Crafty Tools Part I

My friend asked what sorts of things I use the most in my craft room, so I started making a list. Here is Part I. Almost all the supplies I use have come from Michael's, JoAnn, Hobby Lobby, various Etsy sellers and Wal-Mart (mainly the Martha Stewart craft stuff). I hope this is helpful to someone.

1. A guillotine for cutting paper. Mine looks a little like this one, except I got it at Costco for about $25. It has been totally worth it. I used to have to go to Kinko's to use their guillotine.

2. Mod Podge by Plaid, which is a decoupage medium. There are several kinds (glossy, matte, shimmer, etc.), but I love the Matte finish the best. I use this stuff all the time. I want to marry it.

3. Pinking shears for cutting fabric so it doesn't fray and also great for cutting felt with a fancy edge.

4. Self-healing mat for use with a rotary cutter or craft knife. It's a rubbery mat that you can lay fabric, paper, etc., on for cutting with super sharp tools. The cuts heal and the mat stays nice.

5. Steam A Seam II double-sided fusible web. I use this for everything from applique to holding things in place to be sewn (e.g., the fabric flags on the banner I made).

6. Thread nippers for cutting little bits of thread. Mine are different than this -- they look like cuticle nippers. Warning: use only for thread, cotton fibers, etc., or they will dull and they are impossible to sharpen effectively.


7. Terrifically Tacky Tape, which I use mainly for making covered clips/barrettes, but also for sticky paper to paper, fabric to paper, and on and on. This stuff rocks.

8. A glue dot runner. There really is no better way to attach little pieces of paper to other pieces of paper. It doesn't gum things up like glue.

9. Various colors of Folk Art paint by Plaid (I swear I don't work for them, but wouldn't that be awesome!?). This is great for painting everything, especially paper and wood.



10. Fancy fabric scissors (use your 40 percent off coupon at JoAnn) that are ONLY for cutting fabric. Don't let anyone else use them for anything but fabric!

11. Tracing paper, which I use mainly for transferring embroidery patterns to fabric and copying designs from paper to paper.

12. Martha Stewart crafts platic "bone" folder from Wal-Mart. If you are making anything out of folded paper, you NEED this. Even for pre-scored DIY greeting cards, scoring again with this before folding gives you a much neater look.

Coming soon: Part II.