Crafts: No~Stitch, Tassel~Style Pillow Design

Craft: No-Stitch, Tassel-Style Pillow Design

Deneale K. Williams, Yahoo Contributor Network
Oct 2, 2007

Recently, I found this new and fun way to make creative pillows. This is an awesome craft for just about any age! And the best part: There's no stitching, needles or thread required! Use your discretion on the age group of the child you are teaching or having help you make your new pillow. Also, never leave children unattended with scissors when you know they cannot be trusted.

 

 

Items needed:

Material of any shape or size
Stuffing of your style and choice
Scissors

What you do:

You take your material, and fold it in half; this will make you having two sides. If it is not cut into two pieces yet, cut it making both pieces matching. Now take the corners, and you will be cutting a 2 inch square out of each corner, all four corners. In other words, the piece you will be removing, will fit in your hand, and be the size of a 2 inch square. This enables you to make corners.

Now you take the material and line it up, and start cutting strips, 2 inches long, and the width can be a size of your choice, 1 inch, or half inch, whatever you think looks better.
 
Once completed, the material will look like tassels. Now you take the tassels, and begin tying. The tassel beside your corner, take the tassel from the other piece of material. Tie it once, and then again, thus making it a knot. Keep doing this with each and every tassel, carefully not to retie one you have already tied.

As you are tying, leave a section a little wider then your fist, to allow for you to put the stuffing inside! And the thickness of stuffing, is your choice. It can be stuffed full, thick and tight, or loose and squishy! That option is yours too!
 
Now that you have stuffed your project, you can finish tying it! If by chance you notice closer to the end, that you are coming up with extra tassels, then take an extra tassel and include it in your next tie. No one will be any the wiser, except for you. It will not be obvious, and these things do happen.
Once completed, simply shake off your completed project and admire it. You did this, and it was and is quicker then sewing, and looks fancier too! You have an original design that will make everyone talk!
Your new pillow is machine washable, in the gentle cycle. It is also machine dryable. (Depending however on the material you used!) Do not leave this pillow in a nursery with a small infant or baby, because of the tassels! This can cause suffocation!

Published by Deneale K. Williams

For E-Pals or Snail Mail or Whatever!  

Creating Unique Stationery for Anything!

Deneale K. Williams, Yahoo Contributor Network
Jun 25, 2010

Letter writing has became a thing of the past lately, least wise through snail mail. And just in case you are wondering what snail mail is- that is the old fashioned way, with the mail man.

 

 

 

However, if you are into the Internet and emailing, you may still consider yourself a letter writer, and still keeping in contact with friends and family; just like it with the easier way- type, point and click!

Either way, did you know that there are still reasons to make and create your own unique designs of stationery, that can make your letters stand out just a little bit more? Not to mention, you can also use your stationery for other things such as letter heads and notes when slipping a note into the kids book bag, or whatever else you may deem necessary? Maybe even a fax cover letter, there's a thought!

And these unique designs can be scanned and saved into your computer and even used in your email!  There are so many things you can do now of days with technology, you would be amazed, if you aren't already!

For instance, if you have a favorite photo of you and your family, you can take it into a photo shop editor and fade it to a very faint, almost not even there picture, and use it as the background on the paper, or even fade it, and black and white it. Maybe not even the whole sheet, but maybe just the bottom corner. Trust me, it will get noticed and complimented.

Now if you don't want to fade your favorite photo, or even black and white it, you can shrink it and put it in the bottom corner, top or whatever. You can even design yourself some matching labels. Several photo shop programs have that option, and so does the Microsoft works word processor program.

Better still, here is a fun idea, that involves craft and your children. How about giving the kids some crayola paints and letting them do their own hand prints. (This requires washable paints, water, and doesn't even require paint brushes!) If you have several kids, give them each their own color, and let them do one print each, one after another, laying a hand, over atop of one another, letting the other hand show through by moving it over an inch or two depending on how many children you have. You can decide the width. Let this dry, thoroughly.
After it has dried completely lay it on the scanner, and scan it. This, you can also with whatever program you use, fade it and use as stationery. You can also print it, using "fast draft" which will use a lot less ink and appear lighter and you can write on it with a dark sharpie. Providing you used colors like yellow and pinks, and light blues. Something that is able to be seen through with a dark color and maybe a thicker marker.

This project is fun for your children, and they will enjoy using this project as paper to write "you" a note on. Every time they write you a note they might decide to say, "Hey Mom remember when we did this?" Especially if you save it to your hard drive, and later down the road when they are older, they can use it again.
Another fun project with stationery, is rubber stamping. And this to, you can scan and save to your hard drive on your computer. One advantage to rubber stamping, is you can also color them in after inking them onto paper first. There is even another step, where people emboss with rubber stamps, that however is something that cannot be saved to your hard drive, because embossing is textures and raised surfaces, with the stamps. (I however, have not yet learned how to do it, I want to. But have not yet been fortunate enough.)

 

Rubber stamps require ink pads, which come in a variety of colors, and sometimes even scents. You can get colored pencils or crayons too, and like I suggested color them after stamping, and letting the stamped section dry. Otherwise the ink will smear.

Imagine what all of your email friends and family will then think when they see all of your new stationery. They will be amazed, and in awe. You will be getting compliments for days! The kids will pull notes from their backpacks, and their friends will look at it, "Wow your Mom is cool." Just because the note looks like you put a lot of time and effort into it.

It's the little things that make the difference! Why not take the time to be different?

Published by Deneale K. Williams

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What is a Craft?

Deneale K. Williams, Yahoo Contributor Network
Feb 8, 2010

For my first article as a features content writer, I decided to more or less define and inform you, the reader about crafts.

Per the yahoo dictionary, the word craft is defined as a skill in doing or making something, as in the arts. Further, it says it is an occupation or trade requiring manual dexterity or skilled artistry.

Many people make crafts as a form of relaxation. Personally, I was led to crafts as a way to keep my hands busy. I was taught repeatedly that idle hands are the Devils tools.

For many years, I watched my Mother watch television while doing her sewing and crocheting. I found it annoying that she wouldn't "see" something for the split second it was on the screen, as a child. (Usually because it was a toy that I wanted!)

And now as an adult, I do the same thing, and annoy both my children and my husband! But, my hands are busy, I am content and relaxing with my family, doing exactly what it is that I love.

Crafts come in various shapes, sizes, styles and designs. And more often then not, no two are exactly the same. You and I can sit down and do the exact same craft, and it can turn out totally different.

This can be because I personally add a little pizzazz to my crafts, to make them unique. Or it can be, because today my hands are hurting and I am crocheting much looser then usual. For that matter, sometimes the factor of just the hand we work with, can change how our things turn out. I know this for a fact, because I am left handed. My crochet, is backwards compared to most. I learned how to crochet by sitting backwards from a right handed person. It still turns out, and even holds together. But it is truly backwards!

A craft, as you most likely, know- is usually a hobby. Something most do in their spare time. However, now of days, many do crafts from home as a way to make a few extra bucks from time to time.

The sad thing, is that the pricing of crafts, is not what it's cracked up to be. A lot of time and labor go into the production of an item that is hand crafted. And those that don't craft, or don't know crafts- will freak out at the price and walk away.

They will assume you are over priced, and in all actuality, more often then not, our prices for our hard work is usually a lot cheaper then what we would like to see out of it. We personally know just how long it took to crochet the afghan, or knit the scarf, and we know how we may have had to pull out several mistakes.

An item that we have spent so much time on, we aren't going to get every red cent out of it. Calculate the skeins of yarn, and the time, and then put a price on the afghan. Ten skeins of yarn at $2.50 each, that's $25.00. Then the time it took to make it, which lets say it took three days to make. Naturally you didn't crochet every hour of the day, so let's deduct a day. Minimum wage is about $7 an hour. So let's do 48 hours and multiply it by 7. Now its 336. Add the $25 for the yarn. There is no possible way you are going to get $361.00 for the afghan! Now way! And I know a person who sits down, and adds up the yarn cost, and an hourly wage for themselves, and sometimes they actually get pretty close to what it is they are asking for. Selling your crafts and being cut down, can in itself cause you heart ache, trust me.

Crafting can be an expensive hobby. Just ask my husband. I do all kinds of crafts, and I change with the Seasons per say. One month I will be making jewelry, the next an afghan, the next plastic canvas, the next embroidery. It's just like a mood with me, a desire. It all depends. And it never fails, if I was making jewelry last month, and the month before I crocheted, the next month when I got back to crocheting, all though I have a full bin of various colors of yarn- I will need something I don't have. It never fails! But my husband doesn't complain one bit. We go to the store and buy another skein.
I do try to sell what I make, but because of today's economy, people would rather not spend their hard earned money on crafts, no matter how awesome they are! But that doesn't stop me from making things. I don't just do it for a sale. I do it because it relaxes me, and it is something fun to do. And obviously, my hands are not idle, so I am not doing the Devils bidding!

If you're ever bored....give crafting a try!

Published by Deneale K. Williams