memory board stuff!

[banditsquirrel.livejournal.com]

Hey hey- hope everyone's crafts are well underway for the holidays! This is my first post, so hello, everybody!!
I really just wanted to share my excitement after making two memory boards using this link:
Here
and this link:
Here
Someone posted these instructions about a week ago or so, and I'd also love to thank them for that. I just happened to have the stuff to make them around the house. I made a few changes due to a shortage, though, and they still turned out really well.
I followed the first link almost exactly except for adding the ribbon hangers that were described in the second link.
My changes: I couldn't find enough shank buttons, not to mention buttons that matched decently (plus I have.. er.. *problems* with buttons in general). Instead, I just embroidered some french knots in diamond shapes at the ribbon intersections and knotted again on the opposite site to "sandwich" the padding together.
It worked really well and looks pretty with shiny, coordinating embroidery floss. I wish I could post pics, but I can't find my webcam (the pics would look pretty cruddy anyway)!!
I hope you guys attempt this one, because I thought it was pretty easy, and I even cut the fabric too small on the first one and it still turned out great.

P.S. Wielding a staple gun is fun! :D

Yet another marble magnet question...

[andthesparrows.livejournal.com]

Hullo Craftgrrls!
So I am hopping on the marble magnet bandwagon--what a FUN idea and just in time for Christmas!! I am recently rediscovering my crafty side, I forgot how much fun it is!!
My question is--is there someplace where you can buy just blank tins? I am in the DC Metro area so if anyone knows of any local places--or even national chains like Micheals, Jo-Ann, etc.
I bought a hole-punch but I goofed and got like the teeny tiny size. Whoops! But I can definitely see how it makes the process easier...
Thanks in advance and keep on crafting!!

hi

[bluedevilchick.livejournal.com]

Hi im new. a friend of mine recommended this community so i could find some crafts to relieve me of my boredom...but it all seems so difficult...and sometimes im not so coordinated . does anyone have anything simple i can start out with or any sites i could go to...thanks...

mel

Duct Tape Purses

[martinimaven.livejournal.com]

Hi! I saw in the FAQ the site for making Duct Tape Wallets.....but tonight I did a search on how to make Duct Tape Purses and came out with nothing but a big headache! Does anyone know a site or have a how to for me? Also, Home Depot does not have colored tape....any suggestions for other places to find some?

BTW this is my first official post here! Hi to everyone and thanks for all the ideas this community has given me!

(no subject)

[heavenontv.livejournal.com]

i have a small empty coffee container, and went looking through the memories section to see what i could do with it. the idea of making a wind chime is great, and i plan on trying it. i have a couple of questions, and hope someone can help me out.

what could i use to paint the can? it's a shiny maxwell house container.

how would i go about making the top? i am no good with hardware, so the idea of making the part that the windchime will hang from is scaring me.

if you have any other suggestions for the use of coffee containers, please let me know!

Another Christmas Tree Idea

[xitsmylifex.livejournal.com]

I love the look of those over-ornamented Christmas trees, but my cash flow won't allow it since I dont want to make ornaments really and I'm gradually buying those pretty glass shaped ones, like glass poinsettias and other flowers... So after decorating my tree I decided that I needed something else to fill in the holes.

My mom and I were at Big Lots browsing through their Christmas stuff and we came across those really pretty velvety poinsettia bunches. They had some that were in a bundle and some that were single stems, and some of the single stems had glitter around the edges and in the center. We thought they were the cutest thing, but for $1.99 each they weren't that cute. So what I did was I bought one of the bunches for about $3.99 (it had various sizes of poinsettias, only a few that were the pretty full ones, but some others were smaller and missing petals, making it look like they were still alive but kinda dying?).

Anyway, I bought them and took them home and cut them from the main bunch, leaving plenty of stem left to place within the tree or wherever else they may need to be. Then I took a hot glue gun and some gold glitter and trimmed the edges of each petal with a thin amount of glue and sprinkled giltter over top of it and pressed down a bit to make sure it would stay.

After it dries you can place it in the tree, giving the tree a cute holiday glittery look :-)

I bought red ones, my mom bought white ones, and I know they have some purple-ish blue colored ones, so you can do this with any color you like. I prefer the velvety ones because they're so soft and pretty, but you can do this with any kind you want.

Total cost of my project:

Poinsettia bunch - $3.99
Glitter - $2.00
Hot glue gun - nothing, my mom had it and lots of glue sticks left, but the glue sticks are pretty cheap i believe.

I got about 6 poinsettias out of the bunch, of various sizes and shapes. If i would have bought 6 of the pre-glittered ones it would have cost me $12 plus tax, but this project only cost a little over $6! I'll try to take pictures sometime soon!!

I'm planning on buying another bunch and and other grennery stuff to make something to hang over my bed, like maybe one of those vine/swag thingys so I have something to use for decoration when I get my loft apartment.

Enjoy!

More Christmas stuff

[xitsmylifex.livejournal.com]

I bought some dark blue fleece that I meant to use for something, but i forgot what I bought it for - it was on sale pretty cheap.

Anyway, This tree skirt is very pretty, and I was thinking about making one like it, but I'd have no use for it because my Christmas tree is in reds, not blues. If you look at that page, the chick wants $200 for something that would take at most like $50 to do, but then again it could be a lot prettier than it looks in the photo.

I'm planning on making one like this, and if any one's interested i'd be willing to take pictures and sell it for a reasonable cheap price (after all, it won't take all that much to make). :-) I know its so close to Christmas but it'd be a great thing for next year if you're like me and don't have one yet!

Now, for something completely different

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I'm a relatively new member in this community (maybe about a month), but there seems to be a lot of vitriol flowing about what should or shouldn't be posted to the community, mis-postings, recriminations, etc...I really hope that it ends soon, because it's off-topic. I don't care, I want to see crafting!

That said, since someone said this community was originally all about 'this is what I'm working on!' and sharing and getting ideas, I thought I'd put money where my mouth is, be narcisstic, and ( share with y'all. )

(no subject)

[polkadottedcows.livejournal.com]

I needed a quick gift, so i just got done making a very simple recipe. It sounds like it might not taste so good but they're actually pretty darn tasty.
You need:

• Ritz Crackers (any cracker would do, i'm sure)


• Peanut Butter


• White chocolate chips (i'm sure any chocolate that could be melted could be substituted here)

You peanut butter the crackers, to make like a cracker sandwich with the peanut butter in the middle, and then you melt the chocolate, and dip the peanut butter cracker sandwiches in them, and then pop them in the fridge. I was able to make 14 of them with 1 cup of white chocolate chips. I got fancy and melted a few semi-sweet chocolate chips and drizzled a little design on the top of each one. I tasted one to make sure they were good :P So i'm just going to wrap a box nicely and put them in it and give them for a gift. It ended up being cheap too, because we thankfully had all of the ingredients in the kitchen.
( Read more... )

hot cocoa mix question

[saisha.livejournal.com]

A few people have said they add a box of chocolate pudding to make it creamier. Is this the cook and serve kind or the instant pudding mix. Also, has anyone tried vanilla pudding mix just to add a new dimension?

Thanks girls!

christmas gifts

[skashley.livejournal.com]

I crafted up some christmas gifts for a few people. I made a record bowl (so so easy), a clock out of the ablum cover from the record, and a guitar strap.


( come see a crafty christmas )

by the way, www.sparklecraft.com (sorry if the owner is around here) sells guitar straps for $30. I made mine for about eleven dollars. If i didn't add the letters, it would have only cost me $6. See what you can do if you just craft a little?

happy holidays!

Stained Glass Cookies

[oneautumnday.livejournal.com]

Here's a great twist on the sugar cookie for you crafty baking fiends like me. I found this suggestion on the back of a box of Krusteaz brand cookie mix.

( C is for cookie, that's good enough for me... )

um, help? crochet question...

[purplepants.livejournal.com]

so, i know how to crochet in the round, but how the hell do i increase my stiches so a hat will fit my head and not my left foot?

a word on art and craft marketing

[verbminx.livejournal.com]

Hey everyone! :) Today's craftgrrl zeitgeist seems to be all about "site X sells this for $______ but you can make it for $______!" Which is cool, but -

Remember Art Marketing 101 (and for heaven's sake, if you are at least a relatively serious crafter, read How to Survive and Prosper As An Artist or something similar) - when pricing things for sale, people have to consider the time & resources spent.

The reason making it yourself, if you can, may be cheaper, is that you aren't paying yourself an hourly wage, worrying about overhead on things like packaging, paying for your domain and hosting, etc. But sometimes it isn't cheaper.

I'm going to use myself as an example here. The jewelry that I sell - people couldn't make a single item cheaper than I sell it, because of the cost of materials. I use an unbreakable cord and a special jeweler's cement, and while over time and multiple items the cost is lower, for just one item you could not make the same thing at the same strength for less money than I'd charge (you'd have to buy way more cord than you need, and a whole tube of cement to hold your knots - yeah, you CAN use nailpolish, but in my experience it does not hold as well). I use mostly sterling silver findings. It also takes me at least an hour to make any given single-strand bracelet, longer for a lariat or something more complicated, so there is the question of how much I am paying myself per hour to make these things - usually minimum wage, because I don't think the market will bear much more. I also spend time and money in transit to bead and craft stores or on catalogue orders and shipping or whatever. I never use less than two pairs of pliers and one file on an item, but that's a one-time cost for a nonconsumable material - still, if you didn't have them and wanted to duplicate what I do for just one or two items, it would still be more expensive for you. I also spend time and money on promotion. If you bought the items to duplicate what I do, and then offered them for sale on your own, it would be unethical - I've designed all my pieces myself, and you'd need to spend time designing your own. (I think it would be OK to duplicate designs you've seen for sale online if you were just going to make a lot of them as gifts, though, and not selling any.) When you buy a craft item from someone else, you're paying for all these things.

So, I dunno... don't rag too hard on someone who is charging x-y-z for something. it's fair for an independent artist or crafter to make at least a small profit. If you're selling crafts and not considering all these things in your prices, please read up on art/craft business models! you're undercutting yourself. If you're just making a one-off item similar to something you've seen online that costs, say, four times as much as the materials, consider how long it will take you to gather the materials and make the item. The results can be really surprising. :)

updates, updates, updates..

[kimmercake.livejournal.com]

hi everyone.

i have a lot to report so please read this carefully.

first off:
i have completely revamped the user info/rules page.
click here to read it
i expect that everyone will be cool with the rules. they are fairly standard. please let me know if you are not.
also i would appreciate if everyone would read them over just so there isn't confusion among members about the rules/conditions on joining/posting. nothing too outrageous. i just want to know we are all on the same page.


secondly, there has been such a HUGE heated debate about the marble magnet pandemonium, i really think i need to step in.

i understand that there are MANY posts about this topic here at craftgrrl. they are such a cute and neat little project and that is what is so great about them. what is NOT great about them, however, is how many questions and debates they spur. especially over and over.

i realize that some people can skim over posts and ignore the content at whim, but this is also hard for other people [myself included].

and i'll be the first to say it - the "where do i buy glue," "what size magnets should i use," and "how do i cut out pictures" questions are all getting REALLY annoying. and also seem needless because each individual has many leves of creativity that cannot be matched by another. some of these questions can be answered using simple creative differences.

i know that sounds jerky but that is the reason for the new FAQ. to address these questions and STILL people seem to not read them. which is frustrating.

so from here on in i think i am going to make it mandatory that all marble magnet questions be reverted to marble_madness that madnessie so generoulsy created.

i realize marble magnets are a craft project just the same as any other but with the magnitude that they are filling up our entire journal it makes it hard to have room for other, more diverse, projects.

so feel free to post pictures of your magnets still. but PLEASE ask ALL marble magnet questions to marble_madness.

thanks everyone.

a new idea for those glass marbles....

[ardenelizabeth.livejournal.com]

hey everyone,

i haven't seen this idea posted before, so hopefully i'm not re-posting something old. i showed one of my friends the marble magnets i had made, and the next time i went over to her house, she had made tons of marble magnet creations. she also came up with a way to make window decorations using the glass marbles, and it looked really pretty.

she used silver craft wire (i'm not sure what gauge, but it probably doesn't matter much) and created about 12-15 long strings of the wire with clear marbles periodically strung throughout. then she hung the strings over her curtain in a window in her living room, and it looked really pretty. you could also use the colored marbles to make it stand out more...anyway, i thought it was a really fun idea. hopefully i described it well enough for you to get the gist of it. :)

Christmas Ornaments & Decorations To Do In A Hurry

[makeuplovegloss.livejournal.com]

Thank you trehggr99, you made me remember what I was gonna post!

trehggr99 posted about some Stained Glass Cookies, and last night when I was searching on the internet, I found this:
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/season/feature/famf117ornaments/famf117ornaments4.html It is a site that has Candy Glass Ornaments. They seem really cool, and I think I shall do these next year. All you need are some Jolly Ranchers or other hard candies, Christmas sprinkles/sugars and some cookie cutters..well, you can go check out the page for the whole details.

(Sorry for all of the links, I haven't figured out the little code so I can put in just one word with the hidden link there)
Also, here are some good sites for Christmas Decorations & Ornaments:
http://craftsforkids.about.com/library/projects/blorncdphoto.htm
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/season/specialfeature/holiday_decorations_ms/
http://www.igrandparents.com/grandTopics/articles/Mini-Sites/WinterHolidays/Crafts/GGOrnaments.asp

Hope everyone enjoys them!

Recycling newpapers to make bags and bins

[swandieve.livejournal.com]

http://www.fashiondig.com/yoursistersmustache/

I think that these are really awesome. I like the trashbins. How do you think they'd be best made? I know that I'd just cover newspaper with a lot of duct tape personally, but I don't think that'd turn out to look very well. Any ideas, please?

craft bond

[tulipswallow.livejournal.com]

OK -- how do y'all get craft bond (spray mount, spray adhesive) off your skin? I use this stuff all the time, but no matter how careful I am, I end up with it all over my arms, hands and nails. I just can't wear gloves -- they drive me crazy. I've tried nail polish remover, but it's so irritating to my skin. HELP!!!!!

The Kissing Ball

[xitsmylifex.livejournal.com]

This is such a great idea for just an every day thing rather than having mistletoe around just for the holiday seasons.

sock monkey's friends

[dougdougdoug.livejournal.com]

i am working on finishing up my socktopus, and i think i am going to give it to the bf for xmas.  i was just looking around the net to find some info on how to finish up his underside and i came across these links.  socktopus and sock bird.

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_dolls/article/0,1789,HGTV_3242_1370684,00.html

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_dolls/article/0,1789,HGTV_3242_1370685,00.html

oo its magic...

[tainteddreamz.livejournal.com]

My friend (who I didnt even think cared) told me she found a great gift that she was gonna get me. So I was all "o no! now I gotta get her something!". So I copied for her 2 of my cds she really likes. I decorated them with permenant marker. Then I covered the CD case in different pieces of christmas wrapping paper. Then I taped a candy cane on to the front, voila. Whew.
Secondly, I made myself a shrine out of an altoid tin. I luv it. I cut out aged looking paper from a book and decoupaged the inside with it. I went with an aged antique kind of theme. So I went and gathered a bunch of beads and trinkets I have laying around in gold, silver, and copper. I cant wait to do another one. Ill probly go with a knoweldge theme. Cut up my dictionary and use some letter beads.
Thats it!

pipecleaner flowers

[polkadottedcows.livejournal.com]

i saw these pipecleaner poinsettias on Martha Stewart a couple days ago and figured they'd be easy, and i thought they were cute.
This is the martha link: http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=tvs7648
( my poinsettias )

Collage dilemma

[sinsoftheflesh.livejournal.com]

For christmas i bought my mother and stepdad sketchbooks made of this beautiful recycled paper, and I wanted to collage them a bit to personalize them. I'm going to cover them in handmade paper first (it matches the recycled paper inside PERFECTLY), but my dilemma is that i love the way the handmade paper feels! If i were to just glue the paper down on one side and not cover it with anything on the outside surface, do you think this would hold up, or would the paper get tattered fairly quickly?

Also, if i were to cover the outside with something, can anyone suggest a sealant of some kind that won't leave a tacky finish? In my experiences with both mod podge and acrylic matte medium, the surface always had some degree of tackiness which i would definitely like to avoid. Or, how could i minimize the tackiness caused by these products?

Thanks! :D

(no subject)

[artmomz.livejournal.com]

To whoever posted the about the rice warmers that can be found on the memories page...a whoole bunch of thanks! XoD I had a grand day of making a bunch of them. (Except for the times that my sewing machine wanted to spit thread...it really needs to be replaced.)

However, I did go with the flax seed instead & I used a couple of drops of lavender oil for each. (But omigosh...it's so strong...) The draw strings are made with hemp yarn.

( Here's my take... )

New Community! Decoupagers, art journalists, et all...

[jagnightwalker.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone,

I have just created a new community, Shriners Club!.

This is an open community for anyone into alteration, not just shrines in particular. Journals, books, tins anything! Let's share ideas :) Please bear with me while I get it put together...I hope to see alot of you there.

(no subject)

[teknotoy.livejournal.com]

Clarification :

People are allowed to post pics of marble magnets.
Please do not ask questions about how to make marble magnets.

All in the user info. Please read more clearly! Kimmercake didn't write it for no reason here..

(no subject)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_laudable/]

made a buncha magnets for 4 of my friends

( MARBLE MAGNETS.. who woulda thunk? )

(no subject)

[delusionalangel.livejournal.com]

My current project = no pics yet (will get some if I ever finish it) but I have two sheets of 6-in-1 chainmail both measuring about 3"X3" started. I plan to ATTEMPT to turn them into a small purse though I am still working out the detail and it will take me awhile. I cannot do more than a row or two at a time without being pained... but when done I suspect each side will be 6"X6". Then instead of just connecting the rings of each sheet together I might attempt to create a bottom as well. A bit ambitious for me, and possibly the result will actually be two 6"X6" pieces of chain decorating my desktop for years to come, but hopefully I will actually complete it someday. IF I ever learn to sew I will be seeking out a way to mix fabric purses with chainmail.

Then there is my mom's Christmas present which I will not post about here, but hopefully it comes out ok, I've never made anything like it before so *fingers crossed*

Also I want to make me a nice James Dean tin to store the lose beads and rings I works with in, since I only do like one row at a time an altoid tin is the perfect size for just the materials I need at any one time - them and empty pill bottles = great storage box alternatives for the smaller craft stuff (especially beads, head pins, other misc findings).

Just a newbie

[dragonfey.livejournal.com]

I haven't been on this list for very long, but was so impressed with all the creativity here. I have told my best friend about it, since her 10 year old daughter is into beading and loves crafty ideas. However...

Folks, there will always be newbies like me. I truly appreciate the questions, and the resources linked here. I do understand the frustration at times about repeat questions, I have worked in online animal communities and there are always certain questions that get repeated ad naseum.

But please, I have enough stress in my life to not want it or appreciate the bickering here. It is just crafts, you don't have to read anything you don't want to and better yet, you don't have to reply to it.

And I will be sad if this community moves to just showing off completed projects.