How-To Guides about Arts & Crafts

The best ways to reuse old mason jars start with one question: what is this jar actually capable of? Condition and size determine the answer. This guide covers exactly 15 reuse ideas, organized by a simple framework: inspect first, sort by condition, then match jar size to job. By the end, you'll know which jars belong in the pantry, which go on a desk or countertop, and which should be redirected to decor or discarded.

Stained Glass for Beginners: How to Make Your First Panel

Beat the Scroll: 12 Offline Hobbies That Actually Fit Into Real Life

Reviewed by: Y. Garcia

Turn a Christmas Ornament Into a Custom Lamp Finial

Reviewed by: Y. Garcia

Difficulty: Novice Time: 2 hours (including travel and build time) Cost: Free Age Range: Kids event with adult supervision recommended

You know that wonderful feeling when you receive something handmade? That spark when you realize someone carved out time just for you. Mason jars provide a perfect canvas for DIY gifts that capture exactly that sentiment. They're versatile, charming, and surprisingly affordable to work with.

Difficulty: Novice Time: 30 minutes Cost: ~$5

Difficulty: Novice Time: 15 minutes Cost: ~$8

Reviewed by Jame Jimenez

Difficulty: Novice Time: 10-15 minutes Cost: Free (with optional Canva Pro features)

The F-15 Eagle is one of the most iconic jet fighters ever, and now you can fold your own detailed paper version.

This paper airplane doesn't just fly — it comes back to you like a boomerang.

This origami model hides a beautiful secret. What looks like a simple cube at first transforms, with just a few gentle twists, into a blooming paper rose.

With its sharp angles and sleek design, this stealth-inspired paper plane is built for speed and style.

Grave rubbing is more than just an art. It's a record of the past, one that so many people would just rather forget. And graves are the one way to reconnect with that world. Discover the ancient art of gravestone rubbing to record beautiful headstone images or to enhance your genealogy studies. It only takes a few simple tools, and you're on your way.

Ever wonder how to cast on with work in progress when knitting? Well, wonder no more with this knitting demonstration video!

You never know what you might stumble across on your next visit to a flea market or thrift store. Real gold is very soft, so biting down on the piece is a time-honored test for real gold. You can also examine your jewelry for a maker's carat stamp or discoloration that may indicate fake metal.

Have you ever been curious about how glass beads are made? Or are you interested in getting started in the glass bead business? In this video, see how one bead maker creates beautiful glass beads.

if you are looking for a hobby that will pay for itself over time, consider faceting stones. Precious gems like sapphires and rubies are a sound investment that will never lose value, and you can produce them from your home with the right equipment.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to fold and assemble an MP40 gun out of paper. Using just paper, scissors and tape, you can make a toy replica gun with working parts. (Of course, it will lack the firepower of a real MP40!)

Beeswax is a clean-burning and pleasantly scented wax for candles, and beeswax candles make excellent gifts. This tutorial shows you how to make your own rolled beeswax candles at home. All you need is your primed candle wick and a few sheets of beeswax.

Un-dull your crocheted sweater with a little creativity. Adding some decorative details and features to your clothing will do wonders for fashion, and could hide unsightly holes! Embellishing with crochet can be a creative way to repair a piece of clothing, and it can add flair to a piece by inserting a neckline or a hem.

If you have been curious about how a Brother garter carriage works, this 2 part video will show some basic steps to casting on and knitting a baby blanket. The charity blanket pattern used is available free on the internet. This video machine-knitting tutorial also shows a trick to switch yarn without the joint showing. Follow along with this video and learn how to knit a baby blanket using the Brother Garter Carriage knitting machine.

This is a great project for beginners - sew your own knife edge pillow with a zipper. If you can, use a rotary cutter instead of scissors to get better, cleaner lines for your project. Also get a sturdy zipper.

Crocheting and knitting are similar but different enough that the same patterns will not work for both. If you've found a crochet pattern you like and would rather knit it, watch this video to learn how to convert your pattern into the kind you want.

In this video, the author teaches us how to cast on with serenity: wrap your material around twice, grab the back and then up (around your fingers) forming a slipknot. To start off, we will focus on the inside of the loom, pulling the material towards the outside (using a grochet hook). Take needle between two pegs, pulling material through and put the needle down and pull up (rotating towards you) and repeat. This forms a tier duct and if this is done properly, you should be able to do this...

Need a fun getup for Earth Day, or want to make an inexpensive but highly fashionable costume piece for Halloween? Then you've stumbled upon the right video.

When making these knit newborn mittens use 2 strings at the same time for warmth. Wrap the string around your finger twice to create a slip knot (back loop over the forward, and then pull it down to leave the loop). Use only 7 pegs from the 24 peg loom. Use the anchor as the starting point. Put the slip knot over the first peg. If you're right-handed, work towards the left; and likewise, if you're left-handed, work towards the right. Now, wrap over and back down the peg beside your first peg....

Strings of DNA aren't the only things that contain helixes. With a bit of skill and practice, you can make your own rope helix for fun or bondage and BDSM play by watching this video by Two Knotty Boys.

The very first banknotes were used by the Chinese in the 7th century, during the Tang Dynasty. Before it was used as an actual currency, paper money was part of a deposit system in which merchants would leave large amounts of coins with a trusted associate and receive a paper receipt for the transaction. The reason was simple — the copper coins used as currency then were heavy.

We've all attempted to fold a paper airplane before, right? One we hoped would sail majestically through the air for a good while but just ended up nose-diving into the grass. Paper planes, an invention likely as old as paper, are models of engineering; and they must account for the same dynamics as real planes, from drag force to stability to weight. So what is the perfect design?

Keep the kids learning and entertained with this fun pinwheel project. Summer is a great time for family activities, and these Fourth of July pinwheels are a math lesson, craft project and decoration-making session all-in-one.

If you won't be near any real fireworks for the 4th of July holiday, do the next best thing and origami yourself some! For this origami fireworks project, you'll need square sheets of paper of different colors.

To play off Gertrude Stein's famous quote, a rose is a rose is a magic paper cube. And with this paper folder's guide, you'll learn how to make your very own magic rose cube from paper using the Japanese art of origami. This design by Valerie Vann, and folded by YouTuber German Fernandez, is great for Valentine's Day or any other day where a paper puzzle rose is needed. Just be prepared... it's a not just a puzzle origami rose, it's a puzzle folding it.