Making a Faux Cow Hide Area Rug

Have you always wanted that cow hide look for your area rug, but the price has been out of your reach? Thankfully, there is a way to quickly and easily make your own faux cow hide rug that will rival the ones in stores. Although it does not take a lot of different materials to make one, it does take some time. Follow the steps below to create your own faux cow hide area rug and make your room come alive.

Materials
Before you get going, you need to make sure that you have gathered everything you need. For this project you will need a low-pile white carpet piece large enough to resemble a cow hide, a cutting tool to cut the carpet, black acrylic paint, a permanent marker, and a heavy-duty paint brush with a sharp edge. You may also want to keep a roll of paper towels and a paint rag handy.

The Rug
In order to get the desired look, it is important to cut the white carpet piece into a shape that resembles such a rug. Flip the carpet over and, on the reverse side, draw the outline of a hide using the permanent marker. You may want to look online for pictures of cow hide rugs to get an idea of the shape that you want to create. Once the shape is to your liking, cut it out using your carpet cutting tool. Always use caution as carpets can be very difficult to cut.

The Pattern
Once you have created the shape of the rug that you want, turn the piece back over. The next step is to use paint to add the black pattern that is commonly found on cow hides. Again, it may be helpful to study cow hide rugs online or in catalogues before drawing the pattern. Use the permanent marker to draw the areas where you will be painting. By outlining first, it makes it much easier to paint and get the look that you want.

Painting
Painting the rug is the last step. Use the heavy-duty brush and black, acrylic paint to fill in the shape outlines that you created with the marker. Take your time and make sure that each strand of carpeting, as well as the carpet base, is completely covered. If there are gaps or the fibers are not completely painted, it can quickly deter from the look of the cow hide pattern and look.

Let your carpet dry completely before attempting to use it. A faux cow hide rug is great to place under a glass coffee table in a living room or other modern room. When cleaning it, it is best to shake it out outside instead of vacuuming it. The suction from the vacuum could dislodge some of the paint and ruin the hard work that you put into the piece. When taken care of, a handmade faux cow hide rug can last for many years and be a wonderful conversation piece in any room.

About the Author:
This article is written by Alyssa Davis, who writes for Metal Wall Art.

Article Source: Making a Faux Cow Hide Area Rug

How to Make Your Own Stencils

Stencil art is popular. It is a great way to redecorate your home or create art pieces. Moreover stencil art is fun.

Since stencils are very common there are a lot of templates available both online and at the DIY and hobby shops. However sometimes making our own stencil is what we really want. If you are eager to try creating a custom design, read on to find out how to make your own stencil.

First let's see what tools and materials are required for stencil making. A firm surface is required for cutting the stencils. A cutting board or a piece of thick carton is good enough for this purpose. The cutting is done with a craft knife. You will also need a piece of stiff plastic or another transparent material and a low-tack tape.

Obviously you will need the design of the stencil you are going to create. You can draw it on paper and get it enlarged on a photocopier. If you are not going to draw the design than use an image - just print it and get it into the size required.

Now it is time to cut the stencil. Place the print out (or your drawing) over the cutting board and place the plastic over it. Than use a sharp craft knife to cut the plastic through. If you feel your knife is not that sharp, cut the blade and then continue cutting. It is of utmost importance to use a very sharp knife otherwise the stencil quality will be poor.

Cut one line at a time. You can start with the longest lines or the straighter ones. These are the easiest and will help you get used to cutting. Rotate the cutting board to ease cutting. It is best to use tape so that the print and the plastic do not move.

Once you have cut the whole design, you are done. There is only one thing that should be done - check out the edges of the stencil. If there are some rough edges try to soften them to prevent paint gather in there.

Once your stencil is cut, you can start painting. Use a stencil brush or a sponge to apply the paint. Apply a think layer of paint at a time. It you need to apply a second and even a third layer of paint after the first one is dry. Wash the stencil if you are going to use it again in future and store it flat in a box or between the pages of a book.

Choosing a Scrapbook Theme

I think one of the most common questions I am asked is "how do I find a theme amongst thousands of photos?"

When you begin scrapbooking, looking at thousands of photos can often lead you to put the photos away and not even consider getting them into scrapbooks.

Here are several themes you can consider. These are all very general themes to help you sort those thousands of photos:

Children Through The Years
This would mean pulling out photos of the one child and putting the photos into a chronological order.

Family History
This would involve pulling out all family photos and from there organizing them into categories, such as aunt, uncles and cousins. Or it could mean organizing the photos by family last name. For example, perhaps your extended family has both the Smith's and the White's. Separate the photos into two categories and either create one book with each family at either end of the scrapbook, or break it into two albums if you have enough photos.

Vacations
Pull out all of the photos of vacations over the years. I know my folks took trips every year. We were able to determine what year from either the photos themselves or from the envelope given to us when the photos were developed.

Christmas or Hanukah Through the Years
I was able to pull out all of the holiday photos and put them in chronological order and have one holiday album.

Pets
Often we take wonderful photos of our pets. Create an album that is just photos of family pets.

Specific Event
As we look through our old photos, often we find a large amount of photos from one event. Pull out that event and create a scrapbook for just that event. It might be a wedding, or an anniversary party, or a teenager's prom. If you have enough photos of one event, create an album of just that event. Some of our events are day trips. For example we went to Disneyland and took so many photos we were able to create an album of just that one day.

Birthdays
We are big on birthday celebrations. If you have had many birthday celebrations over the years, make an album of everyone's birthdays. Your album can have both kid's birthdays, mom and dad's birthdays and even grandma and grandpa's birthday.

Sports
Many of us have had the joy of watching our children in various sports events. My own daughter loved cheerleading. Create an album of your children through the years in connection with their sports activities.

Once you've been through those thousands of old photos, and assembled them into categories, or themes, you'll begin to take new photos, thinking of the upcoming scrapbook. For example, my daughter took a one week trip to Washington D.C. She knew she'd be making a scrapbook of just this trip. She took plenty of photos to make an entire album.

Not every photo has to go into a scrapbook. If you pull out those photos that fit into the themes you've chosen, the rest of the photos can either be collaged, or put into photo albums.

About the Author:
Audrey Okaneko has been scrapbooking for several years. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or visited at http://www.scrapping-made-simple.com

Article Source: Choosing a Scrapbook Theme

Scarf Knitting Patterns - Design Your Own Scarf

If you're new to knitting, one of the easiest and quickest items to knit is a scarf.

You don't have to worry about gauge or the fit of a scarf, you just need to knit a rectangle as long as you want it, add some fringe if you like, and you're done!

Luckily, there are plenty of free scarf knitting patterns all over the Internet, so you can get started knitting your first scarf right away.

Free Scarf Knitting Patterns on the Internet

You can find scarf knitting patterns online, often at yarn manufacturers websites. It makes sense that they would develop patterns to help sell their yarn, but you don't need to buy their yarns to download the patterns. In fact, most patterns tell you the weight or ply of the yarn you need to use for the pattern to come out right, so you can match yarn you already have to the pattern and get knitting right away.

Scarf Knitting Patterns at Your Local Yarn Shop

Many yarn shops give away free patterns when you purchase yarn, too, so your local yarn store is another source of scarf knitting patterns, and so is your local library. Look for scarf knitting books for different patterns, and check out your local bookstore and used bookstore, too.

Make Your Own

As you become a more experienced knitter, you'll probably want to develop your own scarf patterns, as well. Scarves are one of the easiest ways to begin designing your own knitting, because they are easy to make, and they can be as complicated or as simple as you'd like. Creating your own patterns allows you creativity and expression, but it also allows you to experiment with new and different yarns for different looks and textures in your scarves.

Since scarves are one of the cheapest to knit accessories, you can splurge on some more expensive yarns if you like, so you can try these new yarns without spending as much as you would on a shawl, sweater, or throw. If you're at a loss as to how to start designing your own patterns, look at a couple of knitting stitch dictionaries, and combine a stitch or two to create your own, one-of-a-kind design.

Embellish Your Creations

Once you've gotten the hang of scarf knitting, you can embellish your designs, too. Use beads, felting, or even a strand of silver or gold thread knit along with your regular yarn to create stunning new designs, fit for a night out on the town. As you learn how to embellish your designs, you'll create even more new looks, and you'll add to your scarf collection, as well. Scarves make great gifts, too, so don't forget to keep some on hand for last minute birthday, holiday, or "just because" gifts.

So, as you look for scarf knitting patterns, think about creating your own scarf patterns, creating scarves that are works of art as well as wearable accessories, and always be on the lookout for new ideas, patterns, stitches, and embellishments to make your scarves as unique and appealing as you are!

Scarf Knitting Patterns - Unique Ideas For Making Scarfs

The children are back in school the garden furniture put away and the leaves are falling on the lawn. Pumpkins and witches are joined by advent calendars and Christmas cards in the local shops. Winter is approaching and before it gets hold is the time to look out those scarf knitting patterns. Most of us have learned to knit at some time and perhaps it's a skill that you've long forgotten but it's a craft that is fast returning. Event the stars are picking up their needles and creating. So if it's been a while since you clicked those needles why not start with creating a useful colorful scarf for yourself or as a gift for another. Simple scarf knitting patterns are good for beginners because they can be as uncomplicated as you need. One lot of simple stitches, straight knitting in one stitch style, and one color, some time and patience and hey presto, you have a home creation that will give you pride in an achievement and earn you praise.

When you have mastered the basics you may want to move on to scarf knitting patterns that will offer you more of a challenge. Combining different colors is relatively easy and just requires care to remember to join your new colors at the same side of the scarf so that you don't end up with an unwanted fringe! Colored scarves are great for cheering up a grey winter's day and if you're really keen you can make a few to go with different outfits. Next stage for those who get the bug is the scarf knitting patterns which involve you learning different stitches. Now don't panic. This does make knitting a bit more complicated and requires more concentration but the pattern will show you how to make the stitch and scarves are still straight and you don't have perform any complicated maneuvers like increasing, decreasing or armholes.

It may be that you would be wise not to get involved in your favorite T.V show while you're trying to learn the new stitches as you may end up with a strange looking scarf with unexpected holes where you don't want them. Still imagine the kudos to be gained as you don your latest neck creation and experience the admiration friends when they see your completed scarf. Wouldn't it be great to be able to casually say, "Oh this, its just one that I made up to use up so there's an added bonus to all this knitting as apart from being a rewarding and fairly cheap hobby which actually produces something useful, knitting is portable and be can be done while you're sitting relaxing after a busy day. It's a good way to keep your fingers and wrists supple and most importantly is great for helping you unwind. Not literally of course! So get out those scarf knitting patterns and get creating.

Crafts - Drying Flowers

Drying flowers is a way to keep memories of an event or place for a long time. Whether they are flowers from a bridal bouquet, or from your garden, drying flowers is easy to do. When harvesting your flowers for drying, the best time is in the morning before the sun has had a chance to make the flowers warm. Cut a good length of stem with the flowers, as you can always remove whatever you don't need. The method of drying that you use will depend on the type of flower and craft project you will be doing.

Air drying works well with sturdier flowers such as statice, marigolds, strawflowers and decorative seed pods. The sturdier the flower head, the better they air dry. Separate the flowers into groups of 8 or 10 stems. Remove any diseased leaves that you see on the stems. Bundle a group of stems together and use a rubber band at the end of the stems to hold them together. Make sure that the rubber band is very tight. As the flowers dry, the stems will shrink and the rubber band will shrink with them. You also want to make sure the stems are long enough so that the tops of the flowers aren't smashed together when the stems are rubber banded. Now you just need to hang the flowers upside down. You can use paper clips, string, wire hangers (unraveled) or florist wire. Connect the hanger to the rubber band and hang in a dry place away from direct sunlight. Depending on the flower it will take two weeks or so for them to be completely dry.

You can also use silica gel to dry your flowers. (Silica gel is the stuff that you find in your shoe box in little packets). It removes moisture from flowers without crushing them. This works great for very delicate flowers such as hydrangea, roses, carnations and asters. You can purchase silica gel at any craft store. All you need is an airtight box (preferably plastic) and silica gel. Lay a bed of gel in the bottom of the container. Place your flowers on top of this bed and gently sprinkle the silica gel on the flowers until they are covered. Using a spoon works best for this to get the gel into the crevasses without crushing the blooms. Cover the box and wait 48 hours. That's it! Silica gel works very fast and the flowers hold their color. The great thing about silica gel is that it can be reused. You just need to place the silica gel onto a baking sheet in your oven at 200 degrees to dry it back out again.

For the most natural appearance of dried flowers, try glycerine. This is really preserving and not drying, but the results are wonderful. The foliage on the stems will stay a bright green and the flowers will be a bit sturdier. Prepare the stems by removing any bottom leaves. You may want to thread a piece of florist wire into the flower head to keep it from drooping, or tie the stem to some type of support, like a skewer. Mix together one part of liquid glycerine to 1 part of warm water for fresh flowers and one part glycerine to two parts of water for woody stems. Submerge the stem end only into this mixture. This process can take 2 to three weeks, replace any absorbed solution. Once preserved, remove and rinse the stems, then wipe off any mixture that might have seeped out of leaves.

There you go - three different ways to dry your flowers. Try all three methods and mix the resulting flowers into your craft projects for a multi depth arrangement!

Fixing Common Beginner Knitting Problems - Losing Stitches

Beginner knitters often find that as they are knitting, their work is mysteriously getting narrower and narrower - where did those stitches go?

It's easy to lose stitches - but luckily it's easy to fix the problem too.

The source of the problem might be the yarn you are using -fine or fuzzy yarns such as mohair, or fancy yarns like boucle or eyelash, make it easy to knit two stitches together instead of one. The best solution is to simply use a different yarn - but if you are in love with that particular yarn, make sure to count your stitches at least every couple of rows, and watch those stitches closely as you knit! Look out for ones that seem a little bit thicker or harder to knit than the rest.

The most common cause of missing stitches, however, is dropped stitches - they have literally dropped off the needle. It's so easily done, even by experienced knitters.

You are struggling with a tricky bit and don't see the next stitch slide off the needle, or the phone rings and you put your knitting down in a hurry, or you're simply using a slippery yarn on slick needles!

Look at your work - are there any rows of holes that like ladders or runs in a stocking? That's ta dropped stitch happily unravelling itself. If you find it's happening a lot, you might want to try different needles - bamboo or wood have more 'grab' than metal or plastic. If you're already using bamboos, grab a cheaper pair - they are usually less polished and even more grabby!

Fortunately, there is a nice simple little trick for picking up dropped stitches, using a crochet hook. At the bottom of the 'ladder', you'll find a stitch that hasn't unravelled yet. Coming in from the front of your knitting, grab that stitch with a crochet hook. Now grab the next rung of the ladder, and use your hook to pull it through the stitch you just rescued - you should still have one loop on the hook. grab the next rung and pull it through, continue doing this until you get to the top of your work (not just the top of the ladder!) then pop the stitch back onto the needle. Fixed! You can also use this trick to fix almost any knitting mistake without unravelling rows of knitting.





Having trouble visualising this method? Here's a video on fixing dropped stitches - or visit my blog for more on beginner knitting mistakes and how to fix them. Abigail Bailey is a craft blogger and teacher in Japan. She has been knitting and crafting for over 25 years, and writes a craft blog at http://abigailscraftshowto.com.

Article Source: Fixing Common Beginner Knitting Problems - Losing Stitches