Friendship Bracelets Macraméd friendship bracelets were all the rage when I was growing up in the eighties. All the girls at my school would obsessively make them for one another in a dizzying variety of colors, widths, and patterns. It's amazing, thinking back, that such young girls could make such beautifully intricate accessories. I, of course, tried my hand at making them as well. I would ride my bike down to the five-and-dime store and pick out the most sophisticated color combinations of embroidery floss I could find, but when it came to the actual macramé I never got beyond plain stripes. There was nothing wrong with plain stripes, except that the other girls seemed so much more advanced with their diamonds and chevrons. Fast forward 20 years: Purl Soho started carrying DMC Cotton Embroidery Floss in every conceivable color (including fluorescents! Making friendship bracelets is a surprisingly easy craft, and best of all, in the end you'll have a bunch of cute summer bracelets to give to your pals.
the photo-to-wood transfer This Christmas, I made most of my gifts. The majority of the handmade items were photos transferred onto blocks of wood. It was something memorable to give family (especially for parents, who never seem to need anything!). Everyone seemed to really like them. I first heard about the photo-to-wood transfer from a coworker. I followed the directions on this youtube video, and came up with a nice collection of photos on wood. I thought I’d share some tips I learned during this process. Photo-to-wood transfersmaterials wood gel medium paintbrush photo, printed on copy paper varnish (or Mod Podge)step one: the wood I think any wood works, but just look for something that doesn’t have a lot of markings on it, or this will affect your end image. step two: the image Two rules of thumb here: use cheap cheap cheap paper (i.e. photocopy paper), and use a laserjet printer. I chose to make all my images black and white, but color pictures work just fine too! Then it was time to rub the paper. ta-da!
MAKE IT: DIY Glitter Mason Jar + A Tip for Making the Glitter Stay Put! | By DIY Bloggista Allison For ages, people have been entranced by two things: glitter, and mason jars. Pictures of mason jars, pictures of glitter… even pictures of mason jars holding glitter inside, as if to *store* it in some way… pictures like this can be found readily across the internets – all of them, all the internets, even the ones women invented, silly New York Times article – and these pictures? They are being pinned every. single. However in more recent times, these same entranced people have been haunted by a certain burning question: “… but– how do I get the glitter on the OUTSIDE of the jar?” Well today, ladies and germs… today is the luckiest day of your motherloving lives, if you’ve been asking that burning question. Take it away, Allison… Allison here! Supplies Needed: 1. Start by painting the entire area with glue. Pou glitter over the mason jar and roll it around in a pile of glitter. And there you have it! Anyone up for trying a fun DIY this weekend? xoxo - Allison, Engaged & Inspired
Finger Knitting How-to You know how I just wrote about how I like getting a handmade gift more than just about anything. Well, this is anything. Sitting on the couch on a lazy Sunday, knitting with my kids . . . that beats gift-getting for sure. It is a gift itself. The two kiddos are finger-knitting, which I’ve written about before and again, but it continues to be a favorite activity. You end up with a long coil of knitting like this, that curls itself into a sort of tube. My son is using a finer and less expensive yarn, here. They really do enjoy the process. Some day, I’ll make a coiled rug from the pieces. **UPDATE: So many people have asked me for a PDF of the below how-to so they can take the directions on the road for their kiddos. Materials: Any yarn An eager kiddo Time: However long you want! I think that super-bulky yarn is a good weight to start with. Start by placing the yarn in between your thumb and hand, such that the tail hangs behind your hand. Next, bring the yarn around your index finger.
the DIY: PERFECT CHEVRON The chevron pattern is everywhere, and we LOVE it. We basically want to decorate our entire house in chevron, so we started with this project. There are zillions of tutorials for different ways to make the tutorial pattern, but we came up with our own. You will need: A blank surface (we used an 16"x 20" canvas), a ruler, a pencil, painter's tape, x-acto knife, and one spray paint color. Next, create dots with your pencil. In the next step, line up a ruler diagonally with the dots. Next you will connect the dots in the chevron shape like the picture above. When you are done drawing lines it should look something like this. Next, fill up the spaces with painter's tape and cover any part of the canvas you don't want painted. In this part we took an x-acto knife and made the edges straighter. Spray paint the empty spaces (or the whole canvas as we have done). When the paint has dried, remove the tape and then you have a perfect chevron print. P.S. Check out our whole bathroom decor here!
Step by Step Charcoal and Graphite Pencil Drawing Demo :Art Instruction For Beginners - Art Instruction Blog About Faith Graphite Pencil, Charcoal Pencil and Pastels Artist Hello! My name is Faith Te. When I was 16, a great desire to capture nature and the people around me started my passion for drawing. I practiced every day and for many hours since. Initially, charcoal and graphite pencils were the only mediums I used. I devote many hours and lots of attention to detail into each and every one of my drawings or paintings. Thank you for your interest in my artwork. Please take a moment to visit Faith’s Website and Blog to learn more about her and her products and services. Her Website: Her Blog: Stage 1 (Click Images for Larger Views) The outline on Canson Grain Paper. I try to make the outline as accurately and detailed as I can at this early stage so that I can concentrate more on tones, shadows, and highlights later on instead of the placement of features. I am using the smoother side of Canson paper. Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4
spread the love: heart pattern friendship bracelets « la manufacture Growing up, I spent countless hours making colorful friendship bracelets. Their resurgence prompted me to rediscover this summer pastime. Here are instructions for one of my favorite patterns – hearts! You will need embroidery thread in two colors. The basics: Hold the second string with your left hand as you use your right hand to take the first string over and then under the second string. Hold the seventh string with your right hand as you use your left hand to take the eighth string over and then under the seventh string. The pattern: 1: Lay your strings out as shown. 2: Make your first row by following the instructions for making a row of knots going right and then left. 3: Make a second row of knots in the same way, this time with the second color. 4: Take the second string and knot it around the first string going left. 6: Take the second string and knot it around the first string going left. 9: Keep repeating these steps until you’ve made a bracelet. Like this: Like Loading...
Valaan villapaita: Tee se itse -valas You can find the tutorial in English here. ETA in February 2012: Hi! Nice of you to stop by! There will eventually be an English translation of this tutorial, so please have some patience:) In the meanwhile, I'm sorry to put up this disclaimer: It's OK to link back to this post, but it is not OK to copy all the photos and the tutorial, or translate it to another another language. Ja mainittakoon sama myös suomeksi: valaitten ompelu omaan käyttöön tai lahjaksi on OK, mutta kaupallinen käyttö ja kopiointi on kielletty. Denimvalaan ohjeesta tuli useampikin kysely, mikä ilahdutti kovin ja kauhistutti vielä enemmän – en nimittäin tule kovin hyvin juttuun ohjeitten kanssa. Valaaseen tarvitaan laje vanhoista farkuista, pikkutiplu sinistä puuvillaa silmiä varten, täytevanua, ompelukone, lankaa ja hiukan kärsivällisyyttä. Aloitetaan leikkaamalla farkunlahkeista valaan selkäpalat (2 kpl), vatsapuoli (2 kpl), pyrstö (2 kpl) ja evät (4 kpl). Vatsapuolen muodon voi kopioida selkäpalasta. Tadaa!
DIY: Tribal print iPhone case ✪ DIY: Tribal print iPhone case ✪ Are you seeing lots of this type of pattern lately? It's either called the Aztec print or the tribal print! It's the one of the 'It' trends this season since it's the perfect mix of color and fun which is perfect for the summer! (especially here in Manila!) le inspiration which costs $40 each! What you'll need: Look for your colored permanent markers coz they're the only thing that'll put your patterns to life! A matte white iPhone case (or a blackberry case if you're on BBM) Any type of ruler. How did I do it? Don't be scared to start it! Think of any design and be creative with it! overwhelming but as you move on to the middle part, sometimes you just run out of ideas of what to do next! Remember, for this DIY, the more the details, the better! you'll need a lot.. I assure you that when it's done, you'll love the result! You can also apply clear nail polish to make it shiny & last longer Side view & top view of the finished product.
Art and stuff Tutorials Stars Tutorial: There's a lot of manual labor in store here (if moving a pen a round in a repetitive motion can be called that) but also a bunch of tips and tricks how to both speed up the process of drawing a sky full of stars and how to make it all look so much fancier. Water Tutorial: Contains three different tutorials consisting of five simple steps each: how to draw flowing water, rain and surface reflections. For using the tutorial it is recommended that you already are at least moderately familiar with the digital art program of your choice, as this tutorial does not provide any specific information on tool or program settings. But all you really need to know is how to use a a regular paint brush with adjustable transparency- and softness-settings, a smudge brush and layers. Most of the tutorials below already have a few years on their backs, and I'm not completely happy with everything presented in them anymore. From left to right:
Magnetic Spice Storage: Weekend Project Today we wanted to share a cute idea for organizing your kitchen spices. With every new recipe we end up collecting a new spice or two. Having all these options available is perfect for adventurous cooking but it can leave your kitchen cabinets looking cluttered! We decided to make our new spice storage magnetic so it could adhere to the side of a refrigerator, and we found these cute clear containers so you can easily see how much of each spice you have on hand. Here's a before + after comparison. Step 1: Trace your container (we got ours here) onto a sheet of magnetic paper.
aRTs Roundtable 21: Artsy Webby Sites Standard Podcast Hide Player This week on the aRTs Roundtable we talk about “Artsy” websites that we use in and out of our classrooms. Many are interactive or creative websites that engage the arty students to create, compose, and think using the arts. Show Host: Carol Broos Show contributors: Tricia Fuglestad, Jen Kolze and Brenda Muench Show wiki: edreach.us Leave us some feedback! Contact us with any questions or comments- artsroundtable@edreach.us 121 views, 2 today What do you think? DIY Faux Curled Rosewood Wreath {Made From Rolled Recycled Book Pages} I have seen various versions of Faux Rosewood Wreaths in just about every store and catalog for the upcoming season; most with a price tag running upwards of $40 or more. Some are crafted of paper and other of real wood shavings. Last year I made a few rolled flower gift toppers from recycled book pages and they remind me so much of the curled wood roses I thought they would make a good substitute. {with a much lower price tag} Materials Needed:Foam Wreath FormRecycled Book PagesLots of Hot GlueRibbon to Hang The full step by step tutorial I posted last year can be found {here}.Basically you layer three book pages together and draw a spiral circle. Starting with the outside of the spiral, roll the paper inward to create the flower shape. Give the wreath form a light coat of white {or light color} spray paint to help camouflage any see-through spaces. It seriously takes quite a few roses to fill the entire wreath, however I think the finished project has such a unique look. {Simply Lovely}
Art Education 2.0 - connecting art educators around the globe