ThriftyFun Crafts - October 1, 2008

With the start of October we will start publishing Fall Decorating and Halloween Crafts. Do you have any to share? Feel free to submit them on one of the contest pages or submit it to Crafts for Fun and Money.

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Thanks for reading,

Susan

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Today's newsletter contains:

Photos and Projects:

• Craft Project: Single Crochet Potholder
• Craft Project: Pumpkin Rolls
• Craft: "Boo" Bottles
• Craft Project: Coffee Filter Art
• Craft Tip: Homemade Chipboard
• Craft Project: Handmade Paper Frame

Tips:

• Make a Needle Threader
• Refurbish Old Plastic Pumpkins With Paint
• Milk Carton Candles
• Reuse Pillow Shams On Your Sofa
• "A Christmas Story" Photo Card
• Use Dryer Lint For Stuffing Dolls, Etc.
• Ideas For Drop Cloths
• Craft: Recycled Paper Pyramid
• Craft: Crackled Cupboard
• Homemade Yarn Canister
• What To Harvest From Your Flower Garden
• Garden: Yard Spiders
• Craft: Make a Sit-Up-On

Requests:

• Making Silver Paint
• Directions For "Locker Hooking"
• Trouble With 4H Projects
• Making A Castle Model For School
• Sewing Christmas Gift Ideas For Beginner

Articles:

• Craft Supplies Falling Into Your Yard

Crafting for Fun and Money!

If you are an avid crafter, capable writer and own a digital camera, you are eligible to participate. Submit your craft projects to ThriftyFun and we will pay $15 for any crafts that we publish.

More Information:
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Craft Project: Single Crochet Potholder

If you can single crochet, you can make this heavy double thickness potholder.

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Craft Project: Pumpkin Rolls

Give your extra toilet tissue a festive look this fall with some fabric and a few craft supplies.

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Craft: "Boo" Bottles

These are just old bottles I picked up on the side of the street. They can be used just for decoration or you can put a candle in them. They are especially cute if you let the candle drip down the sides.

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Craft Project: Coffee Filter Art

Easy and inexpensive, children of all ages can enjoy this craft. Use everyday household supplies to make lovely kid designs. This craft can also be used to teach colors and color blending.

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Craft Tip: Homemade Chipboard

I use magazine inserts to give some of my craft projects stability

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Craft Project: Handmade Paper Frame

This is an old frame made new with the addition of handmade paper and a little ribbon. I did not make the paper myself, though I know there are directions on the internet and in books telling how to do this.

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Make a Needle Threader

If you cannot see well enough to thread your yarn directly into a big eye needle, and have a hard time pinching the end to make it fit into the eye, you can make simple needle threaders using a piece of thin but stiff plastic, such as those that come in product packaging.

Just cut it into strips, up to two inches long, and up to one inch wide. Fold each strip in half, as you would a hot dog bun, making a permanent crease. Sandwich the end of the yarn into the strip, as you would put a hot dog into the bun, making sure the tip of the yarn does not go beyond the tip of the threader. Slide the strip-encased yarn through the eye of your needle until you are certain the yarn is threaded through, then pull the strip free. Alternatively, you can first slide the empty folded strip part way through the eye, unfold the other end, clasp the yarn inside it, then slide it through.

By Sharon from Nampa, Idaho

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Refurbish Old Plastic Pumpkins With Paint

Recycle your old faded plastic pumpkins with a new coat of paint and a little glitter. Acrylic paint works best for indoor and outdoor use.

By Laura from Newberry, FL

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Milk Carton Candles

Recycle used chunky candles by making your own. Melt down your leftovers double boiler style (never leave during this process), then dip the end of a new taper candle into this melted wax. Immediately place it into a clean wax-type half gallon milk carton and let it harden, making sure to keep it centered. Take other used tapers and break them into pieces, then place into the carton around the taper. Pour your melted wax in next and let it harden, then cut a slit in the top of the carton and tear it off. The result is a beautiful new candle that cost very little.

By Patricia from Imperial, NE

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Reuse Pillow Shams On Your Sofa

Use pretty pillow sham covers as pillows on your sofa or as throw cushions! I see these all the time at Goodwill for a buck or two, and I decided to make use of them. My kids like to use them as floor pillows, as well. Plus if your sofa is kind of tired looking you can add a couple and give it a whole new look.

By Carol from Landisville, PA

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"A Christmas Story" Photo Card

We love the movie "A Christmas Story". So last year we decided to pay tribute to the scene the boys love best, which is where one kid dares the other kid to stick his tongue to a frozen flag pole. I used my photo software to change the picture to black and white and frosted the edges. The caption on the card read "WE TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU TO HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS". Everyone loved it!

By Selena from Columbia

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Use Dryer Lint For Stuffing Dolls, Etc.

When my daughter was younger, she made hundreds of miniature stuffed animals, dolls, personalized pillows, and so forth, using fabric scraps. Even with the fabric free, of course, cotton batting or fiber-fill would have cost money to stuff her creations. So, she stuffed them with dryer lint!

It sounds odd, but realize that the lint caught in the dryer has just been thoroughly washed in the washer. It's clean, soft, and free.

For a while, she sewed so many dolls that she even had our family's friends collecting their dryer lint for her. She repaid their favor with little stuffed mice and other novelty dolls, which they loved.

So, don't discard it. Use it! :)

Source: I had a stuffed tiger when I was small, whose original stuffing looked like dryer lint, whether it actually was or not. We got the idea from that.

By Sterghe from Pennsylvania

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Ideas For Drop Cloths

Don't throw away those old sheets or shower curtains. Use them as drop cloths when your children are painting, doing play-doh, helping you cook, or when crafting.

Source: Fellow crafters, Sunday School teachers, and parents in my community

By Michele from Landisville, PA

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Craft: Recycled Paper Pyramid

I opened a pen package today and was going to save the white board inside for signs, then realized they had little folds in the ends and the middle. Curiosity took over and I folded them, to find that they make a perfect little pyramid!

So, here are some possible uses that I thought of, and you can all get those wheels spinning and go from there...

Before you fold and tape it, use a darning needle and string some string through the very center of the middle line, tying a knot at the end. Then, turn it over and put stickers of whatever you like, or photos of celebrities, kids, friends, dogs, cats, etc on the middle two sections. Fold it and tape it and hang it from a lamp edge or some place high. If you get several, or make a pattern out of the original and make a bunch out of poster board, you can have a neat mobile!

It's also cool for sitting on your computer top with photos on it.

Use it to hold up a recipe card on top of the box.

Use it for a temporary business card holder at a show or bazaar.

Cut it in half length wise and decorate each one as a bell for ornaments.

Enjoy!!

By Sandra from Salem OR

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Craft: Crackled Cupboard

This old cupboard was in the basement when I bought my house. I thought it had charm because it was made of car siding which happens to be pretty much in vogue. It was a dull brown so I set to revamping it. I decided to crackle it, using hide glue. (Crackling in this manner is an inexact way so you might like to use a kit or crackle medium instead of the glue) It now it has a place in my kitchen by my dining set. I love it now!

By Elaine from Iowa

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Homemade Yarn Canister

I have always had a problem with yarn staying put when I am knitting and crocheting. I thought it was silly to purchase the already made yarn canisters with the hole in the top, so I made my own with a large potato salad container.

First, I put a hole in the top so that the yarn would easily slide through it. Then I decorated mine with yarn. I wrapped the yarn from the bottom to the top and secured it with a touch of hot glue. Then I decorated the lid with the same yarn in spirals. Now I have my very own frugal yarn canister and it only cost me a bit of yarn. Very easy and helpful!

By Maureen from Silver Spring Township, PA

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What To Harvest From Your Flower Garden

Grab some freebies from your garden for next year!

I pick off dried marigold flowers and save in a paper bag (labeled) to plant next year. Each dried flower contains tons of seeds!! Also, you can root sprigs of rosemary and impatiens in water and keep in a sunny window, to plant next year.

Also, look around for pretty or fragrant herbs and flower heads, pine needles, little pine cones and leaves for a homemade potpourri. Just dry (the simplest way is to put them in a basket and leave in a dark dry space. Shake now and then). When they are dried, you can add dried orange peel, cinnamon sticks broken, or whole, bay leaves, etc. then shake a few drops of essential oil (I like cinnamon) and put out in a pretty bowl for your own homemade welcome to fall!

If you have hydrangeas, pick off flowers now, and put them in a basket, they will dry naturally and look gorgeous!!

By Carol from Landisville, Pa

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Garden: Yard Spiders

We had just cleaned out grapevines in the backyard, so I thought, I should make something. Spiders came to mind for Halloween. I cut the lengths I wanted, nailed them to a piece of 2x4 and stuffed a black trashbag and nailed it on top. Glitter for the eyes. Large spiders in the yard, spoooky.

By Vickie G from Earle, AR

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Craft: Make a Sit-Up-On

Do you like to go camping but hate sitting on the cold wet ground? How about making a gift for the teachers at an elementary school? Take some old news papers, an old shower curtain, and yarn/ribbon and make a sit-up-on. Cut the curtain into strips that are 18 inches by 30/36 inches. Place folded newspapers (maybe an inch thick) on the curtain and fold the curtain over. Holes in the curtain along the edges and feed the yarn through to close the curtain up.

Source: Old girl scout project.

Editor's Note: Here's a good link with pictures:

• http://www.momsminivan.com/extras/situpon.html

By Mary G from Durham, NC

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Making Silver Paint

What colors of paint do you mix to get silver? I want to make some silver bells from a stamp for Christmas cards.

Angie from Lily, WI

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Directions For "Locker Hooking"

Can anyone explain the directions on how to start "Locker Hooking"? I watched a lady do it at a quilt show but by the time I got home I couldn't remember how to start it. Thanks.

Janet from Yardville, NJ

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Trouble With 4H Projects

How do I handle this one? My younger daughters all sew and are in 4H. Our club does not have a sewing project leader, so they work their projects at home. We also homeschool, and we do sewing and other home ec projects as well. We also have Amish roots, and needlework is sort of in our blood. It is taught at a very early age. My girls projects are of the level of an Amish girls the same age, but not of an "Englishers". As a result, they are very good little seamstress, and have made numerous high quality outfits, better than many adults can sew.

Our problem is when they enter their projects in the fair, they are marked down with reasons of "outfit or project skills are not age appropriate" or projects are removed with a tag of "appears the parent made this project". We have tried putting photos of them making their projects in with the project, but that does not help.

The kids and the leaders of our group are not allowed to talk to the judges until after the project is judged. We have different judges each event, so they are not likely to remember that they are skilled little girls. Last fair a judge said at their age they should be making 2 piece pillows, not a dress and purse set.

My girls love sewing and don't want to drop it as a project, nor do I feel they should enter a 2 piece pillow instead of what they are really capable of. We have another fair next month and I am trying to look for a way to get a better grip on it, without discouraging the girls. FYI, in 4H, they are not judged against other kids projects. Instead all projects are judged against a checklist, so technically all entered projects could get a blue, red, white or yellow ribbon.

April from NW Missouri

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Making A Castle Model For School

My daughter (7 yrs old) has to make a 3d castle for school. Does anyone have any ideas on how to make this? Its got to have a moat and portcullis and a chapel and dungeon etc (ugh! I'm not very creative!) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Michelle from Corinth, TX

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Sewing Christmas Gift Ideas For Beginner

Does anyone have ideas for sewing Christmas gifts that would be suitable for a beginner? Thanks very much and God Bless!

Debra from Hampton, Tenn

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Looking for a frugal solution to an everyday problem? Submit your request here: Click Here

Craft Supplies Falling Into Your Yard
By Kelly Ann Butterbaugh

As the autumn months pass by, many of our yards are filling with free craft supplies. Be sure to take advantage of the plentiful offerings of nature. Your kids will thank you for it.

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