Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

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

It’s finally Spring and Earth Day is right around the corner. Introduce the kids to planting, beautifying their surroundings and helping the Earth by making these fun and easy Seed Bombs. We made these Seed Bombs in no time, the worst part is waiting for them to dry before we can share them with our friends and the environment.

The idea has been out there for decades, for gardening when one doesn’t have the time to do the prep work of the soil and of course beautifying the areas of vacancy. These Guerrilla Gardeners have been bombing for years, but all of a sudden the idea is mainstream with Seed Bomb vending machines!  By making these at home you can beautify the land for pennies!

We are going to make ours using air dry clay, potting soil/compost, water and native wild flower seeds. The bee population is in serious danger and without bees, fruits will not be pollinated and we will not have honey – a huge source of healing and sweetness in our home. It is important for us to share this with our daughter and try to help the bees in our area by planting lots of flowers.  But feel free to use veggie seeds, like lettuce and spinach if you want to try a garden without much work.

Supplies:

Air Dry Clay
Potting Soil or Compost – the key is to have clean dirt – so you don’t contaminate any area that you bomb.            
(You can purify dirt from your yard by baking it in the oven.)
Water
Seeds

The recipe is by parts so you can make more or less depending on your ambition.

                3 parts air dry clay
                2 parts potting soil           
                1 part seeds

Start by scooping the air dry clay out and placing it into a mixing bowl, next add the potting soil. Since we are using clay that already has moisture to it, start mixing the two together with your hands. Add water a little bit at a time, really no more than a tablespoon at a time. Too much water will make a runny mess so less is more. If you add too much water try to fix the consistency by adding equal parts of clay and soil. In the end it should be mushy enough to push through your fingers, but hold a ball shape when rolled in your hands.

Once you’ve gotten the mix to this consistency, open the seeds and pour them in. Mix the seeds in really well. Next start making your bombs by rolling little balls in your hands, about the size of marbles. Lay the balls out on a rack to dry. Let them dry completely. I recommend a cloth bag to store them in, that way if there is any moisture left the Bombs will be able to continue to dry out and they will not mold.

Now, what do you do with them? Go out into the world, find a vacant lot and bombs away! These are also great for people who don’t really have the time to garden. The potting soil gives the seeds a good base to root to and the clay will hold in moisture. The rain does most of the work. We are going to use them on our property where it is too hard to dig and tend to the garden like a steep sloping  hillside.

Here is a note on seed choice: Choose wisely. Look for native seeds to your area. One of the packs of wildflowers we found are annuals for our area. These are the Seed Bombs that we are going to give as gifts to our friends. These plants are not invasive and will not come back, they will be there for one season and not cause problems for the future. For ourselves we are using a mix of annual and perennial  wildflowers because we know we want the hillside to be covered year after year.

Go out and Beautify our Planet!!!

By Guest Blogger & Crafty Bride, Kadee Robertson.

I am getting married in September to the most wonderful man ever. I am a typical bride and need to stretch my pennies as far as I can. I’ve been addicted to Pinterest since becoming engaged. While browsing Pinterest, I found a jar wrapped in twine. It was so simple, yet I loved the natural texture of it. I wanted to try it myself and make my own one-of-a-kind vase for a table centerpiece.

Items needed:

• Glue gun and glue
• Jar of any shape or size
• Jute or hemp twine (I used jute)
• Patience!

Recommended items:

• Wax paper
• Wood Craft stick

I gathered my materials, I happened to have a Pace Picante salsa jar on hand, so I used that. I liked the hour-glass shape. I then laid out a few pieces of wax paper. I didn’t want the glue to get stuck to my counter. Turn on and heat up the glue gun.

I then put an inch of hot glue around the base of the jar. I worked from the bottom up. I recommend starting as close to the bottom as possible. I glued an entire circle of glue around the bottom of the jar and laid the string around it and just kept circling up. I put a dab of glue about every 1/4″ or 1/2″ turn around the jar. Don’t use too much glue or it will ooze out. I just kept winding the jar around and around with dabs of glue every so often.

At one point I touched the hot glue and gave myself a nice blister on my finger- avoid that step Later I started using a wooden craft stick stick to hold the string to the glue for a second to give it a chance to adhere.

I did not cut the string at all. I didn’t want there to be any loose ends, I just kept unwinding it from the spool. My entire project was just one loooooooong strand.

The closer to the top of the jar that I got the more frequent I had to use glue as the jar tapered inwards, again, I just used a dab of hot glue. The biggest problem I had was getting the glue and the string to adhere to the top of the jar where the lid screws on.

This project took a lot more time than I expected, but I love how it turned out. I hope you like it too.

By General Crafts Contributor Melissa, from the blog MeloMomma.

At first glance would you guess that this gorgeous candle is made with egg shells? With Easter right around the corner this is really appropriate, but you certainly don’t have to wait for Easter! I just saved a few shells from hard boiled eggs. It’s simple elegance!

 What you will need:

• Mason jar
• Egg Shells
• Food coloring
• Water
• 2 Bowls
• Tacky glue
• Rhinestones
• Floral décor (the puffy balls are actually cut up floral arrangements… fake flowers would look very nice too)
• Tea Light Candle

 Directions:

Rinse and dry the egg shells.

Add a few drops of food coloring to a bowl of water.

Add the eggs and allow them to soak until you are happy with the color they become (I left mine for several hours while I ran errands). Remove the shells and let dry.

 Cover the mason jar in tacky glue. Gently place the egg shells against the tacky glue. Leave some open space for the light to shine through. Add a few rhinestones. Arrange the puffy balls around the top. Allow to dry.

Place a tea light candle inside and enjoy!

By Paper Crafts Contributor, Lauren Romano.

Valentine’s Day flowers are lovely, but they’re also expensive and they die shortly after you buy them. A better option is to make paper flowers for yourself or to give as a gift. However, make small centerpieces instead of making a bouquet. It may sound complicated, but all you need is a little patience and a handful of inexpensive items.

What you’ll need:

• Tissue paper
• Mod Podge
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Short glass jar candle

Step 1. Cut tissue paper into squares. The smaller the squares the smaller the flowers. I cut each square into 5 inch pieces and alternated between using red tissue paper and one that’s heart-patterned.

Step 2. Take each square and fold it into a triangle. Follow that up by folding each triangle in half, then in half again.

Step 3. Hold each triangle so the fold faces to the left, then cut off the top of the triangle so you form a curve at the top.

Step 4. Next, cut off the lower point at a curve.

Step 5. Open up the triangles; each piece should look like a flower that’s missing the center.

Step 6. Make a cut in each piece from the top of the petal to the center so they are no longer solid pieces.

Step 7. You’ll notice the pieces have creased sections which is going to help with gluing the flowers together. Take one section and overlap the two ends until it’s the size you want for the outer layer. Don’t glue the ends down; instead, glue down the second or third section in.

Step 8. Repeat Step 7 for each layer until you get to the center. As you go along, make the layers smaller and put a small drop of glue on the bottom of each layer so they stick together.

Step 9. To make the center piece, roll one of the layers into a cone shape. Put a small drop of glue on the sides of the point, then stick it through the center of the flower layers. Pinch the layers around the point so they curve in.

Step 10. After the flower dries, place it on top of a glass candle holder. Opt for a candle whose coloring complements the colors of the flower.

By Guest Bloggers Melissa + Kellie, from the blog Icing Designs.

Not sure what it is, maybe it’s because Valentine’s Day is near, but we are loving all things wedding right now! Of course we love when brides incorporate DIY projects into their weddings, it makes things seem so personalized and special. We are just loving the idea of a fabric corsages! They are just as beautiful, if not more, than using real flowers. What a fashionable gift/keepsake to give your bridesmaids or flowergirl! If you are not a corsage person, wear it as a bracelet!

Here’s a tutorial to make your own Fabric Corsage!

By Guest Bloggers Melissa + Kellie, from the blog Icing Designs.

We are in love with paper flowers of any sort. These crepe paper flowers are so perfectly lovely. They are so versatile and can be used in so many different ways, and the best part…they don’t wilt! These are so easy to make you won’t believe it! We can not wait to show you how we used them!

All you need is crepe paper and hot glue…we layered the crepe paper with two colors to add some depth. The length of crepe paper you need just depends on how big you want your flowers to be. After you have both colors of crepe paper cut and layered just accordion fold them.

Then just take your crepe paper and start to wrap it around and start forming your flower. Then just put a dab of hot glue at the bottom every couple of inches, just to hold the flower in place.You can start to pull the top back a little to open the flower up as you go as well. After you have completely wrapped with flower around you can form it to be as open or closed as you want it.

So simple and so pretty aren’t they! The color combinations are endless as are the possibilities of how you can use them!

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

Here’s a bit of old news: Computers play a big part in our lives these days. They’re everywhere, aren’t they? Let’s dress up a monitor for a friend or relative who works in front of one with a little bit of cheerful whimsy, a Computer Corsage.

Your list of materials is short. You’ll need:

• A large-ish bead cone, small salt shaker, or tiny bottle
• Small dried or silk flowers and other bouquet fillers
• A snippet of self-sticking hook-and-loop tape, (such as Velcro)

If you’re using a salt shaker, you’ve got it made—just choose your flowers, cut the stems to length, and stick them through the holes in the top in a pleasing arrangement.

If you’re using a bead cone or tiny bottle, you may want to wrap the stems of your bouquet with a little wire before inserting them in the cone or bottle.

Once you’ve created your tiny bouquets, simply stick one half of the hook-and-loop tape to the back of the holder, and the other half to the computer monitor’s edge.

Don’t you think this would bring a bit of cheer to an office-worker friend or relative?