Evolution

Remember the days when we made toilet roll holders? I remember making the lace covered ones that hung on the back of the door collecting dust and fading in the sun. Back when I lived in a place that had sun in the little room. A review of the evolution of the toilet roll holder wouldn’t find that men or children had suddenly discovered how to change and dispose of the roll but I can still believe in miracles. My review would involve a full circle, the handmade traditional model, the store brought little beach shack, the stainless steel shiny one with little finger prints all over it and now this… the denim shirt sleeve from a top no longer worn, a bit of lace and a couple of toilet rolls.

Halloween can still happen.

Halloween Party Games and Craft Ideas For Children
by: Clare Swindlehurst



Kids love to dress up as their favourite characters at Halloween, but these days you might not feel comfortable letting them out and about to go Trick or Treating. Why not do something a little different this year and let your kids invite their friends over for a Halloween Party? They can all get dressed up and enjoy some spooky fun in the safety of your home.

Here are some ideas for party games and Halloween craft activities to keep them entertained.

Halloween party games

1. The not so spooky Halloween parade

The little ones will want to show off their costumes so put on some mussy and have the kids put on a Halloween costume parade. Get them to do their best dance moves to the music and ensure the adults whoop, cheer, and look suitable spooked!

2. The Trick or Treat bonanza

Cut up some paper strips and on half of them write the word "treat", on the others write out a number of tricks, such as "hop on one leg", "growl like a lion" or "sing their favourite song".

Put all of the paper pieces into a hat or a pillowcase and hide some sweets and candies around the room.

At the party ask each child to draw a piece of paper from the hat. They then have to perform the trick or search for the treats.

Halloween craft ideas

When the kids have run off all their energy on the party games have them sit around the table for some quiet craft time. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Not so spooky Halloween mask making

Have a supply of white paper plates, glue, ribbons, felt pens and other craft items ready and ask the kids to make their own masks. They can design them to be as fun or as spooky as they like.

When everyone is done with their creations pierce a hole in each side of the plate and attach a piece of elastic so the kids can wear their masks, and pose for a group photograph!

2. The great Halloween loot collection

Kids love to take loot bags home from parties so let them decorate their own bags. You'll need the same craft supplies as for the mask making, but this time they'll need brown paper bags to decorate.

When the decorating is complete let the children go back to playing and fill the loot bags with candy and Halloween themed treats, when the party is over they can take their loot bags home.

About The Author

Hosting a Halloween party in the safety of your own home is a great way for young children to take part in the festivities. Check out these great toddlers Halloween costumes to make sure they look great at the party; Dora the Explorer fans will love Boots the Monkey outfit at http://toddlershalloweencostumesideas.com/

Bling

My priorities don’t lend themselves to e

xpensive jewelry despite my desire to own precious stones delicately crafted into exquisite pieces. This means that I have to make my own. I am just a little satisfied with this piece that came in at less that $50 and took less than an hour.

Craft. Staying Sane Online.

Your frustration level is never again going to be so high that steam flows from your ears and you’re looking frantically on the keyboard for the slap button.

I am going to share with you the strategy that I and other women from around the world use to transform disorganisation and chaos into orderly.  Real women who actually have time to relax, enjoy playing with their children or hanging out with friends without feeling guilty about the unfinished budget, bills that need to be payed online, bank transfers to make, gifts to organise, emails to send, defragging the computer, backing up files, uploading photos to face book, the list goes on.

Women are no longer afraid to go into their study scared off by the huge pile of chores still waiting despite attempting to get them done time after time often to walk away in frustration because of the time it takes to get one small thing completed.    

Before stumbling upon this strategy I used to dread heading to the study and would put of my obligations as long as I could.  Eventually my pile of chores would topple over and I had to pull my head out of the sand.  I tried and tried but I couldn’t invoke the magic Genie. 

I needed to get past my resentment towards the obligations and responsibilities holding a household together and making it function brought into my already busy life. 

As soon as I realised my error I made a correction and straight away turned what were previously frustrating delays into moments I now treasure.  One look at all the tasks I had to organize, and I was overwhelmed. My computer skills weren’t the best and I wasn’t sure where to start. So I didn’t start, I just procrastinated. I had to turn this part of my life around so I applied the strategy and turned my life into organized enjoyment instead of out of control chaos with this simple strategy. Since I fell upon this strategy my productivity has gone through the roof.

I’m embarrassed to say I was a computer rage-er.  Waiting on downloads, system loads, backups, file transfers at times had me so angry, bad language would flow from my mouth.  Things not under my control delaying me from my free time could get me into an absolute fury and frequently I would give up and leave those chores to pile up for another day delivering a mortal blow to my productivity. It meant another day of commitments on the back of my mind.  Another step away from achieving that ‘me time’, that ‘in their Zen Zone’ look I envied on other women.   

It's a fact – waiting takes to long.  Engaging in something enjoyable while waiting on download time, upload time, Island time, anything else taking up your time gives you back your time.  Believe it or not, having something to do while we wait is the sole purpose of mirrors in foyers and lifts.  

My strategy to overcome the frustrations I had experienced with online wait time was to craft beautiful creations.   You maybe surprised of how much craft material you have already at home.  Crafts make good gifts. Crafts items can be made from materials around the home, office, or perhaps a purchase of a few inexpensive materials will morph into a few quality gifts.  I believe the rise of craft clubs and the amount of women I see on public transport knitting or crocheting backs up my bold claims.  Happy people are immersed in creating craft.  Nothing is as self-soothing as those stolen hours immersed in the craft you adore.  The unexpected benefit I discovered is that when crafting, the frustrations of online delays are less likely to see you walk away from the computer throwing your arms in the air.  With the right projects, you can achieve what you set out to do online and craft a beautiful creation at the same time. 

htt://www.multicrafting.com

Crafting –Ready, Steady, Go.

Crafts make good gifts. Crafts items can be made from materials around the home, office, or perhaps a purchase of a few inexpensive materials will morph into a few quality gifts. Crafts made from the effort that comes from your own hand rather than store brought sends a deep message of love from the heart. 

You maybe surprised of how much craft material you have already at home. 

Perhaps the last week or so has seen you turn the wardrobes upside down saving unused clothing to use for your craft projects.  Well done!  Cleaning out wardrobes is always one of the often-delayed chores.  Instead of giving them to goodwill (although that’s also a nice thing to do) I cut off the useful bits and recycle into a gift.

Those jumpers no longer worn can be felted to make a coffee cozy and also to decorate hats, bags, tea cozies.  Nothing will go wasted with some instructions and a few projects in mind. 

Now that you have bits and bobs to use for your craft projects the question becomes how best and where to store them so they don’t just become another source of mess.

I made a craft equipment bag made from an old jumper that I no longer wore.  After felting the jumper made from mostly wool, I hand stitched pockets to store my craft tools around the outside then added a long handle so I could hang it on the doorknob in my study. 

You wouldn’t believe how easy it was to create.

One of the best craft gadgets ever invented is the row counter.  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. 

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. 

Scrapbooking has become a craze and for a very good reason.  Scrapbooks are a collection of clippings, photos, and mementos of people we love and experiences we have enjoyed. Putting together old memories preserves the history of a family and scrapbooking helps us to store up history for the family members we don’t have yet.  By collating the photo’s we love we can show new coming relatives what type of person we are and some of our favourite memories are captured an immortalized. 

New Multicrafting.com Competition

Winter will be here sooner than we think.  Get prepared with this Foux Fur hot water bottle cover.

WIN: This Animal Print Hot Water Bottle Cover

Yes, that's right, we're giving away this Sensational Animal Print Hot Water Bottle Cover. Enter Hot Water Bottle Cover competition into the email header. Simply email the answer to the following question with your name and email to alena@multicrafting.com.au. Multi-crafting ideas are designed so you can create while you are ________________________ ___________? One entry per person. This COMPETITION can be transferred so you can forward this email onto friends, colleagues and family so they can take advantage of it and enter the competition too.

Offer Expires: 30 September 2011

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Which craft is right for you?

Which Craft is Right for Me?
by: Emma Snow



Diana discovered the joy of pottery after suffering a terrible divorce. Taking a seat at the wheel with a lump of clay, she felt an immediate release. Her mind cleared and her heart rate slowed down. She was able to relax in a way she hadn’t for weeks. “Better than therapy—and medication!” she happily reported to her doctor after her first day at a community education class, where she went on to make friends with fellow potters, further enriching her life.

For Kris it was counted cross-stitch. The repetitive motion of the needle passing up and down through crisp cloth put her in a near-meditative state, the way yoga does for some. In this state Kris was able to work out solutions to her daily challenges. “It was like the ideas dropped into my mind out of the sky,” she told a close friend.

Shawn found furniture restoration to be wonderfully soothing after a stressful day at the office. The raw scent of wood loosened him up, and he was surprised how satisfying it was to sit down at a table he had restored himself.

Such is the world of DIY. Discovering the right craft for your personality and temperament can be a reward that transforms your life.

The crafting world is as wide and diverse as a tropical rainforest. Each crafting activity has unique benefits and challenges. You could spend your entire life just trying out different crafts. While this may be fun, it can be expensive and frustrating. Should you desire to narrow your search down, this article will act as your guide by investigating the world of crafts as they fit into five spectrums. If one activity doesn’t suit you, take heart. Crafting is for everyone—you are bound to find that perfect match.

1. Short-term projects vs. long-term projects.

Do you have a need for immediate gratification? If you do, you might prefer cake decorating, ceramics, candle-making, lotions-n-potions, or cut-n-paste projects (scrapbooking, collage, and decoupage), which deliver results relatively quickly. Conversely, if you are known to possess the patience of Job, needlecrafts and quilting may be your thing. (Although quilting by machine cuts down the time dramatically). If you like long-term projects, pottery and gardening are also excellent choices, since they involve several steps.

2. Fastidiousness vs. playfulness/ looseness

Needlecrafts, baking, and jewelry-making require a meticulous and careful eye, whereas cooking, gardening and cut-n-paste projects are more appropriate for the playful type. Keep in mind that many activities can go either way or are best for those who can balance a bit of each quality.

3. Planner by nature vs. spontaneous to the core

If you don’t mind doing a little math, counted cross-stitch, knitting, and crochet are great activities. Needlecrafts, quilting and sewing also require planning and pattern-reading. If all this sounds too boring or frustrating and you prefer to jump headlong into projects as soon as you feel an urge, cut-n-paste, candle-making, ceramics, or pottery may be a better fit.

4. Space available

Do you affectionately call your apartment a cupboard? If you need an activity that takes up little space or can be cleaned up in a jiffy, yarn and needlecrafts can be tucked away in a basket or a drawer. Baking and cake decorating use what you probably already have in your kitchen, and jewelry only needs a modest tackle-box with little compartments for beads and tools. But perhaps you have a room or a whole basement where a hobby could take up a permanent residence? Pottery is such a hobby. If you quilt by hand you will need a room where a fairly large frame can be set up (unless you only want to do baby quilts). A table for laying out and cutting patterns is required for sewing, and most people don’t appreciate having to lug out the machine every time you want to work on a project. (However, it can be done.) Lotions-n-potions, and candle and soap making can be done in the kitchen as long as precautions are taken, but ideally they need a separate space, since you are using dangerous chemicals that you don’t want to accidentally mix with food. Gardening is ideal if you have a nice-sized yard, but many green-thumbed apartment dwellers find cultivating the space around their windows, on their patio, or even potted indoor plants a satisfying diversion. Don’t lose heart if you don’t have space for an activity that interests you—just sign up for a community class!

5. Available funds for expenses

Each craft has a range of what you could pay for the activity, depending on your taste and willingness. If you are picky about using only hand-dyed, organically grown 100% wool yarn, you are going to pay a lot more than someone who works with an acrylic yarn available at the closest Woolworth’s. It is a good idea when just starting out to borrow someone else’s equipment, or use inexpensive supplies until you know it is an activity you are going to stick with. Then you can slowly replace your supplies with quality items that you appreciate. On average, pottery and sewing require more expensive equipment to begin, while you can garden, cross-stitch, or cut-n-paste on a shoestring budget. Yarn crafts are the cheapest activities to try, since they don’t require a lot of expensive equipment to start. Again, a class might be the best investment for the more expensive hobbies.

If you still aren't sure which craft is right for you, talk to other crafters about why they enjoy their craft. Ask if you can join them one day to see if it is something that appeals to you. Be patient with yourself as you begin each new activity--nothing kills the excitement of trying something new more than impossibly high expectations. Don't worry--as you continue, your skills will improve. You will also know better which activities suit you best.



About The Author

Emma Snow is a creator at Craft Kits http://www.craft-kits.net leading portals for crafts and creative individuals.