Back From Hiatus With Christmas Cheer

First of all Merry Christmas!!! I won't be able to post tomorrow so I might as well do it today. I'm celebrating Christmas at my brothers this year. Good for a change of pace (gotta lug all my gifts to his house). Anywayz I was on vacation and I looked up my blog and found it on the first page of google search page I was like oh snap! I mean that was unexpected seeing as I stopped even updating this thing (I just didn't have the time to). I've been busy with other things and haven't really had time to myself or even to crochet which I love doing. I did get a chance to buy this book about a week ago Little Kid Christmas Crafts some of you are probably like "you sucker, you fell for a good sales pitch" but that's not entirely the truth lol. I was just looking for some new ideas and this book has quite a few. Oh yeah I did get a chance to jot down some new crochet and crafting ideas, so expect some new stuff for the new year. I would offer some crafting ideas for Christmas but it's a little late for those. I mean with all of the present opening goodness that's gonna be happening. You can expect me back on the 5th of January with new ideas. Oh Yeah Happy New Years!!!

Recycle Old Clothes Into Something New

This is a Follow Up To: So They Don't Drive You Insane



In this post I'm going to tell you some ways in which you can recycle your winter clothes into summer clothes. There is one thing you need to know about turning you long sleeve shirts into short sleeve ones. The back of the sleeve is always shorter.


1. Make a sleeveless shirt. Remove the sleeves from a shirt. Turn the edges of the armhole over twice and stitch a narrow hem. Add lace to the neckline or armholes.

2. Make a short sleeve shirt. Cut and hem long sleeves into short sleeves. Try cutting sleeves to three-quarters of the original length. Add a cuff, lace or small ruffle of contrasting color to the hemline of the sleeve.

3. Shorten a shirt. Cut and gather the hemline. Place a buttonhole at the front or side of the hemline for a colorful drawstring. Tie the drawstring into a bow or double knot.

4. Make a vest. Remove the sleeves from a zippered sweatshirt. Finish the edges of the armhole if desired. Recycle the fabric into pockets for the inside or outside of the vest. Try inserting a pouched pocket along the side seams.

5. Make a jacket. Cut and hem a coat. Recycle the fabric into pockets or a belt for a different coat. Gather the hemline or add a cuffed waistband. Change the buttons.

6. Make shorts or capri pants. Cut and hem pants. Try fraying the hemline or rolling it into a cuff. Add a small bow or fabric flower to the outside of the cuff.

7. Make something new. Change a pair of pants into a cute summer skirt. Recycle fabric into a bikini, tube top or halter top.

8. Make loungewear or pajamas. Remove collars, sleeves or pant leg elastics from comfy, soft garments. Leave hemlines unfinished.

Designing Hats

This is a Follow Up To: So They Don't Drive You Insane

Hey below is an article on how to design a hat, a straw hat to be exact. Their are other ways to design a hat, but since it's summer I decided to post a straw hat guide.


You can create a custom-made straw hat by using simple techniques and tools that have been adopted from the days of the pioneers. All you need is good quality rye straw, a darning needle, doubled twine string, an upholstery needle, and grosgrain ribbon.

The first step is to purchase the rye straw. Rye straw is the preferred straw for handicrafts because of its general toughness and long sections between the nodes. You can either purchase the straw from a farmer or through a straw supplier. If you obtain the straw from a farmer’s field it will be necessary to cut, sort, and dry the stalks yourself. After you have accumulated a sizeable quantity of straw, purchase a curved upholstery needle. The needle is used to join the strips of braid that make the hat. Do not use a straight needle as this will not go into the flat surface of the braid and come through easily. Needles can be obtained at fabric, craft, or department stores. These stores also sell doubled twine string and grosgrain ribbon. You will need a one-inch beige-colored strip of this ribbon to make the sweatband for your hat.

Before you begin making the straw hat, submerge nine, thick, long straws in a basin of water. Soak the straws overnight or pour boiling water over them and soak for one hour. Do not soak the straws unless you are definitely going to use them within one day because they will develop a yellow color. After the straws are soaked, flatten them and lay five side by side horizontally and four side by side vertically at right angles to the first five and on top of them. Keep the straws flat on a hard surface and secure the nine ends together by taping or stitching. Now you will begin making a braid that will be 288 inches long and approximately 11/4 inches wide.

Make the braid by first bending the first horizontal straw (starting at the top) and crossing it over the next two and under the last two horizontal straws. Then take the first vertical straw (working from left to right), bend it and cross it over the next two vertical straws, and under the following two vertical straws. Next, bend the second horizontal straw; weave it over the next two horizontal straws, and under the last two horizontal straws. Bend the second vertical straw, weave it over the two vertical straws beside it and under the following two vertical straws. Continue with this pattern of alternately bending and weaving horizontally and vertically until all nine straws have been used once. Resume weaving again, beginning with the first straw. If you need more straw length for one of the straws, lay another flattened straw on top of it, overlapping generously and continue weaving until your braid measures 288 inches in length.

If you have to stop braiding and the braid dries out presoak the unfinished ends before you begin weaving again. When your braid is at the required length, tape or stitch the ends. If the entire braid has dried, presoak it for approximately thirty minutes before you begin to make the straw hat. Thread the long darning needle with the double twine string. Insert a drawstring at one edge of the braid and pull it through seven inches. Continue pulling through gently but firmly until that edge begins to curl around, leaving a tiny circle in the middle. Use a warm iron to press the circle of braid until it is dry. Stitch the beginning end of the braid securely and continue threading through with the drawstring. If the double twine string gets short, tie an additional piece to it and continue pulling through. The braid should continue to spiral outward and around.

As the curved braid spirals around, stitch each coil together with the curved upholstery needle threaded with twine string. Ensure that as you pull the drawstring through, the crown is kept pressed and flat. After the braid has spiraled approximately three times, cut a makeshift brim from cardboard or card stock paper. Ensure that it fits your head comfortably. When the braid has spiraled five or six times, place a second drawstring in the bottom edge of the crown and pull the braid upwards to fit the head hole of the cardboard brim. Press the gathered edge until it is dry, and secure that drawstring with stitches or a knot. Remove the cardboard brim and discard it.

Continue spiraling and stitching the spirals of the braid as the brim takes shape. Make the front of the brim one-inch wider than the back. When you are at the last spiral, bring the end under the brim and stitch it in place. After this you can proceed to make a smaller braid of four or five straws that should be long enough to stretch around the circumference of the hat. Stitch this finishing braid to the under side of the brim at the outer edge. Remember to soak the straw before you begin to weave the finishing braid. Weave another four or five straw braid to make a hatband. Use thin straws to give the hatband a neat, contrasting look. Finally, attach the one-inch long grosgrain ribbon to the inside edge of the crown of the hat as a sweatband.

Your straw hat is now complete and you can either decorate it with beads, ribbon, netting etc. or leave it in a simple natural style. Whatever your choice wear it proudly as your creation hand made from straw.

Designing sandals

Follow Up To: So They Don't Drive You Insane

This instructional video shows you how to make sandals out of old jeans. The finished product doesn't look to bad either check it out.

Make Your Own Play Dough

Kool-Aid Play Dough

Below is a recipe to make your own play dough enjoy.

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups boiling water
2 packages unsweetened Kool-Aid

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Wearing gloves, knead for 10 minutes. Store in zip lock bag in refrigerator.

Notes:

1. Your hands may smell of the Kool-Aid flavor even with gloves.
2. Kool-Aid is a powdered drink mix sold in North America. Parents just add sugar and water to make the drink. The powder has both flavoring and color which makes it great for this craft.

This more or less a follow up to the clay molding activity. That I mentioned in the last post. After you have made the play dough. You should try completing some of the activities in this book it's very fun.

Create Anything With Clay

So They Don't Drive You Insane

The summer break can get very boring for children. They love being out of school, but daytime TV can drive them crazy, not to mention the fact that they got tired of playing with all their new holiday toys about 2 days after the holiday. So how do you keep kids busy during the holiday break? Well you could always give them chores to do....I'm only kidding. One of the best ways to keep kids busy during the holiday break is crafts. Crafts take a lot of time and keep kids interested in what they are doing. Before they know it, it will be time for them to go back to school.

Here are some off the top of my head. That will keep you and the kids busy. Some of them can get a little messy lol.

Description
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Clay modeling
+
Acrylic painting| ages 10+|
+ Finger painting

Simple sewing projects (Id say around age 8 with supervision)
+
Designing sandals and hats
+
T-shirt painting for this if you wanna try with younger childen you can. Just dip their hand in some paint and press it on a shirt. Just make sure you clean their hands afterward' s cause you child will to eat it.
+
Make some wind chimes. (very easy to make)
+
Key Charms you know those little things that go key rings.
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Turn your winter clothes in to summer clothes. A snip here and a snip there with some scissors, and you can add some nice additions to your wardrobe.

There's a whole lot more stuff you can do. Also I'll be explaining how to do some of this stuff in later articles.

Making Gel Candles for Fun & Profit

Candle making is by no means a dangerous affair and is often an activity that is fun for all the family however people should follow some very basic safety precautions.


Making Gel Candles for Fun & Profit
By: A Graf
____________________________________________________________________
There are a few items you will need to gather before you can start making your gel candles. The most basic are supply containers, gels, pans, wicks, and of course, your kitchen range. Below is a detailed list of the items you will need, and most of these items are available at your local craft and variety stores.

Containers: It's best to use a heat resistant glass, but there are also many types of glass and acrylics.

Materials: Gel Wax, Paraffin when specified in a recipe, candle scent, candle dye, wick, wick clip, and wick base.

Supplies: Craft sticks, knife, spoon, candy thermometer, pliers, small sauce pan, double boiler for paraffin when used, cooking oil spray, non-stick cookie sheet, ice cream scoop, ice pick, Potato peeler for the dye, stove burner, small deep metal pans, and molds.

Wicks & Clips: Use large bleached wicks. Gel candles burn longer than paraffin candles so a large wick is required for the additional burn time. Do not use wire wicks these will leave debris in the gel. Use a metal base clip and crimp it to one end of the wick with pliers or use a small washer.

Dyes & Scents: Candles dyes are great to use because their color is translucent. Crayons can also be used if the proper dyes are not available at your local stores. Candle dyes come in different forms, from wax squares, to liquids and powders. You can mix colors to form additional colors. Scents are fun to add to make the candle fragrant. Scents come in the form of oil based liquids, pellets and wax solids. You add scent before pouring the candle this avoids evaporation.

Additives & Release Agents: If using paraffin, add stearic acid to increase the hardness and raise the melting point. Use spray cooking oil or silicone spray to aid in the release of the molds.

Submerged Objects: In order to submerge objects in your gel candles they must be resistant to burning and melting. Items that work well are buttons, marbles, toys and jewels. Do not use highly flammable items. Some objects will float so you may have to add the items as the gel cools and thickens. This is where the craft sticks or knife comes in handy. You can push items down that float to the top.

Heating Wax: Paraffin should be heated to 130 degrees F to 140 degrees F. The melting point of gel wax is between 160 degrees and 170 degrees F. If you are melting Paraffin you should always use a double boiler. Gel wax can be heated directly on the burner set at a medium to low heat. Tip: Tear gel into small pieces to control the amount of bubbles.

CAUTION: Always be careful when melting wax. It is highly flammable. Make sure your area is well ventilated. Never leave unattended or around young children without supervision.

Clean Up: Use dish soap and hot water to clean utensils, counter tops and tools. Run paraffin under hot water then under soapy water. You can scrape wax off counter tops, or use small amounts of turpentine to aid in removal (be sure to test first).

Once you learn to create your candles create a business plan and decide on what market to target for your product. You could do theme candles such as weddings, birthdays, etc. Possbily decide on making recipe candles, or whatever great ideas you may have.

Then discover where to sell your candles such as craft shows, sell them on ebay, create your own web site, take them to work, set up trade shows, contact local gift shops and talk with others about selling or starting a new business.

Resources for Candle making/Selling: The Ultimate Gel Candle Book

Article Source: EzineArticles.com