Cosmo Cricket

Thrifty Thursday: Coaster Instagram Album

Now that the kids are in school, Eric and I love to take a break and go out for lunch on occassion. It was last week, when we were at the Snack Diner on South Congress, that I realized my coaster would make a perfect DIY mini album for square Instagram Photos. I discretely put our soggy coasters in my purse as we were leaving. A couple of lunches later, I had enough coasters to make my mini!

A standard size for coasters, is 4". So I knew that this would be a small album. I want to get smaller rings (these were all I had) so that this can fit in my purse. It is so fun for me to look at and it reminds me of all the good things I have in my life! 



(I swear, I have to strap this kid down and hook him up to an IV to get him to hold still long enough for a photo! He's fine now which is great, and I did get some good pics out of the whole ordeal.)


I simply cut square backgrounds (the muted colors in Mr. Campy and Art Angel are perfect with the vintage effects of Instagram photos) and used some tiny type stickers. The whole book took less than an hour. (The chipboard letters on the front didn't match and so I painted over them, but with everything else going together so quickly, I didn't mind.) 

Now for a story.

Jack brought me this paper yesterday. He was sad because he didn't like how his faces were drawn. All my compliments on his artistic style did not appease him.

Having raised his older siblings, I was prepared with a great solution to this problem... or so I thought. I told him about a great artist named Picasso. I told him that Picasso was really good at drawing people, but that he decided drawing things the way they really look was boring (yes I know, I am improvising here) and as the artist, he could draw them any way he wanted. Then, we did a google search together so that he could see some Picasso portraits.

I pulled up one of my favorites for him and was telling him why I liked it, pointing out how it didn't look like a "real" face when Jack burst out, "He draws faces even better than me. I won't ever be able to draw as good as Picasso."

Note to self: Don't set the bar quite so high next time! 

Thrifty Thursday Brought to You By Bottled Wine

How can wine possibly be thrifty you ask? At $10 for a cheap bottle, it's not exactly what I'd call a frugal expenditure. But, if you're drinking it anyway (for the health benefits, of course) you may as well do something fun with the corks.

There are a ton of ideas out there for wreaths, and hearts made out of lots of corks, but I wanted to try stamps.

I cut a heart, chevron, mustache and x/o stamp into four different corks.

Here's how I did it. 

First, stamp the end you'll be using to make sure all the surface touches well enough. If it doesn't, you can cut the end or sand it down a little. Then draw your icon onto the stamp.

Use the tip of a craft knife to go all the way around the line you've drawn. Press the knife down deeply all the way around the shape. 

After you have made your cuts around your shape, come in from the side with the knife flat. Cut in to remove the excess cork.

Clean up any edges and start stamping.

You can try different inks and even paint. Just have fun with it.

And, if you go letter boxing in Zilker Park... or anywhere else, what could be cooler than a wine cork stamp? 

Thrifty Thursday: Matrix Love

WARNING: The following blog post may cause marital spats, the redefinition of the term garbage and/ or dumpster diving divas.

Let me begin at the beginning. When we moved, Ethan's favorite game was left behind at a friend's house. As most good moms would, I bought him a new one. And as most good crafters would, I saved the matrices from the packaging.

I know better than to leave anything Eric could consider garbage (most of my belongings) out. But, this time I forgot. The next morning, I spotted the matrices in the kitchen recycle bin. I quickly snatched them up and hid them in a secret spot (I can't say where because Eric may read this and then all would be lost... I hide chocolate there for emergency use by myself only). 

Yesterday I sat down at my desk and started working on my matrices adding in an old Christmas ornament package to the mix. Eric looked over and said, "I thought I threw those away."

I said, "You did, I've been hiding them ever since."

Matrices are great for using as masks and stencils, but I wasn't in the mood to get too messy and I wanted to try to push myself to find other ways to use them.

So here's what I did.

First, I cut out one of the hexagons and made it into a pincushion using some of our Odds and Ends fabric. I am giving this to a friend that loves sewing. Even the crocheted flower and button can be removed to use on a project. If I would have had a box, I would have placed the pincushion on the top and made a sewing box, but alas I did not so I'll just save that idea for another day.



Then I used another hexagon matrix as a template to make this layout with Twenty Three. (By the way, my matrices come from the game Settlers of Catan and the backside is cream colored. It's a fun game to play too.)



I planned to use the Christmas ornament matrix over the top of these circles, but I liked the clean look better. I did use the matrix as a guide to place all the circles. It made spacing them a cinch!



Finally, to entertain Jack, I taught him to wind string through the openings in the matrices to make decorations. It was a good idea and so I cut a shape out, notched it every 1/8" to hold the string and wrapped it to make this fun card. I was just lucky in that the button fit the hole left in the matrix perfectly.

Maybe you have a different idea for using matrices? If so share with us in the comments below. Also, if you all think a tutorial is needed for any of the above projects let me know. I am on tutorial-by-demand mode at the moment. 

Thrifty Thursday: Tea Bags on Cards

If you are good friends with the staff at your local coffee shop, you may be able to get empty tea bags for free. That is what I did. But if you have to purchase them don't worry.... 200 will run you about $10 bucks. 

What will you do with 200 tea bags you ask? Well, you could make tea, but I use a reusible filter for that and so I did something different.

I started with a sweet little card to welcome a new baby. Tea bags just happen to fold up into the perfect little diaper embellishments. I found the chipboard safety pin from Baby Jane's mini deck. So easy and simple!


How about tea bags to hold seeds you've collected from your garden. This makes a really fun gift to give friends. I used a bunch of Tim's Distress Inks to color my tea bag into a nice dirty flower pot. Then I filled it with my Hollyhock seeds from last fall.

Last but not least, I had to try at least a couple Gluber flowers. The tea bag paper is really fun being almost like a fabric, but still enough like paper to punch easily. I also really like the new flower type I thought up with the ruffle on the inside, what do you think?

Just a simple little idea that won't break the bank! Enjoy.

And congratulations to our three winners from yesterday:

Linda Harris who said, " Love it!!! I choose option #4!!! That was to cute and funny. Thanks for the chance."

Kathy W. who said, "Option 4, and big hugs to you! I was in this position exactly one year ago moving from SLC to Vermont sans children and pets (and it was still overwhelming). You will get through it, best of luck!"

Naomi who said, "I like option #2! I hope option #5 is Julie telling me I won!"

Ladies, send your info to julie at cosmocricket dot com and I'll ship you the goods. If after you recieve them you find yourselves being stalked, let me know. I have a list of stripper names and a great contact for employment opportunities at the Persian Peacock! ;) 

Placemat to Mini Album, Necklace and Hair Clip

Boy, oh boy, have a gotten a lot of mileage out of my bamboo placemat. Even with yesterday's and today's projects I still have more than half of it left!

I'm really happy with this cute mini I made using Evangeline papers between placemat book covers. I plan to fill it in with some pressed flowers from my yard as a keepsake when we move.



Next I made a hair clip for Abby. Don't worry, I know she will break, lose or flat out refuse to wear it in a matter of weeks! But, it's just so darn beautiful against her red hair that I couldn't resist.

The fabric flowers I used were machine cut, but if you don't have a fabric cutting machine, you can see an easy technique for cutting them yourself in this video. To make your flower, simply fold your cut fabric in half and press it around the edge. For this style, bring the fabric much further onto the Gluber as shown in the picture below. Repeat with a smaller cut of fabric for the inner petals. I used hot glue to attache the gem because it is quite heavy. Then flip it all over and glue on a hairl clip and find a beautiful girl to wear it!

Last, I made this fun little necklace for a friend of mine. Is it just me, or do the cream colored Tiny Text stickers make the bamboo look like piano keys? I love that and hope my musical friend will too! 

Well, I'll leave you to your Friday. I hope it's fabulous and that you all have amazing weekends! 

Thrifty Thursday: Turning a Placemat into Jewelry

These cute accessories were made from a lonely bamboo placemat I picked up at Ross for 3 bucks.

They only take minutes each to make and you could literally get dozens out of one mat. I made the cuff by trimming my favorite color of cardstock (aqua) to fit over the tiles! You can find this subtle pattern and beautiful color in our Baby Jane Mini Deck. It took about 1/2 of one sheet for the whole bracelet.

I used Glossy Accents to glue the paper to the tiles and then covered them with it to make them look enameled. String it together with some elastic thread and you're done.

I really love it! My only issue will be keeping it out of Kate's hands. She's already been caught trying to sneak off with it.

With such a cute cuff to wear, I got to thinking about more accessories. How about a brooch pin?

For this one, I used one of the long pieces of bamboo, three 1" Glubers and a bit of aqua fabric from Odds and Ends.

You can see how I coil the roses onto the Glubers in this video. The technique is the same for the one inch size, you just go around the Gluber one time only.

After your flower is made, back it onto the fabric so that it won't be sticky. You do this because the flower overlaps the bamboo and the exposed backing is adhesive which would stick to you or your clothing. (This photo looks funny because I am so close to the flower.)

Trim around your flower and use a little hot glue to attach it to your bamboo piece. I thought that three were cute. Flip your bamboo over and add a brooch pin.

Embellish with a little bling if you like!

If you are planning to sell handmade items at a summer art fair or craft market... if you need summer camp or family reunion craft ideas... or, if you still need a Mother's Day gift idea.... these would be fabulous. You can get soooooo many accessories from one placemat. We have more placemat projects to show you tomorrow so check back! 


 

DIY Activity Book & Fabric Giveaway

I think I may be the last person on earth, with four children and no media player in the family van. I don't usually notice this fact, except that June 2, I will drive Ethan, Kate, Suki (don't worry, she will be in the car, not strapped to the top of it) and two Mac computers to Austin. Eric will be flying with the little two and hopefully recovering from knee surgery (keep your fingers crossed we get a donor).

As part of my effot to keep Kate entertained, I made her my version of a DIY Activity Book. There's three reasons why I think this is much better than buying an activity book. First, it requires creativity to come up with your own activities. Second, Kate, like myself, gets car sick if she tries to read things on the road, but drawing is not a problem. Third, it's just so darn cute!

Here is a guide to help you make one for yourself or someone you love.

First, you'll need to cut the insides out of an old book. This one had been in someone's basement for so long that it had spider webs behind the binding.... that nearly made me run screaming and not come back, but I managed after just one shriek. (Yep, terrified of spiders.)

Then, you'll want to re-inforce the binding area by cutting a piece of cardboard or tag board. Before you glue this down, make sure that it isn't too wide to allow the covers to fold still. I had to trim mine down slightly.

Use the book as a guide to cut out your background fabric. I wanted to piece mine out of two, but you don't have to!

Use a pencil to draw around your book onto your fabric. Then iron the edges behind, rolling the pencil line to the backside. Use your book as a guide to make sure it is looking good. You can iron right on top of it if it's easier for you.

Next your make your pockets. I used an element tag from our soon to be release Odds and Ends fabric. I simply cut it out, hemmed the top edge, ironed the other edges back and top-stitched in place.

For the pencil pocket, I cut my rectangle twice the height plus top edge allowance. (I would give dimensions, but everyone's books will be different in starting size). I hemmed the top edges and stitched the sides, wrong sides together to make a pocket that was a separate piece from my background. Then, I stitched every .75" for each pencil holder. 

When you pin this to your background, please keep your pencils in place. They are quite dimensional and with the pocked backing up to a hard book, you won't have any give once the project is completed.

You don't have too, but I even left the pencils in place as I stitched the pocked to the background fabric. To do this you will need a zipper foot. If you don't have one, simply resist the urge to flatten out your pencil pocked from where you placed your pins while the pencils were in the pocket.

Don't stitch across the bottom. Leave that free. Otherwise, we would have to take tucks and gathers and go to more work than this project really justifies!

I got some purse handles at Joanns on clearance for 97¢. I'll be they still have some if you hurry.

I sewed tabs to attach them to the book, but ribbon or twill tape would be cute too.

I used hot glue to attach the tabs to the book.

Then I hot glued my insides. The best way I found to do this was little by little. You can press and spread the glue out that way. If you get a glue lump under your fabric, you can use a craft iron (I have a dedicated iron for messy projects that might ruin my good iron) to heat the glue back up and spread it out. I only had to do that once though until I learned my little by little lesson!

If you like this project let us know! And, if you like the fabric below let us know that too. We'll be giving away one yard in the color of your choice to one lucky winner. This is a light weight canvas print from our Odds and Ends collection. The print is called Happy Thoughts and it is so fun for bags, aprons, pillows, chair cushions, etc! I plan to make some things with it this weekend for sure!!

Leave a comment to be entered into our random drawing. We'll announce the winner on Monday. Have a happy weekend and wonderful National Scrapbook Day everyone!

 

Thrifty Thursday: Old Books Get New Lives

You've seen us make them into Kindle Covers

Shaddow Boxes

And Secret Compartment Boxes

Today I'll show you what I did with "The Story of a Bad Boy." I found the title so funny, and I've been wanting Eric to make a scrapbook so that our kids will have his perspective on some things, rather than just my own. But, how do you get a man to make a scrapbook????

Well, in my experience, you don't. You make it for him and hope he'll add to it! So, without further ado, here is what I made for Eric. Call it a DIY Smash Book, a Man Book or a Pocket Book, either way, it turned out really fun!

I first cut out the insides. Is it a sin to cut up an old book? If the book is not a first edition or valuable in some other special way, then I don't think so. They are simply too abundant! You can find old books discarded for pennies, sometimes even free, at libraries. They run 50¢-$1.00 at my local thrift store. But the book I am using today I bought at a yard sale just for the title. It was fairly priced at a buck!

 Then, use one of the inside pages as a template, to create your pages. I wanted mine to be pockets, so I doubled the page width and added a quarter inch gluing strip to the sides.

Then, I made pages that would be easy for Eric to fill in. Think about what you would like to remember of the person you are making your album for.



If you know Eric, you know he is the antithesis of a bad boy. That is what makes this so funny!!!

If you like the looks of this project, here are some other ideas:
Gardening Book: Use the pockets to organize your seeds.
Card Organizer
Interior Design Guide: Use the pockets to hold swatches, magazine clippings, paint chips, etc.
Business Reciept Keeper: Make a category for all your expenses.
Wedding or Party Planner

Check in tomorrow for a fabric sneak peek and giveaway. We'll show you more ideas for old books before we get to next week's Thrifty Thursday. Have a great day everyone!

UPDATE: Brenda asked if I would give more details on making the individual pages. Well, here you go! I hope this helps... they are the only photos I got of the process.

First, since all books come in there own size, you need to cut one of the pages from the book to use as a guide. Measure its height and width, then follow this diagram.

As always, if you don't have a scoring board, just use a ruler and the BACKSIDE of a craft knife.

Take your cut and scored paper, cut the tiny bit of horizontal fold that extends past the 1/4" score lines on both sides.

Then fold your paper as shown below. A bone folder comes in really hand here!

Use a strong adhesive runner to apply glue to both tabs on the right had side. Then, fold your page in half sandwiching the glue between the tabs. For added design interest, I used a circle punch to cut the half-circle tabs and punch outs. You could make tabs in lots of ways though, or not at all.

Thrifty Thursday: The Awesomeness of Sewing Pattern Paper

Today, for Thrift Thursday, we'll go from this, a 25¢ sewing pattern found at my thrift store (and yes, I really did sew that top in peach striped fabric for my seventh grade sewing class.):

To these, and I won't be running out of tissue paper anytime soon!





I have to tell you, after making these projects, I am even more in love with sewing pattern tissue paper than I thought I would ever be! Let's discuss just some of the fun stuff you can do with it should we?

Using a 1" Gluber and a strip of our paper, I made this pretty little flower in a matter of minutes. This is so easy and the tissue paper ruffles in the loveliest way!

In fact, I loved it so much I wanted to make a big flower too. I used a 2" Gluber for this one. I wanted to change the color, but my spritzing inks are packed up at the moment. I improvised with watercolor.

Do you ever have trouble designing over busier patterns? Sometimes I do because if the background is busy, it seems to compete too much with the photo. Well, a great technique is to use sewing tissue paper to mute the backgroud design. (Don't worry, I'll be teaching step by steps of all these projects in the next couple days).

For the gift box, I used some tissue paper ruffles to dress up the top. They are much easier to work with than paper ruffles and are light and airy which I really love! I also love that for 25¢ I got enough tissue paper to stuff dozens of gift bags. I think it's especially perfect for giving crafty gifts to crafty friends!

On the tag to go with my new bag, I used the tissue paper to make my apron skirt. This is just another ruffle made with a much wider strip.

If you like these projects, stay tuned. I took step by step photos as I made each one and I'll be teaching you exactly how to do them yourselves. We'll start tomorrow with my flower vase collage. Out of all the projects, it's my personal favorite. I think it would make a perfect Mother's Day gift, don't you?