New in Gifts.

Hi Everyone!

Today I have some new items from our Gifts Department to share with you!!

First, check out these Red Cup Kool Koozies! A take on the ever popular Red Solo Cup - these Can coolers are a perfect way to have a red cup but keep your beverage in the can. You can find them on the front endcap between aisles 24&25.

Another new product that you can find by our front registers are these Redneck Bird Feeders. Created with a mason jar, acrylic plates, and a metal feeder - they would be a fun addition to any yard. Plus they come in a variety of colors - so the only problem might be picking your favorite.

 

We've had these Lyricology prints from Demdaco for a few months now, but just last week I noticed we have even more canvases available - and not only more but new styles and new sizes as well. I could seriously find a place in my house for almost everyone of these - the quotes and the designs are perfect!

And finally, a few things from our Yankee Candle display to share.

First - do you know that Yankee recently came out with "Man Candles"? We now have candles available in the scents - Riding Mower, Man Town, 2x4" and First Down. Not only would these be a great gift idea for the guys in your life, but is also a nice way to change up the candle scent in your home if you need a break from the more feminine scents.

If however you want to stick with the lighter scents - then we do have a few new Summer scents to check out too - we now have Yankee's Summer Love line of scents in store, which includes: First Kiss, True Crush, and Loves me Lots. The colors and jar designs on this line are wonderful too!

 

And finally, our Candle of the Month right now is the Pineapple Cilantro scent - and is available for only $19.98 for the 22 oz. jar!

358 Copic Markers!

I have some exciting news to share with all of you Copic Marker fans out there today!!

Yesterday we put out our new Copic Marker display....and now carry the entire line of colors available in Copic Markers. That's 358 different colors! You can find them is aisle 11 of our Paper Crafts Department.

Also if you are interested in learning how to use the markers you can join our Copic Certified Instructor, Heather, for her Basic Copic Card Class or the Advanced Coloring with Copics Class in July! You can find the class listings on our July Event Calendar HERE.

Do you know we carry....Face Painting Supplies?

As I was walking around the store looking for supplies the other day I came across a few products that surprised me - things that I didn't know we carried - and thought to myself as a person that is here all the time (shopping and working) if there are things I still don't know about my guess is that some of you don't either. So today I'm starting a fun new blog feature called "Do You Know We Carry...?" which will highlight some of the different, fun, maybe quirky, but always interesting products we have at Crafts Direct that you might not know about.

The product that actually caught my eye first - and got this idea rolling - are these Snazaroo Face Painting Supplies. My kids are always first in line when they see any sort of face painting stand at a carnival or fair - so I know if I came home with these supplies they would be ecstatic! They would be a fun activity at home with the kids, but could also be incorporated into a birthday party, VBS, a block or neighbor party, or you next family get together!!

If you want to pick some up for yourself you can find them on a wing of a middle endcap in aisle 21.

Also if you have any products you've been surprised to find at Crafts Direct let me know - they might be the next product we share!

Crayon Canvases.

A few months ago we had shared some of the canvases we created by melting crayons with a hairdryer. Today I wanted to share a few more project ideas using the same technique. You can find a project sheet with the general instructions on our site here.

For this Create Canvas we adhered the wood "Create" word to the canvas and then glued and melted all the colors of a standard box of crayons onto a white canvas.

We also created this rectangular Flower Canvas using the greens, yellows, and orange crayon from a box, and then embellished the canvas with flowers of coordinating colors.

Finally, we also wanted to show a project idea using just a small 8 count box of crayons. For this project we first painted the canvas and then added the crayons (which were melted) and rhinestones

Have you ever created a melted crayon canvas?
You can also find lots of additional project ideas on Pinterest!

Lockable Organizers.

Hi Everyone & Happy Friday!!

Today I wanted to just quickly share a new product that we received in a few weeks ago and that all of us at the store are very excited about!

Check out this new organizing system/binder from OrgMates. It folds up and snaps together as shown below, but when you unfold and open it up you will find three separate organizers with 34 individual compartments! And the best thing is how they lock and unlock - instead of having compartments open when you don't want them to or having more than one spot open at a time you actually only unlock the compartment that you want to open and the remaining spots in that row will remain locked. Add to that the curved edges of each compartment and you have a really well designed and thought out product.

This organizer would obviously be perfect for any of you beaders and jewelry makers out there - but would also be great for scrapbookers, or sewers to keep their notions, or even to organize perler beads or legos for the kids!

Owl Projects.

Today I have a few cute Owl Projects that we recently completed and put out in the store.

First up - check out these adorable Felt Owls that our floral department just made. With only a Styrofoam ball, some felt and a hot glue gun you too can create these cute little owl friends! You can find a project sheet with instructions on how to make your own by clicking HERE. And can find them displayed in the store on the front endcap by aisle 3.

We also just made samples of two additional pieces, which you can find patterns for in our Fabrics department. This owl potholder was created by following a pattern from Legacy patterns called Night Owl Pot Holder.

And this dish towel was created using a applique/pattern from More Splash Than Cash called Days of the Week - Owl Appliques. This pattern comes with an adorable design for each day of the week!

You can find the patterns for both of these projects in aisle 24 of the store!

New in Beads & Basics.

Yesterday I shared some of the changes that we recently made to our Beads & Basics department...today I want to share some of the fun new products from around the department!!

We will start with some fun new items for the kiddos - if your kids are like mine you've maybe already heard those dreaded two words of summer break - "I'm bored." If that is the case you may want to stop by and check out this endcap in our Beads & Basics department...we have color by number sets, dry erase marker sets, puzzles, plastic bowling sets...etc. all in fun characters and themes.

We also just got in some of the new sets and boards of the Biggie perler beads. These are perfect for the younger kids that might have a hard time with the smaller perler beads. This is a great activity to keep the little ones busy! (Of course, you can also find the small perler beads in store as well.)

If you have a Webkinz fan in your house - they will be excited to see this new line of Webkinz Rockerz!  We have four of these "Rockerz" available and they are all adorable! Plus playing Webkinz online is always a favorite activity once you get a new animal!

Our jewelry section of the department has a few new items also - including these new Crystal Strands available in a huge selection of colors for only $4.99. You can find them on a middle endcap in the department.

We also have a lot of new items now available with the Snap-n-Style line of jewelry. If you're not familiar with this line - it is jewelry making at its simplest - you purchase the jewelry piece (ring base, bracelet, bobby pins, etc) that you want and then can just interchange the pieces on the base by snapping and unsnapping them on.

 

 

Here is a peek at some of the pieces closeup - so for instance you could purchase the bobby pins on the right and snap the green fabric flower onto them - then just switch it out with the floral piece with your next outfit. Very fun - and very easy!

 In aisle 20, you can also find a few new pieces from Darice, including these fun Pocket Watch pieces.

Finally, a few aisles over (in aisles 15 & 16) you can find some new painting products too.

They include:
New "DecoColor" Paint markers in a wide variety of colors:

Chalkboard paint in a rainbow of colors as well:

 

 Additional colors of the 16oz. studio acrylic paint are now available in aisle 15:

And some new styles and sizes of painting palettes are in aisle 15 as well:

Hope you can make it in soon to check out all the new things in Beads & Basics!!

Beads & Basics Aisle Breakouts.

Hi Everyone,

Today I wanted to share this quick video showing you some of the changes we have recently made in our Beads & Basics department. If you haven't been into the store lately you will have to come in and check it out soon!!

Also check back here tomorrow for a peek at some of the fun new products now available in the Beads & Basics department too.

Create your own Purse.

We have a really great new line of purse patterns and supplies that I want to share with you today. In our Fabrics department, on the back endcap between aisles 23 & 24 you can now find kits, patterns, handles, and supplies to make your own purse.

We have 16 new patterns - in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and styles:

 Here is a close up of a few of the patterns:

Lots of different handle options as well - from metal to wood, circle to square, large and small...

In addition to the purse patterns - some of the patterns are also available as kits - and come with everything you need to compete the project included. These are great if you like the purse as it is shown and/or you want an all-in-one kit that doesn't require additional items.

And finally, if I wanted to share this clutch in particular - a no-sew clutch - all you need to do is pick out the fabric and follow the directions to create this adorable clutch. Or you can add one of the chains available from this line and use it as a purse. So if you don't sew there are still options for you from this purse line!

Mason Jar Projects.

Mason Jars are definitely a hot thing this year!

Of course you can start by making a set of our Redneck Stemware glasses with the jars - but today I wanted to share with you some of the other Mason Jar projects we have come up with recently.

First we made a few wood wall hangings and shelves utilizing mason jars. These would be perfect to use for flowers, as shown - but would also work great in a bathroom to hold toothbrushes or in an office to hold pens and pencils too.

We also created some projects using the Mason Jars and pattern paper and embellishments. These would be great to use to store items, as candle holders, as drink cups, to gift a gift card, or even to use as a ice cream fund piggy bank :)

Finally, I also wanted to share these painted jars. With the endless number of colors available there are many options for this idea too...solid color, distressed color, or different colors inside and out - I love the finished look of these jars!