How to make gift bags from newspaper When I bought something at a store recently, the clerk handed me my purchase in a bag made from a newspaper. I liked it very much and had to make some more—thus today's DIY recycled newspaper project: gift bags made from the Wall Street Journal. You can vary the dimensions, of course, but here's what I used to create a bag that's 5" tall, 4.5" wide, and 3" deep. Stack two sheets of newspaper on top of each other. This will be a two-ply bag for extra sturdiness. Cut out a rectangle that's 15.5" wide and 8.25" tall. Fold a flap 1.25" down from the top. Cut two pieces of cardstock or chipboard to 4.25" x 1", then glue them on the widest two panels just under the top fold. Put glue on the outside of the 0.5" tab and bring the left-most panel over to form the body of the bag, aligning the cut edge of the panel with the folded edge of the flap. Upend the bag so the 2" flap is now up. Put glue on both flaps and fold them inward to form the bottom of the bag.
74 Simple Things You Can Do to Brighten Your Spouses Day | Engaged Marriage BONUS: There are a lot of awesome ideas on this list that you can try over time. Why not take them with you? Just CLICK HERE to download your personal copy of the 74 Simple Things You Can Do to Brighten Your Spouse's Day. In a recent giveaway we had for Marriage Time newsletter subscribers (sign up here for free so you don’t miss the next one), I asked this question: What is one simple thing I can do to brighten my spouse’s day today? I received dozens of responses back, and I was really touched and impressed by some of the ideas. So, I filtered through all of the duplicates, and I would like to share these unedited responses for everyone to see. Which of these simple acts can you use today to show some thoughtfulness toward your husband or wife? Simply tell her one thing that makes her special to me.Texting him at work and keeping him from getting bored in the minutiae of the day. How great are these ideas!?! Click Here to Take This List With You + Get Your Free Bonuses
Gift Box Gift Box This box made from two bills. The bills/box can be the gift itself, but it is also just about the right size for a ring box. (Perhaps a dollar-bill ring?) Get yourself two fairly new, crisp bills. Older "soggier" bills are much harder to work with. Lay the bill on a flat surface, face up. Fold the note top-to-bottom just to the right of the portrait, then unfold. Starting at the top left corner (as illustrated), close the top third fold to about 90 degrees. Inside this corner will be a remaining portion that you will crease along the natural 45 degree line to complete the corner. Complete the previous step for the other three corners. For each tab, pull it inside the box, folding so that the natural edge of the box is pulled slightly over inside the fold. Do this evenly for both tabs. For the two other sides, evenly fold over the edge of the bill. You should now have an open box. I do not like the way that looks, so I close the box another way as illustrated below. Back
rolled paper flowers {tutorial} |&jones design company Welcome to flower week – five days of simple and delightful flower projects. I could probably do three weeks of flowers because there are so many different ways to create them, but I’ve limited it to five of my current favorites. Before we get started, let me make a few disclaimers: 1. I find inspiration for projects all over the place {online, in shops, in magazines}, then figure out how to re-create them on my own. 2. 3. Okay, so let’s begin. Here’s what you’ll need: :: paper {either cover or text weight} :: florist wire :: scissors, pencil, glue gun STEP ONE: cut irregular circle This circle is approximately 8 inches, but you can do any size you wish. STEP TWO: cut spiral Start at the outside edge and cut in a spiral fashion to the center. I like a sort of bumpy shape so that the petals end up a bit irregular If you aren’t so sure about your cutting skills, feel free to draw your spiral before cutting. STEP THREE: roll your blossom start at the outside edge and coil tightly And your flower grows.
The Shirt As with all these designs, try to start with a relatively clean, crisp bill. It will make it much easier. All folds should be sharply creased. Start by folding the bill precisely in half lengthwise. Fold the bill one quarter of the way in from each side lengthwise. Turn the bill over. Turn the bill over again. Fold a little less than one third of the bill lengthwise from the opposite end as shown. Now you will fold inward in the same direction, tucking the previous fold under the "collar" created in step 4. Gently unfold the previous two folds, keeping the creases. (This step is hard to describe, but it is actually fairly easy.) (This is a close-up of what the fold should look like when complete.) (This is what it should look like after both sides are complete.) When you re-tuck the fold you've been working on back under the collar, you're done!
How to Forecast Weather | Ever wondered how to forecast the weather without actually using instruments? Check the Clouds: Clouds can tell us a lot about the weather. For example, they can tell us if it’s going to be warmer on a particular night by simply being there. That’s because they prevent heat radiation from escaping. Check the Humidity: If you’re one of those people whose hair gets all curly when it gets really humid out, you know exactly what this is about. Check the Animals: Birds only fly in the sky when they expect fair weather ahead. Look at the Rainbow (but only in the west) and look for a Red Sky: If you see one in the west, it means a major storm front is coming. Check the Air: If it smells like a compost heap, expect some rain soon. Check the Moon: Seen any red moons lately? Check the Wind: If you can tell which way the wind is blowing, you can tell if there is a storm approaching. A Few More Ideas: Make a campfire – If the smoke goes straight up, clear skies ahead.
page corner bookmarks This project comes to you at the request of Twitterer @GCcapitalM. I used to believe that a person could never have too many books, or too many bookmarks. Then I moved into an apartment slightly larger than some people’s closets (and much smaller than many people’s garages) and all these beliefs got turned on their naïeve little heads. But what a person can always look for more of is really cool unique bookmarks. Placeholders special enough for the books that are special enough to remain in your culled-out-of-spacial-necessity collection. Page corner bookmarks are cute, practical and deeply under-represented in the world.* They’re easy to make, easy to customize, and will set you apart from all those same-same flat rectangular bookmarks. If you like this tutorial, here are a couple others that might be up your alley. For the monster-loving adults in the room, try some googly-eyed paper monster wine charms. What you’ll need: Putting it all together: 1) Follow steps 2 and 3 from above.
Kool-Aid Dyed Playsilks - Tried and True A couple months ago I came upon a tutorial on The Artful Parent for Kool-Aid Dyed Playsilks. I hadn’t really heard about playsilks before that but upon further investigation found out that they’re awesome. They can be pretty much anything your child wants them to be: capes, dresses, blankets, scenery, tents and the list goes on and on. So, seven of us got together with our seven toddlers (all under 2 years) and dyed 42 playsilks in total. We started around 11 am and didn’t finish until about 5 pm. We did six scarves at a time, with the other mothers pitching in to watch the child of whoever was working on their playsilks. After we did the first batch of Kool-Aid packets, some of the mothers decided to get a bit creative with color combination and as a result we ended up with 14 different color at the end of the day. Edit: Here are a few answers to some of the more popular questions posted in the comments. Where did you get your scarves/What size were they? Will these bleed?