Handmade Christmas Cards

Here is how I made my Christmas card this year.  I began by drawing a triangle on the back of a piece of scrapbooking paper. Then I measured how far apart I wanted the branches to be, and drew the outline of the tree.   

Next I cut out the tree with a sharp pair of scissors.  

Then I found a piece of handmade paper, and cut that down to card size.  I applied glue to my christmas tree, and then applied it to the front of my card.  To finish it off I wrote 'Merry Christmas' in green Sharpie.  

I enjoy the way these turned out.  I like Christmas Tree art for the holidays.  Happy DIYing, chris!

Handmade Masculine Card

I finally made a card for my brother's package.  Now all I need to do is add some stuffing, and get it over to DHL to be shipped.  For today's DIY I will share how I made the card. 

I started off by stamping this large decorative stamp onto a piece of grey pastel paper.  The first try I didn't press hard enough, or charge up the stamp with enough ink.  So on the second try I made sure to correct those two possible mistakes, and it came out perfectly even.  

Next, I used a pair of fun scissors to cut out a circle around the stamp.  I practiced on the bad stamp before attempting with the good one.  

Then I found a square of scrapbook paper, and cut a piece of handmade paper down to size.

I folded the large paper in half, and then glued the scrapbook paper square to the center of the front.

To finish it off I glued the stamped circle to the front of the scrapbook paper square.  I'm happy with the turn out of this card.  The colors work nicely together, and it's not too girlie either.  Girlie cards come naturally, but I have to spend a little more time thinking about how to make a masculine card.  

Have a lovely day, and happy DIY, chris!

Handmade Card

Trying to stick to my goal this month on posting more DIYs, so here is the birthday card (with envelope!) I made for Aaron.  I've made a variation of this before.  I got the idea from The Ultimate Cardmaker, which is a fantastic book on card making.  If you have any interest in cardmaking this book is a must buy.  This book will generate enough inspiration for years and years of card making.  

The book suggest using teabag folding papers.  I had never heard of that type of paper the first time I made this card.  Of course I googled it, and so I decided to cut origami paper into 1.5 inch squares.  

Step 1:  Cut origami paper into 1.5 inch squares.  You'll need 7.  

Step 2:  Fold the squares in half both ways.

Step 3:  Fold the squares on their diagonal.  

Step 4:  Pinch the middle in, and flatten into a triangle.  

Step 5:  On one side fold the the triangle arms under, making a square in the middle.  On the other side fold the tips that are sticking out back.

Step 6:  Make seven of these little guys.  For some reason only six made it into this photo ... opps.  

Step 7:  Now start attaching the seven squares together.  Begin by folding half of the top square back, and apply a quick drying glue.  Weave the next piece in by placing the triangle flap over your glue splotch, and press the top flap over the piece you placed over the glue.  

Step 8:  Keep repeating this process.  I found it was best to layer moving in a counterclockwise motion.  

Step 9: This is what it should look like before you slip in the last piece.  

Step 10:  Place the last piece the same way you did the other pieces, and then glue the other side in, but layer on top of the first piece.  

Glue the paper medallion down on a long card.  I made my card by folding some handmade paper in half, and taking a couple inches off the bottom.  I glued some twine and yarn under the bottom to make it kind of look like an award.  In the book they use ribbons, and I did that the first time I tried this, and it looked awesome too.  

When all the ribbons or string/twine are in place hot glue a button to the center.  Now you're card is complete.  I stamped 'happy birthday' across the top, and wrote a little love note on the inside.  

Now for making an envelope.  Once you learn this technique you can make an envelope for any handmade card, no template necessary.  

Step 1: Get a piece of scrapbook paper, and trace the card in the center of the paper.

Step 2:  Measure the width of your card, divide that number in half and then add a half inch.  Measure that distance away from the long outside edge.  Draw a line, and then using our ruler angle in from the corners.  For the short ends, measure 2.5 inches up, and draw a line, and then angle in from the corners again.  

Step 3:  Cut the envelope out.  If you wanted to line the inside of the envelope now would be the time.  

Step 4:  Place the card face down over the center, and fold the bottom flap up.

Step 5:  Fold the sides in.

Step 6:  Run a line of glue down both edges of the bottom flap, and smooth the side flaps down.  Then add a line of glue to the right side flap edge, and smooth the left flap over it.  

Step 7:  Now glue the top flap down.  You could also use a sticker to close it, or if you are into wax seals that would be super awesome.  

Step 8:  Finish off by stamping 'happy birthday' on the front of the envelope.  Now you're done!  

Hope ya'll liked this DIY, and happy DIYing, chris.

Our Wedding Guestbook

I talked about our wedding guestbook, in my post on Wednesday.  I showed some photos of our thumbprint tree, and a photo of Aaron's grandparent's looking at our guestbook, but today I want to share some photos of the actual book.  (if you'd like to catch up on the previous post in my One Year Wedding Anniversary check out our Wedding Ceremony, and you'll find the rest of the links there.  

Here is what the cover looked like, pretty boring, but what's in the book is what I added to jazz it up.  I went with a cheap guestbook, because I knew I was going to put a lot of work into personalizing it.  

I sent out a bunch of photos from both our childhoods, and our time dating to shutterfly, and had them print a bunch of 4x5 prints.  I used handmade and scrapbook paper to make irregular frames for each image I chose to use.  

I spent hours going through the photos and placing them in the book, before I carefully cut out their delicate frames, and glued them in place.  

I tried to match photos of Aaron and I at similar ages.

This is our mom page.  We are both close with our moms, and it was important for us to have a page special for them.  

Aaron has a ton of super cute kid photos, of him wearing the most adorable outfits with matching hats.  

We both had homemade halloween costumes.  Aaron's definitely steals the cake.  

Us with our families in our awkward teenage years. 

We both still make these faces.  I guess some things we never grow out of.  :)  Or like loving mac & cheese, or anything with melty cheese really!  

I thought it was perfect that our photographers signed this page, our only formal portraits I included.  Especially since I know them from work, and we are school photographers.  

Our sibling page.  Oh!  Completely unrelated, when I'm photographing kids and I come across someone with an unusual name, I usually ask if they have any siblings.  Ya know, cause I want to know how creative their parent's are. :)  However, I've been finding that loads of kids don't know what siblings are!!  I've asked kids between second and sixth grade, and I get these blank stares, or kids saying, 'huh, what do you mean?'.  

Our grandparent's, from our mother's side of the family.  My father's mother passed before I was born, and my father's father passed when I was 11 years old.  My stepfather's parent's passed when I was a teenager.  I don't have many photos of any of them.  I think I have one photo of me with my father's father.  

Aaron's father's parent's passed when he was a teenager too.  I thought this would be a great photo to commemorate them.  He grew up spending a lot of time at their house.  

One last photo of us being cute babies.  Hope you enjoyed.  Happy DIYing, chris!

Painted Wooden Frame

The weather has been great here.  The past few days have been sunny and in the mid 60ºs (F)!  I can't believe it's only March!  Last year at this time it was cold and rainy in Delaware.  With all this great weather I wanted to do something outside, and spray painting sounded like the perfect DIY for today.  I've had this cheap wooden frame floating around for a few years.  So today I finally decided to give it a coat of paint to spruce it up a bit.  

I turned this plain wooden frame into this lovely painted frame!

What I used for this project was a large drop cloth, a cheap wooden frame, a sheet of medium grit sandpaper, rubber gloves, spray paint, and a moist towel.  

Begin by lightly sanding the frame.  I used a medium weight sandpaper for this project.  This will help the paint bind to the wood, and hopefully prevent future chipping.  

Next, wipe down the frame with a moist towel to remove all the dust bits you've just created.  

Now you are ready to spray the frame (as long as the frame isn't still wet).  Make sure to follow the directions on your spray paint can.  I like to use rubber gloves so that the spray paint doesn't get all over my fingers.  Spray your frame from every angle you can comfortably (and safely) maneuver around it.   Spray the back first, and then let the frame dry for about an hour or two.  Once the frame is not tacky to touch you can turn it over and spray the back.  

When the frame is completely done drying you can put a piece of art or a family photo in it.  I framed a handmade piece of paper.  I embossed this paper with two lace dollies when I was drying it.  To complete this piece I used some acrylic paint to color in the dollies.  I love the color of the frame with this handmade paper piece I created.  I used cardboard to back my paper, because I like how it complements the edges and color of my handmade paper.  

Hope ya'll enjoyed today's project.  Is it unusually warm where you live?  Does the sun get you out of the house with your DIY projects?  Happy DIYing, chris!

Owl Birthday Card!

Today is my stepdad's 65th birthday!  Which of course makes today's DIY a handmade birthday card.  I love owls! I often resort to making an owl birthday card for no particularly good reason, other than to make an owl.  

I started off making my card by drawing a template on plain paper, and cutting out the different pieces needed to make the owl.  I then cut out the pieces, picked out the paper I wanted to use, and then used the template to cut out all the pieces for the various sheets of paper.  Once I got all my pieces cut out I picked a thick piece of handmade paper.  Using a ruler and a bone folder I made a crease along the middle, and then folded the paper in half.  Then I started gluing my owl down.  Starting with the body, then the eyes and the bottom belly piece.

Then I glued down the two middle eye pieces, the nose, the forehead/ear piece, and the two feet.

Next I glued down two more pieces for the belly, and now you have an awesome owl card!

I wrote 'Happy Birthday' out by hand on the front.  I like the uneven spacing and the way the lettering turned out, but if you want something more precise you could use a stamp.

This is the inside of my card.  I made up the wording myself, and printed it off from my computer.  Then I cut it out, and glued it down.  Andy, my stepdad got a bit of a chuckle out of it, so I was pleased.  :)

Hope you all enjoyed your Monday, happy DIYing!  chris

Valentine's Day Card

This is my Valentine's Day card to my sweetie.  I started by using my x-acto knife to cut out a heart in wax paper.  I should have used freezer paper, but I read on the internet that I could use wax paper.  That's what I get trusting what I read on the internet! :)  Wax paper doesn't stick when you try to iron it down.  My solution was to get out some 3M Spray Mount, and to spray just a super light coat on the wax paper.  

Then I pressed it down on a piece of handmade paper.  I painted the heart in white, and peeled the stencil off.  Worked out great!

I also cut out a chevron design from a piece of wax paper, and used the same technique to apply it to the first heart.  Before I placed the wax paper down I waited for the white paint to dry, and I torn the paper down to size.  I used a ruler as a straight edge, and just peeled the paper off.  Than I mixed up some light blue paint, and filled in my chevron stripes!  

I peeled off the wax paper, threw it away, and wow is this heart cute!  

To finish it off I glued it on top of another piece of handmade paper.  The first sheet of paper is made from a pulp of garden weeds and junk mail, and the bottom sheet is from my crayon paper project.  

Here's the back side.  I like to write my messages out, but you could always use a stamp.  

Hope you enjoyed!  Happy DIYing!  chris