Craft Room Sign

Thanks to everyone that helped me with all of the word suggestions! I really appreciate it. You guys came up with some really good words. I decided to go with "imagine" "create" and "inspire."

I started with wood. I cut, sanded and painted the wood.

Then I stamped on plain paper with a stamp around roller to make a background. I then traced and cut out the letters (I need a Cricut!!!)

I then used Mod Podge and put the letters and flowers on the wood.

I then use a nice thick ribbon to hang the sign and attach the wood together. I used a staple gun and stapled the ribbon to the wood. I went staple happy, just to make sure the ribbon didn't rip.

I then hung it up on my wall in my craft room. Hopefully it was inspire me to do lots of creative things!

Crafts in Bloom

Reuse Christmas Packaging

Christmas brings lots of presents and gifts, but it also brings lots of cute boxes, pails and other packaging that you can turn into a gift or decoration. My mother in law got this super cute pail filled with hot chocolate. The second that I saw it, I knew that it could be turned into something adorable. So luckily I got the pail and the fun began.

This is what the pail looked like.

Putting on a little bit of paper and ribbon, I have now transformed it into a little bank for my baby.

I might cut a little slot in the lid so he can just put money in it. I haven't decided yet, but until then he just can just open the lid and put money in.

If you like this idea, I have seen several clear pails at craft/scrapbook stores for around $3. I'm using it for a bank for my boy but it could be a cute storage container. I've used them in my bathroom as a cotton ball or q-tip holders, I have even just filled it up with kisses and given it as a gift.

Now go through all of the packages that your presents came in and see what you can do with them. A little paper and ribbon can go a long way!

Last Minute Tags

As I was wrapping presents this past weekend, I ran out of tags. I normally just buy them for $1 at the store. I only needed a few of them and really didn't want to buy a whole packet for just a few. So I whipped up a few tags in a couple of minutes. I just cut some white cardstock 1x2 inches and green or red paper 1 1/4"x 2 1/4". I stamped the white with snowflakes (I really like snowflakes, plus it matched my wrapping paper). I then inked the edges, I liked doing this too, it's so easy but adds so much. I could of put more time and effort into them but they are for kids under the age of 5, and I know that they don't care :).

Wood photo puzzle

I saw this wonderful idea and could not resist making one for my family, but I wanted to do mine with photos instead of pictures. After reading her tutorial, I tried to think of another way to make these because the idea of sanding and cutting the blocks didn't sound too fun, plus we don't have a saw to cut it. So I went through the boys' toys and found a wooden puzzle with pictures on it that I bought at a farmer's market. I never really cared for it, so I didn't mind one bit using them. The blocks were a little bigger, 1 3/4"x 1 3/4". I used a 5X7 photo that I cut down to 5x5 and then matted it with cardstock to fit the 5 1/2"x 5 1/2" I needed for the blocks. I cut each square to fit the blocks and then use mod podge to seal it on. It actually turned out good with the photos and my boys will actually love putting these together!

I am actually thinking about making one for each of my boys and will probably use wooden building blocks (the ones with alphabets and pictures on them) that you can get at Walmart for the other ones. I tested a picture of them and they seemed to lay flat and stay on just fine.Walmart has some great crafts boxes to put the puzzle in. Put a little of scrapbook supplies on it and it is a great container for the puzzle.

Picture/card holder

Do you ever have a great idea that you so excited about doing. It looks so cute in your head, it even looks great on paper but when you sit down to do it, it doesn't work out and just doesn't look like you thought it would. Well that happened to me with this project. I was so excited about doing it, I even thought I would make one for someone else. When I sat down to do it, things just weren't working out and I had to rethink the whole thing. Luckily, it turned out pretty good and it all wasn't a complete waste of time.

First I started with this pail that I got from the dollar store. I didn't really care for it, so I spray painted it brown.

Next I covered the pail with cute paper. This was my first problem I encountered. Who knew that putting paper on a pail wouldn't be super easy. The curvature of the pail made it difficult. So I had to lay the paper on flat, trace the bottom of the paper where it hit the bottom of the pail and cut it. Luckily the ribbon covers up a lot because the lines weren't super straight.

Next I wanted to make some "grass" or really a filler for the pail, so I cut several little strips out of paper. The width varied for each strip, it was pretty random.

Next I put them all through the crimper to give a little more texture.

Next came the metal loops. I was thinking was would be able to get some thick wire to bend into a cute spiral shape, but that didn't work. I was super excited when I found these poles at Home Depot, it is a sign holder (for garage sale signs). One problem though, I need to bend them into spirals. I soon learned that it is not easy to bend steel, it's a pretty tough material. Luckily I have an awesome husband that is strong enough to bend them and cut them to sizes that I needed.

I filled the pail with floral Styrofoam (to hold the metal rods) and rocks for adding decoration. I then placed the grass in various spots and at various lengths to add color.

Finally, I place bent rods into the Styrofoam.

Just like that, you have a very cute photo or card holder. I plan on having it as a card holder during the holiday season and a picture holder the rest of the year.

Eventhough I had a couple of problems, I love the outcome. When I was actually making it, it really didn't take very long, what took long was figuring out how to do it. Now that I finally have it all figured out, maybe I will make one for someone else :)

Photo Box

This is one of my favorite projects. I made these boxes for Christmas last year for the grandparents. It is just packed full of pictures but looks stylish just as a box. So here are the instructions to make this awesome box.

Photo Box Instructions

A: Choose paper, you will need 5 pieces of 12x12 paper, 1 for your lid and 4 for the box.

1. Choose what paper you want for the outside and lid of your box.

2 Choose what papers you want inside your box (starting from the outside 1st, 2nd, 3rd

and 4th. note: the 1st is the outside sheet.) Remember the your 1st paper will be the outside of the box, so choose a double sided paper or solid color

B: Cut paper (1st sheet leave 12x12)

1. Cut 2nd sheet to 11 1/2 inch size. (Trim 1/2 inch off 2 sides or 1/4 inch

off 4 sides)

2. Cut 3rd sheet to 11 inch size. (Trim 1 inch off 2 sides or 1/2 inch off 4 sides)

3. Cut 4th sheet to 10 1/2 inch size. (Trim 1 1/2 inch off 2 sides or 3/4 inch off 4 sides)

4. Cut 4 inch square out of all 4 corners of all 4 sheets.

C. Score paper

1. score at 4 inch flaps on all 4 sides on all 4 sheets

D. Adhesive

1. Stick all 4 sheets together, in order in center.

2. Stick photos on and decorate with scraps

This is one that I made for a baby shower, I include little flowers and words so they can decorate it when they fill it with pictures.

Photo Box Lid Instructions

1. Measure exact center of paper (on the side that will not show). Use 6" square to measure

2. Fold 4 corners into center. (Keep corners folded in while following the rest of the directions through step 4)

3. Fold 2 sides into center, then unfold. Fold other 2 sides in the same way and unfold.

4. Cut triangle from sides.

5. Unfold and Refold into Box, glue the triangles onto the other side to form box.

Here is a completed one with pictures and decorations. The pictures are wallet size.

I had so many pictures that I even put pictures on both sides of the paper. I think I was able to put 20+ in there!

Post-It Note Holders

When I saw this idea I knew immediately that I wanted to make them for my son's preschool and sunbeam teachers. So I went to the dollar store and picked up several 4x6 plastic frames. I cut the decorative paper out 4"x6". Put some scrapbook supplies to finish it off. Just in case you are wondering, the little flowers on the bottom left side are rub-ons directly on the plastic. Seriously, it was so easy and quick, each took about 5 minutes (if that).

I had my son (who is 4) write on the first post-it note to personalize it. I wanted my son to "make" the gifts, but I also wanted them to be cute so this was my easy solution, it was a win-win :)

Cake stand

As I was looking through blogs, I saw a cute idea to make your own cake stand. So I headed to the dollar store and picked up these two items.

I didn't really care for the texture on the candlestick, so I spray painted it brown

I first started with the plate. I loved the color of the plate, but it wasn't too exciting. So I added some rub-ons onto the plate to give it a little more personality. To add the rub-ons, place them directly onto the plate and rub with a stick until the image is completely transfered. These were just normal rub-ons.

To adhere the candlestick to the plate use a silicone sealer or E6000

Now I guess I should start baking cakes :)