Our Grand Finale!

By Lindsey Riley, Britny Burton, Mallory Jordan, and Mandy Whitaker (The Current Craft Staff)

With the fall semester at Ball State coming to an end, our blog will also be ending. We enjoyed sharing craft ideas and news with you and hope that you found our information useful and entertaining.

For our final post, we got together at Britny's house and made some gifts for our classmates from the sports blog Around the Huddle. We decided to make them decorative sports balls (a football and a few soccer ones). And to make sure all of us got to do one, we made an extra one to give to our professor.

What we did was go to our local Dollar Store and purchased the sports balls. They ranged between $1-3. Afterwards, we went to Hobby Lobby to purchase various sequences, hot glue guns, paint, and other elements to decorate them.

After getting our goods, we went to Britny's and got our crafting on! We decorated them however we wished, making all of them different from each other.

We had a great time together crafting and watching ABC Family's "25 Days of Christmas." Once we finished, we wrapped them up in various wrapping and tissue paper.

Let the gift giving season begin!

It's Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Christmas!

By Lindsey Riley (Crafting Challenged Blogger)

Hey everyone!

With Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend ending, it means only one thing: We are less than thirty days away from Christmas Eve!

Now not everyone celebrates Christmas, and that is totally fine. Personally, my favorite part of the holiday and the winter season in general is the Christmas tree my family puts up. I hate going to get the tree (a family tradition that my father never let's me forget), but I do enjoy decorating it and placing gifts at its base.

This year, as a pre-Christmas present, I made my parents some ornaments. I told them to consider it my contribution to the tree this year since I'll be at school when they chop it down and decorate it.

Much to my surprise, making these ornaments was very easy. Here is what I did:

• Went to Hobby Lobby (you can go to any craft store) and bought clear and blank ornaments (two packages of 12 for $7.99)
• Went to JoAnn Fabrics (again, you can go to any craft store) and bought ten different paint colors ($1.25 each)
• Go to your crafting area, lay out some newspaper on a table, and get all your materials ready (paint, ornaments, paper towels, paper plates)
• Mix whatever color combinations you wish inside of the ornaments and with your finger covering the opening, shake them until all sides are covered. When covered, place upside down on a paper plate so paint can drain out. (Repeat for all ornaments)
• Let them dry overnight
• After wiping them down and getting the extra paint out, place the ornament tops and hooks back on
• Package them in whatever way you wish (Personally, I used a gift box and tissue paper)

Pinterest Party!

By Lindsey Riley (The Crafting Challenged Blogger)

Hello everybody! Let's get the crafting ideas flowing so that this weekend, you can start making those holiday presents.
Last weekend, I went to Indianapolis with my friend Ashley to stay at her house and get away from the craziness of college for a few days. Her mom, a very sweet and avid crafter, planned a Pinterest party for this same weekend. She wanted members of her family and their friends to come together, relax, and have fun creating those projects that they never had the time to do.

Everything at this party was inspired by Pinterest. She made dishes that she found through Pinterest and planned a few crafts for everyone to do together that she found on Pinterest. Here are a few photos of what I made and links to instructions and recipes on how to make the crafts and food.

Let's inspire each other: What Pinterest craft do you want to make but don't have time for? Comment below with your answer.

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/139486/peanut-butter-cheese-ball/detail.aspx

http://www.craftytexasgirls.com/2012/07/christmas-in-july-sharpie-plates.html

http://www.cafemom.com/group/113532/forums/read/15042140/Fall_Crafts_Challenge_Day_6_Show_Us_Something_with_Pumpkins?next=51#replies

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Chicken-Taco-Ring

Slasher T-Shirt Scarf Making

By Lindsey Riley (The Crafting-Challenged Blogger)

Hey everyone! First off, welcome to the weekend.

The recent and, in my opinion, sudden fall weather has caused some people to dust off their leather jackets, boots, and pull out their fall fashion accessories. Also, there are tons of stores that have placed their cooler weather clothing items on the sales floor and are using great sales to get you to buy those fall and winter items you already have or can create.

Well, why not save money on an accessory that can be used in the fall AND the winter? Scarfs are perfect for this time of the year and go great with any ensemble. Rather than spending $15 for a new scarf, we are going to make one from a recycled t-shirt. See, we are being green and saving green!

The scarf I am making I found on the blog "A Beautiful Mess." It says to use a t-shirt that has lycra or spandex and to have a pair of fabric scissors. I have neither, so I am going to use a cotton t-shirt and paper scissors.

 You then cut the t-shirt. I cut mine from arm to arm. Once you finished that, cut along one of the sides so you have one long rectangle.

 Now pick an end, any end will be fine, and start folding the rectangle like an accordion. Make sure that each fold is even or else you'll have an uneven looking scarf. When you're done with the folding, grab the scissors and begin cutting slits on each side. Make your cuts a good size but not too large. Also, try to aim the cuts on the second side in between the previous ones.

 Unfold your scarf. If you don't have something that looks like

<- this, you'll have to start over again. If you do have this, then begin stretching out each cut with your fingers. Only do one hole at a time, and don't stretch them too much or else you'll have a hot mess of a scarf.

When you're finished, you are have a scarf that is wearable and fashionable! That's at least $15 you saved by recycling an old t-shirt rather than buying a brand new scarf at the store. What I loved about this craft was it required no sewing. That is the one thing that I cannot do in life, and I made sure to find a way to make a scarf that required none of it. I hope you enjoy making this craft, and please feel free to comment with any opinions or questions.

Happy Friday, and have a great weekend!