DIY Sequin T-Shirt

Can you believe it’s only a few more days till Christmas? Where has the time gone? We’ll if you’re like me you may need a last minute gift or just a little extra sparkle this holiday season. Create a DIY Sequin Tee in minutes with this ultra simple and inexpensive project. Using two of my favorite products; Aleene’s Jewel-it glue, it’s simply the best glue for adding sequins, rhinestones, beads you name it to fabric. And of course Tulip Fashion Sequins!!! Cause who doesn’t love to sparkle? If you’re ready to sparkle, lets go!

Snow and Ice Dyeing

With all the snow and ice that’s piled up in the Northeast and other parts of the country right now, we thought it was about time we put it to good use! Create unique and amazing colors and patterns with Snow and Ice Dyeing it’s a super easy and fun way to dye fabric. This would be a great project to do with kids. I really love this technique for dyeing. It creates some amazing color mixes and designs and it does all the work for you!  In the summer you can do this with ice cubes! I think this is my new favorite way to dye fabric!  

DIY Brooch using Beads in a Bottle

A fun mix of materials and a cool new way to make your own beads, this DIY Brooch using Tulip’s Beads in a Bottle adds sparkle and glamour to your outfit. Check out the tutorial to see how easy it is to make your own “beads” on most any surface.

Messenger Bag DIY

Add a personal touch to a plain canvas bag, using stencils, fabric markers and fabric spray paints to create a cool personalized Messenger Bag DIY. I used the Tulip Body Art Stencils to create tattoo inspired designs on this bag, by filling them in with fabric markers. This is a really cool and simple way to create designs and patterns quickly and easily. 

DIY Zipper Bracelet With Chains

Gold chains and a punk rock revival are huge trends for fall. So why not add a little edge to your accessories with this DIY Zipper Bracelet with Chains. Using two zippers with the chains in between makes this a wide statement bracelet. Have fun and show your edgy side, stack it with more gold chains or wear it alone, either way you’re sure to make an impact.

Upcycled Paperclip Chain Necklace!

Here's to a colorful and elegant twist on that old office cube classic: the paperclip chain. I was inspired to make it after spying a similar necklace that my friend Rebecca was wearing in the office a couple of weeks ago.

When she told me that she scored the amazingly simple accessory while on vacation in Cambodia earlier this year, that's when I experienced the creative flash of an I-could-so-make-that moment: Seeing as I won't be able to afford travel to Cambodia anytime soon (I wish!), I decided to set out on a far more affordable trip...to the local 99-cent store!


Materials:
-box of paperclips
-all-purpose scissors
-ruler
-woven plastic material (laundry bag from the dollar store, an Ikea shopping bag, all-purpose tarpaulin from the hardware store)*
-Aleene's Jewel-It Embellishing Glue

Make it:
1. Link 38 to 48 paperclips in a chain. Hang the chain around your neck, see if you like the length, and add or subtract paperclips to your liking.

2. Measure and cut one 1 1/2" by 1 1/4" rectangle from the woven bag. Use that rectangle as a template to cut more rectangles. Cut as many rectangles as there are paperclips in your chain.

3. Select one rectangular piece. Fold the long sides in 1/4" and crease. Then fold the piece in half lengthwise, crease it, and unfold. Fold the two short ends into the center line and crease again.

4. Refold the center crease, pinching the piece around the center of a paperclip in the chain to create a sort of "bead."

5. Squeeze the glue generously along the open edge (the motion is sort of like mustard on a hotdog). Pin it in place with a spare paperclip to dry.

6. Repeat with the remaining rectangular pieces until every link on the paper chain is covered by a bead. Let the beads dry completely before removing the spare paperclips.

7. Remove the paperclips, touch up any finicky beads with an extra dab of glue, and repeat the entire process as many times as desired to create multiple colorful chains.

8. Drape them around your neck, and off you go!

Happy National Craft Month!! 

*Incidentally, these necklaces are made from the same sort of bags that Rami made his chic challenge-winning Project Runway All-Stars dollar store dress from, below! What a cool material to play with.


All photos by Megan Nicolay except for the Project Runway screenshot, via SheKnows.com.

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For Halloween: Costume-on-a-Stick!

'Twas the week before Halloween and all through the haunted house,
every creature was stirring--
the zombies, the mummies, the vampires, the flappers, the secret agents--
even the mouse.
But if you're the one caught without a disguise,
make a costume-on-a-stick to cover your mouth or your eyes!

Materials:
-Pencil
-Paper (optional)
-Manila file folders
-Scissors
-Felt pieces in a variety of colors and patterns
-Aleene's Super Thick Tacky Glue
-Aleene's Jewel-It Embellishing Glue
-Fake jewels
-Tulip Beads in a Bottle
-Wooden chopsticks

Make it:

1. Draw the outline of a pair of glasses, a mustache, or other shape on a manila folder. Optional: Sketch it out on a piece of paper first to use as a template (this way, if it's a symmetrical shape, you can fold it in half to make sure both sides match), then cut it out and trace it onto the folder.

2. Use scissors to completely cut out the shape(s).

3. Spread glue generously over the back of the folder shape.

4. Press it firmly onto a piece of the desired felt color. Let the glue dry.

5. Cut out the felt piece, using the folder edges as your guide.

6. Use jewelry adhesive to decorate the front with fake jewels...

...or use Beads in a Bottle to create 3D embellishments! Let the embellishments dry.

7. Flip the disguise over and squeeze a line of glue along one side. Press the top of one chopstick so it extends vertically from the bottom. Let it dry.

8. Repeat as many times as you like to make cat-eye glasses (shown), wayfarers, masquerade masks, vampire fangs, and mustaches galore. Now what are you waiting for? Go undercover!

Happy haunting from Generation T!

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ILovetoCreate Teen Crafts: Fun Feathered Fascinator

Fun Feathered Fascinator by Avalon Potter for ILovetoCreate

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ILovetoCreate Teen Crafts

Fun Feathered Fascinator

Copyright 2011 Avalon Potter

Recently I have noticed a fashion trend toward feathers. They are on clothes, jewelry, they are even glued into people’s hair! I didn't feel like the little skinny feather in your hair made much of a statement, so I made this week’s project as an over the top salute to the new feather trend. It’s fun, crazy, and creative so I hope you have as much fun making it as you do wearing it!


Supplies
Aleene's Liquid Fusion
Aleene's Jewel-It Adhesive
Tulip® Glam-It-Up!™ Iron-On Studs™
Multicolor felt bird scrapbook sticker
Black plastic headband
Feathers (Hot Pink, Yellow, Green, Red)

Instructions

1. Attach three feathers together by applying Liquid Fusion to the bottom of the feathers. It should be spread slightly so it has almost a fan effect but no gaps between the feathers. Let dry for 2-4 hours.


2. Next take your felt bird and lay out your seven crystals around the tail to the head. It should go in this order: purple, light pink, red, orange, dark yellow, light blue. Then put a dark blue on the eye. Put a dab of Jewel-It on each crystal, apply to the felt bird in pre-determined spot. I used glue since the felt was made of man made fiber. Allow to dry for 10 minutes.


3. Use the Liquid Fusion to glue you felt bird to the bottom of the feathers and let set for a few minutes before the next step. Now on the back of your feathers apply a line of glue on the middle feather and attach to the side of the headband. Let dry for 2-4 hours.

We're A'mused!

My sister EcoHeidi and I were busy moving Momma Aleene to her new home last week so we were not able to attend the Summer CHA show but that didn't stop us from being there in spirit! Over the last months, we were busy creating mannequins for the iLovetoCreate booth and today we're delighted to share Merrie Muse with you!

If you were able to attend the show, you know that the booth theme was "Driving Creativity" so Merrie got in the spirit with her rearview mirror magic wand! A cool quote collaged on to brown bag paper dangled from the wand with words of wisdom: "We drive into the future using only our rearview mirror." -Marshall McLuhan


Merrie's top was covered with Blumenthal Lansing buttons all glued in place with Aleene's Jewel It Glue with the tone-on-tone colors of white, ivory and crystal.


Heidi crafted Merrie's wings from chicken wire and used Aleene's Fabric Stiffener to adhere the cheese cloth. Then she used strips of the cheese cloth to create the swirled designs on the wings. This is a super cool way to make lightweight LARGE wings! Oh yeah, we also wanted to be sure she was sprinkled with some magic fairy dust so we sprayed her wings with Tulip Glitter Spray.

Heidi dug into her sewing stash to find a plastic apron hoop so Merrie's skirt was built by tying and gluing strips of fabric and brown paper and many layers. We used Aleene's Original Tacky Glue to hold the strips in place and then decided we wanted to add a feathery edging at the waist at the last minute so we grabbed our Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue for that! Little butterflies and ladybugs were also scattered about her skirt.


Merrie needed some bling so Heidi created a collection of bracelets featuring her trademark soda can flowers along with fabric and button flower bracelets.

Thanks for letting us share! We hope your day is magically creative!



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DIY Jeweled Pumps

Check out these amazing jeweled shoes that Wendy Mastal, our Product Development Manager created using our Aleene's® Jewel-It™ Embellishing Glue. She just picked up a bag of plastic jewels from Michaels and glued them onto the bottom of her bowed Unlisted pumps! What a funky and cool DIY look, don't you think??? Wendy claims that Jewel-It is her favorite glue EVER!

So next time you want to turn your plain shoes into showstoppers, just glue some jewels, rhinestones, or mirrors to the bottom! It will give them instant personality!

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Drama Queen Pillow

Designed by Pattie Wilkinson

This pillow definitely calls for attention, but deservedly so! The easily added shimmery accents enhance any regular throw pillow into a diva-worthy accent with the help of a little creativity and Aleene’s® Jewel-It™ adhesive!

Materials List

• Aleene's® Jewel-It Embellishing Glue™
  
  

• Miscellaneous

  •   Large buttons (4)
  •   Pins
  •   Paillettes
  •   Sequins
  •   Beads
  •   Ready-made pillow 

  Instructions

  1. Position buttons on pillow for placement where desired.
  2. Adhere buttons to pillow with glue. (Pin in place if needed.) Let dry.
  3. Draw squiggles of glue around buttons.
  4. Pour beads, paillettes and sequins into glue for a unique design.
  5. Keep pillow flat until dry.
  6. Shake off excess beads and sequins.

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Inspire Touch-of-Sparkle T Shirt

Inspire Touch-of-Sparkle T Shirt

Designed by Tiffany Windsor

For those who like just a touch of rhinestone sparkle, here’s a quick and easy tee that’s perfect for a yoga workout or a quiet cup of tea. It’s tee and tea!

Come see Tiffany in person demoing this shirt on April 17th at Michaels (University Commons) in Greenville, North Carolina! Click here to learn more!

Materials:
– Aleene's® Jewel-It Embellishing Glue™
– Tulip® Soft Fabric Paint™ in BI15784 Glacier White
– Paint palette (paper plate, freezer paper or waxed paper)
– Sizzix Bigz Alphabet Set 4 Dies - Go Slim Lowercase
– Rhinestones
– T-shirt
– Iron
– Tweezers (optional)
– Scissors
– Sizzix Big Shot
– Cosmetic sponge
– Freezer paper

Instructions
1. Pre-wash and dry t-shirt. Do not use fabric softener in the wash or dry cycle. Iron if needed.
2. Using Sizzix die, cut alphabet letters from freezer paper. (Place freezer paper shiny side (waxed) up on die so that letters will be facing the right way when ironing.) I like to cut my freezer paper to approximate rectangle size first and then place several layers of freezer paper on the die at one time. Be sure to save the cut out portion of the alphabet letters because you can use these for other projects.
3. Lay lettering on t-shirt adjusting for placement. Iron in place. Be sure that you have all edges ironed down so that you get a nice crisp image when you apply the paint.
4. Next I like to take small strips and scraps of freezer paper and iron them around the lettering so that when I am stenciling my letters I don’t accidentally get paint where I don’t want on the t-shirt. So, just cut some pieces to fit around the lettering and iron in place.5. Although you are applying paint in very light coats, go ahead and insert a piece of waxed paper or freezer paper between t-shirt layers to keep paint from accidentally seeping through to back. To stencil your lettering, pour a small puddle of paint onto palette. Dab flat end of cosmetic sponge into paint and then dab several times off to the side of the palette. This will help to evenly saturate the cosmetic sponge. I have found the best way to keep crisp lines when stenciling, is with a light straight up and down dabbing motion. Don’t press too hard or you might oversaturate the t-shirt with paint. It’s better to start with a light layer of paint and add more paint for good coverage than trying to oversaturate with one coat. On this t-shirt, it took several light coats of white on the black fabric.6. After the paint is applied, carefully lift and peel the freezer paper from the t-shirt to reveal the stenciled lettering. Let paint dry.
7. I wanted to add a touch of sparkle to this t-shirt project so I grabbed my Aleene’s® Jewel-It® Embellishing Glue and rhinestones and glued them to the tops and bottoms of the letters and a few extra rhinestones sprinkled around here and there. The key to holding the rhinestones in place with the Jewel-It Glue is to apply just enough glue so that it barely squeezes up and around the rhinestone. The glue needs to cup the rhinestone in order for it to hold through washings. Sometimes the rhinestone are hard to hold on to while gluing so just grab your rhinestone with tweezers, add a dab of glue and press in place. The glue is cloudy white when applying but will turn clear when dry.
8. Be sure that you let your paint and glue dry according to package instructions before washing your tee.

Tiffany’s Designer Tip: I’m not a fan of crew necked t-shirts so I cut the ribbing from the crew and fashion different necklines such as square or tapered. I also do the same along the bottom and on the sleeves by removing the double seam stitching and ironing flat. This gives your tee more of a designer look and I like the look of the soft curled edges!