OTHER ARTS & CRAFTS STUFF

And we did it ourselves with this self-healing cutting mat. It's hard rubber and no, we don't know how it heals itself, but it does. Measures 11-3/4" x 8-3/4" x 1/8" thick., it's marked in 1/8" and 5mm increments and 1/2" squares, with lines for 45° and 60° cuts.

Take these (250) little translucent beads into the sunlight and they burst into assorted colors faster than you can say "assorted colors." How do they do it? Well, they're UV-reactive, that's how. Mostly pink, purple, rose, yellow and cream and they fade to a nice pearly color inside. Amaze your friends at picnics. Beads measure 5/16" dia x 1/4" with a 5/32" bore. Come with classroom application notes.

One of your favorites is back! Make your own custom clock in a tick with this quartz movement. It's in a 2-3/16" square x 5/8" thick black-plastic case. Comes with black minimalistic hour and minute hands and a red second hand, the latter (2) of which will extend out 2" from the clock's center; the shaft measures 5/16" Dia. and 1/2" long, but the max. thickness of material it will work through is 3/16". Now offering two ways to mount with the included double-sided foam adhesive and metal bracket with hanging hook. You supply (1) "AA" battery and the clock face.

The secret is ceramics. This newly redesigned 5-1/2" long precision cutter has a ceramic point that's as sharp as an X-actly knife, stays sharp 11x longer than steel, never rusts, is non-conductive, non-magnetic, non-sparking, chemically inert and is easier to maneuver in intricate cutting patterns. Cuts paper, card stock and more easily while being finger-friendly. Pencil-style ambidextrous durable nylon handle with a textured anti-slip grip and no-roll oval design has a cap and now features a replaceable blade. A boon for crafters, and a blessing for junior crafters.

Very popular with elementary school teachers, these hardcover blank books let students create their own storybooks. (Middle-schoolers interviewing and making books for primary grade kids is a popular and civilizing project.) Also great for sketching, journaling or scrapbooking. Pure white blank covers with (14) sheets (28 pages) of 80-lb blank paper inside with a sewn-in binding. You pick the 6” x 8” books or the 8-1/2” x 11” versions.

This Bead Basics™ kit clocks in at 9.69 ounces, which means it’s a substantial collection of round glass beads and cylinders, approx 1/4” to 1/2” each, all with pre-drilled holes. Use them for jewelry, mosaics, or collages, or just pour them into a nice glass container (we have a bunch of those) and call it décor.

The Clay People were all gray in Flash Gordon’s world, but this 24-piece set of modeling clay comes in (24) colors, including the non-rainbowish black, white and gray because a lot of stuff is, after all, those colors. Pieces are 2/3-oz and 3/8” x 1/2” x 3-3/8" long sticks. And they’re gluten-free--says so right on the box.

Display art, directions, warnings, photographs, sheet music and sundry other stuff on this sturdy tabletop folding easel. Measures 13-1/2” tall, or 20” with the swiveling arm extensions, and the tripod base opens to 15” wide and 15” back. In black painted metal, it folds to approx 16” x 3” x 2-1/2”.

You certainly could, but these oversized pipe cleaners are actually indispensable craft items. Our each is a pack of (100) 12" long x 1/4" dia chenilles in a dozen assorted colors, including some neons.

So you can decorate it, you crafty thing. This tan-colored papier mache mask is 8-3/8" tall x 5-3/8" wide at the eyes, pretty much the size of your average human face. The side curves around so the mask is 1-3/8" deep. The material is 1/32" thick and very sturdy. Not crafty? Left unpainted, the mask has a certain spooky charm.

This potter's tool set has (10) two-headed tools, 7" to 9" long, with wooden handles, plus (1) knurled aluminum brush. The (21) heads include blades, spades, brushes, scrapers, drills and many more. Very nice set. Equally handy for other crafts, including carving and print-making.

Been to any BYOJ parties lately? Yeah, the Build Your Own Jewelry bashes can get pretty wild. Good thing you can build yours in the safety and solitude of your bedroom with this Earring Starter Pack. Includes all the must-have silver hardware that form the foundation of your baubles. Comes with (136) pieces and makes (9) sets of earrings. All you add is the beauty. ! WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD–Small Parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.

Been to any BYOJ parties lately? Yeah, the Build Your Own Jewelry bashes can get pretty wild. Good thing you can build yours in the safety and solitude of your bedroom with this Necklace Starter Pack. Includes all the must-have silver hardware that form the foundation of your baubles. Comes with (119) pieces and makes (5) necklaces. All you add is the beauty.

Your long boring cable-tie nightmare is over. Celebrate with these novelty zippees. All come in six-packs and are 5-3/4” long x 3/32” with an 18-lb limit. You pick: the dinosaur ties feature (2) each of blue brachiosauri, green velociraptors and purple pterodactyls; the Star ties have 1-1/4” stars on the ends--(2) each in red, white, and blue.

Take this one. It's a craft punching tool. Bolt one of the (3) included hole punch attachments—all small but with differing depths—onto the flexible metal arm, put the punchee underneath, and give the arm a smack. The arm is mounted on an 11” long x 1-1/2” wide x 3/4” thick base, which will be, for reasons mysterious, in a floral or butterfly pattern. We'll pick.

We wouldn’t suggest starting your own soda company with this package of (14) silver bottle caps, but they’re good for a lot of other things. Measure approx 1/2” dia, and unlike the caps you pop off bottles, these have a perfect shiny crome on all sides and in every nook and cranny. Use them for folk art projects, or crafts, or in dioramas or dollhouses as pie tins or serving trays.

Sometimes fun is like anything else—if want it done right, you have to do it yourself. The Gravity Sand kit is a bag of special sand and a 3-piece mold to make 1-1/2” x 1/2” lego-ish bricks. We’ll pick gold, blue, green or red sand for you—to save you time. Each bag will make approx (8) bricks, so you best order a few. Ages 6+.

Same here, but we're just 150 miles from Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, the troll capital of the world, so we have a special devotion to the little long-haired cuties. Troll along with us and grab anything that appeals to you: Good Luck Trolls is a “hair-raising journal,” an 8” x 6” hardcover book with scattered trolls and blank pages for you to write down your deepest troll thoughts; the Mad About Trolls activity book has (24) pages of fun, quizzes, puzzles, stickers and general trollishness; and the fun Trolls' card games and book of tricks includes a deck of cards with, yes, Jacks, Queens and Kings of Trolls, plus troll tricks. If all this makes you want to visit Mount Horeb, don't miss the National Mustard Museum, either.