August 24th, 2009
Out of exciting projects to make with your kids? Check out Project Doorway and try these - and spruce up your doorway while you’re at it! Give your budding actress a Hollywood themed cork board, so you can leave her messages about her next big appearances, make your basketball star a backboard and net cork board so he can keep all his notes in one place, and hold his favorite mementos in the attached basket, and for your up and coming artists, removable grafitti, made from clear contact paper so he can sketch anything that comes to him, right on his door!
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August 14th, 2009
ReadyMade always has some creative ideas for reusing household items, and the latest issue does not disappoint. Check out the Tennis Racket Trellis for a unique and stylish way to create a trellis for vine plants. Not everyone has a bunch of tennis rackets lying around, but if you’ve raised a tennis player or two you very well may have more than you realize out in the garage. And old rackets that might not work so well for playing anymore are often available for next to nothing at thrift stores, and those would still work perfectly for this application.
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July 8th, 2009
Each month FamilyFun features fun and easy crafty projects to do with the kids, and this month’s Garden of Weaving caught my eye as an espcially creative (and easy!) one to tackle. The idea is to make colorful sunflowers out of paper plates and yarn, and they look great. There’s also an article on making beads out of seeds for slightly older children.
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June 26th, 2009
This quilting project looks a little ambitious to me but the final product is gorgeous and likely well worth the effort if you’re into sewing or quilting. This month’s issue of American Patchwork magazine features photos and detailed instructions for creating this nine-patch antique quilt.
If you’re a quilter or have ever wanted to be one, you should definitely peruse American Patchwork for ideas and inspiration. I’m sending this article to my mother now, maybe she’ll get the hint and make one of these for me!
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June 1st, 2009
The month’s issue of WOOD Magazine has a fun project article on making a votive candle holder. Bright Idea Candleholder details exactly what’s needed and lays out all the steps for this fairly simple but elegant wood-working project. Since the pieces of wood required are so small, you can splurge on exotic materials for this project, like using cherry or mahogany for the legs, or even for the entire holder.
WOOD Magazine has lots of interesting projects for accomplished wood workers, but this votive holder looks like it could be a good starter project for someone wanted to get into making things out of wood.
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April 28th, 2009
The latest issue of SchoolArts has some great ideas for educational craft projects to do with kids. I especially liked the Early Childhood Studio Lesson called Going Buggy about creating bugs out of nails and clay. It’s such a simple task but can result in colorful and playful bugs, and can help to teach your young ones about visualizing symmetry and the basic body parts of insects.
SchoolArts is packed full of educational resources and is one of the publications that is available completely for free on Coverleaf. Check it out!
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January 28th, 2009
The latest issue of ReadyMade has a fun and useful column on how to customize your Valentine’s day gifts this year. I especially liked the idea of making a sort of edible scrap book by tucking some photos of you and yours inside a candy box. I’ve pointed to Ellen Lupton’s cool El Word columns in ReadyMade before, I always enjoy her helpful and creative take on things.
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December 22nd, 2008
Everyone likes handmade gifts, but you’re rapidly running out of time to make anything creative for this holiday season. Don’t fear, ReadyMade has come to the rescue with some inspired and simple ideas for crafty gifts in their latest issue. My favorite is the cashmere scarf throw blanket, featured in this month’s Hot Toddy column.
Just gather up a few of those old cashmere scarves you don’t wear much anymore and some basic sewing materials and you should be able to whip up one of these in less than an hour. The article suggests picking 5 scarves that share a similar color palette, and don’t worry too much about how they line up — you can always trim them to get the edges even. This sewing project is so simple that I’m pretty sure I can even do it, and I’m heading to our closet now to see if I can whip one of these up this afternoon.
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Just click on the image above for a free preview of ReadyMade on Coverleaf.
October 29th, 2008
Have you ever given a PowerPoint presentation that fell flat on its face and left half your audience dozing? I know I have. Thankfully, help is on the way in the El Word column from the latest issue of ReadyMade. Ellen Lupton shares some sound advice for improving slideshow presentations that should keep your audience on the tip of their seats (or at least awake!).
There’s lots of simple, practical tips like if you’re using bullet points make sure not to put more than three bullets per slide, keep any branding and company logos subtle and unobtrusive, and go easy on the sounds and special effects.
Ellen also provides some alternative strategies and tools for presenting information beyond the traditional PowerPoint or Keynote presentation software, such as using a desktop publishing program like InDesign or Quark, or an online service like Flickr, or maybe even resorting to that old-school method of printing out your information on paper.
Whatever your presentation tool of choice, there’s some sound advice in Feature Presentation. Click on the image below for a free preview.
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