Hand Crafted Archives | Page 7 of 15

DIY Business Card File

July 3, 2014

I have tried several methods for storing all the business cards I get from clients, bloggers, trade shows and businesses I frequent and some have been more successful than others. My latest storage option has been to file my cards by alphabet in a Rolodex business card binder. The notebook format has worked great and I like that it can be stored on a bookshelf or in a file drawer, plus the cards have stayed neat and organized. That is until I ran out of room.

Once all the slots for a particular letter were filled up, I began placing the extra cards toward the back of the book, in no particular order. You can image that this makes it difficult to find a card in a hurry. I’ve reached the point where my file runneth over. I needed a new solution.

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DIY Gift Wrap Inspiration–Inspired by a Cake

June 27, 2014

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Since I love gift wrapping so much, I’m always looking for ideas and inspiration to use on my next gift. Lately I’ve been drawn to beautifully decorated cakes, decorated with flowers and bands of icing. My creative mind looks beyond the fact that these works of art are cake and focuses on how I can adapt the design into gift wrapping.

When you think about it, a cake is very similar to a wrapped gift because it is usually a square, rectangular or round shaped adorned with embellishments. Just like a present.

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DIY Trend: Faux Marble Contact Paper

June 4, 2014

This has to be one of my all time favorite DIY trends–Faux Marble Contact Paper! What a simple and easy way to turn a basic piece of furniture, picture frame or just about anything into something chic and stylish!

Prepare to be inspired…

Yes, I know–so lovely! Want to create your own faux marble DIY, this seems to be the best source for quality white marble contact paper. Also available on Amazon.

Happy Decorating!

Gift Wrap Inspiration–DIY Flower Bouquet

May 6, 2014

Hi there! I hope you’re having a good day. The sun is shining again today here in Atlanta and that makes it a great day in my book. As promised, I’m back today to share an easy Gift Wrap Inspiration for you, perfect for Mother’s Day.

I always take extra care when it comes to wrapping a gift for my mom. She’s one special woman and deserves a special gift wrap. For her mother’s day gift this year I decided to craft a flower bouquet for the outside of the box.

Here’s how I did it.

Once the box was wrapped in a black and white check paper (from TJMaxx), I added a band of pink striped grosgrain ribbon.

Next I folded the left and right edges of a paper lace dollie towards the center of the dollie to create the shape of a cone.

I taped the dollie on top of the ribbon and paper and used glue dots to attach an assortment of paper flowers. The pink roses, yellow flowers and pink and yellow tiny flowers came in a cluster on stems so I simply inserted those into the cone and added tape behind to hold them into place.

The last step was a pretty pink bow and a gift tag.

Since I can’t give my mom flowers in person, her flower bouquet wrapped gift will do the trick.

Happy Wrapping!

Easy and Stylish Last Minute Easter Decor Ideas

April 17, 2014

Hello there! I’m back from my trip to DC and getting back in the swing of work and blogging. My trip was absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to share the photos with you. While I’m sorting through photos and doing laundry, I thought I’d bring you a few quick and easy Easter décor ideas since the big day is this Sunday.

I don’t do much decorating for Easter but I do like to have a touch of the holiday on my dining table. Ideas like these are super easy and quick to pull together and will definitely welcome Easter morning in style.

Paint, stickers or a little decoupage work and you can create a fun assortment of designer Easter eggs. I love the idea of creating a mix that matches your décor and not a traditional mix of pastels.

Blue and White Eggs

If you’re hosting Easter breakfast or dinner, this is an easy way to decorate the table. Use your paper shredder to create a bundle of paper that can be formed into the shape of a nest and then add a letter sticker to the outside of a plastic Easter egg. Cute and simple.

Monogram Egg

Looking for an Easter centerpiece idea? How about combining glass candlesticks, paper flowers and plastic eggs to create these cute Easter egg flowers.

Tip: If you don’t already own clear glass candlesticks, head to Dollar General where you’ll find different styles and sizes.

Easter Egg Flowers

I started collecting mis-matched egg cups and thing this would be a really great way to put them to use. Use decorative craft scissors to scallop the edge of cupcake liners to get the look of flower petals.

Candy Filled Egg Cups

Flowers are a must for Easter and the simple addition of plastic eggs to line the vase or container will turn your stems into a pretty Easter arrangement. What’s also great about this is that come Monday all you have to do is remove the eggs and enjoy the flowers for the rest of the week.

Egg Filled Flower Vase

And since I love cloches so much, this décor idea is right up my alley.

Tip: If you can’t find nest at this late date, create a nest with twig branches you pick from the yard or buy at the craft store.

Nest in Cloche

When it comes to last-minute holiday decorating, I love ideas that are quick, easy and yield beautiful results.

I’ll be back tomorrow to share the highlights of my DC trip and to show you my Easter tablescape.

Gift Wrap Inspiration: Handmade Paper Bow

April 10, 2014

I almost always accent my gift with ribbon and 9 times out of 10 I add a ribbon bow. That’s it until I got crafty and made my own paper bow.

Now I’m loving the idea of wrapping all my gifts with handmade paper bows.

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A Uniquely Crafted Gift

April 8, 2014

I love to give gifts and when I can give something that is unique and unexpected that makes gift giving even more fun for me.

This gift is going to my brother who recently moved from Kentucky to Washington DC and is without some key household items that can make life easier. One of those items is a sewing kit.

As a professional who is on the go constantly and doesn’t always have time to run to the cleaners or an alterations person, I thought it would be nice to make him a sewing kit for when he needs to mend a hem or sew on a button in a hurry.

And of course I had to do a little crafting to make his sewing kit uniquely his.

I painted the top of a wood box, purchased at Hobby Lobby, in a stripe pattern. I used different shades of grey and added white to keep the look masculine. The base of the box is solid grey.

Once painted I used the Mark Montano by Craffiti Direct Vintage Scissors stamps and created a label for the top of the box. The ABC stamp set was used to spell out the words.

When I was all done decorating the box I filled it with essential sewing supplies like pins, needles, thread, buttons and stitch witchery.

Easy as pie–I had a uniquely crafted sewing kit to give to my brother.

There are so many creative ways to use stamps when crafting so head over to the Craffiti Direct website and check out the full line of stamps.

To see all the Mark Montano stamp designs head here.

Happy Crafting!

Products Used (click on photo to buy):

Decorative scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby

Sewing supplies from Wal-Mart

DIY Glitter Striped Notecards

February 26, 2014

Next week the Design Bloggers Conference is taking place here in Atlanta and I’m excited to attend and hear some of my design idols speak. In preparation for the conference and as part of rebranding my blog I had some new business cards made. I decided to move away from brighter colors and go with a black and white pattern that feels classic and modern.

After receiving my cards (thanks Zazzle) I was so thrilled with them that they sparked a creative project. I decided to make a set of notecards that have the same classic design but reverse the color focus with gold stripes and a black message box.

Notecards are one of my favorite paper products and creating my own is something I love to do.

To make these cards you’ll need to following supplies:

Blank Notecards and Envelopes–available from any craft store or Paper Source

Chalkboard Stickers–You can punch your own using this chalkboard adhesive paper and this scalloped punch or you can buy these pre-made chalkboard labels.

American Crafts Glitter Tape (also available at Michael’s)

How to:

Once you have all your supplies you need to decide the number of stripes you want on the front of your card, cut you tape and adhere to notecards. Once all your stripes are in place add your chalkboard label to the center of the card.

The chalkboard label allow you to customize the card for whatever occasion you need–Thank You, Happy Birthday, Thinking of You or even a name.

After my notecards where made I decided to make a storage box for them. I painted a paper mache box using Martha Stewart gold metallic paint.

To finish off the box I added a ribbon tie to the front using May Arts black and white chevron ribbon.

And because I wanted a little something extra I made some stickers to use as envelope seals.

To make the stickers I attached a piece of vellum paper to double-sided adhesive paper. I then punched circles and glued a decorative image, cut from an old catalog to the front of each circle. Because the paper is double-sided you simply peel the paper from the back to use your sticker.

Chic notecards to go with my chic new business cards!

p.s. You may have noticed that I also updated the header for the blog to coordinate with my business cards and made some changes to the sidebar. I’m trying out some new things and will be making even more changes in the months to come.

To learn more about the importance of branding your business here’s a great article.

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