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

Crafts: The Art of Plastic Canvas!

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The Art of Plastic Canvas!

Deneale K. Williams, Yahoo Contributor Network
Mar 21, 2010

 

The Art of Plastic Canvas


Some artists use a sketch pad to create. A child doodles on his doodle pad, or a chalk board, and sometimes even his bedroom walls. Some artists use canvas to paint a beautiful scenic waterfall that makes you just melt away into the back ground.

Then there are those of us who hand craft with yarn and a needle on plastic canvas and create many of things.

The possibilities with plastic canvas are endless. From tissue boxes, doll furniture, signs, picture frames, everyday hats, if you can dream it, you can make it. Plastic canvas is like the building block of canvas. Its not just a flat surface, it is also shapes and sizes.

Plastic canvas can be purchased at any craft store as well as Wal Mart, in the craft section. It comes in a variety of shapes and sizes as well as colors. It looks like graph paper only much smaller. The stitching can also be in different textures, styles and designs. This all depends on what it is you are creating.

When creating a project from plastic canvas, even if copying from someone else, or a pattern- throw a little bit of yourself into it. What do I mean? Even though you are copying a pattern or another person, you can still make a few changes to make your work a piece of you. Get out your glue stick, or glue gun, and attach some lace, or even some little flowers once your project is completed. This makes it just a little bit different. Maybe you can even change the pattern a little, a stitch or two? Give it a try.

Also, plastic canvas crafts are fun and easy for children too. If your child is wanting to learn, this is a great project for the two of you to do together. And before you get scared: one thing you need to know about plastic canvas if you don't already-plastic canvas needles are the big fat dull ones! And if you want you can even use the big fat dull plastic ones for your kids, especially use this if your kids are five and under!

Be advised the some craft stores have plastic canvas crafts for younger kids with bigger squares, check it out! So if you want something fun, exciting and different for you and your kids to do together, give plastic canvas a try.

Together, it will be a learning experience! And the easiest thing for you and your child to create is a key ring for you to carry your house or car keys on. Its quick and easy, All you will need to buy is a key ring, and sometimes you can even find a key ring in the house, and won't even need to go out and buy one! Your child with be tickled to see you carrying something the two of you created together!

Another good thing about plastic canvas, is the price. It isn't too costly. The yarn is about $3 a skein, 1 sheet of canvas can be anywhere from 25 cents to $1.25 and then the needles vary because you can get them single or in packs.

So, the next time you want to start a new craft project, consider the art of plastic canvas. And before you do, consider typing in the search bar on the web, and seeing the variety of projects that you can make. You will be impressed at what people have already made!

I know I love working with it!

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

1234

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

How to Create a Word Search! Fun for All Ages!

How to Create a Word Search!

Fun for ALL Ages!

Deneale K. Williams, Yahoo Contributor Network
Apr 15, 2009

 

 

I have been creating my own word searches for years. I do this whenever I get bored. And because I have been doing this for years, I feel I can offer you the reader advise to make them on your own too!

 

Items Needed: Pen
Pencil
Ruler
Graph or Plain Paper

To begin, I suggest deciding which type of paper you would prefer to use. Myself, I prefer graph paper, as it makes it loads easier.

Then you need to think of a theme, and with that comes your word list. I will be sharing with you in this article a word search of my own, its theme "Support our Troops!" If you have trouble with spelling, a dictionary can help you.

After you have created a word list, you then decide upon a shape to put your words into. A square or rectangle are always common. I prefer using my creative abilities, and making my word searches unique. With my "Support our Troops" I made the design a flag.

The next step is placing the words into the word search. This is where I definitely prefer pencil, because sometimes there is a need to erase, when words don't fit into the slots. You can place your words diagonal, backwards, upside down, and in some rare cases, you can do odd shapes with your words. For example, part of the word is downward, then it goes to the left. I have seen this in real published word searches; yes they are far and few between, and yes, it will be more difficult on both the creator and the one searching for the words. You can also make a numerical word search. Personally, when I do this, I like to make math problems, whereas you write down the answer, and that is the numbers you are searching for. This way my kids are practicing math, and having fun at the same time! There are many ways to entertain the person searching for the words, even with hidden codes with the left over letters within the word search! How you spice up your word search, is up to you!

After you have placed your words, or even numbers, you then fill in the left over blank spots with other letters, or numbers, which ever you decided to use.

After you have completed with the filling in the blanks, you then can go over your lettering with pen, so no one can erase what you did. After I do this, I make a copy, and search the words, creating an answer key. I do this, because I more often then not, give my word searches to the Schools my Children go to, to use.

If you want, you can outline the squares in the graph paper, I don't, but some do. This option is up to you. Continuing with your outline, outline your word search shape and last but not least, put your name on it, because YOU made it. YOU get the credit!

If you have a scanner or copier, you make copies and give them to your friends and family! The Teachers will be impressed, especially if you make a word search to go with the homework, or lesson theme.

I have shared with you in this article my own word search. Please feel free to print it. Just please, do not claim it as your own.

If you have any questions, or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me. I will be more then glad to help you in a pinch!

Published by Deneale K. Williams

Hopefully these are better views of my word searches: