We had three submissions for Memorial Day crafts on our Facebook wall, and we chose to highlight this wonderful scrapbook layout by Billie, who used her dad’s war medals and vintage photo to honor his service to our country!

Layout by Billie

This is what she said about it:

This is a scrapbook page I created to showcase my late father’s military medals and pins from WWII. It also includes an early military photo of him and a small US flag he saved from his military days. Remembering those who sacraficed for us. Happy Memorial Day!

Thanks Billie, for sharing, and we’ll be sending you Craft Pack to say thank you. Happy Memorial Day to all, on behalf of the Design Team of CraftsUnleashed and www.ConsumerCrafts.com!

I’m not one of those people who LOVE, LOVE, LOVE making cards. I like it well enough, but it’s not one of my favorite crafts. So when I do make a card I like to make one that I can make rather quickly and make multiples of. THIS fits the bill nicely, thank you very much!

Not only is it easy enough for a beginning crafter but it also has a patriotic theme that will allow you to send it to anyone almost all year long.

Here is what you need:

• 1103-69 Darice 4×5 Blank Cards and Envelopes
• 1201-15 Darice Shape Hole Punch Value Pack
• Red Cardstock
• Blue Cardstock
• 12 inch Paper Trimmer
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Stamp Pad – Vintage Photo (optional)

Cut a square of blue paper to 2 inches by 2 inches and punch holes with the star shaped punch. Punch randomly and don’t forget to save the stars you punch out for a future project.

Cut 2 red stripes to 1/2 inch by 5 inches and 2 stripes to 1/2 inch by 3 inches.

If you wish, you can use the Distress Ink Stamp Pad to add color to the very edges of all of the pieces.

Adhere in place as shown.

That’s all there is to it! Two pieces of red 12×12 cardstock and 1 piece of blue 12×12 cards stock should yield approximately 26 cards and I made them all in less than an hour. Not too shabby!

Editor’s Note: This  would also be a wonderful project for a Scouting group to do, and then send these cards to local vets in nursing facilities for Veteran’s Day- a great way to earn that service patch!

It’s meant to be used with the Mini Bowdabra to make perfect, uniform hair bows- you know, those tres-chic ones that cost a LOT of money at boutiques! It was designed by our own design team member Sarah Forhan, and she’s got a great bonus craft on The Bowdabra site that she is willing to share with us.

A special thanks to Sarah for sharing this cool hair bow with us, and for designing such a cool tool! Available FIRST at ConsumerCrafts.com!

The Mini Bowdabra is one of my favorite bow-making tools.  I have been using both the  Mini Bowdabra and the original Bowdabra for several years to create bows for seasonal themed crafts, wedding bows, hair bows, and kid crafts.   

When purchasing the Mini Bowdabra I would recommend purchasing the Bowdabra Bow Wire.  The Bowdabra Bow Wire is a great product to hold your bow together tightly without having to sew it or use hot glue.  I personally “heart” Bowdabra Bow Wire.  It is so easy to use, it holds the bow together awesome, but still allows you to adjust your loops, and fluff your bow.  The other great thing about the Bowdabra Bow Wire is that it easily curls and holds its shape!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Mini Bowdabra I have provided step-by-step instructions on how to make a bow using the Mini Bowdabra and Bowdabra Bow Wire.

Begin by removing both the Mini Bowdabra and the Mini Bowdabra Wand from its packaging.

Next cut a 24” piece of Bowdabra Bow Wire and fold it in half.

Place the Bowdabra Bow Wire into the center of the towers and fold it under the Mini Bowdabra so that it doesn’t come loose.

If you want your bow to have tails, cut some with straight edges, angled edges, or dovetailed edges.  I seal the ends of my ribbon by running the very tips of them through a lighter quickly.  However, clear nail polish or fray blocker works, as well.

To begin making the loops of your bow, place the end of ribbon into the center of the Mini Bowdabra towers.  The towers are spring-loaded and hold your ribbon easily in place for you.

Fold your ribbon over, form a loop, and press it into the Mini Bowdabra.

Make several loops before cutting away your ribbon.  To make your next colored loops begin the same way, insert the end of the ribbon into the center of the Mini Bowdabra Tower, fold and press ribbon into the Mini Bowdabra to make several loops.

Add smaller loops to the top of the bow for a great finished look.

Using the Mini Bowdabra Wand scrunch the bow down.

Next, take Bowdabra Bow Wire and thread the two ends through the center loop that was formed when you folded the wire in half.

Pull the Bowdabra Bow Wire tightly.

Remove the bow from the Mini Bowdabra, pull the Bowdabra Wire around to the back twist it, and then knot it in place.  Fluff and form the loops of the bow by pulling and twisting them into place.

(Optional) Bring the wire back to the front and attach at button or other embellishment.

Attach you bow onto a Grapevine Star from ConsumerCrafts.com!

If you’re looking for a great project using bows, check out the “4th of July Wreath!”

Consumer Crafts is now also carrying the Bowdabra Hair Bow Tool and Ruler.   The ruler fits easily over a Mini Bowdabra.  The Hair Bow Tool and Ruler kit comes with the Hair Bow Ruler to measure bows and loops easily, Bowdabra Bow Wire to hold bow together, and interactive software to make 70 different hair bows.  The software includes helpful hints, frequently asked questions, a ribbon length chart, finishing tips, and step-by-step pictures instructions for make a total of 70 different hair bows including the pinwheel bow, the boutique bow, loopy bow, cheerleader bows, stacked bows, pet bows, and the hard-to- make baby bows.

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I used the Cricut and the Plantin Schoolbook cart to cut 1.5 inch stars from the “Retro Mod Vintage” Core’dinations cardstock stack. I love the fact that the paper is two-sided, so you get more bang for your buck! You can also hand-cut your stars or use a paper punch, if you have that handy.

You’ll need 12 stars each of red and blue. You’ll use 6  stars per “swirl.” Using a hot-glue gun, affix the stars in a swirl pattern down the side. The glue sets up almost immediately, so you can make them up right before the party!

These look great sitting on the table as a centerpiece, too:

Just pop in the batteries and flick the switch on for a great look at night, too!

Oh….and if you’d like to see my version of the “butterflies” lantern, here’s what I came up with:

Cute, huh? I wonder how many more versions I can come up with!!

OH– and one last thing-  our sponsor ConsumerCrafts.com, has just added the full line of Core’dinations cardstock to their site and is having a HUGE sale on stacks- might be good to stock up! Read the details here.

Happy Crafting!

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Memorial Day feels like it was just yesterday, and Independence Day is right around the corner. What could be better to wear on the 4th of July than little sparkly star earrings that show your patriotism? You can whip these up in a snap- and they are so inexpensive, they make great hostess and party gifts, too!

Supplies:

• 1 package of 2 star bead frames (I chose gold) Item 1993-02
• (2) Gold head pins Item 1920-98
• (2) 4 MM red Swarovski bi-cone crystal beads Item 0699-48-REDS
• (2) 4MM blue Swarovski bi-cone crystal beads Item 0699-48-BLUES
• (2) 6 MM clear or AB Swarovski bi-cone crystal beads Item 0699-6-T1AB
• (2) Gold plated earwires Item 19819-77

You’ll also want to have a pair of round nose pliers and some wire cutters on hand, too.

To make them is so simple: thread your headpin through the blue bead, through the bottom of the bead frame, through the 6MM bicone, through part of the bead frame, through the red bead, and then out the top. Finish off with a wired loop. (Jamie wrote a great tutorial HERE if you need a refresher.)

The most challenging part is making sure the red bead is nestled in the top point of the bead frame so that the holes align. It took a little fooling with, but it was worth it!

Attach your loop to your findings of choice. I like french wires for the swing, but you can use posts, clip-on, whatever! Have fun crafting these little gems!

By the way- ConsumerCrafts (our lovely sponsor) is having some wicked-good deals on jewelry suppplies, including a free shipping deal AND a percentage off of purchase! Please check out the ad in the upper right hand corner of our blog (or their homepage) for details!

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Materials Needed:

• BOW2100 Mini  Bowdabra
• BOW3040 Bowdabra Bow Wire
• Darice Finishing Accents or ribbon of your choice
• GPV12 12 in grapevine wreaths
• 6556-71 24 in black metal wreath stand
• 2873-137 24 inch spray with red berries and rusted tin stars
• 6500-59 3 1/2×4 in rusted metal star

Instructions:

Begin by adding finishing accents to three rusted metal stars.  I liked adding the finishing accents because they really grab the sunlight and make the wreath sparkle.

Next unwind the red berries and rusted tin stars.  They are very easy to unwind into individual floral picks.

Add some finishing accents to the rusted stars on the floral picks, as well.

Remove the Mini Bowdabra and the Mini Bowdabra Wand from its packaging.  Cut a 24” piece of Bowdabra Bow Wire and fold it in half. Place the Bowdabra Bow Wire into the center of the towers and fold it under the Mini Bowdabra so that it doesn’t come loose.  Now, lay one or two floral picks into the center of the Mini Bowdabra.

Add several sprays of ribbon into the Mini Bowdabra.  I used red, white, and blue satin ribbon with dovetailed edges.

Using the Mini Bowdabra Wand scrunch the bow down.  Next, take Bowdabra Bow Wire and thread the two ends through the center loop that was formed when you folded the wire in half.  Pull the Bowdabra Bow Wire tightly.  Remove the bow from the Mini Bowdabra, pull the Bowdabra Wire around to the back twist it, and then knot it in place.  Fluff and form the loops of the bow by pulling and twisting them into place.  Bring the wire back to the front and attach the embellished rustic metal star.

Attach your first bow onto Darice’s Grapevine Wreath.  Using a pencil twirl the extra wire.

Make two more bows using the Mini Bowdabra tool and attach them to the wreath.  Hang your wreath on your front door or use a black metal wreath stand.

For more creative ideas using the Mini Bowdabra and the larger Bowdabra visit Bowdabra.com

As we prepare for the 4th of July I am reminded how fortunate I am to live in the USA!  I wanted to create something special for this time of year that would not only be in celebration of this special holiday, but that would reflect the pride I feel for my country by being on display year round.  So I decided to create something more non-traditional for the 4th of July holiday that I could leave up year round.  I also wanted to create that particular product to display another piece of my pride which is being a mom!  My daughter created a mug as part of another post right here on Crafts Unleashed.  Well, imagine displaying my pride for my country and also the pride I feel as a mother and you have the project you see above!  Not only that, but my daughter has a place to call her own to display her special mug and help herself to using it when she is thirsty.  What a great combination, huh?

Supplies
6557-88 3D Rustic Star with hook
KC30-625686 12×12 Specialty paper pad, greenhouse
AMT62131 Glue Runner, permanent

Instructions
1.  First you will need to create a pattern for your star panels.  I laid a piece of copy paper over one side section of my star and bent the edges on all 3 side and then cut it out with my scissors.  I had to cut it slightly smaller since I wanted to see some of the brown around the outside edges of my pattern.
2.  Once I had my pattern, I decided what patterned papers I wanted from my 12×12 specialty Greenhouse pad.  I cut out a total of 10 triangle shapes.
3.  Next I used my adhesive to attach all the shapes to the star.

What a simple project and just look how cute it is!  What an excellent place to hang a mug.  You could actually use this hook to hang a variety of items so go ahead and look past the mug and think of all the possibilities!

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