A baby cocoon is a snug swaddling blanket that can be used to easily keep a new baby warm. This tutorial shows you a few techniques that you can use to crochet a baby cocoon for yourself or as a gift. This technique uses a crochet loom, so you'll want access to one of those in order to complete this project. You will also need to use a few basic hand sewing techniques to join the different pieces together when you're done.
Let's face it: When it comes to the main Hallmark holidays - Christmas, Valentine's Day, and birthdays - we tend to take the easy way out. Party invitations are usually purchased in bulk at the drugstore, balloons purchased in a value sized bundle, and food catered or also purchased at the store.
Want to hand out lollipops to your kid's class for Valentine's Day? Then don't just phone it in by scouring the shelves at Target the night before for some Dora the Explorer paper valentines that you'll tape to the lollipops.
What better way to get into the holiday mood than by wearing a festive Santa or elf hat around your workplace? Send your spirits soaring and get ready for Christmas by making your very on Santa hat.
It's hard enough to get through the holidays without strangling your relatives. It's even harder when you and your family don't speak the same language. Get through at least the beginning of your Thanksgiving dinner by checking out this video.
The wonderful thing about a "farmhouse brunch" theme is that most of the materials you'll need to decorate are natural and quite affordable. From sprigs of flowers to brown string to burlap, you probably already have most of the things you need lying around the house.
You don't need to be able to create crazy 100-side modular spheres to make beautiful origami projects. In fact, a great portion of the more popular origami projects are on the easier side (good news for sausagefingers like us).
Making jam or preserves for friends and family is one of the sweetest (literally) things you can do for special occasions and the holidays. But sterilizing jam jars can be a pain, often involving cleaning them out with scalding hot water.
It's never too early to begin crafting for one of the funnest and spookiest holidays of the year: Halloween! No doubt you're going to be attending at least one Halloween party or get together this year, so why not show the hostess with the mostest some love for putting together an awesome party?
Do you want sculpted, V-shaped lats that make your backside look like God's gift to women? Then check out this fitness tutorial to learn how to do the dead lift, an exercise move that involves picking up a heavy weight from the floor and bringing it to your hip level.
Well this is quite the alternative crochet project. You've probably already knitted a light, hole-y Afghan, and even a long, thick crochet scarf for the winter months, but we can bet you've never even thought of crocheting your own earrings.
You know how people always get frustrated when they open up a Valentine's Day chocolate gift box to find no labeling device for the chocolates there, forcing them to taste test each one to see if they like 'em? Recreate this frustration and relish in the schadenfreude by baking these melt in your mouth chocolate bars, each one filled with something different, from caramel and peanuts to almonds and more chocolate.
In this tutorial, we learn how to make a snowflake with beads. You will need: clear crystals, beads, and thread. First, string six beads onto the thread. After this, string a crystal next to the beads. Now, tie this and start to repeat the process on the left side of the beads. Continue to do this process until you have created a shape that looks like a snowflake. You can do as many or as few of these as you would like. This creates a beautiful necklace, or you can use it as a bracelet if you...
Chances are, if you have some elder relatives who have paid you a visit during the holidays, then you probably have more than your fair share of cable-knit sweaters in various ugly Christmas designs. While we're certainly not a fan of these types of sweaters, the cable-knit technique is one that is used very commonly in knitting and is one of the most basic.
In a sense, cardio intervals are God's gift to lazy exercisers everywhere. Why? Well, rather than commiting yourself to an excrutiatingly long exercise routine every day, you can actually cut down the time you exercise in half if you add cardio intervals.
Want to play the "I'll Be Home for Christmas" Christmas song on your ukulele? Learn how with this free video ukulele lesson from Ukulele Mike, which presents a complete breakdown of the song and its chords. Whether you play the ukulele or bass kazoo, there is no better way to improve your chops than by learning to play your favorite songs. Not only is it more fun and much easier than running drills or memorizing a chord book by wrote, it's obviously also a wonderful way to build your repertor...
Want to play the "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Christmas carol on your ukulele? See how it's done with this free video ukulele lesson from Ukulele Mike, which presents a complete breakdown of the song and it chords. While this tutorial is geared toward those who already have some knowledge of the ukulele, players of all skill level should be able to follow along given adequate time and effort. For more information, and to get started playing this classic winter holiday song on your own uk...
Whether they exist or not, people believe in the spiritual power of angels. That's why, if you walk into any Spencer's Gifts or novelty store, you'll always manage to find tiny wallet-sized "guardian angels." You apparently slip these in your wallet to feel guided and protected.
Part of the beauty of summer is the stark contrast between day (hot, sunny, bright) and night (chilly, starry). While loads of makeup tutorials can be found that will teach you how to get the "summer glow" and infuse your face with more bronzer than Mr. Armani has ever encountered in his lifetime, gorgeous summer nights are often neglected as a beauty inspiration.
The most gifted and inventive fashion designers and DIY artists see the potential in things other people would overlook or deem trash. DIY guru Gianny L, for instance, takes everything from men's underwear to oversized t-shirts and turns them into fashionable clothing for women.
In this tutorial, learn how to make a perfectly healthy pasta dish with Giada De Laurentiis from the Food Network. This dinner is so easy to make and takes no time at all. You don't even have to cook the pasta! The pasta will cook itself in the oven. This baked pasta is great for family gatherings and holidays so give it a try at your next function. Enjoy!
Farmville is one of the most popular games to ever be played on the Internet and Facebook and now you can play it on your iPhone, too! Take your farm with you wherever you go by installing this free app and connecting it to your Facebook account. Your phone farm will look exactly like your Facebook farm and you will get all the good stuff: push notifications, gifts, crops and everything in between. This tutorial will walk you through the installation, basic set up and controls so you can get ...
At stores, imitation plastic or cloth baby booties (to be used to contain party favors or small gifts) can be quite costly, and a backbreaking expense considering all the other more necessary expenditures you're considering when planning a baby shower, including finger food, cake, party favors, and decorations.
In this tutorial, Emily Dawe, assistant home and crafts editor for Woman's Weekly, demonstrates a simple cross stitch design. Cross stitching is a fun hobby and really helps fill any empty time you may have. If you are looking to start cross stitching, have a look at this video and begin with the basics.
If you've cracked or lost the jewel case for a CD, or if that big plastic holder is just too bulky to carry around, have a look at this fun tutorial.
Friendship bracelets are a fun gift, and important part of your school years. In this video, learn a new bracelet style.
Shelley Lovett with Child Care Land demonstrates how to make your own classroom pointer sticks. You can use pointer sticks as a prompt to help enhance learning in your classroom. You can make the pointers in accordance with holiday seasons. To make a pointer, you will need a 12-inch wooden dowel, an unfinished wooden shape, paint and accessories for decoration. First, paint your dowel and wood topper in your desired color. Next, using a hot glue gun, glue the shape to the dowel. Apply embelli...
New to Excel? Looking for a tip? How about a tip so mind-blowingly advanced as to qualify as a magic trick? You're in luck. In this Excel tutorial from ExcelIsFun, the 533rd installment in their series of digital spreadsheet magic tricks, you'll learn how to create a formula to calculate the difference between start date/time & end date/time excluding holidays and weekends. This is accomplished with recourse to Excel's NETWORKINGDAYS and MOD functions.
New to Excel? Looking for a tip? How about a tip so mind-blowingly advanced as to qualify as a magic trick? You're in luck. In this Excel tutorial from ExcelIsFun, the 534th installment in their series of digital spreadsheet magic tricks, you'll learn how to use the OR and WEEKDAY functions to create a logical true/false formula that will automatically apply formatting to dates that are either weekends or holidays.
This video is going to show you how to create purple felt flowers for your children or a nice little gift. The items you will need are an 18in piece of tread doubled knotted at the end, hot glue gun, a needle, a pom pom, and felt cut into the shapes you want to make your flowers out of. You want to begin by take the thread attached to the needle and doing a running stitch through the felt. Pull the thread as much as possible and then take the two ends and do a whip stitch to connect the two e...
Are you looking for a simple floral design that will delight friends and family as a winter holiday centerpiece? Or perhaps you would like to do something a little more special with those dozen roses you bought as a romantic gesture? If so, look no further, because Jim Daniel, The Flower God, has a quick and easy floral arrangement to help make any occasion special! Useful tips such as including pine cones at the bottom of your vase to add more dimensions, as well as act as an anchor for the ...
Melanie, of Christmas with the Cricket, has an awesome new video from the Simple Card Monday edition. Her video details a valuable tutorial on how to make a Christmas card. All you will need is some paper, pens, stamps and some common house hold tools in order to do this. This is a great tutorial that will ultimately save you money on your holiday expenses this year. Just follow the steps in this useful and entertaining video to get started on creating a nifty looking Christmas card.
Stampin' Up! with Dawn presents a video on how to make a cute snowman ornament that is perfect for the holiday season. The design was made by one of her viewers and she was able to get all the proper measurements and instructions needed to make this piece. She shows us how to do it step-by-step and shows us which materials and techniques should be used in order for the snowman to come out just right. By following the instructions in the video you can make an adorable magnet yourself without h...
Looking for a pumpkin pie recipe with exact directions for making it? Here's the video you have been looking for! Exact steps are given, begin with precise ingredients. Next you will get a list of utensils needed. A nice feature of this video is not only to watch the steps in the video, but the directions are also written on the screen, making it easy to write the steps and ingredients down for future reference. This is a made from scratch recipe, so fresh pumpkin is used. Holiday traditions ...
If you're looking to cheer up someone who is sick with a homemade Get Well Card, follow this video for steps on how to make a Get Well card with Stampin' Up. Crafter Dawn takes us through the steps of how to create this card with the Pick-a-Petal stamp set. Be creative and use whatever color stamp pads you want to add a personal touch. By following Dawn's simple arts and crafts steps, you can cheer up anyone with this Get Well card with a smile and a thoughtful, handmade gift.
Instead of buying a pre-made album at a crafts store, crafter Mary shows how to create custom miniature albums that make excellent gifts. You just need
In this video, you will find out how to make a large recipe card file from Emerald City Elegance Paper Crafting. Anyone who loves to collect recipes knows how quickly you can fill up a little recipe box so make this file to keep all your treasured recipes together. You can easily make this divided file to hold four by six recipe cards. To create this file you will need a large piece of card stock, a printable template from the website, scissors, a scoring tool, adhesive, a ruler, and your cho...
This video explains how to set up an Aqua Sand gift box. The first step is to place the mold into the tank, and then fill with water. With a half-full bottle of Aqua Sand, by placing the nozzle face-down to the bottom of the tank and lifting upwards, you are able to create colorful towers. You can create multi-colored towers by starting with a wide base, then changing colors as many times as you wish while you move upwards. Users can also fill the mold with various colors of Aqua Sand, add de...
Microsoft Word 2010 prevails with new advancements. New options such as Backstage view allows the user to work efficiently and utilize new abilities when managing documents. It succeeds with new abilities that will allow the user to complete tasks quicker than before. Working with the newly enhanced ribbon allows the user to navigate with an easy, more personal customized environment. Now with more options and commands at your fingertips, it is evidently shown that Microsoft is gifting users ...
Here is an interesting idea for a baby shower: a diaper cake. Using various materials such as a tube, a glue gun, some safety pins, string, rubber bands, scissors, and 63 diapers, you are on your way to making this bizarre yet interesting cake. After rolling together each individual diaper, holding them together with rubber bands, you are on your way to making this cake. While this cake is not meant to be eaten, it is a very interesting centerpiece or gift for your next baby shower.
