Hand Crafted Archives | Page 4 of 15

DIY Designer Notebooks {and getting a jump on handmade holiday gifts}

August 10, 2015

Hello there! I’m so giddy about my latest diy project and although it’s not revolutionary, it’s the kind of project that puts a big smile on my face.

After spending boat loads of money over the years buying fancy notebooks and journals, I finally decided to get crafty and make my own designer notebooks.

Since I have a deep love for beautiful paper, this project centered around some of my favorite patterns, colors and designs. I used geometric prints, damask patterns, leather and snakeskin designs and of course bright colors were part of the mix.

The snake skin and embossed croco embossed papers below are actually sheets of vinyl that I found on sale at Michaels for .75 cents.

These diy notebooks were super simple to make and required just a few supplies:

* Notebooks–most of the notebooks I covered I found at HomeGoods but I also covered Composition Notebooks which you can find at any office supply store, Wal-Mart or Target for around .50 cents. The mini notebooks came from Ikea (2/$1.00). This Etsy shop also has a great selection of plain kraft notebooks.

* Decorative paper–you can use scrapbook paper, thick wrapping paper, vinyl sheets and even pages from a book. Most of my decorative scrapbook paper came from Micheals.

* Permanent glue tape–I use my Glue Glider Pro which made applying the tape quick and easy–available from Amazon

* Exacto Knife and Scissors

* Blank Labels and Sticker Letters–available at Michaels

How to:

To cover each book, open the notebook, lay it flat and trace the outline of the notebook onto the backside of your paper. Cut the paper with your scissors.

Apply glue tape to the front of the notebook first and adhere your paper to the front cover. Next, apply glue tape to the spine of the notebook and wrap the paper around towards the back.

Apply glue tape to the back cover of the notebook and secure the paper in place. It’s that easy. You can also cover the inside of the front and back cover if you want.

Finally, apply a label to the front of each notebook and add a sticker monogram to personalize it.

As an added detail, I UpStyled the larger notebooks with metal corner protectors.

I’m on a notebook making marathon because halfway through making a few for myself I realized what great handmade Christmas gifts they’d make.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you’re inspired to make your own designer notebooks.

Handmade Inspiration

August 8, 2015

Happy Saturday! It’s going to be super hot in most parts of the country so I’ve round-up a few of my favorite DIY projects that would make for a perfect weekend indoors.

Enjoy and be inspired!

♥♥♥

You won’t believe that my friend Elle who write the Splendid Habitat blog made this gorgeous tie-die fabric was made using cooking spices.

If you look under craft maven in the dictionary you’ll likely see a picture of Amber. She is incredibly talented and crafts the most adorable things ever. Her latest obsession is shoes!

These just might be the most beautiful handmade baskets I’ve ever seen. So glad I discovered Alisa’s blog too!

I am so going to make some of this beautiful paper tape. So cute and so easy.

If you’ve got Christmas projects on your mind, you might think about making one of these pennant tree skirts.

Looking for something to do with those near empty bottles of nail polish. Here’s some really cool nail polish diy projects to check out.

I can’t think of a better way to spend a hot summer weekend than crafting. Happy crafting my friends!

Easy Accessorizing Idea–Wood Beads

July 7, 2015

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When in comes to accessorizing, sometimes the littlest item can make the biggest impact.

One unexpected accessory item I’m seeing more and more in room vignettes is a string of beads. Whether draped over a decorative jar or nestled in a bowl, a strand of beads can make a style statement that stands out.

I love this wood bead and tassel strand that Myquillyn over at The Nesting Place created. Such a fun accent hanging on a chair, over the edge of a mirror or on off a door.

Pottery Barn sells a variety of beads which make a fun accent on a coffee table, draped over a decorative jar or gathered in a wooden bowl.

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You can make your own bead strand using beads of any size. Larger beads will make a bolder impact and work great clustered in a tray.

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Sherry over at Design Indulgence is one of the first people I saw using beads as a decorative accent. She has a gift when it comes to accessorizing and I love the way she used beads as part of her decor.

Sherry has beads draped over books, hanging on a bust and placed on a tray.

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I love the look of these natural wood beads mixed with glass beads.

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Making your own bead strand is pretty simple and you can find beads at your local craft store, on amazon and via Etsy. If you need one, here’s an easy DIY tutorial from The Nesting Place and if you’re looking for specialty beads, check out this source.

Have fun crafting and decorating!

Let’s Get Crafty: DIY Pom Pom Bag Charm

May 26, 2015

Hi there,

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I adore long weekends this time of year because it means road trips, sitting in the sun and sleeping in late. I’m already looking forward to the next 3-day weekend.

So if you’re wondering why I’m posting so late today it’s because I totally planned to publish this post yesterday (Monday) but with all the relaxing I was doing over the weekend I simply forget to hit the publish button. And this morning my to-do list got the best of me. Oh well, better late than never.

Today I’m going to show you an easy craft project to can make. Ever since I spotted my first handbag charm, I’ve been wanting to make my own. The first one’s I spotted were from Furbish Studio and they featured little elephants. Soon after seeing that one I began to see bag charm popping up all over web and Pinterest. Since I’m not into animals or fancy details when it comes to my bags, the simpler bag charms became my favorite.

So the question became, BUY or DIY?

I decided to diy!

Making your own bag charms is really simple and inexpensive. You’ll need the following supplies all of which are available at your local craft store:

To make your charms, thread a large yarn needle with the yarn color of your choice.

Insert the yarn into one pom pom and then back again leaving a length of yarn hanging.

Thread a large bead onto the yarn and then tie the yard to your hinge hook at the length you want. You can also thread a bead onto the base of your pom pom like I did with the blue pom pom.

You can tie as many pom poms onto your hook as you want but make sure to stagger them at different lengths so the charms hangs well.

It took me about 20 minutes to make my bag charm and I just love the way it turned out. I’ll definitely be making more of these these.

if you want to make your own pom poms, follow these easy steps

Thanks for stopping by. See you back here tomorrow.

This Is How I Do Easter Baskets

March 25, 2015

Growing up my mom would make Easter baskets for me and my brother. She went to great lengths to create those baskets and would always make them more than a basket full of candy. It wasn’t unusual for me to find slippers or crafting supplies in my basket and my brother to find socks or drum sticks. Every year the baskets felt special and unique, and they always brought smiles to our faces.

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Gift Wrap Worthy of Framing

March 11, 2015

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It’s not secret that I have a thing for paper products, especially beautiful wrapping paper. And over the years, I’ve used decorative paper for so many things other that wrapping gifts, like lining drawers or framing it to create artwork.

The trend of wrapping paper as art has become a popular design trend as of late and because it’s so inexpensive and there are so many great papers on the market, I think wrapping paper as art will stay a hot trend.

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Christmas Candy Tubes

December 10, 2014

Just popping in today with another easy and fun holiday craft.

I love putting candy in my family’s Christmas stockings. We won’t all be together this Christmas and since I’m having to ship gifts to my brother and his family, I decided instead of sending stockings I’d come up with another way to gift them their favorite candy treats.

A trip to the Container Store and Cracker Barrel and I was ready to make these fun Christmas Candy Tubes.

How To Make Candy Tubes:

Supplies: Small mailing tubes from Container Store / Decorative Scrapbook Paper / Double Sided Tape / Yarn / Candy & Snacks

How to: Cut your scrapbook paper to fit around your mailing tube and then attach the paper to the tube using double-sided tape.

Make yarn Pom Pom’s (two for each tube) using this method.

Punch a hole in the center of the plastic end caps for each tube. Insert the long ends of your pom-pom ties through the holes in the cap and tie to secure.

Insert your favorite candy!