Do you want Craft Gossip?

Do you subscribe to Craft Gossip? If you don't, your should!  It is the only daily email that I never delete and always, always read!  I can't tell you how many amazing ideas and websites I have been turned on to (and actually tried!) from this dynamite resource.  Below you will find just a few of the fabulous ideas that I collected from only 2 days worth of newsletters.  I have even had a few of my own blog posts included in their newsletter which has directed a lot of traffic my way!  Be sure to submit your own great posts here.  Now I'm off to try my hand at those adorable angels...

DIY Wire Angel Ornaments

By Vikram Goyal on Dec 05, 2013 10:55 am

Charming and so easy to make, learn to create these wire angel ornaments via this tutorial of AdventuresOfADIYMom. The idea came to Rachel via Pinterest, but she had definitely made it her own! As with most ideas on Pinterest, the links didn’t go anywhere.
Luckily, this link below should give you all the instructions you need to make your own …

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Easy Christmas Lights

By Carolyn Bickford on Dec 05, 2013 10:00 am

Christmas Lights are so pretty and yet can be annoying when one goes out. Here is a fun set of Christmas lights that you never have to worry about the lights going out. Although you might have to worry about the lights disappearing. This is also a fun craft that you can do with the kids. Beth shows you all …

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Tutorial: Bows from Scrapbooking Paper

By Heather Holbrook on Dec 05, 2013 09:09 am

Turn those extra strips of pattern paper into the perfect bow for holiday packages! The Glue Dot blog has a quick and easy tutorial for making them.
-Heather…

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Freebie | Holiday Cursive Word Art from Pink Trike Design

By Francine Clouden on Dec 05, 2013 08:00 am

I love this set of Cursive Holiday Word Art and plan to use them in my December Daily this year. They come compliments of  Robyn Meierotto of Pink Trike Designs and are great for both digital and paper projects. Go grab them here.…

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How To Write And Publish A Craft Book

By Shellie Wilson on Dec 05, 2013 05:46 am

CraftChica shares this article/review on Mark Montana’s new book How to write and publish a craft book. Very insightful and what doesn’t scare you off will surely inspire you. The closest I have ever come to writing a craft book was for crafts with dyer lint. It came to me at the wrong time (Not sure I could …

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Chocolate Sugar Scrub

By Shellie Wilson on Dec 05, 2013 12:14 am

The temptation to eat this will be great but the desire to soak in it will win you over. The presentation of this chocolate scrub is amazing. It looks delightful I am sure it smells delightful. Full instructions and tutorial here.
I love giving sugar scrubs as gifts as they are so easy to make and always get used. Last …

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The Right Tools for the Job

By Connie Barwick on Dec 04, 2013 10:42 pm

 

What are your favorite tools as a needleworker? Since cross-stitch is my main deal, I have a few things I can’t do without, including petite cross stitch needles, sharp embroidery scissors, tweezers, and a bin for my thread ends aka orts. Recently over at Eileen’s Machine Embroidery Blog there was a great post about all the tools necessary for certain …

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Tutorial | Christmas Countdown Calendar for Small Spaces & Traveling

By Francine Clouden on Dec 04, 2013 08:00 am

Einat Kessler shows how you can make a Christmas Countdown Calendar that sits on a table top. This is great if you don’t have a lot of space for a bigger Advent Calendar. it’s also portable, so if you’re traveling this holiday season it’s perfect! Click here to see the tutorial.…

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A Cozy Christmas: Gift Wrap

By Linda Lanese on Dec 03, 2013 12:46 pm


Sisters, Emily & Sarah are constantly working to have more efficient, beautiful lives and homes. I am sure you will find their postings fun and inspiring.  Their “Cozy Christmas: Gift Wraps” are such a stunning idea and I am so happy I found them on “Boxwood Clippings” and I am thankful for bloggers that do share their ideas.  Thanks Ladies!…

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Fun and Easy craft to do with kids!

There is nothing like a bored child and summer can sometimes bring this about.. All that free time... We have a huge gap to fill when our little ones are not able to play with their friends daily while burning off all that energy at recess. here is a fun idea:

Yesterday we did a fun and simple craft at camp that kept the kids busy and happy for hours. You can do this with just one child but the more kids you get to play, the better.

Restaurant fun:

First we took file folds and cut them in half to make two 5.25 x 8.25" menus. Then each kid named their restaurant and decorated the front of the menu to reflect the name and kinds of food they served . Next they decided on three or more dishes they would serve and listed these inside with pictures and prices.

Once their menus were complete, I put out a ton of misc. craft supplies and all kinds of things from the recycle bin. To do this at home, you can also peek into the garage and cupboards to find random gardening, auto, household bits and office supplies that you don't need or use (i.e. - box a piece of jewelry came in, stray hair rollers, single socks, clothes pins, an old jar of ponds cream that you are never going to use...).

Next I put everything on display for the children to consider, then told them to make their three dishes from the array of random items. This was ahoot to watch. They made pizza from a box, covered it with red fabric from an old T-shirt and topped it with feathers for cheese, bits of foam for mushrooms and small circles of paper for the pepperoni.

Once all the food was made, we set up little tables (you can use real furniture or make your own from boxes, pillows and a tin can with a flower in it.) We printed out order sheets on the computer from here and took turns playing guest and server. It was such a fun time! The kids kept wanting to add items to their menu so they would run over to the supplies and whip up a new entree.

Collage Placemats Tutorial

Ok - enough of the philosophical. Time to move on to the fun stuff. I am starting out with a simple but thoughtful craft that you can do on your own or have your kids participate. It is inexpensive and it might just be the kind of project that gets you into the Creative Zone so that you will be willing to try some others.

Collage place mats can be simple or you can get elaborate. Totally up to you. You can make a set of generic looking ones or personalize them for a specific person.

Here is how you do it:

1. Collect materials for your collage, and find inspiration in them.
   • Traditional collage materials include scraps of paper and other flat materials: newspaper and magazine clippings, shopping bags, photographs (or photocopies of photographs), wallpaper, and foil.
   • Objects such as string, beads, feathers, and fabric are OK but you don't want your collage to be bumpy so try to stick with items that lay flat..
   • Collage may encompass images, text, solid colors, or a mixture of these. You may want a recognizable image or word, or simply a suggestion, feel, color, or texture.
   • Use what you have. Start from available materials and work out from there.
   • Create what you don't have. Since collage is an assemblage or blend of elements, it lends itself well to mixed media. You could paint, draw, stamp, or stencil in between the elements you find, or cover over them.
   • Don't rule out unusual materials, like sandpaper, blurry photographs, etc. The place mat below is made from fabric scraps.
   
   
2. Choose a base for your collage. The base is usually flat paper or poster board because these are easiest to work with.
   
   • The background does not have to be white, and it does not have to be plain. The background could include a page from a magazine or book, a large photograph, or a page of text. Paint or draw on it, or cover over it with anything that glue will stick to.
3. Prepare the base by cutting the base to the desired size and shape. I usually go with 16x12" Add any decorations or embellishments you want to the background.
4. Use scissors or an X-acto knife to cut out pieces for your collage. Try cutting your scraps into unusual shapes, cutting out words or letters from a variety of sources to make phrases on your collage, or cutting different pieces so that they fit together.
   • Pick images that reflect the recipients or make a set that are tied together with a theme. I make 4 for our family and each one has our name and a photo of us. I add silly hats, hair and animal bodies to our faces. I also include things that interest us. This year, Tim has a surf theme but last year it was all about mountain biking.
   • A cutting mat helps protect your table and helps make smooth cuts, or cut on top of a scrap of cardboard or an old magazine.
   • Cut out a whole picture, an identifiable part, or just enough to evoke texture, color, or feeling.
   • Cut different shapes for both words and images. Experiment with round and straight edges, regular and irregular shapes.
5. Try tearing materials too. The rough, random edges give parts of your collage a different character than cutouts.
6. Arrange the items on your background. You can arrange the whole thing, then glue, or you can arrange as you go if you prefer a more spontaneous approach.
   • Play with the juxtaposition of different elements and don't be afraid to make this part a messy process. Serendipity may hand you something interesting that you hadn't thought of.
7. Apply glue to each item and carefully but firmly press it down. Then, use your finger to rub it flat from the inside to the edges. Continue this process with each piece, overlapping pieces if you wish, until you are finished.
   • Glue underneath pieces before pieces on top.
   • You don’t have to cover the whole surface if you don’t want to, You can fold or crumple pieces of paper to get interesting textures and reliefs.
8. Let the finished collage dry completely. Depending on the glue(s) you used, you may need to let the collage dry for a few hours or more than a day.
9. Add any finishing touches. Do you want to apply a thin layer of paint or write or stamp over parts of it? Do you want to add textures, such as scratches?
10. Laminate the collage -I bring it to Kinkos. The do a great job and it only costs a couple bucks. I have an old Xyron with laminate that I bought solely for this purpose but it isn't firm enough and it peels over time. Kinko's laminate can be wipes with a sponge again and again without it affecting the laminate.
11. Ta-Dah! - you are all done. Ok now for the wrapping because these are shaped weird. Wrap it in the funny papers, go to the thrift store and buy a couple old record albums, then use the 2 sleeves as a "box" Tape them together and give as is or wrap them up with newspaper, magazines, or tuck them in a reuseable grocery bag...