vintage book travel-tech organizer As you may have figured out from my My Life Scoop posts, I’m a bit of a nut for tech accessories, especially pocket-sized ones. I can’t get over how awesomely small our entertainment devices are becoming; it makes traveling with them so much easier. But one issue I keep running into is how to neatly organize everything, especially the power cords and connector cables that accompany my favorite devices. Rather than spend another plane trip rummaging through my catch-all carry-on bag searching for my headphones, bumping my head on the seat in front of me every time, I decided to make a small tech-accessory organizer using elastic ribbon and an old vintage book cover. Have a DIY project you’d like to share? Read the full how-to after the jump! Materials Instructions 1. 2. 3. 4. Note that you aren’t covering the entire rectangle, just one half of the inside cover. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
FREE Cash Envelope System Template | Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs If you're new to Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed for updates in your favorite feed reader or by Email. Don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter so you don't miss out on any great discounts on my templates! You can also follow me on Twitter and "Like" me on my Facebook Fan Page! Thanks for visiting! Update: I opened up an Etsy shop!! Go purchase your pre-made cash envelopes! As I’ve mentioned before, we went to the cash system endorsed by Dave Ramsey not too long ago. The idea behind using cash is that it hurts to hand over that $20 bill. I can’t even begin to tell you what this has done for us. So, today’s FREE template is in honor of the cash system. I decided that it was high time I had prettier envelopes. Before I get started, let me direct you to some pretty good tutorials (if I do say so myself!) Using Templates – guides you through the process of using my templates from downloading to adding digital paper, and preparing to print. So pretty!
Wax Decorations Once again we are happy to host the talented Mitsy from Artmind this friday as she takes us through making these cute little wax decorations, (a fun little weekend project with the kids for Valentines). And you'll notice at the bottom of this post Mitsy is giving away some she made on her blog later today! Thanks Mitsy! (Also stay tuned as we post the winners of The Poppies later today)! Here is what you need: wax (you can use candles and melt them), metal cookie lid, cookie cutters, newspaper, nylon thread, ribbon, wooden sticks, needle, plier, crimp beads, beads & findings. Make sure that you work safe when working with hot wax. Fill the metal cookie lid with wax. Let the wax set for a while until it is stiff but still feels warm. You can then remove the wax around the cutted shapes. When you push lightly, the shape will come loose. If it's still warm, you can easily put a needle through the wax figure. Or put the wooden stick in the cut out wax figure but only halfway. Tada!
DIY {doily canvas bag} & ashleyannphotography.com Thankfully everyone seems to be making a switch from plastic to lasting when it comes to shopping bags, so here’s another fun little tutorial on customizing one to make it oh so cute. You might notice a lot of doilies in my recent diy projects. Since I was getting so many ready for A Christmas Gathering I used a lot of the same materials…monograms seems to be pretty popular now too. Canvas bag ($2.00 when on sale at Hobby Lobby), fabric paint, paper doily, Krylon Paper Finishes Adhesive Spray : Spray doily with paper spray adhesive and press down on the bag (not shown). : Gently paint over the holes – I recommend paint meant for fabric, not crafts. : Peel back doily before paint dries. Bag after doily is removed I traced on my letter and filled it in with paint. For a cook: fill it with cooking supplies For a gardner: fill it with gardening supplies For a teacher: lots of fake wood painted apples (I’m kidding)…maybe find out an activity they enjoy and do something related to that
Making New Wood Look Old Making New Wood Look Old As promised, here’s the more detailed scoop on how we got our pristine store-bought whitewood from Home Depot to look worn and aged on our completed console. This was our first time really going for a weathered look, so it was a kind of an exercise in “we’ve seen this done before, so let’s hope it works out for us.” The better news: it was pretty easy to do. Knowing that I had some extras, I tried a bunch of things on a spare plank before really landing on a process (well, “process” is too strong of a word in this case, since it was pretty much a random exercise in let’s-see-what-happens). Oh and if you’re someone who likes all the details, I managed to capture a lot of my weathering “process” on video (so watch this if you want the “bonus stuff” that’s not all outlined below): For those who can’t watch the vid (perhaps you’re at work and trying to keep things on the down low), here’s a quick rundown of the various tricks that I used.
DIY Dixie Cup Garland :: Hey Gorgeous Aug 10 Cuteness alert coming right at you, but how fun is this little DIY project, guys? I found the original inspiration on Pinterest (the ‘lamp shades’ were covered in Hallowe’en hued paper) but figured I’d give it a go using my fave hues. Wouldn’t this garland be absolutely fabulous for a bridal shower, an outdoor wedding and or even the most perfect addition to a nursery in lieu of a night light? {Step 1} Carefully cut apart a Dixie cup and smooth it out so it is as flat as possible. {Step 2} Using double sided tape, adhere one end of a shade cover to a Dixie cup. Like so! {Step 3} Using a pencil (or you can just eyeball it) you’ll make an X on the bottoms of the Dixie cups. I only made a select number of shades for the purpose of the photos here but you get the idea. And just in case you’re wondering how your little cups will look when you plug in your lights, here’s a shot for you :) xoxo
Kids Crafts: Gumnut Octopus If you're new here, you may want to join us on Facebook or Google +. Thanks for visiting! Hello! Welcome back to Kids Get Crafty! I reckon you can still make it with one of those “large bleach bottle lids” – you know, the ones that look like thimbles? The gumnuts I used were from my friend’s wedding. The Book Gentle Giant Octopus, by Karen Wallace. The craft I got the gumnut craft idea after making our conker pencil toppers a couple of weeks ago. Materials: a gumnut (or large lid), paint (though plain is nice too), 2 pipe cleaners, 2 googly eyes, glue 1) Paint your gumnut to match your pipe cleaners. 2) Take 2 pipecleaners and cut them in half. 3) Place over each other star shape and wrap one over the remaining 4 4) Place them around a pencil and add a blob of glue to the top (or use a hot glue gun) and then place the gumnut over the top 5) Add your googly eyes Ta-da!!! And use! For more Kid’s Craft ideas, click here for a full list. Did you like this?
DIY TUTORIAL and a giveaway! Happy Monday everyone! Today I am going to show you how to make this necklace and introduce my first giveaway! Below are the steps to make this tulle necklace. And to win this necklace, just leave me a comment below! A winner will be announced on Friday. Good luck! Step 1: Pick out your fabric and beads. Step 2: Measure the fabric around a bead and then add an inch, this is where you will cut. Step 3: Cut the fabric the long way. Step 4: You should now have a long strip of fabric. Step 5: Sew the folded fabric at the open end. Step 6: You should now have a tube. Step 7: In order to turn the tube right side out, attach a safety pin to one end. Step 8: Feed the safety pin through the tube. Step 9: Once the tube is right side out, put a bead in the tube and center it. Step 10: Make a knot at each end of the bead. Step 11: Feed another bead into the tube and knot after the bead. Step 12: Sew the ends shut. Step 13: Add flower by gathering strips of the fabric together and sewing the center together.
Artmind Tutorial No. 1 - Polymer gift tags by Mitsy of ArtMind Today (well this month), we're in for a treat! Mitsy of the lovely shop and blog ArtMind will be sharing some of her fabulous tutorials with us. If you haven't visited her site, it's a must see, as not only does she make beautiful wares, she has an amazing tutorial section. Click here. Today she is showing us how to make polymer gift tags, perfect for a valentine! Here is what you need: Metal stamping letters/numbers set, polymer clay, acrylic paint, flat wooden sticks, ceramic tiles or glass, cookie cutters, rolling pin, embossing tool or fat needle, paper plate, paintbrush and a cloth. Take a piece of polymer clay and soften it while kneading. Put the flat wooden sticks on the ceramic tile (makes it easier to transfer to the oven) and roll with the rolling pin over the clay so that it's nice, flat and even. When you rolled out a piece, lift it up carefully and transfer it to another tile so you can roll out more little clay slabs. Here is what I stamped... Ready!