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. 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. Materials Since this is such a free form enterprise the amount of colors of DMC embroidery floss you get is really up to you. Please not that the fluorescent thread is slightly thicker than the regular DMC floss. Beginning To begin, pick out your colors. For patterns use a doubled length of thread cut each color to a length of 72-inches. The Left Knot
Craftaholics Anonymous® Happy Monday, Crafters! Hope you had a nice weekend. I’ve been working on decorating my breakfast nook {yes, we’ve lived here for over a year and i still have TONS of bare walls!} I made this totally awesome Spoon Mirror for the little corner in my kitchen and I am kind of in love with it! The color, the texture, and the price is right….it cost me only a couple dollars to make! When I told Davis I was making this spoon flower, he thought I was crazy. How to Make a Spoon Wreath Supplies: cardboard, hot glue gun, 3″ round mirror, spray paint, scissor, 78-80 clear plastic spoons, small piece of ribbon Skill Level: Beginner Instructions: Cut a 12″ circle from a cardboard box. Cut about a 4″ piece of ribbon, shape into a loop and hot glue to the back of the cardboard to use to hang it on the wall. Seriously, such a fun craft! If you save and reuse your plastic spoons, this is a great way to retire some of the old ones! Are you excited to see my Breakfast Nook all decorated? happy crafting, Linda
25 Handmade Gifts Under $5 If your gift list is long and your budget is small here are some great Handmade Gifts that you can make. Keep in mind that handmade items are not just beautiful but special… I love to give them and I love to receive them. Jersey Knit Bracelet Lovely! This would make a perfect gift for any of your girlfriends. You can choose the colors and recycle t-shirts that you have around the house. Cheap and cute! tutorial Paper Clip Earrings Tutorial This is a brilliant idea… and the possibilities are endless. Love it! Printed Candles Who doesn’t love a candle? Think about how many different stamps you could use to customize this project. tutorial Hot Chocolate Art! What a great gift for neighbors and teachers… I am personally a hot chocolate lover so this would make a great gift for me tutorial Tile Coaster You can buy these plain tiles at Home Depot for under a dollar. I’ve seen them with family pictures also… Way cute! tutorial Bow Belt I was amazed how easy this tutorial was. So Pretty! tutorial Paper Plate Clock Cheap?
How To Mix Chalkboard Paint in Any Color We love using chalkboards as backdrops for displays and parties (like this one here!). So we were super excited to learn that you can create your own custom colors-and it's really easy! We first learned how from Martha Stewart whose tutorial you can read here. She recommends that you use latex paint, but we tried it out with acrylic paints with much success. Here's how you too can create your own chalkboard paint... Supplies: 1/2 cup acrylic paint (choose any color you like, or mix colors together to make the perfect shade!) 1. 2. Once your chalkboard has fully dried be sure to slate the surface before using it for the first time. Have fun creating any color combination you like!!
MAGAZINE ENVELOPES 18K+ Well I got this idea from our friend Nina. She was making these super cute envelopes out of scrapbook paper and I really wanted to make some! So I came home and made some! They are so so SO simple and add a personal touch to your envelopes. You will need: An old magazine, scissors, an envelope, a glue stick and a Sharpie. Tear out some magazine pages that you like. Carefully pull the envelope apart. Trace the envelope on a magazine page. Cut the envelope shape out. Turn the envelope over as well as the magazine cut-out. Unfold everything and separate the magazine cut-out from the envelope. Glue the bottom flap down to the two side flaps. And you've made your own envelope! The great thing about making these envelopes our of magazine pages is that the envelopes have a character all of their own.
Crafting: Free Online Virtual Snowflake Creator Flash Program I have had a fascination with snowflakes since I was a child. First because enough of it meant a day off from school and time outside playing with friends. That was usually sledding, snow angels, and generally creating all kinds of chaos in the neighborhood. Then we’d clamor back into our house, demand hot chocolate with marshmallows, and then we’d strip off our wet clothes and toss them in the dryer. Once I saw the first close-up photos of a snowflake I feel even deeper in love with the tiny little frozen crystals and marveled at the intricate details in each tiny flake. Here’s my snowflake and its creation from start to finish in 7 frames: I’d think teacher’s and homeschooling parents would enjoy the online snowflake creator as well because there are lots of chances for discussions about shapes, negative space, and more, And the best part that if you make a mistake you don’t lose your work of art, you just hit the undo button and try it again! What do you think? About The Author Connie
Cake postcard tutorial Supplies Materials needed to make two cake postcards: 1 large sponge (yellow paints the best)Serrated knifeX-Acto or utility knifeSpray paint (brown, yellow, pink or white)1 tube acrylic latex caulk (brown, cream or white)Spray adhesive (3M Super 77 works great!)Cardboard, kraft paper or scrapbook paper Instructions Cut sponge into wedge shape With a serrated knife, using a sawing motion, cut a sponge into two, cake wedge shapes. Cut a center groove into sponge Using an X-Acto or utility knife, cut a section of foam from the center of the sponge. Paint the sponge wedges in desired color. Trace the slice of cake When the sponge wedges are dry, trace around them on a piece of cardboard, kraft paper or colorful scrapbook paper. Spray glue the postcards to the solid, flat sides of the sponge wedges. Using a caulking gun and your desired caulk, fill a plastic disposable piping bag with half of the caulk. Pipe the center of the cake Pipe the icing on the top Note from the editor This totally works!
Two Girls Being Crafty Tutorials for Recycling Books We rode bikes around our neighborhood this weekend and stopped at all the garage sales we found along the way. I love doing this because it's like exercise and shopping in one! Plus, my bike basket is perfect for holding whatever treasures I find. On this particular trip I was noticing a lot of old books for sale.
DIY Artwork - Easy Paint Projects - Painting Ideas UPDATE: The long weekend is the perfect time to start some new projects, so why not try this awesome (and so easy) artwork DIY? This story was originally published on July 25. If there are two things that have been commanding our attention lately, they're cool artwork and chevron prints. So, we were obviously pretty stoked to find a way to incorporate both — for cheap! — in an amazing DIY project for your apartment. Inspired by the work of artist Nancy Ramirez, two stellar Refinery29 interns collaborated on this easy-does-it way to spice up an empty wall. From the moment we spied this Nancy Ramirez painting on Pinterest, we were smitten. Assemble your paints and squeeze a quarter-size amount of each color onto your palette. To incorporate all of our colors, we used one at a time, rinsing our brush between each and blending until we covered the canvas. Once you've covered the canvas, let it dry for a few minutes. Et voilà! Photographed by Maia Schoenfelder
Gift Ideas for Poor Creative Souls (21) Posted by: Cathy on Oct 06, 2012 Tagged in: Untagged I saw this idea a few times on the Martha Stewart site and I would really like to make these as stocking stuffers this Christmas. It seems like such an easy thing to do and would really take no longer than baking a cake. I have some lovely old jars that I could place these in too which would really make it a lovely gift for someone. Materials: Baking soda Cornstarch Citric acid Spritzer bottles Food coloring Glass bowl Essential oil Baking molds 1. 2. 3. If you wanted to have a different shape, you simply just need to use a different mold, like ice-cube molds. This would give you a different way of being able to package them, like putting them in jars. Source For tutorials on how to market yourself online, go here. Submit tutorials here for free and get more traffic.