Bluebell Crafts

Archive for July, 2011

Wind chimes are used all over the world to scare off evil spirits from homes and birds from the fields. Wind chimes were also brought into temples for the tranquility they brought. Today, we use wind chimes decorative items indoors and out.

You’ll find wind chimes made of everything from huge pipes of metal to delicate porcelain sticks, anything that will make a lovely noise.  Some wind chimes don’t tinkle, wooden ones make more of a clunking noise but still contribute to the ambiance in a garden.  All sorts of household items can be used to make your own wind chimes and today we’ll discuss how to make chimes using old cutlery – knives, forks and spoons (look for them in junk stops or car boot sales).

You will need:

6 each – soup spoons and dinner forks
1 Butter knife
8-10″ Metal or wooden plate or circle
1/8-inch bit and drill
Rubber mallet
Different lengths of heavy fishing line
26 crimper beads
Pliers
Wire, if using a wooden or metal circle

Instructions

1.    Find the cutlery pieces you’ll use for your wind chime. The butter knife will be used in the center of the chime as the clanger and the spoons and forks will be located around the edge of the circle. You can use other headers such as sticks, plates, tea pots, etc. Beads and other embellishments can also be used.

2.    Put the spoons and forks on a flat surface and flatten with the mallet; it is very effective if they are twisted and the flattened. Once flattened, drill a hole in the middle, near the end of the handle of each piece, so the cutlery piece dangles downward. Set these aside while you get on with the rest of the project.

3.    Using the same bit, drill a hole through the center of the metal or wooden plate. The butter knife will hang there. For hanging the forks and spoons, drill 12 evenly spaced holes around the outer circle of the plate. If using a wooden or metal circle, attach the wire in an + across the circle and drill 12 holes evenly spaced around the circles for the forks and spoons.

4.    Cut six – 5″ strips, six – 7″ strips and 1 – 10″ strip of fishing line.

5.    Thread the ten-inch strip through the hole in the butter knife. Use pliers and a crimper bead to secure the knife to the fishing line and then attach the fishing line to the + in the circle or the centre hole of the plate, secure with another crimper bead.

6.    Using 3 of the 5″ strips of fishing line and 3 of the 7″ strips, thread the fishing line through the hole in the spoons and secure each piece to its line with a crimper bead.  Do the same with the forks using the remaining 5″ and 7″ strips.

7.    Alternating spoon and fork, thread the fishing line attached to each, through the holes on the outer rim of the plate or circle. Loop the line back on itself and secure with the crimper bead and pliers.

8.    Lastly, loop a 4″ piece of fishing line and thread both ends through the plate. Secure with a crimper bead under the plate. Use this loop to hang your new silverware wind chime.

9.    Hang where the breezes will catch it and enjoy.

A garden scrapbook can offer a lovely, natural element for anyone reading your storybook. Flowers are among the most popular items used in scrapbooking and using flowers in a scrapbook is very much a part of crafting the scrapbook story of your garden.

How to dry flowers for scrap booking

You can use corsages, bouquets and any parts of the flower to craft your garden scrapbook. Once dried and compressed, the flowers should be laminated. Use Xyron sticker creation machine or any acid-free product to laminate your flowers.

Then glue or tape the flowers in place so that they are stuck securely on the page. The compressed and dried flowers can be lined up or placed at an angle – anything that pleases your eye, and added to your scrapbook page.  Once you are happy with the arrangement, smoothly glue them near your photographs and notations.  You may have seen flowers preserved in bibles. The process in scrapbooks is similar, only you will want to position and stick the flowers in place so that they do not fall out.

You can collect flowers, seed heads, leaves, grasses etc. at almost anytime of the year.  Every season offers you wonderful plants and flowers to add to your garden scrapbook. But collect the plant material after the dew has evaporated so that it is not too damp. Read the rest of this entry »

As a kid did you ever cut pictures out of magazines and paste them onto paper and then make a book out of those papers? You may have collected other bits and pieces like stripes of lace or ribbons, cards or tickets and pasted those around or along side the pictures. Remember too, how all your hard work got stuck into a drawer and you found it years later in bits?

Now there’s a grown up way to preserve your treasures and memories – Scrapbooking.

The concept behind building a scrapbook of memories hasn’t changed much. You can still put photos, cards, newspaper clippings, poems, tickets and odd bits of stuff that remind you of events, people, those times you cherish into your scrapbook to preserve and/or display those memories.

Scrapbooking techniques and tools, however have changed substantially since you were a kid. Scrapbooking albums have replaced the messy bundles of paper. These albums are generally bound or placed in a binder. In this way, all your hard work stays together and won’t fall apart. Furthermore, new specialized covers provides protection from the outside elements. Read the rest of this entry »

To begin with, you need to know the crochet abbreviations to help you relate to the process. Crocheting experts and amateurs alike use these terms, plus others:

• beg  (beginning)
• bet  (between)
• bk lp  (back loop)
• ch  (chain)
• ch-  (previous chain)
• cont  (continue)
• dc  (double crochet)
• dec  (decreasing)
• dtr  (double/triple crochet)
• ft lp  ( front loop)
• hdc  (half-double crochet)
• inc  ( increasing)
• lp  (loop)
• yo (yarn over)

And, if you want to crochet, you’ll need to learn how to handle the hook, work jointly, chain stitch, slip knot and crochet a single row, so read on and we’ll talk you through it. Read the rest of this entry »

Scrapbooks are great fun to make and to look at. They tell a story about the person who made it and the people preserved in its content. Scrapbooks can include photos, journals, letters, report cards, tickets, greeting cards, certificates, stories, school exercise books,  dance cards and programs, brochures, footprints, pressed flower corsages, ribbons, lace and so much more.

Each detail that goes into your scrapbook will add to the memory package you build. When you create the time capsule – your scrapbook – you carefully preserve the period of time covered in your story. Time capsules can include just about anything – photographs, clothes, hand/foot prints, CDs, details of family members like names, weights, heights, relationships, genealogy and more. For instance, you can make a scrapbook that covers the time from your baby’s first step up to this very moment – however old your ‘baby’ is now. Read the rest of this entry »

Adhesives – Which Ones to Choose?

Using the right adhesives to keep your scrapbook materials together is really important. Equally, chose the correct adhesive to use with your photos.

You can choose glues, paste or tape to create your scrapbook. The best materials to use should always have the words “pH neutral”, “Acid-free”, “Archival Safe” or the “CK OK” seal somewhere on their labels. For best results, your adhesives should also be lignin-free.

The Photo Activity Test or PAT is an internationally recognized, standardized test used to determine  whether or not materials such as papers and adhesives can be used for photo storage or archival purposes and won’t damage your scrapbook or whatever you put in it.

Adhesives which are safe include acrylic-based or starch-based products. Mounting square, photo corners, tape runners, double sided tape, vellum tape and acid-free glue (liquid or stick forms) can all be used safely.  Avoid purchasing adhesive that run, relax, transfers or have a strong odor.  Recent studies have shown that rubber cement and other strong smelling adhesives will damage photos over time.

TIP: Use heavy papers when crafting your scrapbook.

In craft stores, you will find a wide selection of glues, including sticks, bottled liquid glues, glue pens, etc. Always read the label and test the products, if you can, to see which are best suited for your scrapbooking projects. For smaller projects, the glue pens are great. Apply enough force to stick smaller objects together or onto the pages.  If you want to embellish, you can use the two-way pens. Avoid ordinary glue sticks or the glue your kids use at school.

Cellophane tape is great to use as an adhesive. Tape is usually easier than glue to use. When choosing tape, however, makes sure you use a tape roller. Using tape also allows you to change your mind and easily remove and re-stick the item.

Using Photo Splitters. 

Photo splitters are easy to apply, acid free, photo safe and convenient mounting squares that permanently attach memorabilia, photos, certificates and awards, news clippings, letters, post cards, and other papers in scrapbooks or memory books. They are double sided, so just peel off the protective cover and stick the item onto your scrapbook page.

Glues and tape are cheaper to use than the Xyron machines, however these machines do help make up quality scrapbooks. Xyron machines can be used as laminators and for making stickers. The machines are also ideal for creating multi-scrapbook projects.

In addition to the machines, glues, tapes, you may want to invest in photo splits and precut tape, and a pair of Honey Bee Craft Scissors from EK Success. With their non-stick blades, the stickiest of adhesives won’t be a problem because the blades stay adhesive-free and smooth.

Scrapbooks are a way to bring your family together.

Scrapbooks help to recall memories of the people and event in your life, they spark fragmented memories, and bring the past to life.  When crafting your scrapbook, you’ll want to use only those materials that will keep your memories safe.  With all the time and effort you put into scrapbooking, you don’t want to have it all fall apart because of the wrong choice of something so elemental as the correct glue!

Choosing The Right Adhesives for Your Scrapbooking