Tag: good craft ideas

Printing patterns on the Yudu—yahooo!

I love to experiment. I think I get that from my dad who on his days off would spend hours figuring out how to make everything in the house work better. Or when there was nothing to fix, he would sit down with graph paper and draw out schematics for some machine that would change how the world worked…if it ever made it to production that is. In any case, Dad had a lot of fun and that rubbed off on me.

Now I am no engineer, but I sure like to see what happens when I try something new. For instance, last weekend I got out the Yudu and challenged myself to print patterns on yards of fabric. I love to invent patterns and the Yudu offered me the opportunity to produce something tangible from which I can sew something fabulous.

I decided to start out small and print a design I could make into an easy pillow cover. Here it is all finished and sitting on my patio chair, making an otherwise boring piece of furniture cute. There’s Luna the Chicken in the background pecking away at the Dichondra. Below are pictures of the process. Follow this link to a full How To on Printing Patterns on the Yudu.

Now that the first set is done, I let it dry and shifted the fabric to the left to repeat the process.

After is always better

Finishing a test, completing a project, recovering from a cold. The after is always better than the before. For me anyway. While recovering from my post-holiday-blues I got the idea to use some of my down time to fix the unfortunate-looking tissue box I have been using this week.

Step back…out comes my felted wool stash. (I can fix anything with this stuff)

Before:

After:

mmmmm…I feel better already.

Sweet felted wool dog toy

My sister just adopted a new puppy and with Christmas right around the corner I had to think fast! Naturally I wanted to give her new baby a chew toy (because that’s what puppies do) but the thought of just going to the pet store for one didn’t appeal to me.

Since felted wool is my quick go-to for satisfying craft projects, I decided it would be best for putting a gift in the mail fast and make a cute toy. Within an hour I cut and sewed this sweet thing and had it ready in time for Tim (the mailman) to pick up. Now as long as Cate doesn’t see this post before Christmas, I will be all set!

Finger puppets! (A team building exercise)

I ran a team building exercise at work where we all threw our names in a bowl and picked out someone else’s name. Then, we reincarnated each other in the form of a finger puppet. Being the creative group we are, we came up with some charming and hilarious interpretations. It was fun to take a break from the day now and again. In all, the project spanned several days when we had time to craft. It broke up the stress of end-of-year deadlines and unified our otherwise project-oriented (and separated) group.

The basics for this craft:

  1. buy inexpensive knit gloves (these are from Target) in various colors.
  2. cut off the fingers and discard the hand
  3. wrap, glue and sew on cloth, buttons, beads and ribbon. Anything really.
  4. Have fun!

Halloween Party Time!

Halloween craft idea #1: paper skeletons >>
Halloween craft idea #2: R.I.P. votive holder >>
Halloween craft idea #3: puffball spiders >>
Halloween craft idea #4: torture-tilla chips >>
Halloween craft idea #5: head on a stick marshmallows >>
Halloween craft idea #6: paint a pumpkin >>
Halloween craft idea #7: screen print a table runner >>
Halloween craft idea #8: spiderweb mobile >>
Halloween craft idea #9: pumpkin cupcakes >>
Halloween craft idea #10: decorate existing bowls with vinyl >>
Halloween craft idea #11: candy and cupcake tier >>
Halloween craft idea #12: tombstone candy holder >>
Halloween craft idea #13: monsters memory game >>
Halloween craft idea #14: trick-or-treat bag >>
Halloween craft idea #15: blackbird butterfly tree >>
Halloween craft idea #16: YUDU screen printed bat placemats>>
Halloween craft idea #17: YUDU screen printed bat napkins
Halloween craft idea #18: Black bean soup >>
Halloween craft idea #19: trick-or-treat bucket >>
Halloween craft idea #20: hot glue spiderweb for the window >>

Halloween craft idea #20: hot glue spiderweb for the window

Before we get to the treat~a short commercial break (could this be called a trick??). 26 Letters is starting something new! Come to the launch party this Saturday to find out what it is~or wait til Monday! Here are the details and directions:

Fall Fling in the Garden (and Launch Party for 26 Letters) Phoenix, AZ
When: Sat., Oct 30th, 9am-4pm
Where: The glorious garden of Denise Pemberton (open to the public for this event only)
Address: 7846 N. Dreamy Draw Drive. Phoenix, AZ 85020 (Mapped, click here)
Call me if you need to: 602-320-6655

Hope to see you there! Now, back to our regularly scheduled program:

Make a spiderweb by drawing them with a hot glue gun on a Bazzill Spat mat. Once cool, they easily peel off and attach to a window. You can be sure I’ll be making these into icicles in December.