I have been planning for a friend’s bridal shower and dinner that is quickly approaching, and I was wandering around on the web and found just what I think I need.  I found the picture on Pinterest of wine bottles that had been cut around the bottom so that they can hold candles in them.  They look so elegant and extremely beautiful.  Plus, the wedding is going to be held at a vineyard and my friend is definitely a wine lover.  I just know she will adore them.

Now, I am on a mission to collect as many wine bottles as I possibly can.  I read from the Pinterest post that some of the bottles might splinter or crack during the process, so having more than needed will be very important.

If you are afraid that you won’t be able to cut the glass, then don’t be.  While I have not done this specific craft, I did cut off the ends of a wine bottle for something different a few years ago.  I have posted a video below that shows you how to easily cut through the glass bottles with a glass cutting tool and water.

Casserole Carrier

I need this casserole carrier!  No really, I need it because I leave mine behind all the time and they end up lost so I am down to just one left.  I also want to make this for friends.

Chalkboard Pain in Any Color

Boy oh boy do I have ideas for this DIY craft.  Seriously, I was so excited I found this that I almost justified painting every surface in my home with this stuff.  Of course reality hit and now I only have like three things I want to paint, so far.

Wedding Card Book

Okay, so I have been married for over a year and our wedding cards are still in the box that collected them during our reception.  This cute idea is a book for all those invitations.  I think it will be so special to flip through those warm wishes on our anniversaries!

Have you been bitten by the Pinterest bug yet?  If not, tell me how you have resisted!

I am fortunate enough to have devoted an entire bedroom into being a closet, if you aren’t lucky enough to do that there are always other options that you can explore to make the best crafty closet just for you. If you have a room or large walk in closet like I do then you can create a crafty closet in a number of ways. The first thing you want to do is figure out how much of what you have. This means figure out if you have a lot of one item, such as dresses, jeans, shirts, shoes, or other things. You need to figure this out first so that you can customize your closet to best fit your needs.

Once you know what kind of space you need for what you have you can start configuring your closet. I personally have A LOT of shoes! So my number one concern for my closet was making shelves to hold all of my shoes. You can do this by buying regular shelves that can be used throughout your house, often for pictures, or you can create your own with some boards, glass, plastic or really anything that you can sit on top of the brackets to create shelves. A good tip to remember when you are creating your shelves is take into consideration what is going to be placed on them, while it might look better when they are all the same size, not all shoes are the same so be sure to create places for your highest heels and boots.

Now that your shoes are in place you can choose if you want to have a series of shelves and cubbys where you can place folded clothing or racks where you can hang them. Both can be created to maximize your space and organize your closet. You can also combine both shelves and racks. The most important thing to remember when you are placing hanging racks is to buy the ones that attach into your wall to insure that they don’t fall down.

Now you have all the right tools and ideas to create your very own crafty closet!

This video shows some amazing mail art creations that I can’t wait to try!

I decided that I am so tired of my jewelry looking like one big mess of zombie matter.  I am ready to get organized and clean up the mess that my jewelry has become.  I found exactly what I want to make to organize my jewelry and even have a simple statement piece for the hallway that goes into my closet.  Watch the video to see how simple this system of hooks really is.  With this system I will be able to see all of my jewelry at once, so no more sitting in a pile of necklaces and bracelets lost on what to do with them next!

Know What You’re Looking For Before You Buy

Layout your wardrobe and decide what types of pieces you need. For example, do you need silver jewelry or gold jewelry? Do you need colorful pieces? Or perhaps you need fancy pieces for an evening out. Make a list of what you’re looking for and stick to it. Don’t get persuaded to buy pieces you don’t need!

Set Your Budget

Set your budget after assessing which pieces you need. A good place to start is to allow yourself about $25 per piece. Some you will get cheaper, some you will pay more, but it should all average out to roughly $25 a piece.

Turn on QVC and HSN and SHOP!

Every local cable provider channels and dish network channels are going to be different, so make sure you check the listings of your providers to determine what channels you need to stalk. Go through your TV guide and

decided which segments would be best for you. For example, HSN often features Mariah Carey’s jewelry collection in the late afternoons. Know what you want to watch, and write down the times and dates so you know when to tune in!

Buy, Buy, Buy!

Have fun picking the perfect pieces! Don’t worry if you buy more than you need, because you can always return what doesn’t work out. Both QVC and HSN have great return policies.

Once we started it was very simple, this video gave you step by step instructions that were fool proof. Once we finished the first flower we watched it one more time making the second, after that we were paper flower making professionals! These flowers are so easy and festive that my kids make them all the time. We use them as bows to presents, hang them from the ceiling for decoration, and use them for my original purpose which is to decorate the table.

The great thing about paper flowers is that you can’t kill them and unless you smash them they are going to keep their shape and look beautiful for a long time. Since they are made of tissue paper you can make paper flowers with any sort of paper that you like. If you want them to be a certain color, texture, or design you can make it happen! Here’s the easiest way to make a perfect paper flower.

The first step in creating a tiara is choosing what kind you want to make. If you want to make a simple paper tiara or if you want to make a headband tiara.

Step 2- if you decide to make a paper tiara here’s what you will need…

• colorful cardboard or construction paper
• decorative scissors
• markers, crayons, colored pencils, paint
• glue or a hot glue gun
• glitter, beads, buttons, puff balls, anything you want to decorate with
• stapler or tape

If you decide to make a head band tiara you can buy a tiara making package at almost any store or get these items on your own

• plastic headband
• plastic or cardboard
• hot glue gun
• glitter
• jewels
• decorations

Once you have all of your materials ready to go you can start your project! If you are making a paper crown…

1. Cut your paper to the width you desire
2. Wrap the strip of paper around the head of the person that it is intended for. mark the spot where the crown will be viable.
3. Decorate the crown with paint, jewels, drawings, glitter, and any other things that you wish to make your crown or tiara personalized and pretty. You might want to cut out and glue letters spelling “princess” or your name.
4. once you have finished decorating allow the crown ample time to dry
5. once it is dry, find the mark that you made and tape or staple the crown in the appropriate location
6. Enjoy being the Princess or Prince of your house

If you are making a Headband Tiara…

1. If you choose to purchase a starter tiara that is blank but already has the shape you need skip to step 3
2. Take your cardboard or plastic and cut it into the shape of the front of a tiara. Make it curvy with a more pointed top.
3. paint or color your cut out the color of your choice
4. create a design on your cut out with hot clue and place glitter, jewels, and other items to make your tiara creative and beautiful
5. Hot glue the shape you cut out to the headband so it will stand up securely
6. allow your tiara time to dry
7. Enjoy being the princess!

The arts and crafts movement took its pace in later part of 19th and 20th century. The leading stars of the movement which lead to piercing of the elegant passion into people’s life were Williams Morris and Edwin Lutyens. The industry will always be grateful to them. But the real quality of the arts and crafts has been decreased with time and modern innovations. The industrialisation of the passion has been another reason for it with increased productivity standing as the cause of demolition.

Quality of people in their respective fields had been disheartened which changed the scenario of arts and crafts. People can get rid of the obsession of technically made products in the advanced countries but in the backward countries they are still getting attracted to the machine made ones. So demand for art would always be in the middle of something with no future. But the individuals who die for it and feel proud to have arts and crafts as passion are can sustain any situation. Once his/her works are appreciated then there is no reason and time to look back. Every artist just needs a break in the market, that click could be able to give him/her success of life time.

Efforts are still being made by some non profit organisations and government to enhance the half built structure of arts and crafts. Only in US, the industry contributes more than 10 billion dollars to economy every year. Hence it is proved that opportunity in US is huge and the following countries would be a good platform too. If in today’s world, money matters the most then let it be! No worries are there if you want to make money out of the most beautiful passion inside you.

The key point about this challenging industry is that it always demands new inventions and innovations. Unlike any other area of skill, arts and crafts industry never continues for one week with a particular design or work. In between this one week if any other piece of work emerges from any of the artists, then the most recent one is outdated. No shortage of competitors is there in the field, and hardly any honest artist you would find. Your work can be copied and sold before you do or simply it could be stolen. But do what you are best at it, what you enjoy. That’s the real art within us.

Today, sidewalk art still holds my fancy, and I will carefully detour around even the most rudimentary sketches, studying each one with absorption. Sometimes, if you travel a particular route often, you can even see the artists getting better and bolder, going from simple depictions of stick figures to elaborate portraiture or fantastical scenes. It would seem that I am not alone in my admiration of this impermanent media.

The Savannah College of Art and Design holds an annual Sidewalk Art Festival. Held in Forsyth Park, the festival features competitive chalk art submissions, and an area for children’s chalk drawings. The city of Sarasota, FL also boasts an event dedicated entirely to this art form. In 2010, the Sarasota event became the first international chalk festival held in the States. The event was wildly popular, even being extended a day longer than originally planned. Nor is the United States the only country with a public interest in sidewalk art. Festivals of this sort originated in Italy, sometime around the 16th century. In many places, sidewalk painters are known as Madonnari, so called because the original Italian artists frequently drew reproductions of religious art from the nearby cathedrals, such as the Madonna. Street artists are still very much active in Italian cities. Sidewalk chalk festivals are also held in Canada, Germany, and China, and workshops for artists eager to share and learn new techniques can be found all over the globe as well.

Picking up where our favorite chimney sweep left off, we have English artist Julian Beever. Beever has worked his astonishing magic in Germany, France, the US, Australia and of course his native country. Beever’s compositions are carefully constructed with a completely distorted perspective, which creates a 3-D effect when seen at the correct angle. This technique has been used to create such bizarre spectacles as a seal popping up through an ice hole that just happened to be on a busy sidewalk and a giant frog sitting on a lily pond with a human toddler. Michael Qi, the first 3-D chalk artist in his native country of China, explains the technique that he used to create a dizzying panorama of the Lions Gate Gorge, as inverse perspective, causing the eye to perceive a two-dimensional drawing as a three dimensional reality. Other notable artists, who use their own methods to create surreal 3-D sidewalk art, include Tracy Lee Strum, Kurt Wenner and Edgar Mueller.