Stuff you can make:
Above left, tissue-paper party favors from Martha Stewart (get containers here)
Above right, cereal box magazine organizers, also from Martha
Mini smores grill at Ohdeedoh
Girl's ruffled apron at I Have To Say
Repainted, decoupaged dresser at Curbly
Colorful wall hooks at Tangled &True
Round fabric-covered bulletin boards from Sweet Jessie
Inkjet image transfers at Photojojo
Sewn coat hanger cover at Notebook Magazine
(Images from marthastewart.com)
While procrastinating at my desk yesterday, I found myself staring at our letter opener and thinking how plain it looked. Clearly I couldn't keep using such an abomination. It must be decorated.
See? It's so.... white. And those clips. So black. No fun. I'd seen some lovely binder clips available for purchase here and here, decoupaged with paper, but I wasn't sure how fabric would work. Experiment time.
1) I tried three options: fabric pieces with iron-on interfacing applied, fabric with HeatnBond applied (not that I was going to iron it to the metal, but it makes your fabric sort of papery when you've pulled off the backing), and just plain fabric.
2) Trimmed the pieces carefully to size.
3) Removed the wire handles of the clips (very easy).
4) Applied spray adhesive to the back of the fabric pieces and stuck them to the surfaces.
5) Reattached the wire handles.
6) Painted on two coats of gel medium (thinned with a little water) to seal the fabric on.
Verdict: My interfacing was too thick. Not needed. HeatnBond was good, because it gave the fabric just a bit of stiffness, making it easier to position. Fabric alone worked okay, too. The gel medium seals it down so the edges won't fray. Happiness.
Some mugs I drew on with one of these pens I got at the local Blick art store.
The pens are locked up in a cabinet so you can't sniff them. Or steal them? I don't really know why. But I felt faintly embarrassed to have to ask for something in a locked cabinet. Like I might be a criminal or something. And of course I threw away the package a long time ago and can't remember the instructions for how to set the ink. I think you bake it for awhile and then it becomes dishwasher safe. I remember dishwashing something I drew on once, and it stayed perfectly. Now I'll have to go back to the store and read the package instructions, but to do that, I have to make them unlock the cabinet again. Sheesh.
Sorry for filing this under "tutorials" because it's not really, but I couldn't think of where else to put it. Once I find the directions again for setting the paint, I'll add them.
Update: Called the store to get the instrux. The upshot is I used the wrong pen. There's not a way to set this pen, and it will never be dishwasher safe. It's not food safe, either. Turns out I used another pen before (which I can't find now). It's coming back to me... I bought this DecoColor marker to use for drawing on canvases I had painted with acrylic— no need to put those in the dishwasher. Heh heh. So now I have a couple nice pencil cups, I guess.
It's like making paper snowflakes, only better! I made these cut paper frames with big pieces of origami paper (got them at Blick; they're 9 3/4" square. Not quite this, but close). On your bulletin board or fridge, you could frame postcards, photos, poems, you name it.
Inspiration came from a Japanese book. I can't read it, but you don't need to. Just fold your piece of paper into quarters, colored side to the inside. Sketch your design on with a pencil, making sure it runs off the edge on the two sides with the fold. (See where I marked "FOLD" on the book's example.) If you don't do this, your frame will fall apart. Then cut it out with an X-acto knife and carefully unfold it.
The photos I printed came from the Condé Nast gallery. They sell reproductions of all the gorgeous magazine images there. Have fun browsing.
I discovered instructions for making a six-sided cube from business cards. It results in weird flaps on the outside, so I modified it to make the box above.
For this box, you'll need 5 business cards and 4 pieces of double-stick tape. Follow the folding instructions here, but fold 5 cards instead of 6. (You don't need a top piece.) Follow the assembly instructions, but make sure all of your flaps stay to the inside instead of the outside. Use tape to stick down the two loose flaps on the inside bottom and the two side flaps at the top.
I have these teensy, tiny little 2" pieces of origami paper that were begging to be used for something, so here's my idea: fancy paperclips. I should probably label this post a "time-waster" since this is not very practical, but who cares. If you get a kick out of cutting tiny bits of pretty paper like I do, the fun is in the making of them. And who wouldn't love to get a note clipped to a file with one of these? Well, maybe lots of people. But that's okay.
To make some, just fold a little piece of paper in half and cut out a butterfly profile. Free hand it, or click here to get the shape I made and print it to use as your template. (Cutting tip for accuracy: turn and move the paper, keeping your scissors in the same position.) Open up the butterfly, poke it with a pin, and thread it onto a paperclip. These will probably fall apart after one or two uses, but at least all the tiny leftover scraps of paper in the world can have a brief moment of glory.
P.S. That's my new kirigami book from Megumi, which I can't wait to try out.
First, download yourself an orange April computer desktop calendar from Smashing Magazine. Click here and scroll down a bit.
Second, take a look at these crafty projects you could make:
Boxy zippered pouch at Three Bears
Origami Japanese maple leaf at Yasumoto
Decorative switch plates at Pink Chalk Studio
Pleated tote bag from Artsy-Craftsy Babe
Terrarium from Inhabitat
Image transfers using clear packing tape at Wishing on Clovers
Lace earrings at Minding Prismera
Re-covered lampshade at Howcast
Lamps made from bottles at Hallmark Magazine
Learn how to dye Easter eggs using cabbage, beets, spinach, and all kinds of other things kids hate to eat. Project instructions and lovely photo by Chris at Curbly.
Okay. I might as well stop writing my blog and just put a big old link to JCaroline's website up here and call it a day. All I do anymore is link to her projects. But I can't stop myself, because she just put up a tutorial for making a really cute hobo bag. It's curvy, it's casual, it's got a zippered pocket inside. Get the free downloadable pattern and detailed steps with photos right here.
Some project ideas with instructions:
Amy Butler's yoga bag
Little girl's ruffled skirt from Grand Revival Design
Shoulder bag from Tiny Happy
How to reupholster an office chair at Curbly
Painted fabric wall art from Anna Maria Horner at Martha Stewart
Baby burp cloths at A Chelsea Morning
Lula Louise's reversible shoulder bag
Many kinds of headbands from Altered Cloth
(Fabric above is Whisper Wing from ReproDepot.com)
And now for Caroline's next trick: thrift store nightstands she painted and dressed up with fabric. She's on a makeover rampage! And best of all, she wrote a tutorial to go with this project so we can all decoupage. After reading it, I think I would like to decoupage my entire condo.
A couple weeks ago I bought a brown, scuffed up chair from our local Salvation Army and turned it into this for our bedroom. I think I'm in love with it.
How to do it:
1. In your workshop (or dining room, in our case), flip your ugly chair over and remove the four screws holding the seat on. The seat will now lift off. Set it aside.
2. Sand the whole chair to rough up the finish a bit so the paint will stick. Smooth off any scratches or weirdness. Wipe the dust off with a cloth.
3. With a brush, apply a coat of general-purpose latex primer. Don't worry that your chair looks hideous after this step. Then put on as many coats of latex paint as you need for an even finish. I put on three over the course of two days. This is a pain. 
4. To recover the seat, flip it over and remove the staples or tacks that hold the fabric on. Don't be grossed out by the condition of the foam cushion under there. If it's icky, just go buy new seat foam at a fabric store. A piece of new seat padding is available for a couple bucks and comes wrapped in plastic and perfectly sized. I was astonished. It turns out most seats are a standard size. The foam piece is perfectly rectangular, so just trace your wooden seat bottom onto it with a pen and cut off the wedges with a scissors to form a trapezoid that fits your seat.
5. Stack the foam and wood bottom onto a piece of fabric and use it as a template to cut a new seat cover, leaving enough margin to be able to fold your fabric around to the underside of the seat. When positioning your seat on the fabric, pay attention to the pattern in your fabric so your seat will align nicely with the repeats. (This fabric is Peapod.)
6. Use a staple gun to tack the new fabric cover snugly onto the seat.
7. Screw the chair bottom back onto the chair, and you're done.
Here's the ironing board cover I made from Herb using this easy tutorial. A perfect project for the sewing-challenged, like myself. If you can sew a somewhat straight line, you can make this. And a note: don't forget to leave the opening to feed your string through the casing. I sewed the whole thing shut and had to rip a couple stitches out. :)
Maybe I will actually iron my shirts now. Doubtful.
Caroline sent over this photo of storage bins she and her mom have already made from The Fabric. I'm delighted! We've started a Flickr group for anyone who wants upload pix of their own projects or see what others have made. I've added a link to the sidebar so you can check out the gallery as it grows.
Update: Caroline made a tutorial for these!
Decoupaged canvas from Chris Glass
Pop-up flower card at MetaCafe
Oilcloth lunch bag at Tumbling Blocks
Paper chihuahua (and many other animals) at Canon's Creative Park
Bag made from fused plastic bags at Modern Cottage
Bowl made from magazines at A Little Hut
Fabric luggage tag at My Longest Year
I stole some cute buttons from my mom's stash and repurposed them here. If you want to make this easy notecard, download the PDF template and print it out. (Each sheet makes two cards.) Cut the sheet in half and fold the two cards. Attach some colorful buttons with hot glue and round the card's corners if you want. This could make a quick and easy Valentine, especially if you use red and pink buttons.
A recent project. Our steps:
1. Hunted for a file cabinet in all the major office stores. Became dismayed to learn they only come in black and a nasty putty color. Had hoped for white. Settled on the only silver cabinet we saw.
2. Carted it home. Became dismayed to see that it stuck out like a sore thumb in the office. (Accentuated by the fact that the north corners of our room have slanted walls that prevent sliding a cabinet all the way back, so it literally stuck out. But we expected this part.)
3. Impulsively decided to paint it white. Googled to learn how.
4. Determined we needed: sandpaper, spray primer, and spray paint for metal. Got these at Home Depot.
5. Detached any removable hardware that we didn't want painted, e.g. the drawer handles.
6. Sanded the cabinet to rough it up and remove any oils transferred from our hands. This helps the paint stick. Wiped off the dust with a damp cloth.
7. Put painter's tape over any hardware we couldn't detach that we didn't want painted, e.g. the lock and side edges of drawers.
8. In a well-ventilated place (okay, it wasn't, but I don't want you to sue me if you follow these directions and end up getting high), we put down a drop cloth and sprayed a coat of primer on the cabinet. Followed directions on can for application and drying time. Started with the back side to get our technique down. Worried that it looked uneven. (Turns out it doesn't matter. It will be covered up later.) Used up one can of primer.
9. Applied as many light coats of spray paint as needed for good coverage (three, in our case). Note: don't spray on too much at once or it will make drips that run down the side. Luckily that spot is in the back. Used up 1.5 cans of spray paint. Allowed it to dry. We like it!
Note: If you know ahead of time that you're going to paint a cabinet a color you can't find anywhere, and you don't have the cabinet yet, you may as well buy a used one and save some money.
An anonymous reader recently wrote: "My husband wants to do make-or-bake Christmas and I don't really do manly crafts—do you have any ideas for what I could make for a guy?" Uh, that's a tough one. Here's the best I could come up with:
Print-and-assemble modern calendars (I think I want to make that faux bois model shown above for myself!)
A T-shirt made using one of these screen-printing short cuts: this way or this way
The ever-popular paint chip business card holder
A boot rack
A lamp using manly fabrics: this or this, perhaps? "Manly" is so subjective.
A duct tape wallet
Suede iPod sleeve
Box made from playing cards
A pinhole camera, for the guy who needs a whole new hobby (see impressive gallery)
Clock made from a book cover (We found one made out of a Jimi Hendrix record album once that Alex was drooling over. This has great potential for coolness.) You can get clock movements at Michaels or other craft places.
(Image above from Canon)
Here's a roundup of ornaments you can make from paper.
Above left: I made with these instructions
Above right: I made with these instructions
(Update: this is now an old post; some of the links no longer work.)
More:
Printable snowflake 1
Printable snowflake 2
Paper snowflakes stapled together into something 3-D
Not 3-D, but nice snowflake cutting templates
Origami star
Ornament made with circle cut-outs
Flower ornament
Ball-like star
Ball-like... ball
Flower ball
Geodesic ball
Multi-colored balls made this way, but fastened with wire
Many-pointed star
Mini star-shaped booklet
Glitter star ornaments
Moravian stars
Recycled paper ornament
Crystal ornament free download plus a gallery of inspiration
Huge spiky star
Origami Christmas tree 1
Origami Christmas tree 2
Kirigami Christmas tree 3
Happy folding!
Here's a paper ornament I made the other day during a coffee break with my downstairs neighbor. They're hanging in my office windows. The ornaments are, I mean—not my neighbors. That would be creepy. To make your own:
1. Download the template here.
2. Print it on colored paper.
3. Cut out each shape, score it on the dotted line, and fold it in half so the printing is on the outside. (It's easiest to cut out the middles after the shape is folded.)
4. Use a glue stick to adhere the side of one piece to the side of the next piece, and so on.
5. Trim off any parts that hang over or don't match up properly.
6. Poke a hole through the top and thread some string through to hang.