extra tips, and at the end of the book are full-sized patterns.

Who doesn't have a bunch of CD cases lying around?

This is a book I’m going to use a lot. I found myself thinking, That would really be fun for the Crafting Week with Mama! or Wouldn’t that make a great gift for the grandkids! There were projects I wanted to make as gifts, projects I wanted to make for myself, ideas I wanted to share with various relatives, and ideas that sparked the creative brain waves for new projects of my own.

My prediction: This is a book that will garner a lot of fans.

An elegant throw from recycled sweaters

By General Craft Contributor, Amy from the blog “Mod Podge Rocks!”

Nothing tickles my fancy more than Halloween.  It’s my absolute favorite holiday, and one of the reasons is the bright colors and bold statements.  What other time of year can you yell “BOO” at someone?  In celebration of this wondrous time of year, I bring to you this festive hanging plaque. 

To create this Boo! Plaque, you’ll first need to gather these supplies:

• Walnut Hollow Basswood Rectangle 9″ x 12″ Plaque
• Plaid Folk Art Extreme Glitter, Orange
• Acrylic paint, orange, 2 oz.
• Acrylic paint, black, 2oz. with tip attachment OR black paint pen (fine tip)
• Mod Podge Gloss, 8 oz.
• Halloween scrapbook paper - 1 sheet
• Wood Letters to spell “Boo!”
• Craft Knife and Mat
• Craft Glue
• Buttons - 4 coordinating
• Flat Paint Brush
• Offray Black Grosgrain Ribbon (7/8″) - 1 foot
• Pencil
• Ruler

I started by laying out the wood letters on the plaque to get an idea of how I wanted to space everything.  I know - at this point it is hard to visualize the cuteness.

Time to add some color!  I poured out some orange acrylic paint and began with the plaque. I painted around the four edges and the back.  You don’t need to paint the entire front because you are going to put the paper down and cover it up.  I painted just two coats for good coverage.

You’ll need to paint the letters too.  Give the letters two coats of paint as well - don’t forget to paint the sides!  Allow the plaque and the letters to dry.

Grab your Extreme Glitter and paint your plaque and letters.  Anywhere that you painted with orange acrylic paint will need a coat of Extreme Glitter.  Notice that it goes on milky but dries clear.  Paint one coat and then wait 15 - 20 minutes to dry.  Apply another coat.  I actually did three coats total and set my plaque and letters aside to dry.

While everything was drying, I cut my paper.  My paper sheet was 12″ x 12″, and so I used my ruler and craft knife to trim the paper down to fit the plaque.  It’s relatively easy - just be careful with the knife!

When the Extreme Glitter is dry (about 20 minutes), you can Mod Podge the paper to the plaque.  Begin by applying a medium layer of Mod Podge to the plaque.  I usually start on one side (in this case the right) and lay my Mod Podge down with the brush.  Make sure to get the corners well!  I coat the plaque with a strip of Mod Podge and begin laying the paper down - adding more Mod Podge and smoothing as I go.  It’s hard to paint such a large area with Mod Podge at one time because it begins to dry quickly - so try my technique.  It works!

When the paper is completely adhered to the plaque, either smooth with your fingers or roll with a brayer (like I did above).  You want to work back and forth around on the paper, smoothing thoroughly.  You can’t smooth too much!  If Mod Podge comes out the sides, its okay - wipe it away with your brush.  Let this dry for 15 - 20 minutes.

Seal the paper by Mod Podging over the top.  Apply a medium coat just as you did previously.  Allow to dry for a few minutes and then apply another coat.  Don’t worry if some gets onto the Extreme Glitter edge.  Just wipe that away with a brush.  Allow your plaque to dry for 15 - 20 minutes.

You’re in the home stretch!  Glue the letters down to the plaque with craft glue.  I put the letters at funky angles to add interest to the project.

Here’s where you can have some fun embellishing!  Feel free to get creative.  I added about a foot of ribbon at the top to hang.   I also decided the letters needed a little something, so I grabbed my trusty black paint with a tip pen.  For those of you who don’t know what this is, it’s an attachment that goes at the end of a 2 oz. paint bottle to give it a writer tip.  Don’t have one?  NEVER FEAR!  You can use a paint pen to get the same effect.  Just make sure it’s a fine tip.  Outline the letters with lines and dots.  Don’t worry if your lines aren’t perfect - neither were mine - it just adds to the spooky effect!

I finished my plaque with four buttons in the corners for a little added “flair.”  Feel free to embellish with whatever you have in your stash that you think works.  Don’t be afraid to get creative.  Remember to allow your project to dry for 24 hours before hanging.  Happy Halloween!