Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By General Crafts Contributor Mina, from the blog Mina’s Journal.

Home is where the heart is! Why not make these Heart Houses this Valentine’s Day? All you need is paper or cardstock, scissors and glue. A quick, cute and funky project for Valentine cheer.

How to make the Heart House:

Trim around the outer lines of the house and the roof. Fold the roof in half widthwise to make the peak. Fold along the tab ends and sides of house as shown in the template.

Glue where indicated on the model. I found it better to glue the house together first, before putting on the roof. Line up the peak fold to match the top of the triangular top of the house.

Glue the roof to the tabs of one side of the Heart House. Glue the other side of the roof to the remaining side of the Heart House.

You’re done!

Ideas for Heart Houses

Make a few houses for a table centerpiece, or a shelf display.

Cut out windows, cover the inside window spaces with lunch paper. Pop the finished house over a LED light source, for night time illumination.

Download Blue Heart House

To use as a gift box glue the house onto a card base. Make it a little larger than the house and paint it green or use green card. Pop a gift inside the house before joining the roof.

Download Pink Heart House

To use the house to play with, cut along the top and bottom lines of the windows and down the middle. Fold open for shutter type windows.Cut along the top and down one side of the door. Fold door open and make paper dolls for your Heart House.

To make your own house, trace the template and design your own windows and doors, then make them up.

Have Fun! Happy Crafting!

*Design by Mina Keenan

By DCWV Diary

I wanted to share a fun thing that we did on our front door this weekend…using 4 sheets of Immortal Love patterned paper!
 

You can see this big red heart from about 8 houses up the street! So fun, the neighbor kids have loved it!

I used 4 sheets of 12×12 paper and cut them down to 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ pieces and simply taped them up! Easy, easy!!!

By Cardmaking & Scrapbook Layout Contributor, Peg from the blog Peg’s Crafting Corner.

What is New Year’s without a guests or a party?  Celebrate by inviting your friends to the celebration using this festive invitation.  They are quick, fun and easy to make so you can invite everyone on your list.

Supplies Used:

• Graphic 45 Curtain Call Paper Pad
• Fired Brick Distress Ink
• Gold Ink Pad
• Silver Ink Pad
• Beige Cardstock
• Red Stickles
• Gold Stickles
• Tape Runner
• Red Marker
• Drink Glass of Your Choice Such As: Rub-Ons, Chipboard Pieces, a Stamp or Punch
• Silver Cardstock if using a stamp or punch for the Drink Glass

Begin by cutting an 8″ x 6″ piece of beige cardstock and folding it in half to create card base.  Cut a 4 ¾” x 3 piece from the “Leading Ladies” patterned paper from the Graphic 45 Curtain Call Paper Pad and adhere it to the front of the card using the tape runner.  Using the gold ink pad, ink the edges and into the center of the card.  Repeat this step, using the silver ink pad.  It’s ok to ink over the edges of the patterned paper as it helps to tie it all together.  In the next step, use the Fired Brick Distress Ink pad and a paper towel to lightly go over the edges to add just a little bit of color to the card.  Go back over the red with a clean paper towel to remove any excess ink.

Write the invitation message on the front of the card with the red marker.  This will give you a guideline when going over it with the Stickles and a dimensional look to the parts of the letters that are not completely covered by the Stickles. 

Adhere the drink glasses to your card, arranging them in a way that you like.  I, then, made marks above the glasses to help me know where the Red Stickles confetti dots looked the best and I recommend doing this so that you don’t get too many dots and make things look crowded on the card.  You can use a pencil, little dots of paper or whatever you’d like to do this step.  Then, create the confetti dots using the bottle of Red Stickles.  The last step is to go over the message using the bottle of Gold Stickles and then allowing it to dry completely. 

Now you can ring in the new year by sending these invitations to everyone on your list inviting them to the party of the year! 

Happy New Year to everyone!

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 Paper Crafts Contributor, Lauren Romano.

Spending time with family and friends is one of the best things about the holidays. Although it’s important to always tell loved ones how grateful you are for them, during Christmas is an especially great time to do so. This year, consider making personal note party favors for each guest at your dinner party. They take little time to create and are incredibly inexpensive.

What you’ll need:

• Any Christmas book
• White paper
• Glitter glue
• Ribbon
• Mod Podge
• Flat back rhinestones (optional)

Step 1. Choose your background material. I used a broken and worn down book of vintage Christmas music, but other options include Christmas story books or cookbooks. Each page you use should be double-sided.

Step 2. Cut the white paper into rectangles that are proportionate to the background paper. Write your personal notes on each one, then use Mod Podge to glue it to the center of the background paper.

Step 3. Use glitter glue to decorate the outer edges of the party favor. I did a red bow on the top, small red dot on the bottom and green wavy lines along the edges. You can also attach flat back rhinestones depending on how heavy the paper is. Let the party favors dry overnight before moving onto the next step. Test the glue by lightly tapping it with your finger to make sure it’s completely dry.

Step 4. Roll up the party favors and secure each one with a ribbon.

To distribute them to guests, place the party favors on the plates at the table or put them in a decorative basket and give them out as the guests arrive or leave.

By Crafts for Learning Contributor, Danielle from the blog Crayonbox Learning.

While working with teachers all over the world, I am often asked to create activities that are simple to put together and low cost. Throughout the year, I look for different containers that I can transform into learning games while keeping the cost minimal. Adding supplies from CreateForLess helps stretch budgets, while help to keep learning fun!

This activity uses colorful gift tins as holders for festive learning games! Perfect for last minute gift for a teacher, daycare provider, or friend with young children!

My example project features a Christmas themed tin, with candy cane shaped game pieces with opposite words. Each candy cane piece has a different word on it, and the goal of the game is to match the opposites. When not in play, the game pieces fit inside the tin.

Materials needed:

• Tin container (Any size)
• Cardstock
• Candy Cane Template
• Scissors
• Crayons/Pens
• Computer/Printer (Optional)
• Ribbon or Bow
• Embellishments (Optional)

Selecting the Tin:

CreateForLess.com has a wide selection of novelty shaped tins in different sizes to choose from. Any tin will work for this project. The outside of the tin can be decorated with ribbon, a bow, or other embellishments. (Keep in mind the age group of the children using the tin before using small pieces for embellishment.) Another option for decorating the tin is to paint the lid with chalkboard paint, and write the name of the game.

The tin that I used for this project was already colored, and the size was perfect for small hands. I added a simple grosgrain bow on the lid in Christmas colors to finish the look.

Candy Cane Template:

The candy cane template is provided, Candy Cane Template. The template was sized to fit a tin 3 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 3 inches deep. The template can be resized for whatever tin you are using. The .Gif file is provided so that you can add text prior to printing if desired.

There are several options for using the candy cane template. The pieces can be cut out and used as a template for cutting out colorful scrapbooking cardstock, printed out as is onto colored cardstock, or the image can be flood filled using any photo/image software before printing.

Click on photo for larger view.

In the example, I flood filled half of the candy canes in a light red color, and the other half in a light green color. Before I printed the pieces, I typed the opposite words using n a cute font. I printed the pieces onto white card stock so that the color would pop, and then I hand cut the pieces. Laminating the game pieces is recommended for durability for long term use.

This is a project that you can put together with young children too. It takes just a few minutes to assemble once you have the tin you want to use, and have decided how you would like to color the candy cane template.

The overall cost for this project was less than $2.00, and the project was complete in under an hour. The best part is that all of the supplies used in this project can be found at CreateForLess.com.

By Cardmaking & Scrapbook Layout Contributor, Peg from the blog Peg’s Crafting Corner.

What’s more fun than receiving a card with a treat attached?  This cute little gift box is attached directly to the card and can be decorated for any occasion and filled with any kind of treat.  The ideas are limited only by your imagination. 

Supplies Used:

• Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium Paper Pad
• Merry Christmas Rub-Ons
• Red Cardstock
• Laminate
• 1″ Square Punch
• Tape Runner
• Scoring Board
• Paper Trimmer
• Scissors
• Glue
• 3-d Adhesive Dots

Begin by cutting a piece of red cardstock to 6 ½” x 11 ¾”.  Then, using your scoring board and the long side of the paper score at 3 ½”, 7″, 8 ½”, 9 ¼”, 10 ¾” and 11 ½”.  Rotate the paper so the short side is at the top of the scoring board and again score at ¾” and 5 ¾”.

Next, trim using the scissors the ¾” flap from the left of the cardstock on both the top and bottom up to the 7″ score line as seen in the picture.  This should leave you 5 tabbed areas at the end (far right) of your cardstock with the last tab measuring ¼”.

Now, cut the tabs on each score line just up to the score line that runs the length of the paper.  Cut off and remove the extra ¼” pieces on each end.  Repeat this step on the other end of the cardstock piece. 

Fold the box at the score lines to give them a good solid crease. It should look like this. 

Unfold the box and cut a strip of the, “Tis the Season” patterned paper from the Graphic 45 Paper Pad that measures the length and width (5″ x 1 ½”) of the front panel of the box and adhere it on.  Position the square punch where you want the window to begin at the top and start punching the window out; overlapping the next punch over the previous one to be sure to open the entire space.  I positioned the window 1″ from the top and bottom of the box, but you can choose how tall you want your window to be on it.    You may have to fold the ¼” flap at the bottom of the paper inward so the punch fits up to the center flap. 

At this point, your box will look like this.  Cut a piece of laminate to fit on the inside of the box behind the window making sure to cut it longer and wider than the window opening and adhere it using the glue. 

Using the tape runner, place a small amount of tape on the ¾” tabs and fasten them to the larger tab as shown in the pictures.  Make sure not to adhere the very top flap because that’s the one that will open and close the box as seen in the second picture below. 

Here is what your card treat box will look like at this point. 

Now cut a piece of the “Tis the Season” patterned paper from the Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium Paper Pad that measures 4 ½” x 3″ and tape it on the front of the card using the tape runner.  Cut a 3 ½” x 2 ½” piece of red cardstock and adhere it to the patterned paper. Trim around the “Right and Jolly Christmas Tag from the Santa Express” sheet in the Graphic 45 Paper Pad and using 3- adhesive dots glue it to the red cardstock.  Open the card up and on the inside place the “Merry Christmas” rub-on and rub to adhere it.  Trim 2 of the striped corners from an extra piece of the “Tis the Season” patterned paper and tape them to the left corners. 

Fill with a special treat and your card treat box is ready to share. 

Happy Holidays!