stencil with freezer paper (harry potter tee) Yes, I am a nerd. I came up with a brilliant idea for a Harry Potter t-shirt and I couldn't resist. "Expecto Patronum!" However, you can make whatever kind of design you want with a freezer paper stencil. I learned about the joys of freezer paper back in my early college days. Basically, freezer paper is backed with a plastic coating that will stick to soft surfaces when ironed, but it peels off cleanly and easily. To make a sweet t-shirt you will need: paper & pencil a t-shirt an iron a piece of cardboard or poster board fabric paint & brush Start by drawing your design on some regular old paper. My design kept getting bigger, so I taped two sheets together. Next, place your design underneath a sheet of freezer paper and trace it neatly with a sharpie. The marker gives your lines greater width making it easier to cut them out and paint them in later. Now place a piece of cardboard under your freezer paper to protect your table while you cut. Important: Set these shapes aside.
How to make gift bags from newspaper When I bought something at a store recently, the clerk handed me my purchase in a bag made from a newspaper. I liked it very much and had to make some more—thus today's DIY recycled newspaper project: gift bags made from the Wall Street Journal. You can vary the dimensions, of course, but here's what I used to create a bag that's 5" tall, 4.5" wide, and 3" deep. Stack two sheets of newspaper on top of each other. This will be a two-ply bag for extra sturdiness. Cut out a rectangle that's 15.5" wide and 8.25" tall. Fold a flap 1.25" down from the top. Cut two pieces of cardstock or chipboard to 4.25" x 1", then glue them on the widest two panels just under the top fold. Put glue on the outside of the 0.5" tab and bring the left-most panel over to form the body of the bag, aligning the cut edge of the panel with the folded edge of the flap. Upend the bag so the 2" flap is now up. Put glue on both flaps and fold them inward to form the bottom of the bag.
DIY Shibori – HonestlyWTF Today marks HonestlyWTF’s four year anniversary. Four years! To celebrate, we’re revisiting the very first tutorial we ever featured on the site: shibori tie dye. Lauren and I first discovered shibori after discovering an old photo on the web. You’ll need:an indigo dye kitnatural fiber clothing or fabric2 5 gallon bucketsrubber glovessmall wood squaresrubber bandstwinea PVC pipea long wooden sticka drop clothrubber glovesscissors When choosing fabric or clothing, it’s important that made of natural fibers. Itajime shibori is known as the shape-resist technique. Fold it again in the other direction – again, like an accordion. Arashi is the Japanese term for “storm” and it’s also known as the pole-wrapping technique. Wrap the twine around the fabric. Continue wrapping, scrunching and tightening until all the fabric is compacted. Kumo shibori is known as the pleat and bind technique. Do the same with the opposite side, in staggered sections. Keep binding until you can’t go any further.
101 Simple Handmade Gift Tutorials These simple handmade gift tutorials will make any crafty person’s heart sing with joy! You don’t need special skills or a bunch of time because these can all be done super fast! Simple and cute…that works for me! You are going to love these fabulous tutorials!!! You can make all your gifts for years from this list! If you love creative links, please subscribe to Everything Etsy! Thanks so much for all your tweets, stumbles, Facebook likes and pins on my Sewing Tutorials and Free Printables posts…you are the coolest crafty friends! If you want to be doubly awesome, try doing handmade gifts that are also eco-friendly! Handmade gifts make people feel special, don’t you think? ~Kim
The Boxy Cosmetic Bag Tutorial Jaime from Prudent Baby has the perfect gift for a man —the boxy man bag! It would make a perfect dopp kit! Shhhh….but I am going to make these for my boys! There are tons more projects over at Prudent Baby, so many ideas that would make wonderful handmade gifts. Jaime writes… How To Make a Boxy Cosmetic Bag Tutorial Look! OK, so this one is for my friend Felice. I used Echino by Etsuko Furuya, Quiet Ground, Oil Cloth in Natural and the matching canvas, both available at Fabricworm. 1. 2. Sew in place with your zipper foot: Now fold your pieces wrong sides facing. Lay your other piece of oil cloth (lining) right side down on top with the edges aligned. Sew in place with your zipper foot. 3. 4. Flatten it out and sew up each side, across the zipper. 4. Sew that line with a straight stitch: Cut off the triangle: Repeat pn al four corners. Turn it right side out. Pretty quick and simple right? Stuff with sunscreen and the like.
Mason Jar Key Hook Hey guys! Hope you all had a great Wednesday I have a fun project to share today! I started with a 1×8 board from Lowe’s that I cut to about 2′ long. I also purchased 3 hooks and a pipe clamp from Lowe’s. My next step was attaching them to my board. Then it was time to attach the clamp. I used a 3/4″ wood screw to attach it to my board. Finally, I added to picture hangers to the back of it and hung it up. I love it. I’m thinking these would be super cute hand towel hooks for the bathroom. Thanks for stopping by! I will show you my new paint method in my next post so stay tuned. ~Whitney Watermark Tee by Sweet Verbana Hello U-Create readers! I am so excited to be guest posting here today. It just so happens to be my first guest post and I'm still a little shocked that it's here at Ucreate, one of my favorite blogs! A little bit about me.. I'm from a little town called Keller, Texas. I'm a junior at Texas A&M University (whoop!). I'm working on my education degree and expect to be an elementary school teacher in just two short years. When I'm not busy studying for classes, I love to sew. I just started blogging in May and have already met all kinds of wonderful women, I hope you'll stop by and say hi too! Watermark Tee Tutorial What I love about this project is that it's completely customizable. Materials: Elmer's Blue Gel Glue (it must be the blue gel, white won't work) Fabric Dye (RIT is my tried and true brand) A white cotton Tee, Tank, Dress etc. Tutorial: If you're unfamiliar with Batiking, it's a method of dyeing fabric in which you create a design with a dye- resist. Step 1: Prepare Step 2: Design
knitty.com by Kristi Porter I must confess to a feeling of postmodern nostalgia for what-never-was tinged with some sort of tweenage pop-icon fandom when I scoured the city's grocery stores in search of the elusive lemon-lime. I felt sheepish as a paid for my 16 gaily colored packets. And I felt giddy when I added water and the bright colors and fruity smells issued forth. But I wasn't making Kool-Aid for myself or even the kids to drink. It was for my yarn. Since powdered drink mixes are readily available and reasonably non-toxic, it makes a great entrée into the world of fiber dyeing in your own kitchen. What fibers to use: Kool-Aid dyeing works only on animal fibers: wool, mohair, alpaca -- even human hair! What you'll need: What to do: To get your yarn ready, wash it lightly in mild soap and then let it soak in the sink as you continue your preparations. There are two basic methods of setting the dye: stovetop or microwave. Rest assured, your finished products will be washable.
keep it modern” » Cuttin’ glass and takin’ names My latest Modern DIY came from pure curiosity. I had read about bottle cutters on different sites and forums and thought that could be pretty fun. I live in a area where there are a lot of wineries so that means there has to be plenty of wine bottles laying around. I personally don’t drink wine but was easily able to get my hands on some. I was also able to pick up a Ephrems Old Time Bottle Cutting Kit on eBay. Get some of the tips and tricks I learned on the way after the jump. The directions that come with the kit are pretty strait forward. Now that you have a cut bottle you have to deal with the sharp edges. I really don’t see these being used for drinking glasses. Photos by Kim Fetrow
Dorm Room Spa: 3 Easy DIY Beauty Recipes to Try Photo Credit It’s that taxing in-between time of the semester again – spring break is over, papers and projects are coming due, and finals are looming ahead. It’s clear that college students are stressed right now, and with that stress comes the need for relaxation. Of course, as college students, we can’t all afford to shell out for a trip to a high-end spa. 1. Photo Credit Olive oil isn’t just for cooking — it’s great for your hair, too! To give your hair a conditioning treatment, massage about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into your hair and scalp. Next, take a warm, damp towel and wrap it around your head and treated hair (“turban” it). Finally, rinse out the olive oil with shampoo. 2. This DIY mask, made of nutmeg, honey, and cinnamon, is calming and soothing for stressed-out skin – in addition, it smells absolutely amazing! The secret? To create the mask, mix 2 tablespoons of honey with a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of nutmeg. 3. Photo Credit Your Thoughts?
Anthropologie Pratia Tank Top Tutorial February 6, 2010 1:59 pm Per popular demand, here is the Pratia tank tutorial! Start off with a t-shirt or tank top. What I did was get a larger t-shirt so I could gather it at bottom like the pratia tank. I cut off the sleeves so it would be a tank. Measure your neckline and get a piece of chiffon that length and fold it in half. Pin it to the inside of your neckline with it peeking out. Since I cut the sleeves off my T, I wanted to finish the edges. Stitch it. I highly recommend interfacing where you are going to be adding the embellishments, otherwise it’s going to sag. For the flower pieces, here is the shape and dimensions I used. Fold your pieces in half and cut that petal shape out. I used the extra sleeve pieces, cream chiffon(the kind that won’t fray) and another grey jersey I had. How many do you need? Lay two petals on top of one another, as shown. I did a small ‘X’ shape to stitch them so they stay in place. Just add more, and more, and more, and more………(It’s time consuming.
Hack Apart a Highlighter to Create UV-Reactive Flowers [Science] - How-To Geek ETC College students have long been hacking apart highlighters to create glowing bottles of booze to line their dorm room walls. Far more interesting, however, is the application of the hack to flowers. Many of you may remember a science class experiment from years gone by where in you put food coloring in a beaker and then some freshly cut white flowers; returning to the experiment a day later yielded flowers colored to match the dye you added. This little experiment relies on the same technique, only instead of blue food coloring the flowers suck up UV-reactive highlighter dye. Have a fun science experiment to share? Make Flowers Glow in the Dark (with Highlighter Fluid and UV Light) [YouTube via Make] Jason Fitzpatrick is warranty-voiding DIYer and all around geek.
{macramé: half knot spiral} washer & wingnut bracelet By Kate on October 25, 2011 Hello there! I finally got around to posting after a hectic few weeks. I’ve been working on a big project which is all done and dusted now so I will be making more frequent updates between now and Christmas…phew! I’m hoping to post another Halloween craft in the next day or so. It’s comprised of a’half knot spiral’ (and is even easier than the square knot bracelet I showed you previously). A few people left comments about the last bracelet saying it looked like it may take too long to make. By the way thanks to all you lovely people who ‘liked’ my facebook page. Full tutorial after the jump! How-to Please note: I have used different colored cord in the tutorial so that it’s easier for you to figure out whats going on! 1. 2. 3. Note: You fasten this bracelet as you would a friendship bracelet.