Bottle Cap Frig Magnets

Have you been saving your bottle caps, and now need a cool project to do with them?  A really easy way to recycle bottle caps is to make refrigerator magnets!  I used some scrap booking paper and traced around the bottles to make a circle.  I then glued it inside the bottle cap, and finally glued a magnet to the backside.

Make It Work

I've been making a lot of collages lately.  It's very easy, and fairly cheap.  I went to Joann's and bought a 3 pack of canvas board, some Modge Podge glue, and some scrap booking paper.  I got colors that looked good together, but not too matchy.  Then I started cutting out pieces, I cut out the bigger pieces first, and laid them down on my board first.  Then I layered it with other smaller pieces of different paper and patterns.  Finally I added some ribbon and the text "Make it work"  Tim Gunn's catchphrase.

With the other two canvas I made some crayon art.  I had leftover maps and decided to cut them out in a circle, so that's in the middle of the board.  I had some traveling scrapbooking paper so I cut that out and glued it to the corners, I didn't want just plain canvas corners.  Then I divided the crayons into two different color pallets.  I glued down the crayons with tacky glue and let them dry for about 5 minutes.  Finally I used a blow dryer and melted the crayons both into the center and out to the corners.  

Waterfall Braid

Waterfall Braid

To do this braid, you need to leave a piece out on one side each time you grab a new piece from that side.  For this photo, I split my piece in half on the left hand side, before grabbing a new piece from the scalp.  

You can do a variety of things with the waterfall braid, but I think it looks best as a headband across the forehead.  It also keeps back bangs or other stray pieces.  It also looks pretty to do two waterfall braids on the sides and leave pieces up into the middle to add to a braid down the middle of the head.  

NEW SHOW: TLC's Craft Wars

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/craft-wars/videos/introducing-craft-wars.htm

I'm really excited to see that TLC created this show "Craft Wars."  I'm excited to see this show--It premiers tonight!  The previews say that there are three different experienced crafters, I wonder what media they will be using.  It sounds like a show that I'd really like to be a part of!  I will be recaping this show on youtube.  Don't forgot to subscribe to my channel

www.youtube.com/megasaurusrx

DIY Skirt

I was in Ghana last January and bought this beautiful dress.  I just love the bright colors and the gorgeous print, but the dress didn't fit me too well.  I also noticed the seams to be ripping a little bit.  I decided to use my own crafting skills, and rework the dress into a high waisted skirt.  The dress had a zipper, but when I cut off the top, the zipper didn't work anymore.  So i decided to take out the zipper and sew up the seam.  I also added a little bit of seam allowance to both sides.  Then I used my favorite method of closing--elastic.  It works perfect for any closing and it's so simple!  

I folded the top over, and stitched it down, and then I ironed it and stitched the top so the elastic won't flip inside.  Then I added a safety pin to the elastic, and threaded it through the band. It's a very easy method, and it works quickly. 

The skirt looks really cute high waisted with a tank top for summer.  And now, it's appropriate for work :) 

How to Braid Hair

Here is the fishtail braid.  It's easy once you figure out how to hold the pieces with your fingers.  It especially looks pretty on long hair, but short hair would be pretty as well.

This is for experienced braiders.  I've finally got the hang of this braid, if you have any questions, let me know.  It's kinda confusing

Here's a simple french braid to get your bangs out of your face.  It's easy if you know how to french braid already.

Crayon Art--Trial-Error

I saw a few new crafting ideas on pinterest, and wanted to try them out.  I went to Walmart and bought a hot glue gun, some poster board, contact paper, and a box of crayons.  I wanted to make a cook poster of a quote.  First I decided on my favorite teaching quote

"A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary" 

So I printed off the letters I needed in a neat font--Helvetica.  Then I cut them out, to trace on my contact paper.  Make sure to trace the letter backwards, so that they will be the right way when you cut them out.  

Then I used a funky scissors to cut out the letters, and stuck them to my poster board.  

Finally I decided to try something I saw on Pinterest.  I saw that you can use a hot glue gun to melt crayons.  So I peeled some crayons and put them through my hot glue gun.  It didn't work as well as I suspected, and it made a big mess.  ( I would not recommend it)

So since I didn't really like the hot glue gun melting the crayons, I decided to just color a litte myself, and then I tried melting the crayons a little with a blow dryer.  It turned out okay.  

Last, I peeled off the contact paper, and then you can (kinda) see the quote.

Then I wrote out the quote in black crayon to accent it.