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.

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.

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.

Our mini-coffin, in unfinished pine with brassish hinges and a clasp, is 6" long x 1-3/4" deep x 3" at the shoulders. You definitely want to think outside of this box, but it's perfect for gerbils, mice (just because you killed them doesn't mean you can't give them a nice send-off), Halloween and Day of the Dead displays, and tiny vampires. We use ours to store doornails.

Without making you go to the seashore. Our each is a 3” dia x 6-1/2” tall clear glass jar full of sea shells. You might get periwinkles, what look like augers, or sea snails. (We're freshwater folk here in Chicago, so we're kind of shell-estimating, but we’re sure they’re awfully pretty.) Number depends on size, but you’ll get 15-20 oz of shells, in a jar officially marked “Assorted.” Jars are stoppered with big corks with a little charming raffia around the neck.

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.

In the traditional arch-top piratical shape, this mini-chest measures 4-3/4” long x 3” tall x 2-3/8” deep with a hinged top and a little gold-tone clasp in front. In sanded but unfinished pine, ready to decorate. Handy for small presents (gift cards sit up nicely inside), cleverly and classily displaying business cards, storing jewels or interring gerbils.

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.

Our each is a pound of modeling clay, ready for pounding into shape and re-pounding, since it’s non-hardening, which means the fun never stops. You’ll get a quarter-pound each of bright red, blue, green and yellow clay in 5-1/4" x 1-1/8" x 3/4" sticks, but feel free to mix ’em up to make new colors. Non-toxic and gluten-free, seriously.

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.

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.

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.

Standard hole punches work well for bus conductors (remember them?) but crafty folk sometimes need to punch a very small hole for wires. This punch punches a hole 1/16” (.0625”) round in paper, foam or board up to 1/8” thick.

So we've got a mountain of 7" long wooden stakes/skewers flying 2" x 2-3/8" red-orange paper flags with a black paw print on each side. Might be a wolverine. Might be a bearcat or coyote. Might be a beagle. Don't start with us, just buy 'em because where can you get (500) of anything for less than nine bucks? Useful on construction sites, for laying out gardens, or holding sandwiches together, especially if you're a University of  Michigan or Cincinnati alum.

You've come to the right place. Here's a humongous version of the always popular pink eraser. Ours is 3/4 of a pound and 6" long x 2" wide x 1" thick. The top says "For Really Big Mistakes" but that, not surprisingly, rubs right off if you don't like it there.

We’ve got some excellent, snazzy glass-blown pendant necklaces here, each of them nice enough to wear out on the town on a Saturday night. You pick: vipers in assorted colors and in curled postures, between 3” and 3-1/2” long on 20” triple neck cords with clasps; or tusks/horns, which are curved to approx 2-1/4” dia, with polished steel end caps, and on very thin 17” snake chains. All come in assorted colors, and we’ll pick (1) that we think will go best with your eyes.

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+.

You decide. This 8-1/2” long x 6” white plastic tray has two rows of (5) 1-3/16” dia wells, plus a middle well at 7-1/2” x 1-1/4”. Includes a small artist’s brush. Marked as a candy-melting plate, but it looks more like a palette to us. Should stand up to microwave melting temps, but would also hold paints, so let’s just call it a kitchen-craft room twofer.