Ten Easy Crafts for Fun and Decor

A top library trend is crafting and at least half of our branches offer classes. If you’d like to try it, ask at your local branch for the nearest class or check our website!

As a crafting coordinator, I’ve had the opportunity to make a wonderful variety of crafts to share with you.

Making nail polish mugs was exciting because the results were unpredictable. We used large containers of water, floated several colors of nail polish on top of the water, and swirled them together. Then we dipped our dollar store mugs into the nail polish, emerging with an unplanned mix of bright colors and pattern. Surprise! It’s called a marble effect.

This picture displays two crafts - paper flowers and a striped tissue paper vase. The flower directions can be found on page 54 in Paper Blooms: 25 Extraordinary Flowers to Make for Weddings, Celebrations & More by Jeffery Rudell. All you have to do is cut circles with eight radial cuts and then a do bit of finger-creasing.

The blue and yellow striped vase with the sun shining through it was made with Mod Podge, the crafter’s best friend. We applied Mod Podge first, then strips of tissue paper to a dollar store glass vase and voila! Another suggestion is to cut the tissue paper into small shapes to make a mosaic effect or to purchase an inexpensive punch that cuts small stars or other shapes.

Sharpie felt tip pens come in all colors and can be used on many surfaces. On porcelain mugs, it was possible to draw words, phrases or pictures. After baking for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, the Sharpie ink was fixed. I’ve been dishwashing my mug for a year. We especially loved the gold and silver metallic pens.

Sharpies on bathroom tiles was a fun and easy way to make a set of coasters. Some crafters tried a technique to make a watery effect with overlapped colors. Dripping 91% isopropyl alcohol onto the tiles caused the Sharpie inks to run and mix with each other. We applied little felt circles to the bottom of the tiles so they would not cause scratches.




Have you noticed that succulents have become popular lately? Needing something green in winter, we decorated pots for little aloe “babies.” The pots were painted with brightly colored acrylics. A fun idea was to use strips of painter’s tape to block off a design on the pot. Think stripes and zigzags.

Buy a pot with bottom drainage or drill a hole in the bottom. Next add the cactus dirt (yes, there is such a thing).

Watercolor painting on old printed paper creates an interesting visual effect. We used a black Sharpie pen to trace a picture on old dictionary pages (book sale!). Then we painted with watercolors and Ta Da! The frames came from the dollar store.

My whimsical favorite was gluing small pom poms on sticks picked up outside! The mason jars and pom poms came from the dollar store. The jar is half-filled with rice. We attached the pom poms to the sticks with hot glue.

Making spring wreaths was easier than expected. Pool noodles from the dollar store were taped to make a circle. Scraps of fabrics were cut into 3” wide strips and wound around the noodles. Straight pins held the fabric in place. Some crafters wrapped ribbon around the circle. Last, we cut up old bunches of plastic flowers and leaves and hot-glued them to the wreath. As they tended to be heavy, we first tied the flowers to the wreath using string or a narrow ribbon.






Our most useful craft was grocery bag holders. I had collected fabric pieces from yard sales so everyone got to choose a color or pattern. Denim was popular. We were able to make these bags without sewing! We used hot glue for all the seams. Note: add the stripes before assembling the bag!
If you’d like to have further direction on how to make these crafts, try YouTube and Pinterest. You can also ask your librarian to look it up for you!
Lastly, I appreciate tremendously the crafters who have traveled this journey with me. It’s been a thrill to watch their creativity at work and enjoy their company.

- Jennifer W., Hickory Corner Branch