Day 22 - Security envelope re-use

(source: ecomonster - flickr)

I pinned this image in Pinterest a short time ago because I thought this was such a clever and simple idea.  I really like the patterns inside bill and junk mail envelopes and, as this person did, if you turn them inside out you can reuse them.  Love it.

I have been saving envelopes for a little while after I read somewhere else about using the cute patterns for paper crafts so I had a stack of them waiting.  Only problem was most of them were window faced envelopes so I decided to rip them open, make a mini envelope template and make a stack of little envelopes.  I thought these would be so cute for gift tags with little cards made to fit inside (that reminds me, I have two miniature cards and envelopes that I think I bought when I was about 12 years old and have never used because I just adore the cuteness of them - random thought).

Then, of course, the brain doesn't stop there.  Wouldn't tiny little address labels look cute?

How about tiny little stickers to close them?

Hmmm, who should I mail this to?  Look, she is so happy to be getting mail!  I think even my non girly daughter will love these.

I have another idea for these that I hope I get to tomorrow.  It will be great if I can get it to look how it looks in my head right now.  I know, it is an exciting world over here....  :-)

You send me....

(I wish you could see how much they sparkle...)

I post a reasonable number of presents, living overseas from my family, and I am always trying to think of ways of embellishing gifts in a flat sort of way (to avoid crushed bows).  I thought this might be my Christmas tag this year.  Just glitter glue on plain wrap.  Would work with glue and loose glitter as well of course.  So many ideas for this now!

(hint: draw out your design lightly in pencil first then put glue over the top - you can get the name straight then!)


This post is brought to you as part of Blogtoberfest.

Day 8 - Scrapbuster clipboard

Old clipboard, scraps of scrapbooking paper, mod podge.  Looks cute hanging on the wall above my sewing table!

Day 6 - You are so deer to me, pretty acorn...

:-)

(for technical purposes, it was before midnight where I am sitting when I posted this... the blogger clock must be on the east coast...)

Simple goodie bag for a not-so-big child's party (not allowed to say 'little' anymore...)

As I have mentioned before I have a thing for goodie bags at my kid's parties.  I really like to give something handmade or useful (preferably both).  It was A's birthday last Saturday and we had his party at their gymnastics place (great place for a party!) and I made these simple little goodie bags for A to hand out at the end.  I always get a kick out of seeing how excited the other children are to see the birthday child open their gift and how equally excited the birthday child is to hand out the goodie bags.  It is really sweet.  I didn't put in a 2am sewing effort with these like I did for E's party in June but these were just as well received.

I made the little books (slightly adjusting a tutorial from here), added a pretty pencil and a couple of chocolates.  I also made bookmarks with each child's name that I laminated and put in.  I didn't have one left over for the photo but they were basic patterned rectangles with the child's name in the middle, cut out and laminated.

These are the steps I used for the little books:

1. I did the layout in Powerpoint (on Letter paper - in portrait mode - you get two to a page).  Just put the image and writing far over on the right hand side.

2. I used free clipart from the internet for the colouring book style image (I did a bunch of different ones - a dolphin, squirrel, beaver, duck, owl, bird, etc.).  The font for the book name is 'superpoint - rounded' (from dafont.com).  I liked this one because the kids can trace over it if they want some letter writing practice.  The font for the name and age labels is Pakenham Free (can't remember if this came with my computer or I got it from one of those free font sites).

3. I printed out the pages on white card, cut them in half to give me my two book covers and then measured and cut other papers for the inside pages.  I did a mix of papers.

4. I stacked the pages and cover together and folded them in half, stapled in the crease (on a couple I stitched them as I couldn't find the right staples for my longer armed stapler), trimmed the paper with my little paper guillotine (or scissors if you have a steady hand), rounded the corners using a round corner punch (from a scrapbooking/craft store - near the decorative punches) and applied duct tape strips for binding.  I didn't have any bookbinding tape and it was too expensive to buy some for this sole project.  Plus A loves purple and the brightly coloured duct tape suited him.

If anyone wants a picture tutorial let me know and I will do it for you.

Koi necklace

I went through a phase a few years ago of making a little bit of jewellery here and there.  Sometimes for presents but mostly for myself.  I think I got overwhelmed with the choices and so never really stuck at it (have you seen how many different types of beads and findings there are?? mind boggling).  Having said that, I did enjoy it so I busted out the old needle nose pliers and whipped this little guy up for a present for someone (can't say who until after they receive it...just in case they read this).  I just love this koi pendant.  It is all jointed and is flexible.  The other little beads are swarovski crytals and hungarian glass.

Jeggings to shorts recycle

My daughter has about 6 pairs of jeggings that she used almost the entire autumn and winter for school last year. They still fit her but the knees are worn through on most of them (some of them got patched for school).  I don't know how long we will have warmer weather for here in Minnesota* but to stretch her wardrobe for a bit longer I thought a bit of scissor action is all we needed.  I just cut the first leg and then folded the jeggings over to follow that cutting line on the other leg.  Then I used the cut off piece as a guide for the rest.

Now she has 6 pairs of long denim shorts.  Yay for recycling (upcycling?)!  She wouldn't even consider me hemming them so this is about one of the easiest clothing refashions you will ever do.  I will just have to snip off threads as they come loose over time I guess.  Now I just need to find another 6 pairs of jeggings in the next size up to last this coming winter...

(* since I wrote this, it has been feeling all autumn like here the last two days...  we missed a month of summer and don't feel ready for autumn yet!  please wait mother nature!)

Book racks

I was going to actually use these Ikea spice racks for ....wait for it.... spices!  Radical thought I know.  But then I saw all these great pictures of people using them for book racks so their destiny was changed.  There is a sofa sitting right next to that red table so it makes it easy for us to choose our favourite books to snuggle up and read.  A shout out to my wonderful landlady who doesn't mind me attaching things to walls.  She is awesome.

Covered buttons

Dreaming of making stuff for my own little shop some day...... 

Thrift Store Tuesday

I have seen these around the internet for quite awhile and decided to try my hand after spotting this sweet little vintage plate the other day in one of my thrift store rounds.  So easy and such a fun, quick result.  I think these would look lovely en masse for a party dessert buffet.

I bought the plate and glass candlestick for less than $2.  I used E6000 glue to stick them together, waited 24 hours for it to cure and that was it.  Let me know if you try it or have already tried it.

Makeover Monday - Thrifty Mirror

Remember this thrift store mirror I had plans for?  The white kind of looks all fresh in this photo but in person it was looking a bit tired and tatty.

Here she is, all freshly painted and hanging in my entry way (some hints for indoor, poorly lit photography would be welcome Karen!).  It really brightens up this space and makes me feel cheery every time I walk past.  I love how little tweaks we do have that effect.  By the way, the paint colour I used was Martha Stewart's Cornbread.  The photo makes it look very bright but it is actually a softer colour in person.  Check out the paint swatch next time you are at Home Depot and you will see what I mean.

Mouse mat makeover

I was thinking about doing this ages ago and then Benita from Chez Larsson beat me to it so if you hop on over you can read her wonderful instructions.  The only thing I did differently was to pull off the original fabric from my mouse mat as it was already lifting and I sprayed both the mat and the fabric before sticking them together (spraying one side gives a temporary bond, two sides makes it more permanent).

This is possibly the quickest makeover you will ever do and you get to look at and appreciate it every day.  My favourite kind.

Pin It

Freebie Friday - Bunting To Do List

Bunting To Do List

Short and sweet tonight (although I am very proud of myself for posting freebie Friday on an actual Friday - hee hee).  Here is a cheery little to do list to brighten up the task!  There are three to a page that you can cut out and staple together if you so choose.

Mushroom beads

Ok, here is my other idea for these little mushroom buttons, beads for jewellery.  Cute!

Let's gather some supplies.  I bought the jewellery making supplies at Michael's.  Some silver chain, fixings including the clasp and some flat head pins to attach the mushrooms.  I haven't done a lot of jewellery making but  this is the simple of the simple techniques.  You do need these needle nose pliers though.  I really should have used rounded pliers but this worked fine for me.

Next, you need to paint your little mushrooms.  I used some poster putty to keep it steady on the end of a skewer and it was much easier to paint this way.

Put them onto a little piece of scrap timber (for when the drill comes through the other side) and drill a hole through the middle.  Don't worry if you are a little off - it won't matter to the end look.

Insert the flat head pin through the bottom of your 'bead'.

Use your pliers to make a little hook.

  

Put it on your chain and use the pliers to close up the hook as much as you can.

Add as many as you like and ask your 8 yr old to model it for you.  Adorable! (if I do say so myself...)

Make your own knitting needles, mushroom style

Here is project number two with our fun little button plugs.  Knitting needles!  I visited a Waldorf school once and they showed me how they made their own knitting needles by sanding down the ends.  I just sped up the process a bit with the pencil sharpener.

Take some dowel (mine is approx. 12 in/30cm long and about 10mm in diameter but use whatever width you like of course).  Glue a button plug to one end.

Stick the other end in a pencil sharpener....

Until it looks like this.

Gently sand the point down until there are no sharp edges and you have a soft point....

Like this....

and then paint your button plugs to look like mushrooms (or ladybugs).

Too cute!  Now I just need to learn how to knit...(I am totally not kidding).

Ladybug love

One of my commenters from yesterday's mushroom magnet post suggested they would look great as ladybugs and she was right!  Thanks Willow's Quiet Corner!  By the way, these were even easier as I just coloured them with Sharpies and only painted the little eyes on.  I have another cute idea for these little painted buttons for tomorrow as well.

Making Monday - Mushroom Magnets!

Don't these look adorable?  I saw this idea used on pencils first (check out her other projects - adorable!!) and then my sister sent me some cute little Japanese mushroom magnets (like this) for Christmas so I thought it would be easy to make some too.  Here is how I did it.

First, buy these little wooden button plugs at your local hardware store (I found these in the tool section).  They come in different sizes so pick whatever suits you.  I bought these teeny little magnets at Michael's but the hardware store has them too I think.

Gather your supplies.  Button plugs, magnets, paintbrush, paint, glue*, something to put your little dabs of paint on.  (* see note below about the glue!)

I used this little enamel dish to put the magnets on and then glued the mushrooms on.  *Realise the gorilla glue does not work AT ALL and switch to Aleene's Tacky Glue.  Leave them to dry.

Paint the tops red (leave the little 'stem' natural).  As Kimanh says in her pencil tutorial, paint from the top down so you don't get paint on the 'stem'.

Use the other end of your paintbrush or a skewer to dip into white paint and do your spots.  I actually cut the tip off the sharp end of a skewer so I could get a smaller dot.  Let it all dry (it doesn't take long).

 

Use on a magnetic noticeboard or your fridge or anywhere you need a little mushroom love!

Serving plate makeover

I have these two little serving plates.  They are not too big, I love the colours and I like that they are a rectangle and square - so handy for lots of things that aren't round cakes.  I thought this would be a cute way to jazz them up a little sometimes.

I cut out some pretty scrapbook papers to fit in the bottom, laminated them and popped them in (securing them with double sided tape is a good idea).  I can make as many as I like and change them out for different parties and so on.  I am going to do the same for my small cake plate as well.  This would be a nice way to use your plain white salad plates as serving pieces also.  Too easy! 

Snow day activity #389 (at least it feels like it has been snowy for that long)

When the backyard looks like this (and has for 2.5 months)....

you look to the wonderful world of the internet for inspiration.  You must check out the brilliant simplicity of Made by Joel (here is the link to his original cereal box doll house creation).  I love his stuff so so much.

Anyway, I was flicking through his site one day about two months ago with Lord A on my knee and, last week, with no prompting from me, Lord A made this from memory.  I helped with the furniture (the little table and chairs in the bottom left) but he directed.  and added slides.  every little cereal box doll house has to have at least two slides apparently....  the Lego people are loving it.  (also a good illustration of how you just never know what is going to stick in their heads!)  (see the food on the table? one pistachio...Lego people love them apparently)