Category: Craft

Started doing your Christmas decorations yet?

Christmas is definitely not complete without decorations and ornaments at home. Surely these décors make a big difference to every place, giving it a jovial and holiday feels.

While some of us have kept the materials used in the previous years, some still prefer using fresh, new and more customized ones. Buying new decorative stuffs every year will certainly leave your wallet a bit thinner, especially when you go to malls and end up buying unplanned materials. Brother here is to the rescue with your Christmas preparations, making sure you will achieve those decorations in mind with available tools and machines.

We have listed some DIY Home Décors and Ornaments you might want to try at home:

Christmas Cards

Although we can now simply wish our family and friends through phone calls, SMS or online platforms, some folks are still thrilled to receive Christmas cards with our handwritten greetings on them. It’s definitely a very traditional yet lovely gesture that nobody can ignore.

If you are planning for a Christmas get-together, you can send your family and friends invitation cards to let them know how you want their presence at the gathering. I bet it would be difficult for them to say no once they receive a physical and personal invite.

Apart from greetings and invitations, you can also utilize the cards for decoration. For minimalists or those living in a tiny room but would like to set that Christmas vibe, you can try printing different cards and stick them to your wall or door to make a Christmas tree pattern. Definitely worth a try especially if Christmas tree is out of your budget.

Brother Creative Center has got hundreds of free and ready-to-print templates to help you kickstart your greetings or decoration projects easier. You can also find customizable templates where you can add images, texts or any other content you wish to.

Christmas Buntings

Buntings are probably one of the easiest yet captivating ornaments you may consider when decorating your home. Since they are usually hanged from the ceiling or at the top edge of walls or doors, they surely give a lively and festive touch to a room. Plus, these are the first thing people probably notice when they enter your home so why not make it?

You can use different patterns and colors and put names or images to add more fun and to give it a personal touch.

Christmas Tree Bunting	Christmas Star Bunting

Gift Boxes & Wraps

Who does not love wrapping Christmas presents? For some, this is one of the activities we look forward to during Christmas. We spend hours and hours listing names of receivers and wish lists, shopping and packing gifts.

While it may seem to be convenient to purchase gift bags and boxes from your favorite shops, nothing beats personalized and own-made gift packaging. Not only does it give you the freedom to work on whatever design you want but you can also add a personal touch to it. You can make non-traditional packaging such as a house-like or an animal-like boxes and so much more.

Snow Flake Gift Box	Christmas Gift Tags

For this activity, you will need plain or craft papers, cardboards or just about any material you prefer; as long as it will wrap or pack the gift properly. You may add ribbons or craft threads and if you still want to make it more special and personal; use a topper or a gift card. Brother Creative Center offers a variety of Christmas gift box ideas, gift tags and toppers for free and ready to print. Go ahead and explore your creativity and don’t forget to involve your family too for added fun.

Christmas Tree Ornaments

A Christmas tree is not complete without the lights and ornaments. If you are considering something new and more fun this year; you may want to skip on the typical hangers like socks, stars and Christmas balls. Instead create your own customized ornaments such as snowflakes, snowman, Christmas tree, reindeer and just about anything you can imagine.

Gingerbread House Ornament	Snow Flake Ornament

You probably think that this activity will eat a lot of your time cutting, putting pieces together, etc. But with proper tools and guides, you can easily carry through without so much hassle. Brother Creative Center has got your back for various templates with guides on how to execute the design.

To help with the cutting, the Brother ScanNCut SDX1200 craft cutting machine would be your best buddy. This machine also has built-in designs and guides to help you accomplish the desired templates. You can also check Brother CanvasWorkspace for more designs and guides for this project.

Again, don’t forget to involve the kids or your friends too to make it more fun. 😊

Christmas Party Hat & Photo Props

Party hats are never out during celebrations. No matter what your age is, this piece always brings additional excitement to every attendee.

This is also one of the few stuffs you can easily make at home. You just need some cardboard or any quality paper. Print the design and follow the guides on how to properly put it together.

To make the party more fun, try setting up a photo backdrop or use photo props whenever you capture images of you and your visitors. This will definitely make them remember this moment with you every time they see the photos.

Christmas Party Hat	Christmas Photo Props

With a few weeks left before Christmas, you can still make the prepration something different and more fun.

Do you want to discover the other DIY projects you can do with the SDX1200? Learn more here: https://www.brother.ae/en/products/all-scanncuts/scanncuts/sdx1200

Creativity is finding new and innovative solutions to problems. Although this trait is not something inherent, the good news is that people can still improve this skill with practice, consistency, and persistence.

Doing things you love is important in cultivating your passion and imagination. At the same time, it helps in releasing stress. Some of us find our thing in music, sports, fashion, and movies. Some in doing arts and crafts. With the everyday hassle in your personal and professional life, how can you optimize and improve your creativity skill?

This article will help you revive and develop your creative skill with some simple and smart moves:

Practice Mindful Observation

Go out and sit somewhere. Look around you and notice your surroundings using all your senses. You will be surprised how much observation you can make by doing this exercise.

Try to focus on the things you are passionate about and keep an eye on how things work. Have an open mind and acknowledge all the possibilities you can think of on how you can do better and what you want to do more in this area.

Set Your Creative Time

While searching for resources, Brother Creative Center is a good source of reference with thousands of free customizable templates to help you kickstart your next craft. You can find lots of inspiration here – https://www.creativecenter.brother/en-us.

Get Rid of your Fear of Failure

Creating your craft allows you to be creative and to express yourself in different ways using whatever resources available. It gives you the freedom to do what you want, make mistakes, and resolve them.

Remember that part of improving yourself is making mistakes, so don’t be scared and just keep going on until you accomplish whatever you imagined of with your craft.

During this process, be flexible, patient, and open to all alterations and possibilities. Try to stick with what you want to achieve but allow yourself to explore too.

Look for Innovative Ways and Products to Help with Your Crafts

Creativity involves looking for innovative ways to solve problems and to make things better and easier. You may find scraps or some secondhand materials valuable and use different tools and machines to help you create your crafts with ease. However you want them done, that’s a good jumpstart to creating something new!

Just like the Brother ScanNCut SDX1200, this machine makes cutting different types of materials from vinyl and card to soft fabrics and leathers easier, allowing you to create a huge variety of home décor, gifts, and materials for your home or office – completely personalized!

This innovative cutting solution is ideal for sewists, scrapbookers, or any other hobbyists who do a lot of cutting for their crafts. Simply scan the photo or hand-drawn sketch and let the SDX1200 do the exact perfect cutting for you.

Say goodbye to the time and energy-consuming manual cutting for your craft!

Display and Use your Crafts

One of the best ways to motivate you to create your crafts is to see their value and actually use them.  Some of your crafts may not be display-worthy or perfect for others to see but doing this will surely increase your passion and interest in your craft, therefore improving your creativity more!

Conclusion

Creativity is not an innate skill. It takes time and effort to grow and nurture.

The key is to start doing it and not be afraid of taking risks. Stay consistent, persistent, and keep searching for solutions and products that will allow you to achieve what you want and express your creativity.

Remember that creativity is a skill, and it takes time and practice to progress. You will realize your potential and nurture your creativity once you start to form something. 

So, the new school year has commenced, and your kids have started meeting new friends, teachers, and have started working on a bunch of homework and projects.

While your kids probably have ample time to work on school projects, this is not the case all the time. When faced with lots of tasks especially those involving crafting in a limited time, they may tend to panic which results in a decrease in their creativity level and efficiency.

The question is, how can you help make the most of the kids’ time doing their crafts and projects? While you also have tons on your plate, it’s a bit difficult to lend your full arms too to get them to get things done. Should they compromise the quality of their work? Should they keep their creativity down to keep up with school deadlines?

The answer is NO! In fact, this is the time when kids are supposed to be more imaginative, efficient, and productive.

Is there any product that can help save your kid’s time when doing crafts and projects?

Over the years, studying has become a bit more convenient, thanks to the continuous technological advancement. The majority have invested in laptops or computers, and some even have their own printer at home for more ease.

Although printers also help with crafts and projects, there are tons of other ways to show creativity than just printing. When kids create their craft, we often see them spending enormous time cutting designs, shapes, letters, etc. With this eating up most of their time, they tend to park other important tasks. Or sometimes, they would choose a simpler and easier way to get them done.

If you keep searching for a solution to save some of your kid’s time while doing their crafts, you will find that products that can make cutting for craft materials easier are already available on the market, like the Brother ScanNCut SDX1200. How much ever creative your kids want to be for personal or school works, the possibilities are endless and the process more efficient.

With the Brother ScanNCut SDX 1200, you can forget the exhausting hand-cutting behind for good. This product simply uses the built-on 600 dpi scanner to scan any image, photo or hand-drawn sketch, and it will automatically cut the exact shapes or outline you want using paper or fabric. In a matter of minutes, you can easily bring your designs to life.

You can check the DIY crafts you can do with a Brother ScanNCut here.