FaveCrafts

1000s of free craft projects, home decor ideas and DIY tips

Announcing: FaveCrafts Annual Valentine’s Day Card Swap!

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If you were a regular FaveCrafts reader last year, you may remember our Valentine’s Day card swap. It was a huge success, and everyone had such a great time making cards and swapping them with other FaveCrafts readers. So we decided to make it an annual event! Here are the cards I made last year:

If you’ve never heard of swapping before, here’s what it’s all about: Everyone who participates is assigned a partner to send to, and someone is assigned to send to you. Then every swap participant makes/buys/procures the item to be swapped. For our swap, it’s homemade Valentine’s cards. Once you receive your swap partner’s address, you send them a homemade card, and you’ll get one from someone else in return.

I’m excited to “meet” a few readers by sending and receiving cards from you! It’s so much fun to receive homemade Valentines in the mail, and I can’t wait to get more this year.
Want to start swapping? Here’s how:

  1. Register for an account on swap-bot.com. It’s free!
  2. Once your account is set up, go to our swap page here. It’s called “FaveCrafts Valentine’s Card Swap 2.”
  3. Click “Join Swap.” The last day to join is February 1, 2012.
  4. You will be randomly assigned a partner to make a card for. Make sure that it’s homemade in some way!
  5. You will be notified via email when your partner has been assigned to you. Once you receive your partner’s name and address, send your card to them. Please have your card in the mail by February 11, 2012. Please don’t disappoint your partner by neglecting to send a card to them, or sending it late.
  6. Then wait patiently by the mailbox for your Valentine to arrive!

Any questions? Contact us for more info! Now who’s excited to start swapping?

This Week on Cool2Craft TV – EcoHeidi Borchers Something from Nothing

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Join host EcoHeidi Borchers and her special guest for this week’s episode of EcoHeidi TV on the Cool2Craft TV Channel. On this new episode, it’s all about “something from nothing”. EcoHeidi sets the design theme with a water bottle necklace, crafts an adorable hanging doll from bottle caps, shares the popular vintage Aleene’s technique of the look of embossing with glue and Candace Jedrowicz transforms soda cans and plastic into a cool light catcher. Monday August 29, 2011 at 9 am Pacific/ 10 am Mountain/ 11 am Central/ noon Eastern. Watch craft demos and join in the live chat at showtime at Cool2Craft.com.

Something from Nothing - EcoHeidi TV - FaveCrafts - Cool2Craft

It’s easy to watch Cool2Craft TV right from your computer. This episode airs Monday August 29, 2011 9am Pacific/10am Mountain/11 am Central/noon Eastern. Go to http://cool2craft.com and find the Livestream player and chat box. See you Monday!

 

Watch live streaming video from cool2craft at livestream.com

Special Announcement: Brand New Site!

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Our little family of craft sites is very proud to announce that we have a brand new addition: AllFreeHolidayCrafts.com!

This site is perfect for anyone who loves to make things for the holidays.  And we’re not just talking about Christmas.  This site has crafts for every holiday, from Valentine’s Day to Thanksgiving and everything in between!  So far we have over 200 projects to choose from, and we’re adding more every day!

Like decorating your home for special occasions?  We’ve got you covered with some awesomely creative ideas for holiday home decor.  Check out a few of our favorite projects so far:

Holidays are all about celebrating and having parties, so we also have some great DIY projects for your next holiday bash.  Here’s a small taste of the party decoration ideas we have on the site:

And since holidays are always better when you dress up for them, we’ve also compiled a fun collection of holiday crafts you can wear.  Check out some of the top projects right now:

The site also has sections for holiday crafts you can make with your kids, homemade gift ideas, seasonal crafts, and so much more!  There are projects for crafters of all skill levels, and there is a huge variety of craft techniques included.  So whether you want to sew a costume for Halloween or you’d like to make a paper craft for Summer, you’ll find tons of ideas all in one place!

We could keep going on and on about the amazing projects at AllFreeHolidayCrafts.com, but we don’t want to take away the fun of you discovering them for yourselves.  So go ahead and click on over to AllFreeHolidayCrafts, choose your favorite holiday and check out all of the fabulous ideas!  And don’t forget to tell your friends too… because who doesn’t love crafting fun stuff to celebrate all of the holidays?!?

We’re curious:  What is your favorite holiday to craft for?  What do you make?

National Craft Month: Home Decor 101

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As experts and enthusiasts of all things crafty, FaveCrafts decided to host a special National Craft Month blog series for all of our lovely readers. Check back for a new blog post every day featuring our favorite projects, new craft videos, how-to’s from the FaveCrafts editors, and a GIGANTIC, ENORMOUS, AMAZING craft giveaway at the end of the month. That’s right–we’re giving away the biggest prize ever, a gift basket chock full of crafting goodies from our craft closet. There’s something for everyone in this gift basket.

Leave a comment below, and on any blog post labeled “National Craft Month” in the headline, and your comment will count as an entry into the giveaway. You are free to comment as often as once per blog post (for a total of 31 chances to win!). At the end of the month, we’ll pool all of the comments together and pick one lucky winner.

Everyone knows there’s no place like home.  So why not make yours unique by creating your own decorations for your house?  We’ve collected a bunch of projects to get you started.  From simple crafts that offer tips for beginners to fun ideas for the holidays, these projects will make you want to deck out your whole house in handmade creations!

Easy Beginner Projects

If crafting for your home seems like a daunting task, start out simple with one of these easy projects:


Decorative Spice Sphere
Golden Glass Vase
Quick and Easy Shadow Box
Vintage Mirror

Design on a Dime

Don’t want to spend a ton of cash decorating your place?  Check out these inexpensive home decor ideas:

Decorate on a Budget: DIY Home Decor Projects
9 DIY Inexpensive Home Decor Ideas
“Inexpensive Home Decor” eBook
39 Low Cost Kitchen Crafts

Holiday Decor

Almost everyone decks out their house for Christmas and Halloween, but here are some home decor ideas for all seasons and occasions:

24 Fun 4th of July Decorating Ideas
9 Mother’s Day Decorations
19 Crafts for Homemade Valentine Flowers
12 Thanksgiving Craft Centerpieces

Decorating for Kids’ Rooms

A child’s room is a special place, and it should look special too.  Take a peek at some of these adorable decorating ideas to make your kid’s room truly unique:

ABC Wall Shelf
Apple Stool
Bird and Branch Lamp Shade
DIY Road Play Mats

Which home decor craft in your house do you get the most compliments on?

How to: Make One Hour Valentine Cards with Yarn

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Are you participating in the FaveCrafts Valentine’s Day swap?  I know I am!  I absolutely love making homemade Valentine’s Day cards.  Since we still have until February 11 to make and mail our cards, I thought I would provide some inspiration.  Have you ever made cards using leftover paper and yarn?  Making homemade cards is a great way to clear out that ever-growing yarn and paper stash.  I know I’m not the only one who is prone to hoarding. 😀

Now on with the project!  Here’s a simple card that can be made in an hour or less!  Feel free to get the kids involved – there’s nothing like making cards for people you care about, with other people you care about!

Materials:

  • 1 glue stick or your favorite kind of liquid stitch glue
  • leftover yarn scraps
  • card stock, any color or design of choice
  • pencil
  • scissors
  • paper punch

Instructions:

  1. Choose the main paper for your card.  I decided to use some pink-and-red glittery paper from Hobby Lobby for mine.  The camera doesn’t do it justice!  Now, bend your card in half.
  2. Once you’re happy with your paper choice, cut out a simple heart template.  I used one from online, but you can easily trace and cut your own by hand.
  3. Trace your heart template over some decorative paper that complements the main part of the card and cut it out.  glue your heart shape directly in the middle of the card so it looks like this:
  4. Grab your hole punch and punch a few holes along the outside of the heart shape.  It should look something like this:
  5. Take about a 7 -inch piece of yarn and weave it in and out of the holes.  Take an extra 3-inch piece and  tie a small bow.  Glue or tie this bow to the top of the heart like this:

 

And there you have it!  An easy and cute card for Valentine’s Day! What kinds of cards are you planning on making?




Link Love: Valentine’s Day Extravaganza

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I promised you last week that I’d bring you even more Valentine’s Day goodness in this week’s Link Love installment, and boy did I deliver! In fact, I found so many cute Valentine craft ideas that I think I’ll just have to give you more next week. See my faves below, and check back next Thursday for more!

  1. Make a reverse applique Valentine’s Day skirt for a little girl from Craftiness is Not Optional.
  2. Conversation hearts might not taste very good, but they’re an adorable embellishment on this frame from Simply Crafty.
  3. Knit these gloves with love from Woman’s Day and give them to a loved one.
  4. Dollhouse Bake Shop made these edible Valentine’s Day teddy bears to attach to your homemade cards!
  5. There were red sequin hearts in last week’s post, and now Rae Gun Ramblings has a headband project to use up your leftovers.
  6. Turn that old romance novel into something truly romantic–a Valentine for your Valentine–from Sassy Style.
  7. Here’s another lovely piece of specimen art from My Garden of Eden, using dollar store supplies!
  8. This beautiful, flowery tissue paper wreath comes with a sweet tutorial at Thrifty Decorating.
  9. Everyday Art shows you how to make stitched Valentines, a project that even kids can do.

Special Announcement: Introducing the FaveCrafts Valentine Card Swap

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Have you ever participated in a swap before? I’ve done a few in the past, and I had so much fun! I wanted to get FaveCrafts readers involved in the fun, so we are very excited to announce the first FaveCrafts card swap!!!

If you’ve never heard of swapping before, here’s what it’s all about: Everyone who participates is assigned a partner (or two, or three–for this swap, you will be assigned 3 partners). Then every swap participant makes/buys/procures the item to be swapped. For our swap, it’s homemade Valentine’s cards. Once you receive your swap partners’ addresses, you send them a homemade card, and they’ll send you one in return.

Swaps are a fun way to facilitate a sense of community among our crafty readers. Plus, everyone likes getting snail mail! If you have no one to exchange Valentines with, or if you just want to see what everyone else is making, participating in a card swap is the best way to get involved!

Want to start swapping? Here’s how:

  1. Register for an account on swap-bot.com. It’s free!
  2. Once your account is set up, go to our swap page here. It’s called “FaveCrafts Valentine’s Card Swap.”
  3. Click “Join Swap.” The last day to join is February 4.
  4. You will be randomly assigned 3 partners to make cards for. You can make 3 different cards or 3 identical cards; it’s up to you! Just make sure that you make and send 3, and that all 3 are homemade in some way.
  5. You will be notified via email when your partners have been assigned to you. Once you receive your partners’ names and addresses, send your cards to them. Please have all cards in the mail by February 11. Please don’t disappoint your partners by neglecting to send cards to them, or sending them late.
  6. Then wait patiently by the mailbox for your Valentines to arrive!

Any questions? Contact us for more info! Now who’s excited to start swapping?

New Pattern Monday: 3 Beaded Bracelets to Make

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Make some trendy bracelets to wear with your homemade necklaces! We added some great bracelet tutorials on FaveCrafts last week for the crafty fashionista. Here are my favorites:

Dangling Floating Hearts Bracelet: Various pink and red charms and pendants make up this Dangling Floating Hearts Bracelet. This striking crystal bead bracelet will make a great gift for friends around Valentine’s Day and isn’t difficult to make.
Dangling Floating Hearts Bracelet

Crystal Breast Cancer Awareness Bracelet: Look no further than this design for how to make cool bracelets. You can make a fashion statement and send a message with this gorgeous Crystal Breast Cancer Awareness Bracelet.
Crystal Breast Cancer Awareness Bracelet

Swarovski Crystal Golden Aqua Bracelet: Want to learn how to make this beautiful Swarovski Crystal Golden Aqua Bracelet? It has a very unique design for crystal beads bracelets, with a mixture of colors including aquamarine, copper and bronze.
Swarovski Crystal Golden Aqua Bracelet

Link Love: Last Minute Valentine Crafts

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Yesterday, I told you how to make Red Velvet Cake Balls packaged in something crafty for last minute valentine gifts. Today, I would like to share some other great ideas for Valentine’s Day from great websites outside of FaveCrafts. Enjoy!

  1. Paper Mosaic Valentine from Crafts by Amanda
  2. Free Cupid Printable from Macula Art
  3. Valentine’s Day Mosaic Trivet from Sweet Pickles and Chocolate
  4. Valentine’s Day Candy Bar from Brunch at Saks
  5. Paper Bouquets from Better Homes and Gardens
  6. Crayon Stained- Glass Hearts from Martha Stewart
  7. Paper Plate Valentine Spiral from Grown in my Heart
  8. Jewelry Top Gift Box from Cupid’s Charm
  9. Flower Pot Valentine from Craft Tutorials
  10. Hershey Kiss Valentine Gnomes from An Inch of Gray

How to: Make Super-Simple Last Minute Valentine Gifts

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I know what you’re thinking. It was JUST Christmas and now it’s already Valentine’s Day? Sheesh, can’t a girl get a break from all the gift-giving? Don’t stress! I have a super-simple idea for last minute Valentine gifts that you are sure to enjoy too. Stay away from the card aisle, forget the cheap Valentine’s Day chocolate and make your own sweet treats, packaged in homemade wrapping. Valentine cake balls are just about the easiest thing to make and are sooo very delicious. With a combination of red velvet cake inside and dark chocolate outsides, these are the perfect last minute valentine gifts. While we don’t normally do recipes here at FaveCrafts, decorating and arranging these cake balls encourages creativity!

To make the cake balls, you barely need to bake at all! But because of the time needed for cooling and freezing between steps, prepare at least on Friday or Saturday morning for low-stress last minute valentine gifts. You will need:

  • one package of red velvet cake mix (or white cake mix and a few drops of red food coloring)
  • one carton of icing (any flavor, cream cheese or vanilla would both be nice)
  • one package of melting or baker’s chocolate  (I would recommend dark chocolate for Valentine’s Day.)
  • wooden skewers
  • wax paper

Bake the cake according to package directions and let cool for several hours or overnight. Crumble the cooled cake into a large bowl. Add 1/2-3/4 of the carton of icing until the mixture sticks together well. Roll into balls with your hands and place on the wax paper. Place in the freezer for 15-30 minutes. You want them firm but not frozen solid. Meanwhile, melt chocolate in 30 second increments in the microwave or in a double-boiler.  When cake balls came out of freezer, dip in chocolate  one-by-one with the skewers. Let dry on wax paper.

Once the cake balls are finished, you can present to your valentine(s) in a number of ways. Here are wrapping ideas for your last minute valentine gifts:

  1. Wrap in Homemade Paper- Wrap the cake balls in red tissue paper and place in a sturdy box. Take a sheet of white paper and decorate the paper before wrapping. Squeeze some acrylic paint into a large plastic lid and use a cookie cutter to stamp hearts onto the wrapping paper. Wrap the paper as normal and add a big red ribbon.
  2. Arrange the Cake Balls as a Bouquet: Fill a terra-cotta pot with small pebbles or other weights. Place a piece of foam on top of the weights. Stick the wooden skewers with cake balls at one end into the foam piece arranging as a bouquet. Fill the top of the pot with red tissue paper. Decorate the pot with a heart stamp, cut from a regular kitchen sponge, and red acrylic paint.
  3. Make the Cake Balls a Game– If you have small jewelry boxes or other small boxes lying around your house, turn the cake balls into game. Place one cake ball wrapped in tissue paper into it’s own little box with a small piece of paper. The piece of paper can be a romantic sentiment, a funny memory or a line of poetry. Arrange a group of these boxes in a heart shape on the table.

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