Crafting Secrets

Get a Step-by-Step Guide for Craft Projects For Any Age And Ability, Made EASY 101 Easy Craft Project Ideas.. -Let me know how you like it.

I have a wood stool that I’ve sanded and would like to repaint and add real leaves to. I want to keep the natural essence and color of the leaves but am not sure how to go about applying them or making sure they don’t dry up or crumble with time. Is it a matter of preserving the leaves first or just sticking them to the wet paint, letting it dry then applying a varnish to on top?

Soak the leaves in a solution of glycerin and water- 1 part glycerin to 2 parts water. Leave them for about 6 days and the color should stay indefinitely, just dry them thoroughly before applying them to your project. You could also spray them with an acrylic craft sealant. I would allow the paint to dry and use an adhesive to stick them on before applying clear polyurethane.

Needle Felting. Fans of felting will these funky accessories, made out of vibrant shades of pure wool. Corinne Bradd shows how to use cookie-cutters for modern shapes, ideal for stitching on a handbag or fastening to the front of a special greeting.

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Or is it better to use a site where many people are selling their items? I would like to launch a small craft selling business online and was curious if my best bet would be something like yahoo small business to put my things out there or if I should instead go onto one of those online marketplaces? Does anyone have any input or info. on this?

Personally, for someone just starting out, I would recommend going with a free blog and a marketplace like Etsy or ArtFire.

If you join a marketplace, you have the chance that someone will find your crafts just by browsing and searching the main site. You can also find support in their forums. If you need something free, ArtFire does offer a limited basic membership.

The free blog is where you will do some of your marketing for your shops at the bigger marketplaces. I do recommend getting your own domain name for use with your blog. It gives your customers something easy to remember; and, it establishes a better identity for your new business. As you grow, you already have the domain and can build on it, eventually opening your own storefront if desired.

Keep in mind that even though you are using an online marketplace, you still need to market yourself just as much. The marketplaces help to speed things up a little, since they make it easier to get listed with Google Shopping, for instance. But, they are not a miracle solution. You will still need to find ways of advertising yourself both online and off.

For this crafty craft you will need the following supplies:
6 wire hangers (preferably off uniforms of some sort)
Twist ties
Zip ties
Hot glue gun with glue
One strand of garland (possibly two)
One strand of 100 count mini tree lights
An assortment of miniature ornaments (the bigger the variety, the better)–Give your tree some ‘tude!

I probably will not answer any comments today, people! I decided to put off work so I could get one more craft in there, and it was a VERY bad decision. Work has piled up like nobody’s business. I suck!!

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really would like to know with out taking a expensive course some where.or any good books that teach this would be quite helpful.thank you so kindly everyone.

From what I cold gather all of these sites are free but if they are not sorry

http://www.sbearstradingpost.com/freepatterns.html

http://www.sbearstradingpost.com/leathercraftkits.html

http://www.craftsitedirectory.com/leather/index.html

http://www.craftsitedirectory.com/leather/leather3.html

http://www.onestopcandle.com/leather/leatherinstr.php

http://www.onestopcandle.com/leather/carveinstr01.php

http://www.ohboydenterprises.com/InstructionsTrickBraidLeatherBracelets.html

I would like to use things from around the house rather than throw them away. Do you know of any good websites, with great photos and instructions for those types of crafts?
Thanks Katie, that website has tons of ideas, just skimmed through it quickly.

Any more good websites???

Craftbits has some good ideas:

http://craftbits.com

You can become a member (but you don’t have to) and there are a lot of good projects, too.

hope this helps best of luck