Arts and Crafts

I'm looking for a new "crafty" outlet. I've always been a fan of decoupage, but you can only decoupage so many jewelry boxes before the thrill wears out. I've tried knitting in the past and have found it somewhat difficult, never really liked it enough to get past the basic stitches. I have friends who crochet and say its much easier...but I've never tried. I used to be a big fan of beading and making earrings, bracelets and the like but the glass beads can be expensive...

I know a lot of you are crafty gals. What do you do for fun and creative expression? I've got a great craft store near me that is calling my name this weekend, but I'm not sure exactly what I want to try. Any ideas?

well this might not be crafty enough but i'm sure having a good time making a blanket right now. i went to the store and bought two big pieces of fleece and then did the knots all the way around to keep them together. i got a fabric that i liked to go with the two colors of fleece and cut out mine & my boyfriends name. i heat-n-bonded them to the fleece and am now in the painstaking process of stiching the letters to the blanket for more security. i've made soemthing similar before and was really excited with the outcome. i've gotten his name totally stitched now and its starting to look nice.

good luck with whatever you decide to make!! arts & crafts are so fun

One of my favorite crafts is woodburning. It can be really easy. To start, you need:

Woodburning stylet
wood piece (box or whatever)
rubber stamps
wood stain (optional)
varnish or polyurethane(optional)

You can stamp designs on a wood project, and use that as your pattern. You just follow the lines with the burner, and it comes out so cute!

After I'm finished, I will sometimes stain and varnish the piece...actually, now that I think of it, you may be able to "finish" it with modpodge, or whatever you decoupage with. I started out with very simple designs, and worked up to more complicated pieces. I often embellish over and above what the stamps offer.

Fun and easy!

How about quilting? The planning & peicing is my favorite part.
Another thing that I like to do is refinish furniture, there is something rewarding that comes from taking something from a thrift shop & making it beautiful again, & unique, maybe with some woodburning & other cool effects that you already know.
(For example I found an old piano bench at Goodwill, stained it ebony, painted spots on the top, cleared it & found some nice fabric to cover the inside. The top is like a black leopard-you can only see the spots at certain angles, in good light. It's something I'll probably have forever.)

If you're going to the craft store, you might try getting a few small "kits" like needlepoint, cross stitch, scrap booking, etc. I got a little cross stitch with a cat a long time ago and have been "hooked" since! (or is that needled? )

I used to cross stitch a lot. Never kits but I still own over 100 books and a bin of fabrics.

I have a friend that makes things like incense burners out of cool bottles. She has a bottle cutting kit and just asks friends for cool bottles.

I saw a woman at a craft fair that made decoupage bowls that were actually washable. She finished them with many layers of waterproof sealer and while you had to be careful, they were absolutely stunning.

What types of materials do you like to work with and are there some materials that you just don't want to touch?

Thanks for all the sugestions, guys! The fleece blanket sounds fun..maybe I could make two little ones, for each of the kitties!

Amy: that washable decoupage sounds neat, i think im just a little decoupaged out at the moment! In terms of materials I like: I like fabrics, wood, and beads. I'm not sure woodburning sounds too intriguing though. Seems like too much room there for me to injure myself...or burn my house down!

I'm going to go to the craft store tomorrow and check out their fleece...if I get anything, and finish it, I'll post pictures for you all!

I saw a lady at one of the craftfairs that made butterflys out of plastic bottles. (like 2 ltrs) Cut the shape then bent the wings a little so they aimed up more, then put some sort of puffy pain on it to do all the outlining on the wings and fill in the body, then painted so clearlike paint on it so it was opaque and put some of the putty stuff on the body so it would stick to glass. Put them in window and they are sun catchers! looks easy!