Basic crafting supplies and where to get them without spending lots!

Hello everyone! I thought it would be nice to share with you my basic crafting supplies. We have done a post similar to this with basic sewing supplies so check that out if you want to see what I use for sewing projects. But today I'm going to talk about supplies for crafting. I'll also mention where tonight it without spending lots because craft supplies can be very expensive depending on where you buy.

1. Paint
Acrilic and poster paint tends to be super useful for most craft projects. Having a few basic colours like black, white, blue, red and yellow is great so you can mix them to make any colour you need. Acrylic paint varies in price depending on quality. If you aren't looking for great quality then you can buy acrylic paint from The Pound shop or Tiger for a couple of quid. If you are looking for more quality, Hobbycraft or the Range sells a range of tubed and tub paint. For poster paint, Hobbycraft sells tons of poster paint for a pound a bottle. Can't go wrong!

2. Paint brushes and sponges
You can't use paint without brushes. Like paint, you can get brushes varing in price depending of quality. However your best bet is a Swedish shop that you can find in some high streets called Søstrene Grene. They sell a range of brushes of great quality for amazing prices. They also have tons of craft supplies and stationery at great prices for good quality. They are online as well so definitely check them out!

3. Mod Podge or decopage glue
This glue is very similar to P.V.A but tends to leave a much better finish. It's a bit pricey but your best bet is Hobbycraft. If your local Hobbycraft has a sale section it's worth checking there as I have found it for much cheaper in there. The best thing about this glue is, as the come in quite big pots, they last a while so you won't need to reperchace very often.

4. Sharpies
These are definitely the best permanent markers around but are quite expensive. You can find them quite cheap online or W H Smiths do offers on them quite a lot so keep a look out.

5. Coloured and plain card
A classic basic, card almost always comes in handy. I found the best place to pick it up is at The Range or Pound Land sometimes sells it for kids crafts. Either way, it's never too expensive.

6. Good quality scissors
Fabric scissors are best. Keep them in good condition by reserving them for hard to cut maritals. I bought mine quite cheap from my local market. There is a sewing stall there which sells lots of basic supplies for a reasonable price.

7. Wool, buttons, lolly sticks, zips and ribbon
This might seem quite random collection of stuff but they are the kind of things that I tend to collect. I have a little stack of these in my craft supplies. The best places to grab this stuff tends to be independent markets. The kind that are on once a month or something. I have actually find zips and ribbons at charity shops as well before. If you're looking for certain colours or lengths then Hobbycraft have a huge range of stuff.

8. Fabric
Fabric is another thing that's great to have a stash of. The best place to buy felt is Hobbycraft (if you are looking for small pieces). There are lots of offcut shops around that sell big rolls of offcuts from various sources. My local market has a great fabric that sells a huge range of colours and styles of fabric for a great price which is great if you need lots of fabric. Failing finding it at any of these places, you could always rip up some old clothes, always ask first though.

9. Hot glue gun and sticks
This is my most used craft supply. It's perfect because it can be used on most surfaces. You can also get cold glue guns which are safer but more expensive. In most shops they have to be bought be adults and do need supervision to some extent. I bought mine from the Range for under £10. Have a stack of glue to go with it is important too.

10. Washi/ patterned tape
Colourful tape is great as it can be used for so many things. It's sold at most craft shops so it's just a case of being savy and shopping around.

So, that was a brief run down of my most used craft supplies. I hope you found it useful and if you have any suggestions then let my know in the comments. Thank you for reading.

Recycled Paper Beads

Sometimes, you want to make some jewellery but you have no beads whatsoever. I often come up with this problem but there is a solution: homemade paper beads! Grab some paper and lets get going.

You will need:

• Paper
• A gluestick
• PVA glue
• Water
• A skewer/bead making tool
• Cocktail sticks
• Small piece of polystyrene
• Coloured pens

To actually make the beads, the best and easiest way to do it to use a bead making tool (I recommend the Recycled Paper Beads kit from green creativity. You can get it easily off Amazon). But if you don't have one, you can roll them on a skewer.

Method

1. Firstly, you need to cut the strips of paper. There are different shapes of beads you can make but I will start with the most common. Start by marking inches across the top of the paper (you can change this to suit how wide you want the beads).

2. Mark half an inch on the bottom of the paper. Continue making full inch mark along the bottom.

3. Now join all these marks up so you get triangle shapes.

4. Cut them out.

5. At this point, you will need to decorate the strips of paper. But if you have cut them out of some magazine paper or decorated paper then this won't apply. If you are decorating them, remember that you will keep rolling over the top of the design, so anything running down the middle won't be seen.

6. After decorating, you now need to roll the beads. If you are using a specialised tool, follow the instructions that come with it. If not, start by putting a line of glue on the wide section of bead. Make sure you do this on the back.
7. Now fold it the top over the skewer and glue it down. This will hold the bead in place as you roll it.

8. It is now time to create the actual bead shape! Slowly and carefully roll the piece of paper around the skewer until there is a small tail left. Use a glue stick to secure this down.

9. Slide the bead off the skewer and put it onto a cocktail stick. Stick the cocktail stick in a piece of polystyrene. This will keep the bead from the ground as it dries and make it easier to seal.

10. Once the bead as dried, you will need to make the watered down glue to seal the bead. If you have some Mod Podge, feel free to use this. But if you don't, put some PVA glue into a bowl and add water until it is a thick but runny consistency.
11. Paint this all around the bead. You may find it easier if you pick up the cocktail stick.

12. Wait for them to fully dry and then take them off the cocktail sticks. Your bead are now finished! 13. Thread them through some elastic and tie to create a wonderful bracelet or necklace.

We hope you have found this tutorial useful and comment down below if you have made some. We would love to see a picture if you have!

Quilled Birthday Card Tutorial

This is the finished product.

So, my sister's birthday is coming up soon so I decided to make her a card with quilled decorations. I'm doing this design because I got a kit from it for Christmas.

The Kit
The kit I'm using is a card making set from Apples and Pears. I knew it would be good because I've had a couple of other sets off them. All of their loads of sets are in a tin and that's kind of the point of their company. As they're in a tin, they're are really good for travelling and taking on journeys.

Materials:

• Quilling paper
• Quilling tool
• Card
• Glue
• Other decorations (optional)

Steps:

1. Gather all of the above materials. You can use any colours or any sizes that you want.
2. Take your quilling tool (you can use a pencil or other round object if you don't have one) and insert the paper strip into the slit at the end.

3. Gently wrap the piece of paper around and around until you have a circle.
4. Drop the paper of the tool. Be careful when you do this so you don't break it.
5. Wait until it expands to the shape you want. You can make the shape more interesting by pinching both ends or one individually.

Here is one that I pinched the end of.

6. Put a small amount of glue on the end of the paper slip to secure and wait for it to dry.

 

For the card that I was making I created a heart for it. It was very simple and will be posting a quick tutorial on that soon. I also created some letters to spell love.

Tips:

• Make sure not to wrap the paper too tightly so you can still get it off your tool.
• There are tons of tutorials on the internet that you can have a look at to find more interesting things to do.

Quilling has been something I've been wanting to do for a while now. Now I have a kit, I'll probably be posting some more tutorials on different shapes to make. 

Christmas Ideas

Hi everyone! I am very sorry we have not been posting much recently but I am going to give you a few ideas for Christmas presents, so get making!

Do you ever feel like your stocking could do with an update? Well why don't you add a few stitched extras?

Maybe you have a family member that could do with a new scarf? Well why don't you get a knitting book out of the library and knit them one.

You could make a wallet like in our Fathers Day Post. Use your imagination and turn it into a practical purse to give as a present.

Now this is not strictly needle craft but it is creative. You could have a go at recreating a favourite Christmas song in a different medium like trying to draw out your favourite lyrics in a cool arty style.

So have fun and give it a go!

How to Make Fabric Coasters

It's E here.
Last Christmas I was given a sewing machine. I have made some lovely things on it and I wanted to make a fabric coaster. I did, and it has been very useful, but the only problem is that they stain easily and mine has an ugly orange juice stain already. If you're careful though, you can wash them. Here I'm going to give you a tutorial on these wonderful coasters.

You need:

• 2 4.5" pieces of fabric
• 1 4" piece of felt
• Sewing machine
• Scissors

Steps:

1. Firstly take the fabric and place the pieces with right sides together. Then, put the piece of felt on top of them and pin them all together

2. Now, using the felt as a guide, sew around the edge of the fabric. Make sure to leave a gap in between where you are sewing and the felt. Before you get to the end, leave about a 2" gap so that you can turn it.

3. Next, very carefully clip the corners.

4. Now you need to turn the coaster so the patterned side of the fabric is on the outside. You can turn it with the felt on top or turn it and then try to get the felt inside. I personally do the second option because I find the first to bulky to handle.

5. Once you have turned it, take the raw edge of the hole and turn it in and pin. Have a look at the picture below to see what I mean.

6. You now need to do and edge stitch around the whole coaster making sure you catch the raw edge.

7. Once it's all sewn you can press it and you've made yourself a coaster!