Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

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

Do you ever just feel creatively uninspired? Me, too. When that happens, nothing gets my juices flowing like browsing through beading supplies, whether it’s in person, with a catalog, or online. I especially love Blue Moon beads-so much pretty for such a small thing!

The other day I came across a new (to me, anyway) jewelry finding-a bangle bracelet with knob on each end that unscrewed to let you slide on whatever additional elements you chose. I had to play with them. (And that’s another way to spark creativity, isn’t it? Just sit with your materials and play.)

I’ll spare you the couple that purely did not work, but show you five that did:

I began by seeing what each chain would look like, using different sizes and metals, and threading it on in different ways:

Hard to choose a favorite, but I really like that gold on silver!

Then I thought I’d try putting together something a bit over-the-top glitzy. I dug through my broken jewelry stash, and came up with two pendants without necklaces, two single earrings, and a broken pin. Perfect.

I created a wire-wrapped loop connector for each of them. The pendants were easy, since they both had loops to attach my wire. The earrings, I took my round-nose pliers and bent the post into a loop. The pin took more ingenuity, but wire and pliers did the trick.

Once I’d done that, I threaded the newly-created dangles on. Not great. When I put the bracelet on, all the dangles swooped to the downward side of my wrist. To counter that, I took a length of silver wire, curled a tiny loop on one end to eliminate the sharp point, and wound it around the bracelet in a spiral, adding dangles as I went. Nylon-jawed pliers held the wire in place without marring either it or the bracelet.

Broken jewelry lives again!

As I worked on the bracelets, a pile of mother-of-pearl beads caught my eye. I’d peeled them off a set of coasters I found in a thrift store. The coasters were kind of cool, but awfully permeable looking. The beads, though…!

So that was my last bracelet experiment. Using two silver jump rings for each bead, one to go through the top hole, and one to go around the bracelet’s shank, I filled the bracelet. It’s my favorite:

Best thing: The way these bracelet “bases” are made, a new bracelet is as easy as taking the knob off again, sliding off the old, and sliding on the new!

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

If you know me at all, you know I have a little girl who is as girlie as they get. And you probably know that, despite the fact that she is three, she likes her outfits to have accessories and she likes those accessories to match. But since she is three, we loose those accessories a lot, so I am fairly regularly replacing them. Which is a good thing because it gives me a chance to try out new crafty things all in the name of pleasing my little princess.

Last weekend the weather in our town went from winter to spring in a twelve hour period. Friday my son went to school in snowboots and a down coat, Saturday we were all out in the yard in short sleeves digging in the garden. When the good weather continued I decided it was time to pull out the spring clothes which meant it was also time to bulk up the hair accessories. New clothes, new hair bobbles, right. And this time on top of the assorted clips and bows, I also decided to embark on a few headbands.

This one was the easiest and with it’s little blue birds dancing across the top, probably my favorite. Since it’s made from felt there’s no hemming involved and if you aren’t a sewing machine person you could do the whole thing with some embroidery thread and a needle. I’m so pleased with how it turned out I’m already planning to make more colors.

Here’s what you need:

Two pieces of felt in different colors  (The length of a standard sheet of felt was the perfect length for a three year old head, for a longer band, cut the felt at an angle or buy some felt by the yard )

20 inches of ribbon in a color that coordinates with the felt
Scraps of a third color of felt
Contrasting thread
Fabric glue

Cut the bottom layer of felt 2 inches wide and to the length you need. Measure from the top of the ear over the head to the top of the other ear to get the length, and then cut the same length but 1 1/2 inch width of the top color felt.

Trace whatever shape you want for the decoration (birds, butterflies, flowers) onto the scraps of felt and cut them carefully out. Using the fabric glue coat the entire underside of the decorative pieces and glue them just off center onto the top color band.

Position the two bands on top of one another and stitch 1/4 inch in from the edge of the top band down the length of the band on each side.

Cut the ribbon at an angle at the halfway point so that you have two 10 inch pieces of ribbon. Slip the other end of the ribbon into the hole between the two layers on each side of the headband.

Using a decorative stitch if you have it or a straight stitch if you don’t, sew across the ends of the band, securing the ribbons in place.

With the contrasting thread, stitch a few embelishments  (I added legs and beaks to the birds). Snip all threads and tie on. Super cute, super fast and, at least at my house, made totally out of scraps, which is always a bonus.

Enter to win the Scupley III Samplet Set! It’s fun for all ages!

Sculpey lll is America’s favorite polymer clay! It is soft and easy to use. Great for figures, home decor, jewelry and more! This very versatile clay can be sculpted, rolled, cut, and painted. Shape it into your desired form and bake according to package instructions. The Sculpey lll 30 Piece Sampler is the perfect creative gift! Sampler includes 30 -1 oz. bars in different Basic, Bright, and Pearl color ranges.

Every Friday we’ll post a giveaway on Think Crafts and all you have to do is comment on the blog post answering the question of the week. We’ll pick the winner and contact them via email. Deadline is midnight tonight and the winner will be announced Monday. One entry per person please.

Question of the Week: When you were a kid, what was your dream job?

If the comment box is not below, scroll to the top and click “comments”.

This week we’re featuring our Best Scrapbooking Supply Nominees.  And the Craftie for Best Scrapbooking Supply goes too…    

 Spellbinders Die Nestabilities Labels

One of the Crafties voters had this to say about Spellbinders…

Best All Around Craft Tool – Spellbinders
Best Adhesive – Scor-Pal Tape
Best Scrapbooking Supply – Spellbinders

Here’s Spellbinders’s acceptance speech they gave while accepting their Golden Glue Gun Award…

Spellbinders^TM is thrilled to accept the “Golden Glue Gun” for Best Scrapbooking Supply at the Annual Crafties Awards!  Spellbinders^TM offers exceptional detail and multiple function Die and Punch Templates, as well as Impressabilities^TM for embossing and more!  We are innovators in the industry and thrive to bring you, our loyal customers, only the best.  We appreciate your support!  For inspiration please visit our  Idea Gallery and Blog, filled with techniques, tips and useful information for crafters of all levels.  Thank you for voting for Spellbinders^TM, it means a lot to us!

Sincerely,

Stacey Caron
President, Spellbinders Paper Arts

Ideal Gallery
Home Page

Thanks to everyone who voted this year and for attending the 2010 Crafties Awards Ceremony!

By General Crafts Contributor Amy, from the Blog “Mod Podge Rocks!”

If you want to make something handmade, but don’t know where to begin, decoupage is a great place to start.  The premise is simple, really – in its simplest form, decoupage is layering papers with a medium on top of a craft project.  I created this frame for the beginning crafter, so give it a try if you’ve never made something before.  To start, gather these supplies:

Mod Podge Matte

Small wood frame

FolkArt Paint – Hot Pink

K&Company Paper Pad 12×12 Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse

K&Company Grand Adhesions Words Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse

EK Success Paper Shapers Punch, Medium Scallop Circle

Flat paint brush

Scissors or X-Acto knife

Choose a few coordinating sheets of paper from your paper pad.  That’s what awesome about buying a paper pad – so many of them already coordinate!  Use your scallop punch to punch out several circles from the papers.  Punch enough to cover the front of the frame.  Set aside.

Paint your frame with Hot Pink.  Paint the entire back, the edges and then the edges of the front.  Since you are going to Mod Podge the paper down on the front, you won’t need to cover the entire front with paint.  It’s a great shortcut.  Allow to dry.

This is the decoupage part, and it doesn’t get much easier.  Simply begin layering your circles onto the frame, gluing down with Mod Podge, one at a time.  Work from one corner out, overlapping to cover the entire frame.  Don’t worry about overlapping the sides or the photo window at this point.  Just cover the entire frame with scalloped circles.  Allow to dry for 15 – 20 minutes.

Next you are going to coat the entire frame, front and back, with two coats of Mod Podge.  Simply use a brush and coat with a medium layer.  Allow to dry between coats.

When the frame is completely dry, use your scissors or X-Acto to trim the excess around the edge of the frame and in the photo window.  It’s that easy!  Your first handmade item, complete.  These small frames are great for gifts and even party favors – once you get the hang of it, you can turn out several in less than an hour.

Congratulations to Wendy C. who was randomly chosen as the winner of Free Stuff Friday and the CreateForLess Gift Card!

Wendy’s winning answer to “What’s your favorite TV show” was…

I usually watch Snapped on the weekends. I use it as a warning to anyone who thinks they can mess with my scrap stuff!

Wendy’s prize is a $25 CreateForLess shopping spree! With over 60,000 craft, scrapbooking, sewing supplies and more, CreateForLess has something for everyone.

By Guest Blogger, Alison from the blog “How Does She”.

How fun is this! I always feel awkward asking people to take off their shoes when they come inside….now I don’t have to (at least not as much)! This is a sign/frame that hangs by my front door and I love it! Just think of all the mud and snow you WON’T have to clean off the carpet:)

1. Use a cheap wooden frames. Just use fun paper and Mod Podge it on. Check out Mod Podging tips if you need to know how!

2. Sand around the edges to remove overhang paper and you’re almost done.

3. Apply your vinyl letters. Tell your vinyl lady that the font is ‘Larger Mime’ and it’s 1 inch tall by 8 inches long…or use your Cricut. If you need info on vinyl 101 click here.

4. I did stain the edges with an oak stain after I put the paper on…I had some in the garage and it worked out! { Love when that happens!}

***stain after you put the vinyl on!!! It works better{I promise!}***

5. Drill 2 holes in the top of the frame (Note: I got glass cut at the local auto glass shop. (It was around $1.50/glass). Make sure to drill before you put in your glass.

6. Push ribbon through the hole. I used a skewer to help push the ribbon through the hole. Hey, it works! The ribbon is a 1 inch cream ribbon.

7. Tie a knot with the handle. They have a ‘c’ shaped handle with ‘clam’ ends.

8. Place a picture of your children’s feet in it . I also like the saying, ‘Please bare your soles!’ I made a bunch of these and gave them to my family. They loved how they got a craft and a picture of our kids! (well their feet, but they loved it)

Another idea to do with this frame: Place a picture of your child in it and put his/her name at the bottom.

Hint: when choosing paper to Mod Podge use SMALL PRINT (ya, I know I wrote that big, but small print looks the best!) Also, know the color of vinyl you are going to use. If you use a dark vinyl use light paper and light vinyl use dark paper. Easy enough…send pics our way. We want to see what you made!