Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

Congratulations to Dorothy D. who were randomly chosen as the winners of Free Stuff Friday and the Clover Stack N Store Bobbin Tower and the Clover Soft Cushion Rotary Cutter!

The Clover Stack N Store Bobbin Tower will keep your bobbins organized! This innovative tool neatly organizes up to 30 bobbins. It can hold any type of bobbin and secures threads — no more tangles! Conveniently see all your thread colors at a glance. Nancy Zieman – This tower has 6 layers of bobbin holders, and each layer can hold 5 bobbins. There are 3 Green and 3 Yellow layers, and the layers can come apart if you want to travel with them. It is approximately 3 1/2″x 2 3/4″. Clover Soft Cushion Rotary Cutters are designed to cut fabric with just the right amount of blade exposed, whether held upright or at an angle. These blades have a practical soft-cushion handle that fits right in your hand. Convenient for both right and left hands.

Dorothy’s winning answers to “What craft supplies do you collect? ” was…

“I have an enormous collection of fabric, started nearly forty years ago, anything you can think of- except something I need for my latest project!”

Welcome our Sewing Contributor Jessica, from the blog “Life Sew Good”.  

My first sewing kit was purchased at Bi-Mart, a reward for “being a good girl” at a doctor appointment when I was about 7 years old.  Sadly, I can’t remember if it got any use.  Strike one.

In 4^th grade, I joined a sewing 4-H club.  I made a red and white polka-dotted elastic waist band skirt and entered it into the 4-H fair.  I earned a red ribbon.  In my eyes, the only good thing about a red ribbon was that it matched my skirt.  Only a purple (champion) ribbon would have been acceptable.  Strike two.

As a freshman in high school, I took Home Ec.  I had the misfortune of being assigned to an ancient sewing machine that was only good at one thing:  breaking needles.  After shedding many tears, I finally had a seam I was proud of, only be told by Mrs. Garboden that I wasn’t supposed to sew that piece.  Strike three. 

Obviously, sewing and I did NOT get along.

Until . . .

I saw a segment on making baby booties on a morning talk show. 

I had just had a baby.  Surely I could make baby booties, right?  As it turns out, I could! 

And not only so, I could make skirts, dresses, pants, and other fun things.  In just the past couple of years, I have taken a great interest in sewing, which in all honesty is the outlet for my real addiction:  buying fabric, ribbon, buttons, and other great decorative pieces. 

My name is Jessica.  Like many of you, I am mostly “self-taught” or tutored by sewing bloggers.  I love learning from other creative types!   As a mom of 2 beautiful girls, I am often inspired by them to create things that fit into “my world.”  I love making garments, which is why I am currently in a fashion design program in pattern making, which I’m sure you will hear more of later.   

Unlike many bloggers I love, my motto is “well it’s good enough,” meaning that I love great things, but I’m not a perfectionist.  I have the freedom to be who I am without feeling like the end product needs to be absolutely flawless.  Beautiful, functional and efficient are my priorities! 

 Whether you feel like you’ve struck out in the sewing world or you were born with a needle and thread in your hand, hopefully I can inspire you in your sewing adventures.  

Be back soon,

Jess

By Sparkle E. Glitter from the blog “Sparkle Studio”.

I am obsessed with pretty spring birds, I admit it!  I had such fun making these today out of Shrinky Dinks, and you will too!  Here is what you need:

• White shrink plastic
• Colored pencils 
• Big & Glitzy Glitter Glue  (I used Aquamarine and Ruby)
• Scissors 
• Hole punch 
• Ribbon 
• Your oven

Try this:

1.  Print bird pattern.  Lay it under shrink plastic.  Trace with pencil.  You should get two birds out of a sheet of plastic.

2.  Color birds with colored pencils.  Put the kids to work, have them color! Cut out the birds.  Use hole punch to punch a hole in the top wing.

3.  Bake in the oven on a cookie sheet following the instructions on the shrink plastic package.  See how much they shrink?

The color intensifies when they shrink.  Pretty!

4.  Squeeze a little glitter glue on the bird.  Spread with a small brush or with your finger.  Let glitter dry.  Even prettier!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Enter to win the Clover 45mm Rotary Cutter and the Clover Stack ‘n Store Bobbin Tower! 

Clover Stack N Store Bobbin Tower will keep your bobbins organized! This innovative tool neatly organizes up to 30 bobbins. It can hold any type of bobbin and secures threads — no more tangles! Conveniently see all your thread colors at a glance. Nancy Zieman – This tower has 6 layers of bobbin holders, and each layer can hold 5 bobbins. There are 3 Green and 3 Yellow layers, and the layers can come apart if you want to travel with them. It is approximately 3 1/2″x 2 3/4″. Clover Soft Cushion Rotary Cutters are designed to cut fabric with just the right amount of blade exposed, whether held upright or at an angle. These blades have a practical soft-cushion handle that fits right in your hand. Convenient for both right and left hands.

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: What craft supplies do you have a collection of? Are you a fabric hoarder, ribbon collector…

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

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

So this is one of those rare combinations of a project that boys will love (it involves pounding, what boy, well what kid doesnt love pounding away at things with a hammer) and a result that is just about guaranteed to become fabulous keepsake or gift.

The idea behind this is to literally pound the color out of flowers and into paper. Because you want as much color to soak into the paper as possible, use good thick drawing paper or even better, watercolor paper for the project. The possibilities don’t stop at book marks either, note cards, book covers and framed art are all great uses for pounded flower prints.

Here’s What You Need

Watercolor or good drawing paper
Paper towels
Brightly colored flowers (pansies gave the best results)
Hammer or rolling pin
Hole punch
Scissors
Ribbon 

Lay the flowers out on a surface that can take a little abuse, a cutting board works perfectly for this, and cover first with a sheet of paper and then with a paper towel.  

Gently (well, not too gently, but not so hard that the paper gets holes or shifts) tap the paper with the hammer or end of a rolling pin, making sure you cover all of the flower.

The color should start seeping up through the paper towel and if you peek under it you should be able to see the outline of each flower on the back of the paper.

Once you’ve pounded enough, flip the paper over and carefully brush off the remains of the flower. Allow the paper to dry before cutting to size and, if you like, adding a ribbon to the top to help mark your place.

With Bazzill Matchmaker you can have the experts match your paper for you!

Bazzill will help you find the perfect Bazzill cardstock to coordinate with your favorite patterned papers. With more than 500 colors and 7 textures of acid-free, lignin-free paper, matching cardstock can be confusing.

The Bazzill Matchmaker is very easy to use. All you do is pick the brand of your patterned cardstock, and all the samples for the selected brands come up. Then it shows what color Bazzill cardstock will match! Perfect for making wedding invitations, scrapbook pages and other paper crafts!

This week only all Bazzill Paper is on sale at CreateForLess!

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

Are you interested in decoupage, but don’t know where to begin?  Have I got the project for you!  Coasters are great for home décor and gifts, and are the perfect project to start with if you have never used Mod Podge.  I got mine from the dollar bin, but these are easy to find.  There is always a set needing a little love.  Set aside a few hours one afternoon, grab your Mod Podge and you’re ready to go.

To make, you’ll need to gather these supplies:

Coasters  

K & Company Scrapbook paper  – 3 sheets coordinating

Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink Set Cottage Path  (I used Meadow)

Mod Podge Outdoor 

Flat Paint Brush 

Scissors  or Craft Knife 

Ruler 

Pencil or Pen

Cotton cloth or facial round – something disposable for alcohol ink application

Sandpaper  (optional)

Here are the coasters I started with.  They were only $1 for six!

I sanded my coasters lightly because the paper on top had a coating, and I wanted to rough it up so that the Mod Podge would stick well.

Place one coaster down on the paper and trace – repeat for as many coasters as you have.  I used three different sheets of coordinating papers, two coasters came out of each sheet.  When you are done tracing, cut out the coaster shapes with your craft knife or scissors.

Spread your Mod Podge down on the surface of the coaster in a medium layer.  Apply the paper and SMOOTH thoroughly until the air bubbles are removed.  Wipe away any Mod Podge that comes out the edges with your brush.  Repeat with the other coasters and then allow them to dry for 15 – 20 minutes.

DO NOT Mod Podge over the top yet.

The alcohol ink adds a little extra color and distressing effect around the edges.  I grabbed a bowl and mixed some Meadow ink with water.

Using your cloth or facial round, apply the ink to the edges.  Add more ink for a stronger color effect.  Allow to dry.

Once they are dry, seal them with at least two more coats your Mod Podge.  I used the Outdoor to seal (even though my Gloss is sitting nearby) – this is the most water resistant!

Your coasters are finished, but before you use them, I HIGHLY recommend spraying with an outdoor sealer to make them waterproof.