Crop-a-dile Tutorial

Written and Created by PaperCraftCentral Susan

The Crop-a-dile has such strength and versatility!

"If the only tool you have is a hammer,
you tend to see every problem as a nail".
~Abraham Maslow

I am in awe of this tool's jaws! It provides ways for you to easily punch holes in paper, leather, chipboard and even other heavy-weight materials such as tin.

Yes, that is correct, it will even go through tin with ease. I was so pleasantly surprised.

You can make decorative projects like altering a bucket if you wish and you can also add great embellishments made of all sorts of things to your card tins, or add a delicate raised border to your most fragile card.

This tool sets things like metal rivets and it punches holes in things too.

But it does more than that. Keep reading to find out some more ideas for using this versatile tool.

What is a Crop-A-Dile?

First of all, you'll want to know how does it works, right?

The two punch arms have the ability to punch holes. You'll see one is a larger punch than the other.I like to use them for punching even holes in a hand made notebook, for example. I cut paper to the size I want for the notebook, then add a punched hole to the top left corner so I can thread a ribon through it to hold the pages together. Or you can punch even holes down the left side to thread ribbon through them and make it into a sort of book.

The front end bit is for setting eyelets and punching holes too. You can rotate the bits (they are the black cubes in the top photo) on the main 'jaws' of the tool to allow you to set different sized snaps,  eyelets or rivets.

Punch a hole in your project, then add the hardware (called a grommet) to the correct sized raised bit of your tool's jaws, and crimp the hardware to your project, flattening it a bit so the raised bits of it wrap around the item you want an eyelet in.

Note: The video below explains this process a bit better than just words can.

Each arm has little gauges on them so you can set uniform depths to place your lines of embellishments.

And you don't have to have much muscle or dexterity because this tool can do most of the work for you. Even people with not much strength in their hands can usually use this tool. The squeezing levers are cushioned with a rubber compound that makes it even easier on hands.

Where can you find a Crop -A-Dile?

You can find these tools in most craft stores.

The standard Crop-A-Dile is good for smaller pojects like cards and the edges of scrapbook pages, but there are also long-armed Crop-A-Diles which means you have a longer reach into the middle of larger projects.

Also try sites like eBay for second hand tools at a cheaper rate. You may even be able to find one of the old Stampin' Up! Crop-A-Diles that way. They had black handles.

Other things you can do:

You can use this tool to

• set eyelets and snaps
• punch holes in plastic, metal, leather, chipboard, and tin. As long as the material fits in its jaws and is not made of something indestructible, you can usually punch a hole in it with your Crop-a-Dile.
• dry emboss things

Some Ideas for Using the Crop-a-dile:

Here are some project ideas for you, using the tool:

• Punch holes around the rim of a bucket and add some 'hardware' embellishments such as bottle caps, flowers made of plastic, or screws for a funky looking tool shed container. Making such decorative flowers is a great for recycling old ice cream containers or other plastic containers.
• Add plastic flowers to your metal or plastic bucket as a way to make a decorative hold-all for your laundry or garden, or even to make a great paper scrap bin for when you are crafting
• Add some eyelets to a leather belt
• Add snaps to any of your sewing projects
• Add snaps or eyelets to your card or scrap booking project. It is especially good for using to make envelope closuresas you can tie the envelope closed whn you make a couple of eyelet lined holes
  
• Decorate a small tin to hold your mobile phone or other electronic device. Punch a hole in one side of the tin to allow your ear plugs to be threaded through and/or to allow a lanyard or recharger to be attached
• Dry emboss a line of raised circles across your paper project to form a nice border or enhancement/accent by (lightly!) pressing dents in your cardstock

Once you start using this tool, I am sure you will find plenty of uses for it.

I added a few flowers to my plastic craft storage bins in the photo below.

Bonus! Here's a Youtube video from "We Are Memory Makers" to show you how to use this clever tool:

If you have any other ways to use a Crop-A-Dile, please do let me know. I'll add them to the page for you so we will all remember the ideas and get more use out of our tools.

Now you may like to find out how to use the following:

• Stamping tools like the Stamparatus or Stamp Positioner
• How to use Paper Punches
• How to use a Brayer
  
• How to use a Gift Bag Punch Board

If you would like some Crop-A-Dile project ideas, here is a Pintrest Board showing you Quite a few!