crafts
Crafts Hacks for makers; a digital vision board with clever tips, ideas, techniques and materials for DIY creations.
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
Common Threads
I feel lucky to say that sewing has been a part of my life as long as I could remember. My mom sewed for herself all the time, and when I was younger she would sometimes make me clothes, too. She worked on a boxy tan machine with the word VIKING printed proudly on the side. It was an ugly thing, the color of a manila folder with the sort of 70's vibe that gave away its age.
By Natalie Trowbridge5 years ago in Lifehack
Making With a Purpose
I stand at my kitchen counter, scissors in hand. There is a piece of blue painter's tape, measured to 18 inches, stretching across the laminate. On my left, a quickly-dwindling skein of yarn sits at the ready. I grab a length of the fiber, place the cut end to the far right side of the tape, and hold the side closest to the skein down onto the countertop. I angle my scissors towards the yarn. Snip. I've just sharpened my favorite Fiskars, and the blades cut right through with a crisp, satisfying sound.
By Sarahmarie Specht-Bird5 years ago in Lifehack
Right-handed Scissors, Sister Suffer, Left-of-Center Me
When I think about my relationship with scissors, my shoulders crinkle up, no joke. The same way paper shrinks away and crinkles up in my clumsy scissor hand grip. Scissors are, in many ways, the bane of my existence - the one thing that evades mastery in the midst of a recent explosion of creativity. Granted, if I took the time to study the many types of scissors, if I saved the money to build a collection of well-made examples of this fine invention - if I even had any clue whatsoever about how to make scissors conspire in my art . . .if I had patience maybe . . . who knows what I would be capable of?
By Lady Headlamp5 years ago in Lifehack
Slow & Steady Wins the Race
I’ve loved creating for as long as I can remember .I love it enough that I spent thousands of dollars to get a degree in art to be able to do what I love for a living. While in college, fulfilling course requirements and creating pieces for my portfolio had priority. Before that, maintaining academic performance was my priority. And before that still, creating art was something I did to recharge and find joy. I have had a long, complicated journey to get to where I am now, however.
By Kristina Santiesteban5 years ago in Lifehack
Preserving Beauty
As kids, we dip our hands into paint and see what our tiny fingers can create. We jump into sandboxes to see if the sand can shape and mold into what we’ve envisioned and played out in our mind. For a few minutes the entire world pauses as we touch pen to paper, shovel to sand, or fingers to clay. Nothing matters in those moments except the creation. That’s why art is important.
By Andrea Lowe5 years ago in Lifehack
Cardboard Creations
My passion is creating imaginative play systems from cardboard and found objects with my children. I believe the most important attributes I can foster in my children are the confidence to access and share their creativity, as well as a deep, inner knowing that all things are possible with a willingness to try.
By Jessica Fowler5 years ago in Lifehack
