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.

Homemade Superhero| (featuring) iLoveToCreate Fabric Fusion and Crystals

I am the first to admit that I am not great at sewing.  While I am a perfectionist in other aspects of crafting... I just don't have a love for the sewing machine.  (I do have high hopes of changing that!!) 

One thing I do try to get the sewing machine out for each year is to make Halloween costumes.  This year the girls were going to each be a homemade superhero... ie- Super Hannah, and Super Claire!

With the help of Pintrest, I found a great cape tutorial and got to work. 

I did employ some Aleene's Fabric Fusion to help with the logos that weren't sticking well with the 'wonder under'... and I added a little dazzle to their masks with some Tulip Glam it Up Iron-On Crystals using the Tulip Cordless Heat Setting Tool.

If I am being honest, the costumes were cuter in my head then they ended up being once they were done, Oh well!  :0)

The girls loved them and had so much fun running around and yelling "Coming to Save the World!!" 

iLoveToCreate: Repurposed Fabric Covered Bulletin Board

Poor Claire, my youngest daughter, has had bare walls for quite some time.  It's not for lack of thought or intention, it is just that I kind of have a phobia when it comes to decorating.  I want to LOVE what I put on my walls... for goodness sake, I will have to look at it EVERYDAY!  It has always seemed like a lot of pressure.  Pretty much the only reason things get put on walls around here is if John harps on me enough to get it ready, then he will hang it.

As was the case with this easy project! 

We like to call this our $1 Bulletin Board.  We spent a wopping $1 on the frame and had everything else on hand.  It was a great way to repurpose an old cork bulletin board as well. 

Supplies: 

• Frame - Ours was found at ReStore (it has a chip in the back was a gaudy gold color, so John painted it black...you can't even see the chip when it is on the wall!)
• Corkboard - We had an old board that was actually in our yard sale pile... John cut out the middle section to a size that would fit inside the frame with a utility knife
• Fabric - enough to cover the board with a few inches extra on all sides
• Stapler - Regular old office one, the staples in a staple gun would have gone through the cork
• Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Spray
• Hanging hooks, grabbers, fastening clips, or whatever you like to use to hang the final product (find at any hardware store)

• Decide on your frame size and cut corkboard to fit inside the frame
• Measure enough fabric to cover the corkboard, plus a few inches on each side.  Iron the fabric and place it wrong side up on your work surface

• Go outside and spray the good side of the corkboard with Aleene's Tacky Spray
• Quickly place the sticky side of the corkboard onto the wrong side up fabric
• Start on one side pulling the fabric taught and stapling it down on the back of the coarkboard, work your way around until it is all stapled
• **I also flipped the corkboard over and  placed a large, flat tray or book on the right side to make sure the fabric sticks to the cork, I left this for about 30 minutes to dry

• Place covered corkboard into frame, we made sure ours stayed tight with fastening clips
• Add picture hanging hardware and hang on the wall... (John did this part)

...and the final product!  Almost too pretty to add her treasured photos and memories :-)

iLoveToCreate: Reverse-Stencilled & Spray-Painted Shirt

This is a great, fairly easy way to uniquely personalize a shirt!  My friend Brooke, co-owner of the fabulous Uptown Kids sale (a twice yearly consignment event held here in Fresno), came up with this idea and I have to say it seems to have worked out well!

First she decided that she wanted to rock a fun and unique shirt with her business initials... UPTK.

Supplies:

Tank top style shirt (or anything you would like personalized)

Cardboard shirt form-Tulip has one called a Fashion Form

Tulip brand fabric spray paint (your could use several colors if that suits your fancy)

Vinyl - cut using the Silhouette machine

• Choose a font and size that will work well for the letters of your shirt, then cut out your vinyl using your Slihouette, Cricut, or trace and cut with scissors.

• Peel letters out of vinyl and place on your shirt

• Cover your work area and spray fabric paint liberally around the stuck-on letters and around shirt until you have the desired effect

• Peel off vinyl lettering and enjoy your creation!

Thoughts:

• Wouldn't this be a great craft for a kids party or camp? 
• I thought the spray paint gave the shirt a cool effect and you could have a variety of outcomes depending on the amount of spray you want to use.
• The vinyl worked really well and provided nice crisp lines... no bleeding paint!!
• Add some spray glitter for a little more pizzaz!

**Thanks for sharing your idea Brooke!  I'm sure you will enjoy wearing it at this fall's consignment sale!!**



I went to post something...

... and I ended up changing the whole layout and design of the blog.  Man, I am so easily sidetracked!!

It was driving me NUTS that my margins weren't allowing the extra large sized photos here on blogger.  So, after a few hours of tinkering I am happy with the new margins, the ability to now show extra large horizantal photos, a more simple and clean white background, and a fresh new header. 

(This counts as being crafty, right?)

I also added a whole section of the ten most recently updated iLoveToCreate blogger blogs over there on the right side ---->
I am thinking of adding another section of crafty inspiration blogs, but that list could get REALLY long... if you have a crafty blog that you would like me to include, send me a message or email. 

And now, I will try to get back to my regularly scheduled post :-)

iLoveToCreate: Large Paper Accordian Award Ribbons

My uber-crafty friend Alice volunteered to make the award ribbons for her kid's school family picnic.  She enlisted my help (of course I am ALWAYS up for a crafty challenge!) and after much brainstorming we got to work!

We gathered the supplies:

• Chipboard flower books (found at Tuesday morning)
• Tulip glitter
• Scrapbook paper, scored and folded like an accordian (12 inches long)
• Chipboard/cardboard circles
• Various types of glue: Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue, Hot Glue, and Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Spray 
• Various die cuts, stickers, letters, ribbons, etc.  Anything that you want to attach to the award to distinguish what it is a prize for.

• Cut the scrapbook paper into strips, the large award above uses paper about 3.5 inches wide, the smaller circle in the center uses 2.5 (or so) strips... we did a variety of sizes
• Score the paper with a scoring board.  We have no photo, but this was done ahead of time with a borrowed board.
• Fold the scored paper into accordians... then stop and take photos of all the fun colors and textures.

• Glue 2-3 strips together, end to end.  Hot glue worked best for this step... quick drying time is a MUST! 

• Grab the Tacky Spray and liberally spray the individual chipboards... this should be done one at a time to avoid the spray drying too quickly.  Also, do this outside or in a very well ventilated area.
• Add glitter to the freshly sprayed boards 

• We were making several boards, so we used a variety of colors! 

• While the glitter is drying, take your folded accordian strips and make a circle as shown.  Glue the ends together with hot glue.  **This step is pretty frustrating, enlist the help of a friend if possible ;-) 

• Have your chipboard on hand and ready to go.  Add a circle of hot glue around the outside. 

• Add the chipboard to the BACK center of the now-circle accordian paper.  Hold it in place until the hot glue dries.  The chipboard keeps the circle in place and keeps it from popping up.  If you get to this step, you will understand! 
• Repeat for as many circles as you are making.  Large, small, and in-between they are all the same process.  We used the Quick Dry Tacky glue on some smaller ones and it worked just fine.  This might be a better option if you are doing this project with kids.

• Stop and admire your hard work, thus far.  So fun! 

• Lay out your pieces and arrange them how you would like.  We did large accordian, glittered chipboard, medium accordian, then the top piece on some (left side photo) and on the right we put the glittered chipboard, then layered accordians and chipboards to give deminsion and fun! 

• Add your finishing touches... looped ribbons and this super-cute frog sticker were PERFECT for this 'Frog Jump' race ribbon... but the sky is the limit!!  
• Cut 2.5x12 inch strips of the same scrapbook paper as the accordians are made from, and add them to the back to make the ribbon tails.  

SO CUTE!

iLoveToCreate: A Variety of Tie Dye Techniques

Last weekend my sister and I decided to have a quick tie dye afternoon.  I wanted to dye some swim covers for the girls and had a few other things that were a little stained and ready to be revamped.  I had a tie dye kit and a few extra bottles of Tulip Tie Dye sitting in my cabinet and was itching to use them!

We gathered our supplies (most of which aren't shown here... )

The kit includes: dye in bottles (just add water and shake!), plastic gloves and rubber bands.

You will also need to grab some plastic (I used large garbage bags) to cover the table or workspace, Ziploc bags to hold the completed projects overnight, and paper towels.  I specifically needed a spray bottle for one of the techniques I was planning.

I also made sure it was a nice day and we were able to work outside. 

I looked up some different techniques online.  A good resource is the iLoveToCreate website.  Just look under projects and search for tie dye.

This is an old shirt - rubber band style

• Tie two rubber bands to a dampened shirt, basically dividing it into thirds. 

• Generously douse each end with dye and roll it up into a garbage bag being careful to not have the red and blue ends touch. 

• After 24 hours, rinse each end of the shirt until the water runs clear
• Wash it with a little detergent, and dry in the dryer.

The next project was the swimsuit covers - graduated dye style

*Note the type of material when dyeing clothing.  The dye doesn't take to polyester very well so make sure it is blended with natural fibers like cotton.  These were 85% Cotton and 15% Polyester, found at Target.*

•  Lay the damp swim cover on a garbage bag and mix the dye 
• Generously douse the fabric with the bottled dye, but only on the bottom... do the front and back of the swim cover
• Pour out half the dye and add the remaining to a spray bottle, filling the rest with water (basically diluting the dye)
• Spray the middle of the swim cover generously, front and back
• Pour out more and dilute the dye even more, then spray the top generously on the front and back.
• Roll into a large garbage bag and let set 24 hours
• Rinse, wash, and dry

While this was the proper technique, I didn't dilute the dye enough for the top so the middle and top look very similar here.  Never the less, I am happy with them and might even add another tie dye design another time. 

Next, I did a plain old t-shirt - swirly style

• Pinch the damp shirt near the middle or off to one side and spin until it forms a nice little roll like the one shown below
• Tie a rubberband across the middle and then another going the other direction across the middle creating 'pie' pieces
• Dye every other 'slice of the pie' a different color using the given dye bottles.  In my case, I went red, blue, red, blue.
• Make sure to douse GENEROUSLY getting the bottle nozzle down into the folds of the shirt.
• Put in a Ziplog bag and let set 24 hours
• Remove rubber bands, rinse, wash and dry 

The final project was a kids cami - scrunched style

• Lay the dampened shirt on a paper towel (on top of some plastic) and scrunch... see the photo on the left
• Add the bottled dye all over the shirt, dousing generously
• Move to a Ziploc bag for 24 hours
• Rinse, wash, and dry

*The photo on the left was my sister's project, similar to the first technique shown above, however I thought I would point out her gloves.  She was smart and wore them.  I, on the other hand, did NOT and ended up with very red hands for a few days.* 

Many fun projects

Save your bottles! You never know when you will need them.

The final results!  All in an afternoons work :-)