Archive for November, 2007

Window painting tips

Saturday, November 24th, 2007

Painting a window can add flavor and fun to an otherwise basic item. It is a great way to get ready for the holidays, to advertise something, or just to enjoy yourself. The following are some window painting tips:

Tip one: Be decisive. Your first decision is going to be whether or not your window painting is going to be a permanent window display or if you want a temporary window painting design. Once you decide, the tip is to choose the right paint for the type of display.

Tip two: When going for a permanent display, go for a classic look, like stained glass. Do not be too thematic, as your interests tend to change over time. For example, do not paint the Disney Cars characters on your child’s window, as they might love Spiderman more a week later. Instead doing something traditional like sports, or cars in general.
 
Tip three: Use patterns that depict common holiday themes, such as pumpkins at Halloween, and turkeys at Thanksgiving so that even if your temporary window paintings are not super great, people will still know what they are.

Tip four: Don’t try and make your own patterns, instead buy premade patterns, as they are designed for window painting. There are many patterns available for purchase on the Internet or in local craft stores.  There are a very wide variety of patterns to choose from. 

Tip five: Use the patterns well. Most purchased patterns come in 2 different sizes – they are 22×28 inches and 8×10 inches.  These purchases patterns also come with a color key in order to make painting simple and user-friendly.

Tip six: If you should choose to create your own pattern, make sure the stencil is flat so you do not leak around the edges, or just enjoy free hand painting. If you make a mistake you can always start over.

Tip seven: If you are going to freehand paint, do a sketch or rough outline on paper first so as not to make a mistake or get a final product that you are not please with.

Tip eight: For temporary window painting, go to your local craft store and get basic acrylic paint, do not spend a fortune on paints "designed for windows" as basic acrylic paint will work well.

Tip nine: Use a sealer over your paint if you want a permanent look. There are specific sealers you can get.

Tip ten: Use masking tape when window painting, to keep areas where you do not want paint, paint free. This is great for around the edges, but also if you are making stripes or something like that and want nice clean lines.

Tip eleven: You can use a razor blade to scrape off paint before or during painting, and get nice clean lines. This helps with precision, and is handy for cleaning up mistakes. It will give it a more professional look.

Tip twelve: Paint the inside of the window so weather does not ruin your window painting. If you have small children and worry that they will ruin it if it is on the inside, use plastic wrap to cover the inside of the window after painting.

Enjoy these tips and enjoy creating a great window painting display. Practice helps to make perfect, so give it time and soon you won’t need these tips as window painting will come easily.

How to Make a Christmas or Holiday Wreath

Friday, November 23rd, 2007

During Christmas you see doors up and down the street adorned with beautiful holiday wreaths. You could go out and spend $100 on a wreath for the holidays, or you could make one yourself. Creating a Christmas or holiday wreath can be a fun and easy project.  It can take no more than an hour, and by making a simple wreath, you can bring a festive look to any kind of atmosphere!
 
Items Needed:
Wire coat hanger
Wire
Garland or some type of fake leaves
Hot glue or any sort of strong glue such as super glue
Assorted ornamental materials that you would like to decorate with such as: bows, candy canes, bells, tinsel, ribbon, pine cones, or any other holiday decoration you would like to make your wreath with.
 
Where to find your items:
Many of your items can be found at any local craft store such as Joann etc or Michaels.
 
Steps:
Making the Wreath
First you will need to bend your coat hang into a circle shape.  You should try not to reshape the hook at the top of the hanger so that it can be used to hang up the wreath later.  By shaping your coat hanger into a circle, you will have created the base shape of the wreath.
 
Next you will secure the garland or fake leaves to the coat hanger with wire.  You will want to make sure that your garland or leaves are attach to the coat hanger about every inch so you don’t see any gaps and so that your wreath will maintain its round shape.  Don’t forget to make sure the garland or leaves are overlapping.  You may also want to wrap your garland or fake leaves around the coat hanger twice or even three times. This is so that you have a nice, full wreath and there won’t be any extra wire poking through!
 
Decorating Ideas
Now that the base of your wreath is made, the decorating can begin. Depending on how complicated or simple you want your wreath, there are many different options you can use.

One very simple idea is gluing a single bow at the top or bottom of the wreath.
(REMEMBER: if your garland or fake leaves are made out of plastic, they tend to melt if you put hot glue on them.  It is suggested that you put the hot glue on the item you are gluing down first and then attaching it to your wreath.)
For another idea you will need three pine cones and three bows.  Attach one of the bows to the top of the wreath. At the bottom of the wreath, attach a pine cone so that it is exactly opposite the bow on top. On the right and left side you will want to attach a bow and pine cone. You will probably want to measure out the distance between each item so that they will be evenly spaced.  When you are done, your wreath should be in a bow -pine cone – bow – pine cone – bow -pine cone order.
One other simple idea you can use will involve one bow and a box or two of candy canes, depending on how many candy canes you wish to use.  Attach the bow to the bottom of the wreath.  Then attach the candy canes around the wreath.  You may also want to buy different kinds of candy canes so that you can alternate colors around the wreath!
 
There are many different ideas out there that you can use to decorate.  These are just a few simple ideas you can use to create your own holiday wreath. Be creative and have fun! 
 

 

How to crackle glaze to antique a piece of furniture

Thursday, November 22nd, 2007

Crackling is a pretty simple technique with beautiful results. If you are a little worried because you have never done the crackling technique and you want to see what a finished piece you might try looking for examples on the internet.  There are also do it yourself videos, DVD, and books that can walk you through the process. Sometimes local home improvement stores have free demonstration classes on using certain techniques like crackling. Crackling can be easy if you follow the directions and you aren’t afraid to try something new.

The crackling glaze technique is a 3-step process. You have a base coat, crackle glaze, and a top coat. When you layer the three, the crackling glaze cracks the finish of the top coat to show through the base coat that you first applied. There are different kinds of crackling glazes and you might want to read the back of the container to decide what crackle finish you want. Also you might want to look for the type of paint it reacts with best.
 
As you know with all new techniques it is best to test the technique on an unseen area so that you can get the right look. Crackling glaze can be applied in thin coats for small cracks or thick coats for larger cracks showing more of the base coat. To test the crackling technique you need to apply the base color coat first let it dry completely before applying the crackling glaze. Once the base coat is dry, you can apply the crackling glaze to the test area in different thicknesses to see what desired effect you would like. The crackling glaze needs to dry for a couple of hours before you can paint on the top coat. When the glaze has dried and you place the top coat on you will see the crackling start almost as soon as the paint is applied.

Once your test area is dry and you have found the desired look you can begin to paint the base coat on the furniture piece that you are crackle glazing.

You will want the base coat on the piece to dry completely before you apply the crackling glaze.

After waiting for the base coat to dry you can begin applying the crackling glaze with a paint brush. When you apply the crackling glaze, you need to make sure that you apply the glaze in even strokes and that you only paint in one direction. You want to make sure that the glaze dries for several hours before applying the top coat.

The top coat of paint really depends on the use of the piece of furniture for example if it is the writing surface of a desk. You’ll want to use a paint that is better for highly used areas such as an acrylic paint instead of a latex paint. The top coat you will want to load your paint brush so that you can try to make only one pass over the glazed area. When applying the top coat you want to make sure that you brush the paint in the same direction as the crackle glazing. After the first stroke of top coat goes on the crackling glaze goes to work and you start to see the line form in the surface of the top coat. Allow the top coat to completely dry before you finish the piece of furniture.

Once the top coat is dry it is best to sand it lightly and apply a clear varnish over the entire piece. The varnish protects the crackled paint so that it does not chip or peal away from the surface on the piece of furniture. Once the varnish dries you will have a beautiful piece of antiqued furniture for yourself. 

What you should know about longarm quilting machines

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

If you are into quilting or are just getting into quilting there are certain types of quilting machines available. Depending on what type of quilting you are doing will depend on what type of quilting machines you will want to get. If you want to do a lot of quilting that involves doing a lot of fancy embroidering you might want to look into getting a longarm quilting machine. If you are thinking about getting a longarm quilting machine, here are some tips on what you should know about longarm quilting machines.

The first tip on what you should know about longarm quilting machines is that there are different types. Different longarm quilting machines will differ in size depending on what type of longarm quilting machines you decide to go with. Longarm quilting machines have different sizes depending on the quilting you are going to be doing.

The second tip on what you should know about longarm quilting machines is that there are different brands. Different longarm quilting machines will have different features. You will want to make sure that you take a look at the different functions that each longarm quilting machines have.

The third tip on what you should know about longarm quilting machines is that there are different prices. Depending on what features you get on your longarm quilting machines will help determine the price of your longarm quilting machines. If there are some features on a long arm quilting machine that you are not going to use you will not want to pay the extra money for it. Longarm quilting machines have a large price range. Longarm quilting machines are nice because they usually have a guide that you can use to make certain patterns. Some longarm quilting machines have computers that you can input a certain pattern and the longarm quilting machine can sew it itself because of the computer that is connected to it.

The fourth tip on what you should know about longarm quilting machines is that they are not for everyone. If you don’t sew all of the time and when you do sew you are only patching holes in clothes a longarm quilting machine is not for you. Longarm quilting machines are for people that love to quilt and even quilt to make money.

The fifth tip on what you should now about longarm quilting machines is that they can take up a lot of room. Longarm quilting machines usually sit on top of a base that has patterns on it that you can follow when you are using your longarm quilting machines. You will want to make sure that you know how much room the longarm quilting machine you are looking at take up. If you don’t have a lot of room you will want to make sure that you account for that when you are making your decision.

These are just a few tips on what you should know about longarm quilting machines. If you want more information on what you should know about longarm quilting machines you can do some research and read reviews on what different longarm quilting machines have to offer and what other people have to say about different longarm quilting machines. Sometimes it is good to find out what other people have to say about longarm quilting machines because then you can hear what experiences they have had with their longarm quilting machines. This will help you to know different pros and cons for different longarm quilting machines. Doing your homework on longarm quilting machines will help you to decide what is important on what you should know about longarm quilting machines.

What you should know about fabric lines when it comes to quilting

Monday, November 19th, 2007

There are a lot of things that you have to take into consideration when you are going to do some quilting. If you are just getting into quilting you might want to take some classes before you go off on your own. If you have been quilting for a while but are still having some problems with the fabric lines, here are some things on what you should know about fabric lines when it comes to quilting.

The first thing on what you should know about fabric lines when it comes to quilting is that there are many different kinds. Depending on what type of quilt you are making will depending on the type of fabric lines you will want to use. You will need to make sure that you look at all of the different fabrics to know which one is going to work the best for your quilt.

The second thing on what you should know about fabric lines when it comes to quilting is that there are different ways that you can sew different lines. For example if you are making a quilt that you want it to be a little busier and not the traditional blanket you can change up the fabric lines. You can make some fabric lines go one way while others go the other way. You just need to make sure that if you are going to change fabric lines that it will still all match up and your blanket is going to come out the right size.

The third thing on what you should know about fabric lines when it comes to quilting is that there is is a lot to choose from. You will want to make sure that if you are making a quilt from a pattern that you read what they recommend. Different fabrics lines will hold quilts together better or have a certain reason why they are called for. This is why it is important that you pay attention to the pattern if you are using one. If you are doing a quilt on your own you might want to ask for some advice from people at the quilting shop and see if they have any suggestions that they think will help you. You will want to make sure though that if you are asking some one questions at the quilting shop that they are a quilter themselves. You don’t want to ask some one that has never sewn a quilt before because they will probably be clueless about different fabric lines.

The fourth thing on what you should know about fabric lines when it comes to quilting is that certain threads might be recommended for different fabric lines. Depending on the thread you use will depend on the strength. If you are using a heavier fabric you will want to make sure that your thread will hold your fabric lines together.

These are just a couple of things on what you should know about fabric lines when it comes to quilting. If you still have questions on what you should know about fabric lines when it comes to quilting you can go online or go to your local quilting shop and ask around. If you do your homework you will be able to know what exactly you should know about fabric lines when it comes to quilting. This will help you out a lot when you decide to make your quilts it will help ensure that your quilt will stay together longer. This is why it is important that you find out what you should know about fabric lines when it comes to quilting.

What kind of quilting software should you use?

Sunday, November 18th, 2007

There are so many different types of things that you can buy when it comes to quilting. One thing that you might want to consider buying for quilting is a machine that will take the thinking out of quilting for you. If you are thinking about getting a sewing machine that uses different software to make different designs in your quilts but don’t know what software you want to buy, here are some tips to take into consideration when you are deciding what kind of quilting software you should use.

The first tip to help you decide what kind of quilting software you should use is to decide what type of quilting you are going to be doing. Different quilting software has different features so you will want to make sure that you know what you are looking for. If you just start looking at quilting software without knowing what things you have in mind you might end up getting overwhelmed and just buy the first one you look at. This is why it is important that before you even start looking at quilting software that you write down what types of features you want to have.

The second tip to help you decide what kind of quilting software you should use is to see what software is recommended for your quilting machine. Different quilting machines might have different software that is compatible with your quilting machine depending on how much memory your quilting machine has to how big your quilting machine is to how old your quilting machine is. These are all things that you will need to take into consideration.

The third tip to help you decide what kind of quilting software you should use is to decide how much quilting you are going to be doing with the software. If you are only buying the quilting software to do one or two quilts with you will probably not want to spend as much money on software as you would if you were going to be quilting a dozen quilts or so.

The fourth tip to help you decide what kind of quilting software you should use is to decide how much detail you want on your quilts. For example some software you get will offer features where you can get really in detail where others just have basic stitching. If you want to get the software that offers a lot of detail you will want to make sure that you know how to work your quilting machine if you are going to be guiding it back and forth.

The fifth tip to help you decide what kind of quilting software you should use is to ask around. Ask different people that quilt what they recommend. You can call different quilting schools and ask them what they prefer and how much they have used different software. You can also go to your local quilting shop and ask them about different software they have used and if it is user friendly software to use.

These are just a couple of tips on what kind of quilting software you should use. There are so many different types of quilting software out there to choose from. If you are still unsure about what kind of quilting software you should use you can go one line and do some research. This is a great way to read different reviews and see what is available in quilting software. Doing research will also give you an idea about different quilting software and the experience level that you need to have to use different quilting software. This will help you to decide what kind of quilting software you should use.

Pros and cons of joining quilting groups

Saturday, November 17th, 2007

There are so many different things that you can get into when you decide you want to quilt. You can go to quilting school so you can learn little tips and tricks on how to do a variety of different techniques. You can also join a quilting group. If you are thinking about joining a quilting group but don’t know if it is a good idea, here are some of the pros and cons of joining quilting groups.

The first pro to joining quilting groups is that there is a set time whether it is once a month or once a week that you will have the opportunity to take time out of your busy schedule and quilt. This is a great way to set time aside so you are guaranteed that you get your quilts done and they don’t end up sitting in a closet half finished because you can never find the time.

The first con to joining quilting groups is that you have to take time out of your busy schedule to make it to a quilting group. Sometimes it is hard for everyone to meet on the same night so you always have to try to switch things around to work around the night or day that you are going to meet with your quilting groups.

The second pro to joining quilting groups is that you will be able to learn new techniques and new tricks to doing things that you were not aware of before then. Different people have different ways of doing things and when you join a quilting group it is a great way to show others what you have to offer and they can do the same in return.

The second con to joining quilting groups is that you might have to work on a quilting project that you don’t want to work on. For example some quilting groups take turns quilting a quilt for different people. You might not want to work on some one else’s quilt because you want to work on your own when you have a little bit of free time.

The third pro to joining quilting groups is that it helps you to get to know other people that are interested in quilting just like you are. Maybe you are the only one of your friends that is into quilting, joining quilting groups will give you the opportunity to meet other people who love to quilt as much as you do. This also gives you the opportunity to ask questions about quilting that you might have.

The third con to joining quilting groups is that you might not get along with everyone in the quilting groups. Everyone is different which means everyone is going to have a different opinion on things. This can cause conflicts depending on what you are on. This is why it is important that you meet the people in different quilting groups to make sure that at least some of them have the same type of personality as you.

These are just a few of the pros and cons to joining a quilting group. Before you make your final decision on whether or not you want to join a quilting group you will want to make sure that you weigh all the pros and cons of joining quilting groups against one another. This way you will be able to make the decision that is right for you. You will also want to make sure that you find out all of the different details of each quilting group that you are looking into. Some might have certain fees while others don’t. These are also things that you will want to put on your pros and cons list of joining quilting groups.

Pros and cons of hand quilting

Friday, November 16th, 2007

There are so many different things that you need to know when you are quilting. One thing that you need to decide when quilting is if you would rather hand quilt or quilt with a machine. If you hate to hand quilt but feel like it is something that you need to do, here are some pros and cons of hand quilting to help you decide if hand quilting is really worth the work.

The first pro to hand quilting is that you can see every stitch that is being sewn. This is a pro because you can make sure that every stitch is being sewn Hand quilting can also be a con. The con of hand quilting is that you can see every stitch that is being sewn. If you see every stitch you will know if you have messed up or if one stitch is more crooked then the rest.

The second pro to hand quilting is that you can make custom designs in your quilts. If you are hand quilting your blankets you are guaranteed that there won’t be another quilt out there just like it. You can hand quilt in initials into your quilts or different designs that you can make a look of its own.

The second con to hand quilting is that it does take longer than if you quilt with a machine. Hand quilting also takes more time because it might be harder to put the needle in and out of a quilt then if you quilt on a machine.

The third pro to hand quilting is that you can see your mistakes before it is too late. This will help you to not have to unpick as much as you might if you were quilting with a machine. You will also be able to change your mind in the middle of a quilting project and add or take away something that you decide you don’t want.

The third con to hand quilting is that you might have to figure out how to make certain designs that might be easier to do with a machine quilter.

The fourth pro to hand quilting is that it is easier to get into hard to reach places that you might not be able to get into if you are quilting with a machine. For example if you are doing the edges of a quilt it might be easier to hand quilt it then to try to quilt with a machine and to get the edges to lay right.

The fourth con to hand quilting is that you might not be able to get the stitches as tight as you could if you were using a machine quilter. A machine quilter combines to threads that interlock which cause the stitches to be stronger.

There are a lot of pros and cons of hand quilting. You just have to weigh the different pros and cons of hand quilting against each other to see if it is worth the effort of hand quilting or if you should bypass hand quilting al together. Hand quilting is a personal preference that each quilter has to decide for themselves if it is worth it or not. Each quilter also has a different way of hand quilting. Some quilters will tell other quilters that they are hand quilting wrong because it is not the way that they do it. If you are going to hand quilt you will want to have a technique so that your hand quilting will be a littler easier. Just make sure that before you decide one way or the other about hand quilting being right for you that you weigh all the pros and cons of hand quilting.

How to learn to quilt

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

There are so many different hobbies that you can get into. Depending on the kind of person you are will depend on the hobbies you might want to look into getting into. One thing that is starting to become more and more popular is quilting. If you want to get into quilting but don’t know how to quilt you are in luck! Here are so tips on how to learn to quilt.

The first tip on how to learn to quilt is to take some lessons. There are different quilting schools out there that are available. You can look in your local phone book or online. If you can’t find any there call some quilting shops and see if they know of any that are available. You will want to make sure that when you sign up for quilting school that you let them know that you have not quilted before and want to learn to quilt. This way you will be put in the beginner class and not a class where you are learning to do different techniques to help improve your quilting skills.

The second tip on how to learn to quilt is to join a quilting group. There are quilting groups out there that quilt once a week or once a month. This is a great way to meet new people in your community along with learning a new hobby. If you are looking into joining a quilting club you will want to make sure that you let them know that you want to learn how to quilt. This will help them to know that when they are doing different techniques they can show you step by step and explain to you why they are doing different techniques so you understand the purpose.

The third tip on how to learn to quilt is to ask some one that knows how to quilt. If your grandma or aunt quilts ask them if they can teach you how to quilt. If you are asking your grandma she will probably love to show you how because she will be excited that you are interested in something she is interested in. This is a great way to learn to quilt because you can learn techniques that might not be used any more but are great techniques. This will also give you an opportunity to get to know your grandma or aunt or who ever a little bit better.

The fourth tip on how to learn to quilt is to make sure that you ask a lot of questions. When you are learning to quilt you will want to make sure to know why some one is doing a certain technique or why they are threading something a certain way or folding a piece of fabric differently. These are all things that might not seem that significant but might end up being really important for the quilt.

These are just a few tips on how to learn to quilt. If you want to learn to quilt you will want to make sure that you get as much information on quilting that you can. You can do some research by going online or going to your local quilting shop and asking them what they think about different avenues to take to learn to quilt. They might be able to give you a little insight to what your different options are depending on what is offered in your community. You can also go online and subscribe to get different quilting new letters that might include different tips on how to learn to quilt. It is up to you what you want to do when deciding how to learn to quilt.

How to join a quilting group

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007

There are so many different things that you can learn about quilting. If you are just starting out in quilting and want to get to know other people who quilt you might want to think about joining a quilting group. If you want to join a quilting group but are not sure how, here are some tips on how to join a quilting group.

The first tip on how to join a quilting group is to look in your phone book. Sometimes communities have a quilting school. If you call a quilting school they should be able to give you information on different quilting groups around the area. This is not only a great way to get more ideas on quilting but it is also a great way to meet new people in your community.

The second tip on how to join a quilting group is to get some of your friends together that quilt. This is a great way to spend time with your friends and to get out of the house. Some people hold their quilting group once a week while others hold it once a month. It is up to you how often you want to meet up with your friends to quilt. But this is a great way to start a quilting group of your own.

The third tip on how to join a quilting group is to ask your local fabric stores. Usually fabric stores can give you names of people who quilt or they might actually have their own quilting group. You will want to make sure that when you go into your fabric store to ask about a quilting group that you talk to some one that actually quilts and not just some one that works there cutting out fabric. If you ask some one that quilts they might not be in a quilting group themselves but they probably have heard of one that you might be able to join. The fabric store might also have a list of different quilting groups that are available to join.

The fifth tip on how to join a quilting group is to ask around to your friends. If your friends don’t want to start a quilting group they might know some one that already has a quilting group. If they give you a couple of options to choose from you might want to check them out first to see which one you like best and which one you think you would fit into.

The sixth tip on how to join a quilting group is to go online. You can see if you can google different quilting groups in your area. If the quilting groups have web sites this is a great way t see what type of projects they have worked on together and different tips that they have. This is a great way to see what a quilting group is about before you join.

These are just a couple of tips on how to join quilting groups. There are so many other options out there. There are even quilting groups online that switch ideas with each other and give each other advice on different tricks they can use while quilting. The best thing to do if you are thinking about joining a quilting group is to get out there and see what is available in your community and see which works best for you and your family schedule. Then you will be able to get a better idea on which quilting group you want to join.