Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Craft Celebrity Mark Montano, from the blog Mark Montano’s Big Ass Blog.

You’ll Need:

• Nylon zip ties in different colors (or black and white)
• Scissors
• 2 jump rings
• 1 large lobster claw

Here’s How:

1. Make your first link in a size you like. This will determine the size you cut your other zip ties.

 5. Add a jump ring with the lobster claw to the other end so you can close it.

By Guest Blogger Jenny, from the blog a bird in the hand.

I have a confession. I’m dreaming of writing a craft book. As much as I enjoy making finished products, I’m happiest when sitting at my craft table, dreaming up new projects. It must be the scientist in me but I just love experimenting. So I’m thinking of writing a book. Which means I am putting lots of extra time into craft experiments and tutorials. With that in mind, here is another one of my crafty experiments. Enjoy.

As you may know, I love playing with shrinky dink. I had so much fun dreaming up the woven shrinky dink bracelet. This time, I took it to the next level and incorporated another childhood favorite, Perler beads. To start, draw out the shape of an artist’s palette on white shrinky dink. You can freehand it if you feel confident, otherwise just print and trace.

Cut it out and then cut out the thumb hole. I used a hole punch and then scissors to enlarge the whole a bit. I also punched a whole to hang it from but later realized this was irrelevant; it melted away.

Bake your shrinky dink at 325 degrees F to shrink it.  Now take it out of the oven and crank the temperature up to 375 degrees F.  Arrange your Perler beads around the palette; these will be your paint blobs.

Okay. Now put it all back in the oven and be careful not to knock the Perler beads over. It took about 20min for my beads to melt into blobs. During this time, you will notice that your shrinky dink starts to melt around the edges. That’s fine. Shrinky dink can be cooked at a temperature of 450 degrees F to fuse the pieces together and that typically involves a little melting. [Note- I baked mine on parchment paper, but you may want to use a glass baking dish. According to the directions, shrinky dink needs to be fused on a glass dish. I noticed that my parchment paper baked into a nice tan color at 375 so I probably will try glass next time.]

Once melted, remove from oven and let cool. See what I mean about the small hole I punched melting away? That’s fine though because you can use your thumb hole to attach a chain with a jump ring.

That’s it!  All done.  Now put on your necklace and take some awkward modeling shots of yourself where your head is cut off.  Perfect.

By Paper Crafts Contributor, Lauren Romano.

Two of the best things about knowing how to make your own earrings, is that you can customize them any way you wish and you can save yourself money in the process. A great way to make new earrings is to create them from items you already have in your home. Since spring is coming, you can make a pair of flower shaped earrings to celebrate the season.

What you’ll need:

• Jump rings
• Earring hooks
• Cardboard
• Patterned paper
• Needle nose pliers
• Mod Podge
• Pen
• Small hole punch
• Marker
• Scissors

Step 1. Use Mod Podge to attach patterned paper onto a piece of cardboard. Flatten it out to eliminate the air bubbles, then give it ample time to dry before moving onto the next step.

Step 2. Draw two flowers onto the back of the cardboard, then use the scissors to cut them out.

Step 3. Use a small hole punch to make a hole on the edge of one petal.

Step 4. Choose any size jump rings you wish; I opted for the larger ones. To pry open the jump rings, use needle nose pliers.

Step 5. Hook the open jump ring through the hole in the petal. Before closing the ring, attach an earring hook to the jump ring, then use the pliers to choose the ring.

Step 6. Use any color marker you wish to color in the center of the flowers.

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

The mornings are crazy, everyone rushing around to get ready for the day.  These bracelets can help the kids remember things without mom nagging. A simple reminder on their wrist will help them bring the stinky bag of gym clothes home or return the library books before they are overdue.  The  new season brings new sports, it might be hard for the kids to remember when practice is. Also, a way to help with a change in schedule, like “Don’t ride the bus” because mom is picking the kids up after school.

Supplies:

• Letter Beads
• Beads
• Stretchy Bead String

Tools:

• Scissors

To start this project, pick the message the bracelet will have. Choose the letter beads and decorator beads. Next measure around the wrist of the child with the stretchy string, do not stretch it while measuring. Cut the piece just a little longer than needed. String the beads on making sure there is enough decorator beads to go all the way around the child’s wrist. I finish by tying the 2 ends together with a square knot, right over left, left over right. The first part of the knot – right over left – is where I pull the string just enough to stretch it a little. When done the bracelet should have to stretch a little to get over the child’s hand then be snug at the wrist. Trim the excess string off.

The goal for these bracelets are to not fall off while playing at recess, if that happens then the remembering part is gone as well as the bracelet.

A great project for the kids to help with over spring break. The end of the year is coming and all thoughts go to summer not schoolwork. An added bonus if you use really colorful beads others might notice the bracelet and ask about it, making it more effective, because the child will explain and remember, score!

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

My daughter is an Irish Step Dancer and March is a crazy month for us. We have two St. Patrick Day parades to partake in, so I needed something festive to wear. I love the mini top hats and thought I’d share this tutorial on how to make your own at home.

Mini Top hats are also popular for Steampunk costumes too, it’s all in how you decorate the basic shape.

Today, we are going Leprechaun!

Supplies:

Toilet paper or Paper Towel Roll
Cereal Box
Ribbon
Headband
Glitter
Felt
White Paint / Green Paint
Thread

Optional:

Stickers
Crystals
Other Decorations

Tools:

Pen
Craft Knife
Scissors
Brush
Glue
Hot Glue Gun
Needle

The first thing to do is cut open the cereal box to get a flat side. On the inside (non printed side) of the cereal box trace around the paper roll. This will make the center of the brim of the hat. Next measure 5/8″ all the way around and draw that circle. Cut out the outside circle, then using the craft knife cut the cross marks on the inside circle. This makes tabs to glue the brim to the tube.

Next trace the roll again, this time measure about 1/4″ and make another circle. Cut along the outside line, then cut tabs to fold. This makes the top of the hat, the tabs insert into the tube to hold the top on.

Now, determine how tall the Top Hat should be. This hat is 1 1/2″ tall, carefully use the craft knife to cut the tube so not to smash the roll.

Using the Hot Glue Gun, attach the brim by folding the tabs up and placing the tube over top. Glue the tabs in place. This can be done with craft glue but  then the tabs should be clipped until the glue dries. The Hot Glue makes the project go quicker without drying time. After the brim is in place, fold the tabs on the top of the hat and glue the it in place.  

Once the hat is assembled paint the entire piece white or green. I painted mine white, then after the glitter I went in and painted the edge of the brim and bottom green. It wasn’t necessary, but I did not like the white edge. If the entire hat was painted green to start that would not be an issue, but the glitter will show up different with a dark background verses a white background. It’s up to the crafter to decide.

When the paint is dry, cover the hat with craft glue and sprinkle the glitter on. Let the hat dry completely, once dry tap off the extra glitter.

I decorated the hat by gluing a ribbon around the base of the hat. Then using stick vinyl, I cut 3 hearts out using a heart shaped punch. I stuck the hearts on the hat in the shape of a shamrock and glued a crystal in the center. I added another shamrock to the hat in the same way. This is where it can become any type of hat that you want.

Next,  cut a circle of felt and glued it to the bottom to make attaching it to the headband easier.

I made 2 ribbon bows and glued them together, then hot glued the hat on top of them. 

To attach the hat to the headband, first hot glue the ribbon/hat to the headband. Then make a couple of stitches around the headband making sure to catch the felt on the hat, secure the thread with a good knot.

Now - put the beautifully crafted hat on your head, drink some kind of ale and eat Bangers and Mash Or follow the rainbow to your pot of gold! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

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

This activity is fun for all ages groups and can be incorporated into learning activities celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. The best part is that all of the materials needed can be found at CreateForLess. This cute and festive pin activity is fairly simple to create.

Materials Needed:

• Shamrock Template (click to open)
• Green buttons in various sizes, shapes
• Pin back
• Glue
• Tag or chipboard
• Scissors

Step 1. Print off the shamrock templates onto card stock. For my example, I glued the card stock piece onto a piece of tag board scrap to make the back more rigid. (You need the shamrock to be fairly sturdy to hold the weight of the buttons.)

Step 2. Using different sized green buttons, begin gluing onto the shamrock template. I used different kinds of buttons that I have had collected. I filled in the open spaces with really small buttons. (Be sure to supervise young children as some buttons can pose a choking hazard).

Step 3. After the buttons have been glued on, let dry. Depending on the type of glue you use, it may take a few hours for the glue to be completely dry. I used Tacky Glue for my example as it dries clear, and it also is stronger than glue sticks for long term use.

Step 4. Once the buttons are completely dry, you can then add the pin back. Let completely dry before wearing the pins.

By Paper Crafts Contributor, Lauren Romano.

Roses are one of my favorite flowers and there’s something truly beautiful about wearing them in your hair whether they’re real or fake. When you make your own rose clip, you can customize it in any color you wish – red, blue, yellow, purple – so you can have one in every color or pattern possible. It may look complicated, but it’s pretty easy to do, especially once you get the hang of it.

What you’ll need:

•  Red cardstock
•  Pen
•  Paper
•  Red tissue paper
•  Scissors
•  Mod Podge
•  Clip

Step 1. Cut out a small square from the red cardstock, then trim it so it creates four adjacent petals connected by a tiny square in the center.

Step 2. Cut a small triangle from the red cardstock, then trim it so it forms three petals in the shape of a triangle that are connected by a tiny circle in the center.

Step 3. Bend both pieces so the petals face upward, then use scissors to carefully curl the ends.

Step 4. Make the center of the rose by cutting a small rectangle from the red cardstock and rolling it tightly. Use the Mod Podge to hold it together.

Step 5. Glue the second piece inside the first, then the center piece directly in the middle.

Step 6. Make several singular petals from the red tissue paper. Use your fingers to slightly bend the edges.

Step 7. Dip the very tips of the tissue paper petals in Mod Podge, then carefully slide them in the flower to fill it out.

Step 8. After the flower dries, lightly pinch it in between your thumb and pointer finger to expand the flower a bit.

Step 9. Glue it to the edge of your clip, then let it dry thoroughly before moving it.