Mike Bisho
Crafts are a great way to express your artistic side and working on crafts is a great way to keep yourself occupied when you are cooped up indoors during winter. Learning different crafts also gives you something to do with the kids, as you can put together scrapbooks or make your own jewelry or birdhouses or anything else you will all enjoy doing together. No matter the crafts you want to try, there are some simple tools and supplies you need to get before you begin.
Setting aside a designated area for your crafts is always a good idea, so you do not get paint or glue or anything else on your good coffee table or in the living room. You can purchase a very inexpensive table and use that for your craft area, and it is good to have some organizers on hand to keep your supplies neat and safe. Baskets and bins will keep scrapbook paper organized and smaller bins will hold stickers, jewelry making supplies, and anything else you need for your crafts.
A hot glue gun is almost always needed for crafts, and it is good to invest in a high-quality gun. This will keep your glue from smearing and will typically heat faster. You might also need some high-quality scissors, a good measuring tape, and even a paper cutter. Depending on the crafts you will be doing, you might also want to start collecting scraps of fabric, old buttons, broken jewelry pieces, and any other scraps that will help with your projects.
Once you have the basics, you will need to find equipment and supplies for the crafts you will be creating. If you want to do woodworking then you might search for bits of wood and other items you can use to create your shelves or storage boxes or birdhouses. You might see scraps of wood being tossed out by businesses or find them in building supply stores and salvage yards. It is good to collect these while you can so you have what you need for a project.
For scrapbooks, you will want to start collecting photos and mementos from your travels and anything else you can add to create stunning scrapbooks. You might want to download fonts onto your computer so you can create text boxes for your pages. Do not let your kids toss away stickers and other supplies but keep them close at hand because you will probably use them one day.
You can also go online and find the specific supplies you need for certain crafts, such as special needles for knitting and sewing and making clothes by hand, or the type of thread needed for creating your own necklaces. Be sure you have everything you need for a project before you get started so you can complete it successfully and make the best crafts possible.
