Freebies Free 'N' Easy HOW TO CREATE A HOMEMADE GIFT BAG What You Will Need: - enough of your main fabric + a small piece of contrasting fabric for label - cardboard to cut template in - fabric scissors or pinking shears - cyarn - darning needle - pencil - 2 large beads How to: 1. choose two different fabrics- one main fabric for pouch and one fabric for small label (a shear fabric can be fun for the main pouch so that the receiver can see the gift inside) 2. cut a template in cardboard, the template should be about twice the size of your finished pouch 3. draw an outline of your template onto the main fabric with pencil and cut rectangle shape with fabric scissors or pinking shears (I used fabric scissors, but pinking sheers make much nicer edges) 4. cut a little label in contrasting fabric, use a fine point sharpie to write your slogan, name, design, etc. 5. fold fabric in 3 so that both sides will overlap about 1/2 inch 6. start sewing (*using a running stitch) along one side of pouch (hiding knot inside the corner) 7. place label (cut from contrasting fabric) along one side, sew it along with main fabric, hide end knot inside corner 8. sew second side the same way, minus the label 9. place gift inside pouch, close with length of yarn 10. optional- string a small card on yarn with a gift message, knot beads on both ends of the yarn * Running Stitch: work small stitches by passing the needle over and under a few fabric threads and pulling through the fabric. Keep the stitches and spaces as even as possible. Pattern originally found at www.chezplum.com. Old Free 'N' Easy Ideas HOW TO CREATE A ZINE What is a zine? A zine is an independently created and photocopied compilation of original essays, artwork, poetry, journal entries, etc. Pretty much a zine contains anything you want. Usually zines have themes but they don't have to. Who would create a zine? Anyone! If you have something you want to say a zine is a great way to put it out there. Zines are supposed to look fancy, glossy, or expensive. They are based on the content. So you do not have to be a professional publisher to make a zine. This is truly a project anyone can do. What You Will Need: * Paper * Scissors * Pens * Glue Stick * Stapler * Access to a Copy Machine How to Create a Zine: 1. Get all entries, artwork, photographs, etc. together. Text can be typed or hand written. It is up to you. 2. Decide what size you are going to make your zine. It is easiest to either use 8.5"x11" or 11"x17" pieces of paper since these are readily available. Once you have gotten your blank pieces of paper fold them in half to make a mock up of the zine. Number each page and then unfold the zine and lay each page out separately. 3. Now you have a template and you can start filling the pages with content. Cut all the text and pictures into sizes that fit on the pages (make sure to leave blank space in the margins which will be useful when you make photocopies). Lay everything out before you paste. It will take a little bit of time to get everything to fit just the way you want it. Once the pages look how you want paste all the text, pictures, etc. down. 4. Put all the pages back together to make your zine and double check that all the pages appear in the correct order. 5. Now you are ready to copy. Make sure and do a test copy of each page before you print numerous copies of one page. Sometimes you will have to play around with the contrast, sizing, etc. to get your copies to look how you want. Also, it is best to make double sided copies so that your zine reads like a book. You do not want to waste paper or space by printing on only one side. Ask a copy technician to help you if you do not know how to make double sided copies. Once all your test copies look how you want them, make all the copies you want to create the desired amount of zines. 6. Fold the pages and arrange them in numerical order. Staple them in the middle where the fold is. 7. Place your zines under a heavy book over night to get them to lay flat. 8. YOU ARE DONE! Now give your zine to your friends, find zine distributions online and submit your zine, go to your local independent bookstore and see if they have a place for local zines.