Crafts – Page 5 – Lissables

Time Saver Templates

So today like most people, we settled in around the tv with way too many bad snacks and the volume way up. It was my first ever Superbowl. Needless to say I don’t feel like I missed anything all those years. I really was only watching for the commercials. So in my mind it was the Doritos that won : )

Anyways because of this there was not much time for creative crafting. But have no fear! I have something for you anyways. It wouldn’t be 14 Days of Valentines if I missed a day! So tonight after all the celebrating (thank goodness the team we were cheering for won) I hit print and now I have something to share with you!

Again over at Martha I found some super cute and again easy templates for you. The first is a folding heart card. It was originally a “save the date” But I think the idea is too cute to only use once a lifetime. So why not use it as a card. Ignore how plain mine is, like I said not much time left over today. But you can spice yours up a million different ways. I will definitely be making another when I’m not pressed for time.

The second is a Valentine Message Wheel. Really anyone can do this. Do you have a printer, a brad and scissors? Good then your set. Just print the linked template and cut along the edge of the circles and the dotted line. Then overlap them and fill in the blanks ( I choose to fill in my own but they also include some pictures to use instead.) Push a brad through the center and voila your done. That simple, and what a cute little token of love to share with your someone special!

So Happy Superbowl Sunday to everyone! Keep watching us this week we have lots more very cute stuff for the 14 Days of Valentines! And with that I have to go work on some of the upcoming projects!

Make your Own Valentines

Edit: We had slight technical problems last night so this post is a day behind but I still had to share it or it wouldnt be 14 days of Valentines! And by technical I mean the craft itself wasnt working. But after 24 hours I got it!

February 3rd 2011 post

So maybe you don’t have a boy buying you something special for Valentines day, or you already know he’s not getting jewelry. Maybe your even looking for something to make for a friend. Well here is the simple craft for you! I keep seeing these pop up everywhere online. The ones to buy are usually 20$ plus shipping. But some smart girls out there outsmarted the retail world. And because I don’t like to share a craft without also trying it, I searched my closet for a shirt that was lets say a few chip bags back 🙂

Your going to need a jersey feeling shirt or you can buy the fabric too. But I like to try to keep the craft spending down or else you could really go nuts. And here’s how easy this one was. Cut the shirt into 1 inch strips. Stretch until each ring is formed into tubes.(This was where I ran into trouble, I stretched mine overnight but the strips didn’t stay in the tube look, So I cut the seams off mine, tied them in a knot and re-stretched them by hand.) Then use another strip to gather them all together. I tied mine off with a knot, but you can sew or glue yours together as well. I’ve also seen them with jewels added and other embellishments. I added a white flower to mine to keep it in Valentines themed colors. I didn’t love the way mine turned out but I feel like giving it another shot with better material next time. But the idea is yours now so see what you can come up with!

Today (February 4th 2011) Post

Today’s craft is A paper topiary. Easy but time consuming. But once its done you forget that and think “I just have to make another of these cute things!” All you will need is 3-4 different pattern papers, scissors, ribbon, paint, miniature pots, and pvc pipe.

You need to cut out 20 circles and make a pattern for a triangle to fit inside. See picture (Mine wasnt perfect but it was close enough and worked great) Next your going to want to fold each flap up.

Glue 5 circles together to form top, repeat for bottom. Glue all left overs side by side. Now take your three parts and glue them all together. I left one of my bottom flaps unglued and pushed the pipe up through that. Wrap the pipe in ribbon. Paint the pot. Use something to keep your topiary upright, foam, rocks, or your other imaginative solids. And Voila! You have a paper topiary. You can make them is so many colors that you can make a new one for each season/holiday!

Ignore my unfinished project. I have all the materials but I have been chasing kids around all week. I will post it finished but you get the how to of the part I was showing off. So hope you guys enjoy your weekend! I am going to be going crazy making crafts the whole time. Just for you!

Love of Framed Love

Today’s Valentines are 3 frames of Love. I just adore the way they turned out. I ran to the dollar store yesterday and within an hour I had 3 pieces of Valentines art displayed. And best part the whole project including the three frames cost me only 4$ That’s right, so how can you say no? Your just gonna have to run out and make your own!

To start I rounded up all my scrap paper in my color theme, everything pink and silver. I started my first frame with a solid background and started cutting out hearts in as many patterns as I could find. Make sure they are all the same size, I used my cricut and George and basic shapes cartridge. I put the solid cardstock underneath the glass and I popped the hearts up with pop ups on the outside of the glass. I like the idea of 3-d elements in frames.

The second frame is easy as well. I choose a subtle pattern for the background. Used some left over strips to make my tic tac toe grid. Cut out some X’s and O’s and made the game into a hugs and kisses display. Again I wanted to do the 3-d effect so the pattern and grid is underneath the frame and the X’s & O’s are popped up on the outside.

The last frame is my favorite and the easiest. It is also the inspiration for the whole set. I was in Target’s scrapbooking isle and they always have a section of 99 cent items. The word love is part of that, how can you turn down such a cute item at 99 cents! So I found another cute subtle pattern paper. (music sheets are always my favorite) I put the pattern behind the glass like always and positioned the letters on the outside again. These ones even had pop dots on them. The great part of this one is they always have different four letter words through out the year. So you can make this frame for any season. I even saw the word baby, you could make one for a new baby room or even as a gift at a baby shower!

I just love the way they all turned out. And how fast and cheap they were to make. There is endless possibilities with these as you can fill them with anything in your imagination!

Kick Off to 14 Days of Valentines!

So if you’ve been following me lately, Ive been tempting you with the promise of 14 fun days of crafts, projects, recipes and cute Valentines! Well welcome to the kick off!

Today we are starting it nice and easy. This idea came from Martha the queen of crafts, but I put my own little twist on it. Its so easy anyone can do this! Seriously!

Start by drawing your own heart on your choice of paper, I liked mine to be longer because it fits better. Next trace your first heart on to a second paper of your choice but make it slightly bigger. Remember it doesn’t have to be perfect. Now you glue ONLY the top part together. Making sure the bottom doesn’t stick. Next you can embellish any way you want. I wanted to keep mine simple, so I only used a ribbon with a couple staples. And voila! Your own handmade hearts bookmark!

And because its the first day why not do another tutorial!

Our second one today is a candy holder. Again its going to be super easy to do. And looks very cute it you make a bunch of them in different sizes for different candy and hang them. I was impressed by how fast and easy it went together. Start with one piece of pattern paper I used a 12×12, I also suggest using two sided pattern paper, mine was a tad bland on the inside.

1. Take your paper and fold it in half diagonally and again on the opposite side.

2. Now fold it in half horizontally and again on the opposite side. And to make the next step easier, now fold one of your diagonal folds back the other way.

3. Now bring those last diagonal folds together to make a small square as shown in photo 3

4. Cut a heart into your square with the open side up. (or else there will be nothing to hold your candy!) Now take the two inside sheets and cross them together, glue all the sides flat.

Now all thats left is to add a ribbon in the middle to hang it, and of course fill it with Candy! I cant wait to make more in fun and bright Valentines colors!

And because its February 1st I have to give my little sister a shout out. Happy Birthday Kimmy! Lots of happy wishes for your 22nd year, and of course I wish I could be there to celebrate with you!

A very Late Merry Christmas

For those of you who do not know me personally I was very sick over Christmas. Turns out when you have bronchitis and do not know and have a whole bottle of cough syrup you can give yourself a pneumonia. It didn’t get quite that far but it might as well have. I was basically dead over the holidays which was sad but I have such wonderful family that took good care of me. I wanted to share some of the home made gifts of our Christmas with you.

The first was a gift for my sister in law. She had asked me to make her a simple recipe box. But I rarely go the simple route. So I found one online that couldn’t be ordered and I had my dad design a whole new one for me. I was so amazed by it when he showed me the finished project I put on a good pout and a couple hours later I had one too! The lower right hand picture is the only thing I gave my dad to go off of, and he created the beautiful box on the left and top. I used rub on letters to create the cute knobs I couldn’t find anywhere. Mine is still in progress as I want to paint it red and beat it up a bit more. So I will share pictures when its finished and full! Thanks again Dad for such an amazing gift.

Another beautiful gift my dad made this year was a set of metal signs. I had found them in an antique shop in texas while I was visiting a friend. I had neither room or excess money to bring them home with me but I managed to take a picture. I had no idea when I tagged him in the picture on facebook that a month later a package would arrive from my dad, with my own handmade set from him. But then he had gotten himself in trouble because my mom saw and loved them too. So for Christmas she got her own set. What Im getting at is that my dad needs to open his own shop of amazing handmade gifts! In clockwise from the top left is the original letters I found, my moms new ones for Christmas and mine hung up.

And todays last homemade gift was a beautiful apron made for me from my sister in law. (the one who got the recipe box) I was not expecting anything since she was also kind enough to get me a subscription to my favorite magazine, scrapbook trends and simply homemade. So I pulled this out and was deeply touched she took the time to make me something. Especially since its covered in cupcakes! Thanks again Deanna!

There will be more homemade gifts to share with you tomorrow but for now we’ve got to get ready for yet another family dinner. We definitely dont diet around the holidays! So I will leave you with some highlights from the holidays. A mish mash of memories if you please.

O and we caught someone spying on lissables on all the new Ipads given out by santa! Were famous!

I hope you all had amazing days with friends and family. And wishing you a happy news years as well!

Activity Advent Calendar Tutorial

“The 60 min activity advent calendar”

I know as an advent craft this is so very late in the month to bring up. But Hey I saw a piece of paper in Michaels yesterday and knew just what to do with it. You will need two pieces of paper. I used a white sheet and “advent” from the Merry & Bright collection from WeR Memory Keepers. But Ive seen many different Christmas papers in similar styles you could also use!

Take some liquid glue and secure all your sides and in between each window as when you open them they will tend to lift up on the sides. Then write activities you would like to do with your family coordinating with your days. Just like you would eat a new chocolate each morning, you will now have a fun little activity to make some family memories each day! It can be as simple as a phone call to Grandma, a movie or revolve a whole day around ice skating or baking. Plus its less calories than eating 25 chocolates!

How simple and cute is that, 2 pieces of paper, glue, a pen, and sixty minutes later a beautiful keepsake. And if you really love it and want to reuse the same one the next year, cut out the squares with an exacto knife and start with a fresh sheet! You can even use pictures instead of writing in some windows. So keep it in mind for next year, or go get it started now and have a pleasant surprise waiting for next December 1st.

And luckily mine had a giant Christmas door to peak behind for December 25th. Which is good when you have a crazy day of doing 4 houses each Christmas! But that’s another story to share later next week!

Inspired.

So after I saw Rachelle’s amazing tutorial about the Christmas ball wreath I thought I had better whip some out too! What a fun little craft this is! I made a trip to my favorite place in the world. Target! Hit up the dollar isle, and spent 25 bucks. Came home and an hour later we had two beautiful wreaths in our house!

I saw the bright colors right away and thought, even though these wont go at all in my house I need to make one. I love fun colors like that for Christmas, but I’m too traditional to not go all red and gold. So I made both. The bright one is outside and the red one (with the extra pattern ones I plucked off the bottom of my tree) goes in the kitchen on the pantry door. Neither have ribbons yet because I am making my weekly trip to Michael’s tomorrow, so I’ll add that later.

I couldn’t believe how easy they were to make. This bright one only took 20 minutes! I just kept shuffling them on not really making a pattern. I had thought the back stayed flat but you can choose which side looks better because both are full and can be displayed. My only issue I had was with my awesome memory. I went to grab my glue gun and realized I left it in Calgary on my last trip. But I only lost 2 balls total from popping off from the pressure when you tighten it. So even if you dont have a glue gun you can still make this awesome wreath!

This one is my favorite. I even got a wreath hook to match it. Again thank you target for being the best. I love the pattern ones mixed in. I think it gives it a bit more flair. Plus now it matches the rest of the house! Here’s another shot to show you how much it sits off the wall because of how full it is.

So if you have 25$ and 20 minutes. Throw a couple of these together. Keep one and give the other as a gift! Who wouldn’t love these! Has anyone else out there made one yet or planning on it? I would love to see some more! Seriously go make one!

First Guest Blogger! Meet Rachelle and a tutorial!

Hello All!

Alissa has asked me to be a guest blogger for today, and I have gladly/excitedly accepted! My name is Rachelle, and I have been married for nearly 3 years, a mother for 2 years, and a crafter since the day I received my first pair of scissors. Although my crafts have come a long way since the 80’s, my heart has always been a creative one.

I’ve been friends with Alissa for a handful of years now, and I’m happy to say that we both share that same creative heart. She is quite the inspiration to me as well actually! My hope today is that I might inspire some of you as well. So get out your glue, your ribbon, and let’s pull those creative heart-strings!

One evening, while searching for some way to satisfy my creative thirst, I came across this tutorial on how to make an ornament wreath. It is extremely simple, but looks absolutely extravagant when all is said and done. The tutorial doesn’t state what kind of ornaments to buy, but if you want to put your wreath outside eventually, I highly suggest using plastic shatter-proof balls… otherwise the glass ones are too brittle in the cold. However, if you plan on keeping your wreath indoors, then go for the glass ones (they always seem to come in a better variety of colours and sizes). Part of the fun in this craft is picking out the different colours, shapes, and types of ornaments. Some are glossy, matte, frosted, sparkly… you name it! I did one recently in black, silver, and lime, and it looked very chic. So have fun with this one… I still do!

Here we go!

Take a regular metal hanger and bend it into a circle like so. Next break out your glue gun and about 80 Christmas balls. (ps its a fun after the holiday craft to make because all Christmas decorations go on sale after the big day!) Remove the cap from the ornament and dab it with some hot glue and reattach. This will help secure it after its all put together.

Next untwist your hanger from the top, but leave the hook shape alone. You now begin to slide the ornaments onto the hanger varying the color and sizes as desired. You can use smaller ones to fill the gaps but the preference is all yours!

And voila your done! A beautiful handmade Christmas wreath! Now all that’s left is to hang it. You can re twist the top together and add a little wire to the hook and hang it from there. As well as taking it a step further and adding a charming big satin bow to hide it all! Simple, fun and gorgeous!

I invite and challenge you all to make this your own and post some links to your beautiful design. Because it can be done so many ways I love to see what others create! Good luck and have fun!

Exploding Box – Tutorial

The first tutorial of lissables! How exciting. I made this box last year and its still one of my favorites. Its easy and looks beautiful and can be made over and over again and be unique each and every time!

You will need 4 pieces of paper, the first three making your layered box flaps.

The first a 12×12 piece that you will score 4 inches in from all 4 sides, and cut out the corners giving you 4×4 squares.

The second being 11×11 and scoring 3 3/4 inches in from all 4 sides and cut out the corners.

The third being 10×10 and scoring 3 1/2 inches in from all 4 sides and cutting out the corners.

Decorate them in which ever fashion you want! I prefer the vintage beat up look. Im addicted to inking all and every edge possible. Remember to keep it simple as you will want to add photos too and dont want it to get too busy.

After its to your standards glue the layers together from the middle square.

Your last paper is your lid. It is an 8×8 piece. Scoring the edges at 1 7/8 inches but this time only cut one side of the of the square on the edge. Giving you a flap which you can glue and create the inside of your lid. Embellish to match the rest of your box.

Put it all together and you can have an exploding box effect when the lid is lifted. I love watching people who do not scrap or craft opening it, because it really is a fun idea.

I like using it to wrap little presents. I still in my mind think aw what if someone used it to propose and a ring was tied with a ribbon in the middle square surrounded by pictures of them. How sweet. (Guys if your reading this I would so make that for someone just to have pictures of it!) So really like I said the possibilities are endless with it. Enjoy and have fun!

Christmas Crafting

Well now that the tree is officially up. (I just now realized its been up for over a week without any pictures! How could that have happened!) I am starting to plan out some present Idea’s. My sister in law has already requested a handmade gift. I cannot wait! Plus I have been reading and stalking Martha online and all her fabulous gift idea’s. There are a million idea’s out there. I love the internet for what its done for the craft community. Here are some of my favorite little crafty idea’s I’ve found recently that Im dying to try!

Some adorable place cards, unfortunately I live in the middle of the desert so finding some left over evergreen stumps is going to be a little harder for me. Not to say thats going to stop me either.

These little card stock tree’s are simple to make and look beautiful in any colors you may choose to decorate your house in.

This easy trivet would add a little Christmas cheer to any tea time. Its one of the easiest things to make and people are over joyed to hear you made something special for them with your own hands!

And of course I think I need to make these lump of coal boxes for my loving sister. How fun and easy are they!

O and ps we still have guests in the house. Can I tell you all how much I enjoy the sounds of a baby inside these walls! My camera is constantly going off. I’m going to be in trouble when I have one of my own!