I WANT A PAINT-BY-NUMBERS WALL!!

Who doesn't??!!

I wonder if my school would let me borrow one of the old projectors...hmmm

Check out Design Sponge for the how-to!

xoxo

QUICK DIY PROJECTS

Here are two quick projects I finished up so I felt like I did something creative over the break:

1. No Knit Scarf: inspired by Think Liz!

2. T-Shirt Recon taken from my trusty Generation T book!

Check their site for tons of great ideas!

Cute braided strap detail! Sorry for the photobooth quality!

What are people making out there? I am considering buying a new sewing machine so I can be more productive! Hmmm...

KARMIC GOODIES: MORE FREEBIES/UPCYCLING

PRINTABLE POCKET CALENDAR

by To Have and To Hold

(I love that you can embellish the template to suit your style and/or available supplies!)

TREE CONES

by Kind Over Matter

(You can paint the tubes or even if you don't have toilet paper tubes around, you can 

just glue the cones on top of each other for a paper tree!)

COFFEE SLEEVE WREATH

by Magpie & Cake

found via Craftzine

(I am not going to lie, I both save and steal these for projects but you could use 

any recycled cardboard!)

TEARDROP ORNAMENT

by A Little Hut

(You could even paint some newspaper or use magazine paper!)

"The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men."
– George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

HOLIDAY DECOR WITH WHAT YOU {might} HAVE!

HOLIDAY DECOR WITH WHAT YOU {might} HAVE!

Upcycling for the holidays--from Martha Stewart!

 

these cute fabric trees are from The Small Object-- I want to try this with paper!

Recycled Magazine Trees from Just Like Martha

Such a great idea!! I hate throwing magazines away....but sometimes it gets to be too much!

 

Yarn Trees by Pretty Ditty 

It would be cool to use up scrap yarn and upcycle some cardboard into a tree shape for this!

These cuties are from Design Sponge 

I love the idea of re-conceptualizing items in our homes!

Added Bonus for wow-factor:

these paper Finnish Stars are from Fry Dog Design 

"A person who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
– Albert Einstein

PRINTABLE HOLIDAY GIFT TAGS I LOVE:

PRINTABLE HOLIDAY GIFT TAGS I LOVE:

A PRINT A DAY

(So much more than just tags here! sigh, i just adore her madly!)

BADBIRD

(i <3 these illustrations)

HELEN DARDIK

(can i love her any more than i already do?)

OLD-SCHOOL LOVES:

ASHLEY G

(still my favorites!)

MARTHA STEWART

(these were my most used last year! I love the colors and the fun retro designs for everyone!)

SEW MAMA SEW

(for those handmade gifts!)

"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit." 

– e. e. cummings

KARMIC GOODIES: PRINTABLE 2010 CALENDARS!

Customizable photo calendar from the SHUTTER SISTERS!

(Requires some from of photoshop program!)

or check out another adorable and customizable calendar

FROM SCRAPBOOK INSPIRATIONS!

This is one page I made as a little gift for my dad! 

They are sized to fit a CD case!

Super cool DADA CALENDAR by LITTLE BROWN PEN

CANON'S CREATIVE PARK 

(I find so many fun things here!)

An awesome mid-century modern/retro calendar from BLUE ANT STUDIO

Hope you enjoy!

xoxo

CEREAL BOX UPCYCLING: A COMPENDIUM

UPCYCLING CEREAL/SNACK BOXES: A COMPENDIUM

Image by: Chris Toumanian

Why I love Cereal/Snack Boxes:

-->They are the perfect thickness for many craft projects! You can generally cut through these boxes with ease!

-->They are a great size for so many projects! You can turn one cereal box into at least two journals and two bookmarks with ease!

-->They are usually very colorful and fun (thus requiring little necessary decoration!)

-->They are altogether so versatile, but mainly they are ABUNDANT TRASH! 

    There is nothing better to me than finding ways to artfully or pragmatically reuse items rather than even exerting the initial energy to recycle. After seeing so many people using my literal garbage to paint at Van Duzer Days I was elated to know that all of the trash got new beautiful life for awhile. Everyone created with abandon and I felt comfortable fostering that since essentially our canvases would have been more landfill anyway! 

So, to inspire you all further:

 

Things I Have Made: 

-->magazine files

-->journals/ notebooks/ notepads

-->artful diorama 

-->bookmarks

-->blog banner!

-->dry erase boards

-->stencils

Other uses/ideas:

-->I have now learned that these are the perfect canvases to paint on!-
-->But I tend to use boxes as my pallete or floor mat
-->penants!
--> kids face masks
-->paper dolls (for kids to decorate!)
-->wall art (I love so many of the colors and designs of cereal boxes!)
-->photo-mats (though you may want to use archival spray unless you want your photos to fade!)
-->place mats (you can cover them with clear plastic contact paper or vinyl!)

Awesome Tutorials/Templates:

-->Shala Beads of You Have To Wonder: Mega-List of Crafty Ways to Reuse Cereal Boxes!

I particularly like these Match-Book Style Mini-Notebooks. My version, I call "Mini-Art Pads make these with cut recycled paper and some pretty cardstock scraps. These cannot be more simple since all you need to do is cut, fold, and staple once!

-->Her Cup Overfloweth's awesome Cereal Box Tote

-->Replayground has so many fun ideas for upcycling! This Food/Cereal Box Wallet is easy and fun to make!

-->Plum Pudding uses cereal boxes as postcards, and Decorative Globes! 

-->Applehead's Elastic Bookmarks (Cyndy and I made these awhile back and they were so cool!)

-->The Long Thread's Make-It Monday Cereal Box Journal! (I have so so many easy versions that I will have to pour into a visual tutorial a la karma button! A few of you at Van Duzer Days learned my super quick tricks!)

-->Whimsy Love's Mini-Cereal Box Organizers are so cool!! I have a bunch waiting!

-->Cereal Box-- Gift Box 1 (via Curbly)

-->Cereal Box--Gift Box 2 (via Instructables)

-->Cereal Box Gift Bags

And PLEASE, cue me in one any other cool ideas you find or come up with!!

DIY File-Folder Mini-Album

"Et tu, Ete?" 

(a play off of the Caesar line, ete meaning summer)

I have been inspired by the work of Elise Blaha and partially coveting her summer journaling kit (which is sold out!) and Leigh Ann of Freckled Nest' s Summer Love Kit. However, money being somewhat tighter (even though I just bought two pairs of shoes today)...I am trying to work with what I have and primarily document life. Thus, the set up of a creative venue for my experiences and/or observations to spill onto as they happen. So so easy!!

First, I took some cute file folders I got for about a $1.29 for a set of 9.

 Aren't they cute? Basically I cut three of them in half so that the left seam remained closed so I could just cut the lower seam to make a booklet. I saved the other pieces to use in different ways or make more journals!

Here is a close-up of the cover title I drew on.

A close up of the binding and top. All I did was use my crop-a-dile to punch holes in all of my papers. A regular whole punch would suffice. I used binder rings, but ribbon would be just as cool!

(I scalloped the top edge and went hole punch crazy)

Here are the first pages to be embellished and journaled over. I like this binding because you can continue to add stuff and rearrange as you see fit! My opening divider is a coffee cup holder.

I used these month pieces from an old KI Memories kit and the backing is from one of my pay stubs through my now defunct Thursday job at the college. Let's not forget the trusty masking tape!

The left sheet is from a vintage children's book and then a paper bag with the top open to hold ephemera.

This page is cut from a 92nd Y catalogue.

This is another piece of one of the  file folders to hold various other pieces to either use in the journal or to keep as treasures.

This is a work in progress, but I hope you are inspired to join the creativity!

And, to top it all off, as I have been posting I added some more stuff since I got my (perfectly fitting) ephemera pack from the all-too-awesome Rachel!! 

KARMIC GOODIES: UP-CYCLED FLOSS BOBBINS

...phew...

"Up-Cycled Fabric Covered Floss Bobbins"

   The following is based off of a tutorial found at the ever-inspiring: The Small Object

Really, this is just my take on her tute with a little bit of my advice! My little bag of floss was getting so messy and I was wasting precious floss because of knots...so it was crafting to the rescue!

Firstly, upcycling is a great thing when you can find a way! I used a Swiss Miss box and a Macaroni and Cheese box for the bobbins and template.

First I opened up the box:

Then I drew lots of bobbins...

And cut them out! 

The first round was kind of ugly and sloppy,  which is why I needed to post what I learned...like make sure you  make a nice template and cut your shapes evenly! (I desperately want a company to make a bobbin punch...my future should be in inventing craft tools!)

After some trial and error, the best system was to glue all of my little guys down on my scrap FAB-ric with fabric adhesive with the cardboard side down (I found you could see the product labels peeking through with the lighter fabric.

Then, glue the corners down first. I made a product line with batch two and did everything in stages.

Then glue the longer sides down nice and taut. 

(TSO's were way more symmetrical, but this is the shape I found myself making! )

Then glue down the short sides, pulling extra tight!

Afterwards, dab some glue on the back side...

...and make a cute bobbin sandwich...

AND VOILA: 

These are the ugly first batch creations:

And these are my "Aha I've got it now" batch!

And the happy bobbins meet!

I ended up with close to 16 and naturally kept the ugly ones because they serve their function!! Yay to functional craft!!

Another peek at my giveaway....I am so so about them right now...not sure what they need, but they are my first free hand attempt at a plushie....and it's definitely therapeutic and addictive...to the point that I took out my pouch and embroidered at the bar during Sunday Night Trivia!! (AND WE WON!!)

Sigh. to one day finding a job that makes me feel creatively fulfilled!


This project was made possible by:
-Original Tacky Glue
-Fabri-Tac Fabric Adhesive
-Sharp fabric scissors
-My favorite scissors...I forget the brand...but they rock!
-An awesome soundtrack consisting of mostly Mates of State (going to see them in April, yay!)