Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

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

These pillar jars are perfect and pretty storage for all sorts of bits and bobs. Show off your buttons or beads in them, hold earrings and necklaces elegantly or make the ordinary extraordinary by storing everyday bathroom items in these pretty little containers.

Here’s what you need:

• Empty jam jars – labels removed
• Strong craft glue
• Candlesticks
• Spray paint

1. On a covered and well ventilated work surface, coat the candlesticks and lids in several thin layers of paint. It’s better to have lots of thin layers than one thick one!

2. Once the paint is dry add a generous layer of glue to the top of the candlestick and center the jar over it. Press firmly so that the glue adheres well. Allow the glue to dry.

3. Fill the jars, add the lids and set them somewhere to be admired!

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 was cruising You Tube last week, and got totally sucked into watching videos on nail art. I believe art and creativity can be everywhere and anywhere. I was very impressed with the artists who chose something as small as finger nails! The videos made it look so easy, that I had to try it.

Here is the video I watched and followed along with:

I have to admit, my first few attempts were not as easy as she made it look. After a while I did get the hang of her technique of water marbling. My design is more subtle than hers, but I liked how it turned out!

The best tip I picked up from this You Tube Channel is using a paint brush to get off the excess nail polish. Just dip a narrow brush in nail polish remover and move the brush around your nail bed.

 By Guest Blogger Vicky, from the blog “Alpha Design”.

In January this year I was overjoyed when my niece gave birth to a little baby girl. There was a rush within the family to buy presents for this new addition and I saw many of them giving things like clothes and toys but I wanted to do do something a bit different. Something that marked her birth and would be a keepsake for her in years to come. So, I decided that I would paint her a canvas with her name and birth date on it.

I looked online for ideas and after much deliberation I decided that I would use an owl theme. I know from my card making that Owls are very on trend at the moment and so this seemed like a good choice. I created a mental picture of what I wanted it to look like and went out to a local craft shop to buy a canvas. I got a small square canvas and then I went to my local DIY store where I bought a number of paint tester pots. Acrylic paints soon add up in price and so this seemed like a great way to save some cash.

After all of this, I armed myself with a paintbrush and just went for it. I had only previously painted two canvases before this and so this seemed like quite a big task of myself. Eventually (after a few weeks of hard work!) I finished my picture. I used raised paints that come in a nozzled tube to add the writing and the rest of the picture is just done with my tester pots. I added the buttons on as eyes to make it a little more 3dimensional and interesting.

I hope to do much more painting as I really enjoyed the whole experience. Here are a couple of things I learned along the way:

• It is best to draw out the picture you see in your head and keep it next to you the whole time. I also kept a few example pictures that I found on the internet with me too.
• If you are going to mix your own colors then make sure that you have more than enough. There were a couple of times when I got into a bit of a panic because I thought that the color I had mixed would run out!
• Have a break in order to refocus. After sitting for a few hours you can get quite tired and a bit bleary eyed. I found that I painted much better when I had regular breaks and a chocolate biscuit!
• Practice writing in paint on a piece of paper first so that you get it right on the canvas!

My niece really liked the unique present and it will look great on her pink bedroom wall!

By FloraCraft Designers from the Blog “Make It: Fun”.

Easter always falls between March 22 and April 25. This year it’s April 24th. I’m looking forward to my annual chocolate bunny. Make this Contemporary Easter Egg Tree to deocrate your house for the Easter Bunny!

Materials

STYROFOAM Brand Foam:

DecoArt Textures:

Design Master Spray:

14″ lengths of sheer ribbon for each egg, coordinated colors
Twenty-four 1″ filigree accents
140 self-adhesive 3mm gem stones: Clear, Gold and Charcoal
Approx. 24″ tall, white wire tree
6″ length of 24 gauge wire
Paper shreds, gold
Twelve wood craft picks
Table knife, palette knife or texture tool
Glue gun and glue sticks
Scissors
1/2″ wide flat brush
Newspapers

Instructions

1. Apply texture. Cover work surface with newspapers. Insert craft picks into bottom end of each egg. (Note: after texturing each egg, insert into Styrofoam block to dry.) According to manufacturer’s instructions, apply each texture to one egg in each of the three sizes of eggs as follows:

• For stucco eggs: Use knife to apply one coat onto three eggs, moving knife back and forth to create stripes.
• For crackle eggs: Brush primer – sealer onto three eggs. Let dry. Use knife to apply smooth coat of crackle texture to eggs, like flat-frosting a cake. (Note: the thicker the application, the larger the cracks, the thinner the application, the finer the cracks.)
• For thick texture eggs: Use knife to apply one coat onto three eggs, moving knife on and off egg to create bumpy texture.
• For glass texture eggs: Use brush to apply two smooth coats of glass texture onto three eggs. Let dry between coats.

2. Paint eggs. Spray stucco texture eggs stripes of Copper and Brilliant Silver, allowing colors to slightly run together. Return eggs to Styrofoam block to dry. Spray crackle eggs Antique Gold. Spray thick texture eggs Copper. Spray gloss texture eggs Brilliant Silver.

3. Attach accents and ribbon. Remove adhesive dot from filigree accents and discard. Thread 8″ ribbon length through filigree accent. (Tip: For ease in putting ribbon through filigree accent, fold 6″ wire length in half. Place center of ribbon length into folded end of wire. Thread cut ends of wire through hole – similar to using a needle and thread.) Remove wire and trim ribbon ends at bottom of filigree accent. Use glue gun to attach to top of egg. For bottom filigree accent, repeat, using 6″ ribbon length. Cut bottom loop with scissors so that four cut ends of ribbon extend out. Hot glue to bottom of egg.

4. Embellish eggs. Attach jewels into three cluster formations on silver eggs and randomly attach jewels to striped silver and copper eggs . Hang eggs onto wire tree. Place gold paper shreds at base of tree. (Note: If gold shreds unavailable, spray natural kraft color shreds with Antique Gold.)

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

I love those artfully etched glasses out there on the market. But I don’t love the price tag. So instead of forever drooling over something I’m not willing to spend my hard earned money on (not with kids in the house!) I’ve decided to make my own, and they couldn’t be simpler.

Here’s what you need:

• Contact paper
• Etching Cream
• Paintbrush
• Clear glasses
• Die cutter or digital cutter
• Rubber gloves

1. Using your cutter, cut out intricate and pretty shapes from the contact paper. Remove the cut section and keep the remaining stencil.

2. Peel the backing off of the stencil and apply to the glasses. Smooth out any bubbles carefully.

3. Apply a thick coat of etching cream and allow the cream to work according to the directions on the label.

4. Wearing your gloves, peel off the stencil and wash away the cream with warm water. Run the glasses through the dishwasher before using to remove any traces of etching cream.

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

As the weather turns from brisk to downright cold, our family spends a lot more time indoors during the winter than during the rest of the year. And with two young children and a small house, we spend a lot of time with small, easy to do crafts that keep our afternoons busy. This is one of those projects. If your kids are great with their scissor skills or you are going to do the cutting, you could use up some of your fabric scraps up with this project, but for little fingers, lightweight scrapbook paper is best.

Here’s what you need:

Scrapbook paper scraps
Woodcut people
Glue Stick
Pencil
Scissors
Markers

1. Trace around the tops, bottoms and head of your cutout people on different colors and patterns of papers.

2. Cut out, or have your child cut out, the “clothes” and “hair” for their puppets.

3. Using your glue stick, apply a thin coat of glue to the wood and smooth the “clothes” onto the wood.

4. Make faces to finish off your puppets and put on a show!

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

Still need to get those holiday thank you cards out? Want to include your kids in the process? Let them create the art for your cards and help print them too with this simple, kid friendly, block printing technique. Instead of using traditional block printing medium and carving tools, this process uses recycled styrofoam meat trays and ball point pens to create the blocks, making it the perfect family activity.

Here’s what you need:

Styrofoam trays

Scissors
Ball point pens (or knitting needles)
Block printing paint
Rubber Brayer
Cardstock cut and folded into cards
Scrap cardboard (or an extra tray)

1. Cut your trays into small, flat rectangles, discarding the sides.

2. Have your kids draw images onto the foam with the pens. Encourage them to use most or all of the space and not to focus on too many details that might get lost in the printing (family portraits are a great theme here!)

3. Squeeze a small amount of paint onto the cardboards and roll the brayer through several times until a thin coat of pain covered the entire surface of the roller.

4. Roll over the print with the loaded brayer. You want the paint to cover the surface without working down into the grooves of the drawing.

5. Lay your paper over the block and smooth with your fingers, being sure you get all the corners, Peel the paper away and allow it to dry.