Craft Supplies That Will Help Bring Out Your Inner Artist

Most of us have had arts and crafts classes in school when we were growing up. We remember building log cabins out of Popsicle sticks, making friendship bracelets, or funny insects and animals out of pipe cleaners. But few of us know the real history of this ancient practice.

Man is a naturally creative animal. He has been making things with his own two hands for tens of thousands of years. Some of the earliest examples of handicrafts were pieces of ornamental jewelry, vases and tapestries. People have always enjoyed decorating themselves and their home environments.

The popularity of crafts reached its zenith in Medieval Europe. Craftsmen studied and practiced for years to produce certain saleable goods. Whether jewelry, pots, shoes or pans, craftsmen made a good living producing items they had been making since childhood. All of that ended with the Industrial Revolution.

The mass production of goods with machines put an end to an era and gave consumers access to more affordable goods. But something important was lost in the process. Crafts were a way for young people to learn real world skills and to obtain a trade. In time, these young apprentices became master craftsmen and they produced goods that were both utilitarian and artistic, whereas a machine can only produce a replica.

Professional and rustic handicrafts more or less disappeared after the Industrial Revolution, until the Arts and Crafts Movement that flourished in England in the late 19th century. Inspired by the writings of artists and sociologists, the movement was a direct reaction to mass production. These intrepid souls believed that machine-made products had a deleterious effect on the decorative arts and that arts and crafts were essential to the development of future generations. The movement promoted a return to traditional craftsmanship using basic materials, simple styles and techniques of decoration.

While it is true that the Arts and Crafts Movement did lose the battle against anti-industrialization, it had lasting effects that can still be felt even today. Arts and crafts were incorporated into primary school education programs due in no small part to the movement. So where are we now?Most schools do not have a class called "Arts and Crafts" any longer. They simply call it plain old art, but crafts are an important part of the curriculum. Of course, you don't have to be a child to enjoy arts and crafts. Millions of Americans knit and quilt and work with leather, wood and clay. Whether you label it an art or a craft, the result of most of this work is a handicraft.

Leatherwork, furniture making, jewelry, metalwork, woodwork, weaving, ceramics, embroidery, rug making and lace making are just a few of the most popular crafts that double as careers and hobbies.

Why do people still love arts and crafts?

In addition to helping people earn a living, crafts are fun and relaxing.Doctors often recommend hobbies to patients that desperately need to relieve stress. Studies have also shown that crafts give people a sense of purpose. The better they become as craftsmen, the more time and energy they will devote to their new hobby.

Parents and Crafts

We often hear that children are like sponges. They have inquisitive minds and they desperately want to learn about their world. Unfortunately, television and video games do not challenge them very much. Not only are they repetitive, but they only stimulate a few human senses. Arts and crafts are completely different.

There are no scores or laugh tracks to tell us how to react. A child is challenged to access his imagination and to create something on his own. Engaging in arts and crafts is a great way to bond with kids and help them develop self-esteem. As important as positive reinforcement and compliments are, nothing can compare with actual accomplishments. Arts and crafts give a child the opportunity to make something with his own two hands, from start to finish. Instead of playing games during family time, try a simple craft project.

Parents often complain that their children are difficult to talk to. More often than not, they blame technology. But video games and cell phone are not the problem. Parents need to set aside some quality time for challenging activities with their children. A half an hour of arts and crafts can tell you an awful lot about your child. Most parents are surprised to learn that their kids have an imagination and a creative spirit that was just waiting to be released.

Fun Craft Ideas for Younger Kids

Noodle Art: A sheet of construction paper, some dry noodles, glue, and a few crayons. Sock Puppets: A sock, a pair of googly eyes, and a mouth made from red felt is all it takes to create a simple sock puppet. Colorful yarn and a few swatches of clothing can be used to make a more sophisticated sock creature.

Pipe Cleaner Art: No worry, no mess, no problem. Pipe cleaners are one of the cheapest and most affordable craft materials. Best of all, kids love them and can play with them for hours on end.

Play dough fun: Lay a piece of newspaper on the floor, give you kids a few jars of non-toxic play dough, and leave them to their own devices.

Home Based Craft Business - Turn Your Hobby Into a Career

Is crafting one of your hobbies? Why not start a home based craft business? This would be a fun and rewarding home business opportunity for you, especially if it is a favorite hobby. Doing something you truly enjoy makes for a more successful and profitable career.

I personally know many people who make all types of crafts and have often wondered why they didn't try to make money with their talent. People love homemade crafts, and are willing to pay some very good money to get unique decor for their homes. A home based craft business is an excellent way to earn extra money or even a full time income!

What kind of products do you enjoy making? Many people make wood crafts that include anything from small country style cabinets and wall shelves to bird houses and unique picture frames. Others are interested in crocheted items, making ceramics and hand crafted jewelry. Basket weaving is another popular hobby.

How do you make money with a home based craft business? There are many ways! The cheapest way of course would be to sell them from your home. You could place a small ad in the phone book to advertise your business, hand out business cards everywhere you go, print up some flyers.

Another option for displaying your crafts would be to set up a small shop in your area. I know in the area where I live, people are crazy about homemade crafts. You may even consider just renting some shelf space from other merchants in your area and displaying your products.

A very popular way to make money with crafts is by traveling to fairs and arts and crafts shows. By paying a small fee and setting up a booth, you can make quite a sum of money on your unique products. When doing this, always make sure to have business cards and perhaps some flyers to give out to anyone stopping by to visit.

Still another option for your home based craft business is to put a website up on the internet. With the easy programs available today, this is pretty simple even for someone who isn't familiar with website building. By placing your items online, you have the potential of reaching thousands and even millions of prospective buyers!

Doing something you truly love and learning how to make money with it is a smart move. Why not turn your hobby into a home business? For more ideas on how you can get your home based craft business up and running, visit the links below!

Paper Craft Ideas - 4 Top Reasons Why You Should Start Paper Quilling

Every wanted to take up paper craft ideas and paper quilling, but didn't know where to get started? It can be a rather daunting task to have start taking up this wonderful hobby. Luckily, it doesn't have to be difficult.

Throughout the years we always tend to do something that we love to do. Whatever it is that we love to do we always want to do it, some things like hobbies, sports, as well as watching TV. One of the hobbies that I have that I really love is paper craft. I just love to create figures out of paper, that's something that reliefs me whenever I'm bored or don't have anything to do. Most of the time I just do it because I love it, it's just something about creating paper figures that amazes me. Whenever I feel like doing some of the paper figures, I just start doing them and it only takes me a few minutes to finish.

Here are 4 top reasons why you should take up paper quilling:

1. You can fold it any way you can. Sometimes I like to fold it in ways that I haven't fold it before because that way I get to learn new things and I get to do new crafts. Most of the time when I do paper craft I always make animal crafts. If you are thinking about picking up paper quilling as a hobby, I suggest you start to do it. You will enjoy every second of it. That's how I was when I first started; I didn't think it was going to be that much fun. Now that I look back I wish I would have started earlier.

2. Why spend needless cash on buying paper decorations, cards & pictured frames when you can just paper quill them? Yes, I know it sounds difficult, but it's actually not as long as you have a good resource to consult. Anyone can go out & buy a birthday card... think about how impressed your friends & family will be with what you can produce by hand yourself!

3. One of the best things that I enjoy about paper craft, is that it's easy to do. It doesn't take that much time to make a paper quilling. It only really takes around 20 to 30 minutes to finish it. If you are just starting out it may take you a little longer, you will get the hang of it once you start practicing more often. I remember when I first started with paper craft I use to take forever to finish up simple designs. Now that I do them all of the time I finish in no time, before you know it I have a paper design ready.

4. Paper quilling is one of the best hobbies that I have ever had. The best things about paper craft is that anybody can do it, if you are an adult with kids you can give your kids a paper quilling and they will love it. If you are a young kid looking for a new hobby you will love to paper craft. You can create crafts for yourself or give them out to your parents or friends as a gift. It's a great hobby for everybody to pick up and enjoy and the best part about it is that it's so easy to do. Pick up a piece of paper and start doing it, you will enjoy doing it.

Congratulations! By reading this article, you've just taken the 1st step in the world of paper quilling. Now let's get you started on quilling - as easy & effortless as possible.

Arts and Crafts - 5 Reasons Why You Should Use Internet to Market Your Hobby Worldwide

Nowadays, internet had been ultimately used in various kind of things. From selling goods to provide free information to people worldwide.

To me, we must not put Internet aside as one of important platforms to make money and generate income out of it.

To market your hobby in arts and crafts with Internet, I'm 100% agree and directly give my support that Internet could double,triple or even quadruple your income compared to offline businesses.

Here, I will reveal out 5 reasons why you need to use Internet to market your hobby worldwide :

1. Marketing worldwide means you need to deal with millions of Internet users on the line every minute,every second and every day. If just 1% from 1 million visitors buy your product with just USD10 a product, you'll be getting USD100,000.00. That's just 1% buy from you. There are millions of web visitors every day. Just imagine!

2. Marketing your hobby will be much much more easier by using Internet. Some of the business through Internet need not you to have your own product but you can sell anything. Repeat, almost anything even you don't have any idea who run the business. What you mainly need is your own commitment to promote the product and you'll be getting commission out of it.

3. By using Internet, you can run your business wherever you want - even at the top of a mountain(as long as you can reach the Internet line). This mean that you can start to spread out your unique hobby in any place you like especially from the comfortable of your own house or at least as your part time job(if you don't want to let go your permanent job).It's up to you. If you made up your mind to start your business from your house, you need to accept that you're the boss, you're the coolie and you're the staff. So, you will be getting 2 main passions - you will start your own business just by following your own hobby, passion and interest and second, your business will be running from the comfort of your own house without to think about the protocol of office jobs, arguing about parking place, sticking in the worst traffic jam and pressuring with unsettled workload day after day.

4. Some of unique or creative hobbies are just known in certain part of the world. If you want to sell the output or product of your hobby to local people, perhaps the products will be getting less profit because majority of the local people have the same hobby like yours.By using Internet, the unique hobby will be recognized and spread beyond your boundaries and the door to bigger income will be opened widely.

5. Internet is just not for selling physical products. With the increment of unstoppable computer technology, you can show your unique hobby in any shape through any platform. You can try to use video link, e-book, images, patterns etc. Those kinds of technologies will make your life easier. It means that you don't have to manage your business physically. It can be done by clicking at your computer mouse only. Obstacles and fences that you need to go through in running business offline can be minimized through Internet.

So, the conclusion is Internet not just even make ideas in your head as a reality but you can market almost anything with your own hobby. In this case, guidance and references are important to make your dream come true.

Craft And Hobby Woods - Basswood - Balsa Wood and Others

Many hobbies involve building, carving, or wood burning which require speciality woods. These hobby and craft woods are available for just about any purpose. Hobbyists may choose from balsa, basswood, plywood, walnut, cherry, maple, among others for their project needs. Sheets or strips of these fine woods are available in thicknesses from 1/32 " to one inch, and in widths from 1/16 through six inches. You may purchase either sheets or strips.

Balsa is the most versatile of the hobby woods. Native to South America, these sixty foot trees are grown on large plantations. The wood is lightweight and strong. South Americans have been using balsa for boat and raft building since antiquity. Anyone who can recall Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki adventures will know of his successful attempt to reach the Polynesian Islands from South America on a balsa raft.

Balsa's fine grain combined with its strength and light weight have made it valuable for a great number of uses. Its heat retention ability has made it useful for insulating refrigerator and ship holds. It is used in aircraft to reduce vibration. Surfboards and life preservers have also been manufactured from balsa wood.

Crafters and hobbyists will find balsa very easy to cut and carve, making it ideal for a multitude of projects. It can also be painted or stained any color the hobbyist desires. Its greatest value for hobbyists is undoubtedly in the construction of model airplanes. Free flight , control line, and radio control aircraft are all made primarily from balsa wood. Other uses for this versatile wood include model boat building and dollhouse construction, as well as many other craft projects. Model railroaders can use balsa for scratch-building houses and other structures, bridges, and structural support for scenery.

Basswood, or linden, is another wood crafters and hobbyists find very useful. This North American wood is grown primarily in northern Michigan and Wisconsin. Heavier than balsa, it shares many of it's characteristics - close-grained, strong, and lightweight. Basswood's hobby uses mirror those of balsa, but its heavier weight limits its use in building model airplanes. Because it carves easily, it is the premier choice for both beginning and advanced woodcarvers. Novice wood burners will also find basswood friendly, as it burns well. Like balsa, it is available in strips and sheets. Additionally, specialty shapes for dollhouse building include molding, siding, and roof shingles.

Special project needs may require the use of hobby plywood. This extremely high quality plywood ranges in thickness from paper thin 1/32 of an inch to 1/4 inch. Birch is the wood used, so it can take any stain desired. It is very durable and suitable for many uses.

Other woods are available for specialized hobby projects, including walnut, maple, cherry, and mahogany. Twenty four inch lengths include both strips and sheets. The maximum width for sheets is four inches.

Basswood and balsa are the most commonly available hobby/craft woods. Other types may need to be special ordered from your local craft or hobby shop. Check out the selection today for all your project needs.

Taking Your Craft and Hobby Blog to a Profitable Adventure

Writing about what you love tends to come pretty easily for most of us, especially in the craft world. Whether you've been blogging for awhile now or you're completely new to blogging you might be wondering if it's worth the effort to make a go of it in this fickle hobby niche. The great news is that it is completely worth every minute of your time.

Obviously, the first advantage to blogging about your favorite crafts is that you already have the passion needed to create great content on a regular basis. This is easily the biggest stumbling block that most professional bloggers have. They get started blogging about a niche and then run out of steam on the topic.

You're about ten steps ahead of the game, because you already love your hobby. That's not to say that you won't run out of steam talking about your craft topic, because we all do at some point. But, when you're passionate about something it's not so hard to find that motivation again and get going with blog posts again.

A common misconception is that crafting and hobby blogs and websites don't make money, they're just all about the love of the craft. Well, that's just not true. Sure, your blog is about the love of your craft, but it can also be a money maker. After all, we've got to pay for that craft stash somehow! Getting supplies for your hobby can be expensive and blogging is a great way to bring in a little extra money to pay for all those special fabrics, tools, scissors, threads, and other must haves.

Think of it this way, you're buying new and interesting supplies and tools for your hobby all the time, it only makes sense that other enthusiasts are doing the exact same thing. Product reviews can be a huge income booster on a craft blog. When you find that must have product that you absolutely love, tell people about it on your blog and include an affiliate link so they can purchase their very own and you'll get a nice referral income for it.

Craft information and project ideas are always in high demand on the internet. The internet is the go to resource for free patterns, new craft inspiration, and tutorials. Even if you're just sharing what you're currently working on it could inspire another crafter to start a similar project. This cycle gives craft blogs a unique sense of community that other blog and website owners envy.