Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By General Crafts Contributor Melissa, from the blog MeloMomma.

Did you have any New Years Resolutions? I know I did! I wanted to get organized! To begin my organizing, I went through my dresser. If I had not worn it in 6 months, I tossed it. Then a big red light went off in my head! DON’T THROW AWAY those old shirts! That is perfectly good material!

Oh… the brain of a crafter!

So, I bring to you the T-Shirt Wreath! It is so simple! No sewing anything and it takes under 15 minutes! I bet you have a few shirts you’d be more than happy to sacrifice, right?

What you will need:

• 12″ Wreath mold ( I used a flat wood one, but foam works as well.)
• 2-3 t shirts or pants (soft fabrics work best)
• Scissors
• Clear craft glue
• Decorative beads or flowers

Directions:

Cut old shirts or pants into long strips. The strips should be approx. 2 inches wide and 12 inches long.

You do not need to cut the strips nice and neat. It will not matter!

Fold the strip into half and tie it around the wreath mold as shown in the photo.

Continue to tie all the fabric around the mold. I made a pattern with mine, but you can do anything. It all looks neat! Trim the edges so that all the tied pieces are about the same size. Decorate with beads or flowers.

Use a clear tacky glue to secure the beads. Tie one more piece of fabric around the top to hang it. (I used a draw string from the pajama pants I cut up.)

By Craft Trends Contributor, Gillian from the blog Dried Figs and Wooden Spools. Check out our Craft Trends board on Pinterest!

Be honest, when you spot a bunting hanging on the wall, doesn’t it make you just a little bit happier? It’s like having a little bit of party around all the time, and who doesn’t want that?

Buntings come in all shapes and sizes these days, and more importantly, they are made in all sorts of crafty ways. Get your craft supplies out and get ready to make one because here are some of our favorite festive buntings.

Traditional

You can’t really top a good old fashion string of triangles. These buntings can be as simple as paper with holes punched in the corner for stringing up or as complicated as a hand embroidered, double sided piece of sewing mastery. Make it monotone, color coordinated or just use up your scraps. Anything goes!

Unusual Shapes and Materials

You can, of course, veer from the traditional route and make a bunting in almost any shape.

Hearts

Circles

Hexagons

Or how about pom-poms?

These crocheted buntings couldn’t be any cuter, could they?

Mini

Mini buntings are the perfect thing to top a cake, finish off a plate of brownies or decorate the front of a card. Perhaps the simplest of buntings to make, these can be created quickly and easily out of scrapbook paper, ribbon or fabric scraps.

By Craft Trends Contributor, Gillian from the blog Dried Figs and Wooden Spools. Check out our Craft Trends board on Pinterest!

When I was eighteen years old, a family friend gave me a hand crocheted doily as a graduation gift. And I didn’t get it. It was beautiful, of course, but a doily? What would I use a doily for? Well, I get it now. The humble and old-fashion doily has made a big comeback, both in the craft world and in the realms of fashion and interior design, which is good news for you, my little crafters, because you can whip those doilies that great Aunt Agnes made you out of the closet at last and put them to good use.

The Doily Lamp

I’d like to think that this is where doilies made their initial comeback since this project has been cropping up on craft blogs for a while now. With a myriad of tutorials and examples out there, you’re sure to find one you like.

The Doily Lamp

The Doily Table Runner

Romantic and yet, at the same time, very modern, this table runner is made up of a jumble of different doilies. So simple. So dramatic. So doable!

The Doily Table Runner

The GIANT doily

I would learn to crochet just to make this for my bedroom floor. Comfy and cozy, this oversized doily is a fun play on the original barely there lace creation.

The GIANT Doily

The Paper Doily

Let’s not forget the mass produced version of our lace friend, the paper doily. Oh so cheap and oh so versatile, paper doilies should be a staple in any crafters cupboard. Wrap them around gifts, use them as envelopes, pretty up a card, hang them as a banner, or fold them as a snowflake. So many craftertunities, so little time.

Altered Paper DoiliesDoily Invitations

 Press them in, glue them up, sew them on.

Some of the best doily related crafts have them displayed in unusual places. Roll a doily into dough, Mod Podge it onto a plate, paint it onto a canvas or sew it onto a sweater. Think outside the doily here and you never know what you might come up with!

Decoupaging with doilies

Doily Wall Art

By Craft Trends Contributor, Gillian from the blog Dried Figs and Wooden Spools.

Honestly, I really don’t think facial hair has been this popular since Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid can roaring through theaters. The mustache is in. Way in. It. Is. Everywhere.

And for something so simple, so normal, so “my dad has one” it’s makes me laugh every time I see another (and another) funny application for the mustache. The mustache pacifier or straw decoration? Hilarious.

Mustache rings? Love them!

How about mustache temporary tattoos? Or mustache mugs? Or mustache on a stick for a photo booth? Fab. One and all.

The best part about this particular craft trend is that it is oh so accessible and customizable. You can use it simply, say, with a felt mustache on a stick. You can get a little fancier, maybe embroider one on a tea towel for laughs or screen print a t-shirt. Carve yourself a mustache stamp to ink a little sillyness onto your letters and notes or cut a giant vinyl ‘stach for the hood of your car. If you can think of it, the mustache can make it a little bit funnier.

So tell us, where would you put a mustache?

By Craft Trends Contributor, Gillian from the blog Dried Figs and Wooden Spools.

About the time my kids were toddlers, I made a decision to use photos (of them, naturally) as the main “art” in my home. On top of the photos I take (and there are many!) I’ve also had a photographer take portraits of my kids every few years. I love having their smiling faces all around me, but I’d love it even more if I had BIG photos of my kids everywhere! Unfortunately, the cost of giant, canvas mounted photos has prevented this from happening. Until now, that is.

The process of transferring photos to canvas, or wood, or even fabric, – using a decoupage medium - has made huge leaps of late, making now not just possible, but simple, to create your own large scale (or small, of course). While there are several tutorials floating around, these are the ones we like best. Click on the photos to find step-by-step tutorials!

By Vicky, who is a dedicated card maker and crafter who loves making unique gifts and cards. 

I have been a dedicated card maker for many years and I always try to stay on trend with my card making. The rise of shabby chic in the last few years, not only in card making but in all sorts of home crafts, has been great and only continues to grow. I think that it is so popular because it has a warm, handmade and homely feel to it and it is also very feminine. There are a couple of things that define the shabby chic style and I’d like to take a quick look at them.

Floral Patterns

Pastel colors and petite prints make up a great part of shabby chic design. Popular colors include dusty blues and pinks with a hint of green and also lilacs and browns.

Phrases

Happy phrases are emblazoned on to a lot of shabby chic style house ware and decoration. Quotes about love, joy and laughter are painted on to signs and then distressed to look a little antique. You can also get a lot of personalized unique gifts in this style or simply have a go at making them yourself. Things like felt love hearts with names embroidered on to them, painted door signs with welcoming messages and frames covered with ribbon and buttons.

I decided to make some shabby chic themed birthday cards and this blue one with flowers was one of my favorite. Here’s how I made it:

1. Firstly I found a piece of scrapbooking paper that fitted in with my theme. It was from an 8×8 pack. I covered the front of my square card in glue, stuck the paper on and then trimmed around the edges.

2. Next I took a piece of textured white card and made the strip across the middle of the card. I used the ‘Victorian’ edge on my guillotine to cut along the edges. I then attached this to my card with glue.

3. Next I used my small flower craft punch to cut out 5 small pink flowers. I pushed a flower shaped brad in a darker pink through the middle and attached it to the card with foam pads so that they stuck out.

4. Finally I used a rub-on transfer to add a greeting.

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

I have made paper ball ornaments for years, but this year I decided we had to kick it up a notch and try something different. I created this project using items from CreateForLess.com and my home printer. You can use any image you want. I think photos would be a terrific option, too!

You’ll need:

• 1 sheet of cardstock with a printed image
• 8″ medium gauge wire
• Needle nose pliers
• Scissors or swing arm paper cutter
• Beads and sequins (2 of each for each ornament)
• 10″ of ribbon
• 1 drinking straw
• Large safety pin or needle
• Pin cushion (optional)

Here’s how:

1. Copy your image on your cardstock.

2. Cut your image in 6″ x 3/4″ wide strips as you see in the photo. Make sure to keep them in order!

3. You will need 16 6″x 3/4″ strips so use the excess paper to make plain strips if you don’t have enough strips with your printed image.

4. With your safety pin, poke a hole on each end of each strip 1/4″ up from the edge and right in the center (making sure you keep them in order).

5. Bend a loop on the end of your wire and string a bead and then a sequin.

6. With your printed strips facing down toward the loop and sequin, place one end of the strips in order on the wire and then thread on your straw.

7. This is the most important step! Starting from the bottom strip (the strip that is touching the sequin) and working your way up to the top strip, thread your strips over the straw.

8. When you’ve worked your way to the last strip, thread on your sequin and another bead and create another loop. Thread your ribbon through the loop and hang!