HowToDoThings.com Recent Crafts Articles

How To Crochet a Christmas Candle Cozy

moonglow — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:49:11 -0500

How To Make a Friendship Bracelet

Deirdre — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:47:07 -0500

Friendship bracelets are fun to exchange with your friends and show others your bond. Creating one is also a great way to pass the time while gossiping on a field trip or surviving study hall. With a few simple steps, you will be on your way to making a friendship bracelet of your own.

Materials:
Embroidery floss (in at least 3 colors)
Scotch tape
Flexible tape measure
Scissors
Safety pin

How To Make a Pillow Cover Without Sewing

namanyas — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:44:35 -0500

How To Fold a Paper Snowflake

Cassandra — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:37:18 -0500

A great craft to do with kids is creating snowflakes. Get energized for the coming winter or decorate your home for the holiday season. All you need is a little time and creativity and you will be able to fold a paper snowflake.

Materials:
1 sheet of white paper
Scissors

How To Make a Paper Rose

Cassandra — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:37:40 -0500

Flowers can brighten any room. If you want to use paper flowers but are not fond of the artificial look, make your own paper roses. Create custom blooms you are sure to be satisfied with by following this simple procedure.

Materials:
Crepe paper
Floral wire
Green floral tape
Thin floral wire

Tools:
Scissors
Pinking sheers
Wire cutters
Glue

How To Make an Autumn Wreath

3100 Caldera Blvd — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:42:48 -0500

How To Crochet a Christmas Bell Ornament

moonglow — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:52:51 -0500

How To Make Paper Guns

gonzo — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:16:14 -0500

How To Make Artificial Flowers

Deirdre — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:03:16 -0500

Flowers are a festive addition to any home. Keeping fresh cut flowers in your home, however, can be an unending task. Instead, consider using silk flowers that will last much longer. Follow these tips and you will be creating your own artificial flowers in no time.

Materials:
Silk cotton fabric
Craft paints in desired petal colors

Tools:
Fabric pen
Scissors
Thin floral wire
Wire cutters
Floral tape
Clear glue
Paintbrushes

How To Crochet a Pet Rock

moonglow — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:38:43 -0500

How To Sew Chair Slip Covers

Cassandra — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:50:10 -0500

Slip covers bring life to an old piece of beloved furniture and protect a chair from the daily abuse of children and pets. Whatever your reason for a slip cover, follow these steps and you will be able to sew chair slip covers whenever you need them.

Materials and tools:

Chair to cover
Fabric
Large sheets of paper or slip cover template
Fabric scissors
Sewing machine
Thread
Pencil
Stick pins
Velcro (optional)
Tape

Directions:

How To Make Soy Aromatherapy Candles

vhhorne — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:01:52 -0500

It's not hard to make beautiful, therapeutic candles that you'll be proud to show or give as a gift. Follow these easy instructions and enjoy the beauty of natural, clean-burning soy candles.

First, you need to get your supplies. The following will make one 18 oz. candle.

How To Crochet a Poolside Coaster

moonglow — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:56:58 -0500

How To Make a Princess Hat

melhow36 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:29:54 -0500

How To Make a Kaleidoscope

Cassandra — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:35:35 -0500

Kaleidoscopes are a great activity for kids to enjoy on a rainy day or anytime they need a craft project. With a few minutes and household objects, you can have fun and create a great toy. Follow these steps to make a kaleidoscope.

Materials:
Cardboard tube (try leftover paper towel roll)
3 lengths of mirror – ¾” to 1” in width and 7” long
Foam pieces
Clear plastic
Translucent colored glass/craft beads
Glue
Duct tape

How To Make a Pew Bow

Cassandra — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:34:50 -0500

It’s easy to dress up a church pew for a wedding or special occasion with a few simple ribbons and flowers. If you want to add your own special touch to the rows of pews or decorate the aisle of the church, consider the following few steps to make a lovely pew bow.

Tools and Materials (Materials are per bow):

1 6-8’ length of 6” wide ribbon or tulle fabric
3 fresh cut roses
Scissors
Tacky glue

Directions:

How To Make Planes with Soda Cans

Cassandra — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:24:53 -0500

How To Make a Paper Shuriken

Guilherme_UK — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:17:23 -0500

How To Use Kids' Modeling Clay

3100 Caldera Blvd — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:27:00 -0500

How To Make Paper Flowers from Facial Tissues

3100 Caldera Blvd — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:50:11 -0500

How To Make a Photo Album

Cassandra — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:29:59 -0500

Photo albums offer the opportunity for organizing your memories and creating gifts for friends and family. Make a statement with your photo collections by creating a low cost personalized album collection. Don’t hide your photos in boring binders or dull packing boxes; display them in an album that’s as fun as the photos inside.

Materials:

3 ring binder
Fabric – size needs to be the binder plus 2” on each side
Poster board
Ribbon, glitter or paints for decoration
Photos
Colored paper
Acid-free photo pages
Old magazines
Spray glue

Tools:

Scissors
Hot glue gun

How To Make a Japanese Fan

Cassandra — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:44:56 -0500

How To Make a Wallet Liner

Cassandra — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:41:21 -0500

How To Make Silly Putty

ralexander — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:13:25 -0500

How To Make a Flower Press

3100 Caldera Blvd — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:28:05 -0500

How To Use a Bead Board in Jewelry Making

3100 Caldera Blvd — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:20:10 -0500

A bead board is a tray (usually plastic) that is covered with felt or a felt-like substance. This tray is great for putting your beads on and for designing your jewelry. This can make for an easy and effective way to design your own jewelry. It isn't hard to use and can help you to make fewer mistakes. Bead boards also provide an easy way to change your designs and make your jewelry the length that you wish.

How To Make a Kite

bronwyn — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:47:06 -0500

Kites may seem old fashioned, but they can still be a fun way for a family to spend time with one another. Flying a kite requires nothing more than a kite and some wind. Making a kite can be part of the fun, allowing your family to customize the kite by using the colors and materials that you choose.

How To Face Paint

3100 Caldera Blvd — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:25:45 -0500

Face painting is really what you make it. For a few dollars, you can buy fancy face painting kits that include a few colors, or you can spend hundreds of dollars on huge sets with dozens and dozens of options. It's all up to you. If you are just going to be doing a little bit of face painting fun at a few kids parties, for example, you can also go with Crayola's Non-toxic Washable Kid's Poster Paints for an easy-to-use, easy-to-apply and easy-to-clean face painting option. Keep in mind that other craft paints might not be safe for use on skin, and you should check the ingredients to minimize the chance of allergic reaction. Even those listed as non-toxic and washable could cause an allergic reaction from ingredients like nickel, or simply be difficult to wash off.

How To Make Bath Salts

3100 Caldera Blvd — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:21:41 -0500

Making bath salts is an easy and fun thing to do. You can create fantastic salts that are tons better for you and tons better feeling then the ones found commercially. Additionally, you can control how much you spend and even what ingredients you use to make the perfect salts. The process is easy and can make fantastic salts for your use, to give and to sell.

How To Make a Living at Stained Glass or Any Craft Medium

glassartisan — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:25:26 -0600

I have worked full time at stained glass for more than 30 years, always as a one-person studio and always out of my home. Stained glass is probably not a way to get rich unless you approach it some other way than I have done. The most obvious way to make a lot of money at a stained glass business is by opening a retail outlet and/or employing enough people to go after the really big jobs.

How To Roast Your Own Coffee at Home

bobderry — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:43:09 -0600

Do the coffee superpowers have roasting secrets? Do they have recipes, ingredients, or equipment not available to you or me? No. The only thing you need to turn green coffee into roast coffee is heat. Anyone with a fry pan and two sticks to rub together has the necessary equipment.

What’s all the fuss then about roasting coffee? Why the multimillion-dollar investments in computerized roasting equipment by Big Coffee?

It’s a bit like the bottled water industry. At home you can turn on your tap, and out flows potable water. There’s no magic to filling an 8-ounce glass.

However, if you want to sell millions of bottles of water you need to build factories, design an elaborate filtering and bottling process and set up a distribution system. All this to charge two dollars for what comes relatively free out of your tap.

How To Make Drop Earrings

3100 Caldera Blvd — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:30:31 -0600

Drop earrings are a great project for anyone who is creating beaded jewelry. They are simple, easy to do, and inexpensive. Additionally a girl can never have enough great earrings. They also make great gifts, and are great to add to your collection if you are selling your jewelry.

A basic pair of earrings can be made with three simple steps.

How To Share Digital Photos

jasonkeeley — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:38:54 -0600

Pictures are priceless! And with families and friends usually spread far apart in terms of geography, pictures are the way to keep up with the latest news. With digital photography, you can see the new baby in the family, check out the latest fencing project that Uncle Jeff finished and see where Grandma is spending her summer vacation.

It used to be that when you took a picture, you wouldn’t develop any pictures until the roll of film was full. Then, the development process meant visiting a local photo shop, waiting a week for development and getting prints back. Sharing these prints usually involved the US Mail or a personal visit. The options today are so much more user-friendly and you can pick the one that fits you and your sharing needs best!

How To Make Christmas Gifts

bronwyn — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:05:54 -0600

Unfortunately, not all of us have the resources to buy the Christmas gifts that we wish we could buy for our loved ones. However, Christmas gifts are not all about money spent! In fact, many people prefer homemade gifts, because of the time and love involved. Here are some excellent ways to make Christmas gifts for your favorite people.

How To Sell Your Photos

jasonkeeley — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:27:09 -0600

Stories of ordinary people becoming millionaires overnight with the help of some wonderful programs are flooding us from all directions and even though many of these stories are exaggerated at best and total lies at worst, there are many ways in which you can make money, even if you are not a unique talent. Well, I don't mean that photography does not require talent, but even beginner photographers can make money by selling their photos. Most likely you will not make your first million selling photos, but this is a viable way to earn some extra cash. Photos are a product and as with all products, you need to know what to offer and where to sell it.

What You Can Sell

How To Build a Paper Airplane

aleoO — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:00:34 -0600

If you have some creativity and a little bit of technique, you can create your own kinds of paper airplanes. But let's begin with the basics: A simple plane with good stability and speed. The predator flies in a reasonably safe and smooth way. But let's stop with the small talk and start to make the plane.

Get a good sheet of paper. Normal printable paper works well, but origami paper is also recommended. From the weight of the paper to the ease of folding, the qualities of the paper affect how well the plane will fly.
Fold the paper in half. Try to use a ruler, because this fold must really be in the middle. This will be the keel of the airplane. Look at the picture.

read more

How To Make a Memory Tee Shirt Quilt

mcdesign — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:03:14 -0600

Does your child have a stack of out-grown, screen printed tee shirts stacked in his or her closet -- shirts that will never be worn again, but are just too important to get rid of? With very little knowledge of how to make a quilt, you can create a blanket that will be treasured and used for years to come.

What you need:

How To Make a Statue in Photoshop

Betty_Botter — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:07:51 -0600

In this tutorial we are producing a statue using a picture of a woman, a marble texture, and Photoshop with its layers options.

How To Make Gak

ralexander — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:18:15 -0500

Making gak is a simple process that will provide children with hours of fun. Follow these steps to create your own batch of stretchy, gooey and slippery gak.

How To Create a Bed Canopy

genepooldesign — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 20:35:09 -0500

There are several variations when creating a bad canopy. This how-to will focus on a "ring" canopy, a rather simple design appropriate for beginners, yet still fun for more advanced crafters. At a cost of between $10 and $30, it won't break your budget. A ring canopy is a hanging type of canopy, so before you attempt this project, make sure you are able to install a mounting hook in your ceiling.

How To Make Playdoh

ralexander — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:57:11 -0500

Playdoh provides hours of entertainment for children of all ages. Use this easy recipe to save yourself some money and have an enjoyable time making your own batch of homemade playdough.

How To Reuse Altoids Tins

genepooldesign — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:46:21 -0500

We love those "curiously strong" mints. If you're like me, you love the tins just as much! My daughter and I are a pretty crafty family and have recycled our Altoids tins in some clever ways.

Time for some BLING! First, paint your tin with your favorite color. Use a protective enamel. It will stick to the metal surface really well and will not flake off. Next, get a package of those little stick-on jewels and decorate to your heart's content! Be creative! Use different colored jewels to spell out your name on the top of the Altoids tin.
Break out the sharpies. This is fun if you have a set of sharpies just waiting for a surface to decorate. Paint your Altoids tin a nice satin white. After drying, get your sharpies and let the creativity flow!

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How To Take Better Winter Photographs

donfink — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 20:34:35 -0500

For some, winter is the time to play. There are easily as many winter sports and activities outside as there are summer adventures. Instead of hiking the wilderness, there’s cross country skiing and snow shoeing. Instead of dirt bikes and ATVs, there are snow mobiles. Downhill skiing replaces water skiing, and for a great number of people, there is simply the appreciation of the different and beautiful settings outdoors.

Winter photography can go hand in hand with all of these activities as long as you follow a few simply guidelines to keep your equipment working, and modify your techniques to compliment the change in outdoor conditions. While photography in winter is different than other times of the year, a bit of understanding can make your efforts produce more dramatic and in many ways more memorable photos than the typical summer shots. Here are just a few tips to remember:

How To Make and Read a Weather Rock

george_gilbert — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:38:28 -0500

Predicting weather is a gamble at best since the only truth about any forecast is that it's wrong. With your own weather rock you will always know what's going on outside. Here's how to prepare and mount your very own weather rock.

How To Buy Circular Knitting Needles

bronwyn — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:36:05 -0500

As knitters know, there are a myriad of reasons to use circular knitting needles. They let you knit in the round, they are more compact, and they don't give you the opportunity to lose one of a pair of needles! However, there are still many choices you need to make when buying circular knitting needles. These are some of the things you will need to take into account when buying circular knitting needles.

How To Paint in Reverse on Glass

sally — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:24:54 -0500

A reverse glass painting is done in several short steps, just a little at a time. The paint that you put on the glass first needs time to dry before the next paint is applied to the glass (in order to keep the edges intact). Since the painting will be viewed from the side of the glass opposite of the side that you’re painting on, the very last thing that ‘happened’ in the picture, such as the light reflection in an eye, will be the first thing that goes into the painting. A shadow is another thing that would enter a ‘picture’ last. The shadow too, will go in the painting early. Unlike painting in oils or acrylics on canvas, the background of the picture will be the very last thing to paint.

In an effort to teach you how, I’ll use as an example, my 12-year-old grandson fishing from the shore of Lake Delta as a subject.

How To Turn Rocks into Art

linwell — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 23:04:35 -0500

Rock painting can open up a world of creativity for anyone. Unlike flat surfaces like paper or canvas, rocks have shape and dimension. If you find a flat rock that has something of a heart shape to it, use your imagination to see how that shape could easily be a butterfly. With a little paint and a little practice, easier projects will give way to more challenging ones until you find that just as you turned rocks into art, you were turning yourself into an artist!

To begin, find a heart-shaped rock and then follow these tips for painting a rock butterfly:

How To Store Scrapbooks

afriedl — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 08:30:51 -0500

You spend a lot of time and money preserving your memories and your family heritage in a scrapbook. The last thing you want is for them to be damaged because of the way they were stored! Take the time to store them properly and you'll be sure they'll stay nice for generations.

How To Make an LED Ice Ball

liam — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:24:11 -0500

The LED ice bulb is very cheap and simple to make and the result looks absolutely amazing. These instructions are very basic and very simple to follow! All you will need to complete this task is: Balloon, LED, 2 Wires, Battery, Cellotape.

Attach wires to LED with tape and stuff it inside the balloon.

I did this the quick and dirty (and very effective) way by twisting the wires together and taping them. If you have the equipment you may want to solder the wires to the LED.
Stuff the LED inside the balloon but keep the wires on the outside.
Now is a good time to test that the LED actually works. You do not want to find out that it is faulty after it is frozen inside the ice...

Fill the Balloon with water, tie a knot and freeze it.

How To Make Dish Soap

Carrie122 — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 11:21:00 -0600

If you have allergies or your skin gets dried out from using purchased dish soap, making your own dish soap is simple and effective. There are a few different ways make dish soap, but all of them are quick and easy.

To store your homemade dish soap, recycle dish soap squeeze bottles or purchase empty plastic bottle with a squeeze top for ease of use.

Dish soap can be made using liquid castile soap, soap flakes or soap scraps.

Liquid Castile Soap