Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By General Crafts Contributor Melissa, from the blog MeloMomma.

I have always wanted to grow my own herbs, but I am super cheap and didn’t want to put much money out on it. For under $5 I was able to create a cute little herb garden and I even have left over seeds.

 What you will need:

• Old tea containers or like containers
• Potting soil
• Seeds
• Popsicle sticks
• Computer and paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Glitter

Instructions:

Fill your containers 3/4 the way full of dirt.

Create a pocket to place the seeds. Add seeds and cover. Print out pictures of what you planted. Cut them out an glue them on the popsicle stick.

Add a little glitter around the edges of the pics for extra flare.

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

May brings summer and summer brings gardens and what is better in a garden than a gnome?!?! Welcome the gnomes home with this cute moss covered wreath.  An easy project  for the kids to do!

Supplies:

• Styrofoam Wreath 
• Moss
• Letter Square Beads
• Leather Cord
• Tiny Wooden Bowl or Wooden Cap
• Tiny Wooden Candle Cup

Tools:

Glue
Red Paint 
White Paint
Brush

This is a very simple project, it takes a lot of glue and some patience to wait for it to dry. I used the green wreath so if the little ones do not cover the whole piece with moss it will not show as bad as if you would have used a white one.

First, start on the edge and lay a line of glue down and stick the moss to the wreath.  Work the whole way around, then start another line of glue working toward the center. It took 3 good lines of glue to cover the wreath.

 

While the glue is drying, string the wooden beads onto 2 pieces of leather.  

Then paint the wooden candle cup white and the wooden bowl or cap red. These 2 items will make the mushroom. Once the paint is dry glue the two items together with the bowl upside down to make the rounded top of the mushroom.  Then dot white paint on the red to decorate the mushroom.

After the glue on the wreath is dry, attach the letter strings. I used pins to tack them tight, glue would work too. Then glue the mushroom on.

This is very simply decorated, but mini silk flowers could be added as well.

Welcome visitors home and gnomes to your garden for a prosperous growing season.

By General Crafts Contributor Melissa, from the blog MeloMomma.

My darling little son recently broke one of my bracelets! Great! Along with the one I broke last month, I was pretty bummed! I hated to toss what remained of the bracelet so I held onto it until today. I am always losing pens, so I decided to make a pen/pencil holder. I think this turned out much better than and cheesy pencil holder I could buy at the local retailers. Additionally, this would be really pretty to throw a tea light candle in it! Bam! It’s multi functional!

What you will need:

• Mason Jar
• Hot Glue Gun
• 2-3 Glue Sticks
• Decorating supplies (I used a broken bracelet, but other ideas are broken jewelry, broken ceramic, beads, gems, buttons, etc…)

Directions:

Using a hot glue gun decorate your mason jar. Be sure to get an idea of what you want it to look like before gluing your décor into place.

I used mine as a pen holder, but I think this would be beautiful with a tea light candle in it as well!

This would be a really great gift idea too!

By General Crafts Contributor Melissa, from the blog MeloMomma.

We eat, breath, and sleep army type stuff in this house. So, when I seen a rather large box in the garage I knew just what to do with it. However, if you don’t have a large box tucked away in your garage, your neighborhood Lowes or Home Depot sells them.

What you will need:

• 1 large box and one 1 medium box. Must be large enough to fit in unless this tank is for decoration purposes.
• Tape (I loved the camo duct tape)
• 1 brown bag paper roll
• Scissors
• School glue
• Construction paper
• Markers
• Craft knife (or a steak knife works if you are in a bind like me )

Directions:

Tape the medium box to the large box. Cut off the top. Cut a hole in the large box so that you can fit into it.

Cut a small hole into the medium box and insert the paper roll. Secure it with tape both on the inside and the outside.

Cover with construction paper using school glue to attach. Cut 6 round circles and glue them on the bottom to make wheels. Cut out two rectangles and write US ARMY on them. Glue them on. Make a star for the front and back.

GO PLAY!

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

Pop up cards are fun to make, and to using a sketch to put the embellishments on, adds a whole new level of fun.  They are 2 of my favorite things and I know after creating this one they will be on your lists of favorites, too. 

Supplies Used:

• Blue Cardstock
• Yellow Cardstock
• White Cardstock
• Hippity Dance in the Rain by Imaginisce
• Hippity Honey Bunny by Imaginisce
• Ink Pad
• Acrylic Block
• Martha Stewart Craft Knife
• Martha Stewart Scoring Board
•  3-d Adhesive Squares
• Garden Life Stamp By Inkadinkado
• ½” Circle Punch
• Paper Trimmer
• Favorite Tape Runner
• Favorite Markers
• April Showers bring May Flowers Sketch (Click to Download)

First, print out the sketch and then move onto cutting the blue cardstock to be 6″ x 6″.  Also, cut the Hippity Dance in the Rain sheet in half to give you two 6″ x 6″ sheets.  Adhere a piece of the patterned paper to one side of the cardstock for the outside of the card.  Turn cardstock to the other side and tape the other piece of patterned paper to it making sure that the patterns on each side are different and that they are not upside down.  Fold the card in half after scoring the center with the scoring board.

Measure 2 3/8″ from each side of the card and make a mark.  From the center fold, measure ¾” above the fold and ¾” below the fold and make a mark at both points.  Place the card on the scoring board and score  the horizontal lines as shown in the picture.  Cut  vertically through all of the layers from the top score line to the bottom score line on each end as shown in the picture. Fold the center of the piece so that it “pops” out towards you.  Lay it aside. 

Stamp your image onto white cardstock and color with your favorite markers.  Cut around the image to make a 4 ¼” x 4 ¼” square.  Cut a piece of yellow cardstock that measure 4 ½” x 4 ½” and adhere the stamped image to it using your favorite tape runner.  Adhere it to the bottom of the pop up stand that you cut in the step above. 

Now using the sketch, add the embellishments to the inside and outside of the card.  Remember in using a sketch the embellishments do not have to be the same as what is shown, but should in some way resemble it.  Here I used the sketch and changed the clouds to umbrellas that I hand cut from the Hippity Honey Bunny Sheet.  I, also, use it to cut the sentiments out and adhered them to the card using the 3-d adhesive.  I used a ½” circle punch to punch the 3 birds out  which take the place of the flowers on the sketch.  

 Now it’s your turn!  Go have some fun and create this card so you can add it to your favorite things to create list, too!   

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

Recycled crafts can be fun to create as well as educational.  This project is one that the kids can help you with!  There aren’t any set rules as to what types of seed packets you use.  In my example, I have used a packet of vegetable seeds, and 2 flower packets.

Materials needed:

• Cardstock
• Lamination
• Large Popsicle Sticks
• Recycled Seed Packets
• Old seed catalogs, ads or photo/clipart images
• Scissors
• Permanent Ink Marker
• Glue – E600

Directions:

1. Gather together recycled seed packets.  Select 5-10 different seed packets that feature a picture on the front.

2. Look through seed catalogs, websites, or ads for pictures of the flowers/content of the seed packets. In my example, you’ll see that I selected a picture of Acorn Squash, Dianthys, and Zinnias. Even though the pictures weren’t exactly the same pictures as my seed packets, they were close enough. 

3. Cut out or print the pictures of the flowers/veggies to match the seed packets.

4. Trim the pictures to fit on the end of a large popsicle stick. Laminate for durability.  (Optional)

5. Count out as many popsicle sticks as you have pictures.  With a permanent ink pen, write the name of the flower/vegetable on one end of the popsicle stick. 

6. Glue the picture at the end of the popsicle stick opposite the writing, and let dry completely.

7. Once the tags are completely dry,  the game is ready to be played.

Variation:    Another variation to this game is to have the children sort vegetables from flowers by sorting into recycled aluminum cans marked with seed packets.

All of the supplies used to create this activity can be purchased from CreateForLess.com.

 

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

If you’re like me, it’s tough to toss jars when you’re creative because you know they will come in handy for something! Last year I wrote an article for Hamptons Magazine and thought I’d share with you the project I made especially for them.

YOU’LL NEED:

• Jars in different sizes
• Yarn
• Masking tape
• White Krylon spray paint
• Fabric cut on the bias 1 1/2″ wide by 10″ per jar
• Tea lights

HERE’S HOW:

1. After your jars are sparkly clean, tightly wrap them with yarn in a crisscross pattern and tape the ends on the underside or the inside so they stay in place. Don’t place the tape on the outside of the jar where you will be painting.

2. Cover an area in newspaper and give the jars 3 light coats of white Krylon spray paint (waiting 5-10 minutes in between coats) and let dry.

3. Remove the yarn and wrap the tops with the bias fabric securing them with a knot. You could also use ribbon for the tops, it’s up to you.

4. Add your tea lights and set your table.