Tie-dye techniques have also been used for centuries in the Hausa region of West Africa, with renowned indigo dye pits located in and around Kano, Nigeria. The tie-dyed clothing is then richly embroidered in traditional patterns. It has been argued that the Hausa techniques were the inspiration for the hippie fashion.

Plangi and tritik are Malay-Indonesian words for methods related to tie-dye, and bandhna is a term from India. Ikat is a method of tie-dying the warp or weft before the cloth is woven.

Mudmee Tie-dye: Mudmee tie-dye is famous in Thailand and is being from mukmee silk This Mudmee tie-dye has unique shapes and patterns. These are Mostly seen in the big markets of Bangkok and Thailand. The artists in these regions have marked their garments, keep their specific artistry.

There are very few vendors of these garments present in the United States.

This type of tie-dye is characterized by its softer forms and bigger variety of shapes and patterns. Colors used are often subdued and many items are found that are restricted to only one or two colors. The use of black as a base color results in tones that are hardly seen in the traditional hippie-era tie dye.

Another element that made the hippie-era tie-dye so recognizable – the big spiral – is hardly ever used by the mudmee tie-dye artist.

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The Art And Craft Of Writing

This article presents research and do’s/don’ts for improving your writing style and skill. Memories

Could you ever have thought that the zesty smell of an orange peel could bring back so many memories, more than photos, videos or any sort of gadget could bring? Secrets of Candle Making Crafts

Candle making has been around since the first caveman discovered fire, lit a stick and walked into a cave, dimly illuminating the walls of his new home with the first primitive candle. To help build his civilization it was felt necessary to illuminate homes at night and other places at night. Illumination by candles was then extended to the streets of the towns and cities and by doing so reducing the number of night street crimes. Making Shirts For Crafts

If you are a Girl Scout mom, den master, or any other type of facilitator to a group of young children, you have probably had to come up with some good craft ideas for meetings. If you are looking for a great idea that the kids will enjoy doing and get some use out of later, why not consider making shirts? They are easy to do and the end result is pleasing to the eye. I have been working on one of a kitten that I hope to be able to give to her with all the other memories I have placed in her memory box. All six of my grandchildren have a memory box that I have placed different crafts that I have made. Things like small latch hook rugs, embroidered pillow cases and sheets that I made for their cribs and there is an embroidered picture that I made for my oldest granddaughter. These are all crafts with memories of when I made them and the love that went into making each one them.
Children’s Crafts
Another area in Children’s Crafts.
I find there is no greater joy than sitting at the table with my grandchildren on a rainy day making something for their Mommy or for their Nana or for themselves. Usually they want to do a craft for someone whom they love. I always have pictures taped to my walls, to furniture or on my refrigerator. These are all treasured pieces of art. I have plastic pieces on my refrigerator of boats, turtles, ducks, round circles, hearts and squares. These are also treasured of art.
The kids and I have painted clay flower pots, of wood shaped in different sizes, pumpkins treasured rocks. All of these things were carefully painted small hands and smiles and laughter. We have made assortment of banners, signs, and wind chimes, too.
Secrets, Secrets and more Secrets all in a can of Play Doh
Play Doh knows no limits to what it can do or be made into. I have spent hours with Play Doh and my grandchildren. There are an assortment of Play Doh men, little men and just circles all over my refrigerator. I wouldn’t dream of throwing anything away.
Enjoy while crafting. That is the key to make memories to last a lifetime.

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Being a sales person means that you have to come up with marketing ideas and then you have to learn how to apply them to your own sales pitch. When you are looking for ways to sell your ideas and make your marketing a success, you need to be open to fresh and new ideas. Marketing is one thing that you have to learn to be good at. Give it your best shot and do not give up until you have found the ideas that make it all worthwhile. It is all about whom you are and what you want to do for your own personal growth. Save Money and Time By Shopping Online Your Greeting Card Occasions

From birthdays to Christmas, it seems like there is always an event or holiday to celebrate. As these occasions arise, it can become expensive and tiresome to purchase individual cards for each of these occasions. There is so much time and money put into buying cards at the last minute for these special events, and it can spoil the importance of that particular festivity. Holiday Greeting Photo Cards Guide

Sending warm holiday greetings can bridge the gap of time and distance between friends, family, and loved ones. Imagine the slow smiles that glide across faces when they see beautiful photos of the people they’ve missed so much. Add Spice To Life With Well Designed Greeting Cards

A beautifully made greeting card is a quintessence of your feelings, thoughts and ideas. It helps you to convey your emotions to the loved ones in the most unforgettable manner. You give cards to your loved ones on many occasions like New Year Eve, Easter, birthdays, Christmas and much more. A well-made card to your near and dear ones can work wonders. Glue a small magnet on the back.
5. Coat and Sweater Pins. Cut out some small pretty designs from your cards. Glue a 1″ pin closure onto the back.
6. Recipe Cards. Cut down your card to measure 3″x 5″ in size. Write your favorite holiday recipes on the blank backside. You can hand them out at your holiday party or at your cookie exchange party.
7. Wall Decorations. You can mat and frame your greeting cards.
8. Scrapbooking and Cardmaking. To make your items archival safe, lightly spray them with Archival Mist.
9. Bookmarks. Cut your card to a 1 1/2″ by 7″ size. Use a hole punch to punch a hole near the top edge. Attach a ribbon or tassel through the hole.
10. Gift Bag and Package Tags. Cut down to a 1″ by 3″ size. Hole punch a hole in the left upper corner so that you can attach the tag to the package with ribbon.
11.
Tree Ornaments. Cut out 3″ and 4″ diameter designs. Hole punch a hole near the top center. Use ribbon to make a hanger.
12. Jar Lid Toppers. If you are making gift mixes to give as Holiday gifts, cut out a circle design to fit the top of your jar lid. Glue to the jar lid using all-purpose crafting glue or a scrapbooking glue stick.
13. Holiday Placemats. Cut a sheet of poster board to desired placement length. Glue card fronts onto poster board. Seal both sides of poster board with clear contact paper.
14. Charm Tags. Cut out 2″ diameter circles. Hole punch a hole near the two center edge. Using a key chain finding, insert chain through hole. Instant way to dress up your purse, backpack, and key chains for the holidays.
15. CD/DVD Jewel Case Covers. Dress up those holiday self-made DVD’s and CD’s by making your own jewel case covers. Cut down greeting cards to fit inside the case, using the case as a template.
I hope these 15 crafty ideas have inspired your own creative ideas. Remember, don’t throw them away. It’s time to Recycle and Reuse those greeting cards!

You should enjoy the arts and crafts you do with your kids. This is the time when you get to be messy and creative and your kids get to make something out of absolutely nothing. Allowing your kids to use their imagination is very important to their development. Most adults find craft time too difficult to handle. Most adults stress over the mess and the fact that everyone may not get along. Of course, their main worry is whether or not they’ve chosen a craft the kids will enjoy.

They worry about being able to find the right supplies (like left handed scissors). Read on for more tips on how to have a happier craft time.

Don’t freak out!!! Craft time means mess time. Even the crafts you think will be under control are going to be messy. Half the fun is seeing how big a mess the kids can make before clean up time. The finished work of art that you will get to treasure will totally be worth the mess your kids had a blast making. It is easier to just realize the messes are going to happen and move on having fun than stressing about what a mess they will make. Whether you believe it or not your kids are pretty intuitive, they will pick up on that stress and not have a lot of fun either.

Have fun, relax, allow the mess to happen, accept imperfection and you will be happier for it and so will everyone else. Try to give yourself plenty of room for crafting. More space to move around in. Sometimes right and left-handed children working together, like using left-handed scissors, will need a bit more space so they’re not clashing with elbows, etc. When there is enough room, people will feel more relaxed and at ease than if they felt cramped. Crafting is supposed to be fun and relaxing, and if people are feeling cramped by others then you could see some tempers flare. More room cuts down on the chances of kids spilling liquids or things of that nature.

Be prepared for things to spill. You never know, someone will be cutting with those left-handed scissors, and then something gets knocked over and spilled. So just make the effort to remain cool about it. If everyone becomes stressed, then it naturally takes the fun element right out of it. No big deal, grab a rag and soak up the spilled whatever, and then proceed to enjoy the day. We know, maintaining happiness and peace can be challenging. You need to get everything straight and right, as best you can. The key to making craft time a happy time is to prepare for it. All equipment and supplies at the ready – left-handed tools (scissors) for anyone who needs them. Select the right size room. Be sure to have a little more than you think everyone will need. The most important thing is to always have a great time while crafting with your kids.

I don’t do as much sewing now as I used to, but I still can be found hunched over the sewing machine late into the night when my daughter (who is 28 and still makes requests) needs a special item for an event. Or, you might find me creating curtains from a shower curtain to match the rest of the bathroom as I recently did for my mother.
This article isn’t about my love for sewing. It’s about being new to sewing and some of the wonderful quick and easy items you can make to get you started. Read on to find out more.
Sewing Basics
The basics of sewing are pretty easy. You will need a sewing machine and know how to operate it and a pattern in most cases. I say “in most cases” because I don’t always use a pattern now. Over the years, I have let my imagination create the pattern for me.
You need to make sure that your sewing machine is right for your abilities. When you are just starting out, you don’t need a machine with so many bells and whistles that you become intimidated. Choose one that has simple instructions and is easy to operate. I get by with a basic Brother 21 stitch machine for all my sewing.
The pattern is the next thing you need to look at when you start out sewing. Many of the pattern companies have realized that HomeEc is no longer taught in schools and have created great easy and simple patterns for the novice home seamstress. Choose one of these to get you going in a style that you like. You will want to read the pattern carefully and if there is anything you don’t understand, don’t hesitate to make use of their toll-free number to ask.

In order to get you started, let’s make one of my favorite gift items for a new home owner. The Plastic Grocery Bag Holder
You will need a kitchen hand towel, thread to match the towel, 1/4 inch satin ribbon (one piece about 3 inches long to create the hanger and one piece 24 inches long to create the bow), and 1/4 inch elastic (two pieces about 6 inches long).
If the towel has a pattern printed on one side but not the other, you will use that as the outside of you plastic grocery bag holder.
Place the towel face down on your work surface. Two inches from the end of the towel on each end is where you will pin your elastic in place. You need to stretch it all the way across the towel and pin it down. Take it to your machine and sew the elastic down with a straight stitch down the center of the elastic piece. Do this for both pieces of elastic.
Fold the towel in half lengthwise and make a seam using your straight stitch down the open side of the towel.
Attach your first piece of ribbon to the top of the towel where you just created the back seam. You can machine sew this or you can hand sew it; just make sure you form a loop with the ribbon to create a hanger.
Once your hanger is done, lay the towel down on your work surface with the seam down the middle of the back. You are looking to find the center of the top of your grocery bag holder so that you can place your decorative ribbon bow there. When you find the center, attach the ribbon to the bag with a few stitches. Tie the bow and you’re done.
Another item that I like to make for new home owners are coasters. You can buy ribbon with embellishments such as beads, feathers, etc to add to squares of felt.
Cut your felt square about three inches by three inches. Pin your ribbon to the square and attach via a straight stitch. You can make these up relatively in an hour and you have a unique gift to give.
For the family who has just had a new baby, I buy plain bibs at the dollar store and add my own embellishments to them. On some I might just add a prettier ribbon and on others adding a embroidered appliqué might be the touch I want.
Pillows are easy to make and stuff with the new pillow forms you can buy at the craft stores. Just cut two pieces of material slightly larger than the pillow form. Place them with the inside of the fabric facing out and stitch all the way around with a straight stitch. Make sure to leave a three inch opening so that you can turn the material and stuff it with the pillow form. Stitch the opening closed with your machine or by hand.
I hope you found some ideas to get you sewing here today.

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More and more people are trawling the net for information on how to start bee keeping (just take a look at all the forum posts and question being asked!) yet it still seems that so many people can’t seem to find any decent information on how to actually start bee keeping and get going in the first place. Sure, there are lots of tips and tricks and what not, but no concrete advice on how to just get started in the first place…This is going to be the center of your spiral.
3. Keep your finger in the center and begin to twist the shirt around your finger. Make sure that the shirt stays flat on the surface. Continue twisting the shirt until it is all wound up. It should be about three to five inches tall.
4. Now you’re going to wrap up your wadded T-shirt with some rubber bands, about three or four should do it. (Make sure you space them out evenly).
5. Go to the kitchen sink, plug the bottom and fill it up with water. Add a decent amount of soda ash to the water. Stir the water for a few minutes and allow the soda ash to mix.
6. Place the shirt in the sink and Leave it submerged in the soda ash solution for about twenty minutes to a half hour. Go find something awesome to do and come back later.
7. When the time is up go back to the kitchen and remove the shirt. Give it a real good twist to squeeze out all of the water. Be sure not to rinse it out.
8. Now, go back to your flat surface and lay down some type of plastic. This is the messy part. In my experience a trash bag works pretty well. Get out your bottles full of dye and start applying it to your shirt. You don’t want any white to show so color in the whole thing. Don’t forget about mixing colors to your desire!
9. Find another trash bag and cover your shirt up for the next 24 hours.
10. After a full day the colors will have stained the shirt. Run the shirt under warm water until the water is clear and all of the excess dye has been rinsed out.
11. Now it is time to remove the rubber bands holding your shirt together and marvel at the masterpiece you have created!
12. Once you’ve rinsed it thoroughly by hand. Place the shirt and only the shirt in the washer for twenty minutes with warm water. After that throw it in the dryer and you now have one awesome shirt that is your own work of art! Now you know how to make a tie-dye shirt and can share this fun with anyone.

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Valentine’s Day Gifts
A small gift, a favor, an out-of-your-way effort-there are many ways to express your heart on Valentine day. Hand-made crafts are an instant hit when it comes to gifts-they not only are beautiful but also appreciated more because of the effort put into creating them.
Many people consider handmade crafts as best gifts for their loved ones. A handmade item is a reflection of the love of the gift-giver. It signifies the time that the person has taken out from his or her daily schedule only for the recipient. A craft is a labor of love. It is deemed as a personal gift.
Valentine’s Day is one of the holidays when people make crafts to give as gifts to their dear ones. Adults mostly prefer a readymade gift from the store, usually because of time constraints. The tradition of craft-making has been mostly kept alive by kids. Every year, thousands of kids start making beautiful crafts in anticipation of Valentine’s Day celebrations on February 14. Many schools also have Valentine’s Day craft projects for kids to bolster the latter’s’ aesthetic imagination and artistic abilities.
Greeting cards, Heart-shaped photo frames, love bracelets, necklace and paper flowers are some of the common Valentine’s Day crafts made by kids. Many children find delight in making Valentine’s Day crafts for their parents, teachers, friends and family members. Kids are also encouraged to decorate their classrooms and homes with their own handmade Valentine’s Day crafts.
Need ideas for making Valentine’s Day Crafts? Visit http://allholidays.weebly.com/valentines-day-crafts.html to get some good Valentine’s Day craft ideas.
Happy Valentine’s Day!

One way is to have your arts and crafts on display in local restaurants that you use yourself.
Depending on the shape and size of your arts or crafts, this can be a very lucrative experiment! You should make sure to use a nice restaurant that you yourself go to, make sure it’s not really a fast paced one, as you want people who are lingering over a nice meal to notice and appreciate your art that may be hanging on the wall by their table, or that decorative shelf housing your crafts in a corner.
Start by taking yourself to dinner with a friend or family at this particular restaurant that you like, and while eating, and relaxing, try and notice walls or corners, where your creations would look great.
Pick your best tasteful pieces, that you feel would suit the restaurant, and then approach the owner, during the daytime when he/she is likely to be there planning the day, and talk to him/her about the idea of hanging your art (show the owner your pieces) maybe give him/her some idea of where you were thinking it should go, so as to take the guess work out of the equation, and make the owner feel like it’s not another project he has to deal with!
Come up with a deal, that he/she gets a percentage of the sale, and then make sure you give him/her your business cards and brochures, and also that there is a business card with the price of the piece with the piece. Do not put a great big read “for sale” sign on the piece!, you need something subtle and tasteful, possibly in the bottom right corner of the piece. If you have 3D creations that need to be on a shelf, then make sure your business card is attached with the price written on the back neatly or typed on..
This is another great way to get you and your business known in the community, and is a great way to get people to look at, and appreciate and hopefully purchase your creations!

A person might think that they can use their own kitchen table, but that could be a bit of a mess. Inevitably, a person will want a snack or something to drink, and the food and drink can spill on the crafts.

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People who live in houses or apartments that are not spacious enough to accommodate big furniture would greatly benefit with a folding dining table. Although it is folded and would not take much space…This is why having a crafting table around is a great idea. When the crafts and the supplies are assembled on the folding craft tables, one doesn’t have to worry about food or drink spilling on them. They also don’t have to worry about being interrupted and having to move their crafting supplies out of the way if someone needs the kitchen table.

When a person is buying folding craft tables, there are some considerations for them to keep mind. First, they have to know or have an idea of what type of craft that they are interested in performing before they buy the table. This is because folding crafting tables come flat, or some of them are built at an incline. For example, an incline table would be great for drawing or painting, but the inclined table would be horrible for creating beaded jewelry.
Also, a person needs to find a space to put their folding craft tables. The purpose of getting folding craft tables is convenience. Crafts are best stored when there put away in compact spaces that are out of the way of normal household furniture, and the flow of everyday traffic. This is especially the case for kids. It’s best to teach the kids how to be organized when they put their crafting supplies in appropriate containers, and they can put their folding craft tables either in their closets, or under their beds, or even at the top of a closet shelf.

However, not all craft tables are folding. Some craft tables don’t fold, because they have special latches and pockets. These are great for people who are interested in knitting or sewing. While this might not be something that a person wants to keep in their kitchen, many people who have special rooms can keep these types of tables. If a person has extra space such as an extra bedroom, then the separate tables would fit perfectly, because they don’t have to be stored away.

These are just a few of the considerations that a person would need to think about when they take part in their hobbies and craftsIf you are the artistic type, or if you have kids that need a fun activity to do, a really great hobby to participate in is crafting. There are all types of crafts to participate in, such as crafting kits that use yarn hooking, knitting, making jewelry with beads, painting, drawing, or a variety of other craft and hobby ideas such as scrap booking. When a person thinks about their favorite hobby, of course they think about all the supplies that they will need to accomplish their hobby. But one thing a person might not think about or take for granted, is the space or the surface that they will be performing on. This is where folding craft tables come into play.

A person might think that they can use their own kitchen table, but that could be a bit of a mess. Inevitably, a person will want a snack or something to drink, and the food and drink can spill on the crafts.

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People who live in houses or apartments that are not spacious enough to accommodate big furniture would greatly benefit with a folding dining table. Although it is folded and would not take much space…This is why having a crafting table around is a great idea. When the crafts and the supplies are assembled on the folding craft tables, one doesn’t have to worry about food or drink spilling on them. They also don’t have to worry about being interrupted and having to move their crafting supplies out of the way if someone needs the kitchen table.

When a person is buying folding craft tables, there are some considerations for them to keep mind. First, they have to know or have an idea of what type of craft that they are interested in performing before they buy the table. This is because folding crafting tables come flat, or some of them are built at an incline. For example, an incline table would be great for drawing or painting, but the inclined table would be horrible for creating beaded jewelry.
Also, a person needs to find a space to put their folding craft tables. The purpose of getting folding craft tables is convenience. Crafts are best stored when there put away in compact spaces that are out of the way of normal household furniture, and the flow of everyday traffic. This is especially the case for kids. It’s best to teach the kids how to be organized when they put their crafting supplies in appropriate containers, and they can put their folding craft tables either in their closets, or under their beds, or even at the top of a closet shelf.

However, not all craft tables are folding. Some craft tables don’t fold, because they have special latches and pockets. These are great for people who are interested in knitting or sewing. While this might not be something that a person wants to keep in their kitchen, many people who have special rooms can keep these types of tables. If a person has extra space such as an extra bedroom, then the separate tables would fit perfectly, because they don’t have to be stored away.

These are just a few of the considerations that a person would need to think about when they take part in their hobbies and crafts.

Everyone has out dated or old t-shirts kicking around the bottom of the wardrobe never to be seen again, they go to that secret place where odd socks live!

Or maybe like me, you’re a bit of a hippie and can’t afford all the cool clothes from specialist hippie stores or even like my friend you want something funky and different to wear but are male and stuck with choice a.) Plain or b.) Wise cracks about beer or ‘birds’.

Well how about getting your creativity on and transforming your style at the same time.

How?

Bleaching tees!

This is also a great activity to do with kids during summer boredom or to keep the mischievous little monsters busy!!!

What you will need:

A t-shirt
Spray bottle like you get for gardening
Bleach
Big basin of warm water
Decorative Supplies

1.) Gather or make your decoration – for example you can get your kids to gather leaves and twigs or shells and flowers and make this a fun outdoorsy activity or for the more creative you could draw out your own stencil using card and a Stanley knife. If you are not doing this outside make sure you are in a well arrogated room!
2.) Lay out your t-shirt flat (old/new whatever though pre-washed is better) and place an old towel between the front and the back i.e. inside your shirt.
3.) Place your leaves or beads or crisp packets or neat stencils, whatever you are using in a pattern on your t-shirt – remember that when we spray it with bleach it will be the uncovered parts of the t-shirt that form the design.
4.) Fill your spray bottle with a pretty strong solution of bleach ( get all the children to take cover) and carefully spray your shirt – you can spray the whole thing or just a few centimeters around each object depending on what you want your finish image to look like.
5.) Your t-shirt will visibly begin to lighten before your eyes so again leave on the bleach depending on how light you personally want it to go.
6.) Carefully rinse your t-shirt in the basin of water using a stirring stick or rubber gloves.
7.) Hang it up to dry.
8.) You won’t get all the bleach out first go so it’s a good idea to wash the shirt properly and SEPARATELY from other clothes before you wear it.

The designs can be as simple or as complex as you like. Another variation of this is simply to tie dye your t-shirt using bleach – this works similarly except instead of lying out a pattern you pluck the fabric into points, like a hanky and tie rubber bands around these or you can simply roll your shirt up and tie bands around the length of it in intervals to get a stripy look. Remember this works best with darker t-shirts as the color contrast is more definite!

Happy bleaching!
The Results of this Week’s Challenge
Howdy gals and guys! It’s your crazy crafter reporting in!
So doing just that, I have to say that I love this idea. I was bleaching outside in the sun, making a mess and causing water fights AND giving my clothes a cheap face-lift, where’s the negative!

This really is a great craft because even if it goes wrong all its cost you is a 40p bottle of beach and an old t-shirt that you were going to dump anyway and as times are tough at the moment why buy new when you can make new!

For my t-shirt, a purple number from Tesco!!! (With shoulder pads – what’s that about?) I drew out a butterfly stencil in my sketch book, cut it out using a Stanley knife that was less than sharp so that bit did take me quite a while and then cut around it with those funky material scissors that chop in zigzags so as not to fray the fabric (I can’t remember what you actually call them!)

I also cut out to strips and used one of my craft paper punchers to decorate those. Having laid these out on my flat t-shirt I also sprinkled some stars on one side and some shells on the other and put some small pebbles on the design to try to make sure it didn’t move – a more patient and professional person would probably use sand paper to make there stencil or buy adhesive spray.

The result as you can see for a first attempt ain’t half bad and the variety of easy designs is endless. I was thinking about trying laying feathers on the shirt of flowers or leaves, bottle caps, tin can pulls anything.

The only problem I encountered was that I didn’t either 1.) Use enough bleach or 2.) Leave the bleach on long enough to have a sharper contrast but that’s trial and error and I will know for next time.

I also tried tie dying a pair of purple 3/4 length trousers and it works – easy just grab bits of material and stick a rubber band (once you have chased the cat plus rubber band round the house that is) around them and soak. Again I didn’t leave the bleach on long enough so it didn’t really work as the colors were too close but you could see the effect that the bands had and how easy it was to achieve.

Many thanks to all of you who are following this challenge.