It's doable... the smash book

Have you heard about these yet?  They take all the best parts of scrapbooking, creating a photo album and saving mementos and roll them all into one!  Plus, no more hours spent with our heads hanging over a scrapbooking table!  Here, watch this video:

Smash Book YouTube video

See?  How neat is that!? I loved scrapbooking, but I just don't have the time to keep up on it and I loved keeping all those little mementos (like movie stubs) but they would just end up in the bottom of my purse all the time.  And then I ran across the Smash Book.  It can be found several places like papersource.com and Michaels.com but definitely look around for a minute or two because some places have better pricing than others.  Plus, there are a lot of little neat things like tabs, pockets, stamps, tape etc for about $2!

Here are a few excerpts from my first Smash Book (the honeymoon album).  Now call me crazy, (seriously it's ok I know I am), but on the last day of our honeymoon I brought my camera to CVS and printed out our honeymoon pictures and brought them on the plane with us.  By the end of the flight home my smash book was complete!  There is no right or wrong way to do it, you just slop it in there and go!

This first picture is of the side of the album. 

There are tabs that have sticky backs that can be purchased as one of those little side items for about $2 for a whole pack.  Also, the album comes with a half pen/ half glue stick that comes with it (BUY AN EXTRA ONE OF THESE).

The middle part is our Luau program and the top left is a little smash book extra from a pack you can buy.

This page is on our Road to Hana trip.  Again, as you can seen it has little mementos like a program and business card, writing around the edges and pictures.

I by no means consider myself to be a pro at this, so if you are looking for more inspiration just google it!  There are some really great and creative books out there.

Now, it's on to my next one...

It's doable... the paint palette clock

I saw something very similar to this once and I thought, "Hey, I can make that!"  So here it is!  Also, I have had numerous requests from people who would rather buy my items than follow my wonderful directions so this post is also to introduce my etsy shop!

For the DIY-ers out there... please see below :)

I love this clock for a craft room, teacher or as an artsy fartsy gift!

 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED: (All supplies purchase from Michaels for about $25 total)

- Artist's paint palette

- Selection of artist acrylic paints... please see the picture below and my comment on which ones worked better

- clock parts: I used the set for 3/8 inch projects

- set of larger clock hands

- Drill and drill bit size 5/16

- pliers (to tighten clock parts)

- 8 inch salad plate (or another way to make this size circle)

- pencil

- 2 small picture hanging hooks

- picture hanging wire

- 2 part epoxy (I used 5 minute epoxy)

- tape

 

Please note the paints here.  I got a few of the 'squeeze bottle' kind (Americana) and be forewarned: they were much harder to use and didn't stay as 3D.  I would highly suggest the roll up tube kind (Artist's Loft Paint Set)!

STEPS:

1) Open your paint palette and patiently unstick the tools that it comes with.  I used one of the tools to scrape off the sticky tape... You don't want to yank it off or it will peel off part of the wood!

2) Test your pencil on the back of the palette and erase it.  Make sure you can't see it, if you can, use a different pencil.  I used a mechanical pencil and it erased just fine.

3) Position your clock (aka your salad plate) where you want it on the palette and trace around it.  Mark where you want your 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock to be.  These I just eye-balled.  Then remove your plate and mark your 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11 o'clock.  Again, I just eyeballed these but you can always measure it if you are afraid you can't make it even. 

4) Don't miss this step, it'll be much easier to do now!  Use a straight edge and line it up between 12 and 6 o'clock.  Make a line (about 1 inch) in the center of the circle.  Then do the same with 3 and 9 o'clock.  This should create an X that we will use to mark where to drill the clock hole.

5) Pick your paint order... mine is as follows.

6) Without erasing the circle (you will see I made 2 of these, the second one I didn't erase the circle and it came out much better!)  glob your paint patiently on each hour marker (you will do this several times to raise it).  You want this first time to be the width of how wide you want your future glob to be.  If I were to do it again, I would make my globs a little wider.  What's nice about keeping your pencil circle is that you can keep your globs nicely symmetrical.  Let these globs dry completely.

6a) If you paint glob didn't come out symmetrical: while it is still wet you can use your plastic knife to drag it around in the paint and round out the appearance.

7) Once they globs are dry.  Add more paint on top.  This time, you are going for height and shape.  Think old-school ice cream cone.  You can push the tube down and then pull it  up to create a Hershey's kiss kind of point.  Let dry completely.  (I waited over night).

7a) If you ended up using the 'squeeze bottle' acrylic paints (boo), you can add a drop of the roll up acrylic paint to create your Hershey's kiss point.  Repeat until desired glob is achieved (or white tip is covered).

8) After your globs are completely dry, drill your center hole.  My husband did this part so I don't have any tips for you here. :)

9) Assemble your clock.  This took me forever seeing as the clock doesn't come with instructions so this is what I figured out... Below are detailed instructions, but this is what we are working towards:

 

Take the large hexagonal nut off the clock base and the circular gold washer underneath it, as well as the dinky little nut off the top. 

Now slide your clock through your palette.  Then add the gold washer and the hexagonal bolt and twist it on TIGHT.  I used pliers... if it is loose, your clock will wobble!  Next, take your larger hour hand you purchased separate from the clock.  Peel off the protective coating (this side is up, see picture).

Place it on pointing to 12 o'clock.  It will NOT go all the way on to the white part, but it does grab a bit.  Do this gently so you don't bend your hands.  (Whoops, I did that).  This technique works well:

Next, take your minute hand and place it onto the threaded top part of the clock.  You will see it is ovular and fits only one way.  Make both hands face 12 o'clock.  Screw the little dinky washer on top of the minute hand as tight as possible.  Test your clock by moving the minute hand, does the hour hand move too? Good. Now take your second hand and squish it down on top.  THIS IS VERY DIFFICULT TO TAKE OFF... so if something doesn't seem right don't put this on until you are sure.  

10) Since your clock is off center on the palette we will need to add a hanging wire across the back.  I took a piece of wire (about 10 inches and fed it through the top of of the hanging hook and twisted it like so.  Then I did it with the other hook facing (but opposite so the wire connected the two hooks).  Leave a little slack in the wire so that it can hang even with the thickness of your clock back.  Tape this wire in place so it doesn't move around (this will help with the gluing of the hooks).

11) Mix your 2 part epoxy on a paper plate using a plastic knife or the tool that came with your palette.  Scoop a little epoxy behind your hook and tape over it with one long strip lengthwise.  This will prevent it from coming up while it dries.  Do the same with the other hook.

12) Let dry and enjoy the finished project!

 

It's doable...cheap makeup-brush holder

We are now a few weeks out from Valentine's Day and all of you lucky girls who received flowers out there... now have empty vases... never fear, I have a solution for you!

What you'll need:

- A vase (mine was from flowers, a cute square one... but the possibilities are really endless here)

- Cheap coffee BEANS (make sure the bag doesn't say ground!)- 13 oz bag: $4 from Kroger

My two-cents:

I originally thought that coffee beans would be too expensive, too fragrant and too plain so I tried that whole spray painted beans thing.  Oh my gosh, utter disaster! I never got all the beans covered on all sides and when I finally decided they were 'good enough' I realized that the paint chipped right off!  But hey, that's what I am here for... to make the mistakes and show you the things that actually work.  So take a lesson from me, go buy some $3.90 coffee beans, dump them in a vase you have laying around and move on to your next craft :)

Worried about the smell: Honestly, I am pretty out of it in the morning and the first day after making this I got into the shower and could faintly smell the beans.  I thought, "Sweet, the hubs made coffee".  Later while getting ready I realized this and had to laugh to myself.  Needless to say, it's not overpowering by any means.

My husband's one concern is that at some point in time they might need to be replaced... so if your beans start looking a little funky (I have no idea what the bathroom/shower moisture will do) make sure you replace them!

It's doable...second-hand side table revamp

I'm a newlywed.  And we've been homeowners less than a year.  These 2 things combined equals a lack of many household items and lack of furniture.  Therefore, I have turned to creativity.  Regardless of your situation, you can save quite a few bucks by buying items second hand and tailoring them to your desires.

For example... here is our make shift side table before. Gross. But... with just a couple of bucks... here is our AFTER!

(Wanna know more about the pictures? On the left you see Mr. Wonderful and my's first Thanksgiving.  On the right you'll see Mr. Wonderful and my brother in law sword fighting with umbrellas... What do they say? Inside every man is a 5 year old boy? Yes. That about sums it up.)

But where I am going with these crazy colors you ask?  This, my friends, is my long term goal for our family room... minus the 'sea' theme

Source... please feel free to drool with me

So, back to the side table.  I picked up 1 lamp and 2 frames from Goodwill.  The lamp was $3 and the frames were $.99 each (yay!)  We also picked up an end table there that was originally from Target but was selling at Goodwill, new in box for $30 (a slight splurge but worth it).  The wicker basket (for blankets and throws) I got from a garage sale last summer for a couple of bucks.

My culprits before:

I then purchased/ found in my house:

- 1 can of Rust-oleum Painter's touch Gloss: Colonial Red, about $3 each

- 2 cans of Rust-oleum Painter's touch Satin: Aqua, about $3 each

- 1 lamp shade from Walmart for $9.50

- something to spray paint your items on... think newspaper, old thick blankets, garbage bags etc.

- painter's tape to cover parts you don't want painted

STEPS:

1) Use a light sandpaper to rough up your frames and lamp.  It needs to be a light grit, you don't want to dig holes in your items!  Go over all surfaces that you plan to paint, this will help it to stick and help ensure that it won't 'bead' while you are painting.

2) Remove the glass and back from the frames and cover anything on the frames and lamp that you don't want painted.  I taped a bag around the cord of the lamp and covered the top brass area in painter's tape.

3) We are going to paint the backside first... do as I say not as I do here, I learned the hard way and painted the front first as you can see in my pictures.  Find discrete places to put the push pins or sewing pins to hold your frames off the surface. (You'll appreciate this when you don't end up with a nasty line around your frame when you peel it from the paper it is sitting on!)  And you want to paint the back first so that when you do the front side you can paint over those little push pin holes to make them even more discrete!

4) Time to spray paint those bad boys!  Now, don't get carried away.  Read the instructions and don't go too slow, you'll end up with runs.  Start with the edges and then do the surface... that will lead to a smoother finish.  Let it fully dry before you do another coat.  I did several coats.

5) Let's multitask here... your lamp is easier and yet harder.  Depending on what type of lamp you have, you may or may not need the push pins... I didn't.  However, you can't help but to have paint go everywhere because you are spraying from all different directions (since it's round) so make sure there is lots of paper if you care about the ground you are painting on.  (Sorry honey for our now tealish garage floor!)  Let dry and repeat coats as necessary.

6) Back to the frames.  Once that side looks good flip it over, place your pins, and paint the front.

That's it!  The project time takes several hours because of drying time... but the active time is relative short.  

It's doable... the DIY envelope clutch

A simple and fast project, that even beginning sewers can handle.  It didn't even cost $3 per clutch!

(Please excuse my photos on this post, this material was VERY difficult to photograph!)

 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

-scissors

-sewing machine

-ruler

-1/3 yard of leather or vinyl (enough for 3 clutches)

-buttons

-embroidery thread

-tape (I used painter's because I knew it would come off easy)

-iron

-clean cloth

-exacto knife (to cut button hole)

 

STEPS:

1) Draw out your shape.  Make 2 rectangles stacked, I made each rectangle 8.5 inches wide by 6.5 inches tall.  I thought this was a good size for a clutch to hold both a camera and an iPhone... the necessities in life!  Then add another rectangle on top, but half the height that you used for the other 2 rectangles.  Mark the center of that smaller rectangle and draw lines to that from each corner of the rectangle below it.  This will create a triangle.  (You will not keep the area with the Xs).

2) Cut out this shape as a whole, do not cut out the individual shapes.

3) Rotate the material so it looks like a house, (triangle on top, rectangle on bottom) wrong side up.  On the very bottom straight edge, find the center and mark 1 inch on either side of it.  You will draw from this 1 inch mark to the opposite corner of the same rectangle.  (See picture as this is hard to explain).  This will create the lines that the envelope flap comes over. 

 4) I turned my inside out to make sure I liked how the lines looked.  If you want to adjust the lines, now is the time to do it.

5) Practice sewing on your material.  Since it is a different type of material than normal cotton, I highly suggest this part.  Once you feel comfortable, move on to step 6.

6) Sew along the lines that you just drew on the bottom triangle, you'll want to stop where the 2 lines cross and pivot. 

Where to pivot:

7) Cut excess strings and fold the bottom rectangle (right side out this time) up to the bottom of the triangle.  Tape this line.

8) (Test this on scrap material before you go to your envelope).  Put your cloth down on top and iron it back and forth a few times with steam.  Don't remove the cloth right away as you'll want it to cool for about 10 seconds first.

9) Sew up each side of your envelope.  Trim the edges if necessary.  I trimmed them because I sewed too far from the edge, so I trimmed them pretty close to the stitching... JUST DON'T SNIP YOUR STITCHING or it will unravel.

10) Fold the flap of the envelope down, put down the cloth and iron it the same way you did before.

11) Sew on your button and cut a small slit for the button.  Start small with your slit and cut a little more until it's the right size. You can't uncut it!

Viola!