10 Crafty Tips

Sometimes you just know useful stuff – and you kind of assume everyone else knows this stuff too – but then you realise they don’t so I thought today I’d share some of the crafty tips and tricks from my brain:

1. Keep plastic lids from takeaway containers for beading – the little rim will keep beads together and stop them rolling off your table.
2. Store felt tip pens for scrapbook journalling lying down so they don’t dry out.
3. Old x-rays make great template plastic – soak them in bleach solution to remove the ink.
4. Store your buttons in a glass jar – a quick shake and look can be much quicker rather than having to tip a whole container out only to find you have no green ones left.
5. Got a discount voucher for the craft store but don’t really need anything? Consider stocking up on the basics – thread in the colours you use most often, card stock in neutral colours, beading basics like wire and eye pins, quilt batting, zippers, and so on.
6. Plastic takeaway container lids make great paint palettes.
7. If making fabric gifts for babies and children, consider pre-washing your fabric to remove any chemicals and dirt from manufacture and shipping.
8. Stamps and paint brushes will be much easier to clean if you rinse or wipe them as soon as you finish with them.
9. Keep a magnet in your sewing kit to help find pins you drop on the floor – much safer than finding them in your feet later on!
10. Have a portable craft with you when you might have a minute – waiting for appointments, waiting in the car for the kids to finish school, during swimming lessons, and so on. You’ll be surprised how all those little bits of time add up to get a project done quicker than you might imagine!

Have you got any crafty tips to share? I’d love to hear them!