Active Arts & Crafts Posts
How To: Do the magic loop knitting technique
Knitting blogger Sapphires'n'Purls provides step-by-step basic instructions of the magic loop knitting technique. To begin Magic Loop knitting, you will need the following supplies: One circular needle with flexible cable, skein of yarn of your choosing. To begin, you will cast on 12 stitches onto the circular needle. Next you will slide all your stitches onto the flexible cable. Once all your initial 12 stitches have been cast, divide the stitches in half, putting six stitches on the left si...
How To: Crochet the daisy star stitch
Are you interested in doing a crochet project? Watch this two-part video tutorial to learn how to do the daisy star crochet stitch. for this project you will need some yarn and a crochet hook.
How To: Attach a knit pocket
This video knitting tutorial demonstrates a technique for attaching a pocket that is the same as that used for inserting a heel. Following the pattern directions, you knit some of the stitches with waste yarn to mark the top of the pocket. Carefully remove the waste yarn and put the loops above and below onto double-point needles. If you're worried about dropping stitches, you can pick up the loops as you go. Remove all the waste yarn and then go back and pick up the stitches. The loops on th...
How To: Sew a box pleated skirt for a flared Lolita style skirt
Depending on the fabric you choose, this could be part of your Lolita costume or a professional skirt. Sew a skirt with one inch box pleats, without needing a pattern. Get your fabric, measurements and some basic sewing supplies together, and you're ready to go!
How To: Crochet a beanie cap
Instead of buying a beanie, why not crochet one in the exact color, material, and size desired? Learn how to crochet a beanie-style cap by following along with the step by step instructions in this video crafting tutorial series.
How To: Make a small jewelry box out of old Christmas cards
This video shows us how to make a homemade jewellery box out of a Christmas card.For that you need a pair of scissors,a tape,a christmas card,a marker and another card to draw your X with.First take the card and cut it straight down the middle into two pieces.Now take the back side piece of the card and cut off 1/4 of an inch from the left and the bottom portions.This will help to fit the cards together.Next use the extra card and trace an X on both sides of your card piece,in the middle.Take...
How To: Make PSY Dance Whenever You Want with This DIY Gangnam Style Papercraft Machine
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past five months, you're more than likely acquainted with PSY and his insanely popular mega hit "Gangnam Style."
How To: Make an unbelievable paper toy
Watch this video and see how easy it is to make this paper toy. It looks like an origami flower, but it is a tad more complex. Have fun playing with it.
How To: Use toilet paper to make a paper rose
This short video will show you how you can make a rose just by using toilet paper. Cut out a piece of toilet paper and fold it around your finger. Make out the rose bud by leaving the top part and turning the toilet paper around several times tightly to form the stem of your paper rose. Arrange the petals of the rose by opening them up to make it similar to a real rose bud. Open up the lower part of the toilet paper in the form of a skirt. Fold it up towards the bud part and fold tightly to f...
How To: Double knit
Double-knitting may sound like twice the work, but it's a technique of knitting with two lengths of yarn to create a piece that's double-sided. This is great for crafting-projects that require extra warmth, and because the two sides are actually attached, there will be no middle pocket. Follow along with these video knitting lessons and learn how to double knit.
How To: Easy Christmas Tags
Why buy Christmas tags for your presents when they are so easy to make yourself! Here I’ll be showing you how to make simple, easy Christmas Tags out of stuff that you may already have round the house.
How To: Make Homemade Honey Soap for Christmas Gift
Rina and I invited homemade soap master over to our house.She showed us how to make our own very special honey soap. its a great idea for Christmas/Holiday gift. Martha Stewart's gonna be freaking proud of Rina.
How To: Make needle-felted flowers
Fans of felting will love these funky accessories, needle-felted flowers, made out of vibrant shades of pure wool. Corinne Bradd shows how to use cookie-cutters for modern shapes, ideal for stitching on a handbag or fastening to the front of a special greeting. You can spice up many things with these needle-felted flowers.
How To: Make butterflies from decorative paper
These decorative paper butterflies make the perfect fall arts and crafts project and year-round ornament to decorate your home. Learn how to use a template, cut out the design, and then score it to give the butterflies their unique 3 dimensional look. You can also add this butterflies to a scrapbook or a personalized card.
How To: Origami butterflies
This handy demonstration shows you how to use clever paper folding techniques in order to create a range of stunning origami butterflies, ideal for jazzing up your makes. Use bold papers for a modern look, or try antique style distressed sheets to get that traditional effect when making your origami butterflies.
How To: Build a realistic M16A2 paper gun
This thorough tutorial video series demonstrates how to make a beautiful, realistic paper M16A2 gun. This tutorial is broken up into 8 videos, so be sure to click through all of the chapters for the full tutorial. Paper guns are fun to make and can look very realistic (and perform basic operating functions, too!). Learn how to fold the M16A2 gun out of paper with this paper gun tutorial.
How To: Make a paper gun and paper bullet
This is a lengthy and detailed video tutorial on how to make a paper gun and paper bullet. This is not one of those realistic looking replica guns made from paper, but it's still pretty impressive for a gun made of paper. See how to make the paper gun, then watch to see how to make the paper bullets that you can shoot out of it.
How To: Make a lovely small treat box for your holiday presents this year
This tutorial shows you how to make a lovely small box that you can use to enclose small Christmas presents, like jewelry or gift cards. There's also a special pocket for you to include a gift tag or little card!
News: Psychedelic Math Makes for Some Trippy Origami-Art
Flickr user fdecomite showcases his beautiful portfolio of geometry-inspired papercraft. His dedication to the craft is astounding. Get ready to take a journey down the rabbit hole cuz this work gets trippy.
How To: Master the art of applique embroidery
With applique embroidery, your favorite fabric fills in the majority of the design. That means your sewout has fewer stitches, and you have an excuse to add to your fabric stash. This applique instructional video will take you through all the necessary steps. Master the art of applique embroidery.
How To: Build a super simple mini loom to weave scrap fabric
Check out this tutorial for ideas on how you can use your left over scrap fabric. In this video, not only will you learn how to use a loom, you will build your own! This tutorial from Elizabeth Gleeson will walk you through the process of building a mini-loom and using it to weave new fabric out of scraps left over from old craft projects. This is a great way to recycle and create something unique - so get started!
How To: Anneal metal to make art jewelry
Take a metal piece and use the gas gun and blow with appropriate pressure so that one can observe the color change. You can see a white layer on the metal. Apply flux on the metal piece and rub it gently so that the small holes are covered. Let it dry for sometime. Start heating the metal gently with high flame for about five minutes. You can see water evaporating out of the flux on the metal. It protects metal from fire scale and will not allow oxygen to stay there. Now turn off the gas gun ...
How To: Sew a flirty, fluttery tank top without a pattern
This is a great project to make a fun and feminine shirt. All you need is one piece of fabric cut in a circle, a few basic notions and a sewing machine. No pattern required, just make sure you have your measurements at hand!
How To: Make a butterfly pop-up card
In this tutorial, we learn how to make a butterfly pop-up card. First, draw a butterfly on the middle of a paper and then draw flowers and smaller butterflies around it on the sides. After this, fold the card in half so the drawing is stick out and cut along the top and the bottom of the butterfly. From here, color in the entire character and then fold inwards and pop the middle out. After this, stick the insert into the card of your choice. Then, glue it down and you will have a cute butterf...
How To: Fold origami mushrooms
Vincent Floderer creates the most amazing origami mushrooms and here he shows us how.
How To: Loom-knit a poodle scarf using Pomp-a-Doodle yarn
If you have some looming skills when it comes to knitting, then this scarf should be a great project to try out! It's a poodle scarf, called that because of its use of Pomp-a-Doodle yarn from Red Heart. It's an exceptional scarf that you can loom-knit in virtually no time! You can design it any way you want it, with whatever colors you'd like. Mikey used one ball of Pomp-a-Doodle yarn for this scarf.
How To: Make a silver wire ink for jewelery
Work with sterling silver wire to make a link for jewelry clasps, loops, chains, bead work, and earring hooks. All you need is some silver wire and a pair of needle nose pliers. Jewelers need to make these simple loops for beading necklaces, connecting rings, and making earrings. Follow the instructions to link two silver wire loops to begin making a chain.
How To: Do the knitting kitchener stitch flawlessly
Stay tuned for this knitting instructional video on the Kitchener Stitch. Grafting with the kitchener stitch requires a bit of concentration. You want to do this when you know you won't be interrupted.
How To: Crochet a scarf
A crochet scarf is a great way to begin learning crochet stitches and basics. Learn how to crochet a scarf with tips from a craft expert in this free crochet video series.
How To: Crochet a kids beanie cap
Follow this simple step by step video demonstrating a series of stages involved in crocheting a kids beanie cap. Prepare the tools you are going to use, which will be mainly a hook for crocheting and woolen thread. Since the beanie cap is intended for kids one should choose a nice lively color. The first step is to make sure to tighten the first stitch. Afterwards make six consecutive stitches, and then make a loop by twisting it over. Pull the string through the slipknot and pull inwards. Yo...
How To: Craft a gorgeous origami aquilegia flower
Admittedly, kawasaki roses are cute little things, but if you're tired folding the same origami roses as everyone else and want to try something exotic and original then try folding this gorgeous origami aquilegia flower.
How To: Hide an ending knot in your quilt
This video teaches how to hide an ending knot in your quilt in order to keep it looking neat. You wrap the thread around the needle, pull it tight, push the needle through about a half inch of the surface of the quilt, and once it comes out the other side, tug on the string gently. There should now be a knot underneath the top layer of fabric. Cut off the tail end of the thread. If the piece of thread is showing through the fabric, poke your needle inside the quilt and push it past the thread...
How To: Fold an origami lily flower
Attention origami fanatics! In this two part video how-to, learn how to fold an orgami lily. Step-by-step instructions are given and discussed. To complete this lily, materials neede include: paper, your hands, and brains! Check out the second video for the final results!
How To: Make duct tape flowers
Feel and see just what duct tape is capable of! You can practically do anything with duct tape! This folding video tutorial will show you how to make duct tape flowers. To make this duct tape flower, you'll need some duct tape, scissors, and some folding capabilities. This is just like making an origami flower, but with duct tape!
How To: Crochet a warm baby sweater for fall/winter
These baby sweaters are small enough to fit onto a doll, which makes them all the more cute and cuddly when you throw them on your little baby. During the fall and winter the weather takes a significant dip, so make sure your little one covers up in style by making this crochet baby sweater.
How To: Make paper airplanes
For those of you who make paper airplanes, this video will show you different types of airplanes. From upgrading the basic paper plane, to showing you how to make the "tube plane" and "the swallow," Bre Pettis is obviously a paper airplane master.
How To: Origami a simple turtle
Ngai Chun Cheung demonstrates classic origami models. How to fold an origami turtle.
How To: Take out purl stitches in your knitting
KnitWitch.com will show you how to take out purl stitches in your knitting on this easy to follow video. Tinking, tink, which is knit spelled backwards, is the actual knitting term for removing stitches. This shows how to tink purl stitches and gives great advice on how to hold the yarn to make it easier to see and remove the stitches. As you can be sure that at some point you will have to take out stitches when you knit by following these steps and tips it will be a much easier process.
How To: Craft an easy Lady Gaga disco stick from "Lovegame"
People will definitely want to take a ride on your disco stick - or at least want to hold it - when you make this Lady Gaga inspired craft. In her music video for "Lovegame," Lady Gaga holds a wand/cane of sorts with a glittery top - what she calls her "disco stick."
How To: Origami a tropical fish Japanese style
These instructional animated slides teach you how to easily fold a paper tropical fish Japanese style. Learn how to use the Japanese art of origami to make your own paper tropical fish. Use the start, stop, forward and back buttons to easily follow along. You can also speed up the instructional origami video if it is going too slow. Very cool Japanese origami how-to video! Origami a tropical fish Japanese style.