Reader Blair liked our t-shirt yarn dishcloths, but had a major question about t-shirt yarn: "So I don’t know how when one piece of yarn ends, to begin again with a new one… Does that make sense? Someone please email me.and tell me!" Well, Blair, I'll do you one better and write a whole post about it! How do you turn t-shirts into yarn, and then attach the ends? Read on!

There are a few common methods for making t-shirt yarn. The photo from the top of the page is from Let Birds Fly - she has a great visual tutorial for making t-shirt yarn. The method she uses for making the yarn involves doing "diagonal cuts" to make a continuous spiral of t-shirt yarn.

This seems to be the most common method for cutting a t-shirt into yarn, and it also seems the most time-economical.

When you get to the end of one piece of yarn you can attach it like this:

1. Attach T-shirt Yarn by Stitching

Amanda's Happy Hearth shows how you can attach yarn ends simply by stitching through the ends of the t-shirts. Amanda's tutorial also shows how to create yarn from the non-tubular parts of t-shirts (like the upper chest section), and is good for using the entire t-shirt with almost no waste.

2. Attach T-shirt Yarn by Knotting

Another way to attach ends is by just tying the ends together in a square knot (if you don’t mind the nubs in your finished project), or just twist them together when you are crocheting or knitting to create a more seamless join. I used this method when I made my recycled fabric rag rug over at CROQzine. This is also the method used by Meridian Ariel in the photo of knotted teal yarn above and below.

As you can see, the knots add a certain amount of rustic charm to your knitting project. You'll have to decide if it's right for your project.

3. Attach T-shirt Yarn with the Slit and Slip

The third method is the easiest and least visible once it is worked into a knit or crochet project.

To join t-shirt yarn, cut a small slit in the end of each piece of t-shirt yarn. Slip one end through the other. Push the opposite end of the first piece through its own hole. Pull tight to secure.

So, there you have three methods for joining the ends of t-shirt yarn or rag strips! Hope that helps. Here are some t-shirt yarn ideas for you to get started with once you have a ball of yarn or two:

T-shirt Yarn Craft Project Ideas:

1. Reusable T-shirt Yarn Swiffer-Style Duster Knitting Pattern by Verdigris Knits

2. Recycled T-shirt Yarn Macrame Hangers by The L-T Experience

3. Rainbow T-shirt Braided Rug by Sew Liberated

4. Recycled T-shirt Yarn Flower by Little Treasures

Valentine's Day is a low-key decorating holiday for our family, so I like to make homemade decorations with my three boys. It's amazing how cheerful humble handmade hearts can be! Share the craft love with your children with a simple beading project that is perfect for small hands to work on. With a few common crafting materials, they make a beaded heart mobile that everyone will love! This is a cheerful gift for Grandma, or to hang up in the child's bedroom window. If you don't have all these materials on hand already, you can pick them up at the dollar store or for less than $5 at the craft store. As always, I encourage you to improvise so you can use whatever you already have on hand!

I found these wooden beads in small packages at the dollar store. Pony beads or homemade paper beads, duct tape beads, or recycled plastic bottle beads would work well.

Project Materials:

• 3 chenille stems (pipe cleaners), on hand or $1
• 18 medium-sized beads, on hand or $1
• 1/8" ribbon or yarn, on hand or about $.50 at your local craft store
• pencil

Total: FREE and up

To Make:

1. Thread 4-6 beads on a chenille stem (or more if you like, and depending on your child's age!).

2. Fold the chenille stem in half. Bring the two ends of the chenille stem together about 1" from each end and twist together twice until stem is secured

3. Parents might need to help with this step: place your thumb on the folded part of the pipe cleaner and push down between your index and middle finger to form a heart shape (as shown in photo)

4. Curl the ends of chenille stems around a pencil to keep the sharp ends from sticking out

5. Make three hearts and tie together with 8" pieces of ribbon or yarn to make a one-stranded mobile

6. Make multiple mobiles and hang together for a fun Valentine's Day decoration

Tips:

• Great Garlands: Instead of stringing the hearts vertically as a mobile, try stringing them side to side to make a horizontal garland.
• Heart Ornaments: Tie a piece of ribbon on a single heart to make a pretty heart ornament. Attach it to your Valentine's Day cards for a fun favor.
• Mini Hearts: To make small hearts, cut a chenille stem in half (use old scissors -- never good scissors!) and follow steps 1-4.

I love making books and journals.  It's something I've dabbled in for a long time.  The other day I came across a roll of kraft paper tucked away in a closet and it made me think of a project from my high school art class, for which we made art journals using recycled paper grocery bags.  I ended up building mine into the cover of a book and turning it into a scrapbook, and I got an A+ on it!  Inspired by that memory, I have recreated the project.  It's a great first book project because it's so easy that it's also kid-friendly!

Project estimate:

• Hardcover book, $1
• Paper grocery bags or kraft paper, on hand or $1
• Glue, on hand

Total: $1 and up

First, you'll need a book.  I picked one from Goodwill that I chose for its pretty colors (if it has one, make sure you take off the dust jacket and look underneath) and its title, "The Inner Circle," which I thought would make a good title for a scrapbook.

Carefully cut along the crease of the inside of both the front and back covers to remove the pages.  Measure the height and width of the pages, and put them aside for future book page crafts!

Cut your paper bags or kraft paper into pieces the same height as the book pages and twice as wide as the pages.  Fold each piece in half and crease well.  If you are using paper bags with printing on them, make sure the printed side is on the outside of each folded piece.  If you are using kraft paper on a roll, you may want to carefully place the folded pieces under a couple of heavy books to make them lay flat.

Apply a layer of glue to the front of one of the folded pieces (I used a foam brush and a light coat of Mod Podge), and making sure the folded edges are facing the same way, place a second folded piece on top of it.  Repeat until all of the pieces are glued together; you want your stack to be about 2/3 to 3/4 of the thickness of the original book pages to allow space in the book for gluing in photos and mementos.  If you're using liquid glue, place the stack under books to keep it from curling as the glue dries.

Apply glue to the page on top of the stack, then carefully line it up and press it into place in book cover.

Repeat with the other side of the book.    Your book is complete!

I love that I have been able to find $1 t-shirts at the dollar store lately. I always pick a few up if I see them in the right size, so I can make fun t-shirts whenever an idea strikes me. The secret ingredient for this project is freezer paper, which makes stenciling a snap! Freezer paper is waxed on one side, and plain paper on the other side, so it can be easily ironed to fabric (and just as easily removed). You can find freezer paper in the food wrap section of your local grocery store. A single roll will last you for years of fun DIY projects.

Project Materials:

• 1 t-shirt, old or new, on hand or $1
• Freezer paper, about $4 a roll
• Fabric Spray Paint (I used Simply Spray Opaque White) or craft acrylic paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Iron, on hand
• Scissors, on hand
• Drop cloth or large piece of scrap cardboard, on hand

Total: $5 and up

To Make:

1. Cut hearts of different sizes out of freezer paper.

2. To easily make a heart, fold the paper in half, draw a half-heart shape and cut out. When you open the folded paper, you will have a heart and a piece of paper with a heart-shaped hole in it. You will be able to use both of these on the shirt.

3. Turn iron on to medium setting and let it warm up.

4. Arrange the hearts shiny side DOWN onto the t-shirt. Remember, anything covered by a heart will show the t-shirt's original color when the project is done.

5. If desired, cover with a piece of fabric or thin dish towel (although, this is not necessary). Iron over the hearts gently until they are stuck securely to the t-shirt.

6. Lay the t-shirt out on the drop cloth or scrap cardboard, and spray the fabric spray paint according to package instructions. Lay t-shirt flat for even spray coverage, or wrinkle it slightly for a tie dye effect. I allowed overspray around the edges of my stencils, but if you don't want them, you should cover over any exposed t-shirt with paper to protect it from getting painted.

7. Let paint dry according to package instructions.

8. When paint is completely dry, peel freezer paper hearts off t-shirt

Tips:

• Heart-Shaped Hole: Iron the heart-shaped holes onto the t-shirt  to make a different kind of heart. I let my paint spray over the edges of the rectangular pieces of paper to add a graffiti feel to the shirt
  
• No Freezer Paper? While I highly recommend freezer paper to make this project simple, you can still do this project if you don't have access to freezer paper. Regular paper can be adhered to fabric with adhesive spray (I use 3M77 spray glue). Spray the heart cut-outs with spray adhesive and stick them to the t-shirt, follow steps 6-8 as directed.
  
• Revamp Stained Clothes: Use this technique to rescue hopelessly stained clothing. Make sure any stains are NOT covered by the ironed-on freezer paper. When you spray your paint, be sure to cover stains thoroughly. For another stained clothing revamp, check out the Tetris Hoodie.
• Add Words: Use letter stickers you find at the dollar store to create wording on your shirt. Add your name, or any other fun words or phrases you want to. Remove stickers when paint is dry (just like you did with the freezer paper).

This project comes to us from our pet fashion correspondent Erika from Sew DoggyStyle, whose pooches are the best-dressed canines in all of blogland.  They're here today to share a dollar store project perfect for colder weather: turning a dollar store scarf into a cozy pair of leg warmers!  Not only will they keep your dog's legs toasty on chilly days, but they will also look stylish on walks around the neighborhood!

Project estimate:

• Scarf, $1
• Sewing machine, on hand

Total:  $1

How to Make Doggy Legwarmers

by Erika, Sew DoggyStyle

This scarf I actually got at The Dollar Tree.  One Dolla!!!  They have a variety of color combos and I think stripes make adorable leg warmers.  You can virtually make these leg warmers to fit any sized dog.  I made them for my big dog, since leg warmers are kinda for girls...  Haha!

I cut the scarf at every six stripes since that seemed like a good height.  Cut a total of 4 pieces.  For smaller dogs, cut every four stripes...or less.

Serge or zigzag the top and bottom of each piece to keep the threads from unraveling.  Then fold each piece in half lengthwise with right sides together and stitch down the sides.  For smaller dogs, take in the sides as much as needed.  Measure their legs to determine how much needs to be taken in.

Turn each piece right side out and tada!!!

linked: TCB

Did you ever do string art as a child?  You know, the kind where you arrange nails or pins in a pattern and then wrap string around them.  The other day as I was hunting for Valentine- and heart-themed crafts, I came across a string art heart at Make Grow Gather made with straight pins stuck into a bulletin board.  My gears started turning and I had an "A-ha!" moment:  What if I made string art on a bulletin board, then spray painted over it, using the string like a stencil?  Would it look as cool as I saw it in my head?  There was only one way to find out, so I gathered up a few supplies and got to work.

Project estimate:

• Bulletin board, $1 and up
• Paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Paper, on hand
• Push pins, on hand
• String or yarn, on hand

Total:  $1 and up

I used a 12 x 12 inch cork tile for my bulletin board, which I found at a local discount store in a four-pack for about $6, or about $1.50 per tile.  (Which is making me tempted to cork up a whole wall!)  Paint the tile in the color you want the shape to be.  I wanted red for my heart, so I picked a nice, bright shade of Martha Stewart multi-surface craft paint called habanero.  I could have just painted the area where I wanted the heart, but I was concerned about how the cork would soak up the paint, so to make sure I had an even finish I went ahead and painted the whole thing.  This will take more paint than you expect because the cork will suck it right in!  You may need to add a second or third coat to get even color.

Cut a heart out of paper to use as a template.  Decide where you want the heart to be positioned on the bulletin board and place the heart there.  Using push pins, outline the heart shape.  Place the pins so that they go around the edges of the paper, but don't put the pins through the paper.  Once all of the pins are in place, remove the paper template.

Tie one end of the string to a push pin and start wrapping.  There is no right or wrong way to do this!  When you're happy with the design, tie off the other end of the string.  Push string down on the push pins so that it is as close to the surface of the cork as possible.

Now it's time to spray paint!  Apply light, even coats of a contrasting color (I chose white) across the tile.  Don't be too heavy-handed with the paint or you will lose the string details!  Paint just enough to cover up the base color.

When the paint dries, pull out the push pins.  As you remove the pins and string, your design will be revealed!  If you want, you can add extra details or embellishments to the design.

I used a pencil eraser and glitter paint to add some sparkle to the heart's outline.  Did it turn out as cool as I saw it in my head?  Nope, it turned out even better!

My kids are such prolific artists. Every day they bring home about ten drawings from school. I want to keep some of it, but most of our kid art doesn't get the rock star treatment it deserves. So, this week I decided to create a fun t-shirt my son could wear that featured his own art, all glittery and shiny!

In addition to doing tons of cool drawings, my five year-old son has recently begun to write. I love that little kindergarten writing, and I wanted to incorporate it into a craft so we could remember it. I combined some of his drawing and writing with Tulip Shimmer Sheets to make a very simple iron on project.

I usually have a few kid-sized t-shirts on hand because I pick them up at the dollar store whenever I see them. This is also a great project for a stained t-shirt because you can cover up the stains with iron-on glitter.

Project Materials:

• T-shirt, $1 or on hand
• Tulip Shimmer Sheets, $14.99 for 4 sheets (or, $3.75 per sheet)
• Permanent marker, on hand
• Scissors
• Iron
• Piece of tissue paper or paper towel (to use as a pressing cloth)

Total: $3.75 and up per shirt, an investment of $14.99 for the Tulip Shimmer Sheets

About the cost: Yes, its an investment to do this project, but you will be able to get several designs from one package. At this price, each glitter sheet costs about $3.75, so even if you are using one full sheet for a t-shirt, $4.75 is a great price for a shiny, happy, custom t-shirt.

Money-Saving Tip

To keep this project much cheaper per piece, I suggest the following: cut each sheet into half or even quarters before you give it to your child. If you do this, you reduce your costs to $1.87 (for half a sheet), or 94 cents (for a quarter sheet). Now that's what I call Dollar Store Crafting!!

If you use the quarter-sheet method, you will get 16 quarter-sheets, and you can do this craft with 16 kids for about $2 per person (if you get t-shirts at the dollar store). Could be a fun project for a classroom or scout group.

How to Make a Shirt with Glittery Kid Art

1. Cut sheet to desired starting size. Instruct child about the proper use of permanent markers (important if the child is young!) -- tell him the markers are only for writing on the shimmer sheet, not for writing on the table, chairs, or themselves. Protect your table surface with newspaper, if desired.

2.  Let child draw a few simple pictures or write his name or other desired words on the shiny plastic side of the shimmer sheet. This protective plastic sheet will be removed before you iron the sheets. Remember: the drawings themselves will NOT be transferred to the final design.

What to draw on your shimmer sheets

Simple line drawings and silhouettes work best. You might want to discuss with the child what they are going to draw before they start. In my case, this shirt was going to our 2 year-old son who is a huge fan of guitars. I told my 5 year-old what I wanted, and he drew to order.

For words, it can be a little bit tedious to cut out all the letters, and then to peel the protective cover off of them, so you might want to keep it to one or two words! Also, for a thicker "font", use a jumbo or fat permanent marker to make the line a bit thicker.

3.  Cut around all the black lines. Use small, sharp scissors to cut out inside lines. Nail scissors work well for this!

If you don't want to cut out ALL the lines, you can do what I did with this drawing and just cut out the important features so most of the image is filled in with glitter.

4. Figure out the placement you want on your t-shirt. While you are doing this, heat up your iron!

5. Carefully peel the protective sheet off each piece. The pieces will curl just a bit when you have removed the plastic.

6. When you are finished preparing your cutouts, cover them with a "pressing cloth." This can be a thin dishtowel, a piece of scrap fabric, or even a piece of paper. I used tissue paper because I wanted to make sure the letters had the right placement and didn't get bent when I put the pressing cloth over them.

7. Iron according to the package directions (at the appropriate temp for the fabric, press down for 40 seconds).

8. Remove the pressing cloth, and you're done!

We tried to draw guitar strings on the guitar with a permanent marker after the fact, but it didn't really work. So, just make sure you cut out any line details you want to keep.

Tulip Shimmer Sheets Review

This product is really fun to work with, and there are lots of ways you can use it. The thing I love most about it is how simple it is to work with, and the level of glitter is amazing!

Once it's ironed on: The final product is really pretty and sparkly. My boys LOVED this shirt so much that we had to immediately make one for each of them. The iron-on material is soft and pliable on the t-shirt, and feels kind of like it has soaked right into the t-shirt.

Pros:

• Easy to work with
• Very sparkly
• You can draw right onto the plastic coating, so no reversing of the image is necessary (like with some other iron-on transfer materials)
• You can cut it with scissors, craft punches, or die cutters
• Comes in a bunch of fun colors

Cons:

• The main con for me, really, is the price tag, but I came up with a money-saving tip earlier in this post, so if you follow it, the cost becomes very reasonable.
• Packs of 4 sheets have only one sheet of each color, so if you only want one specific color, you can't get it by itself.

Overall, I recommend this product. It is a blast to work with, and a VERY easy way to add glitter to textiles with no mess or stress.

Buy it at I Love To Create's Online Store: Tulip Shimmer Sheets

Disclosure: I received this product from I Love to Create as part of a paid campaign with The Blueprint Social. The project idea and opinions expressed are my own.

Now that the holidays are nothing but memories and piles of recycling, there is one important thing left to do:  send thank you notes!  Nothing lets a gift-giver know that you truly appreciated their gesture like a handmade card expressing your gratitude.  You can make your own cards even of you don't have a lot of spare crafting time with simple, creative designs.  This card uses a circle punch to make a quick and easy window in the front of the card, which you can use to express any sentiment you like, including a heartfelt "thanks."

Project estimate:

• Card stock or paper, on hand or $1
• Large circle punch, on hand or about $5 and up
• Rubber stamp, on hand or $1 and up
• Ink pad, on hand or $1
• Colored pencil (optional), on hand
• Masking tape, on hand or $1
• Glue, on hand

Total:  Free and up

Cut and fold a piece of card stock to use as the base for your card.

Decide where you want the window to be on the front of your card and use the circle punch to make a hole there.

If desired, line the inside of the card with a different paper.

Stamp your "thanks" stamp (or whatever you want to say) and use the circle punch to punch it out.  You can use the same color as the front of the card, or use a contrasting color.  Just make sure that your stamp ink will show up on the paper you choose!

Line the circle up with the hole in the front of the card, making sure the text is straight.  Use a piece of masking tape on the front of the card to keep the circle in place.

Apply glue to the back of the circle, then press the card closed.  Carefully remove the masking tape and open up the card; the circle should stay put on the inside of the card.  I also added some colored pencil to give it a little extra oomph!

Finish the card by adding a personal greeting inside.  (If the interior of your card is patterned or dark colored paper, you may want to add a lighter colored journaling block to make sure your message is easy to read.)

Let's face it, button pins make everything more awesome. I've seen street vendors and trendy hipster stores sell custom pins for a few dollars each. I figured I could make my own easily enough and would make great gifts for friends, the best part is that I can customize each button so it's personal to each recipient.

This project uses old bottle caps as the base for each pin, clear casting resin to hold the image in place and a regular safety pin to affix it to your clothes. This inexpensive and fun project is sure to delight everyone. Did I mention it's customizable? It bears repeating because it's just so amazing!

Project estimate:

• Bottle caps, free
• Resin, on hand or about $10 and up
• Safety pins, on hand or $1
• Disposable cups, on hand
• Stir sticks or popsicle sticks, on hand
• Soldering iron and solder, on hand or about $10 and up
• Sandpaper, on hand
• Scissors, on hand
• Computer and printer, on hand

Total: Free and up

I brainstormed image ideas that I thought would be easily understood at a quick glance. I scoured the internet for images and dumped them into an imaging editing software (GIMP is great free image editing tool).

In your image editing software set up a new work space with the same dimensions as standard printer paper, A4 [8.5"x11"]. The inside diameter of the bottle caps were measured at about 25mm [1"]. In the image editing software I set up a simple grid template of circles with the same diameter as my bottle caps. Accounting for printing margins I got about 8 circles across and 11 deep.

Each image I found from the internet was copied onto the circle template. I've provided the sheet I used, feel free to use it as-is or as a template for your own images.

When your template is full of images print in colour and then cut out each circle. After cutting place one circular image cut-out in each bottle cap.

I got my caps from a local bar, I asked nicely and they set aside the caps for me. After a busy weekend I had more bottle caps than I knew what to do with!

Since I got my bottle caps from a bar, they reeked of beer and regret. So, I tossed all the dirty bottle caps into a large bowl with warm, soapy water and let soak overnight. In the morning I cleaned and rinsed the caps, then left them on a towel to dry. After, I sorted out the really bend or damaged caps, and tried to re-bend all the misshapen ones.

Following the directions from the package of EasyCast, I warmed the resin and hardener bottles in warm water for a few minutes. Then I poured equal amount into separate disposable cups (exact measurements are important, do not 'eyeball'). When equal portions have been measured out, combine into one cup and stir for 2 minutes. Ensure sides, bottom and stir stick itself have been incorporated into the mixing, resin mixture must be homogeneous.

After mixing pour contents into a new clean disposable cup and mixed for another 2 minutes with a new stir stick. After secondary mixing the resin is ready to be poured. Use resin immediately, as the chemical reaction has begun once mixed and will begin to harden.

The resin was carefully poured into each bottle cap, filling only about halfway. I used about half of the resin and hardener for my 80 caps (each bottle is 4oz [120ml] and I used 2oz [60ml]). After pouring I went back with a new stir stick and poked down any images that had floated to the top or were otherwise misaligned. Allow resin to cure overnight.

After the resin has cured it's time to attach our pins. The reason this is done after the resin has been cast is that we needed the bottle caps to lie flat when casting to ensure a level surface for each pin button.

All bottle caps have a logo or image on the top, to ensure good contact for our solder each cap needs to be sanded to remove this logo, allowing the solder to have good contact. No need to sand the entire top of the cap, just a strip where the safety pin will be. Leaving some of the logo or image adds a neat bit of flair to an otherwise boring pin back.

Using fine sandpaper (100grit) or a rotary tool, sand away a strip on the back of each pin to reveal bare metal, then solder on a safety pin to the back. Repeat for each pin.
Step 6Pin to stuff

All that's left is to pin your new buttons to your favourite jacket, bag or whatever else you wear!
So, what are you going to pin your bottle cap buttons to?