Making Jewelry - Hooked on Hemp - Making Hemp Jewelry

Hemp has infinite uses. It can be used to produce paper, cloth, biodegradable plastic, fuel, and more. For the crafter, one of its most popular uses is in jewelry making. Hemp jewelry is attractive, durable, and popular with both women and men.   

Hemp is inexpensive and easy to work with. Currently available in a wide array of colors, it can be used to create bracelets, necklaces, and more. Hooked on Hemp by Design Originals is a good instruction book for those who adore the beauty of hemp jewelry.

Hooked on Hemp's 18 pages include 24 projects with step-by-step instructions. Its great detail makes it perfect for those who have never made hemp jewelry (or any kind of jewelry) before. It illustrates how to make all of the basic knots needed to make beautiful hemp jewelry, and includes large, easy to understand diagrams.

Hooked on Hemp's projects are great for young aspiring jewelry makers. The techniques are easy for kids to understand and implement. They can use them to whip up gifts for friends and family in no time, or to create pieces to add to their own jewelry collections.

All you need to get started making hemp jewelry is colored hemp cord and this guide. Beads can be added if you like, and you may wish to purchase a hemp jewelry board for added convenience. Both of these are optional, so it's possible to start making hemp jewelry with a very low initial investment.

Handmade hemp jewelry is both environmentally conscious and beautiful. It's also quite easy to make if you have good instructions. Hooked on Hemp offers pretty patterns and step-by-step instructions, so you can make your first piece in a snap.

Hooked on hemp jewelry ~ Janie Ray

Fun Halloween Crafts

One of the big joys of Halloween for parents is the chance to spend time with their children working on fun Halloween crafts. Halloween is a time to decorate your home with a completely different theme from the rest of the year. The scary and ghostly themes of Halloween give a wide scope for your children to show off their creativity and handiwork.

Fun Halloween crafts need not be expensive. Some of the best ideas use materials you may well already have in your home. Take, for example, the popular grocery bag ghost. Here is how you can easily make one, or several of them.

Start with a balloon, preferably a white one in keeping with the ghostly theme of Halloween. Blow it up. It's going to hang from the ceiling of your Halloween party room. If you have the opportunity to blow it up with helium so it can float freely and move around the ceiling that is an advantage, because your ghost will then be able to show up in unexpected places, just like a Halloween ghost.

Next, find a couple of white plastic grocery bags, the kind you get from your supermarket. Cut off the handles, and cut them down the sides to make a large flat rectangle. Cut this into strips, about the width of an adult's finger. Attach each strip firmly to the balloon with glue or sticky tape. Work around the lower third of the balloon hanging the strips so they hang like the tentacles of an octopus. You may want to discard any strips that have brightly colored printing, or hang them with the printed side inside.

Finally, use a marker pen and draw round eyes and a mouth on the balloon as a ghostly face in the act of screaming. You may prefer to use luminous paint for the face, and perhaps down some of the strips, so it will glow in the low lighting during your Halloween party.

Hang your ghost from the ceiling so your guests get gently touched by the hanging strips as they move around the room, and get the feeling they may have encountered a Halloween ghost.

Another craft project to hang from the ceiling is an egg carton spider. Cut out the egg cups to make the body of your spiders. Place them on a sheet of newspaper and paint them black, inside and out. This works best with egg cartons made of recycled paper rather than plastic. When they have dried, make four holes down one side, and repeat on the opposite side. Insert four long black pipe cleaners through each pair of holes to make eight spider's legs. Bend the legs so they look like spider's legs.

Add two eyes at the head of your spider. You could use white or luminous paint or the kind of stick-on googly eyes you can buy at craft shops. Insert a knotted thread through the center of the egg cup, so the spider can be suspended from the ceiling without tilting too much. Hang your large hairy spiders on their threads in places where they will scare your guests.

Fun Halloween crafts is a way to have fun without the dangers of going trick or treating. 

Halloween Crafts - Halloween Wreath Craft for Pre-School and Kindergarten Students

 Her is a fun Halloween Craft, making a Halloween Wreath.

This is a fun project that you may want to break up across a couple of days, so be sure to start a few days before Halloween. Mom, you can join in the fun as well and make a Halloween wreath of your own too!

Material List

• Paper Plate (One per child/adult)
• Scissors         
• Leaves                       
• Glue Sticks     
• Orange Construction Papers                        
• White Construction Paper
• Black Construction Paper
• Washable Black Marker
• Black Yarn (optional)

Adult Preparation: (To Be Done Prior to Actual Wreath Making)

Cut the center from each paper plate prior to giving one to each child. These will be the base for the homemade wreaths.

Day 1: Grab the kids and head outdoors. 

Gather as many fallen leaves of different shapes and colors as you can find. Once you’ve collected enough leaves to cover each paper plate, head back inside and glue them to the paper plates. You can glue the leaves to cover the entire plate, randomly around the plate or even as a border around only the edge, whichever you prefer. Once you’ve glued the leaves to the paper plate, leave the plates to dry for 24 hours or at least overnight.

Day 2: Creativity

Depending on how much time you have to complete this project you can have the children do the next step after the leaves have been glued on, while you’re waiting for them to dry or you can make another day of it.

Let the children draw Halloween images on the construction paper. Here are some ideas for each color of paper:

Orange – Pumpkins (Use the black marker to draw the face on their pumpkins)

White – Ghosts, Mummies, Bones

Black – Cats, Witch Hats (You can use the yarn to put a tail on the cat and hair on the witches head if you’d like to put that under the hat)

Once the children have picked out and drawn which decorations they’ll be using, carefully cut them out and paste them to the wreath.

Tip: Pre-placement (before gluing) will give the child an idea of what the wreath will look like once it is all glued together. When the children are happy with the way the decorations are placed, it’s time to glue them to the leaves.

Again, allow the decorations to dry completely.

Day 3: Decorating Time

Congratulations! You’ve made your very own homemade Halloween wreath. Enjoy your child’s creation by hanging it on the front door or his or her bedroom door for all your friends and family to see and admire.

Do Have Fun With This Halloween Craft! 


 

How to Make Five Creepy and Frugal Toddler Halloween Costumes

 

How to Make Five Creepy and Frugal Toddler Halloween Costumes

Halloween is a favorite holiday for many kids. They love to dress up and get free candy! Toddlers are especially excited by the whole idea. Make your toddler a fun Toddler Halloween Costume this year. These frugal toddler Halloween costumes still have all the fun, but not all the cost!

There are lots of costumes available in costume shops and discount stores. But most of them are rather expensive, and they just aren't very imaginative. Besides, what's the fun of wearing the same costume that so many other people are wearing? Here are five homemade toddler costumes that are fun yet frugal.

1. Ghost 

If you want a simple yet scary costume, you can't go wrong with a ghost. All you need is a sheet and some scissors. Just cut the sheet to a length that won't trip your child when he walks, and cut out holes for the eyes. If you like, you could draw on a mouth or add some accessories to give your ghost its own unique style.

2. Scarecrow 

Scarecrow costumes are easy to make. Just dress your child in a flannel shirt and patched jeans or overalls. Tie a rope around her waist for a belt. Add a straw hat, and stick some straw up the sleeves of the shirt and legs of pants. Add some makeup to complete the look.

3. Mummy 

Mummies are super creepy, and making a mummy costume for your toddler won't cost much. All you need is a couple of rolls of gauze and some snug-fitting clothing in a light color. Dress the child, and wrap the arms, legs and body in the gauze. Wrap some around the head to finish.

4. Robot 

For this costume, you'll need a gray sweatsuit, a large box, some silver face paint and silver poster paint or aluminum foil. Cut the flaps off of one end of the box, and cut a hole out large enough for your child's head to fit through on the other end. Paint the box with silver paint, or cover it with aluminum foil. Make some buttons out of construction paper and glue them on. Dress your child in the sweats and box, and paint his face silver.

5. Spider 

With a black sweatsuit and some black tights, you can easily make a spider costume. Just stuff two pairs of tights with newspaper or fabric scraps, and pin one to each side of the back of the sweatshirt. String the “legs” up with fishing line, and tie them to the arms of the shirt to make them move in sync.

You don't have to be a professional designer to make a great Halloween costume for your child. With a little imagination and a few inexpensive supplies, you can whip up something creepy yet cute in no time. And you won't have to worry about your toddler being dressed just like all the other toddlers on the block!

How to Make a Spooky Halloween Fence Decoration

Give your outdoor Halloween Decorations a lift with a Spooky Halloween Fence Decoration

There are so many fun things about Halloween. Choosing a costume and dressing up are favorite aspects for some. For others, it's all about the candy. Still others enjoy decorating for the occasion.

Halloween arts and crafts involve more than just carving pumpkins. There's no limit to the creepy decorations you can create. This spooky fence decoration project is appropriate for both kids and adults.

What You Need

*7 craft sticks or popsicle sticks
*Raffia
*Foam Halloween shapes (pumpkins, ghosts, black cats, bats, etc.)
*Craft glue
*White paint
*Paintbrush
*Black fine point marker
*Newspaper

Instructions

1. Lay the craft sticks out on the newspaper. Paint them white on one side. Let dry. If desired, turn over and paint on the other side.

2. Lay four sticks vertically, side by side. Lay one stick across the bottom of the four vertical sticks, adjusting them if necessary to space them evenly. Glue the vertical sticks onto the horizontal one.

3. Place another stick horizontally across the four vertical sticks, about three-quarters of an inch from the top. Glue into place. Place the last stick halfway between the other two horizontal sticks and glue. When this is done, you should have a grid-like pattern. Let the glue dry.

4. Cut raffia into short pieces to make “grass.” Glue the grass onto the bottom horizontal strip.

5. Cut a piece of raffia about 5 inches long and loop it. Glue the ends to the back of the fence to make a hanger.

6. Arrange foam shapes on the fence, and glue them into place.

7. Use the fine point marker to add details. You might add detail to the foam shapes, make cracks on the fence or draw small spiders. Let glue dry before hanging.

Tips and Ideas

If you don't have any foam Halloween shapes, cut some shapes out of construction paper instead. Chenille stems may also be substituted for raffia.

Make a haunted house out of a cardboard box and some construction paper. Then make several of the fences as directed, but do not add the raffia loop for hanging. Instead, glue them together so that they stand up in a square or rectangular shape and place them around your haunted house. This makes a great Halloween centerpiece!

Instead of hanging your fence on a wall, make it into a magnet. Simply omit the raffia loop and glue a magnet on the back.

Draw a Halloween picture on a piece of construction paper, and glue your fence (without the raffia hanger) to the bottom of it to make a nice refrigerator or window decoration.

Crafts Making Books - The Big Ass Book Of Crafts

The Big-Ass Book of Crafts is one of the fantastic crafts making books that is now available. This is a book of unique ideas to give your home the “wow” factor. Mark Montano, the author, has written a number of books. He is also a well-known top designer.

His craft book features craft projects that are unique and innovative but don’t cost the earth. Some of the projects include a baby head paper weight, Warhol-esque Ultrasuede iPod case, African mask patio chairs, wooden night-light boxes, duct tape furniture, granny chic pillows, designing your own stationery and others.

The book is divided into different sections including Outdoorsy, ideas on how to make the best of your backyard, Dishing It Out, tips on how to decorate plates with different techniques, You’ve Been Framed, unique picture framing ideas. Can I Have a Light, tips on how to decorate lamps, lanterns and chandeliers.

If you enjoy crafty projects and want to turn your home into something special, the Big-Ass Book of Crafts will give you more than enough fabulous project ideas for any budget and skill level.

This is one of the crafts making books that is worth to look at. I have to mention though, that if you have been doing crafts for years, you may find some of the crafts are ones you know already. At least it is a book that is worth a look at if you are looking for Crafts Making Books.