Archive for the ‘crafts’ Category

Sentimental About Memories? Start Scrapbooking!

Filed in crafts, family traditions, Scrapbook, Sentimental Thoughts

Have you ever felt like photos are not enough to capture the happiness you felt during a particular event? Me too. It’s a good thing that collecting tiny mementos from these events and placing them artfully on a piece of paper has become an artform. Sentimental people need not be ashamed of being mushy about memories anymore because billions of people around the globe feel the same.

Scrapbooking is a wonderful way to spend your free time while preserving those unforgettable memories.

A sentimental movie date goer might want to keep ticket stubs of all her movie dates with her boyfriend. She can start a scrapbook describing what movie they went to, the plot, the freebies, she can even paste some relevant things about a movie, i.e. a pirate ship photo for “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

Is it Expensive?

There is a small amount of money involved in scrapbooking, but if you don’t intend to be a professional scrapbooker (there IS such a thing!), you do not have to worry about spending too much on your sentimental hobby.

What you will need for Basic Scrapbooking:

1. A scrapbooking album for keeping the pages of your scrapbook – The album you will use needs to accommodate everything you want to put there. A normal photo album won’t be able to handle a few pasted beer caps, so you need something that will.

2. A loot jar or box for every occasion – when you become an avid (addicted) scrapbook maker, bringing a bag to collect mementos for your scrapbook when you go to parties or events won’t seem too weird. Make sure to label them properly and store them in a safe place.

Common sense in Scrapbooking

It goes without saying that you cannot preserve unpreservable stuff like food items, and for these at least you will need a camera. Leaves and other organic materials that could decay and attract molds should be properly processed before placement in your pages.

For that last bit, drying leaves in heavy book pages is best. You can press your flowers and then after a few weeks or months, air them out before pasting.

Tags: , , , ,

Homemade Sentimental Gifts: Family Traditions

Filed in crafts, family traditions, Growing Up Stories, Sentimental Thoughts

It has always been said that the best gifts are those that come from the heart. Now that crafts websites abound over the net, we know that the best sentimental gifts to give our loved ones are those that we made on our own!

Family crafts are a great way to spend a wonderful way to create a holiday tradition within the family and to preserve memories and love. Our beloved family members, particularly our grandparents will not be with us forever. More and more grandchildren are discovering that the best presents to give them are those that are crafted at home.

Some crafts that we can do with our families include:

1. Hand-painted T-shirts
2. Fancy pillboxes
3. Personalized and painted pillow cases
4. Pinatas for special occasions
5. Greeting cards
6. Garden crafts like lawn decorations and tree houses

Other holiday crafts include Christmas tree decorations, Halloween masks.

Families can designate ‘Family Crafts Day’ on one Sunday afternoon of the month. Materials can be bought from the store early on, and stored in a wooden box (hand-painted, of course). The crafted gifts may be exchanged before dinner and stories of how each gift was created can be discussed over a sumptuous dinner.

This tradition could be passed on from generation to generation, and the kids and their kids can relate the story of how it started, over and over again.

Tags: , , , , ,