Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Dondi Richardson from the FloraCraft Make It: Fun Blog.

This Styrofoam glider is a fun weekend project to do with your kids. (Get them into crafting earlier!) Project includes a template for the glider. Easy to make and fun to decorate, plus you can see how far it will fly!

Supplies:

FloraCraft Foam: Four – Sheets, ½”x12″x12″

Other Materials:

• Acrylic Paint
• Dimensional Fabric Paint
• Toothpicks
• Glider Template

Tools:

• Design It: Foam Cutter or Serrated Knife
• Low-Temp Glue Gun and glue sticks
• Paint Brushes: wide flat brush and detailing brush
• Paper (for templates)
• Black Marker
• ½” Sequin Pins

Instructions

1. Print and enlarge the templates to size needed. Hint: You can use a photocopier to copy and enlarge templates.
2. Pin the templates to the sheets of foam and trace with black marker: one body, two wings, two tail wings and one tail fin.
3. Remove the templates and cut out the plane parts using the foam cutter.
4. Use the scrap pieces of foam like a sanding block to “sand” the square edges of the foam parts smooth, making it look more authentic.
5. Glue the parts together, inserting toothpicks between the parts for a more secure bond.
6. Paint desired colors and let dry completely.

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

I love the look of mercury glass. It’s perfect in almost every style of decor or season. It can be simple, elegant, romantic or modern depending entirely on what you do with it. It has only one problem. It can be prohibitively expensive. But not anymore. Turn any old glass jar into dazzling faux mercury glass with two simple ingredients (hint, one of them is water!)

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Glass jars, vases or bowls
• Water
• Mirror spray paint

1. Lightly mist the inside of your glass. If you have a wide mouth jar or a bowl, you may want to tape off the outside.

2. Spray a thin coat of Mirror paint into the inside of the jar or bottle. Allow the paint to drip down and coat the inside, you want the coat to be uneven.

3. Allow the paint to dry and then repeat until you have the level of mirror finish that you desire (2-3 coats is usually sufficient).

You can also use this technique on the outside of a jar candle to create a Mercury Glass Candle.

By Guest Bloggers Melissa + Kellie, from the blog “Icing Designs”.

Look at these fancy clothes pins! We wanted to start off with a little, fun DIY project.

Just trace the size of the clothes pin onto your decorative paper and cut it out. Or if you prefer cut a piece of ribbon that will cover the clothes pin. Then just hot glue the paper or ribbon right onto the clothes pin.

To embellish you can either make a bow out of ribbon or a rosette out of paper. (DIY, instructions here) Add a little crystal in the center and your ready to glue it on to the top of the open end of the clothes pin.

So easy right! These are just really cute to be used so many different ways. You can use them to hang a letter garland at a birthday party, or use them to hang photos on a clothes line at a shower or party! You can even just use them to clip a baggie closed, or put glue a magnet on the back and you can use it as a clip on your fridge. These would be really cute to add to a “house-warming” gift basket as well!

 By Guest Blogger Vicky, from the blog “Alpha Design”.

In January this year I was overjoyed when my niece gave birth to a little baby girl. There was a rush within the family to buy presents for this new addition and I saw many of them giving things like clothes and toys but I wanted to do do something a bit different. Something that marked her birth and would be a keepsake for her in years to come. So, I decided that I would paint her a canvas with her name and birth date on it.

I looked online for ideas and after much deliberation I decided that I would use an owl theme. I know from my card making that Owls are very on trend at the moment and so this seemed like a good choice. I created a mental picture of what I wanted it to look like and went out to a local craft shop to buy a canvas. I got a small square canvas and then I went to my local DIY store where I bought a number of paint tester pots. Acrylic paints soon add up in price and so this seemed like a great way to save some cash.

After all of this, I armed myself with a paintbrush and just went for it. I had only previously painted two canvases before this and so this seemed like quite a big task of myself. Eventually (after a few weeks of hard work!) I finished my picture. I used raised paints that come in a nozzled tube to add the writing and the rest of the picture is just done with my tester pots. I added the buttons on as eyes to make it a little more 3dimensional and interesting.

I hope to do much more painting as I really enjoyed the whole experience. Here are a couple of things I learned along the way:

• It is best to draw out the picture you see in your head and keep it next to you the whole time. I also kept a few example pictures that I found on the internet with me too.
• If you are going to mix your own colors then make sure that you have more than enough. There were a couple of times when I got into a bit of a panic because I thought that the color I had mixed would run out!
• Have a break in order to refocus. After sitting for a few hours you can get quite tired and a bit bleary eyed. I found that I painted much better when I had regular breaks and a chocolate biscuit!
• Practice writing in paint on a piece of paper first so that you get it right on the canvas!

My niece really liked the unique present and it will look great on her pink bedroom wall!

By Paper Crafts Contributor, Lauren Romano.

As much as I love candles, I can never find a candle holder I like. I purchased a clear square one, but it just looked plain sitting on top of my table. The pages I saved from a broken book seemed like they would look beautiful while illuminated with light, so I thought the two would fit perfectly together. It takes a small amount of time to make, but it gave me exactly the type of candle holder I was looking for.

What you need:

• Candle holder
• Candle
• Scissors
• Book pages
• Mod Podge Hard Coat

Step 1. Trim the edges of the book pages so only the block of words remain. The number of pages you’ll need depends on the amount of words on each page and the size of the candle holder. Cut the pages into thin strips, then cut them into thirds.

Step 2. Remove any price stickers from the candle holder, wash it thoroughly, then let it dry.

Step 3. Put a layer of Mod Podge on the sides of the candle holder, then start placing down the paper strips. Overlap some of the pieces to create a textured look, but try to keep the layers as thin as possible so the light shines through. As you overlap the strips, put Mod Podge in between the pieces so they don’t bubble. Don’t worry if some stick out over the edge, you can trim them later.

Step 4. After you have the sides of the candle holder covered with the strips, apply a layer of Mod Podge over them. Use your finger to apply it so you can flatten out the pieces as you go along.

Step 5. When you’re finished with the sides, flip the candle holder over and use the Mod Podge to apply strips to the bottom, then put another layer on top to seal them on.

Step 6. Leave the candle holder upside down, let it dry thoroughly, then trim the excess strips on the edges. If there’s any rough edges, use your finger to apply Mod Podge to smooth them out, then let it dry before using.

By FloraCraft Designers from the Blog “Make It: Fun”.

Are you entertaining this Independence Day? Try these easy DIY centerpieces!

You’ll need:

STYROFOAM Brand Foam:

• Three – Cubes: 3″
• One – Sheets: 1″x12″x36″

Other Materials:

• Three – Silk Hydrangeas: Blue
• Fifteen – Silk Roses: White
• Red/White Ribbon: 1.5″ (approximately 3 yards)
• Blue Ribbon: 5/8″ (approximately 3 yards)
• Acrylic Paints: Red, white, blue and silver
• Straight pins

Tools:

• Design It: Foam Cutter or Serrated Knife
• Low-Temp Glue Gun
• Scissors
• Black Marker
• Paint Brushes
• Cardstock Paper

Instructions:

1. Cut six 13″ lengths of the wide red/white ribbon.

2. Glue two pieces of ribbon around the sides of each cube to cover. One piece at the top and one at the bottom, slightly overlapping where they meet. The top and bottom will be left bare.

3. Pull the hydrangea blossoms from the stems and glue a blossom into the top of each cube. Cut the small roses from the stems and glue four or five roses into each hydrangea blossom.

4. Make three small bows using the blue ribbon and glue one to the front of each cube.

5. To make the stars: Draw assorted sizes of stars onto cardstock paper and cut out. Pin the cardstock stars onto the foam sheet and cut out using the serrated knife. Use the scrap pieces of foam as sanding blocks to sand the edges of the stars smooth. Paint the stars with the acrylic paints and let dry. Pin blue ribbon around the outside edge of three larger stars and use as the base for the cubes.

By Recycled Crafts Contributor, Anitra from the blog “Coffee Pot People”.

I love paper. All kinds of paper—handmade, manufactured, striped, floral, plaid, plain. Okay, that last one maybe not as much as the printed varieties. The solid-color sheets from the scrapbooking pads I buy tend to accumulate, while I use up their more interesting siblings.

So I decided to try altering them into something more interesting.

One of my favorite methods results in paper that has a leather-like texture. It makes a great background for collage, and is a lot easier to glue than actual leather, not to mention considerably less expensive.

To get your leather-textured paper, take a sheet of whatever color you like, and hold it under the sink tap until it’s evenly wet, but not soggy. Now wad it up, gently but thoroughly. After you’ve got it crumpled into a tight ball, carefully unwad it. Wet paper is fragile, so easy does it, or you’ll put a finger through it.

When the paper is unwadded and spread out flat, you can iron it. Use a fairly hot iron, and put a clean, dry sheet of paper over your wrinkled up wet one, or the iron may stick and/or take off some of the color. You now have a sheet of paper that has a wrinkled look, but is flat. Lay it out to dry completely. (My favorite place is on top of the dryer while I’m drying a load of clothes.)

You’ll notice your “new” paper has more than wrinkles; it will now have a heavier, thicker feel to it, as well.

Another way I alter paper is to spritz it with another color. Dip an old toothbrush into a small puddle of paint, and run your finger over the bristles, flicking paint in a spray over the surface of the paper.

If you want the paint to spread a bit, do an additional spritz with water. You can see a few puddles on my sheet, here. If that happens on yours, gently lay a paper towel over it. Don’t press down on it; just let it soak up the excess on its own.

I’ve used purple on lavender here, but white on black would be another choice, or blue on green. Any color combination you want is as close as your paint stash.

As with your “leather” paper, lay flat to dry.

And here’s one using several colors. I think it has distinct possibilities!

And here’s one way I used my finished paper: