Craft book secret
One of the best, and in some ways worst, sources of inspiration comes from extremely dated crafting books. And by extremely dated, if the colors recommended are gold, fuchsia and olive, it’s probably from the 70’s.
My frugal vintage craft book secret; local Goodwill outlets. The outlets are different from Goodwill stores in that all the stuff (except furniture and some appliances) gets dumped in huge bins. The advantage is that you purchase stuff by the pound, and books for about $0.50 a piece, magazines for even less. The disadvantage is that what you find is likely to be in pretty rough condition and you have to really sort to get to the treasures.
Some days the book bins will offer only a thin leaflet or two with cross-stitch patterns, but other days will give up an armful of books on soap making, knitting, embroidery, and Christmas crafts. Yesterday I found the proverbial armful, with some very vintage gems and even a full bag of spanish moss.
Some tips for enjoying the experience:
- Dress as if you are going to go to work at a recycling center, things get broken and spilled in the bins, many things are quite dirty, so leave the pretty clothes at home and wear something sturdy.
- Bring gloves with you. Again, things are a bit dirty and there can be broken bits of glass or plastic (although most of the time the employees are good about removing the most dangerous stuff.)
Be prepared for some competitive shoppers, many of the regulars stock antique and thrift stores with their finds and they are not always the most polite of people (however there are many more friendly people, it’s just that the rude ones are more noticeable.)
If I were buying the same books at a regular Goodwill store I would have spent about $30-35, at the outlet my total came to a whopping $5.15. If you have an outlet nearby it’s certainly worth the inconvenience or unpleasantness (after you’ve got your bearings its much more fun and exciting.)
Filed under DIY, crafts, frugal shopping | Comment (0)Felt fortune cookies
I originally posted this project on the website in 2003, even though the project is pictured as Christmas themed it can be done in any color combination according to the whims of the maker. These fortune cookies go faster than the real thing, I made full one hundred of them and used them as decorations for our Christmas tree in two evenings. Later I made a smaller set of 2 dozen and used them instead of hang tags on Christmas gifts, they were a great hit.
Gather up wool or craft felt, ribbons or paper strips, embellishments (I used bells and ribbons) and a hot glue gun with craft glue. First cut out felt circles, the ones I used are approximately 2&1/2 inches in diameter. Then cut the fortunes (I used decorative ribbon in this example, but if you are making gift tags you can use paper to write the recipients name on) to three inches long. Precut any cord used for hanging and have the embellishments handy.
Gently fold the felt circle in half and unfold. Apply the hot glue in a line following the curve of the circle a few inches parallel to the fold
Fold over again without creasing the spine of the cookie and align the edges. Give the glue a minute to cool and then slip the “fortune” into place.
Slip your fingers into the open tips of the cookie and bring them together, this forms the classic shape of the fortune cookie. Glue into place being careful to not put your fingers directly over the glue, even through felt it’s very hot. If you are going to add embellishments or a hang cord, do it during this step with the same dot of glue, simply inserting the pieces where desired.
Pictured is the cookie with a bell and ribbons in place.
Tie the ribbons and fluff the cookie into shape gently. Bask in the glory that is a beautiful crafty accomplishment.
Craft: got plastic?
You can make a plastic from the protein called casein. Casein is found in milk, it is the substance that makes custards, cheese, and in this case: plastic. This recipe works with spoiled milk as well, so it makes a good recycling project.
You’ll need a stove top, a small pan (for heating), 1 cup of milk and some lemon juice or vinegar, and a wire strainer or some cheese cloth. You might also want some small candy or chocolate molds and a few paper towels handy.
Warm the milk 50°-70° (F) and add about a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to the milk. Stir continuously as the milk curdles and remove from heat, strain the liquid from the solid using the wire strainer or cheese cloth (you can discard the liquid) and squeeze remaining moisture out of the solid curds with fingers or by patting with paper towels.
Congratulations!
You now have a plastic that you can sculpt or press into a mold. After sculpting or molding allow to air dry for 3-4 days. Try making buttons, rings, ornaments and small toys from the casein plastic, the more the casein is worked the smoother it becomes, so don’t worry about handling it too much. It can be cut, sanded, painted or lacquered for further finishing once dry.
Increase quantities and drying times as needed for larger batches of casein plastic.
(If you happen to have any formaldehyde laying around you can use it to dry the casein faster but that sort of takes it out of the ‘child safe’ project arena.)
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