Cinema Saturdays: Thrifty Christmas Pillows

December 8, 2012 by AllFreeHolidayCrafts 1 Comment

Repurpose decorative cloth napkins in Christmas designs into festive pillows for the Christmas season with this video tutorial from AllFreeHolidayCrafts.com. If you have a holiday napkin set that’s missing too many napkins to use at the table, try making decorative pillows out of the remaining napkins. You can preserve your favorite fabric prints in these easy pillows. This is also a great way to use Christmas napkins you have may have gotten on clearance last January. If you loved the design when it was a napkin, you’ll love it even more as a throw pillow!

Watch this simple video tutorial to learn how to make Christmas pillows from upcycle napkins, or print out step-by-step instructions on AllFreeHolidayCrafts.com.

Cinema Saturdays: How to Bind a Quilt with the Quilter’s Boot

September 8, 2012 by FaveQuilts Leave a Comment

If you are simply anxious to learn a new way of binding the edges of your quilt, you can now learn the Quilter’s Boot technique with this video.This special and unique technique involves sewing the binding around the entire quilt and then mitering the corners rather than the more usual method of mitering corners as you go. This is a really fun, easy way of sewing your quilt binding, especially on a mini or doll quilt. Using your fancy tool, you simply sew, trim and pluck — it is really that simple! It is so helpful to watch this two-minute video and see exactly how you can make the magic happen by binding your quilt with the Quilter’s Boot method. And remember, you can use this method for kids’ quilts, quilted gifts and even holiday quilts!

How to Bind a Quilt with the Quilter’s Boot:

What’s your favorite binding technique?

Cinema Saturdays: How to Make a Fall Wreath

August 4, 2012 by AllFreeHolidayCrafts Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for an elegant addition to your fall decor for the upcoming holiday season, watch this tutorial to learn to make your very own fall wreath. Rather than spending your money on a store-bought wreath, try your hand at a project that uses cheap and accessible items that you may already have in your home. Decorative wreaths are a huge hit this holiday season, so join in the crafting fun with this intricate design that’s much less difficult to make than it looks (your guests will never know!). The editors here at AllFreeHolidayCrafts want to help make your fall decorations stand out, and this wreath is the perfect touch.

How to Make a Fall Wreath:

What do you think is the most popular fall craft this year? Whether it’s a wreath or uses a leaf, we’d love to know, so comment below.

Cinema Saturdays: How to Make a Truffle Pinwheel Quilt

July 28, 2012 by FaveQuilts 1 Comment

Warm up in any season with this gorgeous truffle pinwheel quilt. While it may be a tough project for a beginner, it is definitely not the hardest! Even if you are a beginner, why not try it out? You will learn how to use the half-square triangle method to create a perfect pinwheel pattern. After the first few steps, you will learn how to sew your block patterns together, and you will have your 36″ x 36″ quilt! Make sure to spice up your quilt by changing up the color! You can even combine colors to make it as bright as a rainbow!

How to Make a Truffle Pinwheel Quilt:

What’s your favorite kind of quilt to sew?

Summer Camp Week Video + Butterfly Mobile Tutorial

July 18, 2012 by AllFreeKidsCrafts Leave a Comment

Click here to see today’s Giveaway and enter!

Hi there, campers! Welcome back to Summer Camp Week from AllFreeKidsCrafts! I hope you’re enjoying all of the exciting craft projects and giveaways we’ve posted so far. Be sure to enter today’s giveaway by visiting this blog post and commenting. Today’s theme is Academic Camps, so put on your thinking caps and click here to comment and enter the giveaway! You can also check out AllFreeKidsCrafts, subscribe to our newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with all of the action!

If you’re looking for today’s giveaway, you can click here to see the post and enter the contest! If you don’t know about the Summer Camp Week Giveaways yet, check out this awesome video:

This afternoon, I have a fantastic camp craft idea that’s great for decorating the cabin or a crafty kids’ room. This project from EK Success Brand’s American Girl Crafts line is a great idea if you’re looking for crafts for preteens and kids who love nature! You can even substitute the butterflies with creepy crawlies for a more rough-and-tumble look if you prefer. Also, if you like this project, check out AllFreeKidsCrafts for more great butterfly projects like these Hanging Glass Butterfly Feeders!

How to Make a Butterfly Mobile

by American Girl Crafts and EK Success Brand

Materials:

Paper Posies Pad
Super Paper Pad
Brilliant Butterflies Shiny Stickers
Berry Stretchable String
Painted Beads
Craft Scissors
Craft Glue

Directions:

Before you start:

Glue can be messy, so cover your work space with newspaper or scrap paper.
From the Paper Posies Pad, punch out a wide range of small and large butterflies.
Cut 10 to 15 pieces of Stretchable String, each 14 inches long.

Option A:

Punch out a large butterfly from the Paper Posies Pad. Find 2 smaller butterflies from the Brilliant Butterflies Shiny Stickers, which will go on either side of the large butterfly.
Glue the end of a piece of the string between the large butterfly and one of the small butterflies. Press butterflies together.
Stick the other small butterfly onto the opposite side of the large butterfly.

Option B:

Cut out the circle template included with these instructions, and trace onto patterned paper. Cut out two circles.
Glue the end of one piece of string between the 2 circles. Place 2 smaller butterflies from the Brilliant Butterflies Shiny Stickers onto either side.

Option C:

Punch out 2 butterflies that are the same shape from the Paper Posies Pad.
Glue the butterflies back-to-back around the string.

Adding more decoration:

Tie a double knot 2 to 3 inches above a hanging butterfly. String a Painted Bead so that it slides down and rests above the knot.
Glue 2 more butterflies back-to-back, above or below the bead. Remember, making each string of butterflies different is what makes your mobile fun!
Hang about 10 to 15 butterflies on strings. When these are completed, tie the top ends of the strings to the embroidery hoop, spacing them evenly apart. Tie the strings so that the butterflies hang at different lengths.
Have an adult help you figure out how high to hang your mobile. Cut 3 more pieces of Stretchable String, about 15 inches long, depending on where you want your mobile to hang. Tie the ends of these strings around the embroidery hoop.
To hide the strings, glue small butterflies from the Paper Posies Pad around the edge of the embroidery hoop. If you like, stick an adhesive foam square on the back of a few to make them pop. Gently bend their wings up to make them look as though they are flying.
Tie the 3 plain, hanging strings together in a knot above the embroidery hoop. String a couple of Painted Beads above the knot.

There you have it! A lovely butterfly mobile to decorate your bedroom, classroom, garden and more!

Click here to see today’s Giveaway and enter!

Cinema Saturdays: How to Make a Fourth of July Table Runner

June 23, 2012 by AllFreeHolidayCrafts Leave a Comment

Want to spice up your Fourth of July table for your dinner party or bbq this year? Check out this really fun, exciting and patriotic table runner tutorial to learn how to cut, sew and make your very own table decoration. If you are just starting to use your quilting skills, this is such a great project for you. In Part 1 of this video series, you will learn how you can cut and piece this patchwork together to start making your quilted table runner. Once you are able to do this, you will learn how to quilt your decorative table runner and then, to finish off the project, bind it together in Part 2. Remember, use your creativity with how you use this table runner. Make sure to use other decorations and embellishments alongside your brand new quilted table runner. Also, you can make this project with any colors, so be creative, and you can sew this quilt for any special occasion! Your family and your guests will be so proud of you and so excited for your accomplishment!

How to Make a Fourth of July Table Runner:

What’s your favorite holiday table runner to make?

Cinema Saturdays: How to Make a Dresden Plate Quilt

April 14, 2012 by FaveQuilts Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever wondered how to make the gorgeous Dresden plate fans to adorn your quilts, watch these videos from FaveQuilts.com to see an expert make them! Carolyn Wainscott explains how to cut out wedges for a Dresden plate, sew them, and press them so that they have the classic pointed edges. She then guides you through piecing the plate together and adding a center circle. Finish by appliqueing the Dresden plate to a background fabric for an individual quilt block or quilted wall hanging.

Featured Craft Videos

April 1, 2012 by FaveCrafts 1 Comment

We’ve been featuring more videos in our newsletters the past few weeks! We’ve also been showcasing a YouTube Video of the Week on Facebook, tweeting about a new video each week, and filling up our Pinterest video board with these hand-selected videos tutorials!

We love video tutorials at FaveCrafts because sometimes you just need a visual aid to go with your written instructions. It’s much more beneficial to see a skilled crafter demonstrate a new crafting technique before you try it out!

Here are the featured videos from the past few weeks, and don’t forget to subscribe to the FaveCraftsVideo YouTube Channel to get hundreds more!

How to Crochet a Button: In this crochet video for beginners you’ll see how simple it is to crochet a button cover. If you’ve got a lot of mismatched buttons or you just like the look of a crochet embellished button, you’ll love this technique! Bring new lift to your clothes and bags with this crochet button pattern

You can see the whole project here: Lacy Crochet Button

How to Make an Easter Pyramid Bag: Make your own treat bags for Easter using this video tutorial. You can turn scrapbook paper into a cute Easter pyramid bag to hold candy and other goodies with these Easter craft ideas.

You can see the whole project here: Easter Pyramid Candy Bag

How to Crochet Easter Eggs: Use these beginner crochet patterns this Easter to make crochet Easter eggs! These make great centerpieces and Easter basket fillers.

You can see part 2 here: How to Crochet Easter Eggs: Part 2

How to Make a Windsock: Learn how to make a windsock in a few easy steps. If you’re looking for summer fun crafts for kids to enjoy with you, consider making a colorful windsock with them! This project is a great introduction to sewing as well.

You can see a similar project here: Blowin’ in the Wind Windsock

How to Make Wedding Feather Fascinators: Creating fascinators for your wedding is simple! Wear a bridal flower and feather fascinator in your hair for your special day with this thrifty and simple tutorial.

You can see this and more wedding crafts here: 3 Tips for Hosting a Wedding on a Budget

Are you a FaveCraftsVideo subscriber? What are your favorite types of craft videos? What kinds of crafts need videos accompanying them?

Help Us Out: Make Crochet Afghan Videos for Us!

March 24, 2012 by AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns Leave a Comment

Attention all crocheters! Our friends over at AllFreeCrochet have quite the collection of helpful crochet videos on the AllFreeCrochet YouTube channel, and AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns is jealous! The YouTube channel for AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns needs some serious love. If you’re a visual learner like me, you know how helpful it can be to have a video tutorial that accompanies a written tutorial, especially if you’re new to the world of crochet.

AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns has hundreds of wonderful free tutorials for crocheting afghans, from baby blankets to granny squares, and everything in between; there are ripple stitch patterns, circular patters, and lace patterns, just to name a few. How awesome would it be to have video tutorials that can help teach fellow crocheters how to make all these great projects?!

That’s where YOU come in! If you are interested in helping us out, we would love for you to step up to the plate and make some videos for us! The video doesn’t have to be very long. In fact, we prefer that it be less than 10 minutes to keep the attention of your audience. We also ask that you provide a written tutorial along with one image of the finished project, in addition to your video. In return, not only will you be famous on YouTube, but we we will PAY you for your efforts! We can’t think of anything more exciting 🙂

If you’d like additional information on making videos for AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns, or would like to know how to get started, please email us. Your message will be passed along to the editor of AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns and someone will be in touch with you to get things rolling!

What are you waiting for, friends? Email us today to get started!

Crochet Video Tutorials

If you’d like a better idea of what we have in mind, check out some great examples below. Here are just a few of the great videos currently on the AllFreeCrochet YouTube channel.

GIVEAWAY
We are giving away a prize a day every day here on our FaveCrafts blog for National Craft Month. It is so easy to enter. Just go to our Project of the Day post and comment to enter! You have 31 chances to win and a new special prize each day. Tune in every day to see if you are the winner!

Do you want to make videos for AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns? Please let us know; we’d love to work with you!

6 Super Easy Quilting Projects You Can Do Today

March 3, 2012 by FaveQuilts 2 Comments

As the editor of FaveQuilts.com, I know better than anyone that making a quilt can be intimidating! Quilts can be very big, complex projects that take years to complete. When you’re a dedicated, experienced quilter, that kind of challenge can be fun. But when you’re a casual quilter or a beginner, like me, you want a quick, easy quilt project that you can finish without investing too much time.

These YouTube quilting videos are just the thing for a novice quilter or even an experienced quilter who wants to finish a quilt in just a few hours. Each video will teach you how to make a small, simple quilt that you can use as a throw blanket or wall hanging. The possibilities for these quilts are endless. Use them to decorate your own home, give them as gifts for birthdays and baby showers, or donate them to a charity that brings warm blankets to people in need. With these easy quilting instructions, you can achieve the satisfaction of finishing a quilt, even if you only have a weekend or just a few hours to work on it.

Quilt As You Go Methods

The easiest way to make a quilt is to “quilt as you go.” This means that you sew the top, batting, and backing together at the same time as you are piecing the top. Most quilt as you go methods involve strip quilting. Although more advanced piecework patterns are not well-suited to quilting as you go, you can make a very cute quilt in just a couple hours with stripes of pretty fabric.

Rag Quilt Tutorial

Rag quilts are a super simple way to make a cozy quilt that your family will love to snuggle with! Rag quilting is a quilt as you go method that leaves seams exposed on the front of the quilt. When you clip notches in the seams at regular intervals, they unravel slightly and become fluffy and soft, giving rag quilts their characteristic ruffled look.

Small Quilt Projects

Baby quilts and mini quilts provide instant gratification for time-strapped quilters. These small quilt projects can be finished in just a few hours, and they make great decorations and gifts. Try one of the cute quilts in these video tutorials!

T-shirt Quilt

Making a t-shirt quilt can be more difficult than a regular quilt because you are working with knit fabrics rather than woven. However, if you follow the directions in this tutorial and use interfacing to stabilize the t-shirt fabric, making a t-shirt quilt can be very easy! You will already have all the fabrics on hand (just look in the bottom of your dresser drawers!), and the patchwork is usually quite simple.

What’s your favorite quick quilting project? Do you have any tips for making quilting faster or easier?

GIVEAWAY
We are giving away a prize a day every day here on our FaveCrafts blog for National Craft Month. It is so easy to enter. Just go to our Project of the Day post and comment to enter! You have 31 chances to win and a new special prize each day. Tune in every day to see if you are the winner!