Papier Mâché

The problem, of course, with Papier Mâché is that it is very brittle.

Use a plaster filler (like polyfilla) to repair small cracks or holes. Sand it down carefully, then you can paint and varnish it.

DIY Modelling Dough

It's a lot cheaper to make your own from flour, water and some food coloring.

Kids really enjoy making the dough as much as making things out of it. If they want to keep what they've made just bake it in the oven - it's best you do that for them!

Dents in Wood

To get rid of small indentations in wood you need a damp cloth and an iron.

Place the damp cloth over the dent and gently rub it with a warm iron. This should swell the grain and bring out the dent.

Mixing & Spacing

For more variety, try using different smaller beads between the larger ones. They are also useful to use as spacers - to fill those gaps.

Gaps between large beads can be filled using a variety of small ones like simple metal beads, bicones, e-beads and seed beads. 1/4" metal rounds can be found plated, pearl, transparent, opaque etc. Also suitable are faceted acrylic beads and silver-lined rocailles.

Peering at Patterns

My eyesight is quite good but sometimes when the light is dim or I'm tired I find reading patterns quite tricky.

There are a variety of magnifying devices you can buy to enlarge patterns. For example, a magnifying glass or ruler can be attached to the board you use to hold the pattern. The simplest way, if you've got a scanner attached to your PC, is to enlarge it using the photocopying software.

Glue Gun Cleaning Up

Hot glue guns are a must for the hobbyist but what do you do when the glue goes in the wrong place?

I always keep a hairdryer handy when I'm using a glue gun. If you heat the misplaced glue with the hot air it miraculously seems to disappear!