Brown Bag Reindeer Wrap

Super simple wrapping for the photo booth ornaments in the previous post:

This was a situation where multiple sized circle punches and dollar store clothespins came in handy!

Photo Strip Ornament | Christmas Photo Booth

As the room parent for my daughter's second grade class this year, I wanted to make something pretty cool for the students in class to give their parents for Christmas.

I knew I wanted to incorporate photography and to do something fun and something they would like to keep for years.

This was a project that was a mix of a few ideas... starting with the currently popular 'photo booth' and adding in some amazingly awesome Christmas themed photo booth props. (all cut using the Silhouette machine)

So, the idea was to take several photos of every child in my daughter's second grade class, edit the photos into photo strips, print them at Costco, and then collage pauge them onto wooden boards and make them into ornaments.

Yup, that's a lot of boards and red paint.  I rolled it on because I could do so indoors and they would dry in a reasonable amount of time. (Had to take into consideration the December weather, spray paint wouldn't have dried outside.)

iLoveToCreate: $1 Michaels Heart Frame Chalkboard

This is a super simple Valentine's Day project that is easy on the wallet as well.  This would make a great gift for a teacher, gradparent, or friend.  It is also a great little project for decor in your own home!

 Supplies:

• $1 wooden frame (Michaels)
• Scrapbook Paper
• Collage Pauge (I used the matte finish)
• Chalkboard paint
• Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue
• Stain (I used a stamp pad)
• Scissors
• Sandpaper
• Foam paintbrush (or two)

Remove the center cardboard shape from your frame and SAVE for a little later.  Trace your entire frame onto the scrapbook paper and cut out; line up the frame and trace the inside shape and cut out.

Use the foam brush to paint on a layer of Collage Pauge directly on both the frame and the back of the scrapbook paper, work quickly to adhere the paper to the frame.  Sand all the edges to make sure the scrapbook paper is not coming over the edges and it all looks even.

Use a stamp pad or some stain aroud the edges of the whole frame and the inside shape.  Paint on several more layers of Collage Pauge and allow to dry completely.

Paint the inside cardboard shape with several layers of chalkboard paint.  (I think I used about 6 layers of paint to get the look I wanted)  Let the shape dry completely.

Turn over the frame and add a thin line of Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue to the inside rim where the chalkboard painted heart will go.

 Insert the heart shape and allow the glue to dry completely before using the chalkboard.

 Display in a plate holder or easel.

Magnetic Stand, last year's Christmas project

Last December John and I spent a week making 12 of these nifty little guys to give as gifts to family and friends. 

Aren't they cute?   

We followed the tutorial here on Shanty2Chic, which has become one of my favorite crafting blogs.  We followed pretty much EXACTLY what she did and found everything to be fairly easy except the part where you cut the roofing tin... which was a little more involved than just measuring and cutting.  (Check out the tutorial to see what I mean.) 

I sent many of them out with a recipe card attached so you could use it in your kitchen as a recipe holder, but I have been using ours as a photo display. 

One of my friends attached a monogram letter to the center and has it displayed in her living area, and another has used it to display some inspiration she found in a magazine.  So many GREAT ideas!   

A friend and I made another similar project from the Shanty2Chic blog, which I will be sharing another day.