Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

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

April 22^nd is Earth Day.  How are you celebrating this year? One part of helping the earth and celebrating Earth Day is by recycling.   I’ve done several projects this year for that day so I began thinking about what we’ve done to help the earth.  I decided to do this scrapbook layout to show some of the activities that my family has done to help celebrate.  It, also, got me to thinking about the things I use for those projects.  Are they eco friendly?  

One thing I did was to find paper that can be used on my project that is recycled. Of course, my first choice was my favorite kraft paper.  That way I can help keep it out of the landfills and create some fabulous projects with it.  Did you know that if you type in the word “recycled” in the search box at CreateForLess it gives you a large amount of items in all craft types to choose from?  Try it!  It’s fun to see what you can find to use.  I found this really cool recycled symbol done in rhinestones that I can imagine on several projects.  It could be ironed on a shirt or a piece of material and then sewn onto a layout or card. 

This year, my son wanted to plant a garden and wanted to start the seeds himself.  While looking for Earth Day activities that we are doing, I realized that he was doing one by planting a garden for us which will give us enough to use with no waste and no packaging from the stores to go to the landfill.  We have the containers for the seed starters that are plastic but we will use them again next year thus keeping them out of the trash.  Another thing I decided to grow this year was our own flowers.  This will help beautify our area and the seeds I get off these plants will be used for future plants.  We can give back to the earth by planting a tree.  They are important to the ecology in many ways and they provide us with things like shade so you can’t go wrong by planting a tree to celebrate Earth Day, 2012! 

Join the celebration this year.  Plan what your family can do to help the earth.  Start by looking for crafting supplies that are recycled and use those.  Don’t forget to scrapbook what you do because just like giving back to the earth when we plant a tree or pick up garbage, we give back to our families in the future by scrapbooking our activities. 

 Products Used:

• Recycled Kraft Paper
• Paper Accents Cardstock in Apple Green and Lilac or their Variety Pack
• Red Cardstock
• Green Cardstock
• Martha Stewart Flower Stamp Punch
• Martha Stewart Branch Punch
• Favorite Markers- Green and Blue
• Colorbox Ink -Deep Grape
• Colorbox Ink – Mud Slide
• Indie Cricut Cart
• Cricut Machine

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

It’s finally Spring and Earth Day is right around the corner. Introduce the kids to planting, beautifying their surroundings and helping the Earth by making these fun and easy Seed Bombs. We made these Seed Bombs in no time, the worst part is waiting for them to dry before we can share them with our friends and the environment.

The idea has been out there for decades, for gardening when one doesn’t have the time to do the prep work of the soil and of course beautifying the areas of vacancy. These Guerrilla Gardeners have been bombing for years, but all of a sudden the idea is mainstream with Seed Bomb vending machines!  By making these at home you can beautify the land for pennies!

We are going to make ours using air dry clay, potting soil/compost, water and native wild flower seeds. The bee population is in serious danger and without bees, fruits will not be pollinated and we will not have honey – a huge source of healing and sweetness in our home. It is important for us to share this with our daughter and try to help the bees in our area by planting lots of flowers.  But feel free to use veggie seeds, like lettuce and spinach if you want to try a garden without much work.

Supplies:

Air Dry Clay
Potting Soil or Compost – the key is to have clean dirt – so you don’t contaminate any area that you bomb.            
(You can purify dirt from your yard by baking it in the oven.)
Water
Seeds

The recipe is by parts so you can make more or less depending on your ambition.

                3 parts air dry clay
                2 parts potting soil           
                1 part seeds

Start by scooping the air dry clay out and placing it into a mixing bowl, next add the potting soil. Since we are using clay that already has moisture to it, start mixing the two together with your hands. Add water a little bit at a time, really no more than a tablespoon at a time. Too much water will make a runny mess so less is more. If you add too much water try to fix the consistency by adding equal parts of clay and soil. In the end it should be mushy enough to push through your fingers, but hold a ball shape when rolled in your hands.

Once you’ve gotten the mix to this consistency, open the seeds and pour them in. Mix the seeds in really well. Next start making your bombs by rolling little balls in your hands, about the size of marbles. Lay the balls out on a rack to dry. Let them dry completely. I recommend a cloth bag to store them in, that way if there is any moisture left the Bombs will be able to continue to dry out and they will not mold.

Now, what do you do with them? Go out into the world, find a vacant lot and bombs away! These are also great for people who don’t really have the time to garden. The potting soil gives the seeds a good base to root to and the clay will hold in moisture. The rain does most of the work. We are going to use them on our property where it is too hard to dig and tend to the garden like a steep sloping  hillside.

Here is a note on seed choice: Choose wisely. Look for native seeds to your area. One of the packs of wildflowers we found are annuals for our area. These are the Seed Bombs that we are going to give as gifts to our friends. These plants are not invasive and will not come back, they will be there for one season and not cause problems for the future. For ourselves we are using a mix of annual and perennial  wildflowers because we know we want the hillside to be covered year after year.

Go out and Beautify our Planet!!!

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

Add a touch of whimsy to your paper projects with these Pink Doodle Frames.

The Pink Doodle Frames come six to a page, and are oval in nature. They are fairly large and you can have them lined or unlined.

Pink Doodle Frames for Scrapbook Layouts

If scrapbooking is your thing, use the frames to hold your journaling for those photos that have been taken in sequence or photos covering the same theme. Looking at your photos, pick out the main points or ideas to write about and use a different Pink Doodle Frame for each.

Download Pink Doodle Frames Lined

Possible Scrapbook Themes:

Think:

• Princess
• Baby Girl
• Romantic
• Wedding
• Engagement
• Anniversary
• or just something super cute!

Download Pink Doodle Frames

Other Uses for Pink Doodle Frames

• Use the Pink Doodle Frames in the middle of homemade cards to hold that special message or verse.
• Gift Tags
• Labels for containers or books
• Thank You tags for gifts you have received
• Make a small book to hold special sayings or inspirational words

By Guest Blogger Jenny, from the blog a bird in the hand.

Here is a tutorial for creating and using your own fabric stamp. The fabric stamp I made was carved out of an eraser. The only supplies you’ll need are an eraser, craft knife and fabric paint. I used an owl charm to help create my design, you can use a stencil or free-hand a drawing to stamp.

Start with an eraser. I chose to cut the stamp in half since I was making a smaller stamp.

Sketch out your design with a pencil. I traced an owl charm on mine. I kept it fairly basic so that it would be easy to carve.

Using whatever knife or carving tools you have, start cutting away at the eraser. I found it easy to slice down around the design and then into the side of the eraser.

Continue working until you have cut out the whole design. Now start stamping! Do a few practice ones on paper to start. I chose to stamp on some fabric bags I had on hand but it was challenging to stamp on the uneven surface.

 You can leave it like that or do what I did next and trace around your design. I wanted to add details and let the whole piece pop a bit more.

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

Bring a little of the outdoors, indoors with these Li’l Log Cabins. An easy project for a rainy day. The models come in two colors. These Li’l Log Cabins make a starting point for imaginative play. What’s your favorite craft project for rainy days?

You Will Need

• The Li’l Log Cabin Download
• Scissors
• Glue

Download Brown Li’l Log Cabin

Making the Li’l Log Cabins

• Cut along all outer lines
• Fold where indicated on the download
• Fold along the glue tab lines
• Glue the cabin together first
• Glue the roof to the cabin

 Download Yellow Li’l Log Cabin

Put the cabin on a cardboard base and add paper trees to make a papercraft scene. Cut the windows out if you like before gluing the main house piece together. Cut the door along the top and bottom and one side then fold along the other edge, so the door is a flap.

Make a street, neighborhood or town. Add small written signs to glue to the front of the cabins to denote stores like ‘Drapery’, ‘Sewing Shop’, etc.

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

This is probably one of my favorite projects to make since I’m always finding terrific glass dishes that need sprucing up a bit. A little lace, a little spray paint and you’ve got something amazing. Add some adhesive felt on the back if you’re going to hang plates as wall decor, or use it as a pretty patterned tray.

You’ll need:

• Krylon Fusion Spray Paint (It’s the best for this project!)
• Newspaper for your workspace
• Lace in different patterns
• Spray Adhesive (love the stuff!)
• Krylon Clear Coat
• Sticky felt to protect the back if it’s just decorative.

Here’s How:

Step 1.  Cut a piece of lace larger than your plate so that it covers all the edges of the plate.

Step 2. Spray your lace with the Spray Adhesive and stick it to the back of the glass plate so that all of the lace is sticking to the plate.

Step 3. Lightly spray paint over the entire plate. Gently remove the lace after the paint is dry.

Step 4. Spray the entire back of the plate with another color of spray paint. Choose contrasting colors for the most impact.

Step 5. Spray several coats of clear coat on the BACK of the plate to protect the spray paint.  Wait 10 minutes in between each coat.

By Guest Blogger & Crafty Bride, Kadee Robertson.

I am getting married in September to the most wonderful man ever. I am a typical bride and need to stretch my pennies as far as I can. I’ve been addicted to Pinterest since becoming engaged. While browsing Pinterest, I found a jar wrapped in twine. It was so simple, yet I loved the natural texture of it. I wanted to try it myself and make my own one-of-a-kind vase for a table centerpiece.

Items needed:

• Glue gun and glue
• Jar of any shape or size
• Jute or hemp twine (I used jute)
• Patience!

Recommended items:

• Wax paper
• Wood Craft stick

I gathered my materials, I happened to have a Pace Picante salsa jar on hand, so I used that. I liked the hour-glass shape. I then laid out a few pieces of wax paper. I didn’t want the glue to get stuck to my counter. Turn on and heat up the glue gun.

I then put an inch of hot glue around the base of the jar. I worked from the bottom up. I recommend starting as close to the bottom as possible. I glued an entire circle of glue around the bottom of the jar and laid the string around it and just kept circling up. I put a dab of glue about every 1/4″ or 1/2″ turn around the jar. Don’t use too much glue or it will ooze out. I just kept winding the jar around and around with dabs of glue every so often.

At one point I touched the hot glue and gave myself a nice blister on my finger- avoid that step Later I started using a wooden craft stick stick to hold the string to the glue for a second to give it a chance to adhere.

I did not cut the string at all. I didn’t want there to be any loose ends, I just kept unwinding it from the spool. My entire project was just one loooooooong strand.

The closer to the top of the jar that I got the more frequent I had to use glue as the jar tapered inwards, again, I just used a dab of hot glue. The biggest problem I had was getting the glue and the string to adhere to the top of the jar where the lid screws on.

This project took a lot more time than I expected, but I love how it turned out. I hope you like it too.