I thought it would be fun to share little ways that make our crafty lives easier! Here are some of my very favorite craft tips...
- Use a cookie sheet w/ newspaper or wax paper for a portable craft surface…super easy cleanup!
- Sharpen your scissors by cutting sand paper.
- Place a little bit of Vaseline to the end of your glue gun to get rid of those long glue strings.
- Soak your paint brushes in fabric softener or hair conditioner for 10 min…cleans right off!
- Recycle large plastic lids by using them for a painter’s pallette or cutting them up for stencils.
- Need to create a large pattern? Use newspapers!
- Keeping a magnet close by makes picking up those sewing pins a sinch!
- Store those pipe cleaners for kid’s crafts inside of a paper towel tubes.
- Break up some styrofoam to create snow for craft projects.
- Keep those cardboard boxes! Cut & cover with patterned paper to make a mini album, cover with art paper and use as a canvas, and I always use them to eliminate a mess while spraypainting!
Do you have any craft tips you'd like to share? I would love to hear them!
Thank you for the tips, great ideas. I think my tip would be to re use old containers such as Pringles chips tube or Clorox wipes container for storage of paint brushes or other art utensils.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! These are awesome!! Thank you so much for sharing...I didnt know more than half of these!!! Can I share this on my blog???
ReplyDeleteThanks again for sharing!
Kara @ mineforthemaking.com
I saw this on Mother Huddle. Great tips. My tip: save all your scraps. You can use them for so many projects - stuffing, I=spy projects, patches, appliques, etc.
ReplyDeleteYa, I was so happy to be a part of their bullet list...so fun! Great tip Michelle!
ReplyDeleteoooooh i am going to try to sharpen my own scissors! thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that sand paper sharpens scissors... wow... I'll give it a go.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest tip is to never throw away any material. All scraps can be made into something else no matter how small.
Empty Pringles Cans are great for Pipe Cleaners because they don't fall out the other end. ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat tips, Kari! Hope you're having an awesome summer. :-)
ReplyDeleteExcellent Tips!
ReplyDeleteI use a plastic divided plate for my craft paints and mod-podge puddles. If I have any extra mod-podge I mix it into the paint sections... when it's dry it all peels right off.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to sharpen my scissors, that's a new tip for me!
ReplyDeleteMine would be to use old cereal boxes (or any food box that's cardboard) to cut out patterns. I use it for quilt blocks all the time. It's usually thicker than card stock and it doesn't cost you anything extra.
Thanks, these will be so helpful. I guess now I need to clean the craft room so that I can use these tips on a project:)
ReplyDeletegreat tips!!! I use a couple of those but some are new to me so thanks!!
ReplyDeleteOoooo. I'm going to try the sandpaper idea. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJana
LOVE all the tips! Thanks Kari :)
ReplyDeleteFabulous ideas! Here are a couple more:
ReplyDeleteRe-use prescription bottles for tiny craft goods-needles, beads,jewelry parts etc.
Whenever you paint a room, put a small amount of the leftover paint in a small, airtight jar (baby-food jar etc) and store it somewhere in that room-then you can instantly paint over nicks or scuffs on the wall when they happen!
Make sandpaper last 3x as long by putting duct tape on the back of it. Makes it stronger!
Tiny "scrunchies" or ponytail holders are great for keeping bobbin/spool thread from unwinding when not in use.
Empty dental floss containers (and empty pill bottles)make great little emergency sewing kit containers. Put in a needle, a small cardboard square with some plain black,white, and tan thread wrapped around it, a couple of safety pins and put one in your purse, your car, your diaper bag.
These are great tips! I'm totally doing the vaseline on the tip of my glue gun. Those strings drive me crazy!
ReplyDeleteHere's one more tip:
Punching through sandpaper will also sharpen old punches. Punching through waxed paper will lubricate them when they get a little sticky.
I use so many of these! I'm glad you posted them.
ReplyDelete- When cutting adhesive strips (ie. Tacky Tape) scissors get gummy, don't wash them with water - they'll rust, so, I use alcohol swabs or pour some on a q-tip.
- GooGone will take crayon off walls.
- Small ponies or elastic bands can be wrapped around spools of ribbon or tulle.
- For tutus, cut a rectangle of cardboard the length you want your finished strips. Wrap your entire length of tulle (I use the ones from the wedding aisle) and secure with a rubber band at each end. Cut along one of the wrapped edges - you now have all 6 feet of tulle cut to the perfect length for a tutu! Saves SO much time.
Great tips!
ReplyDeleteThe glue gun tip is really going to come in handy! Love it!!
ReplyDeleteThese are really great tips! Thank you for sharing them. Almost all the these are new to me - especially the scissor sharpening. Nice! I love being able to re-use things.
ReplyDeleteYou rock, Kari!
Thank you for these great ideas! I linked to your tips in today's scrapbook news at http://exm.nr/9mDE4U :)
ReplyDeletegreat tips!
ReplyDeleteold muffin tins are great to hold paints for small children
empty toilet paper rolls:
make great bases for pin cushions, or create 'rain sticks' with beans and rice in them or cut a slit and they'll hold fairy lights or garland without it tangling,
LOVE THESE!!! New to the crafting world and these helped TONS! The glue gun one especially! I dip my exacto knife in Vaseline. Helps to cut through my contact paper.
ReplyDeletedoes that really work with the scissors and the sandpaper? I remeber tring it once and finding my scissors just as dull or duller than before so I am curious about others who've tried it.
ReplyDeleteThat was great! Now for my tips:
ReplyDeleteIf you drink sodas from 2 liter bottles, cut the bottom off and use it for small amounts of paint.
I have steel (exterior) doors in my house, and one of them is in the room where my crafts are. I use magnets to stick up large sheets of paper, pattern pieces, etc. I even made a keychain with a magnet inside, so I stick my keys directly to the door and never have trouble finding them.
I hot-glued some golf tees to a board to store thread spools. (I actually had to go buy a bag of golf tees to do this, we don't golf.)
Someone gave me a mattress pad for a double bed. It was practically brand new, but we don't have a double in the house. I've been cutting it up a little along, and using it for stuffing things, so I don't have to go out and buy a bag of fiberfill.
I have a chain hanging on a hook from the ceiling, then a few "S" hooks hanging from that. I use handled paper bags to store things in, so I can just hang the handles on the hooks. Vertical storage!
I keep a funnel with my beading supplies in order to easily pour the beads back into small plastic baggies.
Other great containers to repurpose: Business card boxes, spice tins, lids from cases of paper make great drawer-type storage.
I have a broken baby gate I can't wait to hang from the ceiling in my craft room (horizontally) and I'm going to attach more "S" hooks to hang things like scissors from. Like a pot rack, but for tools! I would think a wire cooling rack would work great, too!
Hang up an over the door shoe rack (the kind with clear pockets) to store just about anything. Ours is on the bathroom door with hair brushes, cotton balls, etc. inside it.
I have a small, weak magnet stuck to my sewing machine to hold a threaded needle for when I need to hand-sew something.
When you need to hand-sew something, if your thread keeps tangling, get a bar of soap and run the thread across it, holding it down with your finger. The thread won't tangle anymore, and it'll wash out easily.
I'm curious about the sandpaper and scissors? It seems like it would just make them more dull. I'm curious as to who's had success with this?
ReplyDeleteThanks! I've never heard of sharpening scissors with sandpaper...what a great idea!
ReplyDeleteHi Carolyn, I've used it on medium grade sand paper and it works great (I used my larger scissors but have heard it works on smaller ones, too.) Love Cara's tip on using it to sharpen your dull punches!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving all of your fabulous tips!! Please feel free to keep sharing them!
ReplyDeleteHi all,
ReplyDeletemy tip is for painting murals on the wall. If you don't feel comfortable just directly painting your design without drawing it on the wall first, instead of using a pencil to draw with I use white chalkboard chalk, it wipes right off after your paint is dry!!
I also use paper grocery sacks (cut open) for making my patterns!
ReplyDeleteAlso good for larger patterns: wrapping paper!
ReplyDeleteLooove the prescription bottles for needle storage, thanks!
Love the lid-for-stencil idea! Already I'm thinking about what I can make stencils for!
ReplyDeleteI've used the sandpaper trick with scissors and it works great. The new coffee containers with snap on lids and handles are perfect for storing water when a sink is not nearby. They don't tip over like jars and they have a lid. I also use these when painting a room or furniture...great for holding paint while you're on a ladder or step stool and easy to close up when you take a break.
ReplyDeletei sharpen my punches by punching foil.
ReplyDeletei found that trick out in line at a michaels... they specifically said not to use sandpaper.
not sure if scissors would be the same
Use the flexible plastic cutting boards to make those little flat plastic holders for embroidery floss. I use them for short pieces of scrapbooking ribbon. You can get them at the dollar store and I was able to cut out about 30 of them from one board!
ReplyDeleteI've used tin foil for sharpening my scissors but will try the sandpaper now. Thanks for the hot glue gun tip too.
ReplyDeleteI have accidentally came across the sandpaper idea a couple years ago when I was using my cutting board to cut smaller squares. My cutter was actually sharper! Now whenever I want to cut my sandpaper, I use my dullest scissors or a lower section of my cutting board and give a little sharpening!
ReplyDeleteSo many great tips! Thanks!
Freezer paper works great for patterns, no pins required. iron it to your material and after cutting it peels right off.
ReplyDelete