How to print on a paper bag

Well I just thought I wasn't going to have time for anymore "projects" or another blog before moving.  But I decided a short break from packing would be the best time to post just one more.

I found a tutorial on Pinterest for printing on a paper bag. Since my son has his 1st birthday coming up I thought "How cool would this be for some custom treat bags?!"  At first the hubby just rolled his eyes and shook his head. Once he saw what I was attempting he jumped right in.

My computer has the 2007 version of Microsoft Office. I prefer using PowerPoint over Word simply because PowerPoint allows easier movement of images (in my opinion).   So go into your printer settings, and under CUSTOM set your paper size to 5.2" by 10.2 inches, save this as PAPER BAG.  Once I went back into the blank document I was using I set my paper size as 5.2 by 10.2 just so I had an accurate size to work with.  Using ClipArt and Google I picked out the images I wanted. Hubby helped with the layout A LOT. I swear the man has the patience of Job, which makes him so much better at detail work. 

Paper bag showing which way to load the bag.   Insert bottom flap face up first. As a side note (it didn't mention this on the original tutorial I found) make sure you rotate your images 180 degrees before printing, unless you want your imagines to come out on the bottom of the bag instead of the top.

 First side printed ( I did double sided printing mainly because I couldn't decide which images I wanted to use). The hubby did the work with the pictures and foot prints. I think it turned out so much better than what I had in my head. SN: to print double sided select just one page at a time and I also found it worked best to load one bag at a time into the printer. Time consuming yes, but I was suffering from paper jams and aggravation.

 To print on both sides, flip the bottom over so that the bag is still closed.

Insert as shown above. 

Completed treat bags. I thought they turned out fantastic. And yes I did print an extra to go in the scrapbook.









May your ink never run dry and your printer never jam,
Amy

Monogram Wreath

I love making things for people.  Sometimes its easier than buying things for them. So when it came down to making something for my older sister I had a perfect idea.... animal prints and lots of bling. I started out with the idea to wrap the wreath form in different animal print ribbons, beads, sequins. The ribbons ended up being a mistake for several reasons. Not only did they clash but it was just a pain in the rear trying to wrap them in a way that they covered the wreath and looked good. That took 2 attempts in making this wreath. Finally I settled on an idea. I ended up going with black lace, zebra print with a little dash of hot pink for some color, and some rhinestone bling.

I took a wooden letter form and painted it black (front, back & edges)

 Fake rhinestones to give it the "bling" look.

 So since the animal ribbons didn't work out I bought some cheap lace material  and cut to fit my Styrofoam form. The form is a white extruded form, its cheaper than the rougher Styrofoam forms. You can also wrap your form with a different color yarn/ribbon to be under the lace. I choose to leave it plain. If you are feeling froggy you could try painting the wreath form. Let me know how it turns out if you do.

 I placed the lace over the outside of the wreath and attempted to center it. I placed pins at intervals just to hold it in place. And then taking a needle & thread I sewed the lace together. I basically did what I've always heard called a "whip stitch". It's like doing a spiral around the fabric instead of stitching a straight seem.

 Once I got everything sewn I was able to VERY GENTLY rotate the lace. And except for the ugly seam at the top, I was happy.

 I bought these flowers to cover the ugly steam.  They are actually ones that you would use on a head band or hair bow. But they were a cheaper option to faux flowers.

Took a few tries to get a string that could hold the beads, wreath and "O". Finally we had to use para-cord for the beading and heavy duty upholstery thread for the "O". In between each bead I hot glues more of the rhinestones to act as spacers. Hubby made a hole through the Styrofoam to run the thread to hold the "O" in place.




And here is the finished product.  I sent my sister a picture earlier and she loves it. Its a little lopsided in the picture simply because its hung on a nail.  I'm sure it will be a little better on a wider hook.








Stay shiny!
Amy

CD/DVD book redo

As I have said before I have a 3 year old daughter and we are moving 1100 miles from where we live.  How do you entertain an incredibly imaginative toddler for 3 days of travel and not loose your mind or be driven to drink? (BTW the drinking is meant for comic relief, I don't drink alcohol)

We solved part of this problem sometime back when we bought her a portable DVD player and head phones (don't shoot me, I do check the volume when she is watching her movies to make sure its not to loud and this is a travel time only deal). I've also bought her 3 new movies plus a CD player and music/read along books to watch/listen to on the trip to our new home.

But I wanted to do something that we could do as a mommy/daughter craft together and let her personalize her travel disc carry books. She already had one small 24 disc book (that had been mine once upon a time) and I went to the dollar store and bought a second 24 disc book. I did forget to take pictures of the first book I did as I went along so one or two pictures may not be like the others. Here is what we did:

Zippered soft cover disc book

White duct tape. I used the white because I wanted her to be able to put stickers or draw on the tape to personalize them.








When I attached the tape I did so with the book open, not sure why. It just seemed easier at 2am when I was working on this.







Covered in the tape, I had a bit of over-lap. The edges were a you-know-what to get the tape to stay. I have since gone back and using a little bit of hot glue to secure them down

I took a permanent marker and wrote her name and what each book was on the side.

Later on she and I sat down and decorated both books with stickers. I know the stickers probably won't stay on long, but it allows her to be more creative in the future.






May your fingers always be sticky,
Amy

Scent packs for storage

At some point we all have fabric items in storage. Seasonal items, items awaiting a yard sale/donation bin, consignment store or packed up for a long distance move.  I'll never forget how bad everything smelled when we moved from the States to Germany and back to the States. Fact is storage stinks and buying scented discs/pouches are expensive.

One of my best friends is a Scentsy fragrance consultant. She has gotten me hooked. For several months now I have been just disposing of my used wax. And then we started packing to move from Southwest Georgia to the middle of Wisconsin and I have been trying to figure out how best to keep the items that will be packed away from smelling. Then I realized I could reuse my wax, it may not be strong enough to fragrance a room but could still be strong enough to fragrance an enclosed plastic container. Scentsy carries a line of sachets to place in doors, closets, whatever and they are very reasonably priced. But for a family of 4 it can get expensive to place in that many boxes.

Normally when I have my warmer turned on I only do one cube of wax at a time in each warmer and I will have 1 to 3 warmers going depending on what's happening at the house. 

My favorite warmer with melted wax (it was time to change out the wax anyway) and two cotton balls. Scentsy wax comes in 2 different sizes bars or bricks. Each bar/brick is broken down into smaller "cubes". I discovered one cube will saturate 2 cotton balls about halfway. Which is what I wanted.

 Drop cotton balls into wax and allow them to soak up wax, you may need to wipe them around a little (this also cleaners your warmer for when you add new wax).







Place cotton balls on wax paper to dry.

Once dry place balls into plastic bags and seal. I wrote on the outside what fragrance was in each bag just for reference. Once I get ready to put them in the boxes I will cut a small hole in the bags to release the fragrance. Since it involves an oil based fragrance I will leave the cotton balls in the bags just to protect the fabrics and save me the hassle of dealing with any staining.



Science has shown that smells are the greatest sensory trigger to memory. Hopefully if it already smells like home this will make settling into a new place that much easier.

May your nose always lead you home,
Amy

Stopping traffic

Being from Atlanta, GA I know it doesn't take much to bring traffic to a screeching halt. But I have a better way to stop traffic.... hot glue!  LOL

My husband has a little brother who is 6.  My little BIL's room is done with a "road" about halfway up the wall with cars, trucks, etc.  All hand painted. Very cute.  And since he always gets a ton of toys, books & movies I wanted to do something special for him this year for Christmas.

I saw an idea on pinterest of a letter that a woman using something in the Microsoft suite turned into a road, had blown up to poster size and then glued cars to that and framed it. Unfortunately the way his room is set up the MIL says there is no room for something of that size.

But thanks to Hobby Lobby, I was able to take a 13" wood letter and turn it into what I wanted.

 I took the plain letter and painted it black.

 Then using masking tape I tried to make the dotted white line. But those curves sucked!

 White paint over the tape for the lines. I did have to do a little touch up work when I removed the tape.
 

After the touch up paint dried I covered the letter with some Mod Podge, just as a sealant. When that dried it was time to add the cars. My original idea of using standard sized match box cars didn't work. They were just to big. So enter these little mini cars. I attached them using some hot glue and tried to position them in a way so it looked like a conceivable traffic pattern.  My dotted lines did not turn out exactly perfect but I think they are ok and will look good in his room.





Stay Crafty, My Friends!

Blanket with Binding

How to add satin blanket binding to a fleece blanket:
1. Buy blanket and ribbon binding
2. Take to a seamstress and drop off
3. Return when ready and pick up blanket
4. Go home, have a glass of wine and congratulate yourself on a handmade gift for a loved one.

This is what I should have done (all except the wine, I don't drink anymore).  But no, I decided to do this myself.  I bought this really pretty fleece no-sew blanket.  I could have just cut and tied the blanket like you are supposed to.  But oh no I decided to add on "hunter safety orange" ribbon binding.

I have had some folks exhibit some surprise that I can sew. When I mention a sewing project on facebook at least one person says "Oh wow Amy I didn't know you could sew!" I just want to say that I really can't, I can however use obscenities fluently and untangle thread jams.

I decided to make this blanket for my son since we are moving to The Great White North shortly.  I'm sure my great grandmother would have said that the project was not nearly as complicated as I made it.  I know also if she was here she would insist that I rip out the seams and start again because they are crooked and you can see where I had to patch/start over.  But I think for my first attempt its not that bad.  I have 2 more blankets to make as gifts and then I don't care if I ever attach ribbon binding again.