Make Your Own Greeting Cards: Shaker Cards

It's been a few weeks since I've posted a greeting card how-to, but I'm still fascinated by this topic, so today I thought I'd tackle shaker cards (cards with windows containing pretty little beads, sequins, confetti or even simple paper or cardboard circles made with a basic hole punch).

There are numerous examples and tutorials online, some very intricate, but most of them use specialty hole punches and shapes. If you've done some scrapbooking you may have those, but I don't so I looked for cards with windows that had simple shapes (circles, rectangles and other basic shapes) that could be created by tracing or drawing items to make cutting out the window fairly easy. Here are some examples:

Source

Source

I've included two how-to videos, because they use different techniques for affixing the window backing. For the window I've seen people use overhead projector sheets, photo sheets or acetate sheets bought online or at craft stores. I suppose acetate from mailers could also be recycled if the sheet was big enough, but I haven't tried that. 

Here was the simplest (and probably the shortest) how-to I found. You can, of course, embellish this.

That one used foam strips to affix the window and sequins for the shaker part. This one uses double-sided tape and beads, and she shows you how to add a flat bow/ribbon.

If you'd like something more intricate, there are many videos online, and often they provide a materials list. Also, if you're prefer to buy a shaker card, Etsy offers a good selection. 

Happy crafting!

Myrna

Wrapping Gifts with Less Paper

It's getting close to gift wrapping time (for me, that is. You may have already wrapped some or all of yours). I'm always looking for ways to either reuse items, upcycle unconventional materials into wrapping materials, or, as in this case, use conventional wrapping paper but consume less of it.

I've seen the method used in the two videos below referred to as the Japanese method, although I haven't actually researched it. I like the first video, but the box he is wrapping is a perfect square and I wondered how that would work in a less ideal circumstance, so I found the second video to be very helpful. See what you think.

Have a fantastic day!

Chocolate Times Three

I'm a chocolate lover, not exactly a rarity, although I concede that chocolate doesn't appeal to everyone. So when I saw this video about a chocolate maker who truly makes chocolate from scratch, I was intrigued (because if I can't eat chocolate all the time, I'll gladly watch videos about it).

LE CHOCOLAT - Alain Ducasse from Simon Pénochet on Vimeo.

Of course, that made me remember movies I'd seen where chocolate was a key player...like Chocolat.

This led me to a book on the history of chocolate (Note: there is a newer edition, as noted at the link, but I liked the cover on this version). 

Of course, if you don't want to read an entire history, here's a brief article on the history of chocolate from the Smithsonian website.

Off to find some of the real deal. If you're a chocolate lover, I hope you have some on hand. If you do, enjoy!

What Sparks Creativity?

I've been thinking about creativity a lot lately (what is is, who is creative, what distinguishes creative people from others and what sparks a creative urge). In fact, I had just started a post on that very thing and wasn't exactly happy with it when I came across the video below.

It occurred to me that most of us (probably) are creative in some way, but not everyone realizes that about themselves. Some people may be more creative than others, it's true, but I think that with the right spark and the right circumstances and the right attitude, even people who don't consider themselves to be creative will find hidden pools of creativity within themselves.

Sometimes it's necessity that brings out a person's creative side (a person needs something, but lacks the funds, know how or resources to obtain what they need, so they create their own substitute). Sometimes a person may see or read or hear something that inspires them to attempt their own creations. Or...as in this video, a person may like a thing (an article of clothing, a recipe, a decorating scheme, a garden...or so many other possibilities), but may not feel that the original is a good fit for them and what they want, so they use that original as a springboard to make something completely different and unique that will meet their needs. And sometimes an idea will seem to drop out of the sky. I love when that happens!

In this video, you'll see how two people, Nick Olson and Lilah Horwitz were driven to create their own original house (along with exploring their unique talents regarding photography and fashion).

Half Cut Tea . com | Nick Olson & Lilah Horwitz from Matt Glass on Vimeo.

I urge you to click on the link below the video to find out more about this creative couple.

How To Sharpen a Knife with a Cup

If you don't have a knife sharpener handy, this video from 5 years ago shows you how to sharpen a dull knife with a coffee cup. (I haven't tried this. I hope that it really works).

How to Fold a Shirt in 2 Seconds (Really)!

I don't think I've ever seen anyone fold a shirt this quickly (or explain how it's done so well). This actually makes me want to fold shirts! (It's a miracle)!

You Too Can Be an Animator

I love animation, and Aardman is one of my favorites, but this Aardman video is a how-to. Here Steve, one of Aardman's animators shows us how to make Morph (one of the characters) swim under the table. Such fun!

If You've Ever Wanted (or Needed) to Know How to Wear a Full Kilt

I've spent a lot of my writing time over the years doing research, and while I've never written a book set in Scotland, I found this video on how to dress in a full kilt (with all accessories) interesting.

In Celebration of Education

I love learning new things, and I love it even more when learning is made available to all. So YouTube videos that teach me how to do things are awesome. Admittedly, if you simply type in "How to" into a YouTube search, some very strange things come up, but there are also exercise classes, cooking classes, woodworking and craft classes, to name a few. Here's a video titled Learn How to Screenprint Your Own T-shirts from the MakeMagazine YouTube channel.

During the past few weeks, I've discovered all sorts of places that offer free college-level (non-credit) courses, including some offered by instructors from Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, Northwestern, Duke and others). Awesome!

Here are some great sites to check out:
Udacity
Coursera
Edx
Udemy
Khan Academy

There are many more, but I don't want to overload this post (too much), so we'll leave it at that for now. Have fun learning!

When the Power Goes Out and You Don't Have a Candle, Try This

Twice this week I've seen ideas (good ideas) on how to deal with a power outage. So I'm sharing.

In the video below, Grant Thompson shows you how to make a candle from a simple stick of butter.

 

And here's a link to a great milk jug lantern, using only a milk carton, some water and a camping-style headlamp. (Note: this was presented not as an emergency lamp, but as a reading lamp, which makes it doubly great in my opinion).

Aren't these great?

How the Postal Service Sorts the Mail

Josh Wapiano was in his last week of working for the Royal Mail, so he decided to share a bit about how the mail gets sorted. The text that went with the YouTube video explained that the Intelligent Letter Sorting Machine can read multiple addresses a second. If it comes across writing too messy to read, it sends a photo to a central hub where humans send back the correct address (it sounds as if it learns from the process, too. A bit like speech recognition software learns to recognize a writer's idiosyncrasies, I'm guessing).

How To Make a Chocolate Rose

Admittedly, I would never even attempt this, but I enjoy watching others do what I cannot (she makes it look so easy)!

A Baker with Flair

This video is long, but I couldn't stop watching this guy bake bread. Such fun!

Fred Astaire Dancing on the Ceiling (Again)

No surprises here, but it was sort of fun to see the two images side by side (for the record, according to the YouTube description, there is no real documentation of this filming, but Stanley Donen, who filmed this in 1951, recreated the effect with Lionel Richie in "Dancing on the Ceiling" in 1986).




Here's the documentation of the Lionel Richie song (at almost 10 minutes, it's a bit longer than what I usually post).

Drawing a Wolf

Writers get asked how they do what they do all the time. Having been an author for some time, I'm intrigued by how artists do what they do. Here Mark Crilley draws a wolf.



And here he shows you how it's done. Fascinating!

Make Your Very Own Snuggie

I think the Snuggie craze may have passed, but we're expecting colder weather here soon (eventually--it's staying warm far too late for my comfort. Love the warmth, but 60's in Chicago in December is just...wrong and kind of scary). At any rate, when colder weather comes, I love a good blanket, and as an avid reader, the Snuggie makes sense. No more cold arms while you hold your book.

Here's a Tardis one by craftylilthing. As a Dr. Who fan, I love it. Click through to her Flickr stream for more images of the construction process.

Here are step-by-step instructions from Instructables for making your own basic Snuggie. (This one is by Schoochmaroo, who has many other awesome projects available on the site). 

Even More Gift Boxes (with Instructions)

These Exploding Gift Boxes are so amazing! The box itself is a bit of a gift. Instructions are at Glitter Adventure (with another very pretty box).

The inside of an explosion box (in this case a World Map Explosion Box) (all images on this page are by The Gentleman Crafter):

A Paris Explosion Box


And the inside:


Here are some video examples:

There are many videos showing how to make this type of gift box, but most of them are long, so I didn't include any here. If you'd like to look for them yourself, just type in Exploding Gift Boxes or Explosion Gift Box (not sure I like the names, but I wasn't in charge of that). Here's a link to just one of them.

Make a Black Light Secret Message for Halloween

Here's how it's done.

An Engineer Creates a Ring for His Friend's Wedding

And not just any ring. This one is special.

Halloween is Coming! Create Something

Like a glowing pumpkin.



This process uses glow powder, which I found on Amazon, but I wonder if glow paint (easily available in spray cans at hardware stores) might work as well, as long as you removed the contact paper quickly. (Not sure, just wondering if there might not be an easier and cheaper way).