Multi-Strand Pendant Necklace

Materials:

*Pendant

*Wire, fishing line, or other bead stringing tool

*1 or 2 strands of chain

*Fake pearls, enough to make one strand

*Beads that coordinate with the pendant, enough to make one strand

*Multi-strand necklace clasp (one with enough loops for four different bead strands)

*Crimp beads (if working with wire)

*Wire cutters

*Round nose pliers

*Jump rings

*Flat nose pliers

Directions:

*Cut a section of wire or string slightly longer than you would like your longest chain to be

*Place pendant in the center of the wire or string.  String coordinating beads on either side of the pendant

*If you are using string, once the desired length of string has been beaded, tie the ends of the string to either side of the necklace clasp, or attach to a jump ring and then attach the jump ring to the necklace clasp

*If using wire, once desired length of wire has been beaded, curl over the end of the wire to form a loop.  Slide a crimp bead over the loop and clamp at the base of the loop.  Open a jump ring and slide the loop and one end of the necklace clasp into the jump ring, then close the jump ring.  Repeat procedure for the other side of the chain

*Attach strands of chain to the necklace clasp either directly or by attaching to a jump ring and attaching the jump ring to the necklace clasp

*String pearls onto wire or string and repeat the procedure used for the pendant strand

Patterned Paper and Bookmarks

Patterned Paper

     There are a number of different ways of making patterned paper, but this one is relatively easy and inexpensive, as long as you have access to a computer and a black ink printer.

Materials:

*Solid colored 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of scrapbooking paper

*Paint or similar drawing program

*Computer

*Printer

Directions:

*Draw black and white images using your drawing program.  I drew stick figure zombies for a Halloween page

*Print them onto the solid colored scrapbooking paper

Bookmarks

Materials:

*Patterned paper

*Small images

*Scissors

*Adhesive (such as mounting squares)

*Ruler

*Pencil

*Laminator (optional)

Directions:

*Determine the size you want to make your bookmark

*On the back of the sheet of patterned paper, trace out a section of patterned paper that is the right size for your bookmark, then cut it out

*Arrange the images on the section of paper, then adhere the images to the paper

*If you have access to a laminator, you can laminate your bookmark

Suggestion:

*To further personalize your bookmark, use patterned paper you've designed yourself

Easy Chandelier Earrings

     Got someone on your holiday shopping list who would love a pair of earrings?  These chandelier earrings look great and are simple to make.

Materials:

*2 ear wires

*2 jump rings

*10 head pins

*10 imitation pearl beads

*Round nose pliers

*Flat nosed pliers

*Wire cutters (some pliers come with built-in wire cutters)

Directions:

*Set aside 2 headpins.  Take four of the headpins and cut off ¼” of metal from the top.  Take the remaining four headpins and cut ½” off

*Slide imitation pearl beads onto the head pins.  If you are using three different colors like I did, place beads of the same color onto head pins of the same length

*Using the round nosed pliers, begin curling the top of one of the longest head pins

*Loop the curled part of the head pin around the jump ring

*Clamp the curled part around the jump ring using the flat nosed pliers

*Repeat the process with the other long head pin and the other jump ring

*Take the medium length jump rings, curl their tops, and affix them to either side of the long head pin

*Take the short jump rings, curl their tops, and secure them to the left and the right sides of the clustered head pins

*Using the round nosed pliers, unbend the loop at the bottom of the ear wires

*Slide one jump ring onto each of the ear wires, then close the ear wire loops using the flat nosed pliers

    

     Chandelier earrings made with white pearls look more formal and elegant.  My sister wore this pair I made to her prom.

Family History Collage

  I am an avid genealogist and family historian, and for quite a while I have wanted to find some way to incorporate my family history research into my crafting.  I decided to create a collage for my 5^th great grandmother, Rebecca Smith Blodget, the woman who inspired me to begin my family history research.  The purpose of this collage was to tell something of her story, though unfortunately I do not know enough about her to adequately represent her. 

Materials:

*8½ x 11 photo frame

*8½ x 11 sheet of patterned paper

*Mounting squares or other adhesive

*Foam board

*Scissors or X-acto knife

Suggested additional materials:

*Pictures of the individual and important people in her or his life

 *Signature or other handwriting sample

*Descriptive saying or quote

*Stickers or drawings representing favorite activities or pastimes

*Other mementos that remind you of the individual

Suggestions:

*Select an individual in your family to make the collage about.  Parents, grandparents, and siblings could be good choices, or perhaps a distant relative or a family friend.

*If possible, find a picture of this individual to use in your collage.  You may also want to include images of important people in this individual’s life.  In my collage, the pictures in the top right and bottom left corners are of Rebecca Blodget.  In the top left corner, the man on the left is her husband, Samuel Blodget, and the man on the right is her friend and the love of her life, Aaron Burr.  In the bottom right corner I included pictures of her parents, William and Rebecca (Moore) Smith

*You may wish to include a copy of your chosen individual’s signature or other handwriting sample.  I culled Rebecca Blodget’s signature from a photo I took of a letter she wrote.  If your chosen individual is more recent, but you don’t have an easy way to obtain a writing sample from them personally, birthday and holiday cards may be places where you could find handwriting samples

*Does the individual you chose have any famous sayings?  Maybe a favorite joke?  The quote I selected was from the introduction of a letter Rebecca wrote to James Madison that I felt was representative of her character

*What does/did this individual enjoy doing?  Find ways to represent this pictorially.  For my project, I didn’t really know what Rebecca Blodget enjoyed doing, so I used images of things that I knew she did.  I had learned from a letter she wrote to Henry Clay that when she was young, her father had encouraged her to read from his library, and from the historical references she makes in her letters, it’s pretty clear that she was a well read individual.  I also knew that she wrote a decent number of letters, so I included a picture of the letter she wrote to James Madison

*Where does/did the individual live?  I printed a portion of a map of Colonial Philadelphia onto my background paper.  The spot denoted with the number 36 is a house that her father had owned.  Other ways to incorporate residency could include a picture of the family home, images of prominent features in or around the home, or an image of the town

*Do you have any small mementos that remind you of the individual?  You may want to include these items or likenesses of said items 

*The above mentioned suggestions are just a few possibilities.  There is so much more you could do with a project like this

Directions:

*Remove glass or plastic front from the photo frame.  It will not be needed for this project

*Affix patterned paper to the photo frame backing, then put back into the frame

*Using scissors or and X-acto knife, cut out sections of foam board.  Attach items you want to stand out to the sections of foam board.  I chose to do this for all images of people, but you could find some other way to do it

*Arrange items on the patterned paper in a visually appealing manner, then adhere to the paper

Ornaments

Frosted Photo Ornament (pictured above)

Materials:

*Clear plastic or glass ball ornament

*Picture

*Glitter glue

*Paintbrush

*Thread

*Needle or all purpose adhesive

*Scissors

*Ruler

*Pen

Directions:

*Measure the diameter of your ball ornament

*On the backside of your photo, draw a circle with a diameter ¼” to ½” smaller than the diameter of the ball ornament

*Either glue a piece of thread at the top of your photo (in which case you will have to wait for it to dry before proceeding) or poke a small hole in the top of the picture and tie the thread to the picture

*Center your picture around the paintbrush or some other long, thin item.  Gently wrap the picture around the handle of the paintbrush until the picture is rolled up thinly enough that it will be able to be inserted into the ornament

*While holding onto the string, slide the picture into the ornament

*Use the handle of the paintbrush to unfold and smooth out the picture

*To ensure that the picture remains upright while inside the ball, slide the piece of thread through the metal top part of the ornament.  There should be small holes where the metal loop is; you can pull the thread up through one of these.

*Place the top back on the ornament.  Pull up on the thread until the picture is dangling from the desired height, then tie the thread around the ornament hook.  Cut off any excess thread

*Using the paintbrush, spread an even coat of glitter glue across the back of the ornament, then set to dry

*Once dry, paint the front of the ornament with glitter glue, leaving a small circle through which the photo can be viewed uncoated.  Let dry

*If desired, add additional coats of glitter glue until the ball is frosty enough for your liking

Clay Ornaments

Materials:

*Multiple colors of clay (or one color of clay and acrylic paint)

*Ribbon

*All purpose adhesive

*Cookie cutters, butter knife, rolling pin, and other shaping tools (optional)

*Photos (optional)

*Baking pan

Directions:

*Mold the clay into holiday shapes.  If making photo ornaments, remove a central section of clay through which the photo will be viewable

*Bake clay according to the directions on the package

*Once the clay has been cooked and has had time to cool, glue on a loop of ribbon, which is what the ornament will hang from

*If making a photo ornament, crop the photo to a size slightly larger than the opening in the ornament.  Place a thin layer of glue on the backside of the ornament around the opening of the ornament and glue down the picture.  To protect the picture, you may want to glue on a small piece of plastic before gluing down the picture itself

Painted ornaments

Materials:

*Plain ornament

*Acrylic paint

*Acrylic paint sealer

Directions:

*Paint a scene or image onto the ornament

*Spray with paint sealer to prevent the paint from wearing away

Scrapbooking

     I have wanted to do a post on scrapbooking ever since I started this blog, since it is one of my favorite creative endeavors.  However, there is no step-by-step way to explain how to scrapbook, which makes it somewhat difficult to post on.  Similar to my card scrapbooking post, I will share some of my favorite scrapbooking pages I’ve made and some tips.  

Suggested materials:

*Photos

*Paper

*Acid free adhesive (I prefer to use mounting squares, which are far less messy than glue)

*Stickers

*Scissors

*X-acto knife

*Other embellishments

Tips:
     There are no hard and fast rules of scrapbooking that I know of, and any particular tip may not work all of the time, but here are some tips that I have found helpful often.

*If there was one hard and fast rule of scrapbooking, it would be this: make sure all of your supplies are acid and lignin free.  If you want to include a memento that you think may not be acid free, such as a ticket stub, place it somewhere on the page away from the photos so as to diminish any chance of damage to your pictures. 

*I love using patterned paper, but placing pictures directly on patterned pages can look busy.  However, a thick, solid colored frame around the pictures can make the page look more visually appealing.

*If you are new to scrapbooking, you may find it helpful to look through some books on scrapbooking before getting started.  There are tons of books on scrapbooking patterns and ideas, some of which your local library is bound to have.  Look up a few books and see if you can get a hold of them.  Even though I have been srcapbooking for years, I sometimes return to scrapbooking books to find new ideas and techniques to try.

*Here is a tip that I had forgotten about altogether.  If you have Polaroid pictures that you would like to include in a scrapbook, do not crop them, as the color will drain out over time

Here are some of my favorite pages:

What I like about this page: looks like a strip of photobooth pics, right?

What I like about this page: this page was one of Brian's picks, but I agree with him that it is a nice page.  I think the color composition works very well

What I like about this page: instead of grabbing a pre-patterned sheet of paper, I created my own beach scene using blue and yellow papers and some stickers

What I like about this page: the simple background really helps the images stand out

What I like about this page: I made the page pattern myself.  I came across an image of an old map of Jackson, NC, which I printed onto a manilla sheet of paper.  I placed the images of the old family homes at their approximate locations on the map.

Comments?  Questions?  Tips?  Do you have craft craft projects of your own you would like to share?  Feel free to email me at hathaway.amber@gmail.com

Hand Towel Advent Calendar

     Do you have an old hand towel that is in fairly good condition, but not perfect?  Perhaps it has a stain that you just cannot remove, or some other imperfection.  Here is an excellent project you can make with that towel.

Materials:

*Hand towel

*Felt in various colors

*Glitter glue

*All purpose adhesive

*Scissors

*Ribbon

*Foam board or cardboard

Directions:

*Cut out 24 felt squares

*Using glitter glue, number the squares from 1 to 24.  Let dry

*Arrange the squares on the hand towel in a pattern you find pleasing

*Using the all purpose adhesive, glue down the bottom section and the two sides of each square.  Do not glue down the top part, as this is where you will insert your treats.  Let dry

*Glue a loop of ribbon to the back of the towel using the all purpose adhesive. 

*Using foam board or cardboard, cut out a strip about an inch or two long that is as wide as your curtain.  Glue the foam or cardboard to the top of your calendar on the backside.  This will prevent the calendar from folding in on itself when you hang it up.

*Once dry, you can hang up your calendar.  Fill pockets with goodies of your choice