Craft Punches are not Just for Paper

One of my favorite things to do when I am feeling crafty, but short on inspiration, is to go to the local craft store and wander the isles. I look at everything they have to offer, read the labels of all the products, and think to myself, "What can I use that for?"
These days I find that I keep going back to a specific isle in my craft store asking myself ,"How can I use that for juice pouches?"
The isle is dedicated to a craft that I have done before, but have never been able to get into. Scrapbooking.
I discovered that scrapbook tools are not just for paper and my favorite tools that changed the way I look at juice pouch crafting are Paper Craft Punches.
It was actually an office tool that first made me wonder what else I could use. My son was required to have a pencil pouch with holes to put it in a three ring binder when he started 1st grade.

Not all pencil pouches can do this. When my son asked me to make him one out of juice pouches I had to figure out how to make it happen. None of the pencil pouches on the internet that were made out of juice pouches had holes in them but the most obvious solution to me was to try the tool that made it possible to put documents in a binder. A three hole paper hole punch. To my joy and satisfaction it worked and it opened up the floodgates of opportunity.

In order to flex this new creative muscle I bought a hole punch that made two lines next to each other to assist me in my next project that I was working on. I made a hat out of juice pouches just to see if it could be done and as a finishing detail I wanted to weave ribbon around the crown of the hat. To give the hat even more detail I punched holes around the brim of the hat to simulate a woven look.

The success of this hat and the woven look I created by repeating the punch over and over inspired me to do an entire purse with a hole punched detail. It took several weeks of planning and punching and in the end my hand was ready to fall off but I had a one of a kind purse. No pain, no gain. Right?

There are all kinds of hole punches. Ones that punch decorative corners, ones that punch borders, and all kinds of shapes and sizes. One of my favorites that I have used is a large scalop design with a circle cut out that makes it look like lace trim. I used it to make ruffles on my bags and handles with ribbon laced through them.

The posibilities are endless for not only craft pinches but all of the items in the scrapbook isle and I will continue to explore them and share my favorite ideas whith tips on how to use them.

When choosing and using craft punches for plasic juice pouches there are a few things to remember and concider.

• Choose a good quality craft punch. One that has all of its working parts made out of metal. Punching plastic puts alot more strain on your tool.
• Remember that plastic pouches are thicker and harder to cut through so punches will be worn out sooner than if they were just cutting paper.
• Choose punches with larger, more simple designs. Because of the flexibility of plastic smaller, more detailed designs may not punch out all the way.
• Punches with guides to show you where to line up your punches are very helpful.
• When punching a boarder on the side of a pouch start in the middle and work your way out to the edges.
• Work on a hard protected surface.
• Sometimes pouches will get stuck. Don't force them to come out. Just gently wiggle the pouch out carefully.

If there are any craft tools that you think would be great for juice pouch crafting or if there is a tool you would like me to try and review just leave me a comment. I love new ideas and challenges.
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