23 Practically Free Crafts

Making over plain cotton upholstery fabric requires nothing more than a household disinfectant and water. Working outside, and wearing protective eyewear and gloves, lay the desired yardage for your project flat on a sheet of plastic. In a measuring cup, mix together ½ cup bleach and ½ cup water. Use a plastic spoon to drib-ble the liquid all over the fabric. When you're satisfied with the pattern, let dry, then run the fabric through a regular cycle in your washer and dryer. Take it to a local upholsterer (we sent ours to tapemeasure
design.com)—or use it however you'd like.

This witty set starts with plain ceramic dishes (for similar cup and saucer set, $4.99, and teapot, $9.89; english
teastore.com). To get the show on the road, freehand the tea bag, tag, and spoon designs, using our image as a guide, with Pebeo's Porcelaine fine-point marker ($4.82; dickblick.com). Don't worry if you make a mistake—the ink can be washed away for up to 72 hours. Allow at least 24 hours' drying time, then bake the items for 35 minutes in a 300°F oven. Let cool completely, and wash (the ink's dishwasher safe!) before brewing up a spot of Earl Grey.

The hunt for cool earrings ends here.

Invest in a jewelers' hole punch, and you can churn out these wildly fashionable danglers in seconds. Use the punch to create an opening in each brass arrow's feathered end, as shown. Then loop an earring wire through the hole and bend the wire shut with needle-nose pliers. Bull's-eye!

YOU HAVE:
Needle-nose pliers

YOU'LL NEED:
Euro Punch 1.25 mm ($18.49, amazon.com)
2 brass arrows ($0.80 each, metalliferous.com)
Earring wires ($9.99 for 100, amazon.com)

Refocus plain ceramic tiles as snappy coasters.

Blogger Brittany Moser of darkroomanddearly.com made these Polaroid-inspired drink rests from color photos and square tiles (a steal at 15 cents apiece). First, trim a photo to 3 3/4"W x 3 1/4"H. Using a foam brush, spread Mod Podge on the back of the image; then position it on a tile, leaving a 1/4-inch border at the top and sides, and a 3/4-inch border at the bottom. Let dry for 30 minutes. Spread Mod Podge over the photo and exposed tile borders and let dry for one hour; repeat two to three more times. Spray with clear sealant and let dry for 24 hours. Finally, affix adhesive felt pads to the underside corners of your picture-perfect tiles.

YOU HAVE:
Color photographs
Scissors

YOU'LL NEED:
2" foam brush ($0.47, amazon.com)
Mod Podge, 8 oz. ($7.98, amazon.com)
5 (4"-square) ceramic tiles ($0.15 each, lowes.com)
Krylon Crystal Clear spray, 6 oz. ($6.61, amazon.com)
Waxman 3/8" adhesive felt pads ($2.98, amazon.com)

A fresh plotline for a used book: storing a remote!

Unlike Downton Abbey, your clunky clicker isn't exactly a must-see. So stash the eyesore in a book: You'll need one at least two inches longer and 1/4 inch deeper than your remote control.

Step 1: Open the book's back cover. Using a foam brush, coat the inside cover and facing page with school glue. Close the book and press down firmly for 10 seconds.

Step 2: Open the book's front cover. Coat the entire stack of pages—all three exposed sides—with school glue, taking care not to get any on the topmost page. Let dry for one hour; repeat. Close the book, weight it with a second book, and let dry overnight.

Step 3: Open the front cover, center your remote on the first page, and trace around it with a pencil, adding 1/4 inch all the way around. Set the remote aside. With an X-Acto knife, cut along the marked line, removing two to three pages at a time. Continue until your remote fits deeply inside.

Step 4: Cut a piece of ribbon that's half the length of your book plus five inches. Trim one end into a fork; dot hot glue on the opposite end, and affix it in the bottom-center of the hollowed-out area—this "bookmark" will lift out your neatly disguised device.

YOU HAVE:
Old book
School glue
Remote control
Pencil
X-Acto knife
Scissors
Hot glue

YOU'LL NEED:
2" foam brush ($0.47, amazon.com)
9-mm ribbon ($1.59 per yard, mjtrim.com)

Transform a basic shade with paint sticks.

Those hardware-store stirrers can do more than just blend semigloss. Instead, use them to ring any cylindrical shade that's up to 14 inches tall.

Step 1: Measure the circumference of your shade to determine how many paint sticks you'll need. Each one is approximately 1"W, so for our 40"-circumference lampshade, we used 40 sticks.

Step 2: String up a length of twine with a drop cloth underneath. Dunk the unnotched end of one stick into a can of semigloss paint (we used Benjamin Moore's Cedar Grove). Secure the unpainted end to the twine with a clothespin. Repeat with remaining sticks, varying the heights of the paint lines. Let dry for four hours.

Step 3: Place your lampshade upside down on a flat surface. Apply a line of hot glue along the length of one stick's back side, and adhere it to the lampshade, placing the notched handle end flush against the top edge (the ends of the sticks may extend past your shade's bottom edge). Repeat with remaining sticks, placing them side by side until the lampshade is covered. Finally, flip it over and position your shade on a pendant- or table-lamp base to really brighten a room.

YOU HAVE:
Plain cylindrical lampshade (if you don't have one, try the White Swag Style Plug-In Chandelier, $99.99, lampsplus.com)
Twine
Drop cloth
Clothespins
Hot glue

YOU'LL NEED:
40 stir sticks, 14" ($0.37, amazon.com)
Semigloss paint, 16 oz. ($6.99, benjaminmoore.com)

We spotted these sporty toppers at our Country Living Fair in Columbus, Ohio — then persuaded vendor Shannon Vance, of Stash Style, to share how she and pal Robin Sweeney created them.

First, use a drill to make a 1/8-inch-wide hole halfway down into a new cork ($3.99 for 30; winemakingsuperstore.com). Next, twist off the top of a vintage trophy (typically a few bucks each at thrift shops and garage sales). Apply superglue to the underside of the trophy top's base and the screw that extends from it. Insert the screw into the cork and twist the pieces together until flush and a tight bond forms. Allow one hour of drying time before using your prize design.