Summertime Craft: Make Your Own Pinwheel

It is lovely and beautiful outside so why not make a fun toy to play with….Pinwheels! They are so easy that you’ll be making them for your friends in no time.

Materials:

6" x 6" Paper. If you only have rectangular paper you can make it a square by folding diagonally so you have 3 straight sides, and cutoff the extra paper hanging off. Use any paper you want, decorative and stiff will be better but plain printer paper works well too.

Scissors

2 Pencils with Erasers, one to mark with and the other for the Pinwheel stem

1 straight pin, pick one with a decent size head on it so it doesn’t slip through the paper

Small bit of tape

Steps:

1. Take your Square piece of paper and draw straight diagonal lines from corner to corner.

2. Using your scissors cut along the lines you drew leaving about ½ inch to ¾ inch intact before you reach the center.

3. Bring in each corner to the center of your paper over lapping the points.

4. Push your straight pin through the points and through the backside of your paper.

5. Take your 2nd pencil holding it vertical, push the straight pin through the center of the eraser. Bend the pin downwards to secure it to the pencil.

6. Place your small piece of tape over the sharp part of the pin so you don’t prick yourself while having fun. Plus it will also keep the pin steady.

Tah Dah!!! Finished Pinwheel

Decorate your pinwheel by using a light amount of spray on glitter, attach ribbon to the pencil to make streamers, or before using your 2nd pencil glue a fun decorative paper around it.

Gift Idea!

Make smaller pinwheels, attach them to the pencil and give them out as fun summertime gifts.

I hope you had fun making and using these.

Tune in Next Time for Another Fun Craft :)

Craft Project! Potato Printing

Hello Crafters
It's been awhile since I posted a craft project but what a great way to get back into the game then with a fun home spud project.

Potatoes are good to eat and fun to craft with so grab a spud and lets get Craftin!

Supplies:
Potato: Buy one that’s a good size for your shape because you will be cutting them in half.
Knife: Kitchen knife works best but you can use any professional stamp cutting tools or an xacto knife
Pencil or Marker Pen
Design
Paint: Acrylic craft paint works well
Paper: For final project and scrap paper for testing

Lets Go:
1. Cut your potato in half
2. Draw your shape onto the flat part of the potato. Keep your design simple. I suggest stars, flowers or presents like the picture above.
3. Cut around the design leaving your shape raised. If you would like to leave a negative image cut your design out of the middle leaving the surrounding surface raised.
4. Squeeze some paint onto a saucer or paper plate. I find that these projects are great if you have extra plates from parties.
5. Stamp excess paint onto a scrap piece of paper. Too much paint will make the potato slide on your selected paper.
6. You can do several stamps before you need more paint. Wash off paint before changing colors or don’t! and see fun colors peek out from each other.
7. Set paper to dry completely before continuing with any additional decoration.

Tips:
1. You can use cookie cutters to create your shape
2. For intricate designs leave the cutter in the potato and use the knife to trim around it
3. Serrated knives leave a fun jagged texture
4. Skewers can poke small holes for dots and eyes for smiley face
5. Don’t let the potato dry out because your shape will become distorted

Happy Craftin! See you next time ☺

New Product Line

Recently I have been disappointed in the selection of Book Cloth and Fabric at the arts and craft stores. One of the electives I took during my undergrad was a Surface Textiles class where you learned to dye and print of fabric using all sorts of techiniques. DING! Lightblub moment! Why not make my own fabric. So I have been busy collecting all the materials; dyes, squeeze bottles, soda ash...etc. I am thrilled to start. I have recently decided to make my own book cloth from printed fabric and sell it on Etsy. I think these business ventures are going to be great.

I'm going to start slow, a couple solid colors before I start mixing an experiementing....Oooooo. My creative juices get going just thinking about it. I am excited to share my creations as soon as possible.

~Crafty Wednesday~

Hello Everyone.

Today's Crafty Wednesday comes to us from the TV show Creative Juice. Fine you spare jewelry and broken parts, gather them all up together and lets decorate.

Jeweled Home Frames

Materials and Tools:

broken jewelry
orphaned earrings
old buttons
picture frames
wire cutters
E6000 glue

Steps:

1. Collect an assortment of broken jewelry, orphaned earrings and old buttons, remove any earring, pin backs or button shanks with wire cutters.

2. Attach embellishments to frame with E6000 glue.

Crafty Wednesday!

Today's Crafty Wednesday is an experience I had recently with a project.

Couples weeks ago I had talked about a knitting book called Stitch n Bitch. I was (hense was) working on the Lucky Clover Lace Wrap sweater. Wonderful lacy stitch pattern that is just oh so cute. Well I was having a hard time figuring out the directions. The pattern is 12 row long. It would say increase and decrease ever so many rows but it didn't specify if I was increasing or decreasing on the 9th row of the stitch pattern or ever 9 rows. So I looked around on the internet and came up with no answers. The one answer I found the most was "don't do this project." So i have abandoned the lace wrap and am going to move on to something else. I'm a little bummed that I didn't make it but I still have the yarn and hopefully one day I will try it again.

So let this be a lessen...If you are having problems with a project it's OK not to finish it. Set it aside...give yourself some space and maybe in the fuuture try it again. When I do a project I have a need to finsih. This time I had to tell myself it is ok to back away. I hope this helps and other crafters who run into a snag ever now and then.

Happy crafty and see you next week.

Wednesday! Time to Get Crafty

Channel your inner rock star with these fun-to-make fashion accessories. Bring on the glam with this rock-inspired belt buckle, customized with glitter and rhinestones. This projects comes to us from the show Creative Juice. One of my favorite craft shows.

Materials and Tools:

belt buckle blank with a ridge
rock 'n roll images
scrapbooking or wrapping paper
glue stick
rhinestones
jewel glue
toothpick
découpage medium
ultra-fine glitter
small paintbrush
leather paints
paintbrushes
leather belt

Steps:

1. Trim the paper and the image(s) to fit inside the belt buckle blank well. Glue paper to the inside of the buckle blank.

2. Decide on the placement and glue image(s) in place.

3. Using jewel glue and a toothpick, attach rhinestones in a decorative pattern.

4. Add glitter to a small amount of découpage medium and brush over both the image(s) and rhinestones. Work carefully to keep the medium in the well of the belt buckle. Let dry overnight, or longer if needed.

5. Decorate the belt with leather paints and attach buckle to belt.

Hooray Craft Wednesday!

Hello...We meet again for another Crafty Wednesday.

Today's Craft: Paper Covered Pencils

Materials:
Mechanical Pencils
Decorative Paper (experiement and find a paper that works for you)
PVA Glue (or any tought glue. I think PVA is the best, but Sobo glue would be good too)
Glue Brush
Scissors
Guillotine Paper Trimmer (optional)

Instructions:
1. Cut strips of decorative paper to fit lengths of mechanical pencils, with a 1/4” overlap.
2. Coat backs of decorative strips with glue. Wrap around barrels of mechanical pencils just below erasers.
3. Reuse over and over and over again!

Happy Crafting and see you next week :)

Crafty Wednesday!

Hello
We meet again for another addition of Crafty Wednesday.

Today's Topic: Craftzine.com

Craftzine was a quarterly magazine that was around for about 2 years. The they decided they would have a larger outreach if they became solely an online magazine. You can buy old copies of Craftzine from their website, which I highly recommend. Cratfzine is made for crafters (ok duh!) but it not only gives great projects and ideas but showcases artists in the field. Everything from a woman who knitted a house equiped with gfood, table, dishes and artwork to feature Project Runway designers who put LED lights into clothing. Some of my favorite projects were making a wallet out of underwear, ironging plastic bags together to create a recycled reusable plastuc bag (who doesn't love the Target bullseye), crocheting a fancy granny square bag, and one of my next projects a hawaiian blank.

Right now you can get the same great expereince from the Craftzine website that includes interviews, tutorials and a network to be among crafty people. Sign up for their news letters and become a fan on face book. The exciting thing about crafting is there is always something new to discover and these people are at the forefront.

Tune in next wednesday to see what we're crafting.

Have FUN! :)

Crafty Wednesday :) Book Review: Retro Revamp

Hello Crafters!

Today’s Crafty Wednesday is a book recommendation. I collect craft books like some people collect stamps.

“Retro Revamp: Funky Projects, from HandBags to Housewares” by Jennifer Knapp



This book has a ton of great projects including:
~Holly Golightly’s Dream Bag – which is a great made out of assorted ribbons
~Comfty T-Shirt Quilt – a quilt made out of you’re old favorite T-Shirts. I want to do this but first I have to get over the idea of cutting up all of my concert shirts.
~Mad Hatter Teapot – great project is you like to mosaic
~Flower-Power Bike Basket – make it even if you don’t own a bike. Just hang it on your wall or something
~Mystery Date End Table – you could use any board game you like. Monopoly would make a wonderful table

And for the pets you love oh so much:
~Dapper Dog Collar – super cute and super fashionable
~Mice Madness – fun catnip toys and a great way to use up scrape fabric

Get this book and go Crafty Wild!

Happy Crafting :)

Crafty Wednesday!

Welcome back to another installment of Craft Wednesday :)

Today's craft comes to use from "Handmade Books" by Kathy Blake.

Making a memo pad.

I use memo pads all the time. I use them for "to-do" lists and grocery lists and anything else i need to write on.

Materials
A stack of paper (any color. I would recommend a text weight paper)
1 piece 0f cardboard cut the same size as the paper
clamps or clothespins
rubber cement

Steps:
1. Cut paper to desired size and however many sheets you would like
2. Tamp the stack of paper and the cardboard together, making sure that the side to be glued is flush and even
3. Clamp the stack, with the edge of the cardboard on the bottom, applying clamps on opposite sides, leaving free the side that will be glued
4. Apply rubber cement to the even sides of the stack, rubbing the ends of the brush into the edges of the paper, including the cardboard, to be sure every sheet is glued. Let it dry at least 2 hours, then apply more glue and let it dry overnight. (I have read that this can be done with PVA glue, which is a bookbinders glue)
5. Remove the clamps

Note, before you glue your paper decorate it with stamps to give it a fun theme, just remember to keep the one side free for gluing.

Happy Crafting :)

Crafty Wednesday!

Hello!!!

While my family was in town my niece Makenzie and I decorated a Blank. It's something we saw at Toys R Us and they're blank animals like a cat or dog and they have ones with a round head or square head. Basically you buy one and can go crazy decorating it with whatever you want. It comes with 3 markers and an extra chunk of molding clay to make an accessory for your blank. The 2 of us decorated it together. She picked out what we were going to do and I applied everything else. Except the eyes and hair. The eyes were painted by Makenzie and she also applied the sparkly hair in front. I strongly suggest you buy one because we had so much fun.

Crafty Wednesday!

Welcome Back! It's Crafty Wednesday.

Todays Lesson: Handmade (kinda) Wrapping Paper

Materials:
Paper; this can be brown craft paper, a roll of colored paper, a pad of blank newsprint paper or recycle and use the newspaper from this morning.
Stamps
Ink pads

My mom and I were walking around Ikea and saw they were selling rolls of solid color paper. We bought a roll of brown and a roll of red. Craft stores usually have stamps for sale. Michael's has a bin of $1 stamps. If it's a Christmas theme pick out some trees, snowflakes, snowmen and of course Santa. I personnally like maing these for all occasions because you can make it personal for the person who's present you're wrapping.

1. Find a large work surface. a table or island in your kitchen works great. Roll out enough paper to cover the work surface.
2. Pick out your stamps and stamp pads
3. Have FUN!!!!!!!! Do a Design, go free flow, have a color pattern. You name it and it can be done.
For extra embellishment use glitter glue, stickers, paint...etc. I prefer stamps because they come in so many great designs.

This project is good for the Etsy sellers out there. Wrap your items in these great papers to make your customers feel that you went the extra mile to make their purchase that more special.

Happy Crafting and see you next week :)

Sold 2 Boxes!!

Hello Everyone

GREAT NEWS!!! I sold 2 boxes today. The Black and White Flora box and the Tropical orange box. Also what might turn into being a custom order :)

Today was a Good Day,
Thank you for being supportive
Leslie

Craft Wednesday

Hello :) Welcome to Crafty Wednesday.

Today is how to make Starch Paste.

I use starch paste when I am making book cloth for my photo boxes. I find it's easy to make and works well. Also would be good for Paper Mache.

This recipe makes about 2.5 cups of paste

Materials:
1/4 Corn Starch
1/4 Cold Water (I'm talking straight from the fridge)
2 cups Boiling Hot Water

1. Heat up the hot water. I use a teapot on my stove. You can use a small sauce pan, just make sure it holds enough water and will get it to a good bubble.
2. Combine the equal parts Corn Starch and cold water in a tupperware container. Stir until well mixed. It may be a bit stiff. Just stir it enough to get all the lumps out.
3. When the water is at a roaring boil pour 2 cups of it in to your cold starch mix.
4. Continue to stir. You will see a reaction in about 30 seconds maybe less. It should be thick and a hazzy foggy color.
5. Let cool. I am impatient so I wait about 30min - 1hr.
Ready to Use!

This will last for up to 2 days in the fridge.

Quick, Easy and super Cheap

Happy Crafting and See You Next Week :)

Crafty Wednesday!

Hello :)

Today's Crafty Wednesday comes from Etsy.com How-To Tuesday. Simple instructions for a wonderful Fabric Flower. It can be created as a pin, an embellishment for a garment or a cute hair pin. So grab your favorite fabric and let's get crafty :)

Follow the Link:
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-tuesday-fabric-flower-pin-8462/

Crafty Wednesday!

Hello Everyone. Today is Crafty Wednesday. Lets get artisitc.

Flower Pens

Ok not my idea but I Love making them.

Materials:
Pens
Floral Tape
Silk Flowers
Glue
Wire Cutters

I like to buy the flowers that come in a bunch or bundle. They tent to have smaller stems. Tulips also work great because the leaves are long and you can cover up the stem.

1. With the wire cutters, cut off the flower you want to attach to your pen. You can add more than 1 flower. I find 3 works well without being too much.
2. Place the flower towards the middle of the pen. You can determine how much you want it to stand off the pen but the middle is good because then there is a good amount of support between the flower and the pen.
3. Start wrapping the floral tape around the stem and pen and work your way up to the top. Give the floral tape a little tension because that makes it stick to itself.
4. Once you have reached the top, start wrapping down towards the tip of the pen. This will give the stem of the flower double coverage for extra strength.
5. Once you have wrapped is all the way around, cut off the floral tape and dab a little glue of the end to make the floral tape end stay tight to the pen.

I find this really adds some color to my desk at work and you'll surely get a lot of compliments. It's decorative and handy.

Extra tip: Go to your favorite Home Goods, Target, Wal-mart...etc and pick out a vase or pitcher and place a bouquet of pens in it.

Crafty Wednesday!

Hello Everyone. Today's Crafty Wednesday tip are for the knitters out there. This is good for new and experienced.

Yarn Stitch Holders

Recently I was working on a very lacey shawl with size 4 needles and super fine yarn. Everyother row required yarn overs. Whenever I lost track and messed up a stitch I was having to pull the whole thing part and start again. I had to find a solution to my problem.....Yarn Stitch holders.

Materials:
Tapestry needle, size 18
Contrasting colored yarn
-Long enough to go all the way aross your piece and bright enough to see without blending in with your knitting

1. Take the yarn and thread it though the tapestry needle
2. Select a row that will be easy to go back to. Luckly for my shawl everyother row was a purl. I selected one of thoses
3. Take you threaded tapestry needle and run it along your knitting needle through all your stitches (loops)
4. Take the needle off the yarn

This is great when working with an inticate stitch pattern. I usually will have about 2 or 3 of these throughout my piece just incase I make a huge boo-boo.

Happy knitting!

Upload your knitting projects to share with others.

Crafty Wednesday!!!

Come join me every wednesday for a weekly craft tip. Also share your ideas too. LeslieGallery would love to hear from you.

TODAYS TIP!!
During the holidays you are receiving cards left and right. What do you do with them afterwards? Here's an idea......Make them into tags for presents.

1. Bring out your markers, stamps, glitter glue or ribbon
2. Cut out an image you like
3. Decorate it
4. Write on the front or back (which ever works best) to whom you're giving it to and who it's from
5. Secure to the present with a ribbon or tape
* If there is writing on the back already, just glue a piece of paper; white, contruction or tissue, over it to cover the writing.

TA DA instant tag and you look so smart for reducing, reusing and recycling.