Crafts

Easy-to-Make Wedding Momento

I saw this idea on Pinterest, and immediately remembered that I had kept the corks from my and hubby's wedding, just waiting to figure out the right project. Now I know what to do with at least 1 of them- make one of these anniversary keychains for me. 

Materials:

Wine Cork
Screw eye
Small nail
Key ring
Beads
Scissors
Tape
Computer
Color printer and paper

Step 1: Format a tag on your computer to 2" wide by .75" tall. Leave a .75" square on one side, as shown in the image above. This part will lay across the top of the cork. Then print and cut each piece.
Step 2: Take a piece of clear tape and laminate the front and back of each piece. Trim off any excess.
Step 3: Fold each piece .75" from the edge. Rest the folded piece across the top of the cork. Poke the screw eye into the laminated piece of paper and screw in to the cork. Attach the key ring to the screw eye.
Step 4: Flip the cork over and put a nail through the bead. Then press the nail into the bottom of the cork. It helps to press the nail against a table when pushing it into the bottom. 


 credit goes to: http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/06/recycled_wine_cork_keychain_fa.html



Crayon Art 

I've seen a lot of crayon art on Pinterest, mostly with just the wax running down the canvas, and occasional featuring an initial or something similar. I think it's a neat concept, so I had to try it out on my own.

The steps are pretty easy:
Get the crayons in the colors that you want separated from the rest in the box. 
Use a hot glue gun to glue them in the pattern you want the colors to run in.
Use a blow dryer, running back and forth over the center of the crayons, to heat them up until the colors begin to run, and they run as much as you need them to.
Allow the wax to dry.

I decided to make a little scene, and use green and brown crayons as grass, blue, white, and silver for the sky, and yellow and orange for the sun. I also bought fake flowers, cut the flowers off the stems and glued a few to the tops of some the "grass" to make it look like stems.




Make Your Own Spice Holder 

Have you ever noticed that the box that aluminum foil/wax paper/ parchment paper/plastic wrap etc. is the perfect size for your spices?

All you have to do is cut off the top, and cover with patterned paper, fabric, or whatever you have on hand. Craft glue works great for this easy project. No more searching the cupboard for all spice!!


Upcycle Tin Cans With A Little Paint

Anyone who cooks at all knows there is never a shortage of empty tin cans in the recycling bin. There's also ALWAYS a shortage of where to put all of your stuff. See where I'm going with this? You can use spray paint, or acrylic, or really any kind at all. I used a bit of hot glue to make sure the inside, where the top came off, was safe. Just went right around the ring with the glue gun. 

If you're like me and don't want to use spray paint, you can put one coat on just to rough up the service (it won't cover the first time), then go back over it once that's dry with whatever color you like. It's easy, fast, convenient, and helpful.