Crafting Tips

So lately I have done a lot of thinking about future tutorials to do and things to make, and the big thing that I need to start doing is SAVING a lot of certain items. So in this quick post I am going to tell you what to save and post up a couple links to blogs that have tutorials using those items! Lets begin...

#1. Paper Towel and Toilet Paper Rolls
Everyone has them then just throws them away!! Well I say NO! No more throwing away precious craft items! It is time we take a stand and create beauty from something that would otherwise rot at the dump!

-Wall Flower.) http://blackcatcraft.blogspot.com/2012/06/tp-roll-flower.html
- Gift Boxes.) http://stationery.blogs.com/stationery_scoop/2007/09/index.html
- Owls! )http://www.livinglocurto.com/2012/01/craft-diy-owls/

#2. Corks
If your parents drink a lot of wine (like mine...) then you will be able to get a massive amount of corks in no time! Save some cork trees and make something out of them!!
- Wine Cork Man.) http://www.crafterslovecrafts.com/wine-cork-man.html
- Heart Wreath.) http://www.wineintro.com/products/corks/heart.html
-Coasters.) http://www.designsponge.com/2008/04/diy-project-abigails-cork-trivet-and-coaster-set.html

#3. Dead Candles
You can ALWAYS remelt the wax and reuse it!! I mean why not? I save all my old candles, put the wax in an old folders tin and melt it.
-How to make candles.) http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Candles!/

Well I am getting tired, I have a quilt tutorial i'm writing up for the book so I better get to it! Check out those tutorials!!

Butterfly Enclosure

The only memory of my 1st grade year was watching caterpillars turn into butterflies through metamorphism. My teacher had this net enclosure which we could watch the caterpillars grow as they each massive amounts of leaves.  My goal this week was to recreate those memories and make a butterfly enclosure out of mesh and metal rings! I want to collect the annoying caterpillars that eat my veggies growing in my garden and throw them into my butterfly chamber. Once they morph I will be able to see which butterfly to be annoyed with!! Oh and also have a cute garden accessory!

So head over to you closest Joann's or nearest fabric store and BRING THOSE COUPONS!! I have saved so much money using coupons! Every Sunday here we get 40 to 50% off coupons to Joanns and Michaels so save them and USE them!

Supplies:
-1 Yard of Tulle
-Sharpie
-Ruler
-Embroidery Floss

Step One: Figure out how large or small you want your enclosure to be.  Mine was a foot so I measured and  marked the lines in the middle of the mesh. In the picture you can kind of see them.

Step Two: Take the embroidery thread and a needle and lay the hoop on the line. Sew one stitch through the tulle then tie each side of the stitch around the hoop.

Step Three: Now make knots that attach the tulle to the loop along the drawn line that you made. Don't worry if it is bunched up, you can just pull it into place once your done tieing.

Step Four: The last knot along the hoop should be through both ends of the tulle. So you are sewing through 2 layers of the tulle. This will keep the enclosure together. 

(The mesh was thin so it was hard to get a good defined picture of what exactly I was doing!)

Step Five: Now attach the other loop to the other line with the same method as steps 2-4. 

Step Six:  Now collect the excess tulle at the bottom and tie it up tightly with extra embroidery floss. Do the same with the top and this is what it looks like:

Step Seven: Now in the middle of the opening, tie two strings so you can tie it shut then open it later and put leaves and caterpillars in. 

Step Eight:  Now tie a string to the top and cut whatever excess you don't want off and your done!

Here's mine!!

\

I'll have another picture with my leaves and pillars soon!!!

If you make this or anything else on this blog, please share it with us and post it into the forums!! You can find the link in the top right corner of the blog!

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions or something isn't clear, let us know so we can fix it!

Sea Glass Headband

Here is a good project if you go to the beach at low tide and collect some sea glass! I was in Laguna Beach with my buddies a while ago and picked up all this and more and I'm finally able to use it!! Its quite easy, there is a part where you need to sew and a sewing machine is the best way to go about it, but by hand works just as well! Anyways, let me know if you make it!!

Supplies:

-Sea glass

- A ribbon about the diameter of your head plus an inch

- SUPER SUPER glue

-A small hair bungee (hair band)

Step One: Start in the middle of the ribbon. Place a small dot of glue on the chosen sea glass and place onto the ribbon.

Step Two: Pick another piece that will fit next to it. Try a couple before you glue it on. Once you find the right one, dab a dot on and place it onto the ribbon. (I decided to go for a mosaic look).

Step Three: Make sure they don't touch or else you wont be able to bend the ribbon at all!!

Step Four: Continue testing and gluing on sea glass. I had 3 different colors and I tried to space them out as well as I could, so keep color in mind!

Step Five: Keep adding sea glass until you have about 5 inches left on each side.

Step Six: Fold 1/4 in of the end of the ribbon down. Fold again and sew. This will keep the ribbon from fraying.

Folded again then sewn:

Step Seven: Guide one side through the hair bungee and sew it back onto the ribbon (it was about 1 in on mine). Sew multiple times so it is strong and wont come undone!

Step Eight: Now this parts a little tricky. We are going to repeat step 6 but now taking in mind the elasticity on our head. Put the remaining ribbon through the bungee and hold it as you try it on. Adjust until you have a good elasticity. Then sew!

Once sewn it should look like this:

Now your done! Wear it to work, the beach, school, anywhere and everywhere, just go show it off!!!

Galaxy Shoes

Galaxy Shoes

Here is a quick tutorial Harriet made! Im sure you all have seen galaxy everything by now, and also maybe seen the price of those clothes (Usually 60 to 100+ Dollars ). Anyway, you can make some for about 7$!! Once you make them, post a picture of them in the forums! The link is in the top right corner! We would love to see all of your versions!

Here you go :)

1. You need a pair of black shoes I got mine from rite aid for about $7

 2. You will need turquoise, purple, white, black, and yellow acrylic paint

3. First use a sponge ( I used a makeup one) and dip it in the purple and white paint. Sponge it in patches around the entire shoe.

4. Repeat the same step except with turquoise.

5. Get a paint brush and splatter white all over for stars. Then do the same with yellow.

 6. I decided to sponge more black on

7. Lastly I hand painted little tiny white dots and crosses for extra stars and then you’re all done!!

TP Roll Flower

This is such a good project when you want to recycle toilet paper rolls! I always feel bad throwing them away because I remember the good old days in kindergarten when I would use them for all sorts of crafts! By the way, you could use paper towel rolls as well because they are the same diameter and thickness so its perfect! So as I have said in posts before, save your rolls, go bug your friends, make a post on facebook, twitter, Google+, and do everything you can to get enough rolls for this because it takes ALOT!

Supplies:
-Toilet paper and Paper towel rolls
-A little stapler
-Tons of staples
-Spray Paint

Step 1) Begin by flattening the roll and then cutting it into 1 in segments.

Step 2) Start by stapling 2 of the rolls together near the point.

Step 3) Continue to staple more petals to it until you have a simple flower shape. This should take about 6 or 7 rolls.

Step 4) Now, start adding on rolls where the main rolls meet. Staple to main rolls.

Step 5) Continue to add rolls where it looks bare until you run out. Then go bug your friends for more and keep adding on! You will seriously be surprised by how much you use!!

Step 6) Once you have the desired size and shape, lay a sheet down and spray paint with your base layer.

OPTIONAL Step 7) Now you can take another color and spray it in the middle as to make it look like the middle of a flower. (I used metallic silver which I didn't think would need another color).

After this you can be done. Just hang up and begin celebrating spring in a crafty style!!!

RECYCLING!!!!!!!!

Melted Crayon Art

How to make Melted Crayon Art

This project did not turn out how I expected. However, it looks cool, I assumed the melting would take 5 minutes...well it took an hour. AN HOUR of sitting there and holding a blow dryer. Even then I wasn't satisfied.

Well let me start from the beginning...

1.) First you begin with picking out the colors you want and arranging them in the pattern that you want
* This is where my first mistake, orange looks TERRIBLE next to grey and black

2.) First unwrap them. Just trust me on this one. Now glue them down with hot glue. DO NOT TAPE THEM, trust me it won't end up well!

3.) Now begins the tedious part, lay your newspaper down and turn on your blow dryer. Put it close to the crayons so they can get the full heat.

* Note: Melt on low a low setting.

4.) Now sit there for an hour and blow dry that baby!!! Here's pictures of me doing step 4!!!

See what I mean about how orange and black look bad together :/

Once you melt all the crayons you should be done. But I hated mine, I was super disappointed with how it turned out:

So You can blow dry more so all the crayon melts all over the white, or you can stop right here like I did because I hated the colors and you can fix it :D

So here's what I did to fix it:

1.) Pick your crayons then take them OUT of their wrappers. 

2.) Glue them on top of the wrappers that were their before.

3.) Blow dry

* This went by sooo much faster then with the wrappers on!

Here's how mine turned out!

So method worked, so if you do screw up then there is still hope!!!

Send us a picture of what you made by adding it to the forum! There is a link to it in the top right corner of the site!

Women's Button Down Tank

 Here is a tutorial that I made a while back. Its how to turn a mans shirt into an awesome ladies tank button down! Totally fashion forward especially with the tank tops that i'm seeing people wear, this is perfect! Just go to you local thrift store, or get a man-friend to donate to your crafting cause.  Alright lets get started!


You are going to need:
-Mens (or womens) button down shirt
-scissors
-sewing supplies
-patience

1.) First your going to take the shirt and cut off the sleeves from right below the armpit to about 2 inches from the top of the sleeve.

2.) After you cut off the 2nd sleeve, cut the front of the collar down to the 2nd button in the front, and just around the rest collar for now.

3.) now my shirt is an XL so im going to need to size mine down. If you do too, turn your shirt INSIDE OUT and put it on and pin the sides so it fits you. Then sew. I made mine 2.5 in less at the top and 3 in the middle and 2.5 at the bottom. After, cut off the extra fabric.

4.) Now my "sleeves" are kind of long, so im going to sew 1.5 inches into those. After you do that, cut off that extra fabric you don't need anymore.

5.) Now that its the right size, time to cut the back like you want it. I kinda want mine to be subtle razor back.

6.) Now hem the collar and sleeves. I added a couple darts onto my collar.

7.) If you want to add more, you can add darts in the back. Just pinch and pin. Sew these with a 1/4in seam.

DONE!

If you make a shirt using these directions, or even get inspired, go to the forums and send us a picture!! I would love to see something that someone made! Also if you have any questions, the forum is the place for that too! Top right hand corner of the blog, there is a link!