To make a sand candle, fill a clear drinking glass with enough sand so that a votive candle placed on top falls just below the rim. Set the glass inside a clear glass vase or jar. With a funnel, fill the gap between the two containers with layers of colored sand, using enough to reach the rim of the drinking glass.

From Martha Stewart Living, July 2003

Avalon Theisen, 9, trims leaves from a grapevine to make a wreath in Camp Bayou's new Crafting Naturally series. Assisting, at right is Camp Bayou volunteer Jeri Hundertmark. The classes, which began Jun 4, are designed to allow visitors to enjoy nature while staying out of the summer heat.photo by LOIS KINDLE

by LOIS KINDLE

RUSKIN - Summer in Florida causes some folks to hibernate, even though they would like to be outside. Camp Bayou's Dolly Cummings would like to change that.

"The heat and humidity can be a challenge," Cummings said, "but we still want people to be able to enjoy Camp Bayou. Not everyone enjoys being outdoors in the summer, so we needed a way to share nature — in the air conditioning.

Cummings recently came up with Crafting Naturally, a two-month series of Friday crafts classes designed to engage participants in nature-themed activities while promoting sustainability.

"We are giving them a reason to come out without having to break a sweat," she said.

In her first class, Cummings demonstrated how to make wreaths from grapevines, which can be found in a neighbor's yard or grown in your own. The plants encourage wildlife to visit by providing a food source for birds, shelter for rabbits and a roosting area for bats, she said.

Deborah Theisen brought her home-schooled daughter, Avalon, 9, all the way from Wesley Chapel for the class.....

Read more at  -  http://southshore2.tbo.com/content/2010/jun/23/a-crafty-way-to-beat-the-heat/news/

Tucson, AZ, June 23, 2010 -- ArtFire.com, the premier artisan marketplace, has just launched their revolutionary new item page for sellers. This redesign is based on input from their Maven Marketing Team, conversion rate optimization research, and general buyer feedback to make the page as efficient as possible.

Buyers will notice multiple large yellow "add to cart" buttons at different points on the page, thus making them easy to find for even members new to the site. Buyers will also notice clearly labeled shipping information, complete with easily recognizable icons. With these features, shoppers are able to make a purchase and send a message to the artisan without having to sign in or create an account.

A list of social media button makes the page easy to share with fellow sellers and buyers alike. These buttons include commonly recognizable icons, and allow users to share any item on the site on various social networking sites with just a click of their mouse.

ArtFire has also built in a newly re-designed "Market Hub" for the seller to show off their different social networking presence online. This helps establish credibility and a connection with the shopper before the purchase is made.

(Quote Attributable to John Jacobs, CEO of ArtFire.com)
"We feel it is critical for our team to stay up to date in that latest advances in shopping conversions in e-commerce. This item page is the culmination of months of research to make sure our artisans stay on the cutting edge of selling technology."

More about ArtFire.com
ArtFire.com is the premier artisan marketplace for handmade, fine art, vintage, media, and craft supplies on the web. ArtFire is run on the philosophy of Community Directed Development, in which members of the site are in direct communication with developers to determine the direction of the site. ArtFire’s Maven Marketing Team, used in the brainstorming process of the new item page, are a group of enthusiastic ArtFire members who help test out new site features, promote ArtFire, and offer their input on new projects. With their help and that of the general community, ArtFire has been able to design an item page which is both visually appealing, efficient for buyers, and easy to promote.

A puppet is a sort of semi-human thing about four feet tall,  but it can be smaller or longer with an oversized head and spindly limbs. The puppet is not a prop, but a character — it has a name (and maybe also a history).
Usually, a puppet is shown on TV or on stage is copyrighted, and unless sold as merchandise, you won’t find any replicas sold. If you want something for decoration, then check out whether or not there is merchandise available.

If you want a puppet for a performance, then I suggest you come up with your own designs and either make it yourself or commission a puppet maker......

Read more at  -  http://www.artsandcraftskids.net/making-a-puppet/

Use craft glue or hot glue to attach shells of uniform size. Start with a ring of shells at the top (shells should extend above the rim of the pot) and work downward, placing each successive row about halfway down the shells on the previous ring.

From -  http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/nature-crafts-for-kids#slide_18&xsc=eml_crd_2010_06_21

Tools and Materials

Photo Stickers How-To
1. Scan into your computer a photo of a party's honored guest or use a digital camera to take the photo.

2. You can use photo-editing software to isolate your subject's face and resize it, or cut the face out of the photo before scanning.

3. Load your printer with sticker paper for round labels.

4. To create a layout that will fit the sheet of stickers, follow the directions on the box of labels.

5. Print round labels (we used Avery No. 8293).

Resources
Round labels are from Avery.

From The Martha Stewart Show

Create a decoupage spring flower pot to decorate your home with lively spring colors! This easy to make craft project makes a great gift.

Materials:

• Tulip® One-Step Fashion Dye™
  • Orange
  • Yellow
• Tulip® 3D Fashion Paint
  • 65420 Sour Apple Sparkles
  • 65422 Cotton Candy Sparkles
  • FLSK7-4 Sugar Plum 4oz only
• Collage Pauge Instant Decoupage™
• Aleene's® Fast Grab Tacky Glue®
• Ribbon, Wide Striped and Thin Dotted
• Words from magazine cutouts, internet or computer fonts.
• Pencil
• Plastic Garbage Bag
• Wire Cutters
• Wire for Handle
• Cardboard
• Paintbrush
• Cardstock, 3 Shades of Green
• Wire
• Ribbon: 1” and 1/8” pink and white Polka Dot
• Plastic Bucket
• Tissue paper, light pink
• Silk Tulips (enough for 3 pots)
• 2 Plastic Squeeze Bottles
• Excelsior, green
• Plastic Wrap
• Silk Velvet Fabric
• Foam ball to fit pot (3)
• Scissors
• Masking Tape, Low Tack
• Tin pot (3)Pattern

Instructions:

Decoupage Pot

1. Cut out Easter or Spring words from magazines, internet, or computer fonts.
2. Working in sections, use brush to apply Collage Pauge to surface of pot and back of paper. Immediately, press onto pot. Brush another coat of Collage Pauge over top. Cover remainder of pot. Let dry.
3. Cut a piece of pink tissue to fit around pot plus 3 extra inches. Apply Collage Pauge over words. Press on tissue. Carefully brush another coat over top. Fold excess tissue to inside of pot and decoupage in place.
4. Detail with Sparkles Paint. Add Cotton Candy dots around top edge and a Sugar Plum line around bottom rim. Let dry.
5. Glue thin ribbon around bottom of pot.
6. Use Fast Grab to glue foam ball inside pot. Insert three white tulips at different heights into center of foam.
7. Add excelsior to cover foam.
8. Tie ribbon at bottom of stems.

Tie Dye Woven Velvet Pot

1. Fill a bucket with water. Wearing gloves, stir in soda ash until dissolved. Soak fabric for 20 minutes. Remove and squeeze out excess moisture. Do not rinse. The fixer solution can be reused.
2. Fill a bottle with Yellow and one with Orange dye, following package instructions. Any left over dye can be reused.
3. Cover work surface with plastic garbage bag. Scrunch velvet. Squeeze on yellow dye, leaving some white areas. Fill in remaining areas with orange.
4. Cover project with plastic wrap and let set 4 – 8 hours. Fill washer with hot water on a large load, adding a small amount of laundry soap. Wash then dry in dryer with a few old towels or rags.
5. Cut strips of velvet about an inch wide. Place strips going horizontal on cardboard and tape one end down. Weave remaining strips to desired length to fit around pot. Glue all ends together using Fast Grab Glue. Let dry. Glue around pot.
6. Cut a piece of wire to desired length for handle of pot.
7. Glue a strip of remaining velvet around wire. Glue ends to inside of pot.
8. Fill pot with foam. Trim ends of flowers. Press into foam. Add filler to cover foam.
9. Wrap thin ribbon around handle, gluing ends inside pot. Wrap wide ribbon around pot. Tie in bow. Glue in place.

Green Leaf Pot

1. Trace leaf pattern on green cardstock. Trace enough to fit around pot. Cut out.
2. Quickly coat back of leaves and side of tin pot, with Collage Pauge using a soft brush. NOTE: Work a section at a time as Collage Pauge dries fast. Press leaves in place. Apply a coat of decoupage over top. Continue around entire pot. Let dry.
3. Outline and detail leaves with Sour Apple dimensional fabric paint. Let dry.
4. Fill pot with foam ball. Cut stems of flowers to desired length. Press into foam. Place Excelsior around base of flowers. Wrap stems with wide ribbon, tying a bow. Trim ends. Glue thin ribbon around pot.
5. Accent Tulips and wide ribbon with dimensional fabric paint.

SOURCE _ http://www.favecrafts.com/Decorating-Ideas/Decoupage-Spring-Flower-Pots-from-Tulip

Iron both on a low setting to flatten. Attach cork to the felt with a thin layer of white glue. Let dry for about 1 hour.

Photocopy our template, enlarging as desired; our coasters are about 5 inches across. Trace template onto felt with a disappearing-ink pen. Cut out with scissors.

From Martha Stewart Living, March 2007

Tools and Materials
Newspaper
Clean canvas sneakers
Fabric or acrylic craft paint
Artist paintbrushes
Fabric paint pens

Painted Sneakers How-To
1. Cover a work surface with newspaper.

2. Using fabric paints and paint pens, decorate sneakers.

3. Let paint dry for 24 hours before painting another shade on top of the original color.

Resources
This craft is from Rosie O'Donnell's new book, "Crafty U," which was given to our studio audience. Special thanks to Keds for giving sneakers to our studio audience.

From The Martha Stewart Show, April 2008

1. Cut two 1 1/4-inch-long pieces of 3/4-inch-wide grosgrain ribbon. Sew 1 piece of ribbon to inside of cuff, leaving 1 side open (for a neater hem, fold under the cut ends of ribbon before stitching).

2. Slip a 1/2-inch rare-earth disk magnet into the pocket; stitch to close. Repeat process with second glove. In the garden, keep gloves within reach by attaching them to a metal bucket or to each other around one of your belt loops.

From Martha Stewart Living, March 2009