Plastic Storage Bins

Today I'm sharing some more really old pictures. This is my cheap storage solution for my craft/computer room. These are expensive plastic storage boxes from Wal-mart. I printed labels for each of them on card stock, and decoupaged them to the end of the box. Not only can I tell at a glance what is in the boxes, it also makes them look not quite so blah.

These have held up very well. I made them over a year ago, and no labels have pealed off. I wasn't sure at the time, because I had never decoupaged anything prior. The only complaint I have is I've now out grown them, and need to put up some more shelves with more boxes.

By the way, the shelves, they are closet doors from Habitat for Humanity. I think they were about $5. I can't remember if that was each or total. These are much longer than the shelves that were available at Lowe's and Home Depot. They are also hollow, so they aren't nearly as heavy as a regular piece of wood. They are also extremely sturdy.

Stamps from Craft Foam

This my very first attempt at carving a stamp. I tried to find the rubber normally used to carve stamps, but they didn't have it at Michael's or Jo Ann Fabric. I opted to use the cheap craft foam from Dollar Tree, since it was all i had. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I glued the cut out to some recycled plastic and made a nifty clear stamp out of it. After this picture was taken i added a lid from a milk jug as a handle, and it is easier to use now.

I made a couple more stamps last night, and I plan to purchase some thicker foam to see if it is a better medium.

Jewelry Holder

Today I'm getting around to posting a project that was done quite a while back, maybe over a year ago. It is still just as useful as it was back then. This is my jewelry holder. It holds a ton of necklaces, but I'm just about out of space, and I'm going to need second one real soon.

To make the jewelry holder I found an old picture frame from my closet, some cup hooks at Habitat for Humanity, a piece of cardboard, some batting, satin ribbon and fabric.

Step one: remove the glass from the frame.

Step two: If you don't already have picture hangers on the back add them now. They are hard to nail in once the hooks have been added to the front.

Step three: Screw the hooks into the picture frame. As you can see, mine aren't all the same size. That is because I bought all of the large hooks they had at Habitat for Humanity the day I visited, so I had to buy some smaller hooks as well.

Step four: Paint

Step five: Cut the cardboard to fit the inside of the frame, and wrap it with batting. I think I actually used duck tape on this project, but I don't want to take it down off of the wall to be sure.

Step six: Wrap the fabric around the cardboard, and duck tape or hot glue in place.

Step seven: Hot glue the ribbons in place. Every where the ribbons intersect with each other they are glued to both the fabric and each other. Then they are also glued on the back of the cardboard. The remaining ribbon is left loose, and able to hold light weight earrings very well.

Step eight: After everything is glued in place, the cardboard is inserted into the frame, and the normal frame backing is placed back on the back of the frame to hold everything in.

Covered Brads- No Tool Required

There is a sucker born every minute, and today it was almost me.

Lately I've started to admire fabric covered brads, and was tempted to buy the I-top tool from Imaginisce. This maybe a is handy little tool if you use a lot of brads, and maybe someday I'll want to shell out thirty-five dollars for it, but not today. I was very close to buying one on Ebay for the low low price of $10, plus $8.50 for shipping. Then this thought occurred to me, "Do I really need this tool?" Then I wondered if the tool that comes with Dritz fabric covered buttons would fit the brads, so I hopped in the car and headed to Michael's to purchase a package of the small Brad Daddies.

When I arrived home I couldn't locate my fabric covered button tool, so I went ahead and gave it a shot without either tool. The picture above is how it turned out. Both brads above were made without a circle punch or even a good circle cut out. These are the results of cutting the corners off of a square and wrapping the square around the top of the brad. With a little pressure the back of the brad pops right in.

Final verdict. Unless you use a lot of brads, or are just not strong enough to push the back of the brad on without the aid of the tool, don't buy the Itop tool unless you find it on sale...cheap! It just isn't needed. However, I highly recommend the Brad Daddies themselves.

Ribbon Necklace Turorial

Found yet another great tutorial on YouTube tonight. This tutorial from Lorelei1141 shows how to create a ribbon necklace. She wire wraps the ends, instead of using ribbon closures. This seems more economical appears to be a nicer look as well. Definitely going to try this one.

Rosette Chain Tutorial

Another great turorial from Jetdesigns. This tutorial shows how to create a rosette chain using jump rings. This looks so easy, and yet, such a nice design.

DIY Scrabble Tiles

Do you remember how hard it is to stop popping bubble wrap once you get started? Well, I've found a new OCD obsession, sanding wooden tiles.

Every local craft store has recently run out of small square wooden tiles, letter or otherwise, so I decided to improvise. I purchased a stick of wood .75 inches thick and 36 inches long, and my dear husband cut it into small tiles for jewelry. DIY scrabble tiles! They were raw and ugly right off of the saw blade, but with a little sanding I think I like them better than the tiles I usually purchase at the craft store. Even better, these are just the right size for my .75 inch paper punch, where the scrabble tiles were just a hair to large.

The only problem is, once I grab a sanding sponge and get started sanding it is really, really hard to stop.