diy
Do it Yourself; Tips and ideas for DIY projects to create your next family heirloom, personalize your photo album and more.
The Element of Craft
In my view anyone can be creative, it's only when you include the element of craft that creativity becomes elevated to art And whereas creativity merely requires materials such as glue, paper and paint, performing a craft requires tools such scissors, knives and rulers.
By Aaron Needle5 years ago in Families
Scissor Thief
The scissors disappeared soon after I’d bought them, I just hadn’t realized they were gone…until it was too late. I was deep in the reeds with raising small children and with little money to spare and the holidays approaching, I scoured my craft magazines and found a project I knew would be treasured. I picked up the supplies and began working late into the evening as I cut various colours of felt into intricate pieces…soon realizing I needed a much better pair of scissors than the ones that had been tossed around my cutlery drawer for years.
By Colleen O'Dea5 years ago in Families
Red Fiskars
When I was young, probably around 3 or 4 years old, I started watching my mom and dad do all sorts of creative projects. At the time, my dad was taking an entomology class in college and it fascinated me when he would pin beautiful insects to boards for assignments. Later, he would frame them as gifts for our family members. My mother refurbished old furniture and I was always I awe of how she could turn something she pulled from the trash, and turn it into a gorgeous piece of furniture that would sell for hundreds of dollars.
By Corrin Hayes5 years ago in Families
Quilting
"You will take the small pair of scissors and I will use the large ones," my mother instructed me as we sat at our large improvised quilting table. My father had laid a large piece of plywood across two sawhorse beams in the back yard so that mother could engage in one of her favorite leisure activities and as it was summer break I was also to be involuntarily employed in the production of the quilts.
By John Bowen5 years ago in Families
Creating Holiday Cheer
Ever since I was little, I always wished we could have a white Christmas just like in the movies. The only problem with that is that we live in California. So because we didn’t have any real snow to play in, my dad taught me how to cut paper snowflakes to fill our windows with instead. I fell in love with it right away!
By Erika Birkenes5 years ago in Families
Letting Foster Children Get Crafty!
It’s 9:00 pm on a Friday night and my husband Allan and I are binge watching Schitts Creek. The phone rings and a friendly voice says, “Hi Silvana. Can you take two tonight? We do emergency foster care, so I know that “Can you take two tonight?” means two children have been removed from a dangerous situation and need a place to stay. Foster children come to our house for 72 hours, giving the social worker time to find a long-term foster home.
By Silvana Clark5 years ago in Families
The Pandemic Jacket
A handful of underwear, three t-shirts, a hoodie, pajama pants, and some socks. I glanced at myself in the mirror: a denim jacket on my body, soft pants on my legs, and shoes on my feet. "This is enough for three days in upstate New York" I said to myself. I was proud of my minimal packing skills.
By Sarah Feingold5 years ago in Families
Granny made me do it
Like so many others, I grew up watching my granny make beautiful quilts. And as all good granny's do, she gave every last one away! I would sit at the kitchen table flicking through quilting books, mesmerised by the gorgeous fabrics and impossibly intricate designs. Every so often I'd pick out one I just had to have and would ask Granny to make it for me. However, she always said that she had a long list of people who had already put in a request. I waited patiently and as the years rolled on and Granny got older I realised that I was never going to get a beautiful quilt unless I made it myself. So that's exactly what I did!
By Georgia Kearney5 years ago in Families
Unexpected Joy
The first thing that I can remember making on a sewing machine was a teddy bear. I was seven years old. When I was three, my mother’s great-aunt Minnie died, and one of the things my mother inherited was a Dixon treadle sewing machine. My father motorized the machine, and I was mesmerized watching my mother sew. When I begged to be taught to use the machine, my mother bought a pre-printed teddy bear panel: a piece of cotton fabric that was printed with all the pieces (and instructions) needed to create a teddy bear. All you had to do was cut it out and follow the instructions.
By Susan Katz5 years ago in Families
Putting together a Poppy Flowered Centerpiece
This is a craft project I wanted to share with others about how to make a candle centerpiece. I really enjoyed putting this together and it involved a lot of different items. The centerpiece is very bright and colorful. It has some nice colors such as red, blue, yellow, and green. I used 5 different items- a ceramic tile, a wooden circle, twine rope, candle holders, and acrylic paints. The theme of this centerpiece is poppy flowers and it involves four steps in putting it together. I will start with the ceramic tile and work my way to the candle holders.
By Carrie Bertschy5 years ago in Families
