Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

I love to go green whenever possible, so I try to find ways to reuse objects around the house.  One of my favorite items to reuse is an empty plastic juice container.  I use the Welch’s brand – they are very sturdy and you can even run them through the dishwasher before decorating.  In the past I have decorated quite a few for my scrap room to hold supplies.  My son recently got a new desk for his room so I decorated this can to hold his pencils.  He also loves to write notes to his friends, so I created a matching mini notebook.

Supplies used:

K & Company – Actopus Collection

• 12×12 Paper Pad
• Rub-ons
• Grand Adhesion Sticker

Ribbon
Plastic Juice Container
Composition Notebook (small)
Strong Adhesive

To cover the juice can:

* Cut a strip of paper to cover the entire side of the can and adhere.  You will need to use use a strong tape such as Therm O Web Zips Craft Adhesive Lines.

* Cut a small strip of paper and adhere to the top edge of the can using the same adhesive.

To cover the notebook.

* Cut a piece of paper to cover the notebook and adhere using a strong adhesive

* Apply rub-ons (see picture) to the notebook.

* Affix 3 Dimensional sticker to center of the notebook.

* Adhere piece of ribbon to edge of the notebook.  You can also tie a bow if desired.

By Guest Blogger, Jennifer from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

My husband Steve grew up a farm boy in Southwest Iowa.  A tractor originally owned by his Grandpa Stanley Hansen was passed down to  his father Robert Hansen.  When Steve was a young boy while he was driving it, the tractor rolled over on top of him.  Miraculously he wasn’t hurt.  The ground was very soft from a recent rain and they think it had just enough give that it kept him safe. The tractor was damaged after rolling over and so they stored it.  A few years ago my husband started to restore this tractor and finished it up a couple years ago.  It currently takes up his side of the garage and he likes to drive it during tractor rides at the local county fairs. I made this album of pictures with him and his tractor. I used pictures from the recent Warren County Fair, and from back in 1951.

Supplies used:

Wooden Album: Genuinely Jane Studios (4 pages – 8 sides) approx. 5 x 6 ½”
Plaid FolkArt Paint - silver, black, red
Jewels
Chipboard Circles
White Cardstock
Black Photo Corners:  Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L
Ribbon
Provo Cuttlebug Embossing Machine
American Crafts Black Paper
Label Tape/Machine

I started by painting the tractor part of the wood album red, and the side of the tires black. I used my circle Coluzzle template to determine the tire sizes and then cut them out.  Be sure when using a Coluzzle knife that you have it straight up when cutting.  If you do not have a Coluzzle or large punches, you can trace a template and cut by hand.

I ran my circles through the Cuttlebug Embossing Swiss Dots template to give them some dimension.

I made my hubcaps by using chipboard circles and used the outside ring for the large tire and the inside circle for the smaller tire.  I painted them with Plaid silver paint. After gluing down the tires and hubcaps, I added red jewels to the centers.

Next all you have to do is add your photos, photo corners and captions. I used white cardstock as a backdrop for each photo. To make the small pictures, I used the collage 4×6 print feature at Walgreens (most photo centers would have the same function).  I selected 4 pictures that were either all portrait or all landscape and for around 25 cents. I had 4 mini photos that fit perfectly as tractor windows. Their size is 1 ¾ X 2 ½”.

Lastly join all your pages together with ribbon or a binding ring.

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

We’re just weeks away from back to school. From backpacks and library books and school supplies. But that doesn’t mean we cant have just a little bit more crafty fun before school starts up again. This project is a great one to take to school that first day to help keep your place in all those books you are going to read this year. And yes, I did say toilet paper. But never fear, no one will know your cool bookmark really started out in the bathroom!

Here’s what you need:

10 sheets of toilet paper
Water
Stamp of your choice
Craft Glue
Cardstock
Scissors

1. Fold the sheets of toilet paper up on each other until you have a thick square. Run briefly under water and then wring out gently until you have a damp but not dripping pile.

2. Center the toilet paper stack onto your stamp. Stamps with a raised edge work better than those that are carved in, but you can get a good result out of both. Press firmly onto the stamp with your fingers trying to work it around the edges and into any grooves. If the stamp has raised edges leave the paper on while it dries. If it is an carved in stamp, gently pull the paper off the stamp and flip over onto a flat surface.

3. Allow the paper to dry completely. Trim the edges so taht you have a neat square with an impression centered inside it.

4. Cut the card stock into a 2×5 strip and glue the stamped paper just down from the top of the bookmark. Allow the glue to dry.

By Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and has aspirations to improve her crafting skills.

I love Birthdays! My birthday was a few weeks ago, and I received the cutest gift bag from my crafty friend Kim. She made a felted cake with candles, and glued to the front of my card. I loved the idea so much I stole it and used it to make a birthday gift bag.

To start, gather these supplies:

Felt

Roving felt

Felting needle

Foam block

Gift Bag

Birthday Scrapbook paper

Hot glue gun

Optional: Birthday stickers, embellishments, die cuts

To create this cupcake felt appliqué, start with a square piece of felt. The first layer of felt will be the cupcake holder. I cut the bottom piece of felt in the shape of a cupcake. Lay the felt on your foam block, and take pieces of a different color roving felt and make long “snakes” by rubbing them in your palms. Attach the roving felt snakes to the bottom felt with your felting needle. To do this, push the needle through the roving felt into the bottom felt. Repeat this around the edges of each stripe on the cupcake holder.

For the cupcake top, I took yellow roving felt and formed a circle. I laid it on the round part of my cupcake bottom felt piece and secured the yellow roving felt with my felting needle. My cupcake was completely shaped with three small circles.

I decorated my cupcake with a flower also made from roving felt. To make the flower I made another “snake” from red roving felt. I attached one end to the cupcake, made a loop, and attached the other end to make each bloom. There were five loops to make my flower.

After my flower was done, it was ready to be glued onto the gift bag. I had decorated the gift bag by gluing 2 different patterned birthday scrapbook sheets down to make the backdrop. Next I just needed to glue down my felt cupcake with the hot glue gun.

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

I’m a menu planner, in fact, I have a hard time functioning in the kitchen without a solid plan. I even plan our meals when we are on vacation. It saves time and money and helps us to keep from wasting food because generally, we only buy just what we need for the week, so there’s not much that has a chance to waste away on a back shelf.

For the past year I’ve been using a cute little notepad to keep track of what we are eating and when, but this week when I sat down to write up our meals and our grocery list, I found that I had only two pages left. I could, of course, go pick up another one, but I love a challenge, so I decided to make my own.

The hardest part of this was designing the template so I’ll save you the trouble and give you a few versions of the one I made to download, but if you’re handy with Adobe Illustrator, the possibilities are endless! Design away!

This version is sized to fit an 8 x 10 inch clip frame but you could resize it at a copy shop very easily to fit whatever frame you want. I like the clip frame because it’s easier to write on.

Here’s what you need:

1 8 x 10 clip frame
Printed menu card
Ruler and Xacto knife

1. Print out your card and trim to fit your glass. My printer was a little low on ink so mine turned out light, but it works.

2. Clean both sides of your glass and wipe dry.

3. Assemble the clip frame with your menu card inside. Presto! Using a dry erase marker, you can keep track of your meals and have something fun hanging on your wallthat wasn’t created by a two year old!

*You can also glue strong magnets to the back to mount your menu card on the fridge!

Download your  menu template here:

Blue Menu Template

Yellow Menu Template

Red Menu Template

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

If you’re a crafter, or a blogger, or both, you’ve probably run into times when people have asked about something you’ve made and how they can get one. It’s one of those moments when you think “hmm, I wish I had a business card!” except, it’s hard to justify a whole box of business cards when you just need one here and there. And what if what you’re crafting changes, as it does with most crafty people. Do you order a whole new set of cards? Maybe you just want to have your contact information handy for meeting other moms. What’s a crafty gal to do?

Instead of weighing your desk down with a big box of cards, grab some shipping labels and a stamp kit and have an ever changeable business card making set always at your fingertips! These tags are also handy for gift wrapping, organizing and a myriad of other things, so don’t be afraid to buy in bulk!

Here’s what you need

Letter stamp kit
Fun stamps
 Box of Shipping Labels
Stamp Pad 

Before you break out the tweezers and teeny letters, figure out what you want your card to say. Do you want a phone number or just an email address? Do you have a website or a blog? How do you want your name to look? Do you have a tagline? Write it all down so you can lay out your stamp easily, then pull out those tweezers and start arranging letters. I found my custom stamp kit with the small letters at a business supply store.

Once you have your words ready to go, look through your collection of fun stamps (come on, I know you have some!) and try out a few on your card. Or try cutting the end off the card with pinking sheers, you can even glue small strips of ribbon to the card or play around with embossing. Try out several combinations until you have a few you love and stamp away. Remove the wire from the tag and tuck a few in your bag. The next time someone stops you at the park and asks “where did you get that?” you can come back with “Why, I made it, here’s my card!” And a small business is born

We can tell it wasn’t easy to only pick 3 craft items to take if you were ever stranded. There was a lot of  thought in your answers! Congratulations to Penny who was randomly selected as the winner of Free Stuff Friday and the MiMi Essentials Scrapbook  Tool Tote!

The Essential Scrapbook Tool Tote in Kiwi with Chocolate accents is a durable water resistant shoulder tote that keeps your tools at your finger tips. It boasts a patented locking wing system and a strap to hang it from a doorknob or your wheeled tote handle. A coordinating Kiwi interior lining complemented by decorative contrast stitching gives this tote a functional and fashionable look. It cleverly unites storage and style for the crafter on the go.

Penny’s winning answer to ”You’re stranded on a deserted island, what 3 craft products do you bring?” …

“Camera for photographic journel of my situation
Pack of Crochet Hooks
Skeins of Yarn

My main hobby is papercrafting and just can’t see doing that much on an island. But crocheting a blanket or something would be useful. Would have to bring a camera though to journel the experience. Make one heck of a scrapbook on my rescue!”