Crafting Queen

Handmade Birthday Card

What you need:

Cardstock

Scissors

Rubber Cement or glue of some kind

Small craft envelope 

Movie tickets or gift card

Pen (to personalize it)

I love giving baskets full of small things as gifts instead of giving one big(ger) thing. I guess it's because I have always loved getting gifts like this, so I tend to lean this direction anytime there's an occasion that requires gift-giving.

For my cousin's birthday, I found this red planter or pot (or whatever she wants to use it for) at an antique mall and couldn't wait to make her a little basket of goodies out of it. I decided to make it into a movie night date night basket, and filled it with popcorn, M&M's, drinks in anchor koozies, and movie tickets. My thinking behind it was that the snacks could be for a movie night at home with the kiddos, and the tickets would give them an opportunity to get out of the house and go on a date. So really, two movie nights in one! And who doesn't love that?

I started looking on pinterest for cute ideas, and fell in love with this free printable. It must have been from Father's Day 2012, because the numbers on the sides are the date June 17, 2012. I just copied and placed the image onto a word document towards the bottom of the page, printed it on cardstock, folded it at the top of the image, and cut off the excess (including the part that said "Happy Father's Day"). 

 On the inside of the card, I used a small craft envelope from Michaels to hold the tickets, and just attached it with rubber cement after attaching the twine. The words "Movie Night" are part of this printable (the same page of printables that the round attachment reading "Happy Movie Night" tied to the outside of the card came from).

I love Pinterest, I love free printables, I love handmade cards. YAY!

Dollar Store Valentines Décor

Today, I'll be sharing two of the easiest decorations you'll ever make. If you're looking for a quick, easy way to get your home ready for Valentines Day... this is it!

To make this conversation hearts candle holder, all you need is a glass jar or apothecary jar (it can really be any size), a candle or tealight, a paper towel roll, conversation hearts, and scissors.

Just cut the paper towel roll to the height you need, place in the middle, and surround with conversation hearts. Then, sit your candle on top. I used a battery operated tealight. I folded the leftover paper towel roll inside of the middle one to keep the tealight from falling to the bottom.

And ta-da... you have this lovely centerpiece that's sure to be a "conversation" piece (hahah... see what I did there?).

Make several in different size jars for a beautiful arrangement.

To make this adorable garland, all you need is twine, a paper clip, scissors, and pretty paper.

 I searched on Pinterest for antique hymnal pages, printed it out, and paired it with a pretty coral colored paper. This would also be an awesome opportunity to use real hymnal pages if you had an old hymnal you don't mind cutting up or book pages. This way it would be two sided, which would look better because the garland will spin. I folded the paper three ways and cut out hearts. While still folded in half, I made two slits in the center of the heart. After tying a knot at the bottom of the string, much like you would a needle and thread, I tied the other end to an unfolded paper clip and used it as a "needle" to string the hearts along the twine.

 I was very happy with the way my garland turned out, and hung it at different heights in front of our living room window. So cute, so festive, so easy. Give it a try!

Travel Inspired Take-With-You-Everywhere Booklets

This is one of the cutest, easiest, and most easily personalized crafts you could ever make. All you need is the map of your choice and the items below:

I love these cute little cardboard books. I got them free (they were a promotional item from work), but you can get similar books like this at most stores. Just make sure the book you choose is not the kind with a spiral binding.

You lay the book down flat, trace it, then cut it out:

And voila! You have a cute, easy booklet that's perfect to carry around with you everywhere.

 Adventure awaits // Go find it

Handmade Valentines

For the last two years, I've been lucky enough to work at the Appalachian Child Development Center where I've fallen head over heels for 15 very sweet two year olds. This year, I made these Valentines for them and they were too adorable and simple not to share!

This is what you need:

I loved that they were personalized for each child and interactive in the sense that they got to pull out the message:

Upcycled 80's Art

My Mom had these from the 80's and was just about to throw them away when I saved them! Seeing their potential and loving anything white and Victorian-looking, I knew I could use them not only for the wedding, but also in where ever the Lord leads Gray and I to call home!

Before

The white frame was yellowing, the picture was faded and yellow. Clearly, some TLC was in order.

 After

I spray painted the frames white, then painted over the middle with chalkboard paint from Hobby Lobby.

Bridesmaids Gifts

I've wanted to be very intentional about each and every detail of wedding planning and so far, it's been an absolute blast. I decided to make individual scrapbooks for each of my bridesmaids, 8 ladies who are all very different and very special to me. 

I bought plain, cardboard scrapbook kits at Hobby Lobby, cute scrapbook paper, and had pictures of me with each bridesmaid developed. 

I traced the scrapbook, cut out the paper and glued it down and then just made each book special and different for each girl. I tied the books together with twine and ribbon, which really helped tie together the shabby chic look that all the books had in common.

Here's a few of my favorites!

Scrapbook Frame

Since my soon to be sister-in-law just graduated from Appalachian in December, I thought this scrapbook frame was the perfect gift. It was so simple and fun to make. The awesome thing about making these kinds of  frames is that you can choose any size, use any amount of pictures and make it as complex or as simple as your heart desires. 

Scrapbook 

I made this scrapbook for my boyfriend's Momma's birthday gift and I'm so excited with how it turned out. I took these photos of her daughter, Alley and her husband, Tyler at the beach last summer and I wanted it to be something she could keep forever.

Frat Cooler

Grayson has been begging me to make him a cooler for years and I decided this year, as he approached his 24th birthday, that he'd waited long enough. So, after pinteresting ideas for months (plus sketching out a couple of my own), I began gathering the supplies needed to start this project.

I began in August, and after working for a few hours each week, finally finished by mid-October.

Supplies Needed:
A cooler
Rough-grit sandpaper
Fine-grit sandpaper
Primer
Spackle
Paintbrushes
Acrylic Paint
Painters Tape
Mod Podge Sealer

First, I started out with a plain, Igloo cooler-

 Then, I applied Spackle to the indented logo to make it a flat surface that would be easier to paint over. After filling the cracks, I scraped it smooth and waited for it to dry-

 After sanding it with both rough grit and fine grit sandpaper, I primed it and applied painter's tape to start the back side of the cooler, which became an American flag-

 For the Appalachian "A" on the front side of the cooler and the Vineyard Vines whales on the side, I printed out the image, laid the paper down on a rug, used a pencil to poke holes through it, held it to the cooler, painted over the holes, then used a paintbrush to "connect the dots." Using carpet paper would've been easier, but hey- you sometimes you have to be resourceful!

 One side I made Vineyard Vines, one of his favorite brands and the other I made to represent his fraternity-

 I made the front of the cooler to represent App State and added his graduation year. I free-handed that Yosef! And the far right is an untied bow tie-

 After painting the top of the cooler teal, I decided to paint the edge yellow to tie in more with the yellow on the front side, so I used painter's tape to paint the edges-

I painted the top of the cooler last, and tried to incorporate some of his favorite things: North Carolina, the Republican Elephant, the Cubs, the year he was born and his love for piano-

 I can't lie, this was a much more labor intensive project than I am used to and I was so glad to finally finish, but seeing how pleased he was when his birthday finally came made it well worth it!

Handmade Card

As someone who loves to write, sending cards is one of my favorite things to do for people. That's why it kills me that cards are so expensive. I made this card by printing the image off Pinterest, cutting it out and gluing it to a piece of leftover scrapbook paper.  So fast, simple, quick and cheap! 

Shabby Chic Bunting

This adorable bunting  is so easy and quick to make. It's the perfect addition to any party, or just to give your room a little extra cuteness. 

I got this pack of 6x6 scrapbook paper at TJMaxx and bought a pack of twine from Michaels. I tore out the pages I wanted to use, put them in order of how I wanted the pattern to go, and then cut them into triangles. Then, I used a hole puncher to make a hole at the top corners of each triangle and strung them onto the piece of twine. Then, I hung it using thumb tacks. So cute and simple that absolutely anyone could do it! 

15 Minute Canvases

These quick and easy canvases literally only took 15 minutes from start to finish. If you're looking for a way to spruce up your living space, give it a little character, or simply just make something pretty to brighten up a boring wall, these are the way to go!

Map Coasters

I made these map coasters for my boyfriend's Momma and I am so pleased with the way they turned out. This simple and easy craft is sure to be one of your favorite gifts ever given, so much so that you might have to keep a few for yourself!

First, you get a plain tile like this one that can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowes-

You also need a pencil, glue stick and scissors-

Then, you need a sponge brush and Mod Podge-

Then, trace the area of the map you want to use lightly with a pencil-

Cut it out (keep in mind that you may have to trim and round the corners)-

Then, use the glue stick to glue the piece of map to the top of the tile-

Then, Modge Podge over the map to seal it, applying a thin, even layer-

For the finishing touch, I used these self-stick bumpers to raise the coaster off the table-

And viola, you have adorable map coasters that people won't believe you actually made!-

The final product-

DIY Binder Cover

I have always loved making my school supplies as cute as possible, and as I enter into my senior year of college, nothing has changed! This year, I made my own printables to insert into the covers of plain old front-pocket, 3-ring binders. 

This is how I did it:

1. First, right-click on the image of your choice below and save it to your desktop:

2. Then, go to http://www.picmonkey.com/ and add text (Name of class, your name, etc.) 

3. Then, save this new image to your desktop again. I suggest choosing the "Sean," which is a larger file size but worth it because it won't be grainy/ pixelated when you print it out.

4. Print it out

5. Insert into front of binder and enjoy!

Goodwill Stool Revamp

Inspired by Pinterest, as usual, I had been keeping an eye out for a barstool like this to redo for quite some time. As you can imagine, I was overjoyed to find one for $3 at Goodwill, along with these little goodies for my bathroom and desk, too. All I needed to take these thrifty finds from drab to fabulous was some paint, a paintbrush, and a little time. 

I finished them off by using a round sponge to add white polka dots for fun and feminine touch-

Wedding Scrapbook

I've been dying to share this recent project of mine for a few weeks, and now that I've finally given it to the bride to be, here it is!

I got the cardboard book set at Hobby Lobby, then picked out paper I thought went together nicely. I was going for a boho chic, but neutral theme. I traced the outline of the hard cardboard, cut out the paper, glued it on, decorated each page, and tied ribbons on the metal rings that bind the book together.

I gave this to my cousin, Kristen as a wedding gift. These make great presents because they're so unique, look great sitting on your coffee table, and are so fun to look through years later. Homemade gifts are the best gifts!

Wall Art

I made this adorable wall art for my room, and I'm so happy with the way it turned out! It didn't even take my whole lunch break!

I printed the quotes I found on Pinterest and cut them out-

I glued them to a piece of thick cardboard (I used an old box)-

I used a box cutter to trim the cardboard around the quote-

And viola! Adorable wall art that is quick, easy, unique, and cheap!

Furniture "Up-cycling"

This past weekend, Grayson and I got a little crafty. We took an old, dingy, boring bookshelf from my garage and after cleaning and scraping magazine residue off of it, we painted it the most darling shade of pink.

I will post more pictures once I get it moved in my house and decorated!

Classroom Art

I made this pinterest-inspired canvas for Grayson's 6th grade classroom. I started with a plain white canvas, superglued crayons to the top, used a hairdryer to melt the colors down, cut out letters for the word "inspire" at the bottom, and used a staple gun to attach a yellow ribbon for hanging. This was a simple, fun and unique project that I enjoyed doing! 

Supplies needed:

Any size canvas

Enough crayons to go across the top

Super glue

Hair dryer

Stickers or cut out letters

Ribbon

Staple Gun