Always sign and date your labors of love. I have homemade ornaments from many years ago. Some aren't signed and it's sad not to remember who took the time to create their "labor of love".
By Keeper from NC
The saying, "measure twice, cut once", is as old as the hills. It's generally used in carpentry to help prevent the wasting of materials, but it's really a good tip for all crafts. It's a good rule when working with fabric, leather or any material that needs to be cut to fit a particular purpose.
10 ways to reuse an empty needle nose plastic glue bottle.
I do a lot of gluing and painting when working on my crafts. It can get pretty messy at times. My solution for this is to buy inexpensive paper towels and cut them into squares or rectangles to keep on hand for quick clean-up of paint tips and glue tips.
Keeping Things Together While Gluing. Sometimes when you are working on a project, the pieces are difficult to keep together until the glue dries. . .
When gluing paper crafts, I find it is easy to get glue all the way to the edges of the paper. Simply get an old, worn-out magazine to absorb the glue that goes past the edge.
For those of you who color your own hair, save the plastic gloves and wear them when working on any kind of messy craft or painting project. They will keep your hands a lot cleaner.
Look up a favorite picture and once you choose one, enter the url into the box at the following link! You will have custom colors!
Don't despair if you don't have a printer or ink to print patterns off the net. Tape a sheet of paper to the top of your screen, and trace the pattern with a pencil.
I love to crochet and all the old pattern books/magazines excite me when I would find them at garage sales. They are musty, mildewy, who knows what has crawled over, in and through them? Some of the books you don't even want to touch, but if you're like me, you can't keep your fingers off or out of them.
This is handy for people like me who always misplace a lighter or it falls in the couch.
If you are handcrafting small angels for ornaments, here is a very easy way to make already wired, angel wings. Simply buy a large, wide roll of glittered or un-glittered wired ribbon. Cut a piece of the ribbon off the roll.
If you are making a craft projects with silk flowers, you can stiffen them, and still keep their bright color, by using the strongest hair spray you can find.
I like the recycled bird feeder idea. Here is a faster, simpler way to make holes in any plastic without using a hammer. If you have a gas stove in your kitchen, I use a pair of long handled pliers to hold a longer nail.
This is a page about quilting tips and tricks. There are a lot of tips for methods of cutting and piecing that can improve your accuracy and speed up your project. Find out ways to get inexpensive fabric or free patterns.
This page contains sewing tips and tricks. All crafts can be made easier if you are able to pick up some useful tips. Sewing is no exception. Sewing tips can speed up your work and may help you create a nicer final project.
I don't like to rush out and buy a ton of expensive materials before I start a new hobby, so I have found it's worthwhile to take a sample class or visit a craft store for a demo of something I'm interested in trying before I jump in all the way.
