Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

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

I knit and weave, so I have many opportunities to use all the pretty yarns out there. My daughter on the other hand, is too little to want to learn to knit and has no interest in weaving, but wants to make things with all the pretty yarns. The project I came up with was simple yarn art paintings. This type of painting is based on the traditional folk art of the Huichol Indians of Mexico. The traditional way of producing this type of art is taking bees wax and melting it on a wooden board, then pressing the yarn into the wax before it hardens. We are going to use glue and cardstock. 

Supplies:

Yarn
Cardstock
Glue
Pencil

First I came up with our design idea. We thought the chickadee type bird would look cute in her home room, replacing some of the baby art – since now she’s a big girl. I sketched a simple outline in light pencil on a piece of heavy cardstock. We gathered the colors of yarns we wanted, a couple of toothpicks and glue.

The pink bird was my daughter’s. I started her bird by laying a thin single bead of glue around the outside line of the sketch. She placed a length of yarn on the glue following the path. Then right next to that I placed another line of glue. This technique worked for her because there is not a large area of glue for her to get her arm in and there is a short length of yarn to deal with so it does not get tangled. We continued to work in this fashion until we got to the center. We placed the eye on top of the pink yarn, not traditional but again, it worked for the younger artist.

The blue bird, I started with the wing and eye in the darker color. I spread a layer of glue on the wing area and started to lay the yarn.  On the wing, I started with a spiral then back and forth working toward the tip of the wing. The eye was a spiral starting in the center and working out until it was the size I wanted. For the lighter blue, I started in the center by the wing working out. I used the toothpick for making the hard corners and pressing the yarn down, since I tend to get extra gluey fingers. I liked the idea of using one long piece of yarn, winding it around to create texture and shapes, but if it’s easier to use a shorter piece of yarn that is fine too.

Both of these approaches worked really well since we were not covering the entire piece of cardstock. If the design calls for the entire piece to be covered I suggest working from left to right, placing glue only on the section that is being worked on, then when it’s covered contiue by adding more glue to another section.

When the glue was dry, I placed them in frames and hung them in the little one’s room.

This is a great project to use up bits of yarn and yarns that are beautiful but you don’t want to wear. Also, a project if you love yarn but do not knit, crochet or weave. Create your own folk art piece today.

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

I am giving a great big shout out for Sugar’n Cream 100% Cotton yarn by Lily. This is the most versatile yarn of all time!

Don’t get me wrong, as a Fiber Farmer and Shepherd of a flock of sheep, angora and cashmere goats, I love animal fiber, but there is just something about cotton.

Sugar’n Cream has been the go to yarn of choice for years when it comes to dish cloths. They are my absolute favorite dish cloths in the world, durable and wonderful to touch. Just last week, I taught a woman to knit just so she could make dish cloths like her mother did – of course out of Sugar’n Cream. Her mother said there is no other option for yarn, period.

I love this yarn for crafts other than knitting and crocheting as well. The cotton fibers hold glue well and do not get hairy as children work with it. It’s great for children’s projects because of its affordability and the rainbow of colors available. A bonus because it’s cotton, it takes dye very well if you can’t find the color you want.

It is great to string pom poms – oh and it’s great to make pom poms. It can even make friendship bracelets. This multi-ply yarn is thicker for little hands to hold onto and work into the decorative knots that make the patterns and designs.

Also, if you desire to knit 100% cotton socks and there is no cotton sock yarn around, there is Sugar’n Cream. It takes time and patience but if the yarn is unplied into 2 balls, 2 strands in each, then respun into 2 ply sock yarn, it will make a durable beautiful sock. Is that insane, I don’t know, but the socks that came out of the ball of Twists Vintage yarn never looked like any color scheme Sugar’n Cream produced because of the reply, truly unique . They had all of the snuggly softness and strength of the product, plus they are machine washable and able to be tossed in the dryer, where wool socks can’t.

This is a fantastic product for someone who has animal fiber allergies, but wants something organic instead of an acrylic yarn. A great yarn for baby items, soft , washable and not synthetic.

The list of projects and ideas that this yarn can be use for is endless. That’s why I give it my vote for the Needle Work Craftie! If you haven’t tried it, I recommend picking up some for your next project.

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

I’ve been working very hard at finding an upside to the cold weather, which to me has always been primarily an announcement of cold months coming, not my favorite thing. This year, though, I’m enjoying the beautiful colors and scarves. Oh my. What’s not to love about scarves? They have the power to make me glad of chill opportunities to wrap one around my neck!

The scarf above was made from a pair of worn-out jeans, and was a hit with its recipient, who plans to wear it with her denim jacket.

Here’s how to make your own:

Take one pair of men’s jeans (or two pair of smaller sizes), and rip the leg fronts and backs into strips. To do that, just cut the hems off, snip into the bottom of the leg, and tear. Don’t go narrower with your strips than about ¼”, or they’ll break. (I did try cutting, but I liked the rough edge ripping gives better. You may prefer a clean edge, though.)

When you’ve ripped as many strips as you can get from your jeans, tie them together to make one long one, and wind into a ball. Another option, of course, would be to sew the ends together, right side to wrong side for smoothness. I left the ends of the knots free, though, and they created a thicker texture, rather like an interior fringe.

Now take a nice big crochet hook, whatever feels comfortable to you for working this very wide “yarn”, and crochet a chain as long as you want your scarf to be. Don’t worry about the knots in the denim—just crochet around them, and let them add their character.

ROW 2: When you’ve got the chain as long as you want, turn, and double crochet in the fourth chain from your hook. *Chain one, skip one stitch, double crochet in the next stitch*, and repeat that sequence until you reach the end of the chain. Crochet three, and turn.

ROW 3: Skip one stitch, and double crochet in the next one. *Chain one, skip one stitch, double crochet in the next stitch*, and repeat that sequence until you reach the end of the chain. Tie off, leaving a long tail for a fringe piece.

The pattern will look like this:

Now cut about a dozen 10″ to 12″ lengths of the denim “yarn”, and tie half of them to each end of the scarf for fringe.

You’re done, and I don’t know you’re like me or not, but I can’t help thinking it’s just a tiny bit funny to be wearing a pair of jeans around the neck!

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

What’s not to love about scarves? They have the power to make me glad of chilly opportunities to wrap one around my neck! Here’s a project that yields a big, fluffy, dramatic scarf with a minimum of effort and materials. To make it you’ll need a few yards of bulky yarn, such as the chenille I used, and about ¼ yard of matching fleece.

Cut a strip of fleece 8″ wide across the width of your fabric, so that you have a piece 8″x50″ (or whatever the width of your yardage is). Cutting the short way, cut strips ½” x 8″. If your fabric was 50″ wide, you”ll end up with 100 little strips. Don’t obsess about the number or exact width, though. If you’re off a wee bit, it really won’t make a difference.

Take up your yarn and a crochet hook that’s big enough to give you a nice stitch tension (I used a Boye H, if I recall correctly), and begin a chain. Crochet one chain stitch, and then just lay one of the fleece strips across the yarn, next to the hook, and chain stitch right over the top of it, “capturing” the strip in the stitch.

*Chain one, and capture a strip in the next chain.* Repeat until your scarf is as long as you like, and finish off.

You now have something rather like a big boa, great fun to wear or give, and you’ve done it on the quick. Go forth, and collect your compliments and smiles!

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

This is a very easy redo for a tote bag. All you’ll need for it is a t-shirt with a front or back you like, and a tote bag you’d like to dress up a bit. Your t-shirt front needs to be a little larger than the front of the tote.

First, flatten your tote bag so you can either draw around it to make a pattern, or cut around it, if you’re not worried about snipping an edge.

Now, lay your t-shirt out nice and flat. Put the pattern or tote on top of the tee, and cut, leaving ¼” to ½” extra all the way around to turn under. Turn under the edges to make the tee piece exactly the same size as your tote.

Most tote side edges are top-stitched or bound in seam binding. This makes them kind of separate from the body of the tote itself, which is why this is such an easy refurb. Starting at one upper corner of your tote bag, pin the tee piece right to that edge, and do a tight, close zigzag stitch all the way around.

That’s all there is to it–easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

(Note: My tee shirt front, as you may have noticed, was actually a bit short, so I let the hemmed lower edge be the upper edge, and blind stitched it across the top, rather than zigzagging. If you’re going to do that, make sure the shirt’’s design looks okay upside down!)

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

I’m not an embroiderer. Sure I pick up the odd assortment of embroidery floss now and again to add some pizzazz to knee patches or little boy ties, but on the whole, I don’t get around to a whole lot of embroidery. Which means that I don’t have a very good way of storing the thread. Instead, I tend to toss the leftovers from projects in with my ribbon and by the time I need it again, it’s such an unholy mess that I usually have to toss it out and buy more. My kids are seriously into friendship bracelets this summer and that means that, once again, I’ve had to go out and stock up on embroidery thread, but this time, I’m prepared for the onslaught of little colorful bundles of string. I’ve got clothespins. This method of storing embroidery thread is so simple and useful, you’ll wonder what you ever did without it!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Clothespins
• Embroidery floss

1. Open the clothespin and then close it with the end of the thread on the inner part of the top, near (but not in) the smallest holes.

2. Start winding. Wrap the entire length of thread around the clothespin, keeping the thread between the spring and the large hole.

3. When you have reached the end, tug it through the end of the clothespin toward the larger hole. You can open the pin slightly iff necessary but you should be able to pull the string into place without opening the pin in most cases. The pin will hold the end in place until needed. When you want a section of thread simple pull it out from the end of the pin and unwind the length you need before refastening the new end!

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 always been a fan of Clover’s bamboo knitting needles. In fact that was my first pair! Now many knitting and crocheting needles later, Clover is still my first choice and have made some of my other favorite things! They make some of the most ingenious products that makes craft projects look professional, even for a beginner.

Have you ever tried to make a yo-yo by hand? I have, and refuse to ever do it that way again! Watch this video on the Clover Yo-Yo makers and you’ll see why. The Clover Yo-Yo Makers come in small, medium, large and x-large in numerous shapes – butterfly, heart, flower, oval and more.

PS. I also refuse to make pom-poms by hand now too! Thank you Clover!

I recently got a Flower Frill template too. It’s a plastic template where you flip & fold fabric or paper to make a flower! This is what Clover made with the Flower Frill template, just imagine the possibilities!