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A messy environment might be a sign of creativity, but clutter can be distracting, which can, in turn, lead to unproductivity. A tidy, inviting craft …
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Who doesn’t love a festive DIY holiday project? Grinches, perhaps. But if you’re reading this article chances are you’re ready to get creative so, read …
Sharpie Mugs are a fun and easy way spruce up your morning coffee without having to spend a ton on an expensive mug. All you need to make them are white mugs (dollar store mugs work great), oil-based Sharpie paint pens, craft stickers and nail polish remover (to wipe off any mistakes). They’re a really great craft option to make on a rainy weekend with your kids.
These mugs are so beautiful that you’ll be tempted to keep them all for yourself! If you’re feeling generous, fill them with homemade cookies, hot chocolate mix or packaged coffee beans for the perfect hostess, teacher, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gifts. It’s important to remember that once the design is set in the oven that these mugs are hand-wash only.
Materials Needed:
White mugs
Oil-based Sharpie Paint Pen
Craft Stickers
Nail Polish Remover
Directions:
Place a sticker on your mug. You can place the sticker wherever you like.
Using a Sharpie oil-based paint pen in a color of your choice, begin making dots around the edge of your sticker.
Heavily concentrate your dots around the edge of the sticker. As you work your way outward, make your dots less concentrated.
You can use 1 color or multiple colors (we used black and gold).
Allow time for the paint to dry.
Once the paint is dry, peel your sticker off. If you notice any mistakes after you remove your sticker, just wipe them off with a q-tip that has a bit of nail polish remover on it.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Once your oven is heated, set your mugs inside and let them “bake” for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, turn off the oven and let the mugs and oven cool down.
Enjoy your new personalized mugs!
Written by Ashley Ruess and originally published on Shared.
The products and services mentioned below were selected independent of sales and advertising. However, Simplemost may receive a small commission from the purchase of any …
Easter is right around the corner! Time to dust off those decorations and start ringing in springtime.
Typically, Easter is a time for dying eggs, however this DIY craft has you dying coffee filters instead. These dip-dyed coffee filter flowers are the perfect Easter craft to do with friends and family. The best thing about these coffee filter flowers is that they are super cheap and easy to make, but still look amazing.
Here’s what you’ll need to create your own flowers.
Coffee filters
Food coloring
Paper cups
Shallow dishes
Warm water
Scissors
Hot glue gun
Drying rack
Baking sheet
Ready to get started? HGTV Handmade shared a video on YouTube that will take you through the process. Watch the video, and follow the steps to create your own Easter dip-dyed coffee filter flowers.
If you’ve got a handful of tea lights leftover from illuminating jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween, this is the perfect holiday craft for reusing them. These tiny …
Glitter pumpkins. Painted pumpkins. Glow-in-the-dark pumpkins. Been there, stenciled that. If you think you’ve seen just about every way to bring creativity to Halloween, then you are in for a surprise.
Pumpkin dioramas are the new way to take pumpkin art to the next level. Yes, art! How else could you describe something so epic?
The best part about this breath-taking trend is that it’s actually pretty simple! Forget painstakingly carving vampire teeth onto a pumpkin, or sweating up a storm as you try to lay a stencil on perfectly straight. No, with pumpkin dioramas, anything goes!
It’s safe for the little ones to be hands-on, so you don’t have to worry about them grabbing onto the sharp edges of the pumpkin cutter. Plus you don’t have to worry about cleaning up the mess, as these dioramas are made with plastic or foam pumpkins!
Well, who are we kidding!? Your kids are definitely not going to want to miss out on the candy. But they will also love being part of this craft.
Here is how to get started:
1. Pick out an appropriately sized artificial pumpkin. Get one that is wide—you are going to be using it as your ‘stage,’ so you don’t want to limit yourself with too narrow of a space. Art of Doing Stuff recommends you use a serrated pumpkin-carving knife to cut a large hole in one side of the pumpkin, but you may need to experiment (carefully!) with a sharper blade like an X-ACTO knife if the pumpkin carver doesn’t do the trick.
2. Do you want to paint your pumpkin? If so, now is the time to do it. Rich black and creamy whites make for a great background, but you can also do a pop of color like hot pink. Stripes are also a unique idea, like this one from Plaid!
3. Use a piece of cardboard or a flat small piece of plywood as the base of your diorama. You need something flat and level inside the pumpkin. You could even use a book or small notepad. Then cover the flat surface with fake grass, dirt, leaves, or colored sand.
4. Hot glue is your friend! If you do any sort of crafting, a hot glue gun needs to be in your toolbox of tricks. For instance, create a tiny disco ball (use sparkly nail polish and a small pebble or Styrofoam ball) and then hang it from the “ceiling” of your diorama with the help of a hot glue gun. You can also glue tiny pieces of black/white fabric around the diorama to create mini ghosts.
5. Consider the scene. Are you creating a spooky graveyard? Check out your grocery store’s baking aisle or the Halloween aisles at your local Target. You will probably find all manner of cake/cupcake toppers that will work perfectly in your diorama, from tiny skeletons to tombstones. Or, create your own with nothing other than a rock and black Sharpie! “RIP” is easy to write, and scrawled writing will just make it look more spooky, so don’t worry about making it perfect.
6. Don’t make it too complicated. Yes, you could spend hours gluing tiny bones and bats to your pumpkin, but you could also lay down some fake grass and put a Halloween cake topper inside. Or a spooky plastic haunted house would work just fine. Add sticky bats to the outside of the pumpkin. Or how about a chic woodland scene? Check out this one from Hello Lidy:
String art has always been a popular craft. With just a few materials, you can create a fun and unique piece of art for your home. On Etsy, these statement pieces can range from $15-$300.
I was able to purchase a few materials at my local craft and hardware store and make mine for about $15. Because I like to work quickly, I feel the most challenging part was wrapping the string around the little nails. It definitely requires patience, but the effort is totally worth it!
If you’re looking to have some fun, or make budget friendly (and unique) gifts, try making string art!
Materials
Wood board, at least 3/4″ thick
Small mirror (about 3″ in diameter)
Hot glue gun
1 ½” finishing nails
A hammer
A sunburst template printed on paper (you can save the one we used below)
String (any color)
Craft Instructions
Lay paper template on board.
Using the finishing nails, nail the pattern through paper template.
One you’ve hammered in all your nails, remove paper template by simply ripping it off.
Double knot string to one nail. Trim excess string.
Keep string taut and start wrapping around nails, being careful not to cross over any negative space (where the mirror will be in the center).
Finish by tying a double knot to a nail.
Trim excess string.
Hot glue mirror into center of sunburst.
Add a picture hook on the back and hang on your wall (optional).
If you have various boring, white ceramics collecting dust around your house or camping out in boxes in the attic, try this fun and easy craft to give them new life.
This is also a really fun activity to do with kids as it’s not too messy and allows them to experiment with colors. Simply visit your local thrift store and pick up a few items if you don’t have any at home. I think it would also be fun to try this with glassware as well – how neat would a flower vase look with some eclectic colors?
Materials Needed
Plastic tub (at least 8” deep)
Ceramic items
1-3 nail polish colors
Toothpicks
Clear acrylic spray
Paper towels
DIY Instructions
Add warm water to your plastic tub (enough to mostly submerge your object without touching the bottom).
Gently pour nail polish color(s) of your choice into the bowl.
Use a toothpick to gently swirl the colors.
Dip the object into your mixture.
Place on towel to allow nail polish to dry (3-4 minutes).
Gently pat dry with paper towel.
Finish by spraying with clear acrylic spray.
Tip: It is not recommended to eat food off these items. If they become dirty, we recommend you hand wash them; they are not microwave or dishwasher safe
If you’re a fan of those on-the-go Starbucks Frappuccino, don’t throw away the glass bottles just yet. Like Mason jars, those bottles are great for do-it-yourself projects. …
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If you’re a crafter like me, a glue gun is one of your favorite crafting tools. However, sometimes I need to get into a tight space or only use a little, thin strip or dab of glue. In Roman UrsuHack‘s video, he shows us how to retro-fit a ball-pump needle into a glue gun.
A couple of things to note before you get started:
You’ll need a few tools to do this
Going forward, this gun will always have a small tip
If you have an extra glue gun lying around (or if you craft a lot and are in need of a gun with a smaller nozzle) this might be a neat thing to try out.
Providing appetizers at a party is a great way to get conversations flowing and keep guests happy. A chalkboard cheese tray is a beautiful way to display snacks. Here’s a DIY video and step-by-step instructions on how to make one of your own!
Want the materials to complete this craft? Visit the Gild Collective site. Here you can purchase all the tools you’ll need to make this at home.
How To Make A Chalkboard Cheese Tray
Apply a small dab of wood glue on the bottom side of one of the four cup legs.
Repeat Step 1 with all four cup legs, then flip the tray right-side up to let it dry. Wait a few hours before next steps.
To prep for painting, line board with washi tape.
Paint the board.
Once the paint has dried completely, remove the washi tape and prep the board for writing by rubbing it with chalk.
Wipe board with a wet paper towel then dry paper towel.
Additional Tips
Chalkboard paint is not food safe, so be sure to put down wax paper when serving food.
This tray is for serving purposes, and is not recommended to be used in place of a cutting board. We recommend cutting your food on a separate surface, then transferring it to this tray for an extra cute serving display.
If you use chalk marker, it is less likely to fully erase. But don’t worry, you can always touch it up with your chalkboard paint!
About our crafting partner: Gild Collective is like Pinterest in party form. They make it easy for women to gather for a craft night by providing beautiful DIY project supply kits and great photo and video instruction.
I absolutely love these cute little mason jar pin cushions. Whether your a master crafter, sewer, or just like to be extremely organized, these simple …
