Recycled Can - Gift Box

Yip, another recycled can!  Xmas is coming up so I'm going to be using some of my cans I've been keeping during my break from crafting, and making gift boxes out of them.

This one I made for my dad, which I'm gonna fill up with as-yet-unknown goodies.  He has some stamp collection, so I thought it a good idea to google some SA stamps, print 'em and decoupage them onto the can.

And I thought the stamp theme would make the can suited for a "manly" prezzie.

 

I painted and stamped up the lid and sealed it with decoupage paint:

I cut out each stamp with a scalloped scissor, and before decoupaging them to the can, I used a gold paint pen to draw around the can rims and just below the rims, so that the can wouldn't show through behind the stamps:

I think it looks cute. :D

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Ladybug Baby Album

I bought some of these cute cardboard cutout albums looooong ago, and finally had something to do with one of them - I'm gonna make Aidan's first little baby scrapbook album, hehe.

Here's the before:

I decorated the top like a ladybug:

Then I covered each "page" inside with scrapbook paper and either chalked or inked the edges just to round it off.  From the front:

From the back: 

Now I need to fill it up with some baby stuff, eg sonar pics and other info like the first time I felt him move and other first time stuff like that. :D  I think it's going to be my cutest scrapbook yet.  :)

Linked up at these LINKY PARTIES:

Momnivore's Dilemma         Truly Lovely
It's a Hodgepodge Life         Chick on a Shoestring Decorating

Diaper Cake - Baby Shower Gift

I finally got a chance to make my first diaper cake! (well, we call them nappy cakes here...).

And for those who haven't made one yet, it's simple, here's how...first, the nappy cake ingredients:

I rolled up the nappies and secured them with rubber bands:

I formed a cirlce with them (my husband had to help me with this part, you need more than 2 hands), and at the same time added some of the "cake filling" inside so that the circle wouldn't collapse in when I tie the rubber band around the outside of the circle to keep the nappies together:

I joined a few rubber bands together with knots and a paperclip to make one big one to put around the outside of the circle:

Then I went on to the second tier - it's the same as the first, just a little small in diameter:

The top 2 tiers were only made of nappies.  And then for the cake topper!

I made a little sign for the donkey(?) to hold too. 

Then I could start decorating the cake.  First I layered 2 different ribbons around each tier:

And I placed little paper roses in the spaces between all the nappies - it just looked incomplete without something there:

The mum-to-be likes Winnie the Pooh, so I googled some pics, printed & cut 'em out and glued them on the top tier with sticky dots:

Then the next tier down, I decorated with stickers:

And the next one with cute heart thingies I found at the craft store.  I thought they matched the green patterns on the nappies perfectly, and the yellow ones sort of matched the Pooh pics:

And for the bottom tier I used a stencil to cut out little flowers, glittered them around the edges and put a bling on:

I had to secure the ribbon around the tiers with glue dots and staples because the decorations were too heavy and it pulled the ribbons down.
And ta-da.....

And the mum and dad-to-be loved it (and so did the rest of my family) and that made it all worth it. :D
Oh, I ended up getting a silver cake board at my mum's house, to put the cake on - it presented a little nicer than a scrap piece of cardboard that was too small for the cake, hehe.

And I had to make a card too:

And the message inside, hehe:

I cut out the size of the nappies from the packet and stuck it in the card too, just so they'd know what size it was.


Linked up to these LINKY PARTIES:
Craft Envy                    Be Different, Act Normal

Post-it Holder

While visiting some other blogs today, I got a really cute and fun idea for a post-it notes holder for your desk.  I got the idea from Sarah from Dotted Line Crafts!  Here's my version:

I've had this plastic photo frame in my cupboard for years, but I didn't want to use it for displaying photos 'cause....I think it's a little tacky for my taste, plus it's a little damaged.  But today I got this really cool idea. :D  (another reason why I'm glad I'm a hoarder - I knew I'd find an interesting way to use this sooner or later!)
I took some scrapbook paper and placed it in the holder behind the frame.  I actually wanted to use something damask-y in black & white, but I didn't have anything. :(  And as impatient as I am, I couldn't wait to go out and buy one, so I used the next best alternative that I had...

I only had a scrap piece of this paper left, which is why the bottom part of the frame didn't have any paper behind it:

But not to worry, I came up with a plan.  I wrapped some black ribbon around the bottom:

And decorated it with a ribbon bow i made:

I like black & pink together, hence the pink bow (in real life it's dark pink-ish, not red).

Instead of gluing my post-it note pad directly to the frame, I decided to make a little box to hold the notes in - that way I could reuse it over and over and over and over....

I then inked the box with a blank stamp pad, and glued a pink flower on the front to cover the staples, and hot glued the box to the frame:

Is this cute of what?!  Thanx for the idea Sarah, I love it! :)
Oh yes, and I also added some pink blings at the top:

This was my second attempt at glueing the box to the frame.  The first time round the glue got cold and it didn't stick, so the second time I was in a rush to position it just right, and of course rushing such a job just doesn't work, so I stuck it on a tad skew - which I'm very miffed about. :/  But oh well, who's judging?

Now I just need to tidy my desk so that I can actually SEE my cute little holder!! :)


Linked up at these LINKY PARTIES:
Sugar Bee Crafts          .

Gift Wrapping

It was my mum's b'day last week and I wasn't in the mood to wrap up her gifts in boring old gift wrapping paper, so I came up with this idea to wrap a tin of hot chocolate:

I used some scrap strips of black lace that I had and just wrapped it around the tin until it was all covered - I didn't even need to glue it or anything, the lace just stuck together well enough.  I tied around a pretty gold ribbon and made a paper flower to decorate.

To make the flower, I cut out several circles of patterned paper, all of them slightly smaller than the previous one.  I cut them out with scalloped fancy scissors.  Then I sprayed each circle with some water, crumpled it up to give it some texture, and unfolded it again, then I just layered the circles and pinned them together with a brad.

To cover the top of the tin, I cut out a circle of black paper the size of the tin, inked it with some black ink because it wasn't black enough, distressed the edges, stuck it on the tin and added a little name tag thingie on top.

I made her some earrings too, and made a little gift box to put them in:

 

I used a gift box template, so if you would like this template, just email me! :)

To round it off I just tied a ribbon around the box and added a bead to each loose end.  Just to show how small it is:

Cute, huh? :D

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Repurposed Jam Jar

We had a lot of sweets left over from our halloween party, so I thought today I'll decorate an empty jam jar that we can use to store at least some of them sweeties. :)

Here's the before:

I didn't even remove most of the label glue or left-over labels.

I tore up a piece of mulberry paper and decopuaged it all over the jar and the lid, and added 2 coats of varnish over it.  I glued on a butterfly and took 3 pieces of ribbon, plaited them together and tied it around the jar and glued 2 beads on the ends of the ribbon.

 

Now it's got a neat little home on top of one of our dvd cabinets.

Mmmmmm......Nut Puffs.......

Linky Parties linked to:

I Heart Nap Time               A Vision to Remember
Truly Lovely                       . 

Also posted here:

GGCAA   .


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