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Well, its that time of year again. If you’re anything like me, you came up with a million ideas of what to make everyone except for that friend who can make everything. You know the one. He's your craft idol, maybe your craft competition? For every coin purse you sew, he makes an awesome tote bag. For every scarf you knit, he makes a hat and glove set. For that friend, you want to pull out all the stops, make him something that will knock his socks off. But anything you can make, he can make. What do you give the crafter who can craft anything? I was pondering this (Pinky, are you pondering what I am pondering?), when it occurred to me that, outside of awesome, one of a kind presents, the thing I would most love in the world is to have someone give me more crafting supplies. And lo, the idea for a craft kit was born.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. If you are going to give someone crafting supplies, why not just give them a gift card and let them pick out their own? I personally think that I am at my most creative when I am faced with unexpected, raw materials. Besides, making a craft kit is so much more personal (and unique). So here we go.
Craft Kit Container:
You can use any box of any shape, material, and size. But my personal preference is the cigar box. If there are none to be found in your area, then a simple cardboard box dressed up with some fabric should do the trick.
Just sit your box on a swath of fabric and cut the fabric large enough so that you can tuck it up over the sides of the box. Make sure it's pulled tight and hot glue it to the inside of the box.
To make it extra snazzy, line the inside with a complementary fabric.
Measure the dimensions of one inside wall (if your box is not a square, measure two sides, one longer and one shorter side).
Sit your box in the middle of a piece of fabric and trace around the bottom. This tracing will be the bottom of your lining. Then, draw a square (or rectangle) the dimensions of the box’s side that connects to the bottom tracing by one side. Do this for the other three sides of the bottom tracing. When you are done, you should have a T-shape.
Lay the center tracing over the bottom and fold the fabric up over each side. Hot glue this inside the box, over the original fabric.
Craft Kit Contents:
Once you're done, start filling your treasure box with goodies. Here's some ideas to help you get started:
Beads, yarn, embroidery thread, fabric scraps, glue, glitter, feathers, misc socks, strips of clear, heavy duty plastic cut from comforter and sheet packaging, paints, brass fasteners, safety pins, bobby pins, paper clips, pencils, pens, markers, crayons, carbon, fake flowers, small, weird containers (like your old pill containers, or a jelly jar), string, x-acto knife, stickers, cards, interesting magazine cut outs (for instance, an envelope full of cut out lips), knitting needles, crochet needle, sewing needles, paint brushes, bits of poster board or card board, pom-poms, magnets, pipe cleaners, tape, and any thing else you can think of.
If you want to make the kit extra special, you might consider making a booklet of instructions on how to make your favorite crafts. Maybe, just maybe, your uber crafter of a friend will be so impressed, that he'll repay the favor with your own craft kit next year! PR
