Keeping my everyday silverware handy is something that I like to do, and with a decorative silverware caddy I can keep it on the table or bring it outside for picnics. This works so well for me because I can keep my nicer silver flatware packed away for special occasions and easily reach for my everyday set. 

There was a silver platter that I had purchased several years ago and used it all this while for my everyday flatware. At most times I would keep a napkin or vintage linen inside it, however it would get dirty so fast it wasn’t worth doing. Now I have decided to change to burlap since its so much in fashion along with it being inexpensive.

Let me tell you how I made the flatware caddy insert with it. The materials you need:

• A length of burlap that is cut into a square that will fit your specific flatware caddy
• Ribbon or twine
• Rubber band
• And embellishment that you would like to decorate your caddy with

The process that I followed was:

• I placed the burlap inside the container and gathered the excess in the front of the container.
• I used a rubber band or a ponytail holder to tie the burlap after putting it together.
• Use a nice ribbon over the rubber band to cover it. In fact putting an embellishment over the ribbon might be a good idea, you could use anything from a brooch to a flower.
• The flower can be poked through the burlap and flipped out of the back such that it is secured.

Not only does this entire concoction provide a great look, it works out to be rather inexpensive and easy too. It looks like a rather smart and chic flatware caddy. Despite it being cloth, you can change it often too if it gets dirty. In fact it would be a great way to decorate it and present it to someone special!

How to make a Shabby Chic Flatware Caddy is a post from: Craft Corners

I love to have a craft day with my two lovely daughters once every ten days as a rule. Not only do they love it, I enjoy myself thoroughly as well. Let me tell you what we crafted this week, and I can tell you we had a blast doing this one too.

We created a painted flower garden! Confused? So this is how we did it:

1. I downloaded and printed some flower templates which I cut out for my daughters. We choose many different flower shapes and many flowers because we wanted a very full garden.

2. Then we all choose the colors for our flowers. We wanted a very colorful garden so we choose blues, reds, yellows, greens, and even some purples and pinks.

3. Once we choose our paint colors we dotted the flowers with little bits of paint. If you don’t want your little ones to get to messy you can add the dots to the paper flowers with plastic spoons.

4. Now, in my opinion there are two ways to paint your flowers using the plastic wrap to keep your kids fingers from touching the paint:
You can either take a sheet of plastic wrap and place it over all your flowers and then let the kids move the paint around with their fingers on top of the plastic, or you can wrap one of their fingers in plastic wrap and then let them use just that finger to mix all the paint colors together on their paper flowers.

Here’s a tip: This project can get messy so be sure to cover the area where you’ll be painting with newspapers. Also make sure to purchase an entire plastic wrap roll since a lot might be needed if you experiment with several colors for your garden.

5. Let the paper flowers dry completely.

6. To decorate your flowers you can cut out little round circles of felt that can be glued to the center of the flower.

7. Use a drinking straw or craft stick to create a stem and stick at the back of the flower. You can also cut out leaf shapes out of construction paper or felt and glue them to your stick. Let all your glue dry completely.

8. Now create your garden by placing sand, clay, or styrofoam into a shallow bucket or other container (This will help to hold up your flowers). Now “plant” your flowers into your garden by placing the sticks into the sand, clay or styrofoam.

This would make a lovely Mother’s Day craft for children in schools or at home with the family!

Craft with your kids: Painted Flower Garden is a post from: Craft Corners

It can be hard to change your baby’ diaper when you are out where there is no restroom. Babies don’t see the place or time when the nature calls. So, it is best to have a roll-up diaper changer handy. You can store wipes and diapers in this roll-up. You can also use it as a changing pad for the baby.

Here are some steps that can help you to make a cute and practical diaper changer:

1. Choose the right tablecloths

Pick very colorful tablecloths. Check out a solid or printed vinyl tablecloth online. Check out a printed blue or green tablecloth from Carefree Tablecloth. These tablecloths are durable and they can easily be wiped clean! Pick three or two vinyl tablecloths.

2. Cut out circle pieces for the front, the back and the pocket of your diaper changer

Cut out three different circle pieces from your vinyl tablecloth. One circle piece is for the front of the diaper changer and the other two are for its back and pocket. Cut out the center of your diaper bag’s pocket piece. This should make the piece look like a donut.

3. Start sewing bias trim on the pocket piece

Now, start sewing the bias trim around the circle cutout of the diaper changer’s pocket piece. Sew all the way and reach the point where you started the trim. Lastly, fold the raw ends under to finish.

4. Start working on the front and back cloth piece

Put the back piece and front piece on top of each other. Their wrong sides should now be facing each other. Lay the pocket piece on the top and sew bias trim around the diaper changer. Make sure you sew through all the layers.

5. Fold the changer and do some sewing to make the pockets

Measure 4.5 inches from the center and fold the changer in half. Use a masking or painter’s tape to mark the 4.5 inches all the way across the changer. Now, repeat for the opposite side. Afterwards, use the tape as your guide and sew all the way across the changer. Your diaper changer should now have two stitched lines! These lines will create the pockets for you.

6. Make a bias tape measuring 20 inches

Stitch a bias tape that measures 20 inches. You can use this bias tape to tie the rolled up changer. Fold in both sides of the changer and mark the center as shown in the photo. Remove a few stitches at this point using a seam ripper.

Turn an old vinyl tablecloth into Roll-up Diaper Changer! is a post from: Craft Corners

Spring comes with those warm days and a lot of water activities! The breezy and pleasant days of spring give you a chance to swim in the community pools and open ocean. So, pick your beach essentials and throw them in a beach bag. Make personalized beach bags at home to save money. Here are some things you will need to make a beach stunning bag:

1. One shower curtain
2. Coordinating fabric
3. Scissors
4. Thread
5. Sewing machine

Here are the steps that will help you to make some cute beach bags at home!

• Choose an old but strong shower curtain

This project can help you use your old shower curtains. Pick a shower curtain that can be attached to fabric. Your curtain should not soak up water or getting ruined due to chlorine water. Choose a hookless shower curtain from Target. Check out the white and brown Escape curtains online. Made from 100 percent polyester, these curtains are water-resistant, mold resistant and mildew resistant. Go for some more colorful curtains if you want to have a peppy beach bag.

• Give a shape to your bag

Take a large piece of fabric and fold it in half. Cut out the extra fabric and give your bag the desired round bottom. Your fabric should be 26 inches wide and 20 inches tall when it is open. You can make your bag as tall and as wide as you want. Now, fold your shower curtain in half. Its ring holes should be on the top. Place the fabric on the curtain and pin it. Your fabric and curtain should be of the same size and shape.

• Make and sew the straps

Cut out a rectangle from the fabric. Now, sew along the open sides of the straps. Sew the ends of your straps with the bag’s top. You should now be able to lift up the bag with the help of these straps.

• Make a little pocket on the front of your bag

Pick a piece of coordinating fabric and cut a square out of it. Now, sew only three open sides of the fabric with the front side of your bag. Leave an opening on the top of the pocket.

Your beach bag is now ready to store garments, sunglasses, sunscreen lotions and much more for you! You can make a chic beach bag and gift it to your loved one as well!

Upcycle your shower curtain into a beach bag! is a post from: Craft Corners

Coffee mugs can be great presents for your loved ones. You can personalize a coffee mug and use it to flatter a birthday boy or girl. You can also write love quotes on a mug and gift it to your spouse on your anniversary. It is fun, easy to decorate a coffee mug.
Here are some things you will need to do this:

1. A plain white mug
2. A sharpie
3. An oven
4. Cookie sheet
5. Some creative ideas

Here are the steps that will help you to create some personalized and impressive coffee mugs.

• Select a permanent marker

Pick any color permanent maker, if you’re having trouble deciding, black is the most classic and most common. You can select a marker according to your loved one’s choice. For instance, if your friend of family member likes red color then you should use a red permanent market.

• Preheat your oven

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While your oven is heating you can begin decorating your coffee mug.

• Take a plain white coffee mug and write your message on it

You can write a love message or an inspiring message on your white or clear coffee mug. You can write a funny message if you want to gift the mug to a close friend. You can also draw something on the mug. For instance if your loved one likes to swim then you can draw some fish on the mug and if they like soccer then you can draw soccer ball on the mug. Choosing the right mug can really help you in this project. So, check out some restaurant coffee mugs online and choose the prettiest one. Brands like the Webstaurantstore offers durable coffee mugs that are ideal for this project.  

• Bake the decorated coffee mug for 30 minutes

Once you have decorated the mug, place it on a cookie sheet inside your oven. Let it bake for 30 minutes. Take the cookie sheet out of the oven after the 30 minutes are up and remove the mug from the sheet. Place it on a kitchen counter top and allow it to cool down completely. This will set the marker’s ink and it will not get washed off. Your coffee mug is now ready to be used. So, wrap it in a cute gift wrap and send it to your loved one.

With only a sharpie and a light colored coffee mug can help you to show off your personality! Such mugs also make fantastic, inexpensive and emotional gifts for any occasion.

DIY Personalized Coffee mugs! is a post from: Craft Corners

I am organizing my best friend’s bridal shower and wanted to do something fun and creative for the event. Finally after hours of thinking I came up with the idea of decorating our own wine glasses or even for the event. If you don’t want to use real glass for this craft, a plastic goblet would work great too.

The best part was that the wine glass would work fantastically as a favor to take home after the shower as well. An added advantage is definitely that no more stressing of glasses getting mixed as you can easily keep track of your decorated glass for the night.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Clean the wine glasses, making sure you have one per guest
2. Draw a figure or a character that you might what. Print different sizes of the same since you might need to do it a couple of times to get the accurate size.
3. Tape the cut out inside the glass and trace the character out on the outside. Can’t be easier right?
4. Now it is  painting time! You can use a toothpick to paint the edges. Snipping up the edge of the toothpick might make it simpler too.  The advantage of a toothpick is to get the least amount of paint in the places you need it. A wet towel is something you might consider to keep handy in case you make a mistake. As you progress, remember to keep the surface area dry before you can start painting again
5. A great idea would be to paint the bottoms of the glass as well. Maybe you could write a message or your name and date to remember this amazing party!
6. After your painting is done, place the wine glass in a cool oven. The temperature should be around 300-350 degrees and the cooking time would be around 30 minutes
7. Once you take the glasses out, let them cool completely.
8. Now crack open a bottle of something delicious and bubbly and have a great time with your new, one of a kind, wine glasses!

Who said paint was the only option? You could take something as simple and attractive as a ribbon and tie it to the stem. I’ve also seen people do some fun stuff with scratch on decals and writing messages with puff paint too!

You can create these amazing glasses for anyone for any occasion! I just hope you had as much fun as we did creating these memorable and one of a kind goblets.

Decorate your own wine glasses for any event! is a post from: Craft Corners

Do you have any old sheets in your linen closet, that you don’t use anymore? Are you tired of them cluttering up your closet? Why not use them to create a fun and decorative craft? Get out your oldest, softest sheets and convert them into pillow cases. Why waste something that can be up-cycled so easily? The best part is that there is no hassle of using a sewing machine too! That’s what I did, using the following steps: 

• Measure the standard pillow case that you use in your house. It will give you an estimation of fabric which you will need. Remember to take in some extra fabric in mind such that the seams are also included. If it is a huge bed sheet then I would not worry much about wasting fabric too!
• I always feel smaller fabric works out to be easier to work with so I cut out rectangle shapes as per the size of the pillow case.
• Ironing the material would help you to get exact measurements. Maybe you could use a rotary cutter to cut the material out as per the precise size you need. You could pin the edges together, possibly leaving around three fourth of an inch from the edges.
• Use a thread and needle along with the back stitch and sew up three of the four sides. In fact a friend of mine actually used a no-sew fabric glue since she was miserable at sewing.
• The last step would involve turning the fabric inside out and put the pillow in it. The ‘unhemmed’ edge can be sewn up or stuck in accordance to the other sides.

There you are… This is how I effectively used the old sheet and got a pillowcase which I actually used for years! I also tried my hand at dyeing the fabric to play around and create  large throw pillows for a decorative look!

No Sew Throw Pillow Case is a post from: Craft Corners

A craft organizer can not only keep your craft supplies organized but it can also keep your room cleaner. You don’t have to buy a craft organizer. Instead, you can create a personalized craft organizer with the help of some cardboard boxes. Here are some items you will need to make a good organizer.

• Scissors
• Glue stick
• A shoe box’s lid
• Empty cardboard boxes of different sizes
• Decorative tape
• Decorative paper or fabric
• Black marker

Following these steps will help you create a great craft organizer:

1. Find a strong shoe box’s lid

Pick a strong lid and use it as the base of your craft organizer. The lid should be strong enough to hold all your craft supplies and dividers. If your shoe box’s lid is not strong enough then make it stiff with the help of a cardboard piece. Measure the lid’s width and length and cut out a cardboard piece of the same measurements. Paste this piece on the outer or inner side of the lid.

2. Pick some empty cardboard boxes and adjust all of them on the lid’s inner side

You can pick the cardboard boxes of cereal, soap bars and various other items. Pick small as well as large boxes and place them on the inner side of the lid. Make sure all of them fit well with each other. Making this kind of adjustment might take a while.

3. Decorate the cardboard boxes and the lid

Once you have decided the place for each box, take a black marker and mark their space. Afterwards, take out the boxes and cut all their flaps. Decorate paste decorative paper or fabric on all the boxes. Also, paste a solid black paper or fabric on the outer side of the lid.

4. Place the decorated cardboard boxes on the lid and fill them up with craft supplies

Place all the cardboard boxes on the lid and you are done. Put all the craft items in the cardboard boxes.

5. Place the lid on a desk

Pick a good craft desk and place your craft organizer on it. This will help you to keep your crafts items handy while making crafts. A craft desk can also help you to make your crafts without breaking your back. You can check out some mobile craft desks available at Walmart. They feature drawers and a lot of flat surface for craft making.

Upcycled Craft Desk Organizer is a post from: Craft Corners

An Easter egg hunt can entertain kids as well as adults on this  Easter Sunday. It’s a great idea to hide Easter eggs around the house, but for even more scavenger fun you can hide the eggs outside in grass, bushes, and flower pots. Here are some tips on how to create the perfect Easter egg hunt:

1. Leave some eggs in plain sight

Leaving some eggs in plain sight is very important because it will excite kids and encourage them to find the other eggs. If you’re Easter egg hunters are very young leave some extra eggs in plain sight for them to “find” with you. Also talk to the older children at your hunt and remind them to leave a few for the littlest kids to find so that everyone can have some fun.

2. Don’t fill all the eggs with candy

Make this Eater Sunday more interesting and my healthy by filling most the eggs with small toys and only a few with candy. We all know that too much sugar isn’t good for children’s teeth and gorging on Easter candy can give your little one an awful tummy ache. Try filling most of your eggs with small prizes like temporary tattoos, gift certificates, coins, stickers, beads, or handmade vouchers for a family adventure of their choice.

3. Pick some easy to carry baskets for the kids

Pick some cute but easy to hold baskets for the kids. The kids will need these baskets to collect their eggs. You can choose a wicker Easter basket that comes with plastic eggs. Check out the Gourmet Easter candy gift basket that comes with a large marshmallow peep bunny and a half pound chocolate Eater bunny. This basket also comes with Easter lollipops and rock candy crystal sticks.

Check out the Deluxe all-in-one blue Easter basket also. This one comes with all the goodies you need for the kids. This lovely wicker basket is filled with scrumptious Easter goodies including a plush bunny, Easter grass, a 100% cotton polka-dot basket liner, jelly beans, milk chocolate malt ball eggs, foil-wrapped solid chocolate eggs etc.

4. Decorate well for the egg hunt

Decorate the whole house with pastel balloons. Decorate the tables and chairs with pastel colored tablecloths and streamers. Hide at least a dozen eggs per child or guest so that they are able to collect a good amount of eggs. Pick some extra wicker Easter baskets for the guests and let everyone join in the fun!

Plan the perfect egg hunt for your Easter Sunday! is a post from: Craft Corners

An Easter egg tree can add a touch of fun and whimsy to your Easter Sunday decorations. Here are some things you will need to make a great Easter egg tree:

1. Water
2. Rubber bands
3. Food coloring
4. Vinegar
5. Clear plastic wire
6. A clear jar
7. Sand
8. Ribbons
9. A small tree with a lot of strong stems

Follow these steps to make your unique and beautiful Easter egg tree:

• Color the eggs using water, food coloring and vinegar

Pour three cups of water in a clear bowl along with 25 drops of food color and two spoons vinegar. Now wrap some rubber bands around raw eggs and dip them into the water for at least 10 minutes. Take the eggs out after 10 minutes and allow them to dry.

• Remove the Yolk and the white part

Once the eggs are dry, make a hole in their base with a pin. Afterwards, perforate around the hole and make it wide enough for a dropper nozzle. Make a similar hole at the top of the eggs as well. Now, insert the nozzle into the hole and squeeze the pump, or you can just blow out the raw egg with your mouth. Make sure to either throw away of the raw egg!

• String the egg shells up

Take a wide ribbon and make a knot. Take a plastic thread through the ribbon knot and tie a knot on the ribbon. Take the other end of the plastic thread, put it in one hole of the egg and take it out from another one. Now, your ribbon knot should act like a stopper. Now, tie the plastic wire with one of your small tree’s stems. Hand all the eggs on different stems of the tree.

• Put the tree in a clear jar filled with sand and decorate it

You can easily get a small tree or plant with strong stems. You can also use an artificial and ready-made Easter egg tree. Pick one from Personalcreations or a similar online store. Put the tree in a clear bowl filled with sand so that it stays stable, you can decorate the tree further with glitter, leaves etc.

An Easter egg tree can be a part of your East Egg hunt game. It can help especially the younger children who will have a hard time finding the hidden eggs. You can also use this tree as a background for your Easter family photos.

Create an Easter Egg tree for your Easter Sunday decor! is a post from: Craft Corners