Newest Projects
Make a Cube Shape Box from a Cracker Box
By Noreen Doll. Create a cube shape box from a cracker box or cereal box. Here’s an easy way to do that – and an easy way to make multiple boxes quickly! I needed 18 cube shape boxes to put this Santa bell ornament in to give as gifts, and I didn’t want to spend [...]
How to Repair a Paperback Book
By Noreen Doll. I was asked if I could repair a paperback book with a glued binding that had several of the pages falling out. This is a large (8 1/2 x 11) drawing book that was often left open for referral, and as a consequence many of the pages had become loose. Because I [...]
Beauty Shop Busy Board
By Noreen Doll. A beauty shop busy board is perfect for every little girl who loves to play with hair and use pretend make-up. My daughter and I collaborated on this project and we kept coming up with fun ways to use it. This busy board is made from a recycled milk jug. Add shoe [...]
Easy Favor Envelope
By Noreen Doll. I like this easy favor envelope because they don’t take long to make, and you can do them in any color for any occasion. I used scrapbooking paper for these, but you could use anything, from wrapping paper to magazine or book pages. And you can vary the envelope colors according to [...]
Make Plastic Lid Stamps
By Noreen Doll. Make plastic lid stamps using recycled lids and foam stickers. Foam stickers come in a huge variety of subjects. You can find animals, vehicles, flowers and shapes for kids. During the holidays you can find cats, bats, ghosts, spiders and more for Halloween. There are trees, bells, snowflakes, gingerbread men and snowmen [...]
An Easy Way to Peel a Boiled Egg
By Noreen Doll. Do you need an easy way to peel a boiled egg? It is so frustrating trying to peel a fresh egg that has been boiled. The shell wants to cling to the egg and comes off in tiny pieces, often taking chunks of the egg with it. Recently I read that if [...]
Tissue Paper Flower Favors
By Noreen Doll. Tissue paper flower favors can be used for any occasion just by changing the color of the tissue paper you use. For a graduate use school colors, for Mother’s Day pastels would be pretty, and blue or pink for a baby shower. For holidays you can use red for Valentines Day, orange [...]
Newest Tips
How to Repair a Paperback Book
By Noreen Doll. I was asked if I could repair a paperback book with a glued binding that had several of the pages falling out. This is a large (8 1/2 x 11) drawing book that was often left open for referral, and as a consequence many of the pages had become loose. Because I [...]
An Easy Way to Peel a Boiled Egg
By Noreen Doll. Do you need an easy way to peel a boiled egg? It is so frustrating trying to peel a fresh egg that has been boiled. The shell wants to cling to the egg and comes off in tiny pieces, often taking chunks of the egg with it. Recently I read that if [...]
Uses for Shelf Liner
By Noreen Doll. I originally bought this rubbery shelf liner to line the shelves in my kitchen cupboard. I like it because the dishes don’t move once they’re set in place. And it also cushions them. Then I began to see all kinds of other ways I could use the shelf liner, and now I [...]
How to Sharpen a Punch
By Noreen Doll. Do you need to sharpen a punch? Any kind of punch can be sharpened this way. I was punching holes around the edges of a Christmas card to make it into a sewing card for preschoolers. After punching a few holes, I noticed the punch was not punching cleanly, and it was [...]
How to Tie a Tiny Bow
By Noreen Doll. Here’s a quick and easy way to tie a tiny bow. To tie this bow all you need is a length of narrow ribbon, twine, or string. For this bow I used 1/8 inch wide ribbon. I did the photos with twine because the ribbon wouldn’t lay properly for the camera to [...]
Graduation Ideas
Homemade Graduation Gifts
Homemade graduation gifts are a personal way to let a graduate know how much he or she is loved. You can make a unique gift that is personalized for the recipient. If you stitch a gift, you can choose a fabric that is meaningful to the person receiving it, or monogram it, or use the [...]
Warm Covers
Wonderful ideas for warm blankets, snuggles, coats, cloaks, and robes! With all the heavy snow and ice we’ve had the last few winters, these warm covers will be very useful. Since most of them are made with fleece fabric, they are easy to cut and sew, and the edges do not need to be finished [...]
Kindergarden Graduation Gifts
By Noreen Doll. Many schools now have kindergarden graduation ceremonies. Kindergarden graduation gifts need not be expensive. For tons of great kindergarden graduation gifts ideas, look at frugal gifts for kids. Here are some cute ideas to use when preparing for their graduation celebration. Kindergarden Graduation Crafts Smarties Diplomas Make these clever Smarties diplomas with [...]
Photo Tile Gifts
Photo tile gifts are really easy to make with great results. Any size tile can be used for this interesting and creative craft. You could make a series of 4×4 or 6×6 tiles, each with a different member of your family on it. They could be used to make and interesting wall decoration, or arranged [...]
Gifts to Keep Warm
By Noreen Doll. There are many kinds of gifts to keep warm, and many of them are made of fleece. One of the nicest things about sewing with fleece is that you don’t have to finish edges to keep them from raveling – as fleece doesn’t ravel. Fleece is not only easy to sew with, [...]
Jewelry Gift Ideas
Good tutorials for jewelry gift ideas make creating them easy. Here are a few unusual jewelry gift ideas. Here’s a clever tool to help you fasten a bracelet without help. All you need is a piece of wire and pliers to shape it. Bracelet Fastener Tutorial Almost everyone wears jewelry now. Even men and kids [...]
Greeting Card Gift Boxes
