This video by Christina Crawford, from Stamping With Style, talks about the basics of stamping. Watch the related videos to learn more about cleaning your stamps and color coordinating your projects.

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This video series by Toni Lipe, of Toni's Design Studio, teaches you the basics of how to knit. Be sure to watch the related videos for additional steps and more great knitting tips.

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This video shows you how to make cute hair clips and bands from duct tape. Watch the related videos for more great duct tape crafts.

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A fun crochet project is a handmade Easter basket. This is a guide about making crocheted Easter baskets.

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Using plastic canvas and ribbon or yarn you can create a beautiful easy to make cross. This is a guide about making a plastic canvas cross craft.

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Kids love to craft, so keeping up with new ideas can be difficult. This is a guide about easy kids craft ideas.

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A wonderful variety of useful items can be knitted while keeping your hands busy. This guide is about learning to knit.

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You can easily create beautiful stained glass looking windows using recycled windows and adding paint or other embellishments. This is a guide about faux stained glass recycled windows.

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Kids attending Bible school love to make crafts to accompany their studies. This is a guide about Bible school craft ideas.

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You can make some unique jewelry items for yourself, to give as gifts, or sell at craft fairs using potatoes. This is a guide about making potato jewelry.

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Use leftover crepe paper in sewing by placing over thick fabric like fleece or textured material that has a tendency to get caught in the feed dog or presser foot, depending on the type or loft of the material. Just sew right over it and when finished, tear if off. It helps keep the fibers from jamming the feed dog as you sew.

By ironduck2003 from Cortez, CO

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Cut a piece of sandpaper to fit on the end of a tongue depressor or popsicle stick and glue it on. Then trim off any excess sandpaper. Let the glue dry and you have a handy little sander for sanding hard-to-reach places.

By ThriftyFun

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I put up a shelf above my sewing machine and attached a 24 inch light from Walmart to the bottom of the shelf for additional lighting on my sewing project. I really like it. Then I put a "clothesline" made of yarn between the shelf brackets, got some light plastic little clothes pins, and now I can hang my pattern, directions, and/or a sample quilt block on the clothesline for easy, quick, handy reference while I'm working on a project. That's 2 tips in one!

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Save old pantyhose to use as stuffing when you make dolls or throw pillows.

By ThriftyFun

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To make your own anti-static pad to eliminate embossing powder sticking to fingerprints, etc.; bundle some bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) into an old hankie or piece of material, secure with string and wipe over card, glass, plastic, or anything you want to emboss. Stamp the image, emboss it and you will have a professional finish every time - no more smudgies. This will save you a few bucks in the long run as everyone has a bit of soda in their cupboard.

By Leanne (aka CheekyChops)

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My daughters are purse fanatics, and I wanted to find a way to keep them entertained while my younger daycare kids had nap time. So, I went to a local craft store and bought some denim purses in varying sizes, along with iron ons, craft glue, glitter, beads, fabric puffy paint, ribbon, and colorful pom poms. The girls spend hours designing their own purses, and have made some also as gifts.

By Jennifer

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Memory boxes are a wonderful way of preserving small bits and pieces of your most treasured memories. They are easily made using thin wood or particle board and then stained or painted. My boxes are 11 inches x 14 inches with one main T-shaped shelf, 3 "cubbies" in the top right hand corner, plus 3 medium "cubbies" below the top shelf, and 2 small cubbies on each side. They can be stained or painted, covered in glass to prevent dust, or left open.

In the picture the one on the left contains mementos of my parents. It contains photos of them with their grandchildren, 50th anniversary photos and mementos, a poem of tribute to them, and dried roses from their funerals. The other box contains mementos of my children with photos, baby booties, graduation tassels, wedding mementos, and sports pins. I cherish these so because I can look at these and in one glance see reminders of little things that meant so much to me throughout my life.

By Sharon, Ky

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This is a quick and easy craft. Using styrofoam eggs, put a heavy duty tooth pick, or a wood skewer, (helps in holding) stick it in the bottom of the egg. Take a printed decorative napkin and pull it apart so you only have the outer layer, tear into small pieces.

Then you will need a Modge Podge medium or you can use white glue diluted with water. Using a craft brush paint the Styrofoam egg well, then take small pieces of the torn napkin and place them on the egg and pat it down (careful because you could pull up the napkin). Add glue to your craft brush and pat the napkin down. Take another piece and continue until the egg is covered. Let dry and give the covered egg another coat of Modge Podge or glue and let dry.

Depending on how you are using the egg decoration, you could tie several strand of the narrow ribbon on the wood skewer to hang down OR you could make several loops for the top and put a pin in to hold in place (dip pin in glue).

Use your imagination!

By Syd

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Welcome spring with a floral wall bucket for your wall or door. Flowers can be easily arranged if you begin with the largest flowers and end with the smaller ones. I found the wall bucket at a second-hand store for $3.50 and purchased the flowers at Michael's Arts and Crafts store for 59% off the regular price. I have about $25 invested in this project. I didn't like the initial color of the wall bucket, I so sanded and painted it before adding the flowers. I was quite pleased with the final product.

Approximate Time: about 1.5 hours

Supplies:

• metal wall bucket
• latex primer
• foam brush or paint brush
• acrylic or spray paint
• wire cutters
• assorted silk flower bunches
• floral Styrofoam
• sandpaper
• paper towel

Instructions:

1. Remove handle from wall bucket and use sandpaper to lightly sand the entire piece.
2. After sanding, wipe it down with a paper towel to remove any dust.
Paint entire piece and handle with latex primer and allow to dry.
3. When dry, paint with acrylic paint or spray paint and set aside to dry. (I used a hair dryer to speed up the drying time for the primer and the paint.)
4. Put handle back on bucket and insert a piece of floral foam inside the bucket, trimming it to fit. The bucket I purchased already had some foam inside that was still in good usable shape, so I didn't have to add foam.
5. The three large flowers I used had extremely long stems, so I used wire cutters to cut the stems off to a manageable length.
6. Insert the largest flowers into the foam, as shown.
7. Next, insert the middle sized flowers to fill in around the large flowers.
8. Then, add the smaller flowers to fill in the bare spots. Lastly, add small flowers and pieces of ivy. Now, your wall bucket is ready to hang.

By Rachel's Mom from Wilkesboro, NC

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Add some fun to this year's Easter egg hunt by making luxury Easter eggs. The kids can help, and the whole family can have fun together!

Approximate Time: 20 minutes, excluding the time waiting for the eggs to cool down

Supplies:

• hardboiled eggs
• food coloring in the following four colors: red, yellow, apple green and blue
• a separate small glass bowl for each food coloring
• a candle and box of matches
• an old fine paintbrush
• acrylic paint in the following two colors: white and true red
• Artline 210 Fineliner pen
• a clean dry cloth
• cotton buds
• leftover pieces of ribbon, a fabric bow, and small crystal flat-back round rhinestones
• quick-drying glue
• a pair of standard scissors
• an old toothbrush

Instructions:

1. Boil the eggs and let them cool down completely before proceeding to the next step.
2. Dip each egg into one of the food colorings ~ make sure that the egg is covered all over with the coloring.
3. Light the candle and wait for the wax around the wick to start melting.
4. Dip the paintbrush into the melted wax and draw patterns onto the egg with the melted wax.
5. As soon as the wax that you have painted onto the egg has hardened, dip the egg into a second food coloring.
6. Wash the egg under a warm water tap, and use the toothbrush to lightly scrape off any wax residue left on the egg.
7. Dry the egg with a clean dry cloth.
8. Use the cotton buds and the acrylic paint to add some detail to the egg.
9. Once the acrylic paint has dried, add some more detail to the egg with the Artline pen.
10. Finish the egg by decorating it with the ribbon, bow, or rhinestones.

Photos included:
Photo 1: Dip each egg into one of the food colorings ~ make sure that the egg is covered all over with the coloring.
Photo 2: Dip the paintbrush into the melted wax and draw patterns onto the egg with the melted wax.
Photo 3: As soon as the wax that you have painted onto the egg has hardened, dip the egg into a second food coloring.
Photo 4: Use the cotton buds and the acrylic paint to add some detail to the egg.
Photo 5: Once the acrylic paint has dried, add some more detail to the egg with the Artline pen.
Photo 6: Finish the egg by decorating it with the ribbon, bow or rhinestones.

By Benetta from Pretoria, Gauteng

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Mix kids and mud and you have a kid having fun. With just a little structure they can make a trivet for a gift in no time.

Approximate Time: 3 hours

Supplies:

• grout or plaster of Paris
• acrylic paint
• 16 craft sticks
• 4 1/2 x 1/4 inch wood block
• good glue
• assorted buttons
• 4 small wooden plugs

Instructions:

Note: If you choose shank buttons make sure they are no taller than the top of the craft sticks or cut the shank off with nippers.

1. Glue two of your sticks to opposite sides on the top of your block; before they dry measure and trim two more sticks to fit inside the opposite two sides and glue them in place as in the photo.
2. Repeat putting the two full sticks on the side with the two trimmed sticks this time.
3. Glue the four wood plugs in four corners on the bottom side. Let the glue dry then paint all, but the inside of the top, as shown in the first photo.
4. When the paint is dry mix up your mud or use grout or plaster of Paris. If you use flour and water, mix it until it is just past being sticky. You want it thick, but not sticky.
5. It helped me to trace the block on paper then I laid out my buttons in a pattern that I liked before I started so I had an idea where to place the main buttons. Then I started with the larger ones and the word buttons followed by the smaller ones to fill in where I needed. Make sure everything is level with the top of the top row of the sticks. After all the buttons were placed I filled in with seed beads pushing them into the wet cement.

By Ann Winberg from Loup City, NE

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I have always been fascinated by the Faberge eggs. To me, these eggs speak of luxury and master craftsmanship, a historic rendition of times gone by. I wanted to make a Faberge-inspired Easter egg card for my mother, who also loves the Faberge eggs, to convey special Easter wishes. Because of the religious meaning behind the day, I chose red as the main color for the card, but the card can be produced in any other color.

Approximate Time: 20 minutes

Supplies:

• 8.2 inches x 5.5 inches marbled cream-colored cardboard
• 6 inches x 6 inches piece of red cardboard
• 8 inches x 6 inches of silver glitter mesh
  For a possible supplier, see http://www.cardmakingcrafts.co.uk/html/fabric_and_mesh.html.
• 8.0 inches x 5.3 inches of ordinary red paper
• a left-over piece of red ribbon, 0.2 inches wide
• one small red fabric bow
• the following rhinestones: 4 small crystal flat-back round rhinestones and 17 red flat-back heart rhinestones
  See http://www.dreamtimecreations.com/ for a possible supplier.
• short red tube-shaped glass beads
• pencil
• ruler
• a pair of standard scissors
• quick-drying glue
• egg-shaped object or cookie cutter
• one matching envelope

Instructions:

1. Fold the 8.2 inches x 5.5 inches marbled cardboard crosswise in half to create a card 5.5 inches x 4.1 inches ~ use the ruler to make the fold neat and smooth.
2. Use the egg-shaped object (I used an egg-shaped cookie tin) and trace an egg onto the red cardboard. Cut out the egg that you have traced on the cardboard.
3. Glue the silver glitter mesh to the front of the red cardboard egg and cut off any protruding edges.
4. Glue the cardboard-and-mesh egg onto the front of the card.
5. Divide the egg in half with the piece of ribbon. Glue the ribbon and the fabric bow in place.
6. Glue the 4 crystal round rhinestones in place on the ribbon.
7. Glue the red heart rhinestones in place on the bottom half of the egg.
8. Use the short red tube-shaped beads to glue three rows of beads that intersect at the top of the egg.
9. Fold the 8.0 inches x 5.3 inches red paper crosswise in half and glue it to the inside of the card to write a message.

By Benetta from Pretoria, Gauteng

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It's not too late to make this adorable bunny. It is quite easy and fun to do with the kids.

Items you will need:

• 1 3 oz. skein of white craft yarn
• 8x8 inch squares of felt, in pink, and white
• 1 small spool of 1/2 inch pink satin ribbon
• 1 Styrofoam egg shape 3 inch ball
• 1 small pkg. of movable eyes, 1/2 inch
• 1 small pkg. of white pom poms 1 inch
• 1 small pkg. of pink pom poms 1/2 inch
• black wire, that can be cut into 2 inch pieces for whiskers
• a decoration, for the bunny's hands
  I used a small miniature plastic square basket and filled it with mini plastic eggs.

Directions:

1. Take the skein of yarn and cut off the wrapper, it should unfold in 1/2.
2. Cut the skein of yarn in 1/2, keeping it still together, like in a long strips of yarn.
3. Take the egg you are using for the head, holding it, place half the skein over the head evenly, so that each side hangs even.
4. Now, take the second half skein of yarn and fold it in the opposite way over the head. So now you will have four parts of yarn, hanging over the head.
5. Take an elastic band and tightly hold all four parts of yarn together in your hand and wrap the elastic around until tightly wrapped. Now, you should have made the head and it should look like a mop head.
6. With a 12 inch piece of pink ribbon, gather a good amount of yarn from the top of the head and feed the yarn through and tie in a knot at the end. This makes a pretty hanger for your bunny.
7. Take another 12 inch piece of pink ribbon, and just tie it around the neck to hide the elastic and make a bow tie.
8. To make arms to hold any object you choose, just take about 6 strands of the white yarn from each side of the dangling yarn, give each arm a twist, and place the arms together in the front. Tie with a 6 inch inch piece of pink ribbon. Now you can attach to the arms the basket with eggs, or just leave it with the ribbon tied in a bow.
9. Now, for the ears, take one piece of white felt square and fold it in half. Draw with a pencil, long oval pointed ears. Cut both at the same time, so the ears will be the same size.
10. Do the same thing with the pink square felt. Fold in half, but cut just a bit smaller pointed ovals. These will be hot glued in the center of the white ears.
11. After you are finished making the pink and white ears, take your hot glue gun and just put two lines of glue across the top sides of the head. Hold tightly until dry. They should stand up just fine.
12. And lastly, the face. Glue on two eyes. The nose is made of one pink pom pom. Right below the nose, place two white ones. These will be hot glued on. Finally, take each whisker, put a dab of hot glue on the end and stick it in between the nose and mouth. I use three on each side.

This sounds like long directions, but it is a very easy fun project to do with the kids!

By Jackie from Norton, MA

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This is a simple craft for Easter using only plastic canvas and ribbon.

Materials and Tools:

• 1/8 inch ribbon
• plastic canvas
• scissors

Instructions:

First you should cut a pattern, start with a rectangle that is 21 squares by 17. Find the center on top edge, leave center square uncut. Cut diagonally until you reach side. You now have a start to the top of the cross. Cross points should go, 1 square/3 square/5 square and then switch to strips of squares, that meet in center.

1. OK, hopefully you were able to cut a pattern from my instructions. Once you have pattern you can hold it up against more canvas to cut more out easily.
2. Cut a piece of 1/8 inch ribbon that is 4 or 5 feet long. Knot one end, and seal the other end with a lighter (angle cut edge is best), this will make a built in needle. Put through very center of cross.
3. Start to "sew" from bottom right of cross, through square and around back, up through the top left of cross. You will continue to go to opposite sides in a "loop" fashion (this is so back and front of cross are visually pleasing). Once you finish vertical part of cross, bring to center: loop around and start to do the same thing to horizontal cross arms. When you are finished, wrap to the center, and either knot or run through top center square and use as a bookmark.

This may be confusing, but once you start making it everything will start making sense. Write if you need more help.

By Starchild in VT from Lamoille County, VT

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This is simple to make using fun fur, paper plates and dowel rods. All of which you can get at a craft store. They can be completed in about 30 minutes. You can make crazy frogs, bunnies, kitties, dogs, etc. Great project and very fun!

By Missy from Pine City, NY

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This simple no-sew project promises to keep a baby doll's feet toasty during winter months. You can do this project in conjunction with the babydoll blanket for a original gift set that little girls will treasure.

What you'll need:

• 2 - 6 inch squares of fleece in a solid color, pastels or white work best
• 2 rubber bands
• 4 small beads
• 2- 10 inch lengths of 1/4 inch satin ribbon

Directions:

1. Roll the outside corners of one square of fleece inward so that two rolls meet in the center.
2. Fold one end of the roll inward so that the ends are uneven by 1 inch.
3. Fold both ends back again and secure them with a rubber band.
4. Spread the outer pocket of the longer end out to form a bunny face.
5. Twist the face and ears so that they will sit upward when the doll's foot is inserted into the slipper.
6. Unroll the body of the bunny to form the sole of the slipper.
7. Tie a satin ribbon around the bunny's neck to hide the rubber band, and sew or glue two beads onto the face as eyes.
8. Repeat to make the second slipper.

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Rooting in water is one of the best ways to start a plant. Just take a few snips from a plant that you love, being sure to include a growth node or two. Strip off any leaves that will be beneath the level of water in the glass, then place the stem end into water in a clear glass container. Stand it in a sunny window, and within a week or so, you'll see the roots beginning to grow.

From the time that I was little, there was nearly always a cutting from a plant sitting in a glass in a sunny window in my grandmother's kitchen. I continue the tradition when I can, but my own tastes run to using the glasses and jars that I find in my shopping travels. Beautiful glasses are so very inexpensive, and lend themselves to creating lovely things. I seldom can pass up an unusual piece of crystal. The shape of this glass is unique, but the garden idea can be used with any wide mouthed bowl glass, or even a large brandy snifter.

The peace and serenity of an Oriental garden are equal parts color, living plants, and the natural stone. Even the structures that are placed in the garden are in keeping with nature, sandstone or natural wood, in lines that harmonize with the graceful shapes of garden plants. The materials used for the cuttings planter are simple to find and easy to assemble.

Materials

• wide-mouthed stemmed glass
• one bag of river rock or washed aquarium gravel
• one or two small sandstone or ceramic gazebos or towers, to scale for the glass
• cuttings of ivy, philodendron, spider plant, or other house plants that root in water

Instructions:

1. Wash and rinse glass well.
2. Dump river rocks or aquarium gravel in a sieve or colander and wash well under running water.
3. Fill glass with rocks to just below the rim of the glass. If using a brandy snifter, fill to just below where the glass begins to bell inward.
4. Strip any leaves on bottom 2-3 inches of cuttings. If desired, dip ends of stems in purchased rooting mix.
5. Carefully insert the ends of the stems into the rocks, nudging stones aside with fingertip if necessary.
6. Arrange benches, pagodas or other decorations on surface of rocks.
7. Fill glass with water to just below the level of the rocks. Tap water works just fine. Distilled water is "dead" water; while it's pure and free of any contaminants, it also has no nutrients in it. If desired, you can mix rooting mixture according to package directions and substitute for the water.

Caring for your planter:
Simply top up the water any time that the surface of the rocks is dry.

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I am sewing wind pants with zippers down each leg. The material I have is only stretchy in one direction. Which way should I layout the pattern pieces? Should I have the stretch be vertical or horizontal?

By Sally D

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I need table decoration ideas for the dining hall at church. Any thoughts?

By Betty from MO

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I'm looking for a pattern to sew fleece cancer/chemo caps. The pattern I'm looking for is for a cloche style cap with gathers up the front center of the cap.

If we can't find a pattern to sew, I'm willing to buy one. I've already seen the Paula Young website, they didn't have anything.

2 cancer patients near and dear to me will send their thanks, and I send my thanks along with them.

By Karen

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Could you use Sharpies to make murals on furniture or walls? How would you seal it so it would hold up to washing? I was wondering if you could use Sharpies to paint on a child's size table. I would need to be able to seal it with some kind of clear coat so it could be washed as needed. (Like tole painting with Sharpies)

By Tammie

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At an estate sale, I purchased a Housekeeper sewing machine, model #S-10. How can I find a manual? There is no address on the machine. It has a made in Japan label on the bottom of the machine.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks for your time.

By J.B.

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I am sure that one (at least) of my fellow TF people will be able to help me find a pattern that I spotted some time ago. I believe that it was here somewhere on TF. It was a crochet blanket, in the 6 colours of the rainbow, in crayon shaped panels, with the colours written on lozenges in the centre of the crayons. I hope that I have been able to describe them so that you will recognise the pattern I mean. Thanking you in advance

By lesley from England, UK

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Does any one know where to get free patterns to make PVC birds? I would love to make couple for my yard. Thanks.

By judybug

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I am looking for patterns to make marionettes on my Knifty Knitters. I found 2 (a worm and a chick) in one of my Provo Craft books, but am looking for more.

By Cher

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What is the best way to hem a dress that is cut on the bias?

By Perla

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Does aluminum foil work on sharpening pinking shears too?

By Joan

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Since I have retired, I have gotten back into my cross stitching. I was wondering if anyone of you Thrifty Funners have the cross stitch pattern for Rhett Butler, Clark Gable's character in Gone With The Wind? I am particularly looking for the pattern put out by Charles Craft. I have the Scarlett pattern and want to do Rhett as well. I have looked online and have not found the particular pattern I am looking for. Thanks a million for any help that you can give me.

By GeorgiaBulldogsFan from Jesup, GA

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Looking for a place to buy inexpensive white, black, and tan faux fur for making stuffed puppies. I can't pay too much. I am not working right now and the fur is for making stuffed dogs as give aways to children in the hospital. Help!

By Ada Girl from Fremont, OH

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