Contents Festive Christmas Candles Bright red festive candles are perfectly suited to the jollities of Christmas-time. Displayed in brass or glass candlesticks and set against glossy green foliage, they conjure up images of traditional Christmases, with rosy cheeked choristers … Read More
Contents Making a Home-made Symbolic Christmas Tree This bare and wintry symbolic Christmas tree was made from one salvaged tree trunk but you could achieve a similar symbolic Christmas tree effect by nailing two branches together. Smaller branches are … Read More
Contents How To Make a Pomander Historically a pomander was made of any aromatic bunch of flowers or herbs and spices to ward off bad smells. A present day pomander can be made by using an orange, or other fruit, … Read More
Contents Culinary Food Decorations – Decorate Your Tree With Food Hey good looking! Look at these delightful culinary food decorations ideas. For a simple effect, decorate your Christmas tree with some food. How to decorate your Christmas tree with food … Read More
Contents How to Make Paper Pears Materials Sheets of newspaper Wallpaper paste, mixed to full strength following manufacturers instructions and left to stand before use. Bowl and spoon for mixing the paste Scissors Masking tape Thin card white or green … Read More
Contents Trimming Your Christmas Tree Have you grown up with the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree with all the decorations you have collected over the years? Or loading the branches with as many sparkly baubles and as much tinsel … Read More
Contents Christmas Craft Ideas for Décor There is something magical about bringing greenery into the home for Christmas: the smell of pine needles on the tree, the glossiness of rich, dark evergreens, like holly and ivy, and the vibrancy … Read More
Contents Mural Art – Bringing Art Home Story by Penny Swift & Pictures by Janek Szymanowski © Mural art and the living use of color have been decorative features of architecture for many centuries, projecting both cultural traditions and … Read More
Contents Costume Jewelry Today is Bold and Beautiful Story by Penny Swift Back in the day when I was a child, my grandmother owned a costume jewelry store. It was a place I loved, with its glitzy diamanté; sparkling paste … Read More
Contents How to Look After Houseplants All Pictures by Janek Szymanowski © Living with houseplants can be an enriching experience even for the novice gardener. A gloriously red amaryllis set against drifting snowflakes outside the window, the sensuous fragrance of … Read More
Contents Wood Carving & Sculpture a Craft From Before the Dawn of History The oldest known stone carvings date back more than 25,000 years. Although no examples of prehistoric wood sculpture remain (wood decomposes much faster than stone, usually … Read More
Contents Block Printing on Fabric Fabric printing has been practiced since antiquity, notably in India, Egypt, and China. Throughout the centuries it has evolved from a simple process of pressing inked wood blocks on cloth into modern high-speed textile … Read More
Contents A Craft Born of Frugality—Quilting and Patchwork The Start Of Quilting Quilting was carried to Europe in the Middle Ages by the Crusaders, who returned with quilting from the Middle East with padded linings for their armor—sandwiches of … Read More
Contents Spinning From Fiber to Yarn Today hand spinning—the drawing out and twisting of fiber—is still done in the way it was thousands of years ago. Material. Fleece is sold by the pound in three forms: unscoured, or “in … Read More
Contents Basket Making is Man’s most ancient craft Basket Making Worldwide Basket making survives in many parts of the world today in forms, techniques, and materials similar to those used in past ages. While continuing as a living tradition, it … Read More
Contents Paper Mache, the Supreme Paper Art Basic techniques Two basic methods are used in paper mache — one employing paper strips, the other, mash. In the first method paper is torn into strips and the strips are coated with … Read More
Contents How to Paint With Watercolor The step-by-steps on this page show the typical stages in the development of a watercolor landscape. For the landscape shown here the artist used a17- by 22-inch sheet of French hand-made, cold-pressed, 300-pound watercolor … Read More
Contents Color and Design Understanding color White light is made up of light of different colors. Anyone who has seen a rainbow has seen white light divided into its component colors, the colors of the spectrum. See the color wheel … Read More
Contents String Art is Symmetrical Art String art makes circles out of straight lines-and this is probably as close as we will ever get to squaring the circle. The art form originated early in the 20th century, when drawings were … Read More
Collectable Brass Lamps Rotation creates beautiful one-of-a-kind brass lamps from repurposed collectables. Owned by sister’s Joanne (right) and Christina Pretorius (left), Rotation creates only brass lamps from unique items sourced on their travels around South Africa. Each lamp is diverse, … Read More
Contents Collage – A contemporary art form Collage, from the French verb coller (“to glue”) is the general term for an artistic arrangement of various materials glued to a surface. See the collage “Cosmos” left by artist Diane Cadrain. Just … Read More
Contents Candle making the Traditional Way People have been making candles since the times of the ancient Romans, and chances are they will continue to do so, not out of necessity, but because of the wonderful ambiance candles give to … Read More
Contents Fruit Preserves All The Basics Equipment and Supplies Needed for Fruit Preserves Any reasonably well equipped kitchen will have most of the utensils needed for preserving fruits. The only essential equipment that may be missing is a supply … Read More
Contents All About Bread Making At Home Early Days Of Bread Making Man has been making bread of some sort since the end of the last ice age. The earliest breads were undoubtedly crude, unleavened loaves baked on hot … Read More
Contents All About Mosaics Pictures from fragments Mosaics are composed of chips and pieces of different colors of ceramic tile, glass, stones, and various other materials. From close up these fragments may make no visual sense. Viewed from a distance, however, … Read More
Contents Sand Art – What is it? History of Glass and Sand Art Glass essentially is made from sand and is a combination of about 75% silicon dioxide (SiO2), sodium oxide (Na2O) from soda ash, lime (CaO). So it is … Read More
Contents Make Mortise and Tenon Joints Story & Pictures by Janek Szymanowski © While there are many items that you can use to fasten pieces of wood together, it is essential to choose the right joint for the job … Read More
Contents How to Make a Miter Box Story & Pictures by Janek Szymanowski © A miter box will help you with the fundamental woodworking principles of keeping work level and square and are vital irrespective of the timber materials … Read More
Contents A Few Common Woodworking Joints Story & Pictures by Janek Szymanowski © There are many different ways to join pieces of wood together. In many instances you can use simple joints, particularly when you combine these with good quality … Read More
Contents Introduction to Woodwork Story & Pictures by Janek Szymanowski © Woodworking has different meanings to different people. To some it is building kitchen cabinets, to others it is turning a bowl of rare wood, to still others it … Read More
Contents Origami the Art of Folding Paper We Show You How To Origami is the ancient Japanese art of folding paper into models that represent people, animals, and plants, or into delicate abstract forms. Most traditional models are made without … Read More
Contents All About Batik and How to Make One This fantastic Batik created by Joanne Gigliotti won First prize in the First American Bank Batik Design competition 2011. It is entitled “Sun Rises from the East and Lights the West: … Read More