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Cheryl Woods

Dough Ornaments

Salt Dough and Cornstarch Dough Christmas Tree Cookie Ornament Recipes Dough ornaments are especially fun to make as a group arts and crafts project with family or friends. And these ornaments last! I made the dough Christmas ornaments shown in these two photos thirty years ago and they still are holding up quite well. (Of course, I also… Read More »Dough Ornaments

The Arts and Crafts Movement

The Arts and Crafts Movement was an informal reformist movement in architecture, decorative arts, crafts, and cabinet making that developed in the second half of the 19th century and lasted well into the 20th, with its heyday being the 1880-1910 timeframe. The fact that the movement coincided with the Industrial Revolution did not occur by accident. The movement came… Read More »The Arts and Crafts Movement

How To Make Batik

How to make Batik What is batik First thing you might ask is, just what is batik? If you don’t know, batik is a method (originally used in Java) of producing colored designs on textiles by dyeing them, having first applied wax to the parts to be left undyed. Batik is a “wax resist” process… Read More »How To Make Batik

How to Make Spider Ornament

Spiders? As Christmas ornaments?! Maybe you never thought of making Christmas spider ornaments, but I’m here to tell you people love them. And why wouldn’t they? These handmade ornaments are unusual, clever, and fun. Yes, making spider ornaments is indeed a wonderful Christmas arts and crafts idea. The legs on Christmas spider ornaments are easier to attach than the legs… Read More »How to Make Spider Ornament

Craft Painting Tips

Here are some general craft painting tips I find very helpful. I am sure you will too! We will start off with acrylic craft paints. To jump ahead to tips on using oil-based enamel craft paints, click the link. Painting with Acrylic Craft Paints When I use acrylic craft paint to paint crafts, such as plaster Christmas ornaments, for example, I squeeze different… Read More »Craft Painting Tips

Beeswax Candles

How to Make Homemade Beeswax Candles Candle making just doesn’t get any easier than this arts and crafts project — rolled beeswax candles. The candles pictured above are traditional beeswax pillar candles. To make them, basically, all you do is roll a sheet of beeswax around a wick! Of course, you can use beeswax sheets to make much fancier candles… Read More »Beeswax Candles

Arts and Crafts Tips and Technique

Please find the arts and craft tip or technique you need in the list below, then click on the link to go to detailed instructions. These helpful suggestions flesh out instructions provided for various arts and crafts projects found throughout the website. Batik Tips and Techniques Choosing and Preparing Fabric for Batik Read about batik fabrics to learn which fabrics work best and… Read More »Arts and Crafts Tips and Technique