How to Make Pompoms
Share How to make glorious pompoms like this is easy like 1, 2, 3. 1. Cut 2 circles from some recycled cardboard. Use a bottle cap or small round object so your circle is perfect. Then, use a whole punch to open up the center and then cut an inner [...]
Create Cool Child Bedroom Furniture w Stencils (DIY Tutorial)
Share ** How to Stencil Furniture. ** Lovely. Fun. Doable. Those are the three worlds … I mean words… that come to mind when I saw this dresser make-over. You love it also? Image source: Lena Corwin, via Etsy. Free Tutorial On Hand-Printing Your Cabinet This design & tutorial for this [...]
Art in Paris
Share It’s not what you think. No art deco here, ma’am. Manhole mandalas, that’s art, instead. Yesterday, I spotted this post by Laurie of Scene of the Grime (fun name) popping a manhole cover (roadside find) into her car. It was going to survive the junkyard and live as decoration in her backyard. A cool [...]
Free Butterfly Craft Ideas & Tutorials
Share Spring, that annual period of transformation… So, I thought it’s time to work with a symbol that marks ‘transformation’ like no other symbol does: the butterfly. We ALL need butterflies. To create ‘how to’s for my craft readers, I’ve collected and developed ideas and free craft tutorials, stencils, templates, plus other design tools~ of [...]
Tote Bag Monday: Inspired by Anthropologie New Arrivals
Share I’m in love with Anthropologie’s current New Arrivals. Check out Anthropologie’s Javanica Tote Bag for Spring…! It is another clear example, that a tote bag does not have to be boring and boxy. Check out these pictures of it. 1. Swinging 2. Embroidered 3. Faux leather trim 4. Detailed Straps 5. Flower [...]
How to Draw a Simple Rose ~ Flowers for Mothers Day
Share If there is one day of the year, that moms like to get flowers, it’s on Mothers Day. It’s easy & fun to be creative with this general notion of flowers though. …. You could make a her a pillow with flower embroidery/embellishments, start some daffodils into a handmade basket for her ahead of [...]
Recycled Wine Bottle becomes a Peony Perfect, Milky-White Vase
Share Recycling is easy. Once you’ve switched your mindset, everything becomes recyclable. I noted the lovely shape of this empty glass juice/wine bottle and with some simple, water-based gouache white paint (IKEA kid paint) I created this milky look within 5 minutes. The result was a real vase, rather than an empty glass bottle [...]
How to Make a Lovely Garden Bench this Spring
Share Spring is here and it’s time to sit outside again. One of the things on our agenda this year was to create some more magical secret spaces in the garden. So, I shopped around for a somewhat regal design garden bench, that we could paint. How to Make a Wooden Garden Bench This [...]
How-to Knit in the Round (video)
Share We need to learn how to knit in the round. So here are three knitting videos which clearly demonstrate how this is done. Something to try out tomorrow. You’ll see that you’ll need four or five double-pointed needles to work with for the first method, and a long round needle for the second method. [...]
How to Make An Art Journal
Share Today I want to feature a lovely series of videos on how to make an art journal. Millande from Millande.com creates page after page layout in her journal,, using all kinds of art making techniques that range from painting to collage. But best of all, she shows us how to just do it, hum-ti-dum, [...]
Beading Technique: How To Knot a Pearl Necklace
Share Last week, I went to the Saturday market in a little neighboring town called Civita Castellana, Besides being a hub for artisan ceramics, this town was actually founded on the fact that it was the perfect stop between Florence and Rome. On the grounds of this ancient trading place, today is still [...]
Tutorial Polymer Clay Bracelet & Earring Set
Share A fun and easy polymer clay jewelry set make a great Valentine’s Gift for a girl friend. Tip: You can use this tutorial as the basis, from which to make more complex designer jewelry. Even changing the colors to chocolate, powder blue and off-white will shift the style of the piece to be more [...]
Handmade Valentine Cards Ideas
Share Need to whip up an easy Valentine greeting card, or clean and simple stamped note cards? Good. What I want to show to day is how easy it is to make lovely cards with minimal tools. Easy Valentine Craft These rubber stamped cards with hearts, squares & rectangles will do the trick for [...]
Craft Book of the Month: Re-Fashion-ed Bags
Share We choose the hot-of-the-press book "Refashioned Bags: Upcycle Anything into High-Style Handbags" by artist team Justina & Faith Blakeney as our book of the month, January 2010. And we can see it is going to be one of our favorite books. It’s the fourth book they’ve been writing together, and it seems to be [...]
Craft Book of the Month Embellishings a la Anthropologie
Share Favorite Craft Book Complete Embellishing: Techniques and Projects This book includes an collection of 25 projects, illustrated with more than 170 photographs and clear step-by-step directions. All are original designs inspired by the author’s years as a crafter and visual manager for the hip New York store, Anthropologie. The ‘thing’ that makes Anthropologie [...]
How to Felt Scarf (Free Video Tutorial)
Share Today I am featuring a felt-making craft video series to make a beautiful felt scarf. This free felting tutorial explains each step of the way from raw wool to smashing scarf. The felting project is presented by felting veteran Laura Artates. Side Two of Your Felted Scarf You can tell that the featured artist [...]
12 Back-to-School Crafts
Share I aimed for 50 good back-to-school craft ideas this year. Well, we did quite a lot of crafts, albeit not anywhere near 50 projects. In fact, we spent so much time on the crafts, that I’ve ran out of time to write articles about our own back-to-school craft projects. So instead, here are some [...]
Fashion Camp New York City, This Weekend Sept. 12-13th, 2009
Share FashionCamp New York City Sept. 12-13th, 2009 We all know New York FASHION Week is ON NOW. However, FashionCamp NYC 2009 is something special and not as well known…. let me explain and you’ll know if you should pack your bags for the Big Apple today…. It is a two-day open conference in New [...]
Craft Color Planner Winter 2010/2011
Share The Pantone Color Planner for Winter 2010/2011 offers a ‘mosaic’ of color choices. There are really eight color palettes for use in women’s wear, menswear, active wear, cosmetics, lifestyle, industrial design and graphics: Molecular is an exploration into a mood that is not somber, but vibrant and glowing and in constant re-interpretation of itself. [...]
Color Planner Fall 2009
Share I was just reminded on Twitter of looking into the color trends for the upcoming Fall. ~ Yes, you can follow me at http://www.Twitter.com/freecraft, albeit that I believe that daily visits to my blog, my newsletter and my RSS feed are useful ~ . OK Back to … Choosing Fashionable Craft Colors for [...]
Starbucks Coffee Cup Cozy ~ Easy Craft For The Beach
Share “One More Coffee for the Road?” my husband asked as I am putting together this free online tutorial on how to make a reusable (Starbucks) coffee cup cozy! He just confirmed the usefulness of this craft project. Making a coffee cup cuff, holder, sleeve or cozy – whatever you like to call it [...]
How to Make a Simple Paper Dress
Share A Simple Paper Dress Seeing this girl come home from summer camp in her delightful bright blue paper dress with ribbons, I was instantly inspired to write about paper dresses here at FineCraftGuild.com . This simple paper dress is easy to do at a camp or kid party and all the girls can line [...]
Summer Crafts: Books for Kids
Share It’s mid-July, and any day now, your little one can come up with the dreaded ‘I’m bored; I have nothing to do & nothing to play with’ – revelation. Be prepared, and shop now for some great summer craft project books. Here are 10 recommended craft books for kids, filled with projects to keep [...]
Handmade Business Cards in Pouch – the Perfect Gift
Share When I noticed these wonderfully unique business cards on a Medieval Craft Market here in Northern Italy, featuring quality handmade cotton paper and presented in leather pouches that were also made by hand, I knew instantly that I would make a blog article out of them. Craft Gift Aren’t those wonderful leather pouches…!? They [...]
Handmade Guest Soap Done in 2 Seconds
Share This wonderful orange Spring flower-shaped handmade soap for my guest bathroom was literally made in 2 seconds. What’s my secret? I cheated, and you can too. Rather than using new soap flakes and make it from scratch, I recycled. Wanna try it? How to Make a Fun Mother’s Day* or Guestroom Soap Fast This [...]
How to Make Jewelry: Dreamcatcher Bracelet with Gemstones
Share How to Make Jewelry: Dreamcatcher Bracelet with Gemstones How to Analyze Jewelry Today, I’m going to give a plug the artist at NatureCharms who has real budding creativity, whose jewelry prices are low to begin with, and who now has a sale on, giving her gorgeous jewelry practically away. Have a look at this [...]
Ultimately Easy Paper Mache Recipe
Share There are two ways to make paper mache craft: a. using paper mache strips and layering these; or b. creating a paper mache pulp to model with a mold. The first recipe is so easy, that I think I could give the instructions in one sentence, but I’ll add a bit more detail here [...]
Craft a Simple, Marvellous Desk Calendar – February Page
Share February just showed up and I hadn’t had a calendar page ready for this month for my brandnew handmade desk calendar. Oh la la… So, about a week ago, I devised this one, in less than 3 minutes… !! (Taking this picture, cropping and color correcting it in Photoshop took more time than the [...]
How to Paint Child Furniture
Share Decorate Your Child’s Room in Style and learn how to decorate plain wooden chairs into works of art, fit for a princess or a prince. In this example, I’ve converted a plain wooden IKEA chair into a ‘princess’ dream come true’ seat. Child Furniture Painting Success Formula Here is the magic formula for success, [...]
Making Fabulous Paper Flowers with Tissue Paper
Share This is a tissue paper flowers craft project that is so simple, it can easily be done by children 6 years and up. You and they will love it, as each flower takes only minutes to produce and looks stunning! Craft Supplies Needed Crepe paper or tissue paper Twist ties, Scots tape or rag [...]
