Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Guest Blogger Kathy Orta from the Blog Paper Phenomenon

Paper Phenomenon is full of in-depth tutorials and kits for your next scrapbooking project. Be sure to check out Kathy’s YouTube channel for step-by-step page making instructions and how-to’s for different scrapbooking tools and attend her scrapbooking classes online at her UStream Channel every Monday at 2 PM Central Time and Friday at 7 PM Central Time!

To celebrate National Scrapbook Day all month long, Kathy will be sharing her tutorial for a Retro Fitted Mini Album Layout every Saturday in May! If you love this layout, be sure to click the links above for even more tutorials and scrapbooking tips and check back next week for parts 6 and 7!

Part 4:

Part 5:

Did you miss parts 1, 2 and 3? Check out last weeks videos!

Do you have a layout you’d love to share? Enter our Scrapbook Layout Contest and you could win a $150 CreateForLess Gift Card!

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

DIY fashion has become more and more popular over the years, and we’re so glad! The latest trend in fashion now seems to be the creative use of craft supplies to make your own fashion statements. From basic supplies like fabric paint, to surprising uses of zippers, we’ve found some of our favorite craft supplies used in unexpected ways. Make a statement with these DIY projects!

P.S. I Made This proves that you don’t need to sew a color block blouse, you can paint it with some fabric paint!

Glamour Magazine says that the next big hair trend is yarn in your hair. It looks beautiful and bohemian.

Lovely Indeed brings yarn from your head to your feet with these pom pom shoe clips.

The Experimental Home uses zippers in a unique way. Show off your craft skills this summer!

Or, check out another creative way to use zippers. Plan B Anna Evers adds them to a blazer to give your outfit a pop of color, and you can lengthen or shorten your jacket!

Use buttons to create a colorful design on a cardigan like Lana Red. It’s a great way to use up your leftover buttons!

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

I hate shopping for wedding wrapping paper. Finding great wedding wrapping means handing over a lot of money for fancy glitter or foil accents and I can never settle for not-so-great wedding wrapping. When I was getting ready for my friends Mike and Laura’s wedding, I knew that I wanted to do something special and personal. I love the idea of monogrammed wrapping paper so that you don’t have to use gift tags, and I wanted to add a little something extra for Mike and Laura’s big day. This idea would be great for Christmas too. A little monogrammed letter in the corner in lieu of gift tags will add a special personal touch to all of your gifts!

Here’s What You Need:

• Craft Paper or Thick Wrapping Paper
• Embroidery Floss 
• Tapestry Needle
• Printed Template or a Pencil and Good Handwriting
• Painter’s Tape
• Optional: A Piece of Styrofoam or Corrugated Cardboard the size of your template (It makes a much better, sturdier base when poking holes through the template, but carpet works okay as well and is what I used)

Read the rest…

By Guest Blogger Kathy Orta from the Blog Paper Phenomenon

Paper Phenomenon is full of in-depth tutorials and kits for your next scrapbooking project. Be sure to check out Kathy’s YouTube channel for step-by-step page making instructions and how-to’s for different scrapbooking tools and attend her scrapbooking classes online at her UStream Channel every Monday at 2 PM Central Time and Friday at 7 PM Central Time!

To celebrate National Scrapbook Day all month long, Kathy will be sharing her tutorial for a Retro Fitted Mini Album Layout every Saturday in May! If you love this layout, be sure to click the links above for even more tutorials and scrapbooking tips and check back next week for parts 4 and 5!

Parts 1 & 2:

Part 3:

Do you have a layout you’d love to share? Enter our Scrapbook Layout Contest and you could win a $150 CreateForLess Gift Card!

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

If you have a creative child around, there are many great craft supplies to keep them busy, and keep you worry-free. Keep the right supplies on hand, and crafting with your kid can be fun and help you build memories that can last well into their lives.

Shrink Artwork – Craft and Creativity

Shrink plastic is a kid’s craft supply that everyone needs to have on hand. It provides hours of entertainment with very little mess. Kids love to watch as their creations shrivel, roll, and shrink into tiny hard pieces for keychains, jewelry, and much more. Here are some fun ideas for your next shrink plastic project…

Shrinky-Dink Soap

Kids love creating pieces of art that shrink up,  but what do you do with the pieces after they have been completed? Turn them into personal soap gifts! Wouldn’t these look great in your child’s bathroom, or packaged up for a homemade Mother’s Day gift?

Shrink Plastic Curly Bead Necklaces – Silly Pearl

These beads are so colorful and fun! Kids will love watching the shrink plastic curl and you’ll both love wearing these fun necklaces.

Shrinkable Plastic Zipper Pulls

Dress up jackets and make them easier to zip up with these zipper pulls. Kids can show them off to friends and make their own fashion statement.

Shrink Plastic Ornaments - Rust & Sunshine

A child of any age can create these one of a kind ornaments for Christmas gifts, or simply as decorations. You can hang them up by your window too as a suncatcher!

Stretchy Shrinky Bracelet - The Crafty Journal

Help your child create their own personal bracelet from some easy tools. Let your child color in a traced version of their favorite character or animal!

By Guest Blogger Kathy Orta from the Blog Paper Phenomenon

Paper Phenomenon is full of in-depth tutorials and kits for your next scrapbooking project. Be sure to check out Kathy’s YouTube channel for step-by-step page making instructions and how-to’s for different scrapbooking tools and attend her scrapbooking classes online at her UStream Channel every Monday at 2 PM Central Time and Friday at 7 PM Central Time!

The We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board is an amazing product for making perfect envelopes every time, but did you know that you can also use it to create your own file folders? You can easily make this typically boring office supply fit your style with some colorful cardstock!

Check out the video tutorial:

Happy National Scrapbook Day! CreateForLess and Think Crafts are celebrating in so many fun ways! We want to inspire you to get out your papers, embellishments and tools, and make some memories!

First up, be sure to enter your best layout in to our annual Scrapbook Layout Contest. We’ll be voting for the winners on Facebook at the end of the month, so make sure to check back and see if you made the cut! Here is last year’s winner:

Check out the rest of the finalists here!

Next, head over to CreateForLess for our Spectacular Scrapbooking Sale where you can save on all of your favorite paper crafting supplies. Treat yourself, this is a national holiday after all!

Finally, check out some of our favorite techniques and layouts right here at Think Crafts! Click the images for full tutorials.

We hope we’ve inspired you to get cropping and scrapping! Happy Scrapbook Day!