Photograph Fabric Printing via the Sun
Lumi Inkodye: Print photographs onto t-shirts using solar power. Great for kids, great for adults and a truly fabulous way to express your creativity and make gorgeous garments, décor items and gifts – that’s what Lumi Inkodye offer you with their kits and products. This is a seemingly miraculous way to add your photographs and designs to any fabric item using the sun to develop the images. You can take any photograph from...
Need Halloween Ideas? Here’s a Book with 101
Craft Ideas for Any Age Get a head start on Halloween with this terrific book. Published by Better Homes and Gardens in 2000, Halloween: 101 Frightfully Fun Ideas offers 168 pages of fun and unique ideas. The cover alone attracted my interest. It show a pumpkin decorated with curled soldering wire. I find decorating pumpkins more fun than carving them, though that is mostly because of a lack of carving skill. I am amazed at...
Easter Crafting with Your Kids
Can’t Wait to Start Easter Crafts You too? Crafting with children for occasions like Easter is so much fun. Having kids about to decorate eggs, go on Easter egg hunts, even shopping for pretty and special Easter outfits brings back so many sweet memories! It was always a time for family to gather, to celebrate the day, and enjoy each other’s company. The spring colors, especially the pastels somehow always make me smile....
How I Make Felt Flowers – FREE Pattern and Tutorial
Here are some cute flowers, ladybugs, bees, and butterflies made from felt. I found some cute pattern shapes online that were made for felt. The bugs were supposed to be painted on wood, but I used the patterns to make them out of felt. For the stems I used bamboo skewers that I painted green with craft paint. They had you use pencils. It was all very simple and did not take too long to make. Some of the flowers I used embroidery...
Felt Easter Projects – Eggs, Bunnies and Basket
Felt Easter Projects – Eggs, Bunnies and Basket – FREE Patterns and Tutorials. I saw some cute eggs and bunnies at Pinterest and decided to make my own pattern for the egg. I had a pattern book with the basket pattern. I just drew a freehand drawing of an egg shape for the eggs. The Bunnies were two different patterns that I used. Pattern One Pattern Two Pattern three Eggs I drew a few egg shapes and then pinned...
How to Make an Easy Felt Basket – Free Pattern and Tutorial
My Felt Basket. I saw a cute felt basket on line at https://www.freepatterns.com [You can join for free with your email address and download as many patterns as you like.] I liked it and decided to make one like it for Easter for my family. The basket from online was called Annika’s Basket designed by Molly Schaller copyright by DRG 2009. It does NOT have a pattern for the actual basket. It just has ideas about decorating them....
Valentine Things To Make And Do Is A Lovely Craft Book For Kids
Valentine Things To Make And Do Is A Lovely Craft Book For Kids Valentine Things To Make And Do is my families most loved Valentine craft book ever! With 17 fun and easy Valentine things to make and do using the most basic of craft supplies, I have never been short on ideas for doing Valentine crafts with my kids or making last minute gifts. The crafts are easy for kids of all ages to do and are fun for adults too. I have even used a...
iPhone Photography 101 – Silhouettes and Sunshine
iPhone Photography 101 – Silhouettes and Sunshine. As a beach photographer I find that I’m constantly looking for new ways to make my sunrise shots memorable. I take photographs every day, regardless of the weather, and I try to find different ways of capturing the moment. Silhouettes have become an important part of my workflow and have played a part in creating some very dramatic photographs. Here in Florida a bright sun...
How To Get Started Cross Stitching For The New Year
How To Get Started Cross Stitching For The New Year As the year comes to an end what kind of crafts are you planning to make for the New Year? I’m a cross stitch lover so I’m planning on finishing up some ones I’ve been working on for a little while but also have some new ones planned. I like all sorts of designs so it’s hard to sometimes choose what will be next. I got to looking for some vintage designs and here are a few that...
Two Free Printables For Last Minute New Years Eve Party Favors
Two Free Printables For Last Minute New Years Eve Party Favors Are you having a New Years Eve party or counting down to midnight with the kids? Here are two free printable New Years Eve party favors that are fun for people of all ages and take only minutes to make. 1. Printable Sparkler Party Favors A really fun and inexpensive party favor to hand out to your party guests are sparklers. Who doesn’t love watching the bright and...
Move over Martha Stewart: We Need Quick Holiday Decorations
Move over Martha Stewart: We Need Quick Holiday Decorations Last minute holiday decorations are no problem with this easy tutorial for an instant wall or shelf decoration using just a few inexpensive items that you may have around the house or items that can easily be picked up at your local neighborhood dollar store. A few frames, some decorative papers and large letters in a contrast color are all you need to put this quick and easy...
D-I-Y Christmas Decorations: Ho Ho Ho
You and Your Children Can Make This Together It’s time to start thinking Christmas crafts! Have you noticed craft and fabric store have their read and green fabrics out with the adorable designs? Here’s a quick and easy craft that is as versatile as your vocabulary! This is a fun and easy Christmas decoration to make, and it’s one for the kids too! They can help cut, stitch and stuff with a little help from Mom. The...
Dozens of Easy Felt Ornaments – FREE Patterns
Dozens and Dozens of Christmas ornaments. I work year round on my projects so that they will be done in plenty of time to ship to family and friends who live out of my state. I never know when I will not be well enough to work some days so I pace myself and give myself at least two or more months to finish projects before the holiday or birthday or whatever occasion the item will be for that person. All the pins on this page are found...
Cute Reindeer Cookie Bags
Cute Reindeer Cookie Bags Here is a really quick and easy packaging idea for gifting Christmas cookies and treats. Now that the holiday baking is done, you are left with the task of packaging up the treats in individual packages to give to guests, neighbors, teachers and all the special people in your life. These cute cookie bags don’t take many supplies to make. For each reindeer cookie bag, you will need one paper lunch bag, 2 pipe...
Christmas Crafts – Easy Children’s crafts: Sakura Felt Ornament & Button Snowmen
Christmas Crafts – Easy Children’s crafts – age 5 and up – “Sakura” Felt Ornament and Button Snowmen – FREE Patterns. Sakura – Two circles of felt embellished by faux pearl beads White Cherry Blossoms or Japanese Sakura White Cherry Blossoms in Japan are called Sakura. See link below the photo of the Cherry Blossoms for a full explanation. Source. Pinterest – DIY Sakura Flower...
Cute And Funny Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas Guaranteed To Make You Laugh
Cute And Funny Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas Guaranteed To Make You Laugh Looking for a last minute gift idea? Need something light hearted and a little silly for someone you don’t know very well like a neighbor or teacher? Trying to find a white elephant or secret Santa gift that does not include a candle or a mug? Here are 3 fun and silly homemade Christmas gift ideas that are guaranteed to bring smiles and laughter to the receiver....
Adult Coloring Books, A Gift for All Ages
How many years has it been since you grabbed a handful of color pencils, markers or crayons and sat quietly coloring? Personally for me, this was a pastime that I really enjoyed as a child. I would sit quietly coloring and making each outline in a coloring book my own. When there weren’t enough lines in the drawing, I would add my own and color until my fingers were almost numb. I had the most intricate patterns drawn into an...
Igloo Craft For Kids
Igloo craft ideas Sugar cube igloos are a really fun igloo craft for kids who are learning about the history of the indigenous tribes who once lived in igloos, otherwise known as snow houses, to protect themselves and their families from the cold and harsh weather of the Arctic tundra. Kids can get a history lesson while having fun building a mini igloo made from sugar cubes, 1/2 a styrofoam ball and glue. This igloo craft for kids is...
Christmas Countdown: Advent Calendars For Children of all Ages
I know that some of you may already have turned off your curiosity because you feel it’s just too early to start thinking about Christmas. Well I must disagree with you. After all Christmas is not just a one day holiday, it is a whole season holiday starting with the first Sunday in Advent. Even if you are not religious, you can follow along on twenty four days leading up to Christmas. For years, I made Advent Calendars for my...
Almost Instant: DIY Artwork
Help! I need artwork for my bathroom. Recently, I gave my tiny bathroom a long overdue overhaul on a budget — actually a budget of zero dollars. It was looking good but I had one huge problem. The previous owner of our mid-century apartment had left us with a mysterious hole in the tiles. What’s more, it was the first thing you see as you enter the bathroom and it was really bugging me. I needed to cover it quickly and for...
Re-purposing Wine Bottles: Wall Vases
We drink wine. Often. And this means that we have lots of wine bottles to recycle or re-purpose. A lot of the time, I must admit, we put them into the recycling. That’s fine but I love ideas for using them to make décor items or useful goods for the home. This is one I especially love. It’s so simple but looks so good. If you wander into Home Depot, or any DIY store, you’ll find plenty of u-clamps or strap clamps....
Candy Corn Design Plastic Canvas Basket
A plastic canvas project that is easy to do and large enough for a child to do. The pattern is for size 7 plastic canvas or 7 holes per inch. You could do the pattern in size 5 or 5 holes per inch for ease for a child or very low vision person or elderly adult. You use a blunt needle with a large hole to accommodate the yarn. This is why I do plastic canvas because it is a lot easier for me to see as I am legally blind, I only have...
If the Shoe Fits … Bag the Matching Hat!
Halloween Plastic Canvas Projects. I found these patterns at Pinterest and wanted to make something like this. I decided to make two parts. One part with the shoe and one part with the witches hat. I also wanted to add a colorful sock like one sees with at Witch’s costume. Here is the one page of patterns from Pinterest Pinterest pattern pin. I adapted these patterns to fit the words above. I just did the hat by itself and shoe...
Big Bat Halloween Decoration
Big Bat Halloween Decoration. Plastic canvas is a medium of a grid with holes similar to open weave needlepoint canvas. It’s firmer plastic that you work with yarn to make designs in the canvas or objects cut out such as this bat. I had gotten a lot of plastic canvas at the second hand store in 2011. People start projects or buy supplies and then give them to the second hand stores or the owners buy things at garage sales and...
Arts and Crafts for Kids: Weaving with a Pegloom
When my son was about 5 years old we began to teach him how to weave with a loom the main reasons why we did this were to help him develop his fine motor skills and his hand eye co-ordination. The loom we used was just like this Harrisville Designs Pegloom. I am a special needs teacher and I have used many toys with children of all ages to develop all sorts of educational skills. Weaving is an activity that any young child will...
Handmade Grumpy Cat Wall Decoration: Free Tutorial and Pattern
“Grumpy Cat” I wanted to make projects with my new size 7 Aida cloth for myself and Christmas gifts. I found dozens of patterns. I saw the “Grumpy Cat” a few years ago and I decided that if I found a pattern, I would make that for myself. So my first size 7 Aida cloth cross stitch project is this “Grumpy Cat.” I ordered the size 7 Aida cloth when I found out it existed. I looked on Amazon as one...
Make Your Own Gymnastics Mom T-Shirt
Save Money by Making Your Own Gymnastics Mom T-Shirt. If you are a gymnastics mom like me, or are looking for a gift for another gymnastics mom, check out these well-made rhinestone transfers. I love wearing my gymnastics gear to my daughter’s meets, and have spent many hours scouring the Internet for the perfect gear. However, I haven’t been impressed by the prices. So, when I ran across these affordable rhinestone...
Grumpy Cat – Free Patterns and Tutorial Videos
Grumpy Cat AKA “Tardar Sauce” The Real Cat – FREE Patterns and Tutorial. Grumpy Cat Pillow and Wall Hanging. I loved Grumpy cat the moment I saw her for the first time on Facebook. I found many patterns and decided I had to make several projects with them! I made a pillow cover, a wall hanging and another smaller project which I will have a story on it soon. I added a border around the Grumpy Cat part of the pillow...
Yo Yo Ornaments – Free Patterns
Yo Yo Ornaments – FREE Patterns. What is a Yo Yo? A Yo Yo is a cut out a circle of fabric that is gathered together around the edges with thread and pulled tight to make a tight circle. Using Yo Yos for Holiday Decorations I have seen Yo Yos since I was a little kid. I do recall that either I or one of my kids had one of the clowns made from the Yo Yos. I have been saving Yo Yo ideas from Pinterest for a year. I have decided to...
Make a Toy Cat
Cute Toy Cat. Print three copies of the cat pattern below so you can have a master copy, and two pattern pieces for each part of the cat except the nose. I also cut out extra pieces for the claws, since I always make at least a dozen of all projects. Words are in Russian, but you can see that the largest is the body, the larger of the two rectangles is the leg, the other the arm and the skinny one is the tail. Cut two of each piece,...
Despicable Me Minion: Free Patterns
Minion in plastic canvas and yarn. I have made some Despicable Me Minions with plastic canvas and yarn and plan on making some more from the patterns and ideas that I have assembled here. First are two Minions in plastic canvas. Then I have the pattern for a Minion doll. The pattern is really cute and can be made from felt or material – fleece would come out great! Jeans material could be used for the clothing. Have fun which...
Halloween Style Tic Tac Toe
From the Halloween Plastic Canvas patterns board I have at my Pinterest account, I merged two pattern ideas to make this Halloween Tic Tac Toe. I wanted to make the two game pieces different, rather than the whole kitty and the pumpkin, I wanted a kitty face and a plain pumpkin. (One piece of plastic canvas is all you need, size 7, or 7 holes to the inch is the easiest for me to work. I get my plastic canvas at Amazon.com. You can buy...
Make a Haunted House Kleenex Box cover with Plastic Canvas and Yarn
Haunted House made from yarn and plastic canvas. This Haunted House decoration is also a Kleenex box holder. When you have the Kleenex tissue box in the house and pull up a tissue, it looks like smoke coming out of the house. You can also add a piece of white cloth and add some googly eyes to it and shape it to look like a ghost coming out of the roof for Halloween! Haunted House Kit This is the Haunted House Kleenex box that I made....
Felt Dolls Projects
Felt Dolls Projects. I was getting into making felt projects for all the Holidays, and I wanted to make some felt dolls for my niece’s twin daughters’ birthday. They are 4 this year. I had ordered felt by the yard from Hobby Lobby earlier in the year for my felt crafts for the year. I printed out the patterns and cut out the shapes needed then added the embellishments such as lace, ribbon, buttons and beads. I embroidered...
The Art of the Location
Since summer 2009 I have developed an extraordinary photographic habit. I’ve been capturing images at what I sometimes call “the same old beach” each and every morning, arriving unfailingly at the same parking spot on Sunrise Lane and walking out onto the sands to watch – and photograph- the sunrise. Today marks a run of over 400 consecutive days pounding the sands here in Fort Lauderdale, which amounts to many...
iPhone Photography 101 : Low Angles
Every day I take a walk along Fort Lauderdale’s North Beach. I’ll be there rain or shine as I have been for many years. The reason I like this stretch of shore is that in the early hours it is quite deserted. The width of the sands there is quite narrow, so it is quite easy to step away from the shoreline should the skies become photogenic. I like to frame the sunrise with silhouettes of palm trees if I can, and the palms...
Custom Throw Pillows and Matching Fabric
Custom Throw Pillows and Matching Fabric Have you ever purchased throw pillows and wanted them to match your curtains or a quilt? Now you can. Zazzle is a print on demand company that has many designs to choose from. They also now make custom fabric. I am one of the artists on Zazzle, and have designed quite a few pillows already. I recently visited a furniture store and thought that it would be great for these designer pieces to...
Instagram 247 / 365
Instagram is the go-to app for millions of mobile users globally. A social network built entirely around the sharing of photographs Instagram has captured the imagination of so many. Yet the quality and variety of images shared on the network varies so widely it’s hard to find a reason why so many find the app compelling. How did this happen? I thought that I’d share my own journey to Instagram to see if I can throw a...
Eco-Friendly Life Hack For Going Green
Here is a really cool eco-friendly life hack you should know if you are trying to go green or want to reduce your carbon footprint. One small change you can make to living a greener life is to eliminate store bought candles which contain paraffin wax and non-natural fragrances. Most of these candles contain carcinogens and other harmful pollutants which are not good for your health or the environment. Paraffin is also a by-product of...
Make Tin Can Man
Mr. Tin Man Did you know the tin can was first patented on January 19, 1825? Me either, I just recently learned that and that there is a National Tin Can Day in honor of that. I think that’s pretty neat. So In celebration of this day I want to share a fun tin can project and a little story about it. One day while looking out my window at another place I lived at I noticed the neighbor had this really cool tin man hanging in their...
DIY Nail Polish Organizer For Small Spaces
DIY Nail Polish Organizer For Small Spaces Are bottles of nail polish taking over your vanity or dresser? Are you looking for a space saving storage idea for your nail polish collection? Living in a small space and having a teenage daughter who loves to paint her nails, I was driven to find a solution for storing her growing collection of nail polish. Here is an idea for a simple DIY Nail Polish Organizer that can be hung on the wall...
It’s Not All In The Clay, Master Potter!
It’s Not All In The Clay, Master Potter! Starting At The Beginning Tonight’s your first clay class.You’ve seen wonderful creations on exhibit at the craft shows you attended recently. You want to be one of those artists. You want to be able to produce exquisite masterpieces on a par with those you saw on display. Of course, you were thrilled when one of the potters told you they also offer classes. So, here you are, waiting...
Mosaics are a versatile art form
Mosaics are a versatile art form. Mosaics are pictures that are made of small pieces of pebbles, glass, stone, and more. The art of mosaics has been around for thousands of years. Early designs were made of pebbles. Most early designs had little color. Expanding the art to include glass did not come until later, once more tools were introduced. With the introduction of more advanced tools, designs also became more intricate, and also...
Design Your Own Hair Ties
Design Your Own Hair Ties These are the soft stretchy ones that are approximately 5/8 inch wide. They measure around 10.88 inches long, and can be made with a solid color and/or you can add your own images. You can space the images out, enlarge them, and/or tile them for an easily repeated design. Here are the initial steps: Click on the DIY Hair Tie Link (below). Click on Customize It. Click on Add Image. Select an image from your...