Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

Every Friday we will post a giveaway on Think Crafts. All you have to do is comment on Friday’s blog post answering the question of the week! New prizes every week!

Last week our prize was the  ”Designing with Fabric: Imaginative Ways to Incorporate Fabric into Your Scrapbooking & Paper Arts Projects” by Autumn Leaves. Design books are a great resource for ideas and inspiration. This book is a collaboration of fifteen designers and how they use fabric in their scrapbooking projects. The entire book is dedicated to showing different ideas of using fabric, ribbon, trim and buttons into your memory projects. The photos in this book are beautiful! A must-have for paper crafters.

Last week’s question: What is your favorite handmade gift idea?

The winning answer:

My favorite homemade gift is quilts made just for the person receiving them. Sometimes I make mini-quilts that are great as wallhangings, others are full size for a wrap or on a bed. Each gets a personalized tag as well. Design a simple label on the computer, reverse print it on very thin paper, then glue it upside-down on a small piece of muslin. When dry carefully rub off the paper to expose the label and seal it with a permanent fabric glue and also glue it to a corner of the quilt.

We have a case of the Fridays! You know that Friday slump when your brain is toast and all you can think about is the weekend?!  So we have the perfect cure…Free Stuff Fridays!

Every Friday we’ll post a giveaway on Think Crafts. All you have to do to enter 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 Friday night and the winner will be announced Monday at Noon. One entry per person please.

This week our free stuff giveaway is the “Designing with Fabric: Imaginative Ways to Incorporate Fabric into Your Scrapbooking & Paper Arts Projects” by Autumn Leaves. Design books are a great resource for ideas and inspiration. This book is a collaboration of fifteen designers and how they use fabric in their scrapbooking projects. The entire book is dedicated to showing different ideas of using fabric, ribbon, trim and buttons into your memory projects. The photos in this book are beautiful! A must-have for paper crafters.

Question of the Week: What is your favorite handmade gift idea?

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

Every Friday we are posting a giveaway on Think Crafts. All you have to do is comment on Friday’s blog post answering the question of the week! New prizes every week!

This week our 3 winners receive the Mable Crafts-a lot Tote Bag! The Mable Crafts-a lot Tote Bag is not only cute, but can be used to carry anything! This tote bag is large enough to carry your craft supplies, and sturdy enough to use while grocery shopping. The bag is black with a Mable Crafts-a lot design and quote, “I am not easily distracted…Hey, Look, GLITTER!” These water repellant and tear resistant totes are made from 100% recyclable and reusable materials and measure 13″ w x 11″ h x 5″ d. Made from premium non-woven polypropylene  with 20″ dual reinforced carry handles, hemmed opening, and matching cardboard bottom insert. Use this tote bag to cut back on plastic bag usage, and to stay stylish!

Our winning comments were from:

Pam – Why…just the other morning it was rainy and I went to the art room and created a collage….my favorite thing to do on a rainy day!

Jenn – My favorite rainy day craft is sewing. Could be an ornament, working on my quilt, or anything else I come up. Usually quick easy crafts since I’m hardly a sewing pro!

Izdzan – When it’s raining, I like to open my curtains and people watch while doing arts and crafts with my kids.

Yesterday we sat down and looked over all the entries for this year’s Handmade Halloween Costume Contest by CreateForLess. We had so many creative entries that it was very difficult to choose the winners!

1st Place Winner of $150 CreateForLess gift card goes to:

Alexandria H. from Centerville, TN

I made this costume for my niece who loves to wear dresses. There are six parts to it. The chemise is made of cotton broadcloth with white lace around the neckline that had the scalloped edge dyed bright pink. The stays are made from a heavy cotton fabric with a dark burgundy jacobean print on it, trimmed with green ribbon and gold binding. The paniers are made from pink taffeta. The dress is made of ivory antique satin with an embroidered stomacher, and ruching edged with green ribbon. The stomacher is beaded with pearls and decorated with gold buckles through which ribbon was passed. The sleeves are trimmed with a wide lace which had the scalloped edge dyed pink. Hand made embroidered appliques are scattered along the ruching and the sleeves. The necklace is made from the matching embroidered satin and edged in green ribbon with a pink bow and buckle in the center. The mask was made to match the dress and was constructed of paper mache, covered in ivory satin, decorated with white and silver glitter, edged with handbraided silver trim and finished off with white feathers and an embroidered applique flower.

2nd Place Winner of $100 CreateForLess gift card goes to:

Anthony L. from Northglenn, CO

I created this custom from plastic and rivets. It is Ironman from the movie and comic series. I used a lot of hot glue, and LED lights.

3rd Place Winner of $50 CreateForLess gift card goes to:

Melinda D. from Coralville, IA

My 3 year old daughter decided that she wanted to be Hello Kitty for Halloween and I decided to go for “Mom of the Year”! I started by sculpting the head shape out of high density foam. I used an electric knife to cut the foam. Next I sewed a fuzzy white cover to fit. I used a small amount of doll/toy stuffing to fill in the ears and round out the cover to give it a very smooth face. I made a “breathing and vision” section out of sheer white fabric to show a finished look. I attached the eyes, nose and whiskers next. The final step was to sew and attach the green bow to match Hello Kitty’s dress. Her outfit is a white pair of tights, a white turtleneck, a simple green dress and a pair of white gloves. My daughter is so excited to go trick or treating and show it off at her preschool Halloween party!

Honorable Mentions:  

I’m Expecting Barbie, it was hard to find maternity Halloween costumes so I decided to make this one.
Supplies:
Cardboard Box, front panel & arm holes cut out
Hot Pink Wrapping Paper
Shrink Wrap (just up to neck)
Ink Jet Printed Logos & Text
Pink Dress
Blond Wig
Pink Accessories

Submitted by: Christina F. from Burnsville, MN

What costume could be “Sweeter” than everyone’s favorite childhood treat?? That would have to be a BIG HOMEMADE Chocolate CUPCAKE!! Our sweet daughter, Rachel, dreamed only of being a fluffy white Cupcake for Halloween this year. So we Frosted her with fluffy white fabric, covered her in sparkly RAINBOW SPRINKLES and topped it off with a HOT PINK CHERRY! The only thing missing from this picture is the delicious Cupcake body lotion she is wearing to even make her smell of the sweet goodness! With lots of creative thought and hard work we made her sweet dream, of being a Yummy Cupcake, come true!

Submitted by: Jennifer P. from Northville, MI

This is a Civil War era dress I created from two fashion times, one 1863 and the other, 1866. I drafted my own pattern in order to capture the exact look I was going for, and I used iridescent green taffeta, creamy striped organza, and matching satin taffeta for the pleated trim. I finished it off with hand-looped pearl beads centered in the gathers of the skirt, and pearl jewelry appropriate to the time.

Submitted by: Jacqueline H. from Centerville, TN

Click here to view more of our favorite entries on our Facebook Page!

In1982 President Ronald Regan declared September National Sewing  month. The declaration was “In recognition of the importance of home sewing to our Nation.” Sewing is not just a hobby or a passion, it’s also a practical and economical skill to have and develop. Save money on repairing your torn clothes, fixing or replacing buttons, hemming skirts and pants. Or just adding your own personal touches to make your outfit unique!

Since September is National Sewing Month, CreateForLess is celebrating by giving you the chance to win.  Join the celebration of sewing by entering our National Sewing Month Drawing.  We want to hear about what you’ve been sewing lately, from adult and kid’s clothes to purses and even pet clothes.  We’re going to have an online fashion show at CreateForLess!  Simply pick out your favorite sewing project, enter here and you could win a $100 CreateForLess shopping spree!

In honor of National Sewing Month, save more with extra sewing specials at CreateForLess. Save on seam rippers, rotary cutters, bobbins, books, thread and more.

As promised, ideas to avoid craft blooper messes!

Protect Your Work Surface & You

To make clean-up easier and avoid messy stains, make sure to thoroughly cover your work surface. Items like newspaper and paper will work, but most craft products will soak through. Wax paper works well because glue or paint will not stick to it and will better protect your table or counter.  You can also use old vinyl tablecloths to cover tables and floor space. To protect yourself usually smocks work best to cover your clothes while crafting, but you can also get a lot of coverage with an apron or large t-shirt.

When using paint, cover tools or areas you might touch with petroleum jelly.  Cover your door knob with a light layer of Vaseline, and then when you leave the room and touch the door knob, the paint and Vaseline will easily wipe up.

Cleaning Craft Tools

The sooner you clean your tools after a session of crafting, the easier it will be.  Keep a tub of warm water or some baby wipes near your craft area so you can easily grab them when you need to.  

If you are painting and can’t get the paint off your brush, dip the brush in fabric softener or hair conditioner to help remove stubborn paint. Also if you plan on painting again tomorrow or just need a break, wrap your brush in cellophane or a Ziploc and stick it in the freezer. It will just take a few minutes to thaw, but then will be right back to where you stopped painting.

Happy Birthday Think Crafts!

Thanks to all of you who read Think Crafts!

Think Crafts is turning 1 year old today! It wouldn’t be a Birthday Celebration without presents! The 13th person to email us at info@thinkcrafts.com and tell us what blog post was their favorite, will receive this K&CO Birthday Scrapbook kit!

We really loved having all of our guest bloggers and blog contributors this year. They helped make Think Crafts a unique place where people can come together to share their creative passions, plus get the latest trends, project ideas, tips and techniques. 

Come join the fun!

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!  

Think Crafts blog posts are written by a wide variety of craft experts, from creative moms and scrapbookers to craft professionals and designers.  We cover a broad range of craft categories, including paper crafts, sewing, quilting, kid’s crafts, needlearts, jewelry making and more. Our blog topics typically include craft projects, tips, ideas or products.  This is a great opportunity for you to write and share anything craft related. 

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!

We reserve the right to edit a post. Not all blog submissions will be posted on ThinkCrafts.com. Submission of an entry grants CreateForLess permission to use the submitted content for promotional purposes.