Welcome to Multicrafting.com Crafters Corner

This is a forum in which to share your Multicrafting success or frustrations. We would love to see photo's of your projects and hear about your journey as you craft your way to organisation.
Tips and strategies to assist others gain the same benefits are welcome.

We will address any criticisms or frustrations and if we don't know the answer to your question we will endeavour to find out and post a response as soon as we can.

As we develop more projects we will post photos here so our crafters can enjoy.
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Monday 30 May 2011

Adding some Bling

If you have been following Multicrafting1 on twitter you will know that I am off to the mountains in a week and it's already been snowing in the area.  I thought I had better create a hat for the occasion as living in a warm climate, I have no need for one.  The hat was simple.  But what was I going to do to add some bling?

I had felted an old jumper using the techniques in Multicrafting the Ebook and had a shot of inspiration. 

Have a look at the results and let me know what you think.

Friday 20 May 2011

Children's Crafts - Their Importance & Value For Healthy Development

 
Children love crafts. They seem to become fixated when they are drawing, painting, cutting, pasting and working through kids crafts and activities. Kids love working with their hands. The sense of joy that children experience during the participation of arts and crafts is an unmistakable give away that something greater is going on with their learning. Why is this?
There is something in the sense of achievement children get when they are working on crafts or craft activities that involves their creativity and stimulates their imagination.
But there is so much more to this picture than a sense of achievement.
The amazing developmental benefits that children can obtain through creative craft ideas make childrens crafts such a crucial part of a child's healthy development.
Below are some of the developmental skills that a child can learn through simple craft activities.
Social Skills: Children receive feedback through observation and the modeling of their parent/ teacher. In addition, interacting with other children also teaches acceptable social skills. Simple crafts for kids can be an amazing way to engage a child through appropriate play and talk.
Fine Motor Skills Development: Crafts assist children with the development of their fine motor skills. Children's crafts and kids activities teach simple skills such as holding pencils and scissors correctly, cutting, pasting and coloring techniques.
Creative and Visual Spatial Development: Creative development is one of the key benefits that crafts and art activities offer. Through the use of creative craft ideas for kids, the choice of materials and simple task related instructions, their imagination and ability to make creative choices can develop. Children create an image of what they want to create in their task. They can transfer this image through the use of their hands and the materials into their craft work. When developed appropriately, this important skill can assist children with skills such as visualizing details, the recall of information through mental imagery, creation of living pictures and visualizing of goals. Good kids craft and activities resources with easy to implement craft ideas are an important aspect for this learning.
Linguistic Development: Another benefit crafts for kids offer is the development of a wider range of vocabulary. Through discussing the creation and work required to complete crafts, the parent can create dialogue which both increases vocabulary and creates meaning and understanding. When completing any craft activitiy, children are given further learning opportunities through observing their parent/ teacher's expressions of verbal problem solving and positive reinforcement. When choosing craft ideas for kids, childrens crafts and activities, ensure that you have quality resources which enable discussion.
In addition to the above developmental benefits, easy craft ideas for kids can also assist with the development of:
Concentration and the completion of tasks: Children's crafts assist with the development of the ability to concentrate and avoid distractions. Through the focus that is required to work through craft activities, children learn to focus on one task at a time. They learn that through focus they are able to successfully complete a task.
Skills in planning: Arts and crafts for kids assist with the development of both visual and verbal planning skills. Visual spatial skill development assists children to create plans in their mind's eye of what they want to achieve through their craft project.
Persistence and Seeing Tasks Through to Completion: Children learn the skill of persistence when completing any activity or craft project. Choosing from one of many craft ideas and seeing the task through to completion regardless of set backs is an important skill for children to learn. If developed early in life, this can assist a child with school work, project development and goal setting.
Success and Self Worth: The participation and completion crafts assist with one of the most important aspects of healthy growth and development: the experience of self worth through success. Through skills discussed earlier such as concentration, persistence, planning, creative development and visual spatial development, children learn what is required to complete a task and to create their vision through the use of their hands. Praise and feedback are important factors here when they are attempting activity or kids craft project. Assisting children if they are struggling with an aspect or completion of a task can be important. Giving praise throughout the process and at the completion of the task helps the child to learn a sense of accomplishment associated with the development and completion of projects.
Creative craft ideas for kids are so valuable for healthy development. The best part of all is that assisting children with arts and craft activities can be so simple. With creative and easy craft ideas for kids, simple materials and a sense of fun, you too can have a great time! Whether you are a parent, teacher, grandparent or nanny, kids crafts and children's activities are a fantastic way to connect with children and watch them grow and develop.







For printable craft ideas for kids and printable kids activities resources see:
www.craftsforkidsactivities.com [http://www.craftsforkidsactivities.com]
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maria_Teresa

Sunday 15 May 2011

Adding lavender sachets to space saver bags

Winter is a time when clothing is packed away and summer clothes brought out from storage to take their place in the closet.  I always find myself sneezing for a couple of hours after slipping into a jumper that hasn’t been worn for a good few months.  I could take the time to air the garments but an even better idea is to store a lavender scented sachet in the space bag along with the jumpers.  That way when I pull them out they have that beautiful scent I adore. 


Page 28 of Multicrafting details the making of a simple lavender scented sachet.  The fabric was a dress I regretted buying after a couple of wears  and the lace is from the cuffs of my sleeves on a shirt I had similar feeling about.

Instead of giving them to goodwill (although that’s also a nice thing to do) I cut of the useful bits and recycled into a gift for a friends mother who was having an eye operation. 




Tuesday 10 May 2011

Making gifts look fabulous

We have made the gifts now how are we going to present them ? 

One of the best little gadgets I have come across wasn’t even at a craft store.  I don’t even know what it’s called but it seals plastic bags and cellophane so you can make a packet to present your gift in.  I think it cost me around $14.

I use it most when I make soap for gifts as some soap needs to be wrapped so as not  to attract moisture from the air. 



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Sunday 8 May 2011

Revamping an old favorite


Many of us are in a position where we can’t engage in as much retail therapy as we might like.

So how do we still get joy from having new accessories?

A little bit of creativity can revitalize the old and make it look new.  Revamping your old but very handy carry bags doesn’t have to involve great expense.  Two skeins of taffeta were enough to turn this bag with worn handles that was about to be deemed ‘too old’ and thrown out into a valuable item useful for those mornings at the market. 


  

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Sunday 1 May 2011

Gadgets that make life simple

All Multicrafting projects are designed to be put down and pick up at any time. That’s the nature of the internet, sometimes you facebook pictures upload quickly, sometimes You Tube video’s take forever to upload and finding what we are looking for can involve watching several of the wrong video’s. 

The unpredictability and delay’s of the internet are the very reason we experience levels of frustration where steam flows out our ears and why we need something to keep us from walking away and not achieving our objectives.

This brings me to Row Counters.  A row counter sits on the end of a knitting or crochet needle and helps keep track of where you are in the pattern.  So when you get distracted it’s easy to pick up where you left off when you come back to your project. 

Row counters are an invaluable friend and can be purchased from any craft or department store.    While not necessary they do make it a lot easier to start off where you left off and save you from a few frustrating moments.

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