Other Projects

Table Centerpiece

This is a square-shaped centerpiece with a candle in the center. I made this for our wedding anniversary, but it could be used for any occasion. Its four sides allow for four different photos. The wood pieces on the bottom spell out our last name. I really like how it came out, and how the glow from the candle made such an impact through the photos. :-)

I purchased the thickest 4x6 frames I could find so it would stand up as easily as possible. This project didn't require a lot of materials. It required: 4 frames, glossy accents (as glue), 2 sheets of 8.5x11 vellum (for the printer), a square mirror, thick black ribbon, hot glue, a candle for the center, and any decorations you want to add to the frames.

1. The first step is to print four black-and-white 4x6 photos on the vellum paper (two can fit on each sheet). I used an ordinary ink printer, just remember to allow enough time for the ink to dry.
2. Remove the backs from the frames (you will not need them). Remove the glass. Place the vellum-photo into the frame, thinly applying glossy accents along the edges to hold it in place. After photo is placed, apply another thin layer to the edges of the glass, again to hold it in the frame. Let this dry overnight if possible.
3. Cut small pieces of wide, black ribbon. Use hot glue to adhere these small pieces to the frames. The purpose of this ribbon is not only to attach the frames together, but to allow this piece to be flexible enough to bend into its "square" form. The hardest part is attaching the last two small pieces because you need to do it while it's sitting upright.
4. Be sure to decorate the frames while they are laying flat, it's much easier this way!
5. Put a candle in the middle. I actually used a flickering LED candle, that way we could leave it on without worrying about the proximity of the wooden frames. You can also put it on a mirror so there's more light in the room. And you're done!

Valentines Flipbook

"52 Reasons I Love You" book, using a deck of cards.

    Some Suggestions for this Project:

• Make a "cover" for the entire book. I made the basic cover from chipboard, then used my valentines card stock to make it decorative.
• Use a hole punch to punch two holes in every card. Be sure you have a guide of some sort so the holes are all in the same places.
• The rings used to hold them together are those you would use for index cards. You can buy them in silver or in colors at Staples.
• The pictures I printed were all wallet-sized. I did so by uploading all my photos into Picnik's website, and creating a "collage" of a 4x6 size, using two wallet photos. Then, you can pay for a 4x6 print and cut apart two different wallet photos (since usually, when you submit wallets you have to print 2-4 of the same photo). However, each one needed to be cut to size just slightly. So, I glued each picture on first, and after the glue dried I used scissors to hand-cut the rounded corners (yes, that's a lot of work!). I tried using tape first, but the shiny surface of the cards wouldn't hold it. Instead, I used Scotch's Quick Dry Adhesive (liquid).
• Most importantly, be creative! Use real-life items to embellish the project, ex: ticket stubs. It makes it that much more personal! Another example, I used some confetti from our wedding that I'd been saving for my scrapbook. Also, I had a page about Applebees - with which I used a gift-card holder I grabbed when we were there and cut it to size. Stuff like this really looks great!
• If it helps you, make a list of everything you want to write first. I did so in a computer document, and added stuff as I thought of them. This way, you can keep alike reasons separated in the deck, if that's what you want (for example, I didn't want a picture of my engagement ring after a picture of the place where he proposed).
• If I had a main word I wanted to get across, I used rubber stamps to stamp the main word, and then hand-wrote the rest after the ink dried.
• Just a reminder, a standard deck has 52 cards - but if you plan to use the Jokers, it would be 54. I used one Joker (for the saying "You make me laugh", obviously!), so even though there are technically 53 reasons in my deck, I still wrote 52 because that number is more associated with the standard size of a deck of cards.

Mod Podge Letters

D is for DOG

This was my first Mod Podge project! I see what all the hype is about. I LOVE this stuff. It's so versatile, easy to use, and frankly, fun to work with. I decided to make a D and cover it with pictures of my beloved pups.

Materials:
-Wooden Letter(s)
-Modge Podge comes in all types of varieties. I've used antique and their basic matte. In this project I used Antique, and it definitely gave my photos a more aged/brown look to them. A good example of this is looking at the bottom right photo, the sky was white but antique made it more brown-ish.
-Sponge brush, foam brush, or paintbrush... something to apply liquid with, that you're ok throwing away afterwords.
-Printed photographs from your home computer! I read online before starting this project that most people print at home for these types of projects. I'm not sure why, but I can imagine it has to do with wrapping the photos later.

The challenging part with this project is definitely getting the best layout of photographs. Getting your photos to line up and look right is more time consuming than you think. I suggest printing several extra photos (different sizes) so you are able to align them more easily. When wrapping the photos, I found it useful to cut the sides into strips. These strips allowed me to bend the photo around the sides and glue to the back (the back looks absolutely terrible). You could aso cut them exactly if you planned to paint the edges of your wooden letter.

5 Steps for this project:
1. Arrange your photos in an approximate layout on your letter.
2. Do only one photo at a time. Apply a THIN layer of mod podge to your letter. I found it helpful to trace the outline of my photo first so I knew where the glue should go. 
3. Place your photo on the letter, pushing to smooth it out.
4. Cut the paper hanging over so it's easier to wrap around to the back. Use modpodge on the sides and on the back to seal it and keep it in place.
5. After all of your photos are glued on, take mod podge and literally make a thin layer on the entire project. This felt weird to me, but it helps to seal the project. I didn't put it over top after each photo because I wanted the brush to make "smooth lines" across the entire surface of the letter.

I added some sticker word embellishments at the very end.

If you have any questions let me know!! :)


Nursery Mod-Podge Decor

What I love about this project is how many ways you can personalize it. Not only can you make (and spell!) the baby's name, but Mom can choose coordinating scrapbook paper to fit their theme. 

Supplies:

• Wooden letters to spell the name
• Mod Podge, clear (aka Matte or Glossy, no color additions)
• Foam brush, sponge, or paintbrush for application
• Coordinating scrapbook papers, one for each letter
• SOLID Color for the bottom, to ensure length of letter is covered (see below)
• Ribbon for the seam between the color transitions
• Adhesive for your ribbon
• Embellishments (optional)
• Second ribbon for decorative purposes above the letter (optional)

See Complete Directions in the linked "D is for DOG"  post.
Use scrapbook paper instead of photos, and outline the scrapbook paper placement instead of photo placement.

TIPs:

• Choose thicker wooden letters. Thicker letters make it easier to both wrap paper and smooth-out. There are other cute options down the wood aisle (like curly or thin letters)... but the thicker you choose, the easier this project will be.
• Darker, thicker card-stock works best. There are a few wrinkles in the thinner scrapbook paper from the mod podge, but I was able to disguise the more noticeable ones with embellishments.
• Standard 12x12 scrapbook paper is TOO SMALL to fit this brand of letters. There ended up being 2inches left on the bottom, so I lined the bottom of the letters with a uniform blue. Using ribbon to transition the colors also helps forgive your seams if they're not completely straight (which, let's face it, is difficult by hand and with glue!)
• DON'T hang the letters by the top ribbon. The added ribbon is for decoration only. Definitely adhere the ribbon to the wall, but the weight of the letter is too much. I suggest command strips so there is no hardware needed.
• Get a friend to help you! Two of us took almost 4 hours for this project.

Wall Collage

[coming soon]

Candy Bag Tags

I made 60 of these treat-bag tags for one of my husband's work functions. They were handing out small bags of candy, so this size was appropriate! There's also a short message on the back, printed on the computer and cut to size.

TIP: When mass-producing tags: Invest in a large hand-punch. It gets very tedious loading and unloading the cricut mat. This shape is from Recollections (Michaels), and is approx. 2in x 2in. The perfect size for a treat bag! And now I have the punch to do other tags later. It also fits most small stamps nicely. Simple project, just time consuming! You can't be inpatient because the ink will smear... Patience is a virtue, you know. ;)

Simple Room Decor

Room Art

We've recently lived in a fully-furnished apartment, ... with no decor. So, using my cricut and the Paper Lace cartridge, I made this simple artwork that coordinated with the bedding we were provided. I made the designs as large as possible by using the "fit to page" cricut button.