Remember These??

Do you remember these things? I remember having an absolute blast with these little paper creations - you could put anything you wanted on the insides and decorate them however you liked on the outside.

I decided to make one with Graphic 45's An ABC Primer collection and it dawned on me how wonderful these would be to teach children their letters or numbers, math, words, etc.!

I thought this may bring back some memories for a few of you so I've left a tutorial at the end of this blog post if you'd like to make your own.  Just click on the image to see a larger view if you can't read the instructions clearly.

Happy Crafting!

Altered Basket & Tutorial

It was a few months ago, while out with my mom at the local shopping centre, that I came across the neatest piece of home decor I'd seen in quite some time. I love just browsing through each and every section of department stores - furniture, wall hangings, nic nacs - you name it! Its always when you aren't looking for a particular piece that you find the coolest of treasures. Well, it was on this day that I spotted an amazing looking vase. It was so bright and full of colour and had the neatest look to it. When I went to take a closer peek I noticed that the entire thing was made from paper! PAPER?! I can TOTALLY do that myself I thought! So, as soon as I returned home I began playing with Graphic 45's On The Boardwalk Papers to see if I could figure out how this piece was transformed.

Please join me below for a paper-rolling tutorial and how I transformed a simple flower basket into a super funky conversation piece. You can use this tutorial to alter pretty much anything you fancy - as long as it has a flat surface with which to work. The tutorial is VERY simple but VERY time consuming! Enjoy!!

You will need to cut several strips of patterned papers so that they measure 0.5 x 12 inches each.

Fold each piece of paper lenghthwise so that they are all now 0.25 x 12 inches each.

Begin rolling each strip of paper. Be sure to hold each roll securely to prevent gaps and unwinding.

Half way done! Your paper roll should look something like this now.

Once you have finished rolling the entire strip of paper, add a small piece of strong, double sided tape to the end and secure.

Your completed paper roll. You'll need LOTS of these (depending on how large your project is)

Apply a generous amount of tacky glue to the bottom of your paper roll.

Adhere the paper roll to your project - press firmly for a few seconds to ensure it holds.

You can randomly apply your papers or opt for a specific pattern like the one I've created with the different colours.

Once you have completely covered your project surface with paper rolls, seal and protect it with a generous layer of mod podge

This is what the basket looked like before I altered it with Graphic 45's On the Boardwalk papers.

This is what the basket looks like altered with Graphic 45's On the Boardwalk papers.

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Supplies:
Graphic 45 Patterned Paper: Summer Crush, High Style Holiday: On The Boardwalk Collection
12x12 Portable Paper Trimmer by Fiskars
Scor-Tape by Scor-Pal Products
Tacky Glue by Aleene's
Mod Podge (matte) by Plaid

Trimmin' the Tree...

So we started to deck the halls this weekend.... (in case you're wondering, we have three trees...)

...my fave pic from the day.  Sweet dreams.