Clay Charms (And Cheap Glaze)

Difficulty Level: Easy-Medium

I made these charms with colored clay and added hooks so that they can go on a charm bracelet. Then I painted clear fingernail polish over them after they were baked to make a shiny glaze on top of it. That's a cool trick I discovered- you can buy those expensive glazes for your sculptures, but cheap old clear fingernail polish works just as well!

Woven Mat

Difficulty Level: Medium

You can make this mat out of duct tape, paper, or fabric, and use it as a checkers board or put two together to make a bag. The possibilities are endless!!! All you have to do is get the strips and weave them together This mat was made out of duct tape. I used 10 strips of one color and 10 of the other. Then I took a long strip of tape and stuck the ends of five of each color in a coordinating pattern. I did the same with the other five of each, put two of the ends together at right angles, and began to weave in an under-over pattern. I used tape to hold the ends together on both sides as well. It's pretty easy, but a bit time-consuming to weave all the strips together. Still, the outcome is awesome!

Easter Lilies

Look at all the Lilies we made for Easter!

A whole Basket of them!

Pot Holder Update!

Hello Crafters!

   Here are some pics of all the potholders I've made so far:

    

 Picture one: The top one is a marbled yellow and green;, second one is striped purple, pink; and white. and last one is marbled green and brown.

    Picture two;Top one is marbled light blue and dark blue; bottom one is a maroonish color with grey edging.

      I also have one in progress:    

This is going to be a striped yellow and multi-colored one!

                                                    

Have a nice day!

Scrubbies!!!

Good Morning Crafters!
  Today I would like to share with you guys one of my latest phases... and their names are.. SCRUBBIES!

                                                                                  

Very official looking..huh? :)

It's very simple.. that's why I love them!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Here's How you make them:

Materials-

- a spool of tulle (hey that rhymes!) in the color(colors) you want

-biggish crochet hook 

First, using the tulle, chain two and start crocheting in a circle adding stitches a lot so it won't start curling upward.

Next since these are double sided you are going to switch to the inner stitch so it starts going in, drop stitches every so-often to make sure it's flat.

When you reach the middle tie it off!

 It's as easy as that!

I would say mine took me about 20-25 minutes to make.

Now you won't have to buy them from the store.. yay!

Handle Covers

Hi Crafters!
       This a a fun craft that I created while trying to make a pencil holder but it turned into this... !

Aren't they fun?

A cool way to brighten up your whole kitchen!

Here's how you make them:

Start by chaining 2.

Next start crocheting around in a cirlce and then up.

Sort of like the bowler hat in this post.

Just do that until you get it to the length you want!

 Happy Crocheting!

Helpful Hint: Don't make them long enough to touch the actual pan part. (this can be a fire hazard because if you have a gas stove the flames could reach up and catch the yarn)

Sculptures Made With FREE Clay!

Difficulty Level: Easy 

Yes, you read that right. FREE CLAY. You can find it almost anywhere! This little cat was made with it! It's amazing! It's... okay, I know what you're thinking. Just tell me how I can get this clay! 
   Fine.
   In 50% of small, natural ponds, the bed will be made of clay. It will have a more sticky consistency than mud and it would hold together better. This isn't the smooth, white stuff you buy at the store. It's lumpy, brown, and filled with small stones. But when you mash it around with your hands, warm it up, and pick out the stones, it becomes an awesome material to work with, and it doesn't cost a cent. Only collect clay from ponds you can go to, and don't go on any private property to collect it. Sculpt what you want. You may have to add some water, because it might be kinda crumbly. Then bake it for about five to ten minutes in a 250 degree oven until it's hard. Don't over-bake it, or else it might split. That's pretty much it! Have fun!

Origami Lily

I made this for a friend out of some music paper, but first I had to snag a picture! A video tutorial is coming very soon!

Crocheting a Bow Tie and Bowler Hat for Dogs!

 Difficulty Level: Difficult

Doesn't this dog look ADORABLE in his new hat and bow tie? And it was pretty simple to make, as long as you know how to crochet and add and drop stitches. So let's get crocheting!

For the bow tie:
-Start by chaining eight, then crochet like you would normally BUT don't add a stitch at the end of every row. This is VERY important so that it gets smaller.
-Once you get to two stitches, add two and then do two more rows, then drop one so that you have two stitches again.
-Then, add a stitch every row until you get to eight again.
-Finally, tie off the end and then put a slip knot on your hook, hook the end through one of the stitches on the middle part and crochet all around the middle so that it's raised. Leave a bit of yarn to tie the bow tie onto the dog's collar. ONLY tie it around the collar, NOT around the dog's neck, or they may choke.

For the bowler hat
-Start by chaining three and inserting the hook through the first stitch, and crochet around the stitches so that it makes a disk, adding a stitch every row around. This will be the top of the hat.
-When it's as big as you want, stitch around the inside loops of the last row you did and keep going around, not adding any stitches, so that it stays the same size around. It should begin going down.
-When it's the right size, (if you make it bigger, it can be a top hat!) stitch around the top stitches of the last row you did, going around about three times to make the part that sticks out at the base. Leave some string to tie around the dog's head.
-(Oh, and Whovians-- if you omit the last step, and use red yarn, it can make a fez!!! Your dog can be the Dog-tor, with a cool fez and bow tie!)

And there we go! Say bye, Jack!

Turning a a Big Baggy Shirt Into a Fun Summery Tank Top

Difficulty Level: Pretty Difficult

Hello Crafters!!

   I have another refashion for you! This is a big and baggy tee that I found at a thrift store... it needs some refashioning!

Before

First I cut off the sleeves...

Then I cut a section of the sleeves out and sewed it up again to make a smaller neckline. ( the neckline was wayyy to low)

Then I took in both sides about 2 in

Next, I hemmed up those sleeves and.... Ta-da!!!
After

Helpful hints:

• Make sure you measure right before you take in the sides... you don't want to have to re-do it! 
• Make sure your sleeves are the same size 

Happy Refashioning!

How To Make Popsicle Stick Bracelets!

Difficulty Level: Easy

These are simple, cute, and good to make for young kids to decorate! All you'll need are popsicle sticks, cups, and whatever decorating things (markers, stickers, paper, fabric scraps, yarn, etc.)  you want to use. 

Begin by bringing a pot of water to a boil on the stove, then remove it from the flame. Place the popsicle sticks in the hot water and let them soak for an hour or two, adding more boiling water every half hour. Soon, they should be bendy and pliable. One by one, gently bend the popsicle sticks onto a curved shape and let them rest in the mouth of the glass. Remember that they need to be the right size to comfortably fit around your wrist. Let them dry for about 24 hours, then pop them out. Now it's time to decorate! In the picture, we glued on patterned paper, but that's only ONE of the many different styles you can make! Have fun!

Pot holder... Again :)

Hi Crafters!
    Today I finally finished my second pot holder... Yay!!! I love the colors. Just thought I'd share it with you and if you would like to buy some please email us a thecraftygirlsblog@gmail.com! Thank you!
             

How To Make A Skirt Into A Dress

Difficulty Level: Difficult

I found this old skirt at the thrift store. As you can tell by the picture, it is much too big for me. But I wasn't planning on wearing it as a skirt. I was planning on re-fashioning it into a dress!

BEFORE

AFTER

This was a bit hard, but not as much as I expected. All I did was find a sash to tie around it and add the shoulder straps. To make the straps, I cut two long strips of fabric that looked good with the pattern of the skirt, hemmed each side, and then sewed them onto the top of the skirt. The hemming took a while, especially since my sewing machine was broken then, but if you don't hem, the fabric will fray over time. Another way to do this is to cut slits on the sides near the top of the skirt and hem around them to make arm holes, but either way works fine. Then find a good sash and attach it to the front with a few stitches, but leave the back loose so that you can tie it behind. And that's it! You can do this with any too-big skirt! Have fun crafting!

Helpful Hint:

Make sure to try on the dress constantly, especially while you're sewing on the shoulder straps, to make sure that the straps are even and aren't too big or too small. If they're too big, it's easier to fix than if it's too small.

Another Quick Announcement :)

Hello Crafters!
 Have you ever seen something on this blog that you really want? If you are interested, we will be selling hot pads, like these ones, and treble clef earrings, like these ones! The money will go towards buying craft supplies to make more of them! :) Email us at thecraftygirlsblog@gmail.com for prices and more information! Thank you! - The Crafty Girls

How To Make A Friendship Bracelet

Difficulty Level: Easy

Hi Crafters! These bracelets, known as "snake around the pole" bracelets, are super quick and easy to make. All you'll need is some embroidery thread, (which is really cheap and easy to find at any crafts store) tape, and scissors! Let's get crafting!

 First cut about six inches of each color of embroidery thread you want to use. Three colors is the best. Fold each length of thread in half, like so:

 Gather them all together, making sure that the same ends are next to one another, and then tie a knot at the end with the loops.

 Get some masking tape and tape the end down on your work surface. This will keep the bracelet in place.

 Separate one strand of string from the others.

 Cross it over the rest of the thread...

 Bring it around underneath the main threads and over top of the first part of the thread.

Now pull it tight! Here you have the first part. You can't see it too well yet, but just wait. Do it again.

 Keep going. You should see a part rising up and twisting around. Now do you see why it's called "snake around the pole"?

 When you're ready for the next color, pull out one strand of that color and keep going with it, leaving the first strand you started with in with the rest of the group.

 Keep going. Add the other color.

 When it's long enough, you're done! Tie a knot at the end to keep it in place.

 Tie it around your wrist and voila! You have an easy snake-around-the-pole friendship bracelet! You can make these in all sorts of colors. Have fun!

How To Fold A Simple Origami Rose

Difficulty Level: Easy

There's lots of fancy, complicated origami flowers, but this is one of the easiest. All you'll need is a square piece of paper!

 Fold the paper in half lengthwise, then again, so that you end up with a small square.

 Now unfold it. There should be a + sign in the middle of the paper.

 Fold one corner of the paper down so that the very tip touches the point where the two lines intersect.

 Do the same thing with the other three corners.

 Then fold in each corner again, so that it looks like this.

 And, (last time!) fold in each corner again.

 Fold out each corner slightly like it shows in the corner. It shouldn't be completely flat out.

Then fold out the next bits inside the same way.

 And finally, the last ones. Here you have it- a simple origami rose!

Gluten Free Samoas!!! What?

Yes, I'm serious.... GLUTEN FREE SAMOAS!
 My friend and I got together and made these special treats, They were a little more difficult to make then we were planning on, but they turned out GORGEOUS! See? :

Here is the recipe that we followed, I got it off of Pinterest (I LOVE that site) on a website called Gluten Free On a Shoestring If you would like to try making them click here.

Helpful hints (from mistakes we made:)-
-Make sure you have melted enough chocolate to coat the bottom of the cookies AND to drizzle on top.
- With the caramels we used, it got REALLY hard after it dried, it was hard to eat. I found that it was a lot softer and tasted better after about 5 days.
- Lastly, don't forget to plug in the toaster when you toast your coconut! (yes we did that...)
                                                                 
                                                                         Have fun!    

Plastic Bag Storage/Carrier thing

Hello Crafters!

                                 

This is another of my recent projects, It's a fun way to store your plastic bags! :)