{Mini Tutorial On How To Make Your Own Alcohol Inks}

 

 

Here Is How:

• Powder Rit dye
• Isopropyl alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol) the higher % kind
• Liquid Rit fabric dye
• jars
• ink applicator

• Empty a package of Rit powdered dye into a small empty lidded jar.
• Now fill the rest of the jar with rubbing alcohol, place the lid on the jar and shake it up very well, trying to make sure the Rit powder has dissolved as much as possible.

OR:

• For a less grainy mixture with liquid Rit dye and isopropyl alcohol instead. Mix  ½ cup of isopropyl alcohol to two teaspoons of Rit dye. The more dye you add the deeper the color will be. However, a little bit of this dye will go a long way.
• Again, be sure and shake well, ensuring that the two liquids mix completely before use.
• Now apply the ink with your favorite applicator.

Note: Before you do your stamping on your original project do a few practice runs on a piece of scrap paper to see how much or little of your home made ink you will need.

{ Wallhanger Tutorial }

I've seen this wall decor online somewhere and wanted to make one for myself.

Here is my own version of it along with a quick tutorial.

I bought a lot of these wooden plaques at Hobby Lobby one time. 

I'm pretty sure there was a reason. Some project I had in mind? I really don't remember, so when I saw that wall hanger, I found my reason to at least make use of three.

I've painted them white.

Then I used my black stamp pad and aged the edges and corner a bit.

Instead of making my own svg file I downloaded the damask design SVG File from BeaOriginal and used my die cutting machine to cut it out of vinyl.

  (Noticed the little dot missing?...Yep, I found it ) :0}

I embellished the plaques with some ribbon....

added some little black dots to the corners...

and Rhine stones. 

You could of course use any other decorative bits you have and like instead.

Then I adhered the plaques to a nice piece of ribbon and a bow for hanging.
Voila, it was finished!

{ Mini Scrapbook Album }

I really like anything miniature. 

Some of my favorites are mini scrapbook albums. They are cute, fun to decorate and you can use a lot of your smaller paper scraps for these!

Carry them with you and show to friends or family and brag about the newest grandchild or the best vacation ever! 

They also look great in a bowl placed on your coffee table so visitors can take a look at them. Make them as individual little gifts of captured moments with friends and family members.

In this tutorial I will show you how to make one of these little albums. I've seen these somewhere and have made many of them since.

You will need 4 pieces of card stock  each measuring 2 3/4" x 11"

 

On 3 of these strips you will make your scores at 3", 6" and 9".

(The 4th strip will become the album cover.)

 

After you scored your 3 strips you will fold your score lines alternately and then glue them together to make one strip.

First take a strip with a small section at the end and glue it to the back of the beginning section of your 2nd strip.......

 

Repeat with the last strip and the inner section of your album is already done!

 

Now we make the albums cover:

Score the 4th paper strip at "3", 3 1/2", 6 1/2", 7 and 9".

 

Fold the section at the 9" score over and glue it down.

This will be the closing flap and give your cover a little more strength.

 

Fold the paper at the other score marks as well.

 

Now line your cover and paper strip up and glue the beginning section of your cover to the back of the beginning section of your paper strip.

 

This is how it would look like glued together.

Now fold your paper strip alternately and close the cover around it.  Your basic mini album is complete!

Embellish your album sections and the cover as you wish.

{Paper Folded Flower}

 

You need 9 paper circles. I cut mine with my die cutting machine, but a circle punch will do just fine. The bigger the circles the bigger the flower. I cut mine here at 1 1/2".

 

Fold the paper in half and then folded in half again.

 

 Open it up and fold two little flaps. 

The edges of your flaps should touch the folds.

Now turn the circle over and fold flaps in again. 

The creases from your first flaps should touch the center fold of your circle. 

 

Do the same steps with 8 of your 9 circles.

 

 

You will start creating your flower with the 9th circle as it's base. The easiest way to do this is to do the top, bottom, left and right petals first. Then adhere each of the pedals in between.

Then find something you like to embellish the flowers center with. Above I just used a button and below I used a glass pebble.

 

{Check out a sample of what you can do with these lovely flowers}

{ Cricut Cutting Mat Recycle }

I love my Cricut, but everything about this great machine comes with a hefty price. I'd love to buy all the neat cartridges and the accessories, but we're only a one income household with lots of medical bills and house repairs, it is a very rare treat to buy something new to work with my Cricut.

So I resort to using my cutting mats as much as possible without having to constantly buy new ones.

{ HERE IS WHAT I DO }

You will need:

• :: Krylon Easy-Tack ::
• :: GOO GONE ::
• :: Masking Tape ::
• :: Old Plastic Pan Scraper Or Credit Card ::
• :: Your Not So Sticky Anymore Cutting Mat ::

First gather everything listed above and then cover your work surface

Sprinkle some of your adhesive remover onto the cutting mat.

I use GOO GONE.

With a paper towel evenly spread the GOO GONE all over the cutting mat.

Let it sit for several minutes to do it's magic.

Now use an old plastic pan scraper or credit card and start scraping the old 

{ Not so sticky anymore } sticky stuff from your mat. 

Check and make sure all of it has been removed. 

Your mat should now be smooth. If not repeat the process till you got it all off.

Your mat will have a greasy film on it that you need to wash off!

I just rinse mine in the kitchen sink with warm water and some soap.

Dry!

With your masking tape, cover the borders around the mat, making sure only the actual cutting surface stays exposed.

Now spray a very light and even coat of Easy-Tack on the mat.

DO NOT spray too much or your paper or card stock will not come of the mat without tearing!

Let dry for at least 3 hours for the mat to be tacky again.

I leave mine to dry over night.

If you won't use your mat right away and don't have the cover for your mat anymore to protect it from dust and such you can cut a piece of wax paper and cover your mat with it instead.

NOW YOUR MAT CAN BE USED MANY TIMES MORE =)

Thanx for having a looksee =)

{ Old Filing Cabinet Refab }

I have these old metal filing cabinets I thought would be great for storing patterns and other goodies in my new craft room.

Unfortunately they really just look like ordinary filing cabinets and have absolutely nothing cute about them. They need a makeover, so I started with the small one to see if they would turn out OK. I did not take any pictures of the process, but it really is quite simple to make filing cabinets look nice.

This is a relatively quick project and all you need for this re-do is some paint, brushes, fabric and most importantly Mod Podge!

• Remove the drawer pulls and tag frames if you're drawers have any of those.
• Paint your cabinet the color of your choice.
• Measure the cabinet drawer fronts and cut out your fabric to cover the front. Paint the drawer with a layer of Mod Podge and immediately smooth your fabric panel onto the drawer, be sure to get rid of any bubbles.
• Let it dry for an hour or two and then paint another layer of Mod Podge on top of the fabric.
• Replace the hardware and enjoy a totally cute Cabinet.

Instead of fabric you could also use pretty scrapbook papers or wallpaper.

If you're not afraid of a little more work, why don't you try and cover the entire cabinet in fabric?

Now I just have to tackle the bigger cabinet as well ! =)