I Need More... No.2 Pencils [Back to School]

Who's ready to head back to school?  I'm going to guess that the majority of hands that shot up are from the mothers who are busy packing lunches into shiny new lunch boxes, settling into carpool routines, and delirious with excitement about the possibility of new-found moments of free time.  The collective groan must have come from the under-18 set.  Stop it.  What are you groaning about?

I loved the first day of school as a kid.  Remember how your clothes were new and starchy and way too warm for the summer heat that clearly didn't get the memo that autumn had arrived?  Remember seating charts that sat you right next to the cutest boy in school who - when he was in a good mood - asked you, yes, you to help him fill in the holes on his unfinished homework?  Remember the little notes of encouragement from your parents tucked into your book bag that made riding the school bus bearable?  Yeah.  Me, too.

Parents!  Don't miss the chance to make your little scholar's day!  Tuck a love note into a lunch, a book, or inside a sneaker.  Who knows... they might even forget to roll their eyes at you as you shout, "I love you, sweetheart!" in front of their friends.

Download the FREE "Hey Smartie Pants!" printable here.

Instructions:
I made my custom Back to School seals by printing the pdf document on full sheet label paper (available at any office supply retailer) and then cut to size.  (I started with a scalloped circle paper punch that was just shy of 2-inches, but decided that I liked the look of a square better.  It made the label look more like a miniature piece of binder paper.  You can see both in the photo above.)  Stick them on a teeny paper bag full of Smarties candies and enjoy!

I Need More... Ice Cream [The Most Memorable Place Mats]

Oh man, I love food.  And some of my best memories are thanks to the special places that serve me great food.  One of those places is in my hometown, Hanford, CA.  It's a little ice cream shop called Superior Dairy, opened in 1929.  

I am proud to say that I was raised on the best ice cream ever made!  Rocky Road (I painted my current dining room in the exact brown of this flavor), Chocolate Chip (the best for milkshakes), and during the summer months (oh yes, I wait for it) Fresh Peach.  

Now that I'm all grown up and living two states away from Superior Dairy, I miss it terribly.  But on my last visit as I gorged myself on Strawberry (sent from heaven, I swear), I took home a few paper menus with a very simple craft in mind.  Place mats!  If I can't live near Superior, I'll at least pretend.  Do you have a favorite eatery like me?  Grab some menus and grab the laminator.  Life's too short not to make meals memorable!

I Need More... Gadgets [Little Printer by Berg Cloud]

I am SO buying one of these!  Think of all the millions of scraps of paper that will soon confetti my home.  Let the ticker tape parade begin (well, in 2012)...

Watch the video here (and fall in love).

I Need More... Holiday Handouts [Happy Valentine's Day 2010]

I know that when you're a kid all you want is the store-bought Halloween costume or cartoon Valentine cards.  I did.  But now that I'm all grown up, I appreciate all the hard work my mother did back in the day to make my holidays one-of-a-kind and memorable.  So I am continuing the lovingly cruel cycle with no apologies!  Below are Amelia's Valentine's Day cards which, for the record, beat the pants off every other card in her Valentine mailbox from school.  [Mother smiles slyly.]  Idea originally came from here.

Supplies:


Camera
White butcher paper
Photoshop or other photo-manipulating software
Colored cardstock
Hole punch
Cello bags & ribbon
Goodies for inside the cello bag or a lollipop


How to:


1. Create a blank backdrop for your photo.  Here's how I did it:  I pushed a storage tub flush against the refrigerator (to be used as a bench), unrolled several yards of white butcher paper from the local teacher supply store over the tub (held in place by fridge magnets), and have your subject gently sit on your "bench".


2. As the photographer I would suggest standing on a chair to get higher than your subject.  Then as they reach for the camera with their fist, you get a good angle.  And flood the room with light!


3. Using Photoshop or the like, crop or adjust your photo as desired.  I cropped to 4x4-inches.  Layer text onto photo.  I used colors for the text pulled from the colors in the photo.  Save as a jpg.

4. Print your photos.  I sent mine to Walgreens (because they always seem to have a special on prints).  Call the photo center and give them the final dimensions of the photo that you want.  Many of their machines will stretch your image to fit their 4x6-inch photo size, for example, if you do not instruct them otherwise.  My photos came back to me as 3.75x3.75-inches, so pretty close to the original size.


5. Trim off excess photo and mount on cardstock.  Punch holes near the subject's hand (where you will attach the sweet treat).


6. Attach your treat with twine or ribbon.


7. Sit back and enjoy your accomplishment!  And quietly snicker at those who bought their Valentines.  Hee hee.

I Need More... Disney [Hot Dog! Mickey Mouse Invitations]

After tossing around birthday themes for quite some time, my 2 year old daughter finally settled on Mickey Mouse. Let the party planning begin! And by begin, I mean I'd better get some invitations made and out or this is going to be one lame party...
MICKEY INVITATION POCKET:

1) Basic Mickey Mouse silhouette designed in Adobe Illustrator and saved as an SVG. (This SVG can be cut by the Sure Cuts A Lot program that allows you to cut your own designs and fonts with the Cricut.)

2) Mickey shape cut in both black and red cardstock. The red Mickey is cut in half to create the front of the pocket to hold the actual invitation. A simple stitch on the sewing machine holds the two pieces together.

3) A couple of glue dots hold the buttons in place.

INVITATION:

1) Again, designed in Adobe Illustrator using the Walt Disney handwriting font for titles. Printed on white cardstock.

2) Stapled a short length of ribbon to the invitation for a little color.

3) Folded in thirds and inserted into the Mickey pocket. The whole thing measures about 4x5-inches to fit nicely into an A-6 envelope.

I Need More... Magazine Inspiration [Welcome to Our Nest]

I love Simply Handmade magazine to get my creative juices flowing!  Inspired by their wall hanging (Feb/Mar 2009, pp. 120-1), I made a smaller version for my aunt.
Armed with a borrowed Cricut machine (Thanks, Celeste!), I cut the shape of the body, birds, a branch, and a couple of other things that didn't get used in this project.  The different papers are simply layered on top of one another, stitched for embellishment, or glittered with the most delicious glitter - Martha Stewart's glitter.  I used my Xyron machine in lieu of glue and a few foam stickies to give the birds a 3D quality.  The "Welcome" text and ornate frame (clip art) were printed on translucent vellum.  It all hangs from a simple string of beads.

I Need More... Easy Art [I Am a Child of God Frame]

I'm not sure that this counts as a "craft" worthy of a post on my craft blog, but... it did take me all of ten minutes to create but it left me feeling like I accomplished something today.  So I think that makes is post-worthy.

I found this fabulous baroque frame at TJ Maxx and filled it with a simple, sweet sentiment (and a favorite song of Amelia's).  The font is "dirty headline", the text is printed on a plain piece of white cardstock, and trimmed to size for the frame.  It now hangs in Amelia's bedroom by the door so she sees it every time she exits her room.  And I hope that it always helps her remember who she is.

I Need More... Giveaways [I love Roberts Crafts!]

And I am very sorry if you live outside of Utah and do not have a Roberts Arts & Crafts store anywhere near you.  (One silver lining of living in Salt Lake, I suppose...)  Not only can you pick up a 40-50% off discount coupon at the front door any day of the week (Michael's, you stingy store - take note!) but now and then they have really fun promotions.  This week is their 50s week and they have decorated with balloons, a soda fountain with free drinks, have crafts inspired by a 1950s drive-in, etc.

This morning I stopped in and noticed numbers scattered throughout the store, pasted to the floor.  I asked about them and learned that at the top of every hour today Roberts would be giving away two Cricut cartridges.  Just stand on a number and if your number is picked, you're a winner.  Well, guess what?  I WAS A WINNER!!!  Thanks, Roberts.

UPDATE:  I just found out that they are doing the drawing again all day tomorrow (4/25).  It's just one Doodletype cartridge per hour.

I Need More... Visitors [House Warming Frame]

"Blogging around" as I often so, I was inspired by a House Warming Book featured on the House of Three blog.  (House of Three is really fun.  Three well-known scrapbook designers, Heidi Swapp, Rhonna Farrer, and Janet Hopkins come together to share their creativity and differing perspectives on similar projects.)  Houseof3.com sells a digital kit that has this Edgar A. Guest quote beautifully laid out and ready to include in your project.  But of course, I had a frame in mind that required the poem be oriented differently.  With a quick visit to Adobe Illustrator, I had re-set the quote and then printed it on a clear transparency.  I glittered up the way cool chipboard mat inside the frame and backed everything with a piece of scrapbook paper.  That's about it.

It was the frame that I found at a TJ Maxx that started me searching for a great quote in the first place.  I wish I could include the link to purchase the frame but I looked on the company's web site (SixTrees.com) and apparently, they only sell wholesale.  Apologies.

I Need More... Holiday Handouts [Easter Candy Tube ]

I wish I could take credit for this idea; it's so fabulous.  But alas, I cannot.  It came from a blog called Paper, Scissors, Superheroes and I instantly fell in love with it!   (Click on the link for a simple tutorial.)

Note: Invest in and use for all gluing in the project Terrifically Tacky Tape.  (This stuff is my favorite and holds like nothing else.)  Originally, I tried using my Xyron for the paper bands around the edges of the tube and they kept popping off.  So I switched back to the TTT.

I did design and print the Easter chick tags, print them on white cardstock, and cut them out with a scalloped punch.  That was my creative contribution to the idea aside from the manpower.  All credit goes to Paper, Scissors, Superheroes certainly.
Filling anything with candy is always the fun part.  Layer 1) a little paper shred, 2) sour gummy eggs, 3) a Peep, and 4) more gummy eggs.
I'm only sorry that the polka dot paper that I used to create the tube ends isn't more visible in the final product.  I might have swapped out the lime green bands for the polka dot paper.  But, I love this project so much that it's sure to make many more appearances as other holidays roll around.

I Need More... Reasons to Wrap [Gift Card Box]

1. You'll need three pieces of 12x12 paper to cover a 4x4x4-inch box with 4x4x1.25-inch lid and to make the matching circle-flower embellishment, Terrifically Tacky Tape, glue stick, straight edge, rotary blade, paper piercer, 1/4-inch ribbon (to trim the lid), 2-inch ribbons (one for handle and one for bow), hemp cord or embroidery floss, and one button.  (Note: You'll have plenty of paper left over for your scrap pile and other projects.)
2. Measure the box and, with your pencil and straight edge, grid out the dimensions of the box on the wrong side of your paper.  With your rotary cutter or scissors, carefully cut up two sides of the paper (four cuts total), creating two 4x4 sides needed to cover two walls of the box.  On the opposite sides of your original cuts, trim off some of the corner paper, removing some bulk, but leaving at least a small flap (about 1-inch) to create a clean and paper-covered corner.  Fold and crease all fold lines.

3. Fold up and glue the sides with the extra flaps first.  The extra flap will be hidden by the opposite sides.  I recommend edging the side you are gluing with the Terrifically Tacky Tape to make sure that the paper holds securely.  Use a glue stick on the portions that will not come in contact with the Terrifically Tacky Tape.

4. Distress your piece with a light-colored stamp pad to give it a slightly aged look.  (Distress the "flower" that you will make later as well.)
5. Pierce a hole in the lid through which you can thread your ribbon "handle".  If your ribbon is thick enough, a square knot should hold just fine.

6. Cut several circles out of your paper in graduated sizes.  I cut mine by hand so that they would have a rough feel.  Stack them in order of size and, with two button holes as a guide, pierce them with a paper piercer.  Thread the holes with hemp cord or embroidery floss.  On the wrong side of the "flower", tie a small knot forming a loop through which you can later thread your final ribbon.  Tie a square knot on the front of the "flower" and trim length.  Distress the flower (see step 4) and crumple the edges to shape.
7.  Thread a length of ribbon through the hemp cord on the reverse of your flower, wrap it around the base of the handle, and tie a bow.

8. Edge the lid of the box with Terrifically Tacky Tape and adhere 1/4-inch ribbon.  Then take your final photo and hope that the sunlight hasn't started to disappear along with the perfect photo moment.  (Like it did me.)

9. Stuff with paper shred and your gift.  Ta da!