You have them hanging on the refrigerator, stored in boxes, or stuck between the thick pages of a big book until you have the time figure out what to do with them. These are the crayola drawings your children or grandchildren have made; the certificates and awards they have earned in school and even the programs from their school plays that you have saved to remember those special events. They are also important documents such as Marriage & Death certificates, diplomas, and career awards. You can protect these special papers and important documents from deterioration by binding them into a book.

People have been binding important documents and special papers into books for centuries. The practice of bookbinding even dates back to ancient times, when the detailed accounts of certain events were inscribed on thin stone tablets and then encased using different materials such as leather, ropes, and wooden pegs inside thicker tablets of stone to protect this information from being lost due to damaging toxins in the air, and dirt. These early bindings were the first books created.

Bookbinding occurs through the use of various methods to secure or bind together loose pages or sections of a book or booklet using stitching, staples, wire, plastic, tape, or glue. You can bind your special papers and important documents into a book using these techniques yourself or by having a professional binding service do the job for you. You can find binding services through your local print shop, your local phone directory, and online. The costs of having a professional do the binding for you will be influenced by your choice of materials used in the binding process, but these costs can be a worthwhile investment in the time and work it saves you from having to do on your own.

You will be pleased to find that there are many materials available to you to choose from for your bookbinding project. Today we have materials such as: leather, strong-bond paper, and vinyl, which are a light-weight, yet durable alternative to the heavy-weight, stone tablets of ancient times. These materials are used every day to produce the copy-back and hard-cover books that we buy to read.

If you prefer to bind your special papers and important documents into a book yourself, it is no longer required that you perform the labor-intensive task of stapling, taping, or gluing individual pages together in order to bind them into a book. Today, you can purchase a binding machine that takes the work out of bookbinding for you. These machines are capable of using different materials to bind your pages together and they are a good investment. This is especially true for those who don t want to, or who don t have the luxury of a lot of time to put towards protecting special documents by binding them into a book.

If your budget doesn t allow for the purchase of a binding machine or to have your pages bound by a professional, consider this alternative: purchase 3-ring binders with protective sleeves already in them, or use a photo album you already have and personalize your book by using stickers, decorated paper cut into different shapes, markers, crayons, and whatever else you would like. Place your important documents and special papers in the protective sleeves and then don t forget to use labels to document such important information as what, where, when, and who. Binding special papers and documents into a book, not only protects them from spills, fingerprints, and dirt; it also ensures their long-term preservation as well.

Author-Bio:
This article was produced for http://www.Lostcrafts.com , a site which is dedicated to preserving the crafts and trades of yesterday.

Have you ever found a very old family photo album, perhaps in your grandparent s house, and had no idea who the people in the photographs were? Sometimes no one remembers who they are, and a part of your family history is lost forever.

One of the most frustrating things about finding old photos or old albums is the lack of information in them. Often there is nothing to identify the photos. No names, no dates, no locations.

One way to keep that from happening with the albums that you create is to take the time to journal in them. Today, creating photo albums has become an art form known as scrapbooking. These scrapbooks are more than just photos on a page. They are family histories, meant to be handed down from generation to generation.

Journaling is important for several reasons. First of all, it will provide valuable genealogical information for future generations. Secondly, journaling is a way for you to make sure the stories of your life and your family s life are persevered. Also, it allows those with whom you share your albums to look through them without having to have you narrate through the entire album. They can take their time to browse through the album, enjoying the photos and reading the captions and stories.

What do you need to journal in your album? You need to have acid free, permanent pens that are created for scrapbooking. It s important to choose these types of pens because they are photo safe. They will not damage the surrounding photos as time passes. You may want to have pens in a variety of colors or just black. The colors you use, however, are not as important as getting the words on the page.

At the very least you should write identifying information associated with your photos. This would be people s names and who they were in relationship to you. It could be as simple as My cousin Jack White, our neighbor Bill Smith, or my co-worker and good friend Jill Jones. Identifying people with a little more information than just their names will be helpful to those looking through your albums. Other important identifying information would be dates and locations.

In addition to identifying information, many people choose to go further in their journaling. They tell stories that go along with the photographs. These can be short paragraphs that highlight what was going on or entire pages of written memories.

If you re new to journaling and unsure how to fit it into your album, try some of these tips:

Lists are great to put in an album instead of just straight paragraphs. For example, if you are doing an album for a toddler you can make lists of their favorite things food, books, toys, tv programs, songs, etc. and sprinkle them throughout the album where there are blank spaces.

Ask others to write in your albums. Get your kid s dad to write his point of view of his fourth birthday party. Have a friend you took a trip with write her thoughts on the trip.

Use poems or quotes that are appropriate to fill in some blank spaces. Have a little white space left on the page of Halloween pictures? Find a cute pumpkin poem to fill it in.

Whether you choose to simply write in the important identifying information or go a step further and tell stories with your albums, journaling will make your albums more personal. It will also leave future generations with valuable information that they will be grateful for.

Author-Bio:
This article was produced for http://www.Lostcrafts.com , a site which is dedicated to preserving the crafts and trades of yesterday.

Whether you re looking for a new way to bind your collection of scrapbooks, or are creating your own journal or personal appointment books, you ll want to know about book binding that you can do yourself. Here are a few tips and suggestions for making sure that your books look professional and presentable even if you re binding them at home.

One of the best and most stylish ways to bind your books is to use mechanical binding. Mechanical binding provides a sleek, modern line for your books, and prevents bulking no matter how many pages you have. Mechanical binding can also accommodate books that have several sections or tabs.

For smaller books, or books with thinner paper for pages, you may want to try plastic combs or spirals. This way, you can still create a new look for your scrapbooks, and make allowances for new pages with having to use paperclips or staplers. Plastic spirals will also add more security to the pages when the book is opened, so you won t have to worry about chasing missing pages every time you look through your favorite scrapbook or journal.

Basic stitching techniques for book binding include the Kettle Stitch, which is the basic link stitch you will use to connect your pages. You should also become familiar with how to stitch in between and within the cords of the book cover or pages, as well as sewing split leather or double cords together. Tools that you ll need for book binding include a drill (depending on what material you ll want to use for the front and back covers of your book), tapestry needles, a utility knife, a pencil, and a clean, flat surface to work on.
Before you start the book binding process, it may be a good idea to learn the basics about book binding from a few professionals, so that you ll know what to do at home. Printing companies and bookstores often have tips and pointers for those who want to bind their own books at home, and you ll also be able to learn which materials and techniques work best for the style of book binding you want to use on your books. With a little practice, you can give your books an authentic feel, with Renaissance and Gothic styles, and you can even find instructions and visual aids online that will help.

Once you get the hang of book binding, you ll want to create a number of different books for your personal or home office use, and you can even make photo albums to store family memories. Book binding is a great way to make sure that your most prized materials are preserved in a way that you would be proud of. You may even want to have your books embossed, so that you can label them in an appealing way. Many of the supplies that you ll need can be found at your local craft store, or even at certain thrift or consignment stores in your area.

Author-Bio:
This article was produced for http://www.Lostcrafts.com , a site which is dedicated to preserving the crafts and trades of yesterday.

Every weekend, nearly 600 craft shows take place around the U.S. that’s around 30,000 a year offering more than 10,000 full-time craftspeople a place to sell their craft show items. According to a National Endowment for the Arts survey, nearly 70 million people attend craft shows annually.

Now, you’ve selected the craft you want to produce, you’ve started production, you’ve tested prices and set up your business. You’re ready to take your craft show items on the road. In order to do that, you need to decide where you will test your wares. Initially, many new crafters begin with local one-day shows that cost under $100 to enter and require no prior jury selection. This means anyone can enter as space allows. This is where you will get your feet wet, iron out the kinks in your product and learn the ropes of “hiccraft show” business! It’s preferable to make mistakes when you’re paying a $25 entry fee and no travel expenses than when you’re paying several hundred or even several thousand dollars to attend and even more for motels, gas and meals.

Although there are wholesale as well as retail craft shows, we will address retail craft shows only. In a wholesale show you are selling your craft at about half of the retail price to buyers who are looking for products for their stores or galleries. You have to sell larger quantities to make up for the lower price, so you may wish to do this down the road when you are more seasoned.

Wholesale craft shows might be a good option for you if you have a way to make your craft show item efficiently and with a good amount of quality. You can make money with your crafts by selling them to larger vendors, and having them peddle them in other craft shows, or even in their studios or stores.

The retail craft shows come in every shape and size, from church bazaars with 20 booths to the Harvest Festival with hundreds of vendors. The attendance varies as well from several thousand at a one-day local craft show, to several hundred thousand at state fairs. How do you decide where to sell your precious products made with your tender loving care? Various factors will affect your decision, such as the type of craft show, the types of products at the show, the types of customers the show attracts, how vendors are selected, the type of promoter in charge of the show, where the craft show is located, the costs to enter and probably a few more. This doesn’t make your job of selecting shows any easier. It’s just one part of your business you will improve on as you learn and grow.

Author-Bio: Natalie Goyette shows you how to make your craft show business profitable in her best selling ebook: Craft Show Success Secrets. Visit her site: http://www.craftshowsuccess.com

There are many ways to market your soaps and homemade bath products. I have found that giving free samples is one of the best methods for getting new customers for my soaps.

You can cut 16 samples from one basic 4 oz. bar of soap by cutting the bar into 8 pieces, then cutting those pieces in half. Next, place a piece of the soap in a small craft bag (you can get these at Stores in the Crafts section) and label it with your business information using regular Avery mailing labels.

To distribute your samples, place them in attractive baskets and visit a few non-competing stores to see if they will let you leave your baskets on their counters.

You can also staple these to your business cards, and hand them out as you normally would a business card.

Yet another method that works better than the above two would be to make what are called fish bowls and leave these at area businesses. To make a fish bowl, first print out some cards for customer s information such as name, address and phone number. Next, purchase a few containers that are clear, and that has a secure lid on them, that are about the size of a regular fish bowl. Some people actually use fish bowls, but I have found this causes problems because the fish bowls break easily, and cannot be closed to prevent theft of your customer s information.

Now take the lid of your container, and cut a slot that is big enough for your slips of paper that you printed off earlier to slip into when they are folded in half. Secure your lid onto your container with tape and then cover the tape with attractive ribbon.

Next, make a sign stating that anyone that enters your drawing for a free whatever will receive a free soap sample in the mail. The whatever can be a gift certificate from the store that lets you place your fish bowls on their counters (this helps promote the store, thus making the store owner more agreeable to letting you use their counter space), or it can be a few bars of soap from your inventory or both

Next, locate stores that do not mind sharing some of their counter space with you. This is where you’ll place your fish bowls.

Although this method costs a bit more because you are offering a prize, and because you will need to mail your samples, it also produces better results than by just handing out samples.

You will get potential customers addresses and phone numbers, when you mail your sample you can also include information about your products, and you can also send them a follow up mailing asking for their input on how well they liked your sample. This information can be very valuable towards the growth of your business.

You can also package samples of your bath salts and scrubs in the small zip lock bags as well, and use these instead if you do not make soap.

Paul is Head of Training for a major UK Charitable Organisation with a wealth of experience in personal development, management development, e-learning and operational management. In addition he owns PK eBooks (http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk) and has just published a Guide to Making Soaps and Candles which can be found at http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk/making_soaps_and_candles.htm

Artists, craftspeople and photographers are successfully selling their wares everyday on the online auction site, eBay. According to a recent analysis of eBay sales, a crafts-related item is sold every nine seconds, a scrapbook item is sold every minute, and 40 cross-stitch items sell in an hour on eBay. Sales of craft items on eBay have grown almost 60 percent in the past year, according to TheBidFloor.com.

But, at the same time, many would be sellers are listing their pieces for sale on auctions and getting no bids, concluding that eBay just doesn’t work.

Here are some tips from James Dillehay, craft artist, eBay seller and author of the new book, “Sell Your Crafts on eBay” (Warm Snow Publishers), on how to profitably sell your wares online:

1. A word’s spelling impacts an item’s profitability. For example, the word ‘handmade,’ spelled as one word, was part of 2,233 auction titles with an average closing price of $16.29. However, auction titles that included ‘hand made’ as two words were found in 1,358 listings, but with an average auction closing price higher, at $27.81, or $11.52 more profit per item.

2. Go to eBay.com and find the search box. Type in the word or phrase that describes your art or craft item. Then scroll down the links on the left side of the page and click on the link for “completed items.” Here, you’ll be able to see the demand for this type of product. Do searches for your items every two to three weeks
to chart buying patterns.

3. Find out how much people are willing to pay for your wares. Click on the link that says “highest price.” This will give you a list of completed auctions from highest priced items to lowest priced ones. You want to know what people are willing to pay for items like yours. If you can’t make and sell your product for a profit, eBay might not be your marketplace.

4. Determine how much money you’ll make on your product. To determine your profitability, use the cost of your materials plus the cost of your labor plus the cost of your selling price, which should be the minimum price to recover your expenses. If it takes you eight hours to make a piece of jewelry and the highest priced similar item sells on eBay for $26, you won’t make a profit.

5. Look at the elements of successful sellers of products that are similar to yours. Examine their winning auction titles. Observe how much detail they use to describe their item. See if the seller used any of eBay’s special features such as gallery photos or a bold, featured listing. Evaluate the starting price, starting day of the week, and duration of winning auctions.

For more tips on how to sell your craft items on eBay, consult a resource book like “Sell Your Crafts on eBay,” by James Dillehay. It offers-more than 200 easy-to-learn tactics and tips that help sell art, craft and theme-related items for a profit on eBay and on other online auction Web sites.

Author-Bio: James Dillehay is a 20 year crafts veteran and nationally recognized expert on craft business. Author of eight books, his articles have helped readers of Family Circle, Better Homes & Gardens, Country Almanac, Working Mothers, The Crafts Report, Sunshine Artist, and many other magazines. For more information, see www.craftmarketer.com.

Looking for a simple, versatile scrapbooking idea that can make your pages interesting and great looking? Try using the color wheel that you learned about in grade school to design well-coordinated eye-pleasing pages that really shine. The simple color theories that you learned in grade school can serve you very well in scrapbooking today, and after reviewing the basics you ll be ready to create an unlimited number of great looking pages.

Remember the color wheel? Colors arranged in a circle, similar to a rainbow, and all of the colors related? Red combines with yellow to make orange, yellow and blue combine to make green, and red and blue make purple, remember? Visit your local craft store and invest in a simple color wheel to get you going. Most of the art departments will have one, and EK Success now makes a fancy one just for scrapbooking. Any color wheel will allow you to use these simple ideas.

Let your picture be your guide in choosing a color scheme for your page. Choose one color from the photograph to be your key color. It may be a color from a flower in the foreground, or the color of the shirt your child is wearing. Whatever you choose, it will be the starting point for your color themed page design.

The first color scheme is monochromatic. Say you ve chosen the blue of your son s eyes. Since every color comes in many values, choose two or three additional values of the blue color you want to use. You may choose one lighter value and one darker value, or two lighter or darker values, it s up to you. Now do all of your work on the page in these three colors. The result will be restful, calming and cohesive. Your page will be pleasing to the eye and stylish, no matter how you accessorize.

Choosing two or three adjoining colors is called an analogous color scheme. These combinations tend to be either warm (from the red side of the color wheel) or cool (from the blue side of the color wheel). They are pleasing to the eye, restful and attractive. Certain combinations lend themselves very well to different themes as well. Consider a combination of red, orange yellow and orange for a striking fall layout, or a combination of icy blues and purples for a frosty winter page.

The third basic type of color scheme is complimentary. Choosing colors across the wheel from each other creates contrast and is a good way to make the items on your page stand out. On a blue page, mat the photos in orange and use orange toned accents and your details will really stand out. Red and green are also complimentary, another reason that those Christmas pages are usually so striking. Every color on the color wheel has a compliment. Consider basing your page on one color and accent with its compliment for a striking, impressive effect.

The basics of color theory that we learned in grade school are worth reviewing when you re looking for ideas to get started on your next scrapbook page. Invest in a color wheel and put those great papers to work for you!

Author-Bio: Jay Moncliff is the founder of http://www.scrapbookingcenter.info a website specialized on Scrapbooking, resources and articles. This site provides updated information on Scrapbooking.

The requirements for your booth will be spelled out in your contract for each show. This includes set up and break down times and policies to which you must adhere. In order to avoid having to have different displays for different shows, it makes sense to create a moveable display that will work well in the majority of situations both for indoor and outdoor events. Even if the promoter supplies a backdrop, a rug or tables, you can bring your whole set-up and use it instead. Your display is your portable store, and since it reflects you and your product, you want it to be outstanding! A display that creates the best presentation for your crafts can make a huge difference in how well you sell your crafts.

Because you and your booth will be constant traveling companions, make sure it’s light yet sturdy, easily collapsible and just as easy to erect. You need to be prepared for wind, rain and bratty children running around knocking into display poles! Your booth may continuously evolve, and it may take years to find the best set up, only to find colors and trends changing, or your products developing and the whole look of your booth needing a facelift. As a creative person, have fun with your booth and allow your skills as a craftsperson to spill over into booth creation and display. If you need help with the construction, ask male friends or family members for assistance and ask female friends for help with display ideas. (Or vice versa as the case may be.)

A professional display marks you as a professional and enhances your products to promote optimum sales. Basically you want the space to be comfortable for you and customers. You want it to be inviting, making customers feel welcome enough to cross over the threshold that separates the lookers from the buyers. It should be comfortable for you too, as you will be in it for days on end. It also needs to be attractive, yet well organized for a 10 X 10 space (or slightly larger in some cases). Use of colorful signs, banners and accessories attract people and enhance your craft items, hopefully encouraging visitors to pick them up.

Use colors that follow a theme or complement the predominant colors or style of your products. Red, white and blue would be a good theme for country items, while black and silver would be a more contemporary look. Each craft style will dictate the best overall look for your display. You also need to have an area for doing business taking money, wrapping and writing receipts as well as a space for storage. If that sounds like a tall order, it is! That’s why it may take a while to get it right. Observe other booths and record what you like and don’t like. Then take the best of the best and incorporate those ideas into your booth.

The entrance to the booth is critical. It’s the make or break point for drawing a potential customer in. Experiment until you find the best mix of color, signage, banners, spacing and product display that works best to get people in “the door.” Booth openings should be wide enough to allow several people in, and you should never stand out front or in the entry obstructing the flow. Have your bestsellers, lowest priced or most striking products closest to the entrance so you can optimize the five seconds you have to capture the potential buyer’s attention!

Your booth sets a mood that is immediately picked up by shoppers passing by. Make sure it sets the right mood to interest people in stopping to take a look at your amazing crafts. Have the products in as natural setting as possible, that is, if you have home décor items, create a homey environment. If you create baskets, fill them with what people would naturally fill them with and vary this throughout the year based on seasons and holidays. If you produce jewelry items, have earrings and necklaces on mannequins to see how they would look, and have plenty of mirrors for customers to try things on.

Display objects at eye level or slightly higher, but not on the ground. Have multiple levels of display for greater visual appeal. Hanging products should not obstruct views or be a hazard to a customer walking through your space. Place your crafts so they are easily accessible and so customers will feel comfortable picking them up and not afraid they will break something or mess up a “perfect” display. Statistics reveal people are four times more likely to make a purchase when they have touched the item.

Booth design, product display and merchandising must all be carefully planned out as part of your overall sales strategy. Once you commit to taking your craft from pastime to profits, you become a professional businessperson and creating a quality booth and stunning display will be worth the effort in increased profits.

Author-Bio: Natalie Goyette shows you how to make your craft show business profitable in her best-selling e-book: Craft Show Success Secrets Visit her site at www.craftshowsuccess.com

If there is one way to throw a new light on your home, it’s through the stained glass you put in your windows. Whether you want to enhance old windows by replacing some of the panes, or are complementing the new Pella windows you’ve installed, stained glass can lend an air of grace and quiet elegance to a room.

Where and how you incorporate stained glass into a window treatment depends a great deal on the style of windows you have, and what you want to spend to achieve that multi- colored glow.

In an older home that has wood framed windows with six or nine panes, it’s possible to take out the upper row of glass, and replace those panes with new ones cut from older stained glass that can be salvaged from yard sales, flea markets and auctions.

New stained glass that is handmade, can be quite costly due to the craftsmanship that goes into it. That’s why cutting old panels of stained glass is a cost-effective alternative, that can give you several panes from one sheet. Even if the glass has small cracks or separations in the colored sections, they are easily repaired.

If you have installed a Pella casement window in your kitchen, a semi-circle of stained glass framed and set into the wall over top, will add jewel tones to the warmth of morning sunlight. Or you might choose to replace the entire bathroom window with stained glass, making it a decorative way to preserve your privacy.

The old and the new can come together in harmony. Take a look at your home and consider whether you’d like to warm up the house with stained glass, or combine it with the sophistication of new Pella windows. It’s a pairing guaranteed to create a unique new look.

Author-Bio: Sarah Peters works at home, and spends most of her free time on various home improvement tasks. Over a few years, she had all her house windows replaced. In this series of articles, she shares her experience and advice.

Christmas table decorations for those one of a kind Christmas parties are fun and easy to make. If you do plan on making your own Christmas table decorations, they can be time consuming and if you have a dozen or so tables to decorate, you need help!

It depends on the type of Christmas party you will be hosting, the atmosphere you wish to provide and the style you want to showcase. If you re having a Christmas party for children, simple centerpieces with take home accents will do but if it s an elegant grown up Christmas party, your Christmas table decorations will probably be elegant and traditional.

If you re indeed hosting a Christmas party for children, be as creative as you wish. A good idea is to decorate using styrofoam balls. They are inexpensive, usually around five dollars at the craft store and they are sold in bags of single sizes or mixed sizes. With some non-toxic craft paint, some glue on eyeballs and seed beads, you can turn a ball into an adorable snowman or an ornament fit for the tree.

The best way to make a snowman who will actually stand up straight is to cut a small circular piece of thick cardboard, using a thin bamboo stick put a hole in the center and allow the stick to stand. Take one of the largest styrofoam balls and slide it down the bamboo stick to the base of the cardboard, then repeat with a medium sized ball and then a small one for the snowman s head. Decorate with your imagination!

To give the illusion of bright ornamental balls, either paint or spray paint the different sizes of the styrofoam balls and roll them in glitter. Add stripes and stencil on stars or snowflakes to make them unique. Use a paper clip to secure a ribbon for hanging.

For adult parties, sometimes more design effects should be used to create the perfect Christmas table decoration. Start with the other decorations in the room, the theme and go with it. Start with the tablecloth if it s country style then use a bright flannel topper or Christmas colors like red, green, gold, silver or white. If the room is dim, consider adding lighting elements on some of the tables.

One beautiful way is by adding floating candles in dyed water.

At your local discount store in the craft section there are beautiful glass and plastic bowl options to choose from and the average price for a small to mid sized piece is about a dollar and a half or three dollars for the larger ones. Fill the bowls ¾ full, add food coloring and stir in your desired color. Packages of floating tealites or votive candles are about five dollars for a twenty-four pack and when lit in a darkened area, they appear so elegant.

Confetti sprinkled around the bowls on the tables in holiday colors with twirls of ribbon adds just the right finishing touch.

Another idea is to make your own crystal balls using etching solution; you can even purchase festive stencils to etch. Using the same bowls turned upside down with a small candle with do the trick as long as they are sitting on a base that allows air to flow for the flame. To make a fitting base with the look of gold foiling, without the cost or the time, use aluminum foil and gold craft paint. Wad up the aluminum foil to give it a crinkled appearance and carefully open it up to its original size. On a flat surface lightly paint gold accents all over the shiny silver side of the aluminum foil. Two oblong wooden blocks, also available for pennies at the craft store will do the job when wrapped and placed beneath the crystal ball. Finish off the look with small gift boxes wrapped in multi designed Christmas wrapping paper or foil with a hidden dinner mint for each guest at the table.

Christmas table decorations are a must for any Christmas holiday party and the guests will be astounded with the creations. These are all easy and they don t take much time to put together. Make your party unforgettable using simple elements for your Christmas table decorations and explore the creative aspect of Christmas décor in it s many forms.

Author-Bio: Johann Erickson is a writer for such sites as Online Discount Mart (http://www.onlinediscountmart.com) and TV Products 4 Less (http://www.tvproducts4less.com)