Quick and Easy Handmade Valentine Card

This card is quick and easy if you want to give something with the handmade look without spending a lot of handmade time.

How to Make a Handstamped Treasure Box

Basic stamping techniques and a little varnish can turn a plain wooden box into a cute keepsake.

How to Make a Woven Hearts Valentine Card

This card is made out of two scrapbooking paper hearts that have been woven together. For a cutting template for this project, click the image below.

How to Make Earrings out of Bird Feathers

Real feathers can be used to make beautiful and unique jewelry.

How to Make Tin Can Luminaries

Old soup cans take on new life when used as holiday candle holders.

How to Make Gourds into Snowmen

A little paint and some black felt is all that's necessary to transform a dried birdhouse gourd into a charming holiday snowman.

How to Make Christmas Tree Ornaments out of Scrapbooking Paper

These ornanments are based on Victorian style Christmas ornaments, but require little more than paper.

Elf-Esteem

Well, after writing a bunch of how-to craft articles, someone suggested I try crafting how-to videos, so starting I'm starting a little how-to video series called Elf-esteem. The name comes from the fact that creating things often raises self-esteem, and as my nickname is "The Elf," Elf-esteem seemed an appropriate name. I'll be posting a new video hopefully each week on youtube. First ones launches on the 9th of the December.

And while I was in updating mode, I finally got myself a page on Facebook. So by all means, "Like" my page and Raise Your Elf-esteem. 

Gourd Birdhouses

Gourd Birdhouses

A dried gourd can make a cozy house for some lucky bird and it can make an attractive decoration for a yard as well.

You will need:
Dried gourds
A dremel, drill, or jackknife
Paint
Acrylic sealer
Eyehooks

The best type of gourd to use as a birdhouse is actually called a birdhouse gourd. They dry easily, have a sturdy shell, and are roomy enough for a bird to enjoy. That said, one need not limit themselves only to birdhouse gourds. A gourd birdhouse is as much decorative as it is functional and there are many gourds that lend themselves well to this project. Goosenecks, apple gourds, caveman's club, and others all work well as birdhouses. You should select one that meets your fancy.

First, you will need a gourd. If you have one dried from last year, it makes the task easier. Gourds are best dried by letting them get hit with the frost for several cool nights, just be sure not to let them get too wet. They can also be dried indoors, but require a very dry area. Birdhouses can also be made from fresh gourds, but will sometimes become distorted as they dry.

To begin, scrape off the gourd's flaking outer skin. Using the dremel, drill, or jackknife, cut a hole about an inch and a half in diameter in the lower half of the gourd. Pull out the "guts" through this hole. In a dried gourd, guts have usually hardened and may have to be broken into small pieces to come out through the hole. Be careful not to break the hole when pulling out the guts.

When the inside of the gourd is empty, paint the outside with any design you choose. Using the hole as the center of a flower is always fun. After the paint has dried, spray it with a clear acrylic sealer to make it weatherproof.

Turn the gourd upside-down and drill 3 holes in the bottom. This will allow for drainage should any rain come in the hole. Carefully screw an eyehook into the top of the gourd somewhere near the stem. This is usually where the gourd’s shell is thickest and allows for the strongest hold.

Loop a piece of string through the eyehook, hang the gourd from a tree branch and wait for the birds to move in come spring. It’s good to have the houses out several months before spring. Birds don’t actually claim a house until spring, but they’re searching for good nesting sights well before.