Crafty Tutorials

Wind Chimes!

2013-02-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

So this was a little complicated. My rocket scientist of a dad figured out how to make a metal pipe ring at certain tones. Anyway I'm going to post a tutorial and try and explain what the hell he figured out, but if I can't communicate it to you, don't get mad! Hes a genius and I have no Idea if i will be able to explain this...

Supplies:
-Hollow aluminum pipe
-Drill
-Sand paper
- Sharpie
- Ruler
-Saw

*Note this is not how to make a wind chime tutorial, it is specifically just the CHIMES. I don't want to spend a year writing this.

Step 1) First, go to this website, click on the picture and a chart with the pitches, lengths and all the information you will need to figure out what pitches you need will be there.
http://home.fuse.net/engineering/Chimes.htm#Pre-calculated

Step 2) Now figure out how long each piece needs to be and mark them with a sharpie, then cut them up with your saw!

Step 3) Once you cut your pieces, look at the chart and measure how low the hole needs to be from the top. It's different for each piece so pay attention to the chart!

Step 4) Drill those suckers! Make sure you don't drill a hole into your finger!

Step 5) Ok, so now it is time to sand off the pieces. You can use a sand paper, but my dad had an electric sandpaper/buffer thing (I obviously don't know my tools). Make sure you get the inside as well.

Step 6) Now here you may be done, but if you want a specific pitch, your going to need to make this contraption:

This is a metal block with 2 bolts on each side and 2 rubber bands holding them down.

- Lay the piece you have just cut onto it and hit it with another metal piece. Because it is somewhat suspended, it will ding its true sound.

- You can try and match this up to tones on the piano and make it shorter if you had to. (My dad is a perfectionist so we did it many times)

And hopefully you can understand this and cut yourself some chimes! Good luck...

Seastar Barrette

2013-01-14T20:54:00.003-08:00

I'm sick of winter. I miss the beach. A lot. So I got inspired to do some beachy projects starting with this barrette. It is super simple and anyone can do it! Just go to your local craft store ( or shell shop if you live on the coast) and get a sea star that about 2.5 inches. Its a good size to cover the barrett.

P.S. Make sure the barrette you get doesn't bend or else it wont work right after the stars been glued on.

Supplies:
-Sea star
-Barrett
-SUPER glue

Step 1) Begin by putting SUPER glue on the barrette.

Step 2) Place the barrette on the star and make sure the barrette is hidden.

Step 3) Let it dry

NOW WEAR IT AND PRETEND ITS SUMMERRRR!

T-shirt Cutout tutorial!

2012-11-26T17:11:00.002-08:00

Ok so I have seen these amazing cut out shirts and they are being sold for like 20 to 40 dollars... HECK NO I am not paying for something I can do myself... So please, do not buy any more cut out shirts and just do it yourself...

Supplies:
-Tshirt
-Scissors (fabric scissors are the best!)
-A washable marker

Step 1: Draw the design you want to cut. I recommend finding a stencil and using that!

Step 2: Carefully cut out the design.

Step 3: Wash the shirt in order to get the marker off.

OMG SO EASYYYY

Leather Pouch Necklace

2012-11-12T16:14:00.001-08:00

Christmas is coming up :O. Time to start getting ready! I promised myself I wouldn't get myself neck deep in presents 2 days before Christmas like last year. So this year i'm starting early. Mid November is a decent time to do this soo here is my tutorial for a simple gift. Jewelry is always a good thing to give away so we will start with that. I have this pouch tutorial and I made some bracelets for another friend and Ill post the link to that soon! Ok, well here we go!

Supplies:

-Leather Scraps

-5.5 ft of Leather String

-Scissors

-Small sharp scissors

Step One:

Begin by cutting 2 pouch shapes out of the leather.

Step Two:

Place them together with the good sides out and start by making a hole in the top corner with the little scissors. Puncture both sides in the same place.

Step Three:

Thread the string through and pull until you have about a foot and a half left. That will be used to tie around the neck.

Step Four:

Make a second set of holes, bring the string from the back and thread it through the front first, this will make it look woven. This is called Overcasting. You can google that if you still cant figure it out.

Step Five:

Continue to make holes and thread the string through until you reach the top other corner.

Step Six:

Simply make a knot at the length you want your necklace to be.

GIFT IDEA: Place a gift card inside then wrap it up and give it to your buddy!

Jewelry Holder

2012-10-24T12:00:00.002-07:00

Alright, so I made one of these years ago and I still have it and it is just the most PERFECT thing ever! My mom wanted one for her closet so I decided to do a tutorial as I made it for her! So, if you are a girl, and have tons of jewelry laying around and want a better way to hang it up, you may enjoy this tutorial!

Supplies needed:
- A Picture frame (Proportional to the amount of jewelry you have)
-String or ribbon to hang it
- 3.75 Mesh Blank Rug Canvas ( for latch hooking)
- A stir stick from lowes (usually free)
- Spray Paint
- hooks
- hot glue/ gun

Step 1:
Spray Paint your canvas and stick with the color of your choice.

Step 2:
As those dry, Take the string that you chose and tie it on each end of the picture frame. Double knot it to make sure that it wont fall!

Step 3:
Hot glue the stick to the picture frame leaving some space at the bottom.

Step 4:
Cut the canvas to size then hot glue the perimeter to the picture frame and the stick.

Step 5:
Hot glue those hooks on. I put some on the stick and some on the actual picture frame.

Step 6:
Put all your jewelry on and enjoy your new organization!

You can modify this by using a larger picture frame, adding more sticks for more bracelets, more hooks for more necklaces, you can even glue a little box at the side for studs and rings. The possibilities are endless, send us picks of yours if you make it!

Collage

2012-09-30T14:48:00.000-07:00

How to Make a Collage Like Your a Natural

(even if you have no idea what your doing).

So, I am not a collage person. I cannot envision what goes where, what I want out of it, or even what to use in it, but my friend Harriet is just absolutely amazing at them without even trying. So my motto for this is WWHD (What would Harriet do). I created a collage using items that I found around my house and that everyone would have easy access to. So if you are terrible at coming up with collages, this is the tutorial for you!!

Supplies:

-Newspaper

-Mod Podge (Gloss was used in this one and it looks really good)

- Paintbrush

-Hot glue/gun

-Beads, broken jewelry

-feathers

-staples

-A canvas, or something else to put all this stuff on!

Step One: Cut out a bunch of little squares from the newspaper. I used the show section and used many different sizes. The bigger the size the faster.

Step Two: Begin adding the newspaper on by painting on a thin layer of mod podge to where your are going to add the first piece.

Step Three: Place the piece of newspaper onto the wet Mod podge. Don't forget to cover the sides! Once you place it on, Paint over it with a thin layer of mod podge.

Step Four: Continue to completely cover all showing sides of the canvas.

Step Five: Now take a large Sharpie and draw something simple but repetitive in the corner, I drew a flower. If your a good drawer then great, go draw something cool in the corner!

Step Six: I found some beads I haven't used in my room, so I gathered those. I also found a lone earring and a pendant that used to be on a necklace. These can all be used!

Step Six: Get some hot glue and glue on your beads! I outlined bolded word and glued the rest in a group of three at the bottom.

Step Seven: I decided to add on some more sharpie so I outlined the picture and signed my name in the top left.

Step Eight: Now I found some feathers and I decided to glue them into the corner and It added some color to it!

Step Nine: Now I just need something to fill in the extra space, So I decided to make dotted lines using staples. So take that long rectangle of staples and break it up.

Step Ten: Now hot glue the staples on. I made little lines come out of my main line so it ties in the whole collage!

Alright, Now we have a collage that looks like we knew what we were doing. If you make one please send it in or send us a link to it! we would love to see it and no doubt there will be better ones than this!! Anyway, share, leave a comment, tell us how we are doing or better yet, tell your friends to check us out! Haha good luck making this project!

Tutorialllsssss

2012-09-09T11:31:00.002-07:00

Here are 10 Awesome Tutorials you HAVE to try!!!!

So my college courses turned out to be quite consuming, so here is a quick post to keep all you readers busy :)

#1.) Foam Print Making (Ps I thought this was just the last picture but Heres the tutorial too!)

Make sure to check out the blog as well :)

#2.)Perfect Duct Tape Wallet!

#3.) Milk Jug Lunch Box

#4.) Cool, Easy Bracelets

#5.)Wall Art!

#6.) Gnarly Jellyfish

#7.) Wire Ring

#8.) Lamp Shade

#9.) Hola Hoop Rug

And Last but not least....

#10.) Light Box

Im going to make that last one tomorrow so I can take more amazing pictures for my etsy shop!!! Let me know if you guys make any of these!

Book Preview

2012-08-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

Here's another tutorial that will be in the book! Easy wreath that looks good all year long!!

Wax Resist Card

2012-07-30T14:33:00.004-07:00

This is perfect if you want to make something cool yet be able to do it in 5 minutes... This is also great for the young ones to do as a card for grandma or maybe just for a craft. There is soo much you can do with this and can take it up to so many levels. I am no artist. I cannot draw to save my life. This is why I craft and do pottery....

Moving on:

You will need:
-A white crayon
-Paper (preferably watercolor paper)
-Watercolor paint
-Brushes

Step 1) Cut (or rip) your paper to the desired size. Also consider available envelopes so send off letters as you cut the paper.

Step2) Begin drawing with the white crayon. You may need to look at the paper from different angles in order to actually see what you are drawing. (Ignore the swimsuit, we made this by the pool)

Step 3) Pick out your colors and paint away!

Step 4) Let it dry. Now if the paper was too thin, you may not write on the other side, just take another paper and cut it to the right size. Then use a glue stick to attach it!

Step 5) Write your heart out to Grandma!

My little buddy Nikki made this one!

Here is a couple others I made to get you inspired...

Now for some craft talk! Craft wars... what do you think about that one? I think its interesting and my friend wants us to go on it, however the judges are waaayyy to harsh for the amount of time the contestants are given. I would not stand up well under that kind of pressure! Other than that I think as a crafting community, we should support it as much as we can!

Dog Gate

2012-07-16T19:04:00.001-07:00

My mom and my sister looooovvvveee my dog. Me and my dad... not so much. He poops and pees in the living room and we have a DOG DOOR! Why not just go out side? Anyway my dad and I got sick of it so we decided to buy a fence. Well, those run about $80 to $120. No way were we gonna pay that so for about $40, we were able to make our own buying all new supplies at Lowes. If you are really resourceful about it, you may be able to make it even cheaper!\

Supplies:
-Plastic Lattice
-Cap Strip for the lattice
-2 Steel Angle brackets (The heavier the better)
- Bolts:
Use 8 - 10-24X1
Use 4- 10-24X3/4
- Hack Saw
- Drill
- Ruler
-Zipties

Step 1: Measure the width of the space you want to gate off. Time for MATH!
- Subract 2 inches and that will be the size of the Lattice
- The Cap strip needs to be 1/2in longer then the Lattice X2
- The side cap strips can be determined by just eyeing it and marking it out. X2

Once you calculate the correct sizes for your space, cut them out using a hack saw!

Step 2: Place cap strips on all sides of the lattice and zip tie them so they will stay in place to make the bolting easier.

Step 3: Drill holes about 3 inches from the ends in each cap strip. Then install the bolts. You will be using the longer bolts (10-24X1) for this step as to get through the 3 layers of plastic.

Step 4: You may now cut off the zip ties...

Step 5: Measure and mark where you want your heavy angle brackets. The design we came up with requires one bracket on each side about 4 inches from the edge.

Step 6: Drill the holes and install the smaller bolts (10-24X3/4). Use washers to spread the force out so that the plastic doesn't crack!

Now your done! No more dog going through my bedroom trash cans!!

Heres what ours turned out to look like.

Crafting Tips

2012-06-27T21:28:00.001-07:00

So lately I have done a lot of thinking about future tutorials to do and things to make, and the big thing that I need to start doing is SAVING a lot of certain items. So in this quick post I am going to tell you what to save and post up a couple links to blogs that have tutorials using those items! Lets begin...

#1. Paper Towel and Toilet Paper Rolls
Everyone has them then just throws them away!! Well I say NO! No more throwing away precious craft items! It is time we take a stand and create beauty from something that would otherwise rot at the dump!

-Wall Flower.) http://blackcatcraft.blogspot.com/2012/06/tp-roll-flower.html
- Gift Boxes.) http://stationery.blogs.com/stationery_scoop/2007/09/index.html
- Owls! )http://www.livinglocurto.com/2012/01/craft-diy-owls/

#2. Corks
If your parents drink a lot of wine (like mine...) then you will be able to get a massive amount of corks in no time! Save some cork trees and make something out of them!!
- Wine Cork Man.) http://www.crafterslovecrafts.com/wine-cork-man.html
- Heart Wreath.) http://www.wineintro.com/products/corks/heart.html
-Coasters.) http://www.designsponge.com/2008/04/diy-project-abigails-cork-trivet-and-coaster-set.html

#3. Dead Candles
You can ALWAYS remelt the wax and reuse it!! I mean why not? I save all my old candles, put the wax in an old folders tin and melt it.
-How to make candles.) http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Candles!/

Well I am getting tired, I have a quilt tutorial i'm writing up for the book so I better get to it! Check out those tutorials!!

Butterfly Enclosure

2012-06-24T21:12:00.001-07:00

The only memory of my 1st grade year was watching caterpillars turn into butterflies through metamorphism. My teacher had this net enclosure which we could watch the caterpillars grow as they each massive amounts of leaves. My goal this week was to recreate those memories and make a butterfly enclosure out of mesh and metal rings! I want to collect the annoying caterpillars that eat my veggies growing in my garden and throw them into my butterfly chamber. Once they morph I will be able to see which butterfly to be annoyed with!! Oh and also have a cute garden accessory!

So head over to you closest Joann's or nearest fabric store and BRING THOSE COUPONS!! I have saved so much money using coupons! Every Sunday here we get 40 to 50% off coupons to Joanns and Michaels so save them and USE them!

Supplies:
-1 Yard of Tulle
-Sharpie
-Ruler
-Embroidery Floss

Step One: Figure out how large or small you want your enclosure to be. Mine was a foot so I measured and marked the lines in the middle of the mesh. In the picture you can kind of see them.

Step Two: Take the embroidery thread and a needle and lay the hoop on the line. Sew one stitch through the tulle then tie each side of the stitch around the hoop.

Step Three: Now make knots that attach the tulle to the loop along the drawn line that you made. Don't worry if it is bunched up, you can just pull it into place once your done tieing.

Step Four: The last knot along the hoop should be through both ends of the tulle. So you are sewing through 2 layers of the tulle. This will keep the enclosure together.

(The mesh was thin so it was hard to get a good defined picture of what exactly I was doing!)

Step Five: Now attach the other loop to the other line with the same method as steps 2-4.

Step Six: Now collect the excess tulle at the bottom and tie it up tightly with extra embroidery floss. Do the same with the top and this is what it looks like:

Step Seven: Now in the middle of the opening, tie two strings so you can tie it shut then open it later and put leaves and caterpillars in.

Step Eight: Now tie a string to the top and cut whatever excess you don't want off and your done!

Here's mine!!

I'll have another picture with my leaves and pillars soon!!!

If you make this or anything else on this blog, please share it with us and post it into the forums!! You can find the link in the top right corner of the blog!

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions or something isn't clear, let us know so we can fix it!

Sea Glass Headband

2012-06-16T14:26:00.001-07:00

Here is a good project if you go to the beach at low tide and collect some sea glass! I was in Laguna Beach with my buddies a while ago and picked up all this and more and I'm finally able to use it!! Its quite easy, there is a part where you need to sew and a sewing machine is the best way to go about it, but by hand works just as well! Anyways, let me know if you make it!!

Supplies:

-Sea glass

- A ribbon about the diameter of your head plus an inch

- SUPER SUPER glue

-A small hair bungee (hair band)

Step One: Start in the middle of the ribbon. Place a small dot of glue on the chosen sea glass and place onto the ribbon.

Step Two: Pick another piece that will fit next to it. Try a couple before you glue it on. Once you find the right one, dab a dot on and place it onto the ribbon. (I decided to go for a mosaic look).

Step Three: Make sure they don't touch or else you wont be able to bend the ribbon at all!!

Step Four: Continue testing and gluing on sea glass. I had 3 different colors and I tried to space them out as well as I could, so keep color in mind!

Step Five: Keep adding sea glass until you have about 5 inches left on each side.

Step Six: Fold 1/4 in of the end of the ribbon down. Fold again and sew. This will keep the ribbon from fraying.

Folded again then sewn:

Step Seven: Guide one side through the hair bungee and sew it back onto the ribbon (it was about 1 in on mine). Sew multiple times so it is strong and wont come undone!

Step Eight: Now this parts a little tricky. We are going to repeat step 6 but now taking in mind the elasticity on our head. Put the remaining ribbon through the bungee and hold it as you try it on. Adjust until you have a good elasticity. Then sew!

Once sewn it should look like this:

Now your done! Wear it to work, the beach, school, anywhere and everywhere, just go show it off!!!

Galaxy Shoes

2012-06-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

Galaxy Shoes

Here is a quick tutorial Harriet made! Im sure you all have seen galaxy everything by now, and also maybe seen the price of those clothes (Usually 60 to 100+ Dollars ). Anyway, you can make some for about 7$!! Once you make them, post a picture of them in the forums! The link is in the top right corner! We would love to see all of your versions!

Here you go :)

1. You need a pair of black shoes I got mine from rite aid for about $7

2. You will need turquoise, purple, white, black, and yellow acrylic paint

3. First use a sponge ( I used a makeup one) and dip it in the purple and white paint. Sponge it in patches around the entire shoe.

4. Repeat the same step except with turquoise.

5. Get a paint brush and splatter white all over for stars. Then do the same with yellow.

6. I decided to sponge more black on

7. Lastly I hand painted little tiny white dots and crosses for extra stars and then you’re all done!!

TP Roll Flower

2012-06-11T11:39:00.001-07:00

This is such a good project when you want to recycle toilet paper rolls! I always feel bad throwing them away because I remember the good old days in kindergarten when I would use them for all sorts of crafts! By the way, you could use paper towel rolls as well because they are the same diameter and thickness so its perfect! So as I have said in posts before, save your rolls, go bug your friends, make a post on facebook, twitter, Google+, and do everything you can to get enough rolls for this because it takes ALOT!

Supplies:
-Toilet paper and Paper towel rolls
-A little stapler
-Tons of staples
-Spray Paint

Step 1) Begin by flattening the roll and then cutting it into 1 in segments.

Step 2) Start by stapling 2 of the rolls together near the point.

Step 3) Continue to staple more petals to it until you have a simple flower shape. This should take about 6 or 7 rolls.

Step 4) Now, start adding on rolls where the main rolls meet. Staple to main rolls.

Step 5) Continue to add rolls where it looks bare until you run out. Then go bug your friends for more and keep adding on! You will seriously be surprised by how much you use!!

Step 6) Once you have the desired size and shape, lay a sheet down and spray paint with your base layer.

OPTIONAL Step 7) Now you can take another color and spray it in the middle as to make it look like the middle of a flower. (I used metallic silver which I didn't think would need another color).

After this you can be done. Just hang up and begin celebrating spring in a crafty style!!!

RECYCLING!!!!!!!!

Melted Crayon Art

2012-06-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

How to make Melted Crayon Art

This project did not turn out how I expected. However, it looks cool, I assumed the melting would take 5 minutes...well it took an hour. AN HOUR of sitting there and holding a blow dryer. Even then I wasn't satisfied.

Well let me start from the beginning...

1.) First you begin with picking out the colors you want and arranging them in the pattern that you want
* This is where my first mistake, orange looks TERRIBLE next to grey and black

2.) First unwrap them. Just trust me on this one. Now glue them down with hot glue. DO NOT TAPE THEM, trust me it won't end up well!

3.) Now begins the tedious part, lay your newspaper down and turn on your blow dryer. Put it close to the crayons so they can get the full heat.

* Note: Melt on low a low setting.

4.) Now sit there for an hour and blow dry that baby!!! Here's pictures of me doing step 4!!!

See what I mean about how orange and black look bad together :/

Once you melt all the crayons you should be done. But I hated mine, I was super disappointed with how it turned out:

So You can blow dry more so all the crayon melts all over the white, or you can stop right here like I did because I hated the colors and you can fix it :D

So here's what I did to fix it:

1.) Pick your crayons then take them OUT of their wrappers.

2.) Glue them on top of the wrappers that were their before.

3.) Blow dry

* This went by sooo much faster then with the wrappers on!

Here's how mine turned out!

So method worked, so if you do screw up then there is still hope!!!

Send us a picture of what you made by adding it to the forum! There is a link to it in the top right corner of the site!

Women's Button Down Tank

2012-06-08T09:50:00.002-07:00

Here is a tutorial that I made a while back. Its how to turn a mans shirt into an awesome ladies tank button down! Totally fashion forward especially with the tank tops that i'm seeing people wear, this is perfect! Just go to you local thrift store, or get a man-friend to donate to your crafting cause. Alright lets get started!

You are going to need:
-Mens (or womens) button down shirt
-scissors
-sewing supplies
-patience

1.) First your going to take the shirt and cut off the sleeves from right below the armpit to about 2 inches from the top of the sleeve.

2.) After you cut off the 2nd sleeve, cut the front of the collar down to the 2nd button in the front, and just around the rest collar for now.

3.) now my shirt is an XL so im going to need to size mine down. If you do too, turn your shirt INSIDE OUT and put it on and pin the sides so it fits you. Then sew. I made mine 2.5 in less at the top and 3 in the middle and 2.5 at the bottom. After, cut off the extra fabric.

4.) Now my "sleeves" are kind of long, so im going to sew 1.5 inches into those. After you do that, cut off that extra fabric you don't need anymore.

5.) Now that its the right size, time to cut the back like you want it. I kinda want mine to be subtle razor back.

6.) Now hem the collar and sleeves. I added a couple darts onto my collar.

7.) If you want to add more, you can add darts in the back. Just pinch and pin. Sew these with a 1/4in seam.

DONE!

If you make a shirt using these directions, or even get inspired, go to the forums and send us a picture!! I would love to see something that someone made! Also if you have any questions, the forum is the place for that too! Top right hand corner of the blog, there is a link!

Summer Necklace

2012-06-08T09:40:00.002-07:00

Summer Necklace

This was my inspiration for the week!!

I loved this project! It was easy, looked great, and didn't take too much thought so I could watch Tv while I did it. This is such an awesome fashion addition to my jewelry collection because its so vibrant and so me! So since summer was coming, I decided to dedicate this necklace to summer because i'm so amazingly excited for it!

Alright lets get started!

You will need:
- A yarn ball
- embroidery floss and lots of it in all sorts of colors!!
- Scissors
- Beads or washers (Optional)
- A good Movie

1.) First take your yarn ball and cut 4 pieces about arms length.
* I heard it was easier using a shoelace but I liked using yarn because I incorporated some of it into the necklace.

2.) Now pick a bunch of colors form your embroidery floss and cut REALLY long pieces then make a knot of all strings and floss.

* I didn't cut my floss at all, I just left it in little balls of mess and un-knotted them as I needed to.

3.) Tape your knot down or tie it to something. Now you will begin making endless friendship knots after friendship knots.

* Here is how to make a knot: HERE

4.) To change the color, simply put the color you were using down and start tieing with a different color! Its super easy!

5.) Make this one as long as you want the necklace to be. For example this is how long I want mine to go.

6.) Repeat steps 1 through 4 except you will make this one as short as you want the necklace to be. Make sure this one will fit over your head!

7.) Now make about 4 to 6 or more, all different sizes in between these 2 that you just made! Here is all of mine!!

8.) Now i'm going to add on some things. I actually lost my beads so I put on some steel nuts which were on another necklace I saw. I like it it looks super cool!

9.) Now Im just tying all of my ends together at the top in Square Knots. Or you can just tie a bunch of random ones and hope for the best.

10.) After you tie the knots, take a good bit of embroidery string and just wrap it around the knots so it covers up those knots.

11.) Cut of the bits and ends and wear it like you just paid 100 dollars for it!!!

Things I wish I knew before:

- I wish I planned the colors better but I just used what I had left

- It would have been nice to plan out my sizes before with maybe other bits of yarn.

Alright, thats it. Its pretty easy once you know how to do the knots!! If you make one I would LOVE to see pictures of yours, or if you come up with any tips and tricks PLEASE let me know!

If you do make this, please show us a picture in the forums! You can find the link in the top right corner!

New Tutorials

2012-06-06T09:20:00.000-07:00

New Tutorials coming soon! We just need to get some supplies and fabric for our upcoming crafts!

Going to have a tutorial involving tons of toilet paper rolls so if your reading this and are preparing for some amazing tutorials, go to your local grocery store, buy TP and START SAVING YOUR ROLLS!

That will be all for today...

Thank you!

Sandy Mask

2012-06-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

Sandy Mask

A long time ago my mom showed me this craft when I was younger and we did it at the beach and used shells, pebbles, sea weed, and sea glass! This is a fun craft to do when your on a budget, all you need to buy is the Plaster of Paris and then use what nature can supply you. I did this with my boyfriends little sister and we had a ball talking a hike and finding different colored pebbles and sticks for the eyebrows! I wanted mine to look beachy with shells and colorful hair, so I used a lot of shells and pebbles as decoration.

Sand mask

Supplies:

- Plaster of Paris

- Water

- Shells, sea glass, pebbles, sticks, anything to decorate

- Soft sand that does not have any pebbles in it. Go the beach!!!

Step one: Start by making a indent in the sand, this will be the size of your mask so keep in mind depth and width

Step 2: Decorate with rocks, shells, sticks, seaweed, grasses, anything you can think of. Flowers would probably not work because they will die, wilt, and the color would not keep.

NOTE: This is the underside of the mask. It is facing AWAY from us so place objects facing the ground ( SEE the shell at the top.)

Step 3: Mix up the plaster of paris with the correct amount of water. ( It will say on back, mine was 2 parts paris one part water). Make sure its smooth and not chunky!

Step 4: Carefully, and I mean CAREFULLY pour the plaster of Paris on. We used small shells so It we poured it on too fast, it would ruin some of our designs.

Step 5: Pour until it’s as thick and big as you like it. Smooth out and try and make the mask as round as possible (or any shape you want).

d Step 6: Now take the 2in wire and bend it. Push it into the plaster at an angle so it won’t poke through to the front. This will be to hang the mask once it is done.

NOTE: Make sure the wire is strong enough.

Let it sit for a couple hours and then pull it up. Here was my first try.

It looks bad because:

- It was in sand that was not uniformed but filled with pebbles.

- I didn’t make it perfectly round

- I made the outside too large

My lips are disproportionate : /

Going for a second try at the beach soon, I will post pictures as soon as I can!

Hello Everyone!

2012-06-03T21:09:00.001-07:00

Nice to meet you! Our names are Harriet McDonald and Megan Schley. We are trying to write a craft book right now, and in doing so, we have and are going to be making hundreds of tutorials and most of which we may not use in the book, so instead of wasting out time... We are going to put them here!

A little bit more about us: We are currently in college and LOVE making crafts and doing art. Harriet loves to dance and myself (Megan), well I love to do pottery and screen printing. We both are really big on making things ourselves, trying to be as original as possible, and FUNCTIONALITY is really big for us. Oh yeah, one more thing, we have no money, so most of our tutorials will be really cheap projects with supplies that we already have or that are free!!

We love Michael's and Joann's!! Our favorite store, we spend all of our paychecks there! Etsy is a godsend, I (Megan) have a shop and I am trying to convince Harriet to get one. She paints shoes and they look amazing!

Anyway, fashion is a good goal for a lot of our crafts. Urban outfitters and Anthropology are some really big inspirations for us.

Some tutorials coming up this month are:

-Sea Glass Headband

-Plaster of Paris Mask

-more coming!