Active Arts & Crafts Posts
How To: Draft a free pattern for an A-line skirt easily and by hand
What's better than free pattern? A free pattern that fits you perfectly! This tutorial shows you how to draft the pattern for a basic A-line skirt completely by hand, and custom fit to your own measurements. All you need is some pattern paper, a pencil and a ruler.
How To: Steampunk an External Hard Drive Case
There's something about the world of steampunk that fascinates me. WonderHowTo has plenty of steampunk projects, like the hardware chess set, binocular goggles, and even a lesson on fashion. But nothing screams steampunk more than nevets_mcd's hard drive case.
How To: Make a fancy red Valentine's Day treat box
Valentine's Day sweets can be made even sweeter when they're packaged in delightful way. Martha Stewart herself would approve of this red and pink gift box, which features Valentine's Day hearts on the front.
How To: Craft a charming Valentine's Day Hershey Marshmallow gift box
Give sweets to your sweet in the prettiest way possible by crafting this Valentine's Day gift box. While this particular gift box is intended for storing Hershey Marshmallows, it can also hold a small gift or chocolates.
How To: Craft a set of "Thank You" spring floral note cards
We admit that 99% of the time we write notes wherever we can: On scratch paper, on post-it notes, and often times on the back of our hands. But consider how lovely it would be if you could whisper little nothings on these pretty notecards.
How To: Make a sparkly bandaid "Get Well" card
Tell your friend you hope you feels better in the sweetest and cutest way possible by crafting this bandaid greeting card. A paper bandaid, embellished with a sparkly red heart, says it all.
How To: Make a cute "Bee Mine" Valentine's Day box
We know that every pink and red Hallmark card out there tells us that Valentine's Day is about smoochin' it up with your amor and generally cherishing the ones you love, but to be honest, the holiday is also about cherishing your love for candy and sweets.
How To: Craft a Valentine's Day "Sweethearts" treat bag
We know that every pink and red Hallmark card out there tells us that Valentine's Day is about smoochin' it up with your amor and generally cherishing the ones you love, but to be honest, the holiday is also about cherishing your love for candy and sweets.
How To: Fold tessellation origami bricks the short way
First things first: Do not try to attempt this super crazy complex origami project unless you've had your fair share of experience folding modular origami.
How To: Fold advanced origami tesselated bricks
First things first: Do not try to attempt this super crazy complex origami project unless you've had your fair share of experience folding modular origami.
How To: Make a pink heart Valentine's Day greeting card
We know it feels like you're surrounded by a wall of pink and red on Valentine's Day, especially when you enter any retailer, but you have to admit these two colors evoke quite the aura of romance.
How To: Make a "Congratulations" heart embellished greeting card
There are so many occasions in life for which you could use this "Congratulations" greeting card. From your nephew's graduation to a perfect 2400 on the SATs to the arrival of a new baby, this pretty card says it all.
How To: Craft a Victorian flower rosette card
Rosettes are embellishments that have been around for hundreds of years, but since the Victorian era they have been especially cherished for their feminine, fuffled shapes and pretty lacy designs.
How To: Craft a "And many more" birthday card
Birthday cards usually commemorate a particular birthday - your sweet 16, forever 21, and - ugh - your 30th. But this card is sweet because it says "Happy Birthday" while wishing you many more brilliant birthdays to come as well.
How To: Craft a Valentine's Day cookie bouquet
We'd never turn down a perfectly baked, perfectly crunchy and flaky cookie, but the presentation does in fact add to the whole experience. Give your coworkers - or your kid's classmates - a treat this Valentine's Day by making these cookie bouquets.
How To: Craft a cracked glass patterned spring butterfly card
Crackled glass has made its appearance in lots of cultural avenues, including nail polish (remember the crackled nail polish trend popular a few years back?), glass designs, and now, cards.
How To: Make a flat circle using single crochet
In this video, we learn how to make a flat circle using single crochet. Start out by crocheting six single crochets into a ring for round one. For round two, you will increase in every single crochets so you have twelve of them. For round three, you will increase with every other single crochet doing one single crochet in between the creases. do this for a total of eighteen. Then, make two single crochets between the increases and you will have twenty-four. On the last row, you will make thre...
How To: Craft spring/Easter bunny and chick boxes
There's nothing that makes us feel more like the flowers are a bloomin' outside and the weather is sunny and warm than baby animals. During the spring, they herald the return of life after a long and frigid winter.
How To: Craft a Spiderman box favor and card
It didn't take Spiderpig from "The Simpsons" movie to convince us that Spiderman was cool. A staple comic and TV show from our childhood, he was a masked hero who always had a heart...and a taste for redheads.
How To: Craft a superhero Batman bat signal box and favor
If you have a little boy who's a fan of comics and superheros, then Batman is probably idol #1. After all, the tortured, redeemed hero has a really cool black cape and some killer upper body strength.
How To: Make a cute little oragami dress
If you're an oragami fan, you'll want to ckeck out this video and find out how to fold a smart little oragami dress. This video shows you how to make a simple origami dress with no need to cut or glue. You can use these dresses as decoration for the fridge, your scrapbooks or dolls.
How To: Stiffen or harden crocheted snowflakes
Snowflakes are a beautiful touch to any winter decoration scheme. You can use a crochet hook to make the original snowflake, and then use the process outlined in the video to stiffen it and add some extra color and sparkles to your project.
How To: Craft a paper Valentine's Day card mailbox
Don't just leave your kid with a sad plastic bag this Valentine's Day to store valentines from his or her classmates! Make the giving and receiving of valentines special this year by crafting this paper Valentine's Day card mailbox.
How To: Sew a basic skirt and pencil skirt without a pattern
This tutorial starts off by showing you how to sew a basic skirt by using just your measurements - no pattern needed. Then, once you've mastered that, turn your basic skirt into a classy pencil skirt with just a few modifications.
How To: Figure out how many buttons you need for a hand drafted pattern
So you've drafted a jacket pattern by hand, but now how do you figure out how many buttons you need, and where to put them? This tutorial shows you a few tricks and rules to use when adding your buttons.
How To: Undo the hem on a pre-made skirt
This tutorial focuses on skirts, but you can use this process to undo the hem on any garment. You can sometimes cut off the hem, but if you want to make a much smaller alteration, here's how you can undo the hem entirely.
How To: Alter the hemlines on your skirts
This tutorial shows you how to determine what kind of skirt you have - straight or tapered . Then, depending on the type of skirt you have, you're shown how to alter the hem or shorten the length of your skirt.
How To: Knit the Fair Isle house stitch
In this knitting tutorial, expert knitter Judy Topaz shows you how to knit the Fair Isle house stitch. If you're not familiar with the basics of knitting, check out some of Judy's other knitting videos for beginner tips and techniques.
HowTo: Fold an Origami Rabbit
Okay, so WonderHowTo already has a million origami tutorials (well, I'm exaggerating... not a million. 2,410 and growing). And the process of folding an origami rabbit is pretty simple (maybe not that simple- 16 steps to be exact).
How To: Cut up an old t-shirt and turn it into a corset halter top
Repurpose your old T-shirts! Create a fun summer look by creating a halter top/corset style look out of an old T-shirt. All you need is a sharp pair of scissors and a few embellishements or accessories. You won't even need a sewing machine.
How To: Make your own elegant rose beaded ring
For this tutorial, you will need a rose bead (or any other flower you prefer) and enough seed beads to go around your finger. You will also need some sturdy elastic to thread them on (make sure, though, that it's not too thick to go through the beads).
How To: Make a cheap and easy headband holder at home
Tired of losing track of all your favorite headbands? This tutorial shows you how to make a headband holder! This project could also be used to organize your necklaces, or make a smaller version to use as a bracelet holder.
How To: Recycle your old clothes into a cute teddy bear
This tutorial works best with soft fabrics, like jersey or terry cloth. You can even cut up old flannel to make the stuffing! This is a simple project that won't take longer than an hour or two to put together.
How To: Make an easy tutu without needing a sewing machine
You can make a stylish and fun tutu without needing a sewing machine! All you need is several yards of tulle or a similar fabric. Perfect for ballet lessons, or wear it as a petticoat for your full, bouncy skirts.
How To: Decorate and personalize the cover for your cell phone
This tutorial shows you a few cute ideas to decorate a cell phone cover. iPhones all look the same, but you can take a basic cover and then add beads, faux gems, rhinestones and other embellishments to personalize your cell phone case.
How To: Draft your own darts when making a skirt without a pattern
Darts add shape and a more fitted line to garments that use them. While many patterns come with the darts pre-printed, how do you add darts when you're sewing without a pattern? This tutorial shows you how to add your own darts by hand.
News: Obsessively Intricate Paper Anatomy
Artist Sarah Yakawonis uses a technique called quilling to craft complex anatomy art with paper. Quilling, as defined by Wikipedia: "The use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is wound around a quill to create a basic coil shape. The paper is glued at the tip and the coil shaped, these shaped coils are arranged to form flowers, leaves, and various ornamental patterns similar to ironwork."
How To: Craft cometa flower wedding favors
These cometa flowers are made from Italian cometa ribbon. Velvety and smooth, they are easy to craft with and can be quickly turned into beautiful blooms that can adorn your wedding favors.
How To: Make a CD mini album
Joann of "Paper Crafting" shows you how to create a CD mini album. What it is, is actually a pop up photo album that you create using a CD case. The materials needed are 1) a CD case. 2) various decorations to put on the outside/inside depending on your taste. 3) cardstock type paper that can be folded around 8 times: on each "fold" you will put a photo- preferably the album will have a theme. Then you fold it up and put it in the Cd Case and embellish the front however you like.
How To: Sew a zipper into your clothes and other projects
A zipper may look intimidating, but it's really not. This tutorial shows you an easy and quick way to sew a zipper. You will need a zipper, straight pins, matching thread, scissors, your sewing project and a special zipper foot for your sewing machine.