More Cool Things You Can Do With a Sharpie.

Sharpies can fix things easily and inexpensively. In my last article about Sharpies, I illustrated how they could cover up bleach spots on clothing. That example showed me that, not only did it cover the bleach spot on my shoes, it actually brightened up the fading color and made my shoes look like new again! So now, you can use a Sharpie to both, cover up a stain or refresh the color! A brown Sharpie can be used to cover scratches in wood. I also touched up some picture frames the other day. I have a friend who covers up spots in her carpet with a Sharpie.

I have included my pictures below. Cross Stitch bookmarks make great, affordable gifts. This one cost me $2.50 for the pattern and bookmark. I already had an assortment of pens at home. If you don't have pens, the initial investment for them could be around $20 but you can use them for many projects.

Cross Stitch bookmarks are perfect for:

• Teacher gifts
• Gifts for co-workers
• Your book club
• Announcements
• Thank you notes
• Secret Santa gifts
• Personalized gifts

For those of non sewers, here is a solution: Fill in your cross stitch with a Sharpie! It really works! No needles to thread, no fingers to prick and a fraction of the time!

Just follow these simple directions:

1. Pick out a cross stitch project.
2. Get coordinating, fine-point Sharpies to the required thread colors.
3. Follow the pattern for the colors.
4. You can choose to design your own or make a variation of the pattern.
5. Pencil the pattern on your fabric.
6. Use your Sharpie to color it with light steady strokes.
7. Your completed project will look like it has actually been stitched!

This is a fun and easy project that uses only four items.

What you need:

• Assorted Sharpie pens
• Wooden Clothspins
• Stick-on magnet strip
• scissors

Instructions:

1. Decorate the front and sides of your clothespins. Be creative and have fun with it!
2. Cut the magnet to the length of the clothespin and stick it on.
3. They are ready to use!

I put them on the refrigerator to hang up the kids artwork. They enjoy decorating their own. I also have a clothespin for each family member. I keep these on our family whiteboard. We hang things like permission slips or anything that needs to be taken care of on that clothespin.

Sharpies can be used to make your own note cards. Because the colors are true and don't run, you can make profressional looking cards and notes. Or, you can decorate a mailing envelope. Occasionally, I will leave a love note on the bathroom mirror! What a fun way to wake up! Please be careful and test your mirror first. You can make your own wrapping paper with Sharpies and tissue paper or butcher paper. You can even use the old stand-by, newspaper and a little color here and there! Some of my co-workers used a Sharpie right on the gift box. No wrapping paper necessary and plenty of room for one long note or multiple messages!

Thank you to fellow Hub author, thelyricwriter, for telling me about Sharpies being used to mark tattoos. In addition, Sharpies can be used to to make a temporary tattoo that could help you decide on a permanent tattoo. Or, you can make a temporary Sharpie tattoo instead of a pemanent tattoo. Please check out the amazing hubs by thelyricwriter for beautiful tattoo ideas, insight and explanantions!

"I like design, I like details, to me it is just another form of self-expression."~John Malkovich

Write, doodle, touch-up or design. Whatever you do, make it your own!