Paint chip greeting cards | Chica and Jo Like most of you, I’m sure, I tend to go through a lot of paint chips when trying to decide on a color to paint a room. And when the project is done, I toss the paint chips into a box I keep in my craft room. They are the perfect “I’ll use these one day” items, right? Well I stumbled upon the box a few days ago and realized just how many I’d collected over the years. Oh the memories this pile brings back! There are the numerous shades of tan that I went through when painting the kitchen. No matter how I got this collection, I knew it was time to finally do something with them. Can you believe those were made from plain white cardstock and boring old paint chips? First I cut some ordinary 8.5″ x 11″ white cardstock in half crosswise, then folded it. For the square mosaic design, I grabbed a bunch of smoky blue paint chips and cut them into 1 inch squares. For the green card, I cut all my green paint chips into strips of random widths. I spent a lot of time on the final card.
say YES! to hoboken: DIY: Tinted Mason Jars in Rainbow I’ve been experimenting with tinting mason jars to create a look like those old vintage ones that are difficult to find anymore in second hand stores. I think I’ve finally honed in on the perfect method. Would you like to see how it’s done? Check out the DIY here. Fill them with flowers, or illuminate an outdoor party filling them with battery operated tea lights or a strand of twinkle lights. copyright 2014 liz stanley // all rights reserved Earbud Pouch Tutorial I use a little zippered pouch to carry around my earbuds since they are the fancy microphone ones and I don’t want them to break or get tangled. Some of you have commented that you are looking for some small, simple gift ideas. This is definitely simple to make, and a little more fun than the typical rectangular zippered pouch! UPDATE: I have completely re-written this tutorial with twice as many bright, clear photos and more detailed instructions and it is available as a pattern in my pattern shop. First, download the pattern template HERE. Cut from main fabric: 1 circle 2 half circles 1 tab Cut from lining fabric: 1 circle 2 half circles Cut from batting (or medium weight interfacing, if you prefer): 1 circle 2 half circles You will also need a 1″ wide nylon 5″ or longer zipper. Place one lining half circle right side up and place the zipper right side up on top. Place a main fabric half circle wrong side up (right side together with the zipper). Sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance.
This Much Card and a Kid Canvas Father's Day ideas continued... I decided to show you the things Harvey and I made to give to Justin. First up... "I Love You This Much Card": It's super easy... 1. 2. 3. Kid Canvas: Then Harvey and I made a little canvas (4 inches x 4 inches) to hang on the wall in Justin's office at work. I prepainted the canvas in green, then set Harvey in the bathtub with blue paint and a brush and let him paint his own "picture." Every year I'll have our kids paint their own picture on a matching canvas to add to the collection. Surprise Balls This article is also posted at Squidoo! Inside this ball of yarn are all sorts of little goodies I chose for a friend. I wanted to send them to her in a way that’s entertaining, and since the gift will travel a long distance, I also had to come up with something that would take the abuse of going through the mail. My solution? I turned a pile of ephemera and goodies into a surprise ball. First, I chose the items I wanted to send, inlcuding a printer’s block, some buttons, rhineston brads in a small watchmaker tin, and a bunch of ATC backgrounds. I usually choose to make the largest item in my pile of goodies the center of the ball, so here, I’m starting with the ATC backgrounds. Because this is going to a mixed media artist, I wanted to include lots of different fibers and trims. Next, I’ll add two shorter, thicker items, to pad the center out, and start turning this into more of a ball shape. On the other side, I wrapped the little tin of brads.
Easy and Unique DIY VasesInspiring Pretty Everyone loves vases, but it’s difficult to find one that is unique and not the same old run of the mill vase you’ve seen 1000 times before. As the most prominent centerpiece, you always want a vase to be special, just like the rest of your decor. Whether it is empty, holding flower, a candle pebbles or anything else, a vase can be boring or the perfect accent you’ve been looking for. This lovely vase is simple and its beauty is its simplicity. For this cozy yet stylish vase, pick up some clear craft glue and yearn and collect a few pop bottles, beer or wine bottles. For some true vintage charm, these are the way to go. courtesy of sjarmerende-gjenbruk.blogspot.com This is simple, whimsical and somehow elegant. For this ornate design, either buy punch paper or create your own with sturdy poster board paper, stock paper, card paper, construction paper or something else you know of. courtesy of witandwhistle.com For those who want light, but don’t want fire, this is the vase for you.
Fabulous Ric Rac Flowers Let me start out with a warning or sorry of some sort. The warning is because I have never done a Tutorial before, so I hope this is helpful and easy to follow. The sorry is for how horrible my nails look. I promise I did them after looking through these pics. I thought I would start off with a Flower, I too, just learned how to make. Material: Time-Roughly 20 minutes about 28 inches of Ric Rac ( This will make a flower about 2 inches in diameter) Suggestion: The thicker the Ric Rac the better Felt (Any Color) One sheet will be fine depending on how many flowers you want to make. Optional: Hair Clips, leaves or buttons Step One: Take the two pieces and hot glue them together. Note: You want to glue them together as if they are a mirror of one another. Step two: Lock in each curve of the first piece with the second. Say to yourself “over,under,over, under”. *If your piece does not look like this, then you most likely glued the two pieces going the wrong direction. Pretty right? Cute right? Kayla
BUY or DIY Geronimo Giant Balloons With Streamers He passed me a messy, misspelt note scribbled on paper from the back of his maths exercise book. It read: You make me feel like… jaronimo! It was his sweet, boyish way of saying that he liked me. I had to pinch myself. You see, I was a shy, geeky 16 year old at the time and ‘geronimo boy’ was my first proper crush. Who knew that underneath that bad boy exterior (and all that hair gel) beat the heart of a poet. To this day I consider it to be one of the loveliest and most romantic things anyone has ever said to me. Why am I telling you this? Because not only do I adore the word ‘geronimo’ for that very reason, I also can’t get enough of the big, round balloons adorned with tassels, sparkles and all kinds of frilly fancies created by Geronimo Balloons! Geronimo Ballons These wonderfully round balloons are a great way to add a bit of sparkle and whimsy to a wedding when used in your wedding colours as ceremony/reception decor for fun portrait shots and even for gifts. Want a cheaper option? 1. 2.
Home made superhero fleece poncho-cape. These were one of the presents that I made for my girls this Christmas. They are pretty into the whole superhero thing. They have Batman and Superman PJs and wanted capes, so I thought it would be a nice idea if they had capes that could double up as cold weather ponchos. I used one yard of blue fleece for the superman poncho and one yard of black fleece for the Batman one. I got the little bits of yellow and red fleece from the remnants section, so they were pennies. I also used two 16" chunky zippers and two nice big buttons. The fleece appliques on the backs were done by hand. Here's how I cut the shape of the cape to sew up. I cut out a smaller semi circle for the start of the neck part of the pattern. Then I folded the two sides in to meet in the middle, so that I had a quarter circle (as though looking at the poncho head on, flat on the ground) From here I cut the curves of the shoulders. They worked out a great fit for my nearly four year old and just turned five year old.
3D Paper Owl from mmmcrafts The gifted Larissa from mmmcrafts is here sharing her amazing talents with an unbelievable 3D paper owl. Larissa writes… Left: art made with this tutorial, Right: art made with alternate colors (see note at the end of the tutorial) Hey, Craft Campers! This 3D paper owl art project is for you and your crafty older kids, say around 11-ish years and up, who can wield a pair of scissors, handle smallish pieces and follow placement instructions carefully. Moms: You can definitely young this down by cutting out the shapes for younger kids, and skipping the pop dots and folding. Alrighty young crafters, here’s what you will need to make the nighttime owl pictured above: my PDF download with all the pattern pieces (get it here)printerrulerclear tapebutter knife for scoring8.5 x 11 piece of poster board (you can cut one from a larger piece)8.5 x 11 inch heavy scrapbooking paper in the following colors: orange, brown, dark teal, black, light brown, red, and yellow. Got all that together?
DIY Coasters Is everyone ready for today's Pinterest challenge? I know I'm excited to share my project and can't wait to see what everybody else came up with. Pinterest in general just makes me tinkle in my pants with joy! So let's get to it! Lately I have been obssessed with games like Words With Friends, Wordosaur, Scrabble and any other word games that make me use my noggin. Online these babies go for $26, but with a little crafting and an old scrabble game, these can be yours for practically free! Here are the materials you need: 64 scrabble letters (check yard sales, thrift stores, or order some on Ebay or Amazon if you don't have any on hand)1 thin cork board (buy at any craft store)1 x-acto knifesuper gluehot glue gunmodpodge/sealer Step 1. Arrange 16 letters to make 4 words that you are happy with on your coasters (Ex. Step 2. Glue letters together using a thin layer of super glue leaving about 15 seconds to dry between each letter. Step 3. Step 4. Step 5. What do you think?