Altered Mini-Books

I bought a package of four mini-notebooks at the dollar store just because I thought they were cute and figured I could do something with them. 

After making my candle project, I thought it would be nice to make a matching mini-book for one of the candles.

Then I made a second . . .



And a third . . .


And, yes, a fourth!


Three of them have images that I got from Karen over at The Graphics Fairy.  I love this one and have been saving it for quite awhile hoping I’d be able to use it somehow.  Isn’t that precious!  It reminds me of my daughter when she was little.

I printed them on HP Matte Photo Paper in “wallet size”.  I just used regular craft glue to attach everything.  You just need to let each paper dry before moving onto the next.  In between, I would put the books under something with some weight so they wouldn’t curl while drying.

Using wallet size allowed me to do a pretty scrapbook paper and then layer these graphics on top.

You can see it a bit more clearly on the Keep Calm mini-book that I also took an additional strip of paper {or a different one that worked with the main paper} to make a binding.

I think these are just too cute!  What a simple project to do with kids, too.



Linking up to Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy.

Christmas Eve Buffet Menu

This great image above comes from The Graphics Fairy and this post is being linked up to Brag Monday.

As soon as I saw this Santa with his scroll, I knew it would be perfect to display my Christmas Eve buffet menu. The only mistake I made was printing it on regular paper {as the red will run when you Mod Podge over the whole picture}.

As luck would have it, I still had some scrap wood in the garage and found a piece that fit this image to a "T". I added text to the scroll part through Photoshop, printed it out, and cut it out. I painted the scrap wood with black craft paint and then applied the image to the wood with Mod Podge. Once that dried, I put Mod Podge over the whole top {wood and image}.

While the top coat of Mod Podge was still wet, I sprinkled some white glitter on top. I had picked up this box of Christmas chipboard cut-outs at Michaels {$5.99 for a box of 37} and looked for a few that would go with it. Once the whole thing was dry I used hot glue to attach a few of the chipboard pieces.

I had this back to a 5x7 frame that I wasn't going to be using, but I just wanted the easel part of it so that I could prop my menu up on the table. I measured the width out and cut off the excess with a sheetrock knife. I attached the back with Gorilla Glue. How many adhesives is that in this one project alone?

Here it is all complete! This was one of those projects that I was just so pleased with when it was done. When you see what something can be and then are able to see it through it is really very satisfying!

In a practice tablescape:

Also linking up to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Holiday Highlights #4 at The DIY Showoff

Mod Podge Mania at This is the Year.

DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land

All Things Merry & Brite at All Things Heart & Home

Brag Monday With The Graphics Fairy

As soon as I saw this great looking label that Karen from The Graphics Fairy was offering up, I immediately got a couple of ideas for using it.






I reserved one of the glass holders I made using dollar store items and put some of the scrap pieces of ribbon I have in it. I cut out the above label design and put it on a piece of card stock for stability, punched two holes in it and used some ribbon to make it a tag. I was originally going to Mod Podge the label on the glass, but thought if I wanted to use it for something else I could still do that this way.

Nothing special, but I think if I get a glass canister to make a permanent home for these scraps of ribbon, I will attach the label right to it.

Linking this up to Brag Monday over at The Graphics Fairy.

Brag Monday ~ The Graphics Fairy

Here's a graphic that I love and have wanted to use for a few months now. "Keep Calm and Carry On"; it's all over the place! So, when Karen over at The Graphics Fairy offered it up ~ and in two colors no less, I jumped on saving it until I decided how I wanted to use it.



After seeing it most recently over at Beth's The Stories of A to Z blog, I knew I wanted to do something similar.

Beth at The Stories of A to Z

I found an old 8 x 10 frame in my closet, pulled out my package of black & white scrap book papers and printed the graphic out in a 5 X 7 size. I used the backing of the frame to measure the scrap book paper and cut that to fit. Then I just used my glue stick to glue the graphic onto the scrap book paper.

I realized afterward that it is not totally centered, but if it winds up bothering me that much I will just redo it. I really have to wear my reading glasses for everything now.

I love that this basically cost me nothing to make!

Whoops! Almost forgot. Got a bonus out of this, too. When I found the 8 x 10 frame I also found this 5 x 7 frame, which was the perfect size for Karen's Trick or Treat Owl!

If anybody is interested in being Blog Of The Week, please email me. I am looking to add blogs to this list. The only thing I ask is that your blog posts incorporate text and pictures {as opposed to all text}.

Don't forget to visit our new giveway this week ~ Pixie Dust Decor!