April

April was a slow month in the homemade card department.  But busy in every other department!  Being a mom of two is a lot harder then just being a mom of one!  Especially when you have a busy (and potty training) two year old to run after.

Anyway, here is my lonely single card for the month of April.  It was made for my older brother who is pretty much a soccer star.  He has been on many semi pro teams, and is seriously one of the best soccer goalies I have ever seen (and that's not just a proud little sis talking.)

One thing you can't see in the picture, is that I made this card to open left handed.  He is a proud lefty, so I had to make the card with the open side on the left instead of the right.  I hope he appreciated it :)

  

Doing good so far with my resolution!  Bring it on May!

March cards

Phew!  March was a busy month.  But I still got all the cards done that I needed.  Hooray!

My nephew is absolutely OBSESSED with Legos.  I couldn't help myself :)

My dad is pretty much a musical genius.  He would definitely know just by looking at this that it was the birthday song.  

Well, that's it for last month.  Now onto April!

How are your New Years resolutions going?

Faux Metal Wall Art

I have had tons of toilet paper and paper towel rolls laying around my house in the hopes that someday I would make some awesome craft with them.  Somehow over months and months they have reproduced like bunnies!  It's out of control.  I needed to find something that I could make using my quickly multiplying little cardboard rolls.  And find something I did!  I am so proud of this decoration that I found, and I just had to share it with you!  I wish that I could say that I was awesome enough to figure out how to do something like this from my own brain, but I'm not.  This beautiful craft is the brainchild of Suzy at Suzy's Artsy Crafty Sitcom.  Here is the original tutorial on her page.  She is a genius!

Here are the supplies that you need for this project:
- toilet paper rolls (I used about 15 total rolls for all 3 of my designs)
- paper towel rolls (I only used 2...)
- 3/8" balsa wood strips (found at craft stores, don't waste your time at a hardware store...)
- tacky glue
- metal looking spray paint
- scissors, pen, paintbrush


How to:
(Sorry there aren't pictures to help show the steps.  You can find photos to help you in the original tutorial.)

1.  Cut the balsa wood strips to your desired length.  The original length of strips that I found were 24", so I just cut them in half making them all 12".  Glue them together to form a square.

2.  The paper towel rolls are used to make the straight parts of each design.  Simply cut along the length of the tube, flatten it out and use one of the balsa strips to measure 3/8″ strips cut lengthwise from the tube.  Then cut out each strip.

3.  The toilet paper tubes were cut in 3/8″ strips across the width of the tube to keep the curl.  Simply cut along the length of the tube, flatten out and mark 3/8″ strips across the width.  This will result in 3/8″ curls.

4.  I started each square by dividing them into 4 equal sections using the longer (and straight) paper towel strips.  Then in each section I created the same pattern.  I used a few of the free patterns posted in the original tutorial as a starting point for each design.  But because my squares were larger, the patterns didn't work perfectly.  I had to fill in empty spaces with other curls and designs.  It was actually kind of fun putting my own personal spin on each design!

5.  I glued all of the straight pieces first, then laid out the pattern with the curly ones.  Once the pattern looks the way you want, glue each curly piece in.  You achieve the curl by curling the cardboard around the end of a paintbrush.  Super easy!

6.  Once your designs are complete and dry, spray paint them using metal looking paint, and voila!  You have your very own metal wall art, but much lighter, and much cheaper then the real thing!

The entire cost of this project was under $10!  I love them!  

     

Have you completed this project?  Let me know how it went!

February Cards

February, the month of LOVE!  And I have got to say, I loved making these cards!  It is so much more personal to make a card for someone, as opposed to just buying one off the shelf.  The entire time I am creating a card, I am thinking about the person that it is for.  It's pretty awesome!

So far, so good with this resolution.  Next month could be a little tough though.  I'm not trying to make excuses (ok, maybe I am), it's just that having a baby usually takes time away from crafting, right?  I guess I gotta go make some cards before my son decides to make his arrival into the world...
  

This one was made for my 3 year old niece.  Her parents call her their "little monster", so I thought it would be appropriate.  

I was pretty nervous with this one... It was for my mother-in-law who is pretty much a crafting genius.  I figured it was better to go simple and clean, then to try and do something over the top.  What do you think?

This one was for the love of my life, and I loved being able to make it for him.

My oldest brother has more ties and suits then any person I have ever met!  His jobs have usually required a nice tie, but even on his days off he seemed to find an "excuse" to wear one.  I don't often get opportunities to tease him, so I just had to... You know how it is with siblings :).

Oh, and here's the inside.  I followed this tutorial to make each of the origami ties.  I love trying new techniques!

Tough boys can craft too!

A very important milestone was just reached at our house!  I caught my husband following one of my tutorials!  He He.  I couldn't believe it, so I just had to document.

Here is the tutorial he followed (using coffee and vinegar as a wood stain.)  This is proof as to how easy this tutorial can be!  (He's too busy of a guy to waste time on a super complex crafting idea...)

   

Not to completely knock down his manly-ness, he wasn't really crafting exactly.  He was re-doing a piece of furniture for our son's nursery.  And I have to admit, it looks pretty good!  Here is what the final bookshelf looks like (notice the dark stained legs...):    

Pretty good, huh?  My favorite part is the netting that he used at the bottom of the shelf to hold all the toys.  I never would have thought of that!  Genius!  And oh so cute! 

Have you completed any tutorials from Puddle Designs?  Send me your photos, and I'll feature you in an upcoming blog post!

Yarn Wrapped Letter

Today is a repeat tutorial day!  I love when I am able to re-use an old project idea and make something fun and new with it.

Here is the link to the original tutorial, where I made a 1.5 foot tall twine wrapped letter.  I followed the exact same steps, only changing the size of the letter and the material I used to wrap it in.  Still so easy, and so inexpensive!  The best of both worlds, if you ask me.      

Each letter has been made completely out of scrap cardboard that I had lying around the house.  So the only cost that went into making this letter was for the yarn and felt piece for the flower (totaling about $4!).  I'm in love.  Plus, I found these adorable canvases from Goodwill (yay cheap!) that just add to the overall cuteness.

  

  If you're curious about how I made the simple felt flower, here is a link to the tutorial that I found on Pinterest.

Have you completed this project (or something similar)?  Let me know how it went!

  

My New Year's Resolution

In an effort to save some money, and also get rid of some of the crafting stuff that has been laying around my house gathering dust, I made a New Year's Resolution for myself.  Instead of buying birthday and greeting cards, I am going to hand make every. single. one.  Only using supplies that I have on hand.  

Yeah, for you pro card makers out there this would be easy as pie!  But with another little one coming in March, this may seem a little ambitious for me, but I gotta do it!  Wish me luck!  

So far, so good (too bad it's only February...)  I'll be posting photos of each card at the end of each month, so you can follow my attempt to keep my resolution.  That way you can keep me accountable :).  Ha!

Well... Here we go.  Remember, I'm not a card making "pro".  You gotta start somewhere though, right?

My sister and I kind of have an inside joke about monkey birthday cards, so I HAD to make her one.  The problem was, was that I didn't have any cute die-cuts or monkey stickers.  Cutting paper out by hand was the only other option.

I have a niece who I know someday will be a famous gymnast (don't we all have crazy aspirations like that for little kids :).  With a mom who almost went to the Olympics for gymnastics, you never know.
With this one you get to see how truly horrific my handwriting is...

Now, this one I love!  My other sister is a quilting genius, and I wanted to do something special for her.  Yeah, it may not be perfect, but it was my first time sewing on paper.  That's right, I used my regular sewing machine on this baby!  Kind of a cool technique.  I'll probably post a tutorial on how to do this soon!

January down, only 11 more months to go!

February
March
April
May
June
July (believe it or not, I didn't have any cards to make this month!)
August
September
October
November


Have you ever made a crafting resolution?  Or is that totally strange?  Let me know what you think!