5 Crafty Things to Do with..... Food!

Today's five crafty things is all about using food in crafts. I found these ideas and tutorials on Pinterest and each source is linked under the picture. Enjoy!

1. Make a spaghetti starburst mirror.

Food used: Spaghetti.

Source: http://tuckerup.blogspot.ie/2012/09/diy-starburst-mirror-under-5.html

The mirror in the picture was made using wood skewers not spaghetti but I'm pretty sure I've seen a mirror like this made using spaghetti, and would mostly follow the tutorial given in the link provided.


2. Make stamps from food, for pictures and even clothing, like scarfs.

Food used: Whatever you can think of!! (Within reason, I don't think things like a banana and bread would make very good stamps!)

Source: http://blog.luulla.com/paper-craft/food-stamping

Source: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2012/08/fruit-veggie-stamping.html

This is a fun one as the possibilities are endless.

3. Restyle a picture frame.

Food used: In the frame pictured, green peas, barley, and pasta were used, but you can change it up a bit if you like. I think pasta type foods and seeds and grains would be best, things like that that wouldn't go bad.

Source: http://stranamasterov.ru/node/212745?tid=451

4. Make a food flag.

Food used: Whatever food matches the colour you need. (Try to use food associated with that particular country to make it more fun and challenging.)

Source: http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/national-flags-made-out-of-popular-foods.html

I like this one, I think it's very fun.

5. And lastly, why not make some handmade tea bags with heart cookies.

Food used: Ingredients to make your favourite cookies.

Source: http://www.merrimentdesign.com/handsewn-teabags-tied-to-yummy-cookies.php

These would be a lovely little present for Mother's Day.

Thanks for reading this installment of 5 Crafty Things, I hope you've enjoyed these foody crafts.
Jen x

5 Crafty Things to Do with ..... Square Pieces of Paper

This weeks 5 crafty things features a simple square piece of paper. Most of the things shown is origami, but who doesn't love a bit of origami, and you can create such beautiful things with it.

1. Paper Wall Art.

I found this on Pinterest, it's from marthastewart.com. It's similar to the paper snowflakes that everyone's familiar with except the paper is square. I think it's cute and would make some interesting wall art. The tutorial for this wall art is available here: http://www.marthastewart.com/272167/rice-paper-wall-art?czone=crafts/crafting-tools-center/crafting-tools-projects&center=276982&gallery=275000&slide=272167 .







2. Origami Crane

 This is one of the most popular origami models and they're super fast and easy to make. You can find an easy diagram tutorial here: http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-crane.html. There are loads of things you can do with these cranes like this below.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p96wvSgu_fI/T7J9ylhQhQI/AAAAAAAAD9M/j2qMfSGs9Vs/s1600/031.jpg

3. Origami Butterfly

 This is another easy but beautiful origami piece. Simple diagram tutorial can be found here: http://goorigami.com/single-sheet-origami/origami-butterfly/3006
 They can be used in similar ways to the crane and would look lovely displayed in a way like the picture above.







4. Origami Heart

 These are very easy to make and as Valentine's Day is coming up they can be used for a variety of things. They can be attached to handmade cards, used as valentine's decorations, write a letter then fold it into this heart shape, whatever you can think of. An easy to follow tutorial can be found here: http://www.origami-instructions.com/easy-origami-heart.html.





5. Origami Star

Last but not least, a square piece of paper can be used to make an origami star. Mine looks very rough in the picture but that's because I was using slightly thick paper that was not very easy to fold (note to self: next time buy origami paper or something besides card!). There is a tutorial here that's easy to follow and shows how nice they look if you make them with patterned paper: http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-8-pointed-star.html





Thanks for reading this 5 Crafty Things. Coming next week is ....... I haven't quite thought of anything yet, I'll have to put my thinking cap on and get back to you! If you have any ideas, let me know.

Jen x

5 Crafty Things to Do with..... Paper Doilies

I love doilies, and here are five crafty things you can do with the very inexpensive paper ones you can get in any euro shop.

1. Make some doily art!!

I cut up a doily into pieces, glued onto the paper, and drew a lady dancing!!
I'm terrible at drawing, but I think it's a cute idea and there are loads of things you could do and draw something spectacular.









2. Have some doily decor.

Why not brighten up a space with some doily decor. Simply fold doilies in half and put across a piece of string. I have my string hanging across two lampshades. Simple but nice.










3. Spruce up a boring lampshade.

Here I used my doilies to cover a boring brown lampshade that I have. I cut four or five doilies in half, put a small bit of glue on the tops, just enough to stick, and stuck them around the lampshade starting from the bottom. The bottoms of the doilies aren't glued so it gives it a nice ripply type affect. I've seen loads of doily lampshades on Pinterest that are a bit better looking then mine, so there's loads of different options you can try.



4. Use them to decorate boring presents, copies, or any other stationary type things.

This is the wrapping that I used for my Christmas presents this year. I used simple brown paper and decorated them with doilies. I thought they were really unique and different than the traditional wrapping paper. I also used doilies to decorate a plain copy that I have. Very pretty.









5. Use them as placemats.

If your having a dinner party, paper doilies look lovely as a placemats, or you could just have a large one in the middle of the table. There are lovely examples on Pinterest.

I hope you enjoyed my five crafty things to do with paper doilies. Coming up next, five crafty things to do with crochet roses.

Jen x

5 Crafty Things to Do with..... Jars

There are endless things to do with jars instead of throwing them into the recycle bin. One of the most obvious of these is to reuse them for storing various bits and pieces, but there are other cute little things you can use them for too.
I'm going to show you three ways that I reuse jars, and two other things that I've found on pinterest (which I will get round to doing some day... maybe).

1. Use to store things.

I use jars to hold my pencils and biros, crochet hooks, and my paint brushes (and also spare change, random little crocheted things, buttons, and other stuff that doesn't have a place anywhere else). I painted the jars some of my favourite colours just to brighten them up a bit.

 

     2.  Use them as a vase.

Vases are another lovely way to reuse jars. I just made a simple crochet cover to put over my jar.

   3.  Use as a candle holder.

I saw this on pinterest and thought it was pretty so just made a very simple version myself.
I just got a paper doily and heart and tied with a piece of string, simple but pretty. Just pop a tea candle in the jar and be careful not to leave lighted candles unattended.

Quick tip: Use a long piece of spaghetti to light hard to reach candles. It works great, just light the spaghetti to light your candle.



     4. Desserts in a jar.

There are loads of these on pinterest and would make such a lovely gift. These ones here are mini cheesecake jars I found on marthastewart.com. The perfect gift for the dessert lovers in your life.

http://www.marthastewart.com/870199/mini-cheesecake-jars#

      5. Flower pot jars.

http://www.meetmina.com/2011/05/diy-mason-jar-herb-garden.html

Jars are a perfect for growing herbs and other small plants that don't need a lot of space. Wouldn't a row of these herb jars look lovely on your kitchen windowsill?

And there you have it, 5 simple, crafty things to do with jars! If you have any interesting and unusual things you use jars for please let me know. 

Coming up next week is '5 crafty things to do with .... doilies' (paper doilies because that's all I have at the moment!). 

Jen x