Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By General Crafts Contributor Melissa, from the blog MeloMomma.

I have always wanted to grow my own herbs, but I am super cheap and didn’t want to put much money out on it. For under $5 I was able to create a cute little herb garden and I even have left over seeds.

 What you will need:

• Old tea containers or like containers
• Potting soil
• Seeds
• Popsicle sticks
• Computer and paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Glitter

Instructions:

Fill your containers 3/4 the way full of dirt.

Create a pocket to place the seeds. Add seeds and cover. Print out pictures of what you planted. Cut them out an glue them on the popsicle stick.

Add a little glitter around the edges of the pics for extra flare.

By Kid’s Crafts Contributor Stephanie, from the Blog Geek with Glasses.

This Tin Can Vase is a quick and easy project for the kids. It’s easy to make and is a beautiful personalized gift for anyone special in their life.

Supplies:
Chalk Board Vinyl
Tin Can
Ribbon
Potting Soil
Flower or Plant

Tools:
Scissors
Craft Glue
Chalk

This is a simple project, just start by measuring the Chalk Board Vinyl so it wraps around the can. Cut it with scissors and peel off the backing. Stick it around the outside of the can.

Using craft glue, secure a piece of ribbon to cover the seam of the vinyl. Then tie a bow around the top of the can with another piece of ribbon.

Finally finish up the decorations with chalk. This can be a written message for Mom, a drawing or information about the plant inside.

This is a nice project for tiny ones who might mess up the design and want to try again or if this is a transfer point for plants. The vase can be used over and over again and the name of the plant can be changed.

Make someone’s day beautiful.

By Paper Crafts Contributor, Lauren Romano.

Having flowers in the home isn’t always possible, especially when there’s kids or animals who can easily get at them. In that case, a better option is to make paper flowers, which is an especially cute craft idea to do with kids. It requires only a handful of items, but you can end up with a small window box of adorable paper flowers that everyone will love.

What you’ll need:

• Rocks
• Colored paper
• Tissue box
• Mod Podge
• Green pipe cleaners
• Scissors
• Pencil

Step 1. Draw petals on various colors of paper, then cut them out. You can mix and match, do single colors or a combination of both.

Step 2. Cut out circles for the middle of the flowers.

Step 3. Glue the edges of the petals onto the back of the circles to form flowers, then give them ample opportunity to dry.

Step 4. Trim the top off a tissue box, then fill the box with rocks.

Step 5. Use Mod Podge to adhere a single green pipe cleaner onto the back of each flower. You can use the pipe cleaners to also make leaves or you can leave them without.

Step 6. Stick the flowers into the rocks. If they start to fall over, use the rocks to hold the stems in place. Make sure all of the flowers fully stick out from the box.

By Kid’s Crafts Contributor Stephanie, from the Blog Geek with Glasses.

May brings summer and summer brings gardens and what is better in a garden than a gnome?!?! Welcome the gnomes home with this cute moss covered wreath.  An easy project  for the kids to do!

Supplies:

• Styrofoam Wreath 
• Moss
• Letter Square Beads
• Leather Cord
• Tiny Wooden Bowl or Wooden Cap
• Tiny Wooden Candle Cup

Tools:

Glue
Red Paint 
White Paint
Brush

This is a very simple project, it takes a lot of glue and some patience to wait for it to dry. I used the green wreath so if the little ones do not cover the whole piece with moss it will not show as bad as if you would have used a white one.

First, start on the edge and lay a line of glue down and stick the moss to the wreath.  Work the whole way around, then start another line of glue working toward the center. It took 3 good lines of glue to cover the wreath.

 

While the glue is drying, string the wooden beads onto 2 pieces of leather.  

Then paint the wooden candle cup white and the wooden bowl or cap red. These 2 items will make the mushroom. Once the paint is dry glue the two items together with the bowl upside down to make the rounded top of the mushroom.  Then dot white paint on the red to decorate the mushroom.

After the glue on the wreath is dry, attach the letter strings. I used pins to tack them tight, glue would work too. Then glue the mushroom on.

This is very simply decorated, but mini silk flowers could be added as well.

Welcome visitors home and gnomes to your garden for a prosperous growing season.

By Cardmaking & Scrapbook Layout Contributor, Peg from the blog Peg’s Crafting Corner.

There’s nothing more fun than to receive a flower on a special day and what better thing to have is a flower pot that you can keep.  This beautiful flower pot card was created using the new American Crafts Neapolitan Dear Lizzy Collection. This would be a great project for Mother’s Day, which is on the 13th.

Plus tomorrow for Free Stuff Friday enter to win a prize pack from the American Crafts Neapolitan Dear Lizzy Collection!

Products Used:

• Orange cardstock
• American Crafts Dear Lizzy Patterned Paper:  Hazy Horizons, Sweet Sundress and Warm Memories
• American Crafts Dear Lizzy Ribbon: Printed and Specialty
• Craft Stick
• Foam Sheets in Green
• Wet Glue
• Tape Runner
• Martha Stewart Scoring Board
• Martha Stewart Paper Trimmer
• Stylus
• Scissors
• Ruler and Pencil
• EK Retro Flower Punch
• EK Open Scallop Edger Punch

Begin by cutting a piece of orange cardstock to be 4 ½” x 12″ and score at the 2″ mark using the Martha Stewart Scoring Board.  Now move the 2″ score line over to the left so that it is at the zero mark on the scoring board and score at the 5″ mark.  This will give you 3 sections- one that is 2″ wide and two that are 5″ wide. 

Fold the last 5″ long section up over the other; leaving the 2″ section unfolded.  Measure 1 ¼” in from each side of the paper and make a mark. 

Using a ruler and pencil draw the lines from the marks you just made to the top corners of the 5″ flap as shown in the picture. 

Place the paper in the trimmer matching the pencil line to the trimmer’s cutting track and cut on the pencil line. 

Repeat this step with the other side again lining the pencil line up with the track. 

Using the EK Open Scallop Edger Punch, punch a scalloped edge on the top of the 2″ flap.

Trace 2 of the flower pot shapes using one of the flaps as a template onto the Hazy Horizon sheet and cut them out.  Adhere one sheet with the wavy stripes out onto the front of the flower pot that will be the front of the card.  Lay the second sheet aside for now. 

This is what your card will look like at this point.  Run a piece of tape from your favorite tape runner along the inside edge near the fold.  Tie the ribbon around the flap and fold the flap down to secure. 

Now, punch 8 flowers using the EK Retro Flowers punch and the Sweet Sundress and Warm Memories Patterned Paper from the new American Crafts Neapolitan Dear Lizzy line.  Glue them together using your favorite wet adhesive glue.  Taking the stylus and 2 foam sheets stacked on top of one another gently emboss the center of the flowers going in circles until you reach the center.  This will give each petal a little curl to add a little dimension. 

Take one of the foam sheets and trim 4 long strips off to make the flower stems.  Next, fold each strip in half and then open up and add some glue onto one of the halves.  Fold down again and hold until secure.  This will create a stem that is sturdy enough to hold the flowers up right. 

Once the stems are dry, glue them to the flowers using the wet glue and allow them to dry.  After they are dry, run a piece of tape along the edge of your flower pot and place the stems over the tape making sure the flowers are at different heights.  Trim off any excess stems that are below the tape using a pair of scissors.  This will help remove some of the bulkiness when the patterned paper is placed over them. 

 

Take a craft stick and trace around it onto the Sweet Sundress Patterned Paper, cut it out and adhere it to the craft stick using the tape runner. 

Attach the pinwheel from the American Crafts Dear Lizzy line to the top and put it in the middle of the flowers on the flower pot making sure it is the tallest of all the pieces.

Take the second flower pot shaped paper that you traced earlier and making sure the green side is up; adhere it over the flower stems and the bottom of the pinwheel as shown in the picture. 

Find the four small flower shapes shown in the picture from the Serendipity Thickers and place it in the center of each flower. 

Use one of the cute stamps or fun stickers that are in the new Dear Lizzy line to add a special sentiment to the card and plant some smiles in a person’s day!

By Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and has aspirations to improve her crafting skills. Join Mable on Facebook to socialize and share with other crafters!

I’ve been spending more time outside with the sunny warm weather. Tulips are blooming, lawns are being mowed, and the birds are chirping. This is a collection of my favorite projects for my patio that just topped my weekend to-do list.

First I love the look of these color-block terra cotta pots. Acrylic paint, terra pots, and paint brushes is all you need to give your planters a face lift.

Color Block Terra Cotta Pots DIY

I like the unique look of this upside down planter. It’s made with recycled containers and fabric scraps. Look at that orchid!

Recycled Upside Down Planters

I have to make this floral garland. It’s so pretty, and I bet it smells amazing. Looks like you can string most stems with a needle, or tie string around more delicate blooms.

Floral Garland

Most recipes will suggest fresh herbs if you have them. What’s fresher than growing on your patio? This example was made from a wooden wine crate. I wouldn’t mind emptying one of those… These directions will teach you how to plant a mini herb garden.

How to Plant a Mini Herb Garden

By Crafts for Learning Contributor, Danielle from the blog Crayonbox Learning.

Recycled crafts can be fun to create as well as educational.  This project is one that the kids can help you with!  There aren’t any set rules as to what types of seed packets you use.  In my example, I have used a packet of vegetable seeds, and 2 flower packets.

Materials needed:

• Cardstock
• Lamination
• Large Popsicle Sticks
• Recycled Seed Packets
• Old seed catalogs, ads or photo/clipart images
• Scissors
• Permanent Ink Marker
• Glue – E600

Directions:

1. Gather together recycled seed packets.  Select 5-10 different seed packets that feature a picture on the front.

2. Look through seed catalogs, websites, or ads for pictures of the flowers/content of the seed packets. In my example, you’ll see that I selected a picture of Acorn Squash, Dianthys, and Zinnias. Even though the pictures weren’t exactly the same pictures as my seed packets, they were close enough. 

3. Cut out or print the pictures of the flowers/veggies to match the seed packets.

4. Trim the pictures to fit on the end of a large popsicle stick. Laminate for durability.  (Optional)

5. Count out as many popsicle sticks as you have pictures.  With a permanent ink pen, write the name of the flower/vegetable on one end of the popsicle stick. 

6. Glue the picture at the end of the popsicle stick opposite the writing, and let dry completely.

7. Once the tags are completely dry,  the game is ready to be played.

Variation:    Another variation to this game is to have the children sort vegetables from flowers by sorting into recycled aluminum cans marked with seed packets.

All of the supplies used to create this activity can be purchased from CreateForLess.com.