Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Kim, from the Blog “Paper Hugs”.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I made this card in honor of Thinking Pink. Stitching can add such a subtle touch to a card.  Have you ever thought about framing in your sentiment to draw more attention to it?  The guides that are offered on my sewing machine are limited, so I found a way to stitch in the center of my card by creating a paper mask.

Start by blocking off the area where your sentiment will appear with a cut mask.  Add to the card base with repositionable tape so that the mask won’t tear the base paper.

Follow around the inside box with your sewing machine (or hand stitch).

Gently remove the mask to reveal a center frame, stitch along the outer edge of your card base to complete the look.

You can make the frame any size you like (use 2 or more frames if you like).  How about stitching around punched circles?  Create your own template and stitch around that.  You can stitch around die cuts too. 

Always look at the letters found within your sentiment for special touches. Replace letter “o’s” with buttons or brads.  Be playful with your sentiments and add interest where you can.

Recently I spent a day making greeting cards. It’s relaxing and brings a smile to my face. I have more cards than I’ll ever use, but I just can’t stop at one or two. I found a wonderful organization that sends unused greeting cards and stationary to our troops overseas so that they have a way to send news and love to their friends and family back home. CardsForHeroes has sent over 126,731 cards to our troops.

This simple stamped card is perfect to send to an organization like Cards For Heroes.

Find your cardmaking supplies on CreateForLess.com and your buck goes a long way. I’d be lost without my card blanks, which save time and energy. I always love using mirror paper to mat my card front images and embellishments. We can make such a big difference to our troops using our creativity.

Wishing everyone the best of the holidays and a very merry Christmas!

What is your favorite part of Christmas? It’s hard for me to decide.  I love sitting in my living room at night just watching the lights upon my Christmas tree.  I enjoy putting my handmade ornaments on the tree remembering when each was given to me and by whom.  Some are very rustic made by little hands. Some are delicate made by careful hands.  Some are whimsical made by happy hands, while others are just beautiful and made by very skilled hands.  But each is special to me and makes me smile.

I actually enjoy addressing, signing, and sending holiday wishes in the form of purchased and handmade cards. It’s a quiet time when I can just be still and know how blessed I am to have such wonderful family and friends. Baking and exchanging cookies is a bright spot of my holidays.  I’ve got a sweet tooth and it loves cookies!  I also like singing and listening to carols.  I’m a bit tone-deaf, but during the holidays everyone seems very forgiving of my throwing the whole choir off-key!

I try to make my holiday spirit last 264 days until the next Christmas.  The world is a better place during the holidays with hot cocoa steaming, white snowflakes glistening, and colorful lights shining through the night. Christmas is an extraordinary gift to us and a time to show off our creativity.  Which brings me to my favorite part of the holidays! Presents under the tree!  I’m looking forward to unwrapping some handmade gifts this year and hope there are a few handmade gifts under your tree too!

Where has the year gone?  It seemed to fly by so quickly this year that I’m having to do some last minute thinking about what to make for gifts I want to give my family and friends!  I recently found an interesting website, Buy Handmade. The site asks you to pledge to buy handmade items this holiday season and I think that’s a wonderful idea! I signed the pledge and I hope you do too! I also think we should pledge not just to buy what others make, but we should make our own handmade items to give!

This holiday season I’m giving:

• Handmade rubbing salts (recipe below)
• Bracelets that include handmade beads I purchased in China
• Decorative soaps in slumped soap dishes (My husband helps me with the glass fusing and kilns)
• Handcrafted holiday cards and tags (Made from all my paper scraps and card blanks)

Handmade rubbing salts are a great winter holiday gift.  You can use the rubbing salts in your bath or shower and your skin feels so soft afterwards. Here are the instructions for making your own rubbing salts!

Materials

• Canning or glass jars with air tight lids
• Vitamin E or Grapeseed Oil Extract (found at health food stores or pharmacies)
• Essential Oil (scent of your choice)
• Table salt (fine salts)
• Carrier Oil (any oil without a scent like almond oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil)
• Embellishments for jars (ribbon, lace, stickers, labels, etc)

Instructions

• Pour salt into jar about 3/4 full.
• Pour in carrier oil, completely covering salt.
• Add 5-8 drops of essential oil (scent) to mixture.
• Seal jar tight and embellish.  Allow salt rub “rest” 3 days, after 3 days scent is at its peak.  If you desire more scent then add more essential oil.