Day 8 – Plaster masks collaged in magazine paper. My 7 yr old daughter made the really cool one on the right. (Taken with instagram)
Author: plyders
Day 7 – Modular tree building experiment (Taken with instagram)
Day 6 – Cowl made from t-shirt yarn.
Day 5 – One t-shirt cut into strips to make a ball of yarn. (Taken with instagram)
Day 4 – Merged and altered t-shirts
This is relatively easy shirt to make as long as you know how to use a sewing machine. I cut off the sleeves of a shirt I never wear, and I found an XXL t-shirt at Goodwill to use as the main body. I sewed the sides and sleeves of the XXL t-shirt to create a tapered fit, then attached the long sleeves so they are extra long. Simple details using embroidery stitches and leftover t-shirt material cover the existing graphic. I also added thumb holes in the extra long sleeves, and then hid the holes with a patch in the same material.
Day 3 – Infinity t-shirt scarf (Taken with instagram)
This is the easiest thing to make. Take an old t-shirt (XL or bigger) and cut it off below the sleeves. Voila, infinity scarf. Goodwill is a great resource for new or gently used t-shirts.
Day 2 – Melted crayons into hearts and created a necklace.
A few years ago, my daughter and I sorted through all of her crayons and put aside all of the broken ones to remelt into new blended crayons. This is an easy and fun craft to do with young kids. The crayons melt in a few minutes in a 250 degree oven. This time around, I sorted the crayons by color instead of mixing them into blends. I had the idea of making them all into necklaces, so I placed a cut straw into the still moist wax after taking it out of the oven. Once the wax was completely set, the hole was easy to pop out. A braided cord finished the necklace. I’m partial to the black crayon because it is minimal and less obviously a crayon.
Day 1 – Puzzle Box (Taken with instagram) Canon has a website called Creative Park where they share a variety of paper crafts, from easy to complex. This puzzle box was one of the more complicated ones to cut, fold, and paste. But I’ve always loved constructing with paper and cardboard, so the instructions were familiar to me. My daughter could hardly wait for me to finish a puzzle piece before she started making the panda face. I really like how the designer made sure that all the pieces work together so you can create a random face as well.
365 Days of Crafts
I’ve set a goal for myself. 365 crafts in a year. Every day I will take time to make something. This isn’t an easy commitment. Being creative takes a special focus and effort. It’s not like turning on a faucet. Some days I will have many ideas, so I’ll jot them all down to save for other days when I feel less creative. I want the crafts to be meaningful, beautiful, or useful in some way. Yet I don’t want to become overwhelmed if I have a day when all I can muster is an origami box. That being said, the creative process brings me real joy and satisfaction. And so begins Day 1.
by pauline 