Oreo Strawberry Shortcake Bites

     Looking for a fast and easy snack for your upcoming Fourth of July celebration?  Why not try a twist on strawberry shortcake, using vanilla Oreo Thins as the "cake" for a bite sized alternative?  Check out the video below to find out how I make them.  If the embedded video doesn't work for you, you can see the video on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYz1934Qcfk.

Perler Fuse Bead Drink Covers

     Warmer weather is here (unless you live in Maine like I do, in which case it could still transition back to winter at any moment), which for many of us means we'll be eating some meals outdoors.  Tired of finding drowned insects in a beverage you've had outside?  Try making one of these drink covers.

Materials:
*Fuse bead kit (e.g. Perler beads kit)
*Iron

Directions:
*Arrange beads on either a circular or hexagonal pegboard, using the patterns shown above for guidance.  There are two different styles of drink cover, one to allow for a hole through which to put a straw and one that you would have to remove to take a sip of your drink.  Either pattern can easily be altered to become the other by adding or removing a few beads.
*Cover your pattern 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.
*Perhaps it's because I tend to use a hotter setting on my iron, but I've noticed that my fuse bead creations have a tendency to curl slightly.  To prevent this, while the drink cover is still hot, press it underneath a heavy book for several minutes.
*Note: These designs will only work on small drinking glasses.  You can make larger versions by using large fuse bead pegboards and adding additional beads.

Pony Bead Sun Catchers

Materials:
*Pony beads
*Metal cookie cutter
*Baking sheet
*Aluminum foil
*Cooking spray
*String

Directions:
*Make sure your cooking area is well ventilated, as the melting beads can get rather smelly.
*Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
*Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
*Lightly spray the inside of the cookie cutters with cooking spray and then place cookie cutters on the baking sheet.  Alternately, you can wrap cookie cutters in aluminum foil, but if you choose this method, you may end up with bits of foil stuck in your sun catchers.
*Arrange beads inside the cookie cutters.  Once you have the inside of each cookie cutter lined with beads, remove a bead from near the top of each cookie cutter.  This will create a hole in the sun catcher so you will be able to hang it up once you're finished.  (As you can see, I forgot this step.)
*Pop the cookie sheet in the oven and cook for 15-25 minutes, or until sufficiently melted.  Keep an eye on the beads so that the gap you've created toward the top doesn't close up.
*Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the sun catchers cool.  Once they have cooled, carefully peel back the aluminum foil and then gently pop the melted beads out of the cookie cutters.
*Use string to hang up your sun catchers.

Fireworks Earrings

Materials:
*22 headpins
*24 fake pearls of various colors
*2 ear wires
*Round nosed pliers
*Flat nosed pliers
*2 jump rings
*Krazy glue or other strong adhesive
*Wire cutters

Directions:
*Cut each head pin in half, keeping the half that contains the pin's "head"
*Slide a fake pearl onto each head pin
*Using pliers, curve wires slightly
*Create a loop at the top of each head pin and clamp onto a jump ring.  You should end up with 11 head pins on each jump ring
*Attach ear wires to jump rings
*Spread out the head pins around the jump ring and very carefully glue each one in place. Let dry
*Glue a pearl in the center of each earring covering the jump ring

Seahorse Spiral Earrings

Materials:
*2 ear wires
*2 seahorse charms
*Small beads in shades of blue and green
*4 head pins
*Round nosed pliers
*Flat nosed pliers
*Wire cutters

Directions:
*Cut off the "heads" of two head pins
*Using the round nosed pliers, curl the bottom of the two head pins to form a loop and slide seahorse charms on.  Close the loop using flat nosed pliers
*Bead the rest of the head pins using beads in various shades of green and blue
*Curl the tops of the head pins and clamp onto the ear wires
*Cut off the heads of the other two head pins
*Wrap around the round nosed pliers to form a spiral
*Curl the tops of the head pins and attach to the ear wires

Beachy Seashell Earrings

Materials:
*2 ear wires
*8 head pins
*4 jump rings
*2 seashell beads
*Small fake pearls
*Small beads in varying shades of blue, green, brown, and gold
*Round nosed pliers
*Flat nosed pliers
*Wire cutters

Directions:
*Cut the "head" off of two of the head pins using wire cutters
*Curl the end of each using round nosed pliers, add the seashell beads, then clamp shut with the round nosed pliers.  Add beads, then curl the top of each headpin and clamp each onto a jump ring
*Bead two other head pins, trim to the desired length, then attach one to each jump ring
*Place some beads on two other head pin, but trim these head pins to a fairly short length.  Curl the ends, then clamp onto two separate jump rings
*Cut the "head" off two head pins, then curl the ends and clamp to the jump ring that the short head pins are attached to.  Add some beads, cut short, curl the end, then clamp each of these to one of the jump rings with two beaded headpins already attached

*Uding the round nosed liers, open the bottom of the ear wires, slide one of the jump rings with attached bead chains onto each ear wire, then close using flat nosed pliers

Introduction and Seashell Centerpiece

     Welcome to my Craft a Week blog.  I don’t believe in longwinded introductions, and my title seems self-explanatory, so I’ll keep this short.  I’m Amber, and I have been crafting since I was “knee-high to a grasshopper”, to use a rather trite but fitting expression.  I craft not because it saves me money, nor because many of my projects recycle materials, though both of these byproducts are definitely bonuses.  I create things because I love crafting and I am starting this blog so that I can share my passion with others.  As I mentioned before, I am no fan of lengthy preambles, so without further ado, I present my first project.

Seashell Centerpiece

A nifty way to preserve summer memories

Materials:

*Seashells, sea glass, rocks, driftwood, or other beach mementos

*Metal or plastic lid (mine came from a sour cream container)

*Gold permanent marker or gold paint

*Solid colored polyester or other cushiony fabric at least as wide as the lid

*Writing utensil that will show up on fabric (e.g. black pen if you have light colored fabric, metallic marker if you have a darker fabric)

*Scissors

*Adhesive agent such as tacky glue, rubber cement, or Krazy glue

*Glitter glue (optional)

Directions:

*Place the lid on the fabric and trace around the fabric with the writing utensil.  Cut fabric along the lid’s outline. 

*Color or paint the perimeter of the lid with gold.  Let the lid sit until the ink or paint has dried.

*Adhere fabric to the inside of the lid.  Let sit until the adhesive has had time to solidify.

*Dab glitter glue on the fabric to give it a shimmery appearance.  Set aside until the glitter glue dries.

*Arrange seashells and other beach memorabilia on the lid in a desirable pattern, then adhere beach mementos to the fabric.  Give the adhesive time to dry, then use centerpiece as you please.