storage - 6 x 6 pads, ribbon, buttons, and more

Today I'm sharing a couple of storage ideas. First is my 6 x 6 patterned paper storage. When Stampin' Up started selling these, I thought I had to have every one, and multiple pads of each. I haven't even used much of it but now I will (hopefully) since it's nicely organized. The first thing I did was make some mini file folders using some regular folders cut down and my envelope punch. Then I took my paper pads apart and filed each color in a separate folder. I had some spare file folder labels that I had for my cardstock so I used them for these. I only did this with my SU paper packs because the others ones I have don't really have any dominant colors. I kept those in their pads and turned them upside down for now so the scraps can stay in the pad. The whole thing is stored in a cd case from Walmart.

I love how this turned out. You can see all of my unopened pads in the back. With any luck these will get used now.




Here's some of my other storage. This is a Making Memories shelf where I keep my ribbon, buttons, paint and some other stuff. On the bottom shelf the ribbon spools were too big to use with the dowel in the middle, so I tied it (with some ribbon) to the front to create a little stopper thing. Then I just set my larger ribbon spools behind the stopper thing. The rest of my ribbon spools are on the next shelf up. The jars and tins hold my buttons and the jars near the top on the left have some paper flowers in them. The clear paint can looking containers on top hold small pieces of ribbon. The long tin holds my Stampin' Up markers (I don't have many) and the little pouch on the bottom holds my rubber cutting scissors. Also on the bottom-some of my McDonald's and Lego Hello Kitty collection.




Click here for a link to my other ribbon storage. I keep my non-spooled ribbon on foamcore boards and almost 7 yrs later, it's still working out great for me!

Fabric covered photo boxes - a tutorial

Here's a quick and easy tutorial to cover standard sized photo boxes with fabric. I used fat quarters from Stampin' Up for these, which are very generously sized fat quarters. I don't even think they can legally be called a fat quarter. With regular ones be sure they will fit over the photo box. You should be able to cover one box bottom with a single standard sized unwashed fat quarter. If it's been washed, it may have shrunk so be sure to check the fit. You'll also need a fat quarter for the top. I was able to do two tops per fat quarter but again, these Stampin' Up ones are much bigger than normal.

Mod Podge is also necessary for gluing on the fabric, along with an applicator (I used a foam brush).

Before you start, remove any hardware from the box. Mine had label holders that I had to pry off.

Step 1: measure your fabric if necessary. Make sure it will go around the box and overlap by about an inch on all 4 sides. Same with the top. Cut off any excess. In this picture I'm measuring only the length of the fabric. Then I checked the width.


Step 2: brush glue onto the bottom of the photo box and place it on the center of the fabric.


Step 3: use a ruler as shown to make a mark about 3/4" outside the edges of the box. Mark it at the edge of the fabric. Repeat for all 4 corners. (for the lid, make the mark at about 1/2")


Step 4: draw a line from the corner of the box to the mark.


Step 5: cut on the drawn line, and then cut across, leaving a flap that is about 1" (see the dark lines shown on the picture below)


after the cuts (this photo is flipped):


Step 6: Brush glue onto the long sides of the box (one at a time) and fold up the sides. Be sure to apply glue wherever the fabric will lay, including inside the box. Fold the fabric to the inside of the box and glue it down, keeping the corners as smooth as possible.


Step 7: On the end flaps, apply a little bit of glue to the sides and fold them like this:


Step 8: apply glue to the box ends and fold up the fabric ends. Be sure to glue inside the box and fold over the excess fabric.


Here is the finished box:


Make the lid the same way but be sure to measure 1/2" in step 3 instead of 3/4". Also, be sure the corners are as smooth as possible on the inside so the lid will fit on the box.


finished lid:


And here is the finished box, complete with tight-fitting lid.




hint: I hate washing dried mod podge off my hands, so I wear disposable rubber gloves when doing the gluing part. Also, be sure to let the glue dry thoroughly before putting the lid on the box. Otherwise you may never get it back off.

linking to:
craft-o-maniac
the girl creative
skip to my lou

Merry Christmas!!

I know I haven't blogged in forever. The truth is, I haven't finished moving all of my craft stuff to our new house yet so I haven't made anything at all. Kinda depressing. But I wanted to wish all of my friends and blog readers a Merry Christmas.

supplies: graphics from Crystal Wilkerson (letters and star on the tree)
"Christmas" font: Hipster Script
tree and lights
pup: Daisy + Target reindeer antlers + Build a Bear scarf + treat (as a bribe)

Vintage pyrex

I still can't make anything. I have no usable craft room right now, and everything is a mess. But I'm working on other non-crafty things. This week I used contact paper on the inside of this shelf unit, which my husband and I varnished a few weeks ago. I originally wanted to paint it but that's a big commitment on a solid oak cabinet, and I could tell hubby did not like the idea. So I covered the entire inside of it, including the shelves, with white contact paper. Not bad, eh?



I love vintage pyrex and jadeite. I can't afford a lot of jadeite-it's pretty expensive-so I have mostly pyrex and a little bit of other vintage stuff in here. I love the way the white sets off the colors of the dishes.





My mom gave me the egg cups on the top shelf. They were packed away for years before I found them and discovered how cute they are and how perfect they go with the rest of the dishes. I don't know how old they are, but I think they're pretty old. We had them when we were kids and I'm pretty old.


On the bottom shelf are some glasbake promo mugs I found at a shop. I think they were a pretty good find-I paid $6 for the three mugs and I've seen single ones go for over $10 on ebay and etsy. When I bought them I only knew that I liked them. I didn't have any idea what they were so I looked them up when I got home. I'd love to have the complete collection but I'm not paying ten bucks a mug.


Now I need to find room for all of my blue ball jars.

If you have or know about any blogs or blog posts that feature vintage glass, please share them in the comments. I'd love to take a look.

***linking to:
The 36th Avenue

retro kitchen stool makeover

I bought this old stool at an antique shop and my husband and I fixed it up. This model was not originally made with padding on the seat or seat back. The last owners apparently decided to put some on it, so they made wooden forms to staple the fabric to. When we took the fabric and padding off, it wasn't in terrible shape but since the wood was firmly attached I decided to recover it rather than trying to take all of the wood off. I sanded it down (when I bought it, it was painted with brush-on paint of some kind and it was very drippy) and then my husband spray painted it. Then I used some vinyl covered fabric to recover it. I'm really happy with how it turned out and it's the perfect height for our new kitchen island.

before:








and after:











****linking to: The 36th Avenue

My blog may go missing for a bit

I've had it with google hosting my domain name (variety of reasons) and have transferred it to another registrar. This means a lot of redirecting and repointing of addresses and general chaos. My blog may or may not still be available at http://stampsandstitches.blogspot.com during this time but my regular domains (www.stampsandstitches.com and www.stamps-and-stitches.com) will definitely not work for a few days. I've only done one so far (I think the one with the hyphens) but the other will be done soon as well.

In the meantime I am packing up my crafty stuff to move into a new room so for now, I can't even make anything. The whole room is a mess.

DIY wooden planter

My first 'real' wood project! I found plans on ana-white.com for this planter and thought it would look nice on our new front porch. Mine is a little different, because when I printed out the materials list I didn't have the part that said to cut the legs longer if you use 1 x 6 wood. I used 1 x 6 wood so my legs were a bit short. I still like it though. I used my Silhouette SD to cut out the W from some vinyl. After I finished building the planter, I stuck the vinyl letter on and painted the blue over it. After I finished the last coat of blue, I removed the letter. I let it dry and then stained over the whole thing. I'm not 100% happy with how the stain looks over the paint, so if I do a project like this again, I will stain first, then put on the stencil, then paint over it. That way there's no staining on the painted surface. Even so, I think it turned out nice and am hoping to fill it with some kind of plants soon. It's not on the porch here because our new porch hasn't been built yet. That will be next month (if you want to check out our modular house journey click here). Daisy was kind of enough to pretty up this picture for me since I had no plants or flowers in the planter. She had trouble sitting still long enough for me to take the picture though!



ingredients:
pine wood
finials from Lowe's
paint: glidden
stain: minwax
clear finish: rustoleum water based spar varnish in satin
font: Samantha upright
vinyl: oracal 631
dog: Daisy