Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

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

Make these wee night light lanterns for the wee ones you know to help settle them to sleep, or to set a mood!

Craft Materials:

• Small boxes – lightbulbs or food packaging for example
• Marker or pencil
• Craft knife
• Cellophane or clear plastic
• White glue
• LED lights
• Craft Paint

How to Make the Night light Lanterns

Carefully pull the the packaging apart, so it is still in one piece, but will lie flat.

Draw your designs onto the packaging. I used the inside of the box so the paint would cover better.

Simple shapes are cool. You can see here I’ve used hearts, stars and small square and rectangle shapes like a building at night time.

Cut your designs with the craft knife and paint the surface of the box.

Cut cellophane to cover the cut out spaces and glue to the inside of the box.

Note about Lining the Boxes

For large designs, the spaces look better if they are lined with something like cellophane. For small designs, there is no need to line the boxes.

You could line the window spaces with colored cellophane.  Bend the existing folds of the box the opposite way than they were intended, so your box will keep its shape. Glue the side edges together. Fold the ends of the box back in.

Pop your lights in when you are ready!

A Note about LED Lights

The LED lights I used here are childrens’ finger laser lights. They are safe, small and have a switch – all enclosed in plastic housing. They are cheap – there are four in the set I got in colors white, blue, red and green.

Ideas for the Night light Lanterns

For little ones:

• Stack on top of each other for buildings.
• Change the nightlight Lanterns and / or the colored lights around each night as a pre-sleep activity.

There are more sophisticated uses for these things for grown ups.

• Set the scene for romantic dinners
• Use in the bathroom to have your bath with (Don’t forget the bubble bath!)
• Use in ‘your space’ for quiet contemplation or relaxation

Have fun with these and create your own ambiance! Happy crafting!

By Paper Crafts Contributor, Lauren Romano.

Whether you’re serving hard-boiled eggs for a party or you’re painting eggs for Easter, using an egg holder is the best way to keep the egg displayed beautifully without it rolling around all over the table. It’s incredibly easy to make and you can decorate it any way you wish, including personalizing it with someone’s name. All you’ll need is a few supplies to put the project together.

What you’ll need:

• Cardstock
• Scissors
• Large embellishment
• Egg
• Glitter glue
• Mod Podge or double-sided tape

Step 1. Cut the cardstock into a strip that’s large enough to hold the egg. Depending on your preference, you can make it tall and thin so the egg balances on top or short and wide so it holds a larger portion of the egg. Use the egg as a measuring device.

Step 2. Glue the ends of the strip together so it creates a large loop.

Step 3. Place a large embellishment on the front of the loop. Use Mod Podge or double-sided tape to secure it if it’s not self-adhesive.

Step 4. Use glitter glue to make dots all over the holder. The best way to pull it off without smearing the glue is to hold the loop in between your fingers with your thumb on the embellishment and pointer finger on the inside of the loop.

Step 5. Give it plenty of time to dry before placing the egg in the holder.

By Kid’s Crafts Contributor Stephanie, from the Blog Geek with Glasses.

 

I knit and weave, so I have many opportunities to use all the pretty yarns out there. My daughter on the other hand, is too little to want to learn to knit and has no interest in weaving, but wants to make things with all the pretty yarns. The project I came up with was simple yarn art paintings. This type of painting is based on the traditional folk art of the Huichol Indians of Mexico. The traditional way of producing this type of art is taking bees wax and melting it on a wooden board, then pressing the yarn into the wax before it hardens. We are going to use glue and cardstock. 

Supplies:

Yarn
Cardstock
Glue
Pencil

First I came up with our design idea. We thought the chickadee type bird would look cute in her home room, replacing some of the baby art – since now she’s a big girl. I sketched a simple outline in light pencil on a piece of heavy cardstock. We gathered the colors of yarns we wanted, a couple of toothpicks and glue.

The pink bird was my daughter’s. I started her bird by laying a thin single bead of glue around the outside line of the sketch. She placed a length of yarn on the glue following the path. Then right next to that I placed another line of glue. This technique worked for her because there is not a large area of glue for her to get her arm in and there is a short length of yarn to deal with so it does not get tangled. We continued to work in this fashion until we got to the center. We placed the eye on top of the pink yarn, not traditional but again, it worked for the younger artist.

The blue bird, I started with the wing and eye in the darker color. I spread a layer of glue on the wing area and started to lay the yarn.  On the wing, I started with a spiral then back and forth working toward the tip of the wing. The eye was a spiral starting in the center and working out until it was the size I wanted. For the lighter blue, I started in the center by the wing working out. I used the toothpick for making the hard corners and pressing the yarn down, since I tend to get extra gluey fingers. I liked the idea of using one long piece of yarn, winding it around to create texture and shapes, but if it’s easier to use a shorter piece of yarn that is fine too.

Both of these approaches worked really well since we were not covering the entire piece of cardstock. If the design calls for the entire piece to be covered I suggest working from left to right, placing glue only on the section that is being worked on, then when it’s covered contiue by adding more glue to another section.

When the glue was dry, I placed them in frames and hung them in the little one’s room.

This is a great project to use up bits of yarn and yarns that are beautiful but you don’t want to wear. Also, a project if you love yarn but do not knit, crochet or weave. Create your own folk art piece today.

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

Make these cardboard tube holders for your pens and pencils to organize your craft area or funky up your desk. An easy ‘rainy day’ activity or for when the kids say they are ‘bored’. Most houses will have the basic materials at hand.

These were made with help from a wee guy who just turned four. He had a lot of fun deciding what colors the arms and feet should be, applying the paint with a sponge and loves to stack them like a totem pole. Maybe I’ll make up some tribal tubes for just that purpose. His two year old brother likes to put them in different orders, sometimes color, sometimes according to the shapes on them. (I haven’t quite worked out his logic!)

Craft Supplies

• cardboard tubes
• card for the arms
• acrylic paints
• thick black marker
• wiggly eyes
• white glue
• craft knife
• scissors

Craft Technique

Base coat the cardboard tubes. I used cut pieces of kitchen sponge. It provides a quick and even coverage.

Decorate the tubes with a marker. Use simple shapes like stars, swirls, dots, stripes.

Glue on the eyes. Add faces. A few well placed lines to show expression is all you need.

Cut out base from card and glue to the bottom of the cardboard tube. You can download some base shapes to use.

Download Feet Template

Or download plain shapes to use as a template. Resize them if you need to.

Download Plain Feet Template

Cut a rectangle from matching card for the arms. Make a slot in each side of the Pen Pal with a craft knife to place the arms through. Bend the middle of the arms to the inside of the cardboard tube to make more room inside the tube.

Add pens to your pals, and you’re done.

Easy Craft Ideas

• Further embellish with ribbon or yarn bows for shoe laces
• Use glitter glue to add some sparkle to your drawn designs
• For small children, let them put stickers on the cardboard tubes instead of painting them
• Draw eyes instead

Have fun and Happy Crafting!

By Paper Crafts Contributor, Lauren Romano.

There’s something incredibly boring about a refrigerator unless it’s decorated. Some bright color and sparkle can do wonders for brightening up the fridge and the kitchen. A cost-efficient way to do this without going overboard is to combine glitter magnets with bright paper for note taking. All you need is a few items in order to put together a set to use at your home or to give as a gift.

 

What you’ll need:

• Adhesive round magnets
• Glitter
• Wax paper
• Spray glue
• Bright paper or cardstock
• Scissors

Step 1. Choose the glitter you’d like to use and put one small pile of each on different sheets of wax paper so the colors don’t mix.

Step 2. Remove the paper backing off the magnets and press each one adhesive side down into a pile of glitter.

Step 3. Shake off the loose glitter, then place each finished magnet on a single piece of wax paper.

Step 4. Hold spray glue at least a foot away from each magnet, then spray them in short spurts so it doesn’t knock the glitter off. Let it sit to dry and, if necessary, put more glitter on and spray it again with the glue. Give the glue time to dry before putting the magnets on the fridge.

Step 5. Cut the paper to whatever size you’d like to use, then place it on the fridge along with the magnets.

By Guest Blogger, from the blog Serenity’s Musings.

 

Here’s something you could DIY as a Gift for anyone.

Material Needed:

• Fabric Paint
• A brush for painting ( I used a fine tipped brush)
• A T-shirt
• Cup of water for washing brush between colors

Time: About 20 minutes

Difficulty Level :Easy

Step 1: Place a sheet of paper or book inside the T shirt right beneath where you wish to draw. This helps prevent seeping of colors.

Step 2: Start with white paint. You can always add other colors on top of white, this gives a purer color. Or you could leave it as white.

Step 3: Draw freehand swirls and curved lines. Or you could try for straight lines, but these are harder to do at the start.

 Step 4: Wash your brush. Best to paint on a piece of paper or tissue to get rid of excess water.

Step 5: Choose a darker color similar to the T shirt color. I chose red.

Step 6: Paint some swirls or dots in red.

Inverted colors of the original for a different color combination.

Reminder:

Iron on reverse before washing.

I have used normal detergents and washed in normal machine wash(cold water) and the colors seem to last for quite a while.

For best colors, apply more than one coat of acrylic/fabric paint.

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

Make yourself a Postbox to stash your change in! When I was small, Wednesday was banking day at school. You took your wee passbook and banking money. The saying on the passbook was something like:

Save your pennies, they grow into dollars!

Great advice and still valid for today.

These cute Postboxes are quick and easy to make.

Craft Supplies:

• cardboard tube
• black marker
• red and black paint
• craft knife
• white glue
• foam supermarket tray or thick cardboard
• a bead for each postbox

How to make the Postbox

Draw your design on the cardboard tube with the black marker.

Paint the bottom in black and the rest in red. You might want to leave a space for a message or your name. Something like: ‘Darcy’s Money Box’. You might want to put a message on like: ‘Don’t Touch’, or ‘Christmas Fund’ or something else.

Draw around the end of the cardboard tube onto cardboard or foam supermarket tray. Cut out two circles just a little larger than your circles to make the base and top of the Postbox.

Stick a bead onto the top of one of the circles to make the top of the Postbox.

Get an adult to cut out the money slot with the craft knife.

You’re done! Now put your post your change in them!

Ideas for the Postboxes

Messages to write in the blank space of the Postbox could be:

Have some cents!

I have cents!

Let’s be cents-able!

In-cent-ive!

Open in case of emergency!

Make a Postbox as a gift with a few coins or dollars put in to start the recipient off.

These would be great as gifts for:

• A New Baby
• Housewarming
• Bon Voyage – it would also be a subtle reminder for the gift-ee to write!
• Have fun with these, Happy Crafting!