Craft a Crossword Puzzle Fan

Croosword-puzzle fan.

Crossword-Puzzle Fan Pulls Lettered Strips to Find Words

      Here's a clever gadget that will help anyone in solving crossword puzzles as it is based on the fact that it is easier for most people to see combinations of letters than it is to imagine them. Twenty-six strips of tough paper, each lettered from A to Z, are slipped next to each other in a holder which has a slotted face through which any selected arrangement of letters can be seen. The width of the strips should be such that they can be slid back and forth individually in the holder.

• "Born on Christmas Day" Crossword
•  Amazing Crossword Puzzle Secrets
• "Crosswords" short film

Make a Ladies' Crocheted Hood

This pattern first published in 1916.

Material

Columbia Heather Yarn

3 balls No. 301

Columbia Worsted Knitting Yarn

1 hank Bottle Green

1 Bone Crochet Hook No.3

1 large Button

Instructions No. 1

   Starting at the top, with brown yarn make a chain of 71 stitches.

   Row 1 - Work 1 Sg. C. in first stitch, * 1 D. C. in next stitch, 1 Sg. C. in next stitch, repeat from * to end of row, chain 1, turn.

   Row 2 - * 1 Sg. C.  on top of D. C. of preceding row and 1 D. C. on top of Sg. C. of preceding row, taking up the whole stitch, repeat from * to end of row, chain 1, turn.

    Repeat row 2 until you have 6 rows brown.

   Row 7 - With green yarn work 1 Sg. C. in each stitch, taking up the whole stitch, chain 1, turn.

   Row 8 - With green yarn work 1 Sg. C. in each stitch, taking up the back loop to form a rib. Repeat these 8 rows until you have 6 brown stripes and 5 green stripes. * With green yarn take up 35 stitches, repeat pattern, decreasing 1 stitch at each end every 4th row until there are 6 brown stripes and 6 green stripes, there should be 9 stitches left, finish end with a loop of 8 chain, work 10 Sg. C. on loop, now repeat from * on the other side of hood, sew hood together at the top and with brown yarn work a row of Sg. C. all around, with green yarn finish with picot edge.

   Form 2 pleats at the top where hood is sewed and finish with button, the ends of the cap are crossed at the back and held with the loops over the button.

• Harlequin Hoodie and Fox Hoodie for little ones
• Snowflake hooded cape for baby, so sweet!
• Pinecone Cowl & Infinity Scarf for the ladies

Make This Nostalgic Circus Elephant Seat

Illustration of the completed elephant seat.

       Your small child will take pride in possessing this gaily colored chair, and anyone can make it with a scroll saw and a screwdriver. All parts are cut from 1/2 -in. plywood and assembled with flat-head screws. These should be countersunk carefully and puttied over. The chair looks nice with the elephants finished in light gray and the blankets painted on with a darker gray and bordered with brilliant orange.  

• Antique and Vintage Elephants
• Make a paper mache baby elephant sculpture
• 'Knit your own zoo' elephant
• Happy Elephants and dogs

Enlarge elephant blueprint to scale.

Personalize a Handcrafted Tie Rack for Dad

      Using enlargements of favorite photos, you can make these tie racks for yourself, and they will be appreciated as gifts by your friends. A photo of the head and shoulders is glued to 1/4-in. plywood and then cut out with a jig saw. When finished, the photo should be about 7 in. high. If desired, silhouettes can be substituted for photos. In this case, the outline of a photo is traced directly on the wood, which is then sawed to shape and painted black. The rack for the ties is a block of 3/4-inch hardwood cut as shown and screwed to the plywood back near the lower edge. L-hooks to hold the ties are then driven into the edge of the hardwood piece.

• Tie Rack Tutorial from Poppies at Play
• Keep Your Ties In Tip Top Shape from artofmanliness
• How To Tie A Windsor Knot (so manly)

Build This Sailboat Lamp for A Child's Room

Process of putting the pieces together shown in
 the above illustration.

      "LIGHT UP" with this novel sailboat lamp means "Port your helm," with the rudder arm and rudder, which controls the toggle switch to turn the light on and off. The light itself is enclosed within a parchment shade, which is shaped around wire frames at top and bottom to resemble a ship's sail. Most of the construction concerns the hull of the boat. As shown in Left, the bottom part of the boat is a separate piece, while the upper part and the cabin are cut from a single thickness of 2-in. stock. By band sawing the deck line carefully, the cabin will fit into place perfectly. Shaping of the hull sides is accomplished by simply tilting the band-saw table to an angle of 83 degrees. A few strokes with a plane will round off the forward sections. After shaping the outside of the hull, the pieces can be taken apart and the necessary cutouts made for the cockpit switch and wires, as shown. It is advisable to make a full-size plan of second picture below, erecting the station lines on 2-in. centers, before commencing the actual construction.

      The sail is made from parchment paper, which may be purchased flat or cut from a discarded shade. It is laced around wire loops at the top and the bottom, and then can be laced to the 1/2-in. dowel which serves as a mast. The jib sail is merely a

triangular piece of parchment, cut to the size shown, and suspended on a string running from the mast to the bow of the boat. The boom and the gaff are made easily, and add to the sailboat motif while helping to hold the shade securely in place.

      The last illustration shows the switch detail. This is made by slotting the arm of a small toggle switch so that the brass rudder can be soldered in place. The rudder arm, which is made of 1/8-inch brass, is soldered to the rudder, the whole unit serving as the light switch. The light socket is carried on a 1/8 inch by 3-inch pipe nipple, which is held to the base of the hull by means of two locknuts. The pipe is cut near the lower end to allow the wires to be connected with the switch.

Plywood template, draw to scale before starting your projects.

       Additional finishing touches can be added if desired, such as port holes, a small anchor, mooring line, etc. As shown in the heading photo, the hull is done in white pine with a colorful lacquer finish. A varnish finish on hardwood would make up nicely also. The lead in the lower part of the hull makes the lamp "stay put," but could be omitted if desired. The bottom should be covered with felt to prevent the wood from marring polished surfaces.

Wiring and Switch Detail.

• Fun Nautical Baby or Toddlers Room Ideas
• 18 Boat Crafts for Kids To Make!
• Handmade Christmas Stockings with a Beach and Nautical Theme Large and Scented Mini's
• Boat Crafts for Kids
• DIY Sea Shell Star Ornament
• Handmade Pearl Ornament from The Sea
• Crafting With Driftwood for Christmas
• Craft a paper octopus clock with your little ones
• Design and craft a sailor's Valentine
• Make an entire school of "Rainbow Fish" from paper plates; then, hang them from a nautical tree.

Craft a Prairie Schooner Mail Box

      Can lids for wheels, and four cut-outs of horses hitched to one end give this rural mailbox the novel appearance of a prairie schooner. The box is mounted on two wood blocks, which are supported by a 1 by 6-in. board nailed to the top of a post, the wheels being pivoted on nails driven into the bottom of the box. Horses, tongue and doubletrees are 1/4-inch wood, while the harness is strips of leather. The assembly is painted in appropriate color's.

• Design colorful, artistic mailboxes!
• Mission styled mailboxes
• Sherwood creative mailbox toppers

6 Different Decorative Doorbell Plates to Craft

Click to see a much larger image.

      If you have a flush- type doorbell push button which guests find hard to locate, especially in the dark, an ornamental cutout placed around it will overcome the trouble and add a novel touch to the doorway. Several designs of cutouts for this purpose are shown here as suggestions, or you can make one to suit your own fancy. You can use just one piece of metal, or you can obtain contrast by mounting the cut-out on a plate of different metal, as for instance aluminum or brass over copper or iron painted black. Simple silhouettes in hammered iron, painted black, are very effective against , light-colored surfaces. The work can be done with a hand coping saw or on a power scroll saw. All edges and corners of the plate are carefully rounded with a file before starting on the paint job, or in the case of brass or copper, you polish the metal first and then apply a coat of clear lacquer. 

• Doorbell cover from NikkiDanielDesigns - love it.
• Miss Molly's Mosaic Doorbell Covers