Melted Pony Bead Decorative Bowls

     Here's an easy craft with very pretty results.  If you enjoyed my fuse bead bowls, you'll probably like this project as well.  I got my inspiration for the classic melted bead bowl from Rainbow Sparkled blog and for the wavy melted bead bowl from Art Camp blog.

Note: The melting beads can get rather smelly, so make sure your work space is well ventilated.

Classic Melted Bead Bowl
Materials:
*Pony beads
*Ceramic or metal oven safe bowl
*Cooking spray
*Baking sheet

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
*Spray the inside of the bowl with a generous amount of cooking spray.
*Take a couple of handfuls of fuse beads and drop them into the bowl.
*Smooth out the beads so that you have only one layer of beads.  The beads should for the most part migrate up the sides of the bowl on their own if you press on a spot with multiple layers of beads.
*Place the bowl on a cookie sheet.
*Pop in the oven and cook for about 25-35 minutes, or until the beads have melted sufficiently to your liking.  I took mine out after 25 minutes, so it still had a lot of bumps to it, but if you don't like that aesthetic you can melt it for longer and it should smooth out more.
*Let sit for about 10 minutes, then place inside the sink and very slowly add cold water.  Be very careful with this step, since the beads or the bowl could potentially crack at this stage of the process due to the temperature differential.
*Fill the entire bowl with water.  After doing this my bead bowl just popped out of the ceramic bowl without any difficulty, but it might be harder if you melt your bowl for a longer period of time.  Let cool before handling.

Wavy Melted Bead Bowl
Materials:
*Pony beads
*Aluminum foil
*Cooking spray
*Baking sheet
*Large drinking glass
*Oven mitts

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
*Line a circular baking sheet with aluminum foil, then spritz with cooking spray.
*Arrange beads on the circular baking sheet in a pattern of your choosing in a circular or hexagonal formation.  The result could look something like this:

*Pop into the oven.  I heated mine for 25 minutes and by the end of that my beads were thoroughly melted and formed a thin layer of plastic.
*While the beads are melting, cover the top of a drinking glass with aluminum foil and spray generously with cooking spray.
*Once the beads have melted, pull the pan out of the oven.
*Using oven mitts, center your melted plastic creation on top of the foil covered drinking glass, with the plastic facing downward (so that you will be touching the aluminum foil and not the plastic itself).  Quickly mold the plastic into a bowl shape.
*Place the melted bead bowl in the sink and trickle cold water over it.  Once it becomes cool enough to handle, peel off the aluminum foil.  The foil should come off fairly easily, but it might get stuck in some of the crevices.  Peel slowly in these regions.

Felt Owl Ornament

Making a felt owl ornament requires the same procedure as the felt owl pal.  The only difference is the ornament requires a piece of ribbon so that you can hang it from your tree.

Materials:
*Sheet of felt in the color of your choice for the owl's body
*Felt and/or fabric in colors of your choice for the owl's wings, belly, beak, and eyes
*Embroidery floss
*Needle
*All purpose adhesive
*Stuffing
*Chalk
*Scissors
*Ribbon

Directions:
*Print out an owl template approximately the size you would like your owl ornament to be.  Here's the one I made for my owl:

*Cut out the pieces of the template.  Using chalk, trace the pieces onto the chosen felts and fabrics.  You will need two copies of the owl's body, two large circles for the owl's eyes, and two small circles for the owl's pupils.
*Using a running stitch, sew on the owl's belly, then sew on the owl's wings.
*Cut off about 2 1/2" of ribbon and fold in half to create a loop.  Sew to the back piece of the owl's body.
*Using a blanket stitch, sew together the owl's body, leaving an opening large enough for you to add the stuffing.  Insert stuffing into your owl until it reaches the desired fullness, then sew closed.
*Glue on the owl's eyes and beak.

Perler Fuse Bead Ornaments: Another Technique

Materials:
*Fuse bead kit (e.g. Perler bead kit)
*Metal cookie cutters
*Cooking spray
*Cookie sheet
*Parchment paper
*Scissors
*All purpose adhesive
*Metallic thread

Directions:
*Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
*Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper.
*Place the desired cookie cutters onto the parchment paper.
*Coat the cookie cutters and paper thoroughly with oil.  Since melted fuse beads can be very difficult to remove, I recommend using cookie cutters that you would not mind ruining for this project.
*Pour some fuse beads into the cookie cutters, making sure to fill in as much space as you can.  You may even consider adding a second layer of beads to make sure that you do not end up with any gaps in your finished project.
*Pop the cookie sheet into the oven and heat for 5-10 minutes, depending on how melted you want your ornaments to be.
*Once the ornaments are melted to your liking, remove them from the oven.  Carefully peel them off the parchment paper and drop them into a bowl of warm water.
*Let the ornaments sit until the metal and plastic are cool enough to handle, then remove from the water and dry off.
*Remove the ornaments from the cookie cutters.
*Trim off any excess or awkward looking plastic with scissors.
*Glue metallic thread to the back of the plastic to turn your creations into ornaments.

Bonus Idea: Miniature Model Ornament

     If you have someone in your family who enjoys making models, here is a great way to get this individual involved in the holiday decorating.  

Materials:

*Miniature model kit

*Thread

*Scissors

Directions:

*Assemble the model following the instructions given in the package.

*Tie a piece of string around the model to hang it from your tree.

Glitter Ornaments Take 2

    Last year when I made glitter ornaments, I had some difficulty getting the glue to dry.  When I went to A. C. Moore after Christmas, I noticed that the store had some glitter ornaments on display and I asked an employee how they made their ornaments.  The employee explained that there was a special type of adhesive that you needed to use to make them.  Unfortunately they had sold out of it, so I did not get a chance to experiment with it last year.
     When November rolled around and I started thinking ahead to Christmas crafts, I recalled the glitter ornaments and decided that I wanted to try making them again.  My aunt suggested that I bring some ornament making supplies down for Thanksgiving so we could all make ornaments together and I immediately thought that the glitter ornaments would be perfect for that.  I had yet to try the new adhesive, but when we started making the ornaments it turned out that it was really easy to use and we all had a blast.

Here we are, working on our ornaments

And here are the lovely glitter ornaments we made.  Notice how my sister's ornament is half pink and half silver.  If you're feeling adventurous, try making a two tone ornament.

     These ornaments are so pretty and easy to make that I made some more for my own tree a couple of days later.  When my friend and fellow math grad Sophie stopped by my house over the weekend and the subject of Christmas ornaments came up, I suggested we make some.  The ornaments came out wonderfully.

Here are the ornaments we made

     If you're looking for something fun to do with your family or friends this holiday season, try making some of these ornaments.  They are easy enough so that even those people who consider themselves inept at crafting can make them.  Or, if your loved ones aren't interested in crafting, you could give them out as gifts.

Materials:
*Plastic or glass ball ornaments
*Ultra fine glitter
*Glitter It adhesive

Directions:
*Layer your work space with newspaper.
*Uncap your ornament and pour in some Glitter It.  Swirl the adhesive around until it has coated the entirety of the inside of the ornament.
*Pour excess adhesive back into the bottle.  Let the adhesive drain out for about 15 seconds.
*Open a container of glitter and pour into the ornament.  Swirl the glitter around inside the ornament until it has coated the entire ornament, adding more glitter as necessary.
*Pour any excess glitter back into the container.
*Set the ornament aside to dry.  The package for the adhesive did not say anything about how long it would take to dry, but letting the ornaments sit for about 15 minutes before putting their tops back on seemed sufficient.

     Looking for more Christmas crafts, such as ornaments or advent calendars?  Check out the Christmas section of my blog.

Perler Fuse Bead Ornaments

Materials:
*Fuse bead kit (e.g. Perler beads kit)
*Scissors
*Iron
*Gold or silver thread

Directions:
*Select the appropriate peg board for the ornament you would like to make.  Both the owl and the penguin require a large square pegboard, the candy cane uses the small heart pegboard, the shoe needs only a small square pegboard, and the ornament takes a small circle pegboard.
*Arrange beads on the peg board in the desired pattern.  I forgot to take pictures of the arrangement of the beads for the owl ornament, but here are the other ones:

*Cover your beaded project with a sheet of waxed paper and iron the first side, then remove from the peg board, flip over, put waxed paper on top and iron the second side.  You can find more detailed directions here.

Wondering why I made a shoe ornament?  I am rather fond of shoes and so for the past couple of years I have received shoe ornaments for Christmas.  I decided to make the shoe ornament a tree tradition and plan to add a new one each year, starting with this fuse bead shoe.  Does your family collect a specific type of ornaments for your tree?  Try making one out of fuse beads.  You can find fuse bead patterns online for almost anything, or you could always design your own .

Also, if you're looking for more fuse bead ornament patterns for your tree, check out my snowflake designs in this post.

Duct Tape Ornaments

     Here's a fast and easy way to liven up some plain ball ornaments.  Looking for more ornament ideas?  Check out these ornament ideas and stay tuned, because I'll be posting new ornaments, if all goes as planned, from now until Christmas.

Materials:
*Plastic or glass ball ornaments
*Duct tape
*Scissors

Directions:
*Cut off thin strips of duct tape and stick the duct tape strips to the ornament.
*Continue adding duct tape strips until the whole ornament is covered in duct tape.

Ornament wreath

     My first Christmas post of the year!  This year I plan on making some new ornaments for my tree, so if you're looking for ornament ideas, keep an eye out.  This week's craft is not about making ornaments, but it does involve them.  I saw this craft on favecrafts and thought I would try it for myself.  It was a lot more work than I initially thought it would be, but the end result was pretty nice.

Materials:
*Wire coat hanger
*About 72 small plastic ball ornaments
*Wire cutters
*Ribbon
*Needle nose pliers (optional)
*All purpose adhesive (optional)
*Thread
*Scissors

Directions:
*Depending on what type of ornaments you are using, you may find it helpful to glue the ornament tops to the ornaments before you get started.  I didn't do this and I kept having ornaments separate from their tops and fall off the wreath.  Let the glue dry before using the ornaments.
*Bend the hanger into a circle.
*Untwist the wire hanger.  This can be a bit difficult to do with just your hands, so you may want to use pliers, as I did.
*Slide the ornaments onto the hanger in an arrangement you find pleasing.  I rotated through the four colors, but I wasn't careful about how I arranged them, so I still ended up with some clusters of the same color.
*Once you've finished adding ornaments, twist the ends of the hanger back together.  Again, you may find it easier to use pliers here.
*Snip off the hook just above where the hanger ends intertwine using heavy duty wire cutters.
*Carefully bend over the twisted part of the hanger to form a hook, making sure not to undo the twist in the process.
*Use heavyweight thread to hang up the wreath.  Tie a bow around the twisted part of the hanger to cover it up.

Fall Leaves Bookmarks

Materials:
*Leaves
*Heavy book
*Scrap paper
*Scissors
*Self-adhesive laminating sheets

Directions:
*Collect various fall leaves.  Place the leaves between a couple of sheets of scrap paper and place a heavy book on top of the paper.  Let sit undisturbed for several days.
*Once you have finished pressing the leaves, laminate the leaves following the instructions on your laminating sheets box.  Leave ample space between the leaves, particularly around the stems as the laminate does not seal as well around the thicker parts of the leaf.
*Cut apart the leaves and trim off excess laminate.

Duct Tape Leaf Garland

Materials:
*Duct tape in colors of your choice
*Leaf templates or leaves and paper
*2-3 cereal boxes
*Pen
*Scissors
*Light brown colored pencil
*Ribbon
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:
*Print out leaf templates in a variety of shapes.  Alternately, you can make your own templates by tracing around leaves you have collected, as I did.
*Select a leaf template.  Place about 3 strips of duct tape slightly wider than the template on the inside of one of the cereal boxes in the top left corner, with only a slight overlap between the strips.
*Trace the leaf shape onto the duct tape.  Draw a stem coming out of the bottom of the leaf on the cardboard.  Color the stem in with a light brown colored pencil.
*Repeat the process with other leaf templates.  You should end up with something like this:

*Cut out your leaves.  Arrange them in a pattern that you find pleasing, then glue the stems of the leaves to the ribbon.

Cute Halloween Pom Pom Pals

     Halloween is almost upon us.  If you still need some decorating or craft ideas, here's an adorable Halloween craft that is fast and easy to make and relatively inexpensive.  For more Halloween craft ideas, check out my Halloween section of my blog.

Spider

Materials:
*2 black pipe cleaners
*Black pom pom
*2 googly eyes
*Scissors
*All purpose adhesive

 Directions:
*Cut each pipe cleaner into four equal pieces.
*Bend the pipe cleaners to make them into the shape of the spiders' legs.
*Glue the legs to the pom pom.
*Add googly eyes to the pom pom.

Black Cat

Materials:
*Black pom pom
*Black pipe cleaner
*2 googly eyes
*Black felt or cardstock
*Scissors
*All purpose adhesive
*Black foam

Directions:
*Cut a heart shape out of the foam slightly larger than the pom pom.
*Glue the pom pom to the heart shape so that the top of the heart becomes feet for the cat.
*Cut off a piece of pipe cleaner and bend it, then glue to the back of the pom pom to form the cat's tail.
*Cut two small triangles out of a sheet of felt or cardstock and glue to the top of the pom pom to make the cat's eyes.
*Add two googly eyes to the pom pom.

Bat

Materials:
*Purple pom pom
*Purple cardstock
*Purple foam
*2 googly eyes
*Scissors
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:
*Cut a heart shape out of the foam slightly larger than the pom pom.
*Glue the pom pom to the heart shape so that the top of the heart becomes the bat's feet.

*Cut out wings from cardstock and glue to the back of the bat.

*Cut two small triangles out of cardstock and glue to the top of the pom pom to form the bat's ears.

*Add two googly eyes to the pom pom.

Cyclops

Materials:

*Green pom pom

*Mini green pom pom

*Green foam

*Large googly eye

*Green pipe cleaner

*All purpose adhesive

*Scissors

Directions:

*Cut a heart shape out of the foam slightly larger than the pom pom.
*Glue the pom pom to the heart shape so that the top of the heart becomes feet for the cyclops.
*Cut off a piece of the pipe cleaner and bend it into a squiggly shape.  Attach one end of the pipe cleaner to the top of the larger pom pom and the other to the small pom pom to make an antenna for the cyclops.
*Glue on large googly eye.

Quick and Easy Halloween Banner

Materials:
*13 4.5" x 6.5" sheets of Halloween paper (such as from these Spooky Time paper collections)
*Halloween stickers (I used Halloween Essentials bat felt stickers from Joann)
*6' black ribbon
*All purpose adhesive
*Scissors
*Ruler
*Pencil

Directions:
*Select 13 sheets of patterned paper (or some other odd number, depending on how long you would like your banner to be).
*Place a sheet of paper pattern side down and mark off the 2.25" mark along the bottom edge.  Using the ruler, trace a straight line from the upper right corner to the 2.25" mark and from the upper left corner to the 2.25" mark.  This should form a triangle.
*Following the pencil lines, cut out the triangle.
*Repeat the above steps for the remaining sheets of paper.
*Arrange the papers in a pattern you find pleasing.
*Decorate with Halloween stickers, if desired.
*Glue the triangles to the ribbon.

Batty Vampire Cape

Materials:

*1 yard of Flocked Bats Organza Tie Dye Fabric from Joann's Halloween Spirit Collection

*6 feet of ribbon

*Sewing machine

*Thread

Directions (these are the same as the directions for the cape of my Witch Costume):

*Obtain cape fabric of desired length. 

*Fold the sides of the fabric down about half and inch or less and sew so that the edges of the cape will not fray.

*Repeat the above procedure for the bottom of the cape.

*Take the ribbon and lay it across the top of the cape.  Fold fabric over it and sew the fabric, making sure not to sew the ribbon.

*Once you have finished sewing the top of the cape, adjust the ribbon until you have the desired length for tying on one side, about 6 to 8 inches.  Sew the cape material closed over this part of the ribbon.

*Compress the fabric around the ribbon until the fabric covers about 1 1/2 feet of the ribbon, perhaps less if the person you are making a cape for is small.  Sew the cape fabric closed over this part of the ribbon.  You should have several feet of ribbon hanging out one side of the cape. 

*Trim the length of ribbon down to 6 or 8 inches.

A New Frame for Your Halloween Holographs

     I love the creepy holographic pictures that have been popping up in Halloween decoration sections for the past couple of years, but they always seem to come in these plastic or cardboard frames that I don't find particularly appealing, like in the picture below.  To remedy this, I picked up some cheap 5" x 7" frames from the Orono Thrift Shop for 25 cents apiece.  With the vampire couple, I just separated the two photos by cutting right down the center of the cardboard, then put them into the frames, which they fit inside perfectly.  

Before

After

     Dollar Tree has a number of these Halloween holographic photos that come glued to these ugly plastic frames.  For those ones, I recommend cutting off the plastic frame, as the glue is so strong that it's very difficult to pull the picture off of the frame.  Then slide the pictures into 5"x7" frames and you have a fun, creepy Halloween decoration.

Before

With frame removed

After

Glittery Potion Bottles

Materials:

*Glass bottles

*Spray glitter paint in Halloween colors of your choice

*Paper and printer

*All purpose adhesive

Directions:

*In a well ventilated area, line your work space with newspaper, placing the glass bottles atop the newspaper.

*Following the directions on the spray can, apply a coat of paint to each glass bottle.  Let dry, then apply a second coat if desired.

*Print out the labels such as the ones I've included below or some of the many you can find freely available on the internet by searching, or design your own.

*Once your bottles have finished drying, adhere labels to your potion bottles.

Halloween Foam Tombstones

Materials:
*Sheet of craft foam
*Letter opener, serrated knife, or similar implement
*Gray acrylic paint
*Black marker
*X-acto knife
*Paintbrush
*Large paper clip
*Wire cutters

Directions:
*Cut foam to your desired size using an X-acto knife.
*Carefully sketch out a design for an inscription on your foam using black marker.  Make sure to space out your letters a bit, since when you compress the foam, if your letters are too close together then you may end up compressing the foam between the letters as well.
*Press down on the foam using a letter opener or a similar tool, following the design you drew on the front.  Work slowly and carefully, as the foam compresses very easily.  It's difficult to do very detailed work with this kind of foam, so if you want to do something intricate, you may want to try insulation foam instead.
*Once you have finished "carving" your stone, paint it gray, then set it aside to dry.
*Unbend a large paper clip and cut it in half using wire cutters.  Once the stone is dry, insert the two halves of the paper clip into the bottom of the stone.
*Set up the tombstone in the desired location, sliding the paper clip pieces into the ground.

Looking for more Halloween decoration or costume ideas?  Check out my Halloween section of my blog, where you'll find killer porcelain dolls, last minute costume ideas, and more!

Halloween Potion Pendants

Materials:

*Small plastic vial with cork

*String

*Scissors

*Potion filling (see below for examples)

*Label and all purpose adhesive (optional)

Directions:

*Fill vial with desired potion, then seal with a cork.

*Cut off a segment of string long enough to make the pendant.

*Wrap string around the neck of the vial and knot.

*Knot together the free ends of the string.

*Glue the label to the bottle.

Making a Label

Materials:

*Printer paper

*Coffee

*Baking pan

*Black ink pen

Directions:

*Lay a sheet of white printer paper flat in a baking pan.

*Brew coffee, then pour into the pan until the paper is submerged.  Let sit for half an hour.

*Remove the paper from the coffee and set aside to dry.

*Once dry, write the name of your potion on the paper, then carefully tear it off.

Nightmares Potion

Materials:

*Black glitter

Monster Blood

Materials:

*Water

*Red food coloring

Directions:

*Mix a couple of drops of red food coloring with water to create your "blood."

Tip:

*My monster blood started evaporating, so I have been storing it in the freezer to preserve it.

Eyeballs

Materials:

*White air dry clay

*Permanent markers in black, red, and other colors of your choosing.

Directions:

*Form miniature clay balls, then set them aside to dry.

*Once dry, decorate the balls to look like eyeballs using permanent marker.

Felt Sleepy Bat

     My first Halloween post of the year!  I love making Halloween decorations :).

Materials:
*2 sheets black felt
*2 sheets purple felt
*1 sheet white felt
*1 sheet lilac felt
*Chalk
*Sewing machine or needle and thread
*All purpose adhesive
*Scissors
*Stuffing
*Needle and thread

Directions:
*Enlarge the template below to the desired size and print.

*Using chalk, trace 2 of the large ovals and 2 large triangles onto black felt, 4 wings and 2 medium triangles onto purple felt, 1 large quarter circle and 2 small quarter circles onto the lilac colored felt, and 2 small triangles onto white felt.
*Cut out the respective shapes.
*Align two wing shapes and sew the two pieces together.  Draw veins onto the wing and sew along the lines.
*Repeat with the second set of wing shapes.
*Place a purple triangle on top of one of the black triangles to form the inner and outer ear and sew together.  Repeat with the second set of black and purple triangles.
*Fold up wings so that they fit inside the two ovals when the ovals are sandwiched together, but be careful to make sure that the tips of the wings to not touch the edge of the oval.  Place the ears between the ovals so that they spill over the outer edge of the oval some and the point at the top of each ear points inward, toward the center.  You should end up with a setup resembling the image below.  The wings and ears should end up sandwiched between the two ovals.

*Sew the two ovals together, leaving an opening at the bottom.  You will now have an inside out bat.
*Turn the bat right side in and insert stuffing into the opening in the bottom until the bat is as full as you would like.
*Sew or glue the bottom closed.
*Glue on the bat's face.
*Tie a piece of thread to a needle and poke it through the bottom of the bat.  Once it's through, cut off the needle and tie the ends of the string together.  This will give you something to hang your bat from.

Looking for more Halloween decorating or costume ideas?  Check out my Halloween crafts.

Flannel Pajama Pants

Here are the pants on me

Here's what they look like on their own.  Look at how cute those monsters are!

     September is here, which means back to the grind for me.  This semester I have another full load of grad classes, I'm TA-ing Calculus I again, and I'm working on my master's thesis, so I'll be quite the busy bee.  September also means cooler temperatures, so I figured flannel pajama pants would be a practical craft and with such an adorable print, these quickly became my favorite pajama pants I own.

     For my first attempt at sewing with a pattern, I would say these pants were a success.  To make them, I used Simplicity's free pattern and step-by-step instructions, so I'll just link to them since I don't really have anything to add or change.  Their pattern and instructions are part of a four part series explaining the basics of sewing, so if you don't have much experience sewing clothes I recommend looking at parts 1-3 before getting started.  It includes information about what supplies you need to get started with sewing, a detailed explanation of pattern sizing, which can be a bit confusing because pattern sizes don't always align with department store sizes, and a brief guide discussing fabric properties to help you select the appropriate fabric for your pattern.

Cork Board Mini Memento Board

Materials:
*12" x 12" sheet of cork board
*Ribbon
*Fabric
*All purpose adhesive
*Scissors
*Sandpaper
*Ruler
*Pen
*Cardboard
*Thumbtacks
*Buttons, brads, or other decorative items

Directions:
*Trim down cork board so that it measures 9" x 12".
*On the back side of the cork board, align the ruler with the bottom right corner with the ruler pointing upward and measure out 1/2" going up, leaving a small mark with the pen.  Then line up the ruler with the same corner with the ruler pointing to the right and measure out 1/2" to the right, marking this spot as well.
*Using your ruler, draw a straight line connecting the two marks.
*Cut off the corner, following the line you drew.
*Repeat the above procedure with the other corners.
*Sand down any rough edges on the cork board.
*Cut a length of ribbon slightly longer than the diagonal distance between the top left and bottom right parts of the board.  Stretch the ribbon across the board and glue down one end of the ribbon to the top left edge where the corner used to be.
*Pull ribbon as tightly as you can without bending the cork board 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.
 *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.  Set aside to dry.
*Cut cardboard so that it measures approximately 9.5" x 12.5".
 *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 cardboard on top.
*Run glue along the edges of the backside of the cardboard 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 dry.
*Once the cardboard part has dried, line up the cork board and cardboard pieces and glue together.
*Glue buttons, brads, or other small items to the tops of thumbtacks to liven them up.

Like this craft idea?  Check out my memento board blog post for a variation on this idea.

Two Years of Crafts

     Time to celebrate, since today marks the two year anniversary of my craft blog!  Dance party time!  (If you're off-put by my taste in music, feel free to substitute your own song of choice instead.)

     It's hard to believe another year of crafting has gone by!  This year I've pushed myself father, tried some crafts that were outside my comfort zone, and I feel like the results have been good.  I sewed my own Halloween costume, experimented with duct tape, and melted a lot of crayons, among other projects.  I've made so many crafts that I've liked, which makes it tough to pick favorites, but I really liked my felt owl pal and my zombie and non-zombie pom pom creatures.  

     Of course, this post would not be complete without some statistics since I am rather partial to numbers: my blog has received 8087 views all time, 5655 from this year, which is more than double the number of views it received last year!  Fuse bead decorative bowls are still my most viewed craft, but now with 615 views all time and that blog post gained almost three times as many views this year as it did last year.  The most popular of the blog posts I've written this year is design your own board game, which received 205 views this year.

     Now for the moment you have all been waiting for: the winner of the prize package is Lauren from Old Town.  Congratulations, Lauren!  I am immensely grateful to all of you who have been following my craft blog and everyone who has taken the time to look at my blog posts.  I hope my blog has benefited each of you in some tiny way, be it providing you the creative inspiration you need or just giving you something fun to look at when you're bored.  Here's to hoping for another great year of crafting!

     So, what do you think?  Which blog posts have you enjoyed most?  Let me know in the comments or email me at hathaway.amber@gmail.com. 

Freezer Bag Pencil Case and a Contest Reminder

Want an inexpensive but stylish pencil case?  Add some duct tape to a freezer bag.  Thanks to my fantastic second mom for this neat craft idea :)

Materials:
*Duct tape
*Freezer bag
*Scissors

Directions:
*Cut a strip of duct tape slightly longer than the width of the freezer bag.
*Fold the strip of duct tape over the bottom of the bag so that half of the strip of tape covers the front side of the bag and half covers the back.
*Cut off any excess duct tape sticking out, being careful not to cut the bag's seams.
*Cut a strip of duct tape slightly longer than twice the width of the freezer bag and wrap around the top of the bag.
*Continue adding strips of duct tape until you have covered the whole bag.

Contest Reminder

     If you would like to be entered to win a nail polish splattered picture frame and a pair of duct tape earrings (both pictured below), please send your name and address (if you don't live nearby) to hathaway.amber@gmail.com before August 25th.  The winner will be announced on my anniversary blog post on August 25th.

Victorian Inspired Accessories Holder and a Contest

Materials:
*Wooden letters
*1" thick board wide enough and long enough to accommodate your letters and the knobs (my board was 1' x 2 1/2')
*Wood glue
*Patterned paper
*Gold spray paint
*5 2" long screws
*Phillips head screwdriver
*All purpose adhesive
*White air dry clay
*Rose mold
*Scissors or an X-acto knife
*Photocopier or pen and several sheets of paper
*Measuring tape

Directions:
*Photocopy the letters or trace the letters around the ridge that sticks out the most.  This will serve as your template for the patterned paper.
*Arrange the letters on the wooden board, then glue them down using wood glue.  Let dry for 24 hours, or whatever amount of time the glue bottle requires.
*In a well ventilated area, lay down copious amounts of newspaper, covering your entire work space.  Lay the board on top of the newspaper and spray with gold spray paint, following the instructions on the can.  Let dry.
*While the board is drying, cut out the letter templates and trace them onto patterned paper.  Carefully cut out the letters using scissors or an X-acto knife.
*Once the gold paint is dry, adhere the paper letters to the wooden letters using all purpose adhesive.
*About 1" or so below the letters, use your measuring tape to divide the board up into six equal sections.  Lightly mark the endpoint of each section except for the last one (which ends at the end of the board) with a pen.  You should have five marks.
*Screw in screws at the five marks.
*Cover the screws with clay, sticking a ball of clay onto the top of each screw.  Use your mold to mold it into a rose shape.
*Set aside to dry, following the drying instructions on the clay packet.
*There are numerous ways you can hang up your accessories holder.  If you plan to hang it on the wall, attach mounting brackets to the back and hang up.  To hang on a doorway, you can use strong magnets if your door is metal or strips of velcro otherwise.

Contest

The two year anniversary of my craft blog is rapidly approaching, which means it's time for another craft giveaway.  The prize package includes a pair of duct tape feather earrings and a nail polish splattered picture frame.  To enter the contest, email me at hathaway.amber@gmail.com before August 25th your name and your address (if you live far enough away that I would have to ship the prize to you).  Also, if you only would want one of items in the prize package, let me know so I can hold a separate drawing for the item you don't want, should you win.  The contest is open to anyone in the United States.

Back to School Wardrobe Refresher

Save money on your back to school shopping by revitalizing clothes you already have.  Below are several ideas to revitalize old clothes and fix broken clothes.

T-shirt to Tube Top

Before

After

Materials:

*T-shirt

*Sewing machine or needle and thread

*Scissors

*Chalk

*Tube top that fits you well

*Ruler

Directions:

*Turn the T-shirt inside out and lay it out on a flat surface.

*Using a ruler, draw in chalk a horizontal line running just underneath the armpits of the shirt.  Make sure before you cut that this will not interfere with any part of an image or saying that you want to have on the tube top.  If it does, try laying the tube top atop the shirt and centering it so that it will include all of the image that you want, then trace around the shirt as described below.

*Carefully cut along the line, discarding the top portion of the shirt.

*Turn the shirt right side in.  Fold about a quarter of an inch of the fabric at the top toward the inside of the shirt and sew down so that the top of the tube top will not fray.

*Turn the shirt inside out again and lay flat.  Place the well fitting tube top on top of the shirt, lining up the top of the tube top with the top of the shirt.

*Trace around the tube top, leaving about 1/4" of space between the tube top and the piece of chalk.

*Cut along the chalk lines, then sew together the two sides of the shirt.

*Turn the shirt right side in.  Fold about 1/4" of fabric at the bottom of the shirt toward the inside of the shirt and sew down.

Here are some common garment issues and some ways to fix them.

Pants Zipper that Won't Stay Up:

Materials:

*Small key ring

Directions:

*Take the key ring and wind it through the zipper like so:

*Zip up the zipper, then loop the key ring over the button like this:

*Button your pants as you would normally.  The key ring should not be visible, as is the case with these jeans:

Falling off Jeans Buttons:

Here's what I did when the button on a pair of my jeans started tearing away from the fabric:

Materials:

*All purpose, fabric safe adhesive (such as Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive)

*Small piece of scrap cloth

Directions:

*Glue the button and the part of the denim the button has torn away from back together. Set aside to dry.

*For added stability, glue a small swatch of fabric behind the button so that it covers both the back of the button and the surrounding denim, like this:

Fading Clothes:

Before

After

Materials:

*Fabric dye

Directions:

I wrote a blog post last July providing stove top dyeing instructions.  This time around I tried dyeing my jeans in the washing machine using the Rit dye washing machine instructions, which can be found here or on the back of the bottle of dye.

Torn Lace Trim:

Before

After

Materials:

*Stitch ripper or sharp scissors

*Sewing machine or needle and thread

*New lace trim (optional)

Directions:

*Carefully remove the stitches holding the lace to the shirt.

*If the fabric is sturdy enough, you can resew along the previous seam. Otherwise, fold the fabric over until you will not be sewing along the area where the original stitches were and resew.
*Sew on new lace, if you wish.

Looking for more ideas?  Check out the apparel and accessories portion of my blog.