Archive for creative crafts

3D Snowflakes or Stars

When I saw these beautiful homemade paper Christmas ornaments I knew instantly that I had to find out how to make them for my tree this year. I spent a few days researching and planning how I could offer this as a tutorial. Here is the written step by step process for you. A video tutorial is also available at 3D Snowflakes or Stars Video.

Items needed to complete this project:

  • A copy of the paper Christmas ornament pattern (DOWNLOAD PDF Paper Christmas Ornament Pattern)
  • Straight edge (optional but recommended)
  • Exacto knife
  • Double sided or scotch tape

The first step in creating your paper Christmas ornament is to cut out each of the six squares from the pattern. Once you have the six individual squares of your paper Christmas ornament snowflake pattern cut apart, use your straight edge and cut on the lines of each square with the Exacto knife. Do this for all six squares.

Once all of the lines on the pattern have been followed using the Exacto knife, your  pattern is ready to start curling.

Step three is curling the pattern. Start with the inside and smallest loose pieces of the pattern and curl them up toward each other. Then curl the next loose pieces in the opposite direction with their tips toward each other.

Keep curling the tips of each pair of pattern cut outs alternating the direction of the curls on sides of the pattern until you have a completed element. Repeat this on all six of the squares until you have all six elements completed.

The last step to creating these beautiful paper Christmas ornaments is to connect all of the individual elements at their tips.

Traditionally, you can add 5 elements together to create a star or six to create a snowflake. Use tape to secure the tips of the element together.

I found the easiest way to be able to create a symmetrical snowflake was to fold the tips and secure them together in somewhat of a pentagon or hexagonal shape in the middle. Doing this allowed me to easily complete a repeating pattern between the first and last elements that I was securing.

Making Christmas Decorations – Getting Ideas

Have you ever tried making Christmas decorations before?

You might think that is is difficult, but in reality, there are some really simple homemade Christmas craft ideas for making Christmas decorations. I have been making homemade Christmas ornaments and handmade Christmas tree garlands for years. But the Christmas decoration ideas don’t have to stop there.

Baking and putting together a gingerbread house is another fun way of making Christmas decorations. Gingerbread Christmas decorations can be elaborate or simple depending on your own desires. And they are always a lot of fun to build.

What about making your own wrapping paper to use to wrap your handmade Christmas gifts? There are a ton of things just from around the house that can be used to enclose and cover your handmade treasures from paper bags to old newspaper.

Coming up with creative craft projects now can save you a lot of time as we rapidly move from one holiday season to the next throughout the year. That is why I like to start planning early.

Making a homemade Christmas wreath decoration is another great idea. Wreath projects can be fast and easy… and perfect if your are involving the children. It is always more fun to make handmade Christmas gifts by involving the entire family. And making your own handmade Christmas gifts can save you the money that always seems to be scarce during THAT time of year.

Don’t forget about the Christmas table decorations. Candles, glass jars and bulbs and a few sprigs of pine bough adds a great accent to any Christmas table top or centerpiece. Kids can easily learn how to make weaved place mats to add just the right accent to your dinnertime display. When making Christmas decorations, Christmas table decorations are some of easiest projects to think of and put together.

Moving outside opens an entirely different perspective and a number of additional homemade Christmas crafts that can be made for outdoor Christmas decorations for the yard. Some examples might be wooden reindeer, lighted boxes made to look like gift boxes or you can go wild and build an entire Christmas nativity.

As you can see there is no shortage of examples when thinking up the creative crafts ideas for homemade Christmas decorations. Making Christmas decorations has become a sort of family tradition in our home. There is just something warm and fuzzy about creating beautiful and unique little treasures. I love the family time spent making homemade Christmas decorations and simply just being together.

Bleeding Cowboys Font

Today’s font is called:

The Bleeding Cowboys font was first seen on the DaFont website in 2007, but it has since been updated. It was created by Gyom Séguin, a graphic designer, illustrator and artist from Canada. Gyom claims, “I am a graphic designer that listens to rock music and designs rocking fonts!” Gyom also has over 40 fonts available.

While researching this font, I found out some interesting things regarding Gyom. I went over to is website which is as plain and simple as his payment philosophy. His hope is that you like his work. So, if you DO like it and you think that it is worth anything to you, simply send him a donation via PayPal. You can find that link on the download page that the above links will take you too. Now, how cool would that be to have Gyom wake up tomoorow and find a few extra dollars in his bank account because of this post?

In addition to typography (fonts) Gyom also creates logos and apparel design. Let him know how you learned about him and thank him for his contributions!

Remember that although we take you to places that offer free font downloads, there are still copyright laws that cover them. Please make yourself aware of HOW you can use the free download by reading and becoming familiar with the extra files that are always available with a free download.

If you need additional font installation instructions, we have some available for you at How to Download Fonts.

Creative Pursuits – Why I Scrapbook and Write

Freelance Writer, Editor, Blogger. Writer for Women’s Memoirs on the net. Does the “ScrapMoirs” twice a month.

Enjoys scrapbooking and other creative arts. Primary site “Creative Pursuits” promotes all creative arts including scrapbooking, card making, writing, photography, quilting, needlecrafts, culinary arts, all are welcome. Contests and prizes.

Who is this wonderwoman? Well… we would like to introduce BettyAnn Schmidt!

BettyAnn has taken advantage of our new “get featured” section on Creative Crafts and Stickers. We had a chance to quickly touch base and asked BettyAnn to tell us about her crafting passions.

Here is what she shared!

I discovered scrapbooking in 1999 and was immediately hooked. My focus was, and is, preserving my family’s history. My ancestors, parents, and my children’s and grandchildren’s. That focus led to a genealogy search for my ancestors, which information I gathered and began putting in my scrapbooks. These sit on my shelves alongside my children’s and grandchildren’s albums, my Christmas scrapbooks, Vacation albums, and my “Me” scrapbook. Other shelves on the same wall hold all of my tools and products, and my big work table sits within a hand’s reach. My “Scrap Den” I call it.

With the huge shift to digital photography, and now digital scrapping, I’ve added a new dimension to creating my albums. I do both digital and paper, and sometimes the combination of hybrid. I’ve taken a boatload of classes on creating scrapbooks, from organizing and storage of products to designing pages.

With a background in writing and journalism and a prior editorial position, I believe in and teach storytelling in scrapbooks. Not all pages require paragraphs of writing, but important stories for your children and children’s children must, in my opinion, be preserved. Especially important to me are the stories of my struggles in life, the values that guided me, my beliefs and morals. I want the children to know where their roots were planted and how deep they went.

My blog is an evolving Journey. Initially began as just a chronicle of my everyday life and views, then to sole focus on scrapbooking, it now bears the title “Creative Pursuits,” welcoming crafters and artists of various persuasions. I love placing links on my blog to my followers’ sites and helping to create a network of women on a common theme.

I also write for Women’s Memoirs online, and my bi-monthly articles teach how to combine scrapbooking with memoir. My articles fall under the topic of “ScrapMoirs.”

Scrapbooking remains, however, my primary focus, and I’m currently running an “All Aboard – Why I Scrapbook” contest on the site. It’s easy to enter, and prizes of gift certificates to online scrapbook retailers will be awarded. All that’s required is leaving the comment on why you scrapbook and clicking my “follow” button.

BettyAnn, thank you SO much for sharing with us on CCAS. We loved featuring you and hope you will come back and share with us often.

Here are some other places that you can find CCAS and BettyAnn. CCAS on Twitter. Betiann on Twitter.