Crafting Tips – Information

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Cut off the hem. Then cut around the shirt under the arms. Spread it out and cut up from bottom for about 4″or 6″. Pull these til they curl on themselves. When you finish you have a great fringed scarf!! Depending on the size of the shirt you can wear it around your neck or on your hips!

Another way to make scarves with t-shirts

 

Easy Way to Turn Projects

Dental floss is handy for many things! When making tubes of any kind make sure you have right sides together and sew a piece into the seam at one end. Make sure it is longer than the tube. Now pull! It will turn the tube easily and you can just cut it off.

Best Recipe for Play Dough Ever!

Ingredients:

1 C Flour
1 C Water
1/4 C Salt
1 TBSP Vegetable Oil
2 tsp Cream of Tarter
Food Coloring (actual coloring or a kool-aid packet will do)
Sparkles (If you wanna be a fun mom!)
Sauce Pan and Wooden Spoon

Pour in all ingredients. (No particular order… each time is different for us.. and it always turns out the same.)

(I used the NEON food coloring… cause everything is better neon… but feel free to use a koolaid packet sitting in your cupboard.)Pour in all ingredients. (No particular order… each time is different for us.. and it always turns out the same.)

Stir until everything is mixed well.

Once the mixture is (mostly) clump free. Heat over MEDIUM heat. Stir. Don’t stop stirring. After a few minutes it will start to clump up. (I’m magic! Purple to Green. hah. Different dough.. same step!)

Stir, Stir Stir.Just keep stirring until the Play Dough is formed. It will  form one big clump. Remove from heat, and knead by hand. (This is my favorite part! It’s so warm and squishy! hah) Note: I forgot to add sparkles in the mix at the beginning, so I just kneaded the sparkles in and it turned out just fine.

Once cooled it’s ready to go. Package it up for some party favors or stocking stuffers. (Baby food containers work GREAT! The rectangle ones are Gerber and the round ones are Parents Choice)

Very few art or craft activities offer more opportunities for creative expression than painting on fabric, especially for wearable art. The textile paints formulated today are available in a wide array of brilliant colors; they’re also water-based, nontoxic and perfectly safe for even young children to use under adult supervision. And children love to paint on fabric. If you’re stumped for ideas, just bring in your kids (or borrow a neighbor’s child!) and set them loose in the studio. Soon you’ll have yards of beautiful, handpainted fabric to use in your next art-to-wear project.

CHOOSING & PREPARING FABRICS

You can paint on just about any textile, and experimentation with various materials is always encouraged, but here are some suggestions for selecting fabrics to paint:

For the smoothest application of paint, choose tightly woven materials. For looser applications, wetinto- wet techniques, or painted designs that don’t require precise designs, loosely woven fabrics (with warp and weft threads clearly visible) are perfectly acceptable.

Some artists prefer to paint on silk, while others favor quilter’s quality muslin or 100-percent cotton with a high thread count. Still others like to paint on velvet, rayon, polyester, and other materials. The choice is really up to you.

Try obtaining samples of different textiles in various weights and thread counts to make a swatch notebook. Mail-order fabric-supply companies will often provide these swatches free or for a nominal fee. Apply paint to the swatches and store them dry in a notebook where you can also note how much of what type of paint was applied to each swatch.

If you’re just getting started, try using 100-percent cotton fabric with a high thread count, and expand your horizons from there. And remember that many painting techniques are suitable for dark or black fabrics, as well as white.

To prepare cotton or muslin fabric, you may prewash it in hot water and dry it on the hottest setting to remove any sizing on the fabric and to pre-shrink it— or you may choose not to pre-wash at all. It’s entirely up to you.

Silks must be treated differently and it is advisable to consult an expert before pre-washing; discuss this with the storeowner where you purchased your fabric or with mail-order fabric-supply companies, which are often staffed by knowledgeable fabric artists.

CHOOSING PAINTS

The sheer number of waterbased paints suitable for fabric painting can be overwhelming to the beginning artist. There are sheer, translucent paints, opaque paints, metallic, interference and pearlescent paints, acrylic paints and paints formulated specifically for textiles. And if you can’t find textile paint in the color of your choice, you can always mix a little textile medium in any acrylic to create textile paint.

Acrylics are available in jars, tubes, and bottles; they can be mixed to create new colors or diluted with water or with acrylic or textile mediums. Applied straight to fabric they will dry stiff, so I recommend mixing in a little textile medium first to create a paint that will dry with a soft finish.

Textile paints are made specifically for fabric painting (although they can be applied to other surfaces as well). If you’re just getting started, I recommend trying textile paint. Jacquard’s Textile, Neopaque, and umiere paints are excellent choices for beginners and professionals alike, as is Dr. Ph. Martin’s ReadyTex paint.

For “on the surface” 3-dimensional techniques, applicator-tipped paints such as Tulip, Plaid and Jones Tones are fantastic.

PAINTING TOOLS & EQUIPMENT

You really don’t need lots of expensive tools or equipment for fabric painting—in a pinch you can even finger-paint! But it is helpful to have at hand a few tools for experimentation.

• Paintbrushes: both flat and round-tip, in various sizes
• Foam brushes: inexpensive, for smoothest application
• Sponges: manmade and sea sponges
• Toothbrushes: for spattering on paint
• Plastic buckets: for rinsing out brushes and sponges as you work
• Plastic covering: to protect the work surface
• Apron: to protect your clothing
• Plastic or Styrofoam plates: for disposable painter’s palettes
• Spray bottle
• Paper towels
• Brayer
• Kosher salt

PREPARING TO PAINT

Don protective clothing and/or disposable gloves and cover the work surface (and surrounding floor) with plastic. Pre-wash fabrics as needed, and fill two buckets with fresh water. Place all tools and paints nearby, ready to use. Tear the fabric into pieces or lay out yardage on a plastic-covered table.

PAINT APPLICATION

Paint may be applied to fabric in numerous ways. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Wet the fabric with a spray bottle, spread it out on a work surface, and drop various colored paints in a random pattern for a wet-into-wet technique. Allow the painted fabric to dry naturally or speed up the process with a hair dryer.

Wet fabric with a spray bottle, apply layers of textile paint to the fabric with foam brushes or damp sponges, and sprinkle the surface with kosher salt. Allow the fabric to dry completely before brushing off the salt and ironing.

Apply lots of textile paint to wet fabric, and then cover the fabric with plastic wrap, pressing wrinkles into the plastic. Allow the fabric to dry for several days before removing the plastic wrap. On dry fabric, apply layers of textile paint with sponges. Pour out small puddles of paint onto a Styrofoam plate and dip soft sponges into each puddle before “stamping off” onto the fabric. Take care not to apply too many layers, or the fabric may stiffen.

On dry or wet fabric, apply thick textile paint with a brayer: Roll the brayer in paint until it’s quite “gloppy,” and then roll the brayer over the fabric in long strokes. Allow the fabric to dry naturally.

Fill a bucket with water, add a small amount of paint, stir, and submerge fabric for several hours or a few days. Remove the fabric, squeeze out the diluted paint, and allow the fabric to dry undisturbed in a tight ball for one week. Open the fabric ball and iron flat; note the lovely wrinkle patterns. This technique also works with strong black tea or coffee.

HEAT-SETTING & FABRIC CARE

Acrylic paints are permanent once dry; hence the need for wearing old clothes or an apron while painting! There is no need to heat-set acrylic paint. But textile paint must be heat-set with an iron for permanence, and some manufacturers recommend waiting at least 24 hours after the paint has dried before washing the fabric.

After painting, some fabrics should be washed by hand, while others may be machine-washed. Consult the manufacturer’s instructions on paint labels for specific instructions regarding the care of handpainted fabrics.

CLEANUP

If you covered your work surface and surrounding floor with plastic, cleanup should be a snap. Simply wipe down the plastic with a damp sponge to remove any spills, dry the plastic, and store it for later use. Discard used paper towels. Wash out all brushes and sponges with warm water and mild detergent and rinse them until the water runs clear. Store brushes flat or with the tips up. Squeeze out the moisture from your sponges. Rinse out your buckets and store them for later use.

Earring Holder from Embroidery Hoop

If you have some curtain fabric, bedspread fabric or coordinating fabric, you can cut a circle big enough for whatever size hoop you have. You would want to finish the edge or maybe add a ruffle. Once the fabric is in the hoop it is easy to push the earring post through the fabric. Also you could sew on a few loops to hook earrings with wires through. You can also screw in drawer knobs to hang necklaces from. These look nice as wall decorations; one big one or several smaller ones.

Making Roses from Duct Tape

 

Pot Handle Cover

If your pots and pan handles get hot, use this free pattern to keep your hands safe! http://showtellshare.blogspot.com/2011/10/hot-handle-holder-pattern.htm

Making Magnets

A good and easy way to make special magnets for the refrigerator is to make then from special pictures; using photos or pictures cut out from printed materials.

You can buy flexible magnet sheets that enable you to make the magnet any size or shape you wish. Coat the white side of the magnet sheet with Mod Podge, place the picture on it and then cover the picture with at least one layer of Mod Podge. If you use more be sure to allow each layer to dry thoroughly.

You can cut the picture out after this application or before but if after you must seal the edges.  After I wrote this I found out that you can buy magnetic sheets that you can print on with an ink jet printer as well as some with adhesive already applied. Meaning you would only need put the cover coats on.. This is one place to find both kinds of the sheets of magnets

 

Bread Dough Beads

Do you have some stale slices of bread you don’t know what to do with? Remove the crusts from three slices of bread and crumble in a bowl and add 3 teaspoons of basic all purpose glue. Mix until no longer sticky. You can add food coloring or basic acrylic paint to color the dough. If you do , be sure to wear gloves to roll the beads as it will dye your hands.  After beads are made and still damp you can roll them in glitter to create a sparkly effect.

Roll the dough into balls or oblong shapes and insert a toothpick to create a hole through the bead. Allow beads to dry thoroughly and then string with dental floss or stretch necklace wire.

How to Make a Gift Bag from any paper

Make a Necklace out of a Water Bottle

 

Shrink Meat Tray Jewelry

 

How to Clean Brushes

When to use what

   Place gluelid on paint bottle and write with it.

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