Craft Blog

Are you the type of person who enjoys making paper crafts? Do you make paper crafts to sell? Do you make paper crafts to give out as gifts for special occasions? Or are you the type of person who enjoys decorating your home with paper crafts that you have made? If you answered yes to any of the questions above you might have run into the problem that your paper crafts don’t last as long as other decorations. One major problem that people are experiencing whether they are decorating their house or making things to sell is that their paper crafts or their other crafts with paper accents are deteriorating faster than they would like. If this has happened to you the good news is that there are ways to help make your paper crafts last longer than average, maybe even as long as your lifetime.

Here are some tips on how to make your paper crafts last longer.

Tip one:
One of the ways that you can make your paper crafts last a lifetime is to use acid free paper for your paper craft projects. Everybody knows that over time normal paper can deteriorate or turn yellow, not to mention it can also affect the objects that are surrounding the paper, such as photos. The reason that this happens is that the acids that are inside the paper start to cause things to break down over time. The good news is that over time we have developed acid free paper which helps to save the colors of your paper, as well as prevent it from breaking down.

Tip two:
Another thing that you can do to help make your paper crafts last longer is after making the project you can paint it with a glue and water mix. To make this mix you will need to mix two cups of glue to one part of water and lightly coat your paper craft. This will increase the durability of the paper so it won’t lose its shape. You might have to reapply the glue and water mix as time goes on.

Tip three:
Everybody knows that over time paper will fade in sunlight, how fast it fades depends on how exposed it is to the sun. So a great way to help preserve the colors of the paper is to not place paper crafts in direct sunlight, such as hanging paper crafts in windows or placing them on window sills.

Tip four:
Another great tip to help make your paper crafts last longer is to use an acrylic spray after you have finished the project. This spray works similar to the glue and water mixture that was mentioned above, except that the spray works better for painted surfaces. In fact if you have painted the paper you don’t want to use the glue and water mixture because you can cause the colors in the paint to run. You can also use varnish instead of the acrylic spray, but with the varnish you will have to paint it on rather than spray it on.

Tip five:
Since your paper crafts are not always on display another way to help them last a lifetime is to properly store them. When storing your paper crafts you are going to want to store them in a room that provides a stable humidity and temperature, you don’t want to expose any kind of paper to extreme temperatures, whether high or low. Basically the best place to store these paper crafts is on the main floor of your home next to an inside wall, but you also want to keep the place relatively free from light. You also want to store them in a plastic box that is made up of polyester or polyethylene.

Are you the type of person who enjoys making paper crafts? Do you make paper crafts to sell? Do you make paper crafts to give out as gifts for special occasions? Or are you the type of person who enjoys decorating your home with paper crafts that you have made? If you answered yes to any of the questions above you might have run into the problem that your paper crafts don’t last as long as other decorations. One major problem that people are experiencing whether they are decorating their house or making things to sell is that their paper crafts or their other crafts with paper accents are deteriorating faster than they would like. If this has happened to you the good news is that there are ways to help make your paper crafts last longer than average, maybe even as long as your lifetime.

Here are some tips on how to make your paper crafts last longer.

Tip one:
One of the ways that you can make your paper crafts last a lifetime is to use acid free paper for your paper craft projects. Everybody knows that over time normal paper can deteriorate or turn yellow, not to mention it can also affect the objects that are surrounding the paper, such as photos. The reason that this happens is that the acids that are inside the paper start to cause things to break down over time. The good news is that over time we have developed acid free paper which helps to save the colors of your paper, as well as prevent it from breaking down.

Tip two:
Another thing that you can do to help make your paper crafts last longer is after making the project you can paint it with a glue and water mix. To make this mix you will need to mix two cups of glue to one part of water and lightly coat your paper craft. This will increase the durability of the paper so it won’t lose its shape. You might have to reapply the glue and water mix as time goes on.

Tip three:
Everybody knows that over time paper will fade in sunlight, how fast it fades depends on how exposed it is to the sun. So a great way to help preserve the colors of the paper is to not place paper crafts in direct sunlight, such as hanging paper crafts in windows or placing them on window sills.

Tip four:
Another great tip to help make your paper crafts last longer is to use an acrylic spray after you have finished the project. This spray works similar to the glue and water mixture that was mentioned above, except that the spray works better for painted surfaces. In fact if you have painted the paper you don’t want to use the glue and water mixture because you can cause the colors in the paint to run. You can also use varnish instead of the acrylic spray, but with the varnish you will have to paint it on rather than spray it on.

Tip five:
Since your paper crafts are not always on display another way to help them last a lifetime is to properly store them. When storing your paper crafts you are going to want to store them in a room that provides a stable humidity and temperature, you don’t want to expose any kind of paper to extreme temperatures, whether high or low. Basically the best place to store these paper crafts is on the main floor of your home next to an inside wall, but you also want to keep the place relatively free from light. You also want to store them in a plastic box that is made up of polyester or polyethylene.

Are you having a hard time keeping up with the latest trends in paper crafting? Do you enjoy knowing what the in thing to do is? If paper crafting is a hobby of yours you might want to know what the latest trends are so that you are not left behind.

Here are some of the latest trends in paper crafting.

Trend one:
Mini albums are currently one of the hottest trends in paper crafts. One of the reasons for this is the thought of completing a large scrapbook can be rather overwhelming, so to help take off the pressure people started doing albums based on certain events. This trend led to more people becoming involved in scrapbooking than ever. And the best thing is you can do a mini album with or without photographs. Some of the more popular mini albums are brag books for grandparents (mostly Grandmas), graduation albums full of quotes from friends and neighbors, bridal showers, weddings, baby showers, etc.

Trend two:
To some of us this trend might sound a little weird, but one of the current trends in paper crafting is our pets. In our world today pets are starting to take a front seat, and for many people pets have replaced children, so why shouldn’t we make them a huge part of our lives by recording information about them. People have started making fancy books to record their pets shots or the create scrapbooks to record their dog’s performances in dog shows, etc.

Trend three:
Ribbon is another popular trend in paper crafting. It used to be that ribbons were only used for wrapping packages, but now a day all kinds of crafts can be embellished with a bow or rather than using paper you can use ribbons. Because of this latest trend you can find ribbons in all shape and sizes, you can also find them in a large variety of colors (similar to a crayon box), you can even find ribbons that are patterned. But the stuff doesn’t stop there with more and more people using ribbons in there crafts you can find ribbon irons and special glue that is designed strictly for ribbons.

Trend four:
Most of you have probably heard the term "bling" on occasion, especially if you have teenage children, but some of you might not be familiar with what "bling" is. "Bling" basically means more sparkle, flash or pizzazz. In some people’s opinion you can never have to much sparkle so they have started adding all sorts of things to dress up their paper crafts. People who use "bling" tend to use more glitter, jewels, beads, metallic paint or ink, etc all to dress up their paper crafts.

Trend five:
Another trend in paper crafting is the use of geometrics, which is the use of shapes. The most popular shape that is being used currently is circles. You can find circles on most any project. Circles are being used as parts of backgrounds, as elements, the main part of the project, etc. Other popular shapes include squares, triangles, rectangles, and ovals. You can find that these shapes are being used the same way that circles are, but circles are more popular because they are usually used for the symbol of life.

Trend six:
Another popular trend in the world of paper crafting is chipboard. When people first started using chipboard it only came in its natural color, soon after it became popular it was also available in white. But today you can find chipboard available in almost any color you can think of. If you can’t find the exact color that you are looking for you can still alter the chipboard to your tastes by using chalks, paints, inks or a combination of those items. You can also cover your chipboard using paper or fabrics. One of the most popular uses of chipboard is chipboard alphabets that are larger in size (5" or larger) for monograms. You can either buy chipboard sheets and die cut or own or buy pre-made chipboard shapes or letters.

Scrapbooking is one of the funniest ways to store your pictures because aside from keeping your pictures in a safe place, you get to display your pictures in a fun and creative manner. You also can tell the story behind the picture with how you create the pages. One of the best things about scrapbooking is you don’t have to be a professional to do it, by simply using your imagination and being creative you can scrapbook with the best of them. One of the great things about scrapbooking is you can buy pre-made kits or you can create your own using stencils, paper, and other art and craft supplies. But the fun doesn’t stop there; the good news is with scrapbooking you can finally empty out those boxes of pictures that you have been storing in your closet for the last ten years.

Here is a list of the supplies you will need to start scrapbooking.
 Photo Albums – Photo albums come in two standard sizes, 8.5" x 11" and 12" x 12", but you can use smaller albums what you use is up to you. You can also choose from a variety of different kinds of albums such as 3-ring binders or D-ring binders, post-bound albums, or strap-hinge albums to name a few.
 Sheet protectors – you will need to buy these separately if you choose to use 3-ring or D-ring binders, otherwise most other types of photo albums come with their own sheet protectors.
 Adhesive – what kind of adhesive you use is going to depend on what you are doing and what you prefer. A favorite type of adhesive is glue sticks, most people use glue sticks for the embellishments and any journaling that is to be put on the page. Photo tabs are recommended for pictures because that way you don’t have to tear apart the page if you want to take the picture out to make copies. There are other adhesives out there, just keep in mind no matter what you use you need to make sure that it is acid-free.
 Paper – this besides pictures is probably the most important part of scrapbooking, without the paper you wouldn’t have the backgrounds and designs. You can choose patterned paper, but if using patterned paper you should mat your photo on solid paperYou can also choose solid colors, and if you mat your picture with a solid background you don’t want to use patterned paper for the same reason as above. You can also use old greeting cards to help add decoration to your page. No matter what paper you choose just make sure that it is acid-free, many craft stores sell scrapbooking paper.
 Journaling tools – You can use a black pen to journal by hand or you can use a typewriter or computer, but again make sure that you use acid-free paper.
 Photos – One thing that you can do is separate your photos into activities or ages and start from there or you can start with your most recent photos. Just choose whatever method you feel is the best.

While those are the basic supplies you are going to need to begin scrapbooking there are other supplies out there that you can buy. Many of these optional supplies are going to be tools that you can use to spice up your scrapbook pages. Here are some other popular supplies that are used in scrapbooking.
 Stickers – You can find stickers for almost every occasion, and best of all they are rather inexpensive.
 Tags – You can buy plain tags and decorate them yourself or you can buy pre-decorated tags that you cut out and add to your scrapbook.
 Cut-outs or punch-outs – both of these are the same thing except that one requires the use of scissors. But they can come in all types of forms including letters, numbers, tags, toys, etc.
 Punches – you can buy punches in a variety of shapes and sizes to use to punch your own shapes and stuff out of paper.
 Embellishments – this can include lace, stamps, glitter, craft beads, etc.

Are you one of those people who send out greeting cards for every occasion? Are you tired of buying your own greeting cards? Do you think you can create better greeting cards than what is currently being offered? No matter what the situation is the good news is you can now create your own greeting cards on the computer that are just as good as any greeting card you purchase in the store. You can create cards for any type of occasion, such as birthdays, Christmas, New Year’s, and Groundhog’s Day. You can even create greeting cards for your own special occasions.

Here are the steps you should follow to create a greeting card for any occasion.

Step one:
The first thing that you need to do is to make sure that you have the right kind of saoftware on your computer to create greeting cards. You can use desktop publishing software such as PageMaker or InDesign or you can buy software that is specifically designed for creating greeting cards, such as Hallmark Card Studio or Art Explosion Greeting Card Factory. But whichever software you are going to use you want to become familiar with the basic operation of the software before you begin making greeting cards.

Step two:
Now you are going to need to think about what kind of greeting card format you are going to create. You are going to need to decide what you are making the card for, what style of card you want to use and what size card you are going to create. Knowing this stuff ahead of time will help speed up the process of making the greeting card.

Step three:
Now you are going to need to set up a greeting card document. Depending on what kind of software you are using you can use a wizard to help you create a greeting card, use a blank template or create your own template. If you are using letter sized paper rather than specialty paper you should create a folded dummy and mark the various sections of the card so you know which way to insert the paper when you are going to print.

Step four:
Now you need to choose the graphics that are going to be displayed in your card. You can choose one or two images or you can choose five to six, how many you choose depends on what you want to do and how much room you have. You can use images that come with your software or you can find other images online. Images can be found for any type of situation. After you have placed the graphics on the card you should make any modifications to size or color that need to be made, but some graphics won’t require these modifications.

Step five:
Now you need to choose a font style and size for your greeting card. You can use various styles and sizes on your greeting card depending on what you are doing. If you want to give it a more uniform look you should stick with the same font throughout the card. Just remember your font and graphics should both match the message you are trying to send, don’t use fun types of font with somber images. After choosing the font you are going to need to arrange where your font is going to go, sometimes using grids can help you figure out the right places for the various images and text that will be included in your card.

Step six:
Now that everything has been done you need to double check to make sure that your card has a consistent look and feel to it. You also need to proofread your card for spelling errors.

Step seven:
Now you need to print a practice card before printing it on the specialty paper. After printing the practice card you need to make sure everything lines up correctly when the card is folded, that the margins and alignment are correct and that the card printed out correctly.

While using computer software is a easy way to make greeting cards for all occasions you can also create your own cards by using heavy duty paper, markers, pictures, embellishments, and glue.

There are so many fun crafts that you can do with your kids. You can do paper crafts, you can do different cardboard crafts, you can even do paper place crafts. Here are some ideas for paper plate crafts and what you will need for your fun paper place crafts.

The first thing you need for fun paper place crafts is some material. You will need a lot of paper plates, scissors, tape and glue, crayons, markers, hole punch, construction paper, yarn, and ribbon.

Once you have collected all of these materials you can figure out what fun paper plate crafts you want to do. One fun paper plate craft is a puppet. To make a puppet out of a paper plate you will need two paper plates. Taking one of the paper plates and cut one third off of it. Then take both paper plates and staple them together. Then decorate both sides used markers, crayons, and construction paper. Once you have done this your puppet is ready to go. The hole in the back is for your hand to go in.

The second idea for a fun paper plate craft is a dream catcher. For this paper plate craft you will first need to take a paper plate and cut out the middle of the plate (use a hole punch to make holes in the center so that you can cut the middle of the plate out with out having to cut through the rim). Next take the hole puncher and punch 8 holes all the rim. Then take a long piece of sting and take it through each hole weaving it back and forth. Make sure to leave a hole in the very center of your dream catcher so the bad dreams have a way to get out.

The third idea for your paper plate craft is making a mask. This is a easy paper plate craft. All you will need to do is to take a paper plate and cut two holes for the eyes and then cut another hole below the two eyes for the nose hole and then punch one hole on each side of the paper plate. Take a piece of ribbon and tie one end to each hole this will be what you tie the mask on with. Then you can decorate the plate how ever you want depending on what kind of face you want (i.e. if you want an animal mask or a scary mask). You can also use buttons’ or knobs for the nose of your mask instead of cutting out a nose hole. You can even take construction paper and create a nose.

The fourth idea for your paper plate craft is to make dioramas. This is a fun and easy paper plate craft to do. All you need to do is decide what kind of scene you want (i.e. if you want a cowboy riding his horse). Then take the paper plate and make the background (i.e. a field with a fence) by coloring the paper plate. Then taking construction paper make what you want to stand out (i.e. the cowboy on his horse) Glue your picture on to your back ground and you will have you dioramas.

There are a variety of fun paper plate crafts that you can do and create. Depending on what kind of paper plate craft you do will depend on what you will need for your fun paper plate crafts. Get creative and go make your fun paper plate crafts it will be so much fun.

There are so many different crafts that you can do. You can do different things with cardboard. You can do different things with paper. You can also do different things with paper mache. Here is what you need for fun paper mache crafts.

The first thing you need for fun paper mache crafts is the paper mache. Paper mache is pretty easy to make. You will need paper (i.e. newspaper, computer printout, egg cartons, or tissue paper), water, paint pans. Acrylic paints, wallpaper paste, plastic container, brushes, and water. Once you have all of your materials you will want to take pieces of paper that equal about a 1” square, then put it in water and let is soak over night. Then you will need to add wallpaper paste (follow the directions on the wall paper paste). Then you will want to mix the wallpaper paste with the paper mix and stir. You will want the wallpaper paste and pieces of paper to be a pulp. Once you have made a pulp squeeze the paper with your hands making sure to get out as much water as you can out of the paper. Once you have gotten as much water as you can place the mixture into a plastic container. Now your paper mache is ready to make your paper mache crafts.

The second thing you need to fun paper mache crafts is to decide what you want to make for your paper mache crafts. There are so many things that you can choose from. For instance if you want to make the Earth out of paper mache you would want to get a balloon or a styrfoam ball and paint it blue and green. Then you will want to put the paper mache mixture a piece at a time until you have made your Earth look like you want it to look like. Once you have applied the paper mache just the way you want it wait for it to dry. Taking paint, you can paint different colors all over the paper mache to make it look like the Earth.

If you do not want to use wallpaper glue for your paper mache you can use your own recipe or this one. You will need water, non-rising wheat flour, sugar, and oil of peppermint or wintergreen. You will first want to mix flour and sugar, and then gradually add water (you will want to stir briskly to help lumps from forming). Cook on low heat while stirring, until clear. Once the mixtures clear remove from heat and add oil. Once you have done this your Paper paste is complete and ready to use. This recipe make 1 cup. Some people prefer to use this recipe over wallpaper paste because you can store this in a jar that is covered for several weeks.

There are so many different ideas that you can do when it come to doing paper mache. So as far as what you need for fun paper mache crafts. It all depends on what you kind of craft you are making. The most important things that you need when it comes to paper mache is the paper mache itself which you can find a lot of different recipes for. You will also need paper mache paste or wallpaper paste because this is what makes the paper mache stick to the object you are using to form your craft. You can use the recipes above or use your own recipe. There is no right or wrong way to do paper mache crafts it is all about personal preference.

There are so many different crafts that you can do. You can do wood carving, you can do crafts with woods, you can even do construction paper crafts. Construction paper crafts are an easy craft that you usually have everything you need for them right at home. Here is what you need for fun construction paper crafts along with some ideas of different construction paper crafts that can be very fun.

The first thing you will need for fun construction paper crafts is the obvious thing construction paper. You will also need glue, markers, crayons, scissors and miscellaneous things like glitter, buttons, ribbon, pipe cleaners or anything else you will want to use to decorate your construction paper crafts.

For the first idea for fun construction paper crafts is making an alligator. This is a fun project for all ages. First you will want to take a piece of white or green construction paper. Then you will want to take the piece of construction paper and fold it longs ways in half. Then on the one side draw the alligator legs, a long tail, and a long nose. Then on the fold cut 6 small slits diagonally. Once you have cut your slits unfold the paper. The slits you cut should be in the shape of little triangles. Next draw a mouth with lots of teeth (you can cut out the teeth if you want) and eyes. Then you have an alligator. You can also decorate it will glitter and ribbon. If you want to make it a card all you have to do is open it up and right a message on the inside. Kids of all ages will have fun with this construction paper craft.

Another fun construction paper craft is a paper basket. First you will need to take a piece of construction paper and cut 27 ¾ inch wide strips clear a crossed the piece of construction paper (Maybe use a paper cutter to get them as straight as you can). Once you have your strips cut take 10 of your strips and cut them in half. Once you have your 10 strips cut in half take 7 long strips and lay them side by side. Then take 7 other long strips and start to weave them under and over your 7 strips that you have laid out. Make sure that you alter ever other strip to go different directions (if you do it right you should end up with a plus shape that is woven in the center). After you have woven your entire seven (you should end up with and over hang on 3 sides of about ¼ to ½ inch) take 4 of your short strips and start on one side of your other completed strips and weave them through continuing the pattern you already have. After you have weaved all 4 of your strips place a drop of glue on each end to keep it in tack continue to do this for all 3 sides that have over hang. Once all of your sides are weaved take the last strips and fold them in half length wise. Then unfold the strips and cover the inside with glue. Then refold over the end of each section of woven strips. Then fold up one section of your woven mat at a time. Glue each over hang to the other side after you have folded it (it should look like the base of the basket when finished). Then glue the long strips that you have left over to the inside of the one side of the top and then bend the strip over and glue it to the other side (this should make the hand of the basket).

These are a couple of fun construction paper crafts along with what you will need for your construction paper crafts. There are so many other ideas out there. You just need to decide what you are looking for and create it. Construction paper crafts are so much fun. Don’t miss out on trying them.

There are so many different things that your kids can make for their parties. There are also a lot of great things that you can let all the kids at the party make to take home as party favors. One great favor that you can have the kids make are party hats. Here are some steps for making great party hats out of paper grocery bags.

The first step is to get some paper bags. You can either save your paper grocery bags that you get at the super market or go to the super market and just ask the bagger for some paper bags.

The second step is to turn the grocery bags inside out so that the words on the front of the grocery bags won’t be seen.

Then take the opening of the bag and roll it up so that it will fit a child’s head. You might have to scrunch it up a little bit so that it will fit the child’s head a little bit more snug.

Then shape the paper bags into various shapes depending on what theme you are going for. For example if you are making a pirates hat you will want to maybe push in the side and make the brim stick out a little bit.

Then let the kids either take markers or crayons or even paint and let them each decorate their own party hat. You can have the kids use crepe paper and glitter and even feathers too to help give their great party hats just the right look Plus all the kids will feel like they contributed to the party if they get to make their own party hats.

Another great party hat to make is a huge hat. This will be fun for kids to have something out of the ordinary. Here are some steps for making great huge party hats out of a paper grocery bag.

The first step is to take a large paper grocery bag and lay it flat. Once it is flat draw a shape resembling a hat. Then cut this out. You should get two shapes exactly the same because you have two sides of a grocery bag.

Next take a stapler and staple all the edges of the hat together. Make sure that you staple the hat so that it will fit the child’s head.

Next take crayons, or markers, or glitter, buttons, or whatever your kids want to decorate their hats with and let them decorate both sides. After they are finished they will have a great party hat that is made out of a paper grocery bag. This is fun and a unique party hat that kids will love.

Another great party hat that can be made out of paper grocery bags are alien party hats. Things you will need to make this will include paper grocery bags, tape, Pom-poms, googly eyes, feathers, pipe cleaners, and scissors,
After you have rounded up all your supplies the first thing you will want to do is help each child to roll down the top of the bag until the whole is small enough to fit on their heads.

The next step you will want to do is let every child decorate their own hats. Attach the decorations such as pom-poms, and googly eyes and feathers with double sided tape. These will add the alien look to the hat. For the antennae you will want to take the pipe cleaners and coil it around a pencil then tape the pipe cleaner to a large pom-pom. Then poke the side of the pipe cleaner that doesn’t have a pom-pom on it through the paper bag and secure it with a piece of tape on the inside of the paper bag. Once you have done this your alien hat will be complete.

There are so many great party hats out there that can be made out of paper grocery bags. Find one that you like and try it out with your kids to see which party hat they think is the greatest party hat to make out of a paper grocery bag. After all they will be the toughest critics. So have fun and experiment and see what you can make.