crafts
Crafts Hacks for makers; a digital vision board with clever tips, ideas, techniques and materials for DIY creations.
FUN WITH BARBED WIRE
I love the texture of old rusty iron, the subtle ripples of its surface where air has nibbled it away over decades. I love the red-orange colour which is earthy and natural, a far cry from primary colours and shiny galvanized silver of new metal.
By Fiona Hamer5 years ago in Lifehack
If Happiness was a Sofa.
Cry Now. Laugh Later. As for everyone, the year 2020 was an experience that I didn’t think I would see in my lifetime. Every time I think about the events of twenty-twenty a flash Back to the future, the movie, always come to mind. “Whatever you do Marty, don’t ever go to 2020!” I laugh now, but I cried just about three-fourths of the year, then. As awful as it was, as my anxiety rose to the highest levels as it could I found solace in creating work for myself, for family members, and for others.
By Ojhoana Flemming 5 years ago in Lifehack
Confessions Of A Scrap Addict...
DAY ONE: Dear Diary, The damage has been done and there is no going back. I took that fatal first step of attending a scrapbooking lesson today. Everything I thought I knew about creating and happiness, has been thrown out the window. I am now a junkie who will need her daily fix of scrapping. Please send help! But I honestly fear I cannot be saved.
By Julianne McKenna5 years ago in Lifehack
I Turned My Art Project into My Passion
Have you ever heard the saying "before Alice got to wonderland, she had to fall."? Well, that was me a year ago. I was in a place where I felt stuck and didn't know what to do with my life anymore until I started working on a crafty project that changed my life, opened my eyes, and helped me tune into my true self.
By T'Nasha Thomas5 years ago in Lifehack
Please, Call Me an Amateur
I’ve long outgrown my desire to grow up. When I was sixteen, I couldn’t wait until I was older when my life would be put together and wrapped in a picket fence. In college, I dreamt of being an intimidating businesswoman, pencil skirt included, who had every answer and could join a room of hotshot office execs like it was just another Tuesday. Then I realized how boring that sounded. It dawned upon me one sunny morning that I would much rather live life like a kid, jumping into muddy puddles, laughing so loud that everyone stares, collecting rocks and bits of trash that only sparkle for my eyes, and not caring what anyone else thinks about me.
By Katie Collins5 years ago in Lifehack
Creating Happiness
Creating happiness 2021.06.09 The steps to happiness though the craft of wrapping gifts. Most of us have wrapped a gift and over the years we get better at this gesture of love that we give to our friends, to our family and our love. For many years I have thought about this act and how we take it for granted. We normally think of it more as a chore or a task on a list to check off. Perhaps a bothersome moment or inconvenience for some. I think over the years I have become very skilled from years of practice. This is for the ones who never think they have artistic talent but do. There are acts we do without ever thinking they could be considered an art form. Wrapping a gift for someone is in fact an art form that we all partake in. I love receiving gifts but not as much as giving them. The whole act brings me happiness.
By Theartistjosko5 years ago in Lifehack
A Golden Compass, Sunshine and a little Magic
The joy of creating takes you into a world of mystic wonder where you have a chance to tell a story. The mind chatter dissipates as you cut leather and find the perfect materials to pair with it to create a unique special something for those you love. My biggest inspiration when creating always comes from those whimsical characters in my life, those real-life people that ooze magic and vibrancy into the world. This project I decided to create for a cousin of mine. Now she is no ordinary human. We would go to festivals with a whole tribe of our family, mostly sisters, and spend our time in giant circus tents dancing in top hats and stripy pants until the sun began to poke through the gum trees. This one particularly sparkly night I saw her dancing in patchwork overalls and her very special top hat covered in animal fur and feathers. She danced with a cheeky grin and a belly full of laughter. In this moment she became a forest wizard, perhaps related to Radagast, dancing completely in her joy, allowing the world to witness her playful expression. One could surmise that I am rather inspired by her trickster personality, a family trait we seem to share. When looking for her birthday present, I found a beautiful golden compass, nestled in one of those huge glass cabinets full of trinkets and misfit items. ‘Yes!’ I thought, a perfect gift for a wizard, something to guide her through adventurous dreams.
By Isabel Corkill5 years ago in Lifehack
Everyone Is Fighting A Battle
I created Cozy to Go! wraps in 2007 for both disposable and reusable glasses as a means of not contributing to the waste created by cardboard protectors. I’ve sold them online, in local shops, and at festivals and markets. The variety of customers who purchase my creations always makes me proud to have produced an item that works for everyone.
By Jeannie Bushnell5 years ago in Lifehack
Ladybug Jewelry Plate
I am currently a high schooler in Chicago, and I love to make art with my hands. Making ceramics out of clay, putting rings together made of wire and stone, or even simply drawing. The piece above is one of my dishes made out of clay named as a ladybug jewelry plate. At my school, I am privileged enough to be able to create art like my ladybug jewelry plate. I do not usually have the resources needed to make such a project, and so I am very grateful to the art program at my school for being able to create like this. I decided to create this piece because I have a love for jewelry. Earlier in my second semester, my school was having classes online and so I needed to pick a project that I could do at home. I chose wire rings. I made almost a million of them, even in my free time because it was so much fun (I even made rings while watching Reign on Netflix). I made rings out of gold, copper, silver, black, and platinum colored wire with stones ranging all over the rainbow. But all of a sudden we were back in person and covid started to reduce here in Chicago. What was I going to make now that we had our ceramics class in person? Well, what would be better than a jewelry plate for all the jewelry that I made? I started to design. At first, I wanted to create a 3D cat centerpiece out of clay that would stand in between the jewelry, but as I designed more and more sketches and ideas, I eventually came up with the design above. I chose ladybugs because I like ladybugs, it’s really that simple. I am virtually afraid of all bugs in existence (this does exclude ants, but ants are ugly, don’t @ me). Yes, this includes butterflies. While its aesthetic is beautiful and I’m in love with it, if a butterfly tries to fly near me I will be activating my fight or flight. And so now we have ladybugs, a bug that is not scary to me and kind of adorable (automatically my favorite). I also decided on pink because it is one of my favorite colors (my favorite colors are blue and pink), and pink and red are basically soulmates.
By Lavanya Goyal5 years ago in Lifehack
Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
For $5, I become a Zombie. I found one of those cheap makeup kits during Halloween of 2013 and put together a last-minute costume to go to a bar. I’ll never forget all of the stares from people when I walked by. Some were terrified, some were amazed, and some even asked if I did makeup professionally. I’ve always enjoyed Halloween but that year felt different. Something had awakened inside of me.
By TrishyF Baby5 years ago in Lifehack
