Tutorials | So You Think You're Crafty

Archive for the ‘ Tutorials ’ Category

31 Jul

T-Rex Cake Tutorial

Posted under Tutorials
By Missy

*Tutorial by Megan @ The Crafty Conundrum for her win of the Boys Challenge of season 12*

First off -thanks to everyone who voted for me! This is pretty exciting for me.

And secondly…. hold onto your hats -this is a lot longer post than I thought it would be. All ready? Ok, then here we go!

First things first – you need to bake some cakes. I used a cake mix (for this one it was a Funfetti mix) but I “doctor” it a bit to make a denser cake. Not only does it taste better than a plain cake mix, but it’s also sturdier and will hold up better when stacked.

Here is that recipe:

Beat together (like you normally would make a cake mix):

1 cake mix

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

pinch of salt

1 cup milk

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

I baked 2 7-inch oval cake layers and still had enough for a dozen cupcakes. If you don’t have oval pans, you could make a larger circle pan and just trim it into the shape you want. Oh, and pop on over to this post for a cake release recipe- it will make easier to get your cakes out in one piece -minus the mess that you get when greasing and flouring pans. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.

So make sure those babies cool completely. You may want to let them cool and then wrap them well in plastic wrap and do the decorating the next day just to give the cakes time to settle (and you a bit of a break).

When you’re ready to decorate, you’ll need a board. You can pick up foam core sheets at Michael’s or probably even Staples. Get the thinner stuff (I think it’s 1/4 inch). You’ll want to cut it with an X-Acto knife the shape you want your dinosaur head to be. I traced around the oval cake (leaving about 1/4 inch extra all around to account for adding icing and fondant). Then I added on a snout shape to the front.

Next you will need to level your cakes. Use whatever you are comfortable with. My mother let me use her cake leveler. But you could level it out with a large knife. Or hold a piece of dental floss (unflavored!) TIGHTLY between your hands and, using a sawing motion from side to side, slowly work the floss from the far side of your cake towards yourself -keeping your hands as close to the same height as possible.

Put some frosting (go here for my Buttercream Frosting recipe) down on your board. Lay one cake layer on the board -cut side UP (smooth side down). Then ice the whole top of that layer. Place the other layer on top of the first -cut side DOWN. This way the top AND bottom are the smooth sides.

Now comes the part that takes a bit more creativity. The oval cake forms the main part of the head. You will need to sculpt the snout, round out the back/sides of the head, and make a “dome” for the top of the head. Read more

Comments Off

24 Jul

Lucky Stars Ombre Mobile Tutorial

Posted under SYTYC . Tutorials
By Missy

*Tutorial by ChiWei @ One Dog Woof for her win of the Ombre Challenge of season 12*

I had seen photos of ombre mobiles on Pinterest that were made from paint chips, so I knew I liked the effect of the ombre in mobile form. I had also seen pictures of lucky stars that were dyed and hung up in garlands, so I decided to put the two ideas together to create my Lucky Stars Ombre Mobile.

Lucky stars are usually made with long strips of origami paper, but I didn’t have the time nor the confidence that I was going to find exactly what I wanted, so I tried to make my own. J has a big roll of craft paper that we had bought at Ikea, so I tried a Martha Stewart tip about spray painting an ombre effect on the paper using watercolors. To be honest, that didn’t work very well, except for the really color saturated bits. For the light shades, it was easier to just paint on a light watercolor wash.

Then cut your now-ombred paper into strips. There is some trial and error involved, as you figure out a good width vs length ratio to create a sturdy puffy star. Sometimes, the strip was too wide and didn’t have enough heft to “puff” out the star, and sometimes, the strip was too thin, which made for a super plump star and made it impossible to stick a needle through. I think my strips were about 20 inches long, and a little over a half inch wide. I painted several swatches of paper, cut them all out and only chose the shades that worked best with each other.

Once you have the strips, start folding stars. Here’s a great Read more

1 comment

17 Jul

No-Sew Summer Picnic Basket Tutorial

Posted under Tutorials
By Missy

*Tutorial by ChiWei @ One Dog Woof for her win of the Summer Bounty challenge for season 12*

Like the Scrap Wood Lantern, the brainstorming process for this project took quite a circuitous route. I was originally thinking about some summer placemats, but after Drew gave me a big THUMBS DOWN, I asked him for ideas, if he was so clever indeed. We also had to take into account that we were going to be on vacation that week, so I wouldn’t have access to my usual assortment of sewing and crafting and woodworking supplies. My MIL gave us a spark of inspiration when she talked about handmade baskets in Williamsburg, and then Drew suggested that his dad cut me super thin slices of wood with which to weave a basket. Are you kidding me?! But then, I remembered the hot Pinterest pin of making baskets out of paper, and figured I can probably do it with fabric, so we went looking for the nearest Joann’s store!

Photobucket

Materials:

2 yds of 60″ wide heavy duck canvas. I used 1 yd of each color.

2 rolls of 3/4″ hem tape.

iron.

scissors + t-square (or rotary cutter/mat/straight edge)

hot glue

Beware, there’s some math involved. Read more

1 comment

10 Jul

CD Case Greenhouse Tutorial

Posted under Tutorials
By Missy

*Tutorial by Meg @ Mega Crafty for her win of the Repurposed challenge of season 12*

Wow- I’m so excited to have won this week’s challenge, there were so many great projects. Thanks to everyone who voted!

I’m going to tell you up front- this tutorial is pretty long. But don’t get scared off… the greenhouse really isn’t difficult to make. There are lots of details I wanted to be sure were explained clearly. To do that I had to break this down into a bunch of steps and include a lot of pictures. The toughest part about the whole project is cutting the cases into angles- and even that’s not really hard to do, it just takes some patience. The rest of the project is just gluing!

Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

Old CD Cases- it takes 40 to make a greenhouse this size (about 11″x 18″ x 20″) but you’ll also want some extras in case a few break while being cut (I broke 2).
Plastic Glue- that dries clear.
Painter’s Tape
Safety Glasses
Tweezers
You’ll also need a craft knife, ruler and cutting board, and a large flat surface (that can get a bit of glue on it) for the cases to lay on while drying.

Step 1: Preparing The Cases

Start with clean cd cases. More than a few of mine needed a bit of dusting off and some old price tags removed. Since most of my cases also had black plastic disc holders in them, and I only needed the clear parts of the cases, I removed and discarded the black plastic. When you remove the disc holders you’ll notice it leaves an open space near the hinge. I’ll talk more about this in Step 2, I just wanted to point out that this is normal and nothing to worry about.

I also came across a few cases that had clear disc holders. The circular pattern reminded me of the fans you see in large greenhouses so I left those whole and used one on either end in the center of the wall’s peak. Read more

3 comments

03 Jul

Wood Scrap Lantern Tutorial

Posted under Tutorials
By Missy

*Tutorial made by Chi Wei @ One Dog Woof for her win of the Scraps challenge of Season 12*

Wow, I’m so honored to have won the first challenge, and I’m glad I can show you how I created my Wood Scrap Lantern!

The brainstorming process for this project was a little bit crazy. Once I decided I wanted to use wood, I googled “wood scraps” just to look at some pictures. Originally, I looked at some segmented wood turning projects, but pretty much got shot down by my wood working friends (and Drew) for being completely off my rocker. So, finally, I caught a glimpse of a wood lantern somewhere on the interwebs, with no name, no title, no instructions, just a glowing image of a wood “thing” with holes in it. I figured since there were no rounded edges, this was at least “do-able”!

So here we go!

1. Collect a bunch of wood – preferably already square. By square, I don’t mean the shape, I mean, the that the sides and corners are not crooked.

2. Cut, rip, sand your pieces into assorted shapes and sizes. I didn’t have a plan, so I just cut enough wood to half fill a plastic bag.

3. Start piecing your wood blocks together. Do it on a table so the inner side is flat. Try to keep enough variation in color, texture, wood grain in the design, and you can also try to piece it so that you never have to depend on an exact sizing. I pieced mine together so each piece sort of depended on the piece before it, and everything was slightly adjustable. Also, it is helpful to create a 90 degree frame to build up against, so you know your panel will be square.
Ooh, also remember to take a picture of your panel before you take it apart to start glueing! Read more

Comments Off

26 Jun

Ruffled Rug Tutorial

Posted under SYTYC . Tutorials
By Missy

*Tutorial made by Wendy @ Craft Goodies for her win of the Finale Round of Season 11. To see the 2nd part of this tutorial, the upholstered bench, you can find it here.*

I’m still shocked!

Super thrilled and excited, but really shocked–I WON! I’m usally really great at second place, seems to be a trend for me, but not this time. I’m not quite sure how to handle it…

I guess I’ll start with telling you how I made this little combo, starting with the rug.

This really was easy, just took a little bit of time.

I had a bunch of canvas drop cloth left over from my camp chairs so decided to use that as the base for the rug.

I knew the size of rug I wanted (4×5 finished) so I cut the canvas to just over double that

(4 ft 1 inch x 10 ft 1 in). Folded it in half, sewed the two side seams, flipped it right side out, tucked under 1/2 an inch and sewed it shut.

Using a sharpie and a yard stick I marked out the lines for my ruffles. I cut my ruffle fabric (jersey knit so I didn’t have to hem it!) into 4 inch wide strips so my lines are 2.5 inches apart, allowing for lots of overlap. Read more

1 comment

26 Jun

Upholstered Bench Tutorial

Posted under SYTYC . Tutorials
By Missy

*Tutorial made by Wendy @ Craft Goodies for her win of the Finale Round of Season 11. To see the 1st part of this tutorial, the ruffled rug, you can find it here.*

I have to tell you of all the projects I made over these past few months, I really am in LOVE with this one! It could be the slight love affair I’m having with anything gray at the moment, but really, there is just something super fantastic about this bench that makes me smile.

So let’s spread the happy and make a few more!

I started with the frame-basic 2×4′s for the sides and center support and MDF cut to size for the top.

As far as measurements go, I can tell you my bench is 12 inches wide by 4 ft long. But the great thing about this is it can be how ever big or small you need. And even better, if you need to have wood cut, the boys at Home Depot or Lowe’s can cut it all to size for you!

Also, I used a nail gun to put it all together, but screws work too if you’re more of a drill kinda girl! Read more

Comments Off

14 Jun

Folding Camp Chair Tutorial

Posted under Tutorials
By Missy

*Tutorial by Wendy @ Craft Goodies for her win of the Hardware Store challenge of season 11*

I super excited to get to share another project tutorial with you. My last few projects have been so much fun to put together, it’s nice to know that others think they’re pretty okay too. My husband was even impressed with these chairs! Not because they turned out super cute or anything, but because they are “actually useful“– silly boy! He has so much to learn about crafting…

Let’s get going, summer is here and there are camp outs to attend. First, hit the hardware store and gather your supplies.

Here’s what you’ll need:

**this is enough to make 2 chairs**

LUMBER DEPT:

(2) 1″ x 2″ x 8′ furring strips(4) 3/4″ diameter x 48″ poplar dowels PAINT DEPT:4′ x 5′ canvas drop clothWhite primer/paint for legsColors of your choice for designs on seats(when it came time to paint I ended up using spray paint on my seats, just a thought…) HARDWARE DEPT:(4) 1/4″ x 2″ carriage bolts

(4) 1/4″ hex lock nuts

(8) 1/4″ flat washers

(16) 8 x 3/4″ flathead wood screws

You’ll also need a drill with a 1/4 inch and 1/8 inch drill bits, a 3/4 inch spade bit, a Phillips head screw driver, and a little bit of sandpaper.

If you have a milter saw or miter box and hand saw you can cut the wood pieces yourself, otherwise take the measurements and have the boys in the lumber dept. cut them down for you.

Cut the furring strips into 8 pieces that are each 22.5 inches long. Use the milter saw/box to cut a 45 degree angle on one end of each piece.

Cut the dowels into 4 pieces that measure 14 inches long each, and 4 pieces that measure 12 3/8 inches long each.

Sand the edges to remove any rough spots and then grab the drill… Read more

1 comment

31 May

Betty Matching Blocks Tutorial

Posted under Tutorials
By Missy

*Tutorial made by Amanda @ Simply Handmade for her win of the Kids Can Do challenge of season 11*

This was one of the most fun projects ever! Time consuming, but super fun. When I was a little girl, my friends and I would waste spend tons of time drawing and designing clothes for itty bitty paper dolls. I was a bit nostalgic all while I snipped little dresses for these Bettys! Hopefully these instructions aren’t too horrible….it’s midnight where I’m at so I’m not going to promise anything.

To make some Betty matching blocks you’ll need:

*Thin wood blocks ( I found mine at Joann’s in the model airplane aisle) roughly 6″ x 12″ x 1/4″

* An assortment of scrap paper and fabric

* A permanent pen or marker for the face. I worried about the face smearing with the application of modpodge so I ended up using liquid eyeliner. No smears.

* A miter saw or a friend with a miter saw.

* Modpodge

Now, because I’m a scatter brain, I didn’t take any more photos. But never fear, I can explain the rest in a non dizzying fashion…..I think.

Using bits of paper, add some little details like belts, sashes, and trim. No need for it to be perfect. You don’t need a pattern….just experiment and see what works.
After you’ve glued down your cute dolly and added some details, cut her in half {gasp!}. You’ll need to cut her to make her a matching Betty! But she’d look equally as nice in a frame if you can’t bring yourself to do it. Use a paper cutter so that you get a nice even clean cut. I cut mine right at the waistline.
Line the paper up with your board and mark straight across where the cut will be.
Using a miter saw, saw each board at the line previously marked.
Mod podge your little Bettys onto each board. Give each side a good coat of the stuff!
Then spray each side with a clear sealer….like this:

Enjoy!

**You can create your own doll template or you can go here to snag mine. Right click on the image and then copy and paste into your paint program (very basic I know.) increase the size according to your taste. I super sized mine by 200%.