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 do things like alter a bucket if you wish and add great embellishments to your card tins, or add a delicate raised border to your most fragile card.

What is a Crop-A-Dile?

How does it work?

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

The punch arms have a little gauge on them so you can set uniform depths to place your lines of embellishments.

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.

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.

You can find these tools in most craft stores.

There are also long-arm Crop-A-Diles which means you have a longer reach into the middle of larger projects.

Other things you can do:

You can use this tool to

• set eyelets and snaps
• punch holes in plastic, metal, leather, etc. As long as the material fits in its jaws and is not made of something indestructible, you can usually punch a hole in it
  
• 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 or screws for a funky looking tool shed container
• Add 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 closures
• 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 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.

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