October 31, 2010GilliancloseAuthor: GillianName: Gillian Grimm Site:http://driedfigsandwoodenspools.blogspot.com/ About: Gillian Grimm lives in Charlottesville, Virginia where she balances writing, cooking and crafts with eight chickens, two kids, a dog, a cat and a husband. As the daughter of a Journalist, she grew up all over the United States, switching schools, towns and newspapers every few years and loved every minute of it! She now works as a freelance writer, primarily in the craft industry but with a few forays into travel writing, narrative non-fiction and educational matters. Gillian was recently published in the literary journal the “The Northville Review”. You can find more of Gillian’s work at “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.See Authors Posts (151)Crafts, Fall, Green Crafting, Halloween, Holidays, Home Decor, Kid's Crafts, Paper Crafts, Projects, SeasonsNo Comments
These fun little tissue garlands are just the thing to spruce up any door for the Halloween season and are a quick and easy afternoon project, perfect for kids (and grownups) with a little too much Halloween spirit!
October 30, 2010Guest BloggercloseAuthor: Guest BloggerName: Guest Blogger Site: About: Interested in Guest Blogging? Got a project idea you would like to share? A craft tip to tell us about? Then sign up to be a Think Crafts Guest Blogger! If you are interested, simply email us at info@thinkcrafts.com with your blog post title, text and attach any pictures. We will let you know if your post was approved or not, and when it will be posted on Think Crafts. Please also contact us if you have any questions or would like further information regarding guest blogging. We look forward to hearing your ideas!See Authors Posts (150)Crafts, Fall, Green Crafting, Guest Bloggers, Halloween, Holidays, Home Decor, Kid's Crafts, Projects, Seasons6 Comments
Everyone keeps complaining about how Christmas is over-commercialized now, but what about Halloween? It used to be that every kid would make all their own costume, and families would make decorations out of construction paper for the big night. Now it seems that few children make their costumes anymore, and all the decorations are store-bought, denying kids the fun of making their own decorations with the help of their parents. Well, let’s get back to basics. If you’re hankering for the old days of making decorations by hand, here are a few easy ideas to get you started.
Egg Carton Bats
All you need is an empty egg carton, some scissors, paint, and some string and you’re set.
1) Cut the egg carton in to four pieces, each piece containing 3 egg container sections—kind of like three-humped camels.
2) Now, cut the two side carton pieces so they are like arches branching off the middle piece—these are the wings.
Ghost are a staple of Halloween, and you can easily make some out of tissues, tissue paper or—for more lasting ghosts—pieces of white scrap cloth.
1) Take a handful of tissue and wad it up into a tight ball.
2) Place the tight ball in the middle of another tissue, or piece of white scrap cloth, and gather up the remaining ends, bunching them together with the ball trapped inside.
3) Tie a string around the cloth or tissue to trap the ball inside then flip it over. The ball is now the head of the ghost and the cloth is the ghost’s dangly waving body.
4) You can draw a face on the head of the ghost and hang it from the ceiling for maximum effect
Milk Jug Creatures
If you’re looking for something that will really let your children’s creativity go wild, gather up some old milk jugs.
1) Turn the milk jugs up side down, with the flat side pointing toward you.
2) Wrap construction paper or tissue paper around the jug.
3) Use markers, pencils, glitter, and other decorations to make the scariest face you can think of on the front.
4) You can hang the heads from trees or doorways, or simply stack them next to the pumpkins on your front porch for an eerie effect.
Paper Spider Webs
This one is like a magic trick and almost too hard to try and explain in words, but here is a great video illustrating how to make simple, cool spider webs out of paper. Once you’ve got your spider webs, you and your kids can decorate them however you want and hang them around the house.
Gunter Jameson writes about several topics including travel, minimalism and online classes.
Enter to win a pack of Mod Podge from Plaid! Prize package includes Dimensional Magic, Hard Coat, Glow in the Dark, Gold Glitter and Gloss Mod Podge Products!
Mod Podge is the original all-in-one sealer, glue and finish. Perfect for wood, paper, fabric and other porous surfaces, such as terra cotta, plastic foam, and candles, it’s quick and easy to use. As a glue, it dries clear and holds tight. Non-toxic with a soap and water cleanup makes it great for kids. As a sealer it protects acrylic paints, stains, decoupage and fabric. Leaves a soft finish. No crafter should be without it.
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 week: What would you do with this Mod Podge?
If the comment box is not below, scroll to the top and click “comments”.
There are many crafts I enjoy – cross stitch, plastic canvas, paper crafting. I am self-taught, by trial and error, in all the crafts I do. The craft I enjoy most is sewing. I started out making purses but have since moved on to a variety of things from household items to baby/children’s things.
I always enjoyed making handmade gifts for family for birthdays and Christmas and everyone enjoys receiving them because they appreciate how much time and effort, not to mention love, is put into each gift I make.
After many compliments and some encouragement from friends and family, I decided to open an etsy shop four years ago (wow-has it been that long??). I sell my baby/children items there. I also sell purses, household items, etc. on Bonanza.
I am always trying to come up with new ideas for both of my online shops and I love it because it gives me a boost of confidence when something I make is a big hit!
Interested in being a “Featured Crafter”? We want to hear from our crafty friends about what they like to create. Share with us what you put your energy into, whether it is your passion, your business, or simply something you enjoy doing. Do you have your own blog, Etsy store or craft products? Tell us about it!
October 28, 2010AnitracloseAuthor: AnitraName: Anitra Cameron Site:http://coffee-pot-people.blogspot.com/ About: Anitra Cameron had the good fortune to be born into a family where creativity ran rampant. Her father has authored several books and worked as a photographer and her mother hand-painted portraits. Anitra’s favorite crafts to make are: Jewelry (especially using buttons), collaged book marks, miniature cake stands, all from recycled materials. Anitra’s moto: “Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do, or do without.” Live with that long enough and you’ll never want to throw anything away, so best to turn it into art! Anitra lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, where their combined family’s total seven children, and (so far) seventeen grandchildren. Recently Anitra became a great-grandmother of a darling little boy! You can find more of Anitra’s work at “Coffee Pot People”.See Authors Posts (103)Green Crafting, Halloween, Holidays, Home Decor, Kid's Crafts1 Comment
I wonder if everyone has a stash of frames for which they’ve never found the perfect picture. I sure do. And as if my own bunch weren’t enough, I recently took part in a re-gifting swap and got another! My swap partner sent me a frame she’d gotten as a wedding gift and just “could not make [her]self love.” Well, me neither!
But it was perfect for Halloween!
The frame started like this:
Then I took black and purple paints, which my able assistant was happy to apply:
As you can see, this is a kid-friendly craft. The next step, finding images online to go in the frame’s ovals, was also kid friendly. We found two we liked, printed them out, and inserted them, and then tied a big bow with wire-edged coordinating ribbon.
Last step was to hang our charming couple on the front door. I think they like the view!
October 27, 2010GilliancloseAuthor: GillianName: Gillian Grimm Site:http://driedfigsandwoodenspools.blogspot.com/ About: Gillian Grimm lives in Charlottesville, Virginia where she balances writing, cooking and crafts with eight chickens, two kids, a dog, a cat and a husband. As the daughter of a Journalist, she grew up all over the United States, switching schools, towns and newspapers every few years and loved every minute of it! She now works as a freelance writer, primarily in the craft industry but with a few forays into travel writing, narrative non-fiction and educational matters. Gillian was recently published in the literary journal the “The Northville Review”. You can find more of Gillian’s work at “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.See Authors Posts (151)Crafts, Fall, Green Crafting, Halloween, Holidays, Home Decor, Projects, Seasons, Techniques and MediumsNo Comments
I’ve got a lot of pumpkins around my house. Part of it is that we host a pumpkin carving party every year, so with each Halloween season we seem to end up with a few more pumpkin themed decorations. But I can’t help it, it’s my favorite season and I love pumpkins and gourds in all shapes and sizes. So make room for just one more with this rustic wool and/or felt pumpkin!
1. Cut 5 template pieces from your felt and wool. Retain scraps to make stem later.
2. Lay two fabric pieces wrong sides together and sew up one side from one point almost to the next. (if you are doing this without a machine, use embroidery thread and a running stitch)
3. Open up the two pieces and lay a third one in against one. Stitch up one side in the same manner. You’ll want the seams to face out for this project.
4. Continue until you have created a pumpkin shape. Trim all seams with pinking shears.
5. Stuff the pumpkin with polyfil.
6. Use the scraps to shape a short stem, twisting the fabric and stitching it into shape.
7. Insert one end of the stem into the opening at the top of the pumpkin and stitch closed.
* Hint * This could also make a cute paper weight if filled 1/3 of the way with beans before finishing it off with the stuffing.
October 26, 2010GilliancloseAuthor: GillianName: Gillian Grimm Site:http://driedfigsandwoodenspools.blogspot.com/ About: Gillian Grimm lives in Charlottesville, Virginia where she balances writing, cooking and crafts with eight chickens, two kids, a dog, a cat and a husband. As the daughter of a Journalist, she grew up all over the United States, switching schools, towns and newspapers every few years and loved every minute of it! She now works as a freelance writer, primarily in the craft industry but with a few forays into travel writing, narrative non-fiction and educational matters. Gillian was recently published in the literary journal the “The Northville Review”. You can find more of Gillian’s work at “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.See Authors Posts (151)Crafts, Home Decor, Kid's Crafts, Mod Podge Projects, Paper Crafts, Projects, Trends2 Comments
We never seem to have enough magnets in our house. Or, really, enough magnetic hanging space with the amount of art that comes from having two young children in school. Every day brings a new batch of art, math tests and reminder notes in their backpacks that need to be hung up in plain view. And while I can cull and toss (I mean save!) the papers to thin out what’s hanging up at any given moment, I’m still always short on magnets. To help combat this problem, I made these small but super strong magnets using one of my new favorite art supplies. Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. Seriously, this stuff is cool! It creates a thick, clear glaze over whatever it’s covering, perfect for so so many things. Like magnets!
1. Measure the size of square you will need to cut tracing the tile onto the back of the paper. Cut carefully, erroring on the size of too big as you can trim later.
2. Apply a small amount of glue to the plain side of the tile and smooth on the square of paper, making sure the surface is bubble free. Allow the glue to dry. Trim any excess paper from the edges.
3. Coat the paper side of the tile in a layer of dimensional magic, easing it right to the edge of the tile and working out any bubbles with a needle.
4. Set the tiles somewhere flat to dry.
5. Apply a few drops of super glue to the magnet blanks and center on the back (once the top) of the tile.
