Coral Reef Crafts

Wrapping Paper Light Switch                         

Measure the length and width of your light switch cover and the actual switch, then trace the dimensions on the back of some wrapping paper. Cut them out, then take some double- sided tape and attach it to your light switch cover. Absolutely Fabulous!

Cool Crafts

4 

Your Room

 
Wrapping Paper Picture Board                       

 Take a 10'' by 10'' piece of wrapping paper, fold over an 8'' by 8'' piece of cardboard, patterned side up, and tape sides down. Use stickers to attach pictures to the board, or make your own out of paper and put double-sided tape on them.

      

   -December 2011 issue, page 6







 Ribbons and Bows Rice Krispies Treats Box Makeover

This box will add color and organization as well as help you become a mean, green recyclin' machine!

You Will Need:

• A Rice Krispies Treats Box
• 2 Pieces of Cardstock Paper
• Paint, Brush, and a Jar of Water
• Scissors
• Tape

 1. Cut an opening in the top edge of the box. This will be where headbands, etc. are inserted.

2. Attach the cardstock to all sides of the box with tape, being careful not to obstruct the opening.

3. Now comes the fun part! I found painting to be the simplest way to decorate, using quick-drying tempera paint. Put a pattern on the front and back, but leave the top, bottom, and sides solid to keep it stable.

                                    4. To mount, simply punch a hole in the back of the box.

5. Finally, add your headbands, sunglasses, and whatever accumulating accessories are daunting your dresser to the box. Because of the top slit, you will have super-quick and easy access to whatever you put in there. Enjoy!





                                                               
                                                                  This post was featured on:

Fourth of July Flag Bouquet
Show your American pride with this easy- to- make flag arrangement!

You Will Need:

• A clean mayonnaise jar
• Red and White Tissue Paper
• 4 small flags
• 1 medium-sized flag
• Blue bows (hairbows work fine)

What To Do:

1. Layer the red and white tissue paper in the jar, being sure to alternate colors.
2. Carefully arrange the bows around the inner edges of the jar, then add ribbons (cut several pieces and tape the bottoms together to give it a splaying effect).
3. Insert the smaller flags around the jar, and then put the larger one in the middle. Add a ribbon to the neck of the bottle, and you've got yourself one Uncle Sam- approved display of patriotism!







Sunny Blooms Flower Bouquet
A sunny bouquet for a rainy day, or a gift for mom. Either way, this arrangement will brighten any room!

You Will Need:                                                                         

• A bouquet of faux flowers
• A vase
• Ribbon or yarn
• Tissue Paper

What To Do:

   To get started, shove a couple pieces of tissue paper down the vase. Bright colors or patterns work best, but make sure they don't clash with your flowers. Tie your ribbon or yarn around the vase's middle and voila! You'll be singing "Mr. Sun" every time you see your wilt-free bouquet!









Tissue-Papered Floppy Hat (for dolls)
This hat is easily made and Barbie approved!

You Will Need:

• Tissue Paper
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Piece of sturdy paper
• Bottle cap

Cut the paper into a circle with a four-inch diameter. Attach double-layered tissue paper to the paper circle, and trim the edges to fit. Next, take a bottle cap and paper all the way around the outside. On the paper circle, cut a hole in the center that fits your bottle cap, and stick the bottle cap slightly through the hole. Add a ribbon or piece of yarn to add further embellishment!






Going Green Accessory Container

  Recycle, Duck tape, Create!

You Will Need:

• A clean Crisco butter stick container
• Scissors
• Duck tape
• Fuzzy handle, pipe cleaners, whatever (check a craft store)

Simply apply duck tape of any pattern or color to a clean (let me tell you, cleaning greasy butter of a plastic surface is not easy, but it's definitely worth it!) Crisco butter stick container, being careful not to obsure the edges where the lid goes on. Duck tape the lid also (no obscuring!). Then, take a fluffy handle, pipe cleaners, or whatever (check a craft store) and carefully attach it to the lid. Voila! You just saved the environment and made yourself a fabsolutely ah-dorable accessory holder!






 Fast and Fabulous Friendship Pouch

This  pouch will express your friendships in creative and unusual ways. It is simple to make, cute to design, and fun to give away.

You Will Need:

• Material (about 5 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches)
• 2 small pieces of string, ribbon, or yarn
• Needle and thread
• Scissors
• Pen and a piece of paper
• A friend
• A rechargable battery
• Small stickers
• A small piece of material
• A pencil eraser

1. First, cut out material that is 5 1/2 by 4 1/2 in. (you may want to do 6 by 5 in. i.c.e. (in case of emergency). 
2.  Fold the material in half and turn inside-out. Backstitch the longer side about an eighth of an inch from the edge.
3. Now turn right-side-out and backstitch the bottom half an inch in (if you don't want the raw stitching to show on the backside of the pouch, keep the pouch inside-out when you backstitch the bottom).
4. Fold the top edge (an eighth of an inch of it) into the pouch and backstitch an eighth of an inch down the crease.
5. Now that you've got all of that done, it's time to load the pouch. Put in the eraser, stickers, battery, one of the pieces of string/ribbon/yarn, and the small piece of material. Then, take the paper and pen and write the following phrases for each inserted item:

               Battery: Friendship can last as long as rechargable batteries.
               Piece of Material: Friends come from the same, good material; they're just cut out     differently.
               Eraser: Friends are willing to erase past disagreements to preserve their friendship.
               Yarn/String/Ribbon: Friends keep ties between each other.

6. Stick the paper in the pouch, tie with a ribbon/string/yarn, and give to a friend. It might mean more to them when it's handmade just for them. Keep sharing!



              

Basic Stitch Hair Bow

Another item in the Basic Stitch department has been added- the hair bow, which is sweet, speedy, and simple.     Once again, you will need:

•                            Any color of yarn
•                            Scissors
•                            Crochet hook

Stitch a chain using the basic stitch (naturally) about 4 inches long, depending on what size you want, and about 2 inches wide. The dimensions are up to you. Stretch the vertical edges on the ends of the stitches, so that it retains a bow- shape. Now make some stitches around the center of the bow, as shown above, so that it wraps around the bow's middle. Cut the yarn and tie securely. For the bordered look, just crochet around the edges of the bow before you do the vertical belt part. Slip a bobby pin in it, and you're ready to go!

Basic Stitch Crochet Rose

Are you tired of trying to decipher crocheting symbols? Don't you just want to crochet everything with the simple basic stitch?
Well friend, grab a paddle and start rowing, cause we're in the same boat. Fortunately, there's help. Here is my basic stitch crochet rose, guaranteed to be fun, fast, and easy (I'm doing it, so it must be!)

You need:

• Red yarn (unless you prefer white, pink, yellow, blue, etc., which in that case, you may neglect the first instruction. Except the yarn. You will definetely need yarn.
• A crochet hook (who cares what size?!- unless of course you have hands the size of pennies or the size of tree trunks. If this is the case, I would like to know how you crochet, then you can send me a picture which I will in turn send to the Guinness Book of World Records. Won't that be HAND-y ?)

    Then, you will crochet a chain of about three stitches. Since this is basic, it really doesn't matter. Ah, such a refreshing sense of freedom! Once you have the stitches, continue crocheting around and around. By this time, you will be using that one stitch that connects your second chain to your first chain (if you want more detailed than that, get crocheting for dummies, because in the simple crocheter's mind, you have to be smart to think of easier ways to crochet!). Continue around, and around, and around, being careful to stretch the chains out as you go. Otherwise, you will end up with a shriveled plant that no florist should be licensed to sell.

Once you have gotten the desired size of rose, start all over with another stretch of yarn, making the second rose bigger than the first. When you are done, take a small piece of yarn (or thread), and attach the centers of the two roses together. Make sure you fasten it tightly. Cut the excess yarn with your fingers, unless you find scissors in the "You Need" list. 

If you want to go for the "Look-what-my-boyfriend-gave-me-isn't-that-sweet?" look, add an artificial stem (I got mine from a once-chocolate rose and simply subracted the chocolate- a satisfying equation any non-mathematician will experiment with.) and place in an empty perfume bottle. Or, if you want this artificial beauty to have a purty smell, leave some perfume in. Just be aware that this could and probably will cause a fire hazard, short circuit, or poisoned cat (if your cat is one of those who drinks out of vases, toilets, and sinks, regardless of what is inside.) In fact, just leave out the perfume.

Also, for all those romantics out there, girls will love something they think you made yourself. I put emphasis on the "they think you made" part, because men, if you can't crochet (and I wouldn't blame you one bit) just get your mother to do it for you. She'll be thrilled you finally found someone worthwhile of her crocheting. Just watch out, or she might want to start crocheting baby clothes.  Remember, in the words of a wise teacher of love, if they don't find you handsome, they can at least 

find you handy. HAND-y. (Haha, haha, ugh)  

It also looks fab in the ol' bird's nest. Just bobbypin it and go!