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"Full disclosure: I&amp;#039;m ashamed to admit that I&amp;#039;m not very crafty, despite my best intentions and the fact that I work at Good Housekeeping. I have no less than 2,000 photos from vacations, holidays, even my engagement waiting patiently in iPhoto to be uploaded, printed, and glued into scrapbooks. So when I received an invitation to the &amp;quot;Kick up Your Crafts&amp;quot; press reception at the Roxy Suite at Radio City Music Hall, I thought it would give me a metaphorical much-needed kick in the behind (from the New York City Rockettes, no less) to actualize all of my craft goals. It turns out that I&amp;#039;m not the only newbie \u2014 crafting is a rapidly growing industry. Nearly 32 billion was spent on crafts in 2009, which is a 7-percent increase over the past year. Here are the details on five inspiring trends that industry insiders predict for 2011. All of the products mentioned below can be purchased at Michaels or Joann-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, as well as eksuccessbrands.com.  1) Punchy Crafts My favorite product that I tested from this event was the Martha Stewart Craft Punch All Over the Page Scallop Circle ($17.99), a two-part magnetic punch system that allows you to create shapes anywhere on paper, even the center. Edger punches have also become foolproof: Use the alignment marks on this Butterflies Large Edger Punch (left; $16.99) to create a continuous design that is up to two-and-a-half times the size of a standard edge punch.  2) 3D Crafts You might remember playing with Perler&amp;#039;s colorful beads from your own childhood. You place the beads on pegboards and then fuse them together with an iron to create fun designs. Their new 3D Activity Playsets ($19.99) bring play scenes to life, like this under-the-sea Mermaid. New technology in color pigments allows beads to sparkle and glow brighter than before. In addition to these craft sets, you can expect embellishments for scrapbooking and home decor to become more multidimensional as well. Jolee&amp;#039;s has released an entire line of fabric flower accents called Le Fleur; Cabochons, sculpted resin charms, will also make their debut in 2011.  3) Crossover Crafters Within the crafting industry, experts have witnessed that many crafters are becoming interested in learning more than one craft at a time (e.g. a scrapbooker may start making her own jewelry to sell on Etsy) \u2014 becoming Renaissance crafters, if you will. (At the event, we created customized pendants by using Swarovski Elements Strung Crystals, which range from $7.99 to $24.99.) In addition, different techniques from one craft may influence another, such as scrapbook layouts that involve stitching.  4) Kids Crafting Beloved characters like Dora, Spongebob, and American Girl dolls motivate children to start crafting, so that they can create the larger-than-life personalities they see on TV and read about in stories. Kids&amp;#039; craft parties are also gaining popularity \u2014 with the American Girl collection, birthday girls can send separate invitations to all of their BFFs&amp;#039; dolls. Look for the Doll-themed Creative Card Making Pad ($14.99) and Tie Together Frames ($19.99).  5) Party Crafting Party crafting continues to be a huge trend in the coming year. Tools like the Martha Stewart Custom Stamp Setting Kit ($24.99) help you create professional-looking invitations at home. The kit comes with interchangeable fonts, allowing you to make different stamp combinations each time, so that you can customize it for each event. But you don&amp;#039;t need Martha to help you gather everything you need to throw a fun crafting party, says my fellow Home Style blogger Sara. &amp;quot;Just set up a few stations or one big table, covered with paper or another protective layer,&amp;quot; she suggests. &amp;quot;Then put out the scissors, hot glue guns, paper, fabric, pens, paint, or whatever embellishments you can think of \u2014 including cute trinkets from your own home \u2014 and let people be as creative as they like. I promise it&amp;#039;ll be one of the most fun &amp;#039;grown-up&amp;#039; parties you&amp;#039;ll ever throw.&amp;quot;  More crafty inspiration:  Home Decor Craft Ideas Make an Eco-Chic Shopping Bag Create a Homemade Boot Tray  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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