Fuse Bead Halloween Magnets

     I have fond memories from my childhood of making fuse bead creations with my mom and siblings and I think this craft can be a great activity if you have children and you’re looking for Halloween crafts you can make with them.

Materials:

*Fuse Beads kit

*Magnetic backing

*Adhesive (if your magnetic backing does not have an adhesive backing)

*Scissors

*Iron

Directions:

*Design your fuse bead creations by arranging beads on a peg board, then cover with a sheet of waxed paper and iron the first side.  Remove the fuse bead project from its peg board, cover with waxed paper, and iron the other side.  For more detailed instructions, visit http://www.eksuccessbrands.com/perlerbeads/creative/4-easy-steps.htm. 

*Cut a small section of the magnetic backing for each fuse bead critter you have made. 

*If magnetic backing has a built-in adhesive, affix the backing to the fuse bead creatures.  Some of the built-in adhesives on such magnetic backings can be rather weak, so you may need some all purpose glue to get it to stick properly

*If your magnetic backing does not have a built-in adhesive, or if the built-in adhesive does not work well, dab a small amount of all purpose adhesive on the back of the magnet, then adhere to the fuse bead creation.  Let dry.  Once the glue has dried, you can decorate your refrigerator with these fuse bead creatures.

Halloween Curtain

Materials:

*Old curtains

*Felt in Halloween colors

*Halloween templates

*Chalk

*Scissors

*Glitter glue

*All purpose adhesive suitable for use with fabric

Directions:

*Print out or draw templates of different Halloween images that you would like to feature on your curtain.  I found my templates at http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/halloween-templates-1009?click=main_sr (bat stencil), http://www.matthewmeadstyle.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=254&Itemid=146 (black cat stencil), and http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/halloween_templates_pumpkins.htm (pumpkin stencil).

*Using chalk, trace templates onto felt squares of the appropriate colors.  The amount of felt you will need may vary depending on the shapes and sizes of your templates and on the amount of items you want to feature.  I used two 9x12 sheets of black felt and one of orange felt

*Once you have finished outlining your shapes, cut them out. 

*Decorate with glitter glue, then let dry.

*Once the glitter glue has dried, arrange your Halloween cutouts in a manner you find pleasing, then glue down with all purpose adhesive.

Photo Decor

     Looking for a way to display photos other than traditional picture frames?  Here are a couple of creative ways to showcase your pictures.

3-D Photo Display

Materials:

*Foam board

*Sheet of printed paper at least 9”x9”

*9 photos 2”x2” or 2.5”x2.5”

*Photo safe adhesive (such as photo mounting squares)

*All purpose adhesive

*Ribbon

*Scissors and/or X-acto knife (X-acto knife may work a bit better than scissors for cutting foam board)

Directions:

*Cut a 9”x9” square of foam board.

*Cut sheet of paper to 9”x9” if it is not already that size, then adhere to one side of the foam board using your photo safe adhesive.

*Crop photos to desired size. 

*Cut out nine sections of foam board that are slightly smaller than your photos (e.g. if your pictures are 2”x2”, you may want to cut out sections of foam board that are 1¾”x1¾”).

*Adhere pictures to foam squares using your photo safe adhesive.

*Arrange squares on the patterned paper in a way that you find desirable, then adhere squares to the paper using your photo safe adhesive.

*Glue a loop of ribbon to the back of the project using your all purpose adhesive.  Once the glue is dry, you will be able to hang up your photo creation.

Picture Hanger

Materials:

*Decorative hanger

*Assorted beads

*Headpins

*Foam board

*Photos

*Different sheets of patterned paper (if you have leftover scraps of paper from other projects, this would be a good project to use them in)

*Mod Podge

*Paintbrush

*Stickers or other embellishments (optional)

*Large needle

*Jump rings

*Round nose pliers

*Other pliers

*Scissors and/or X-acto knife

Directions:

*Based on the size of your hanger, determine the number and size of rectangles you want to use in your project.  Cut out however many sections of foam board in the size you deem appropriate.

*Cut strips of patterned paper that are the same size as the foam board rectangles and use Mod Podge or other adhesive to stick the paper to the foam rectangles.

*Crop photos into rectangular shapes slightly smaller than the foam rectangles and adhere to the patterned paper.

*Coat the decorated side of the foam rectangles and let dry.  After they dry, you may wish to apply a second or third coat of Mod Podge to give rectangles a nice, glossy finish.

*Once dry, decorate with stickers or other embellishments if you so choose. 

*Using a large needle, poke a hole through the top part of each foam rectangle.  Using the pliers, pull open the jump ring, then slide it through the hole.  Do not close.

*Snip off the head of a headpin and use round pliers to make a loop at the base.

*Decorate headpin with beads, then make a loop at the other end wide enough to fit around the hanger.  Close around hanger. 

*Slide other end of the headpin through the jump ring on one of the rectangles, then close the jump ring.  You should now have one rectangle hanging from the hanger.

*Repeat process with the remainder of the head pins.

Memento Board

     Looking for a way to display photos, cards, or other mementos?  This memento board enables you to showcase these personal items.

Materials:

*Very large photo frame (project can be done without photo frame)

*Foam board large enough to fit inside photo frame (if photo frame came with cardboard backing, you may not need this item)

*Enough fabric to cover front side of the foam board

*Ribbon

*5 large fabric flowers, large buttons, or other such items

*Fabric glue

*Scissors and/or X-acto knife

Directions:

*Cut foam board down to size such that it will fit inside photo frame.  Depending on your board, this may be more easily achieved with an X-acto knife than with scissors.  If the frame came with some sort of cardboard backing, you might be able to use this in place of the foam, though it won’t be quite as thick.

*If you are not using a frame, size the foam board however you wish.  Cut off the corners of the foam board (this step is only necessary if you are not using a frame)

*Cut fabric such that it is about ½ to 1 inch longer than the foam board on all sides. 

*Lay fabric face down on a flat surface and place foam board on top. 

*Run glue along the edges of the backside of the foam board and adhere the fabric to this.  Make sure to pull the fabric as tight as you can while gluing so that you won’t end up with bunches of fabric on the front side.  Let glue dry.

*Once the glue has dried, turn the board over so that the side covered in fabric is facing up.  Cut a strip of ribbon slightly longer than the length of the diagonal of the board.  Stretch ribbon across the board diagonally and glue down one end of the ribbon in one of the corners.  Pull ribbon as tightly as you can (this is very essential, otherwise the mementos may not be able to be held up by the ribbon) and glue down the other end.

*Repeat for a length of ribbon going across diagonally in the opposite direction.

*Where the two ribbons cross one another (which should be approximately the center of the board), adhere the bottom ribbon to the board, then adhere the top ribbon to the bottom one.  Glue a fabric flower or button over the intersection of the two ribbons.

*Arrange lengths of ribbon to form a diamond shape, with each corner of the diamond located at the halfway point of one of the sides.

*Glue down the points of the diamond, then glue down any intersections of ribbon.  Glue fabric flower or button over any intersection.  Let dry.

*If using a frame, frame your creation.  Slide in your favorite mementos, then hang on the wall. If you are not using a frame, attach a ribbon loop at the top of the board so that you can hang it up.

The Costs of Crafting

     It has been my goal since I began this blog to make it accessible to a wide variety of people, including individuals of varying socioeconomic statuses.  As a college student with very limited financial resources, I have little in the way of disposable income.  How then, you may wonder, do I afford my craft supplies?  After all, many craft supplies do not come cheap.
     There are a number of ways I get craft supplies at reduced prices.  The first place I look for craft supplies when beginning a project is my home.  Over the years I have gradually built up a reservoir of craft supplies, but sometimes the perfect items are not traditional crafting supplies at all.  Say you need fabric for a project but don't have any on hand.  Perhaps you have some old T-shirts or other cloth items that you don't use anymore that you could use for fabric.  The home can be full of potential crafting supplies if you think outside the box a bit. 
     My next place to go to for crafting supplies is my local thrift shop.  I frequent the Orono Thrift Shop http://www.oronohealthassociation.org/thrift-shop.html, and this is where I found almost all of the crafting supplies for my upcoming blog post.  There are small thrift shops in many communities, and many can be located simply by googling your area.  Small, local thrift shops often have incredible prices.  I have gotten two yards of fabric for 50 cents, ribbon for 10 cents to 25 cents, and photo frames for 50 cents or less, among other items, from my thrift shop.  The downside to smaller thrift shops is that they tend to have limited supplies, but even if you can't find everything you're looking for you will probably find something. 
     When you have gotten what you can from your local thrift shop and still need more supplies, the next place I would recommend checking out would be larger secondhand stores like Goodwill.  If you are unsure whether there is a Goodwill store in your area, they have a store locator at http://locator.goodwill.org/.  Goodwill tends to be a bit more expensive than smaller thrift shops, but you can generally find a wider selection of items there.    
     Yard sales can be another good source of inexpensive supplies.  The downside to yard sales is that their selection is highly variable, but sometimes you can find great deals.  One way to find out about what kind of items yard sales in your area are having is through local newspapers (or their websites).  Often they will list some yard sales with a short description about what kind of merchandise you will find there.  Unfortunately, this usually covers only a small percentage of yard sales, but it could be a good starting place.  If you know someone who is an avid yard saler, you could ask them to keep an eye out for supplies for you.
     Once I have exhausted these avenues I turn to firsthand stores, but only a small percentage of my craft supplies come from such stores.  Even in firsthand stores you can often find good deals if you keep an eye on clearance merchandise and watch for sales and coupons.  I hope that you will be able to find this post of some use to you.  However, my list is certainly not exhaustive, and there may be some important bargain places that I'm missing.  How about you?  Where do you find bargains on craft supplies?

Stylish Storage Containers

     It seems as though I am in constant need of storage containers and storage containers, especially nice looking ones, can cost a fortune in stores.  Because of this, I have become very resourceful when determining what counts as a storage container, finding uses for shoe boxes, plastic ice cream tubs, plastic sour cream cartons, etc.  However, some of these makeshift storage containers can be a bit of an eyesore on their own, so I decided to decorate some of the boxes.  Here are three examples of how you can turn ordinary containers into stylish storage boxes.

Fabric Covered Box

Materials:

*Shoe box

*Fabric to cover the outside of the box (separate pieces needed for the base of the box and the lid of the box)

*Optional: fabric to cover the inside of the box

*Ribbon to decorate the edges

*Adhesive (e.g. hot glue, glues that specify that they will work on fabric)

*Pen

Directions:

*Lay fabric for the outside of the box on a flat surface, with the side you want visible facing the ground. 

*Place the box in the center of the fabric and trace around the bottom of the box. 

*Then trace each of the four sides of the box extending from the base like this:

*Extend the length of the side pieces by half an inch. 

*Follow the same procedure for the lid of the box.  If you are planning on covering the inside of the box, follow the same procedure as for the outside of the box, except don’t extend the length of the fabric on the sides; instead you should diminish the length of the fabric by a quarter of an inch or less. 

*Cut out the fabric for the outside of the box. 

*Adhere the bottom of your box to the center of the outside fabric piece, then adhere each side of the fabric to the corresponding side of the box.  Set the box aside to dry. 

*Follow the same procedure for the lid of the box, then set the lid aside to dry.  If you are planning on lining the inside of the box, carefully glue the central part of the inside fabric to the bottom of the box, then affix the fabric to each of the sides.  Follow the same procedure for the lid.  Set aside to dry. 

*If you want to, you can trim the sides of the box with ribbon.

Photo Montage Storage Container

Materials:

*Shoe box or other storage container

*Pictures (can be photographs, drawings, magazine images, etc.)

*Mod Podge

*Paintbrush

*Optional: decorative trimming such as ribbon, lace, beads, etc

Directions:
*Use Mod Podge or other adhesive to stick pictures to the box’s exterior and lid in a manner that you find visually appealing. 

*Decorate box with trimmings, if you so choose

*Once you have adhered all of the pictures and trimming to the box and the lid, brush a thin coat of Mod Podge evenly across the surface of the box and the lid.  Let dry.

*Once the first coat has dried, apply a second coat, then let dry.

*Finally, apply a third coat of Mod Podge.  Let dry.

Rounded Storage Container

Materials:

*Round container (I used a plastic ice cream tub)

*2 sheets of 12x12 patterned paper (may need a different size of paper if your container is significantly bigger or smaller than the one I used)

*2 different kinds of ribbon

*Metallic permanent marker

*Ruler

*Pen

*Scissors

*Mod Podge

*Paintbrush

Directions:

*Measure the height of your container.  If parts of your container jut out more than others, measure from the bottom of the container to the bottom of the part that sticks out. 

*From one of your sheets of patterned paper, cut out two strips that are the same height as your container

*Starting from the center of your first strip of paper, line paper up with the bottom of the ridge that sticks out and adhere the paper to your container.  If your container is not perfectly cylindrical, you will notice that as you move father from the center, your paper will no longer line up with the bottom of the part that sticks out.  That’s okay.  Just keep gluing until you have glued down the whole strip of paper.

*Follow the same procedure for the second strip.

*Once you have adhered both strips of paper to your container, cut off any excess paper that hangs over the bottom of your container. 

*Using the remainder of the paper you cut the strips from, cut out rectangular pieces that will cover up any vertical gaps (i.e. if the two strips of paper did not overlap completely) between the paper and the container.

*Using your paintbrush, coat the paper with a thin layer of Mod Podge, then let dry.  You may wish to apply a second coat after the first has dried.

*Use ribbon to cover up any horizontal gaps (gaps between the bottom of the part that sticks out and the paper)

*Cover the part of the container that sticks out with ribbon or fabric.

*For the lid of the container, cut out a circular piece of paper from your second sheet of patterned paper that will cover the top of the lid.

*Adhere paper to the lid, then coat with a thin layer of Mod Podge and let dry.  You may wish to apply a second coat of Mod Podge after the first has dried.

*Decorate the rim of the lid using the permanent marker.  If the rim has writing or some sort of decoration, you may have to go over the rim with the permanent marker a couple of times to cover up the writing or decoration.

These are just a few possible ideas that you could do, but there are so many more.  Feel free to share your creations with me in the comments section of this post or email them to me at hathaway.amber@gmail.com.  I would love to see them :)

Update (October 2011): here is my most recent decorated storage container, which I made for my campus's Take Back the Night event.  My boyfriend coated the box in purple duct tabe, then I decorated it with tissue paper hearts, glitter, ribbon, wrapping paper, and metallic markers

Another update (July 16, 2012): Here is my latest decorated storage container.  I scraped the label off this plastic ice cream container, then painted it with glitter glue.  To achieve the ombré effect, I painted the entire container with a coat of glitter glue, then, after the first layer dried I painted another coat starting about 1/3 of the way down the container.  Finally, after the second layer dried, I painted a third coat starting about 2/3 of the way down the container.  For the lid, when I scraped off the label I ended up with some white scraps that I thought looked neat, so I just painted over the whole lid using a thick, uneven layer of glitter glue.



Card Scrapbook

    I started saving greeting cards when I was in about middle school, though I did not consistently collect them until I was a bit older.  I stored them away in my art corner, imagining that someday I would find some way to display them.  My cards remained in the art corner for years, until I moved, at which point they migrated to an art bookshelf where they were somewhat more visible.  I walked past these cards time and time again.  I had been considering putting them into some sort of book, but I wasn’t sure of how to go about making this book.  I am an avid scrapbooker (something I hope to cover in a later post), and one day I realized that I could make a scrapbook for my cards. 

     Because of the subjective nature of scrapbooking, I cannot give you an absolute list of materials or step by step instructions on how to make a card scrapbook.  I can offer some ideas of materials and a few tips, but feel free to ask me if you have any questions.

Suggested materials:

*White and/or patterned paper

*Adhesive such as mounting squares, glue stick, or glue

*Stickers

*Gel pens, markers, colored pencils, and/or other colorful writing utensils

*Scissors

*Stamp pad and ink

*Some way to bind book (e.g. report cover, binder, loose binder rings, ribbon)

My favorite pages and what inspired me:

The appearance of this birthday card inspired me to design the page as I did.  This card has soft colors and features some flowers and a butterfly, so when I came across these soft floral and butterfly images in my scrapbooking supplies, I knew they were right for this page.

For both of these Christmas cards, I decided to focus in on the seasonal aspect.  I chose Christmas and winter related images to relay this theme.  For the first page, I had some Christmas themed paper scraps that I thought would be fun to use, so I started with those scraps, then filled in the gaps with stickers and other paper.  For the second page, I knew that I wanted to use paper snowflakes, so I cut out some paper snowflakes and colored them to form the four corners of snowflakes and outlines, then looked for images that went along well with the card and the snowflakes to fill up some of the white space.

This last card is one my dad gave me on Christmas to let me know that the camera he had planned on giving me hadn’t arrived yet.  Because the card itself is white, I wanted to use a lot of color in this page, and I chose to surround the card with presents because the card describes a belated Christmas present.  I made the presents by cutting out squares of scrap paper and adhering them to the page, then drawing in the ribbon using markers. 

Tips:

*To ensure longevity of your book, make sure to use acid free and lignin free materials, as products including acid and/or lignin could hasten your book’s deterioration.

*If you are already a scrapbooker, as I am, this card scrapbook can give you a good opportunity to try something different.  I love patterned paper and use it all the time in my scrapbook, so I decided to start with plain white sheets of paper for this scrapbook (I chose already used paper that had one unmarked side so that I was also recycling while doing this project).  Try something outside your usual scrapbooking comfort zone. 

*As an avid scrapbooker, I had already amassed the materials I needed to make this book.  However, if you haven’t already built up a collection of scrapbooking supplies, there are several different places where you can get supplies from.  Start in your home.  Many of us already have the basics, like paper, scissors, and adhesives.  If you do other crafts, you may be able to find material from other projects that you can use for this one, such as yarn or fabric.  There are so many different types of materials that could work.  I would also recommend checking out your local thrift shops and yard sales, as you can sometimes find amazing deals on craft supplies.  Another good place to check out would be your local scrapbooking store.  Though more expensive than your local thrift shop, scrapbooking stores will have a larger selection of scrapbooking related materials, and the people working there can often give good insights into what materials work best, can give you tips about how to get started, etc.