crafts
Crafts Hacks for makers; a digital vision board with clever tips, ideas, techniques and materials for DIY creations.
Edward Scissor-Crow
Scarecrows--They Aren't What They Used to Be! I have always loved challenges, especially when I have a pile of stuff to create something that has no pattern, no real identity, and has never before existed. Give me a theme and a pair of scissors, and I am well on my way. They say, "someone's trash is someone else's treasure" and for me that is absolutely true.
By Mary Catherine Watson5 years ago in Lifehack
THAT! That is what I will make!
When my hands get the zoomies, it’s time for a new project. I like exploring new tools and media, and I especially like the joy of being able to say at the end - “wow, I figured that *new thing* out all by myself,” like a real grown-up adult. This form of creative process can be very fun, but is not without risk, bump or blunder, as portrayed in the particular journey detailed in full below...
By Maxwell Doyle5 years ago in Lifehack
Folk Craft As Empowering Job
I hadn’t really paid much attention to an innocuous little activity my grandpa would do until I was a teenager. For years throughout my childhood when I visited him, I would watch him take out his tissue paper, scissors, glue stick, thread, needle, and a little stick in the exact shape of a pencil, just one without lead, that he had whittled down himself. He’d cut palm-sized circles out of the tissue paper, with slits from the outside nearly to the center, then he would spend hours rolling little points from the cut tissue paper. Each disc turned into a beautiful little “star” and as soon as he had about 12 of these, he’d string them all together, pull the string tight, and it would turn into a spikey ball. He called these little balls “jeżyki” in Polish, which translates to “little hedgehogs” in English.
By Agnieszka Spieszny5 years ago in Lifehack
Finding Your Creative Genius
“I quit!”, “I’m no good at this!”, “This isn’t fun!” Those were some things I would tell myself after my mother first taught me and my sisters to crochet. I didn’t pick up on the craft naturally, I was sloppy with my stitches and too slow at it for me to feel excited about making something. It was especially disheartening for me to see my sister, Megan, take to the craft so well. She was the opposite of me: a natural! Everything she made was neat, pretty, and done in a short time. As this comparison continued, I grabbed the scissors and snipped the yarn from the little patch I had started. I told myself crocheting wasn’t for me before I gave it a chance.
By Gabriella Dawson5 years ago in Lifehack
I Made That?
Knitting is weird. When I really think about it, my brain can’t wrap my head around what I am doing when I knit. I just cruise along, clickity clacking my needles together and magically I am making loops interact with other loops and I am forming a fabric. It boggles my mind! But somehow, after the last 15 years of making 302 hats, 49 sweaters, 18 cowls, 13 scarves, 2 pairs of socks and 1 blanket, my brain can take over on cruise control for the most part and I can watch bad TV and knit. My knitting isn't great (I am not opposed to keeping my mistakes, and plowing ahead) but damn I love it!
By Mary Olson5 years ago in Lifehack
Beauty within Age
I have always been a creative soul and working with crafts has always been my safe haven . When I’m crafting I feel in my element, I enjoy it so much the precision you make to get to the end product such as adding layers, creating textures, deciding which materials to use, changing the shape and form of each material, making your own masterpiece. Creating ideas and making my vision come to life is the best part. I am so passionate about crafting because the possibilities is endless. The key element of crafting to me is imagination. Manifesting ideas and molding it into designs. I have created so many crafts, I’ve created furniture, party decorations, jewelry, clothing, and more the list goes on. I am continuously expanding my creative ability. Just recently I started working with clay and wood and made a couple of home decor pieces. Each piece has a significant importance to me because the time and care I put into perfecting my work is shown by the outcome. There are so many to choices to choose from but I decided to show you this piece. This piece is a table that I made from papier mache, wood, clay, aluminum foil, plastic and paint. One of my favorite features of this table is that it spins. I really wanted it to stand out. I obtain this table function by adding a wooden pencil organizer that rotated 360 degrees. On top of that I cut out pieces of wood to go around the base and lengthen it. After that I placed two plastic hexagon displays I got from the dollar tree and placed a sphere with spirals coming out from it into the hexagon. Also in order to make sure the pieces stayed secure I screwed nails to the base and surface of the hexagon into the wooden platform I created and added a wooden top that I cut out. Once I was done setting up the foundation of my table I began to polish it. I wanted to change the texture. So I choose to do make it look vintage and how I pertain this vintage look was by adding crinkled up aluminum foil for the first layer and then adding two to three layers of papier mache on top of that after it dried I wanted the wrinkles to pop out so I added gold leaf paint to highlight on the texture details and also giving it a nice shimmer. Then I painted the table surface gold. This miraculous piece came out so well . The most enjoyable part was that the design of the piece ended up being better then I imagined because I began freestyling it, I had a set planned at first then it changed as I was creating it. That’s probably one of my favorite reason why I love to craft because not everything is set and stone you have the chance to change it. Each piece is different each piece has it own significants, and each piece has a chance to be modify. Each piece I make has a reason and story behind it that’s also why I love crafting because its an outlet, I speak through my art and I wish for it to relate and resonate with other people. The meaning behind this piece is that there is beauty within aging, the more you grow the more you obtain, the more equipped you become, the more you begin to learn and understand, the more you get to stand out, each wrinkle is history being embeded into the skin. And the spiral sphere is a representation of our brain overflowing with memories and ideas. Creativity is a powerful tool and I attended to continue using it and sharing with others. Another reason why I love to design is not only creating it but having an audience who enjoys your work it brings me joy. I hope to receive this scholarship because it will go towards the university that I will be attending. The university I will be atending is VCU for the Crafts and material studies major. I hope to be around people who will open my eyes to new discoveries of creating crafts and who will understand my appreciation towards this art.
By imina Obade5 years ago in Lifehack
Fabric + Scissors + Sewing Machine = Magic
Ever since I was a young child, I have loved reading and creating stories about magic. Who doesn’t long for wishes to come true? Who hasn’t wished on a star—or a wishbone? I may not have a magic wand, but sewing has provided me with abundant magic over the years.
By Linda Burklin5 years ago in Lifehack
Creating Happiness
Shoom pah shoom pah bright eyes wide open, excitement sizzling in the air Shoom pah shoom pah the magic I bring to my 5 year olds in the form of a pair of bright shiny Fiskars scissors. Scissor day is like the opening day of an exciting show, like the circus, or live performance, if my students knew what that was like. Their bright shiny faces awaiting to use the magic tool that they have seen me use that has transformed paper into so many interesting shapes and makes the greatest sound. Scissors are truly magical!
By Dee Mae Elva5 years ago in Lifehack
Turning A Dream Into Reality
Is there anything more exciting than the ability to create? I would be hard-pressed to think otherwise. In rare moments, when my mind has time to think outside of its processing and droning, I find myself in total awe of the world in which we love. Awesome, it is, to see the creations of nature and mankind intertwined in an ambivalence dance.
By Jasmine Hatton5 years ago in Lifehack
Favorite DIY project
My favorite DIY project that I make are cloth dolls. Even more specific than that are the Raggedy Ann dolls I make. I love cloth dolls because they remind me of an era long ago. My heart longs for the days when toys were simple and well made, not mass manufactured in a foreign country and end up breaking after a couple uses. Although, those days are long gone, making handmade items is a way for me to get back to those ‘good old days’. The days where little girls in pinafores and pigtails would have a favorite dolly they took everywhere, and they would sit at mother's knee learning the basics of sewing while making new clothes for their little cloth playmates.
By Candace Austin5 years ago in Lifehack
