How to Make Pom Pom Flowers I have a thing for flowers that look like pom poms. Mums, allium, chive blossoms, dahlias – love ‘em! Since fresh flowers aren’t always in the budget, and because I have a brown thumb, I started thinking about what I could do to brighten up our apartment with flowers without actually using flowers. Soon, the idea for some sort of pom pom flower started bouncing around in my head, and this is what I came up with. How to make pom poms? Though my method basically follows the Bella Dia tutorial, I have made some slight variations, so I’ve posted my method below. What you’ll need for the project: yarn small, sharp scissors wire cutters a hot glue gun and glue sticks materials for the stems (paper or fabric covered floral wire or my favorite, branches or twigs) Using your thumb, hold the end of the yarn against your fingers as you begin to wrap the yarn. The more times you wrap the yarn, the fuller your pom pom will be. Cut a piece of yarn that is between 4 and 6 inches long to use as a tie.
How to Recycle Yarn from a Thrift-Store Sweater October 4th, 2008 Email 62 users recommend When you're done ripping, you'll have hundreds of yards of brand-new yarn for knitting! Lee Meredith This example sweater is bulky yarn, so it'll be easier to see what's going on. Sometimes the edge will be machine sewn closed, so you'll have to make more cuts to get it started. Photo: Lee Meredith The most classic handmade holiday gift has to be the knit sweater, which is also one of the most ambitious. You'll Need: Thrifted sweater to unravel (details below)Seam ripperScissors (embroidery scissors can be helpful)Dish soap or shampooThese will help if you have them: niddy noddy, swift, ball winder Your first step is to find a sweater (or two) to unravel. Yardage: If you find a fantastic yarn but are not sure it'll be enough to complete your gift, I'd recommend finding another yarn of the same weight that could be added as a stripe in your sweater if needed. Seams: To get usable yarn, your sweater must have sewn or crocheted seams, not serged!
Surprise Dad with the Smallest Toolbox Ever! - Once Upon a Holiday - Alpha Mom™ May28 by Brenda Ponnay Altoid Tin Mini Toolboxes for Father’s Day I’ve been wanting to craft with Altoid tins since forever. I thought about it and thought about it and decided these tins would make a great caddy for holding collections of little odds and ends. While I realize that dads might not be into little mini toolboxes as much as I am, I still thought it would be a fun craft to do for Father’s Day. Let’s get crackin’, shall we? First off a disclaimer: I realize that this is not exactly a craft that you can do with your small kids. These are the materials you will need: At least 2 Altoid tinsA metal eye strap. These are the tools you will need:a hammera big naila little naila flat screwdriverwire-cutters First you will need to gather your Altoid tins. Next you will need to create the holes that you will use to wire the boxes together (if you are creating multi-drawer toolboxes) and to attach the handle. Now it’s time to spray-paint! And that’s it! Have fun and give Dad my regards!
How to Make a Custom Clock September 20th, 2013 Email 347 users recommend I used a photo I took—you can use a picture of you with your loved one or anything else personalized! Lee Meredith I can carry supplies around in my working clock! Contrasting colors really make this clock pop! Photo: Lee Meredith Everyone needs clocks in their homes, and there is so much creative possibility with them that I think custom clocks are a fantastic DIY gift idea for anyone on your gift list! You'll need: A working clock to take apartOptional new body to become a clockPicture(s) for the faceOptional buttons or other small objects for number marksE6000 glueWhite glueScissors (and an X-Acto knife will be helpful)Optional basic tools (screwdriver, wrench, pliers), depending on your clock To find your clock, head out thrift-store shopping with a AA battery in your pocket, so you can test out the clocks you find to make sure you choose a working one. Now take apart the clock.
How to make an easy and stylish paint chip mobile for your nursery Supplies: Wooden knitting ring Assorted paint chip samples in colors of your choosing Spray adhesive (optional) Circle punch Sewing machine Tape Punch out piles of circles from your paint chips samples. I had about 20 circles in each of the 5 colors. Paint chips are one-sided so you’ll have to either glue two together or sew them together when you’re making your strings of circles. Line them up in piles next to your machine the way you’d like them to hang from the mobile. Hold them together and run a running stitch through the middle on your machine making sure to start with plenty of string at the beginning since we’ll be using that string to tie it to the mobile when we’re done. Remove the inner section of the wooden knitting ring (by loosening the knob). Cut four pieces of string or fishing wire, tie and tape them evenly around the circle as well. Tie another long piece of string or wire to the knot and attach to a nail on the ceiling to hang.
Tiny Polaroid Magnets | { Ambrosia Creative } Hi there! It’s felt like forever since I’ve last blogged, and has felt like an eternity since I’ve done anything crafty and nifty. Since my morning sickness has gone into full speed (yes, we’re expecting our third this fall!) I came across these DIY Pantone chip magnets on How About Orange and wanted to do something similar. You will need: Cardboard (mine was the backing of a sketchbook — much thicker than the back of a regular spiral bound notebook) or 2-3 sheets of white cardstock or poster board spray-mounted together to use as a sturdy backing to the magnetsOpaque white marker (necessary only if your cardboard is not white) Craft knife Metal straight edge/ruler Clear packing tape or frisk film. Step 1: Download a Photoshop file of the Polaroid frames below. Step 2: Print out photos onto photo paper. Step 3: Spray the back of your sheet of photos and also the cardboard with spray mount. Step 4: Trim out photos with craft knife. 487 Comments
Johns-Joke of the Day - Did you know Michael Jordan having "retired," with $40 million in endorsements, makes $178,100 a day, working or not. If he sleeps 7 hours a night, he makes $52,000 every night while visions of sugarplums dance in his head. If he goes to see a movie, it'll cost him $7.00, but he'll make $18,550 while he's there. If he decides to have a 5-minute egg, he'll make $618 while boiling it. He makes $7,415/hour more than minimum wage. If he wanted to save up for a new Acura NSX ($90,000) it would take him a whole 12 hours. If someone were to hand him his salary and endorsement money, they would have to do it at the rate of $200 every second. He'll probably pay around $200 for a nice round of golf, but will be reimbursed $33,390 for that round. He'll make about $19.60 while watching the 100-meter dash in the Olympics, and about $15,600 during the Boston Marathon. This year, he'll make more than twice as much as all U.S. past presidents for all of their terms combined. Amazing isn't it? However... Game over.
DIY Duvet Cover I’ve been on the hunt for a cover to replace, or hide an aging blanket on one of my beds. I haven’t been able to justify doling out the big bucks for a beautiful organic duvet cover. On a recent shopping trip to Marshall’s (I must admit, I love the discount stores: Marshall’s, TJMaxx, and Homegoods), I found some beautiful bamboo sheets, and remembered a trick my mom taught me. She rarely bought new coverlets or blankets, she made duvet covers from two sheets. There are a few different meanings and interpretations for duvet covers. Why use a duvet cover over a blanket? Why make a duvet cover from two sheets? A duvet cover is like a giant pillowcase. What you need: a blanket to cover 2 flat sheets exactly the same size – the same size as the blanket thread pins scissors sewing machine optional: buttons, big snaps, Velcro or ties What to do: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. • Sew buttonholes by hand or machine. 8. EcoNesting Related:5 DIY Rugs50 Great Uses for Mason Jars Homemade Safe Candles
Fingerprints on the Fridge: Christmas topiary When I saw this photo over at BHG I knew I had to have it. No doubt, it had to be mine. I do love the colors but they wouldn’t go with much in my house at the moment, so I had to improvise. I made a ton of these Santa Jars last year to give Oreo truffles in so I just made another big ol’ one. You can’t really mess this up, red body, white paint for fur, black belt and a silver buckle, last year the buckles were gold. Fate I tell you. ;) Now take your foam ball and heat up your glue gun. (Yes, I do my best work on the kitchen floor.) Looking back on this project I would most definitely spray paint the ball first, you can still kind of see green, oh well live and learn. Glue the top and bottom of the dowel and stick it in the foam ball and the foam blocks and stick it in your pot. The most tedious part was filling in the gaps with the minis, and painting a straight line for the belt when all I had was a large foam brush. Like this: Like Loading...
How to make puffy paint from One Crafty Mumma The craftiest mum out there, Melissa, from One Crafty Mumma is sharing her amazing recipe for puffy paint! Too cool! Melissa writes… How To Make Homemade Puffy Paint This is really cool and super quick/easy. Combine the following in a little bowl: 1 tablespoon self-raising floura few little drops of food colouring1 tablespoon salt Then add some water to make a nice smooth paste. Paint away on a nice thick sheet of cardboard (if you don’t have enough paint brushes use cotton buds – they work really well). Microwave the design on high for 10 – 30 seconds until the paint puffs and it’s all nice and dry.