Book of Love: A Personalized Scrapbook

    I'm finally getting around to posting this (it took me long enough..), but this was part of my honey's Christmas present! I saw an idea similar to this one somewhere online, but it wasn't as detailed as I was hoping, so I wanted to put mine up ☺ 

    Some of you will be stepping out of your comfort zone on this one. It requires gutting an old book.. *GASP* The horror! I know, I know. I felt bad doing it, but honestly, no one in my household is going to read that Reader's Digest from the fifties. Now, if you make it past this stage, it's clean sailing.

   

    Here is what you'll need:

• An old book- think thrift shop find 
• Glue (and maybe tape)
• Photos 
• Scrapbook pages
• Stickers to decorate (I also used wooden shapes)
• A binder center or rings (I used rings)
• White 4X6 notecards

Ok, gut that book! Just make sure you only take out the pages, but leave the entire cover intact! It won't work if the cover gets ruined.

Next, cover the inside with pretty scrapbook paper.

 Poke the rings through the book's spine. If you decide to use a binder center instead, you will not be able to glue the ribbon down, ok? And you will need to used really strong glue to put it in place ☺ These will hold your pages inside. I used wooden shapes to decorate my inner covers and some of the pages I added. To cover the inside spine, I took a strip of thick ribbon and glued it down.

The pages were also made from scrapbook paper and I placed a white notecard on the pages I wanted to add text to.

Some pages were decorated with ribbon and stickers.

I used some of my favorite mushy quotes and special messages on some pages and glued pictures to the white backsides of other pages. Instead of typing anything, I hand wrote all of it so that it would be even more special.

Make your book as unique as you can ☺ The person who receives it will love all the work you put into it!

                                           Happy crafting!

DIY Chandelier Earrings

I made these recently as a Christmas present I'll be giving to my best friend. They took a little time, but were well worth all the effort put into them!

Supplies you will need:
- 2 Earring chandeliers
- 2 Fishhook earwires
- 12 Headpins
- Small jump rings (if desired)
- 24 pearl beads
- 10 flower shaped glass beads (or other shapes)

These earrings are on the heavier side because I used glass beads. If you like lighter earrings, use plastic or even wooden beads!

{Will be posting a video soon!!!!!!! So stay tuned!!!! ☺}

Pass the headpins through a pearl bead, then the flower bead, then another pearl bead.

Use pliers to fold the cut headpin back against the top pearl bead.

Use the same technique for the pearl bead used in the top of the chandelier. Fold the headpin back, leaving room for the pearl to dangle. Cut the excess headpin and fold what remains back against the bead.

On the fishhook earwire, I had springs resting at the bottom, but I removed those a replaced them with yet anther pearl. So this is a cuter option than the spring!

Ta-da!

Finished product!

Zombie Survival Kit

Ok, let me start this off right. I love my man very much. So much so, that I made him a zombie survival kit. 

I hate zombies. Zombie movies, zombie games, zombie blah blah blah.

My fella however, loves them. And anything else that is scary and/or creepy. He's a horror movie junkie, whereas I am not. Ever.

So to prove my undying affection for him, I decided I would make him this gift for no reason at all. (Who doesn't love getting gifts for no reason, right??) Needless to say, it was a huge hit with him. He loved it so much, in fact, that he wants me to make an even bigger, better one for his Christmas present this year.

Oi.. But I said ok. 'Cause remember, I love this guy!

Does your gentleman or lady love zombies? Can't convince them to stop? Well then, love them through it!

Follow the easy picture guide below to create your very own Zombie Survival Kit.

{Follow this link here for the Zombie Survival Kit 2.0!}

Supplies:

- Shoe Box

- Black Spray Paint (to paint shoe box)

- Candy Bars (Power Bars)

- Small Box (to put "matches" in)

- Candy Sticks ("matches")

- Flashlight

- Pretzels M&Ms

- Brown Wrapping Paper

- Mesh Drape

- Caution Tape

- Red Paint  (blood)

- Empty Glass Root-beer Bottle

- Peanut M&Ms

- Granola Bar (Energy Bar)

- Bookmark

- Stencils (if you want to do it by hand)

- Band-aids in Case

- Toy Gun and "Ammo"

- Masking Tape

- Werther's Original Candy ("gold")

- Cologne

Keep in mind that any of this candy can be substituted based on what they like.

Just click the pictures to enlarge!

Paint shoe box black and add red hand prints or red paint splatters. Wrap in caution tape.

Decorate the kit so it looks creepy and slightly aged.

This is just a granola bar wrapped in white printing paper.

"You will get bored while hiding out. Be sure to bring literature."

This caution tape was found at the Dollar Store. Not exactly what I was looking for but it worked great!

Stencils will really REALLY help if your printer is out like mine..

Make it creepy! Zombies are creepy!

Root-beer bottle filled with M&Ms. "To keep your mind off your troubles and to chase the shadows away."

This nifty bandage holder was just laying around my house, so I used black nail polish to cover the design, then used red polish to write "first aid" on it. Fill with band-aids. "For minor cuts, scrapes, and burns. NOT for gunshot wounds or gashes."

"Matches-" small box painted black and wrapped in caution tape.

Candy sticks! Used to eat these like crazy as a kid! They made great matches.

Chocolate bars wrapped in white printing paper, and stencils were used to decorate them.

Find a toy gun with darts or one that makes noises. This one even came with a target to practice "zombie hunting."

The flashlight is very important. "To light your way in darkness." Put some kind of candy in it, like Pretzel M&Ms. Or, hey, even batteries!

My guy laughed the hardest at this! "For when bathing is not an option." A little bit of cologne.

Small tub for "gold." "Gold is valuable everywhere."

Werther's Original Candy is excellent as gold pieces!

Put it all together!

Wrap it up in brown paper that you messily cover in masking tape!

Whip out that red paint!

And make it absolutely scary and authentic!

Well I hope your zombie loving significant other loves this gift as much as mine did! As always, follow me on Pinterest and Facebook!

Easy Picture Book

Hey everybody! I have another craft to share with you ☺ My boyfriend randomly asked me one day if I would make him a picture book. I said sure, kinda worried it would be bland, but he had faith in me! He knows I love using my imagination, and being a little silly doesn't hurt. So I looked through all the pictures we had taken together from the beginning of our relationship til now. I chose my 45 favorites and put them in order of how they were taken. Now, here's the best part- I didn't have to fork out a lot of money to do this project. Walgreens has photo specials all the time, and one I got was buy 25 4X6 prints, get 25 free! How awesome is that? So look often on their website for really sweet specials. Enjoy!

All You Need Is:

- A photo album with about 50 pages (Mine had 48 and I got it at the Dollar Tree)
- Old magazines
- Stickers
- And of course, your photos ☺

 The old magazines will be your best friend when you want to describe a certain photo. Cut out words or phrases that would make sense on a picture. Stickers work well, too, but magazine cutouts can be put together to form sentences- instantly making it more personal! I had to cut out the magazine words and organized them into clear cups, writing what kind of words they were on the outside. This makes it easier to find what you want when you need it without having to dig through a huge stack!

Using the first few pages of the photo album (including the inside cover), I left my boyfriend a personal note and made an "About Us" page that displayed our anniversary date, birthdays, and interests. Then using some of the magazine cutouts, I made a collage that started with "Jamie is..." then picked words that best described my man.

 Each of the photos were dated on the back so I wouldn't lose track of what went where. On the fronts, I also put dates, but I sometimes had multiple photos taken on the same day. The first photo would be dated, then the rest simply followed after til a new date was reached. 

I personalized the front and back covers of the photo album from a simple blue polka dot image to a more graphic floral one. The back cover was replaced with a green polka dot that matched the cover with a small owl sticker placed on the bottom- because I like owls.. A lot. 

Bonus:
What my boyfriend doesn't know, unless he someday takes a peek at this blog, is that I wrote love quotes on the back of the photos. Not all of them have one, but most of them do. I thought this was a simple yet oh-so-sweet thing to do!

I hope you like this craft as much as I do! Oh, and just so you know, my boyfriend loved it ☺ Have a blessed day!

Dollar Tree Finds

 I love a bargain. Especially when the bargain is also adorable! When browsing around the local Dollar Tree, I found some cute wall plaques. The lady bug was begging to be taken home and painted, so I thought I'd share. The plaque is sturdy and came with an attached ribbon for hanging. Kids would love this idea as much as I did!

 You don't have to stay within the standard lady bug colors- go nuts! A light blue lady bug with lime green dots would be awesome! Plus google eyes make everything more fun!

When you finish this simple project, hang it wherever suits you. I hung mine in my bedroom amongst some framed pictures. I think she fits in nicely, don't you? Extra fun: Add a quote on the front!

"Lovely little ladybug

sent from up above

please watch over my garden

and fill it up with love."

Clothespin Crosses

Today I thought I'd share with you a simple, yet oh so pretty craft made of clothespins. If your laundry is like mine, you probably have more than a few extra clothespin laying around. This craft is the perfect way to put them to use! (Click on any of the images to enlarge.)

Figure 1- All the supplies you'll need!

What You'll Need:

-8 clothespins
-2 large Popsicle sticks
-Elmer's glue, wood glue, or a hot glue gun
-Artificial flowers
-Scrap ribbon

(1) Lay the Popsicle sticks in a cross position and glue one on top of the other.

Figure 2

(2) Take two clothespins separate the parts (as seen) and they will be laid out in a fan shape.

(3) Step two will be done to both left and right sides, and the top of the cross.

(4) The bottom of the cross is a little different. Take a clothespin and separate the pieces and put them together like the middle of step 2. The large part will be near the center of the cross with the pointed tip going down.

(5) Take another clothespin that has been separated and put them against the pointed tip as show in the center of figure 2. The bottom of your cross should touch as seen.

Figure 3- Fan shape

(6) Take the artificial flower and/or greenery and glue it into the center of the cross.

(7) The scrap ribbon will be used as a hanger on the back. (See figure 2). Glue the ribbon in an X fashion onto the back on the top of the cross.

Figure 4- Finished!

(8) Hang on the wall and enjoy your new cross!

And believe it or not, this craft was done at a youth VBS and even the teenagers enjoyed it!

(Can be found for purchase here.)