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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Surplus Bargain Alert! This airbrush kit from Testors® says it includes the airbrush and paints, but to the everlasting benefit of surplus buyers, includes only the compressor. Lucky for you, we've got some extra airbrushes and jars, which makes this a major surplus bargain. In addition to the compressor, you'll get (8) jars and (1) Aztek Airbrush—all you have to do is source the paints! The 120VAC 1/2A compressor is rated for approx 23cfm 15-18psi. Has a 1/4 NPT outlet and a 6-foot power cord. It's double insulated with a filtered inlet and pressure valve, plus a suitably sized 1-1/4" dia x 3/4" port to hold the airbrush. Compressor measures 6-1/4" x 4-3/4" x 4". CSA listed. Remember, despite what the box says, paints are not included.

Sorry folks. This item is now sold out. 

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.

A movie about teenage gangs in laundromat school? Nah, just a handy jumbo black plastic clothespin, 6" long x 1-3/8" x 1-1/6", with a blackboard finish for writing on with chalk. Make place cards or table markers, or use them to put your name on your lunch sack or bag of chips. There are also endless other uses that’ll you’ll think of if you buy them now before somebody else gets them.

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.

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 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.