Fun & Easy Fontalicious Gift Bag & Bow

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Wanted to share with you this super simple font gift bag project that you can do in like 10-15 minutes. It can take that plain and boring gift bag into one that steals the spotlight at the party! And it’s totally made with random magazine cutouts, a punch, and scissors! Here’s how you make it!

Fun & Easy Fontalicious Gift Bag

Materials
– Plain gift bag (you can get them at Target for 99¢ or dollar stores for 2 for a $1)
– Circle paper punch (mine is 1.5″ x 1.5″)
– old magazines
– Aleene’s® Original Tacky Glue®
– Foam Brush
– Scissors

Instructions
1. Punch out interesting type from your magazines using a circle punch. I chose to pick type on backgrounds with different colors.
2. Use a foam brush to brush on Tacky Glue to back of circles. Spread on a thin even coat.
3. Space your circles evenly apart in rows on the front of your bag.
4. Optional: Cut out strips of a headline from the magazine for bow. Follow this simple paper bow tutorial to make a bow using the strips. I added an additional small loop in the center of this to complete the look! Glue it onto your packaging with the Tacky Glue!

This is what I call high design impact on the cheap! I love how bold and graphic it turned out!!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

P.S. I linked this to the following linky parties!

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design

Telephone Book Graffiti Lamp

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telephone book graffiti lamp

I’ve been wanting to make this graffiti lamp for a while using telephone book pages. I don’t know about you, but I always get these books laying on my doorstep and honestly, I never use phonebooks anymore. I really don’t think a lot of people do!

I created a new lampshade for my studio in this very easy DIY lamp project. It’s really easy and took me a couple hours to complete (I heart crafts you can do in an evening!!!)

And look, I’m somehow on trend. Have you see Lady Gaga’s Telephone video?? She’s so inventive and bizarre!!!

Anyway, here are the instructions for the lamp!

Telephone Book Graffiti Lamp

Materials
– Tulip® Fabric Spray Paint in orange and black
– Tulip® Fashion Graffiti™ paint taggers
– Aleene’s Tacky Glue
– yellow acrylic paint
– lampshade
– phonebook
– ruler
– X-acto knife
– cutting mat
– foam brushes
– stencils/stickers (I used Tim Holtz masks and large and small vinyl stickers)
– paper towels
– acrylic spray sealer

Instructions

1. Rip out phone book pages. I didn’t want my pages to align perfectly, so I cut them at a diagonal using X-acto and ruler on mat. I did this so that I could create a straight edge to align with the top of my lampshade border.
cut white pages

2. Rip apart page as desired.
rip white pages apart

3. Slightly water down acrylic paint so that it is slightly transparent.
paint with acrylic paint

4. Spray with fabric spray for a cool spattered effect. Set aside and let dry.
spray with fashion spray

5. Once phone book pages are dry, water down (slightly) the Tacky glue and spread all over back of each piece covering entire back. Place on lamp, aligning, and then collaging in all the rest of the areas until totally covered. Spread evenly and smooth as you apply to prevent air bubbles.
glue on lamp

6. Spritz entire lamp share with black fabric spray. I liked doing small squirts so that it would create a dripped effect.
spray with black spray

7. Lay down stickers/stencils and cover over top with various paints and sprays. I actually just used my finger to spread the paints around. I just played different colors/textures until I was happy with the end result.
go over letters with taggers

8.Clean up any messy areas or edges with paper towels. Let dry.

8. Seal with an acrylic sealer.

Here’s a detail with it illuminated…

detail light on

And here’s a detail of it with the light off…
Detail

And here it is on my new desk.

lamp on desk

Hope you enjoy this little project!!!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Mini Grim Reaper Glitter Trinket Box

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grim reaper

Here’s a little creepy guy that would make a great gift, table favor, or party accent. Isn’t making your own Halloween knickknacks the best?

Mini Grim Reaper Glitter Trinket Box

What you need:
– trinket box (I purchase mine at Michaels for $1)
– Tulip Black Metallic 3-D Fashion Paint
– Lime green and purple craft paint
– Tulip Lime Glitter 3-D Fashion Paint
– Paintbrush
– 1.5″ wooden disk
– tealight candle
– chipboard shape figurine (I also purchased this at Michaels)
– glue gun with glue sticks
– acrylic self stick rhinestones in grey and black
– black sparkly felt
– small piece black cardstock

What you do:
1. Paint entire trinket box lime green. Paint wooden disk Purple Let dry.
2. Squeeze out 3-D glitter paint in lime green onto plate and brush on top of acrylic paint. Let dry.
3. Create stripes along top and sides of lid to box with metallic Fashion Paint. Also make dots in between stripes on side. Let dry. Now dot around the edge of the wooden disk and let dry.
4. Stick a rhinestone between each stripe on top of lid.
5. Cut a piece of felt to fit inside lip of lid. Glue gun in place Also cut a piece of felt to wrap around tealight candle and glue. I actually used an old burnt out candle for this. Yay me for recycling!
6. Glue wooden disk to top of tealight candle.
7. Cut a small triangle and glue to back and base of chipboard shape to create a mini easel. Squeeze small bead of glue on bottom of chipboard shape and easel. Press securely.

In honor of my 24 Halloween crafts in 24 hours, I’m giving away a Swell & Spooktastic Halloween prize pack. Click here to check it out and enter!

I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy Halloween craft! Check back next hour for another spooktastic craft!

Alexa

3 Thrift Store Revamps I just love!

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I’m always trying to find a way to create something from very little. I think true innovation in crafting is found when you find a way to get a high end look from very simple materials. Today, I thought I’d share three ideas that just WOW me in their simplicity and beauty.

before-after-thrift-store-artwork.html
I just love this revamped old painting from Design Sponge that makes something unnattractive very sophisticated and cool! You could total use Tulip® Soft Paint (perfect for canvas) to paint over a giant canvas that you purchase at the Goodwill or Salvation Army. Actually, I was in the Salvation Army a few weeks ago (I actually think they have cheaper stuff than Goodwill) and there was a gigantic 60″ canvas just like this for only $8 bucks! I can’t say that this idea would fit into my current décor, but perhaps in the future I will need to visit this idea!


These thrift store plate mirrors from Craftynest are so fabulous and so easy to make! If you didn’t like the color of a plate set, you could totally spray paint it a solid color as well. I love that it’s as simple as gluing one thing to another! How easy is that?

decoupaged-pink-damask-bunny.html
I am enamored with this decopauged bunny from A Soft Place to Land. It seems that we all have knick knacks that are tired and boring. I just love that you can make them look like a clean and classic or alter mixed media piece with tissue paper, collage papers, or fabrics! Along the lines of this idea, we created some for the iLoveToCreate booth using Collage Pauge Instant Decopauge™ (that’s a cat I Collage Pauged below…the dots are tissue paper cut with a paper punch). Cheryl Ball decopauged a dog figurine for the show using fabric and it looked just as cool! On a somewhat related note, hop over and read how she upgraded a necklace with nail polish. I saw it today in person and it totally wowed me! You have to go see here. I love colored enamel soooo much.

Collage Pauge cat

Hope you found these revamped ideas inspiring. What thrify projects have you seen that totally blew you away?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Make your own recycled mini business cards

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mock mini moo cards
I figured out a super easy (and let’s just say cheap) way to make my own mini Moo cards from postcards (seen above) that would otherwise be thrown away.

I know you’ve seen the cute little Moo Cards you can get through Flickr. I just love them so much I got some made a year or so ago and let me just say, they were many a conversation starter! I would show friends or people I just met and each little card I showed them to pick from was like telling a little story through photos! Here’s some of the ones I got printed up (below). Honestly, I hope to get some more soon with some of my latest photos!
moo two

In the meantime, I made my own! I found some postcards with some swell graphics on them and went to work. Here’s how I made them!

Supplies:
– various postcards in heavy paper weight
– label paper
– scissors or exacto and cutting matte
– ruler
– pencil
– Photoshop template (download here)

Instructions:
1. Round up postcards with interesting elements, graphics, and backgrounds.
postcards
2. Choose certain areas of interest and mark out card shape (1.125″ x 2.75) using pencil and ruler. You may want to go ahead and cut out a piece of paper that is 1.125″ x 2.75 or use an existing Moo card to trace around.
cut out images
3. Cut out with scissors or using ruler, Exacto knife, and cutting mat.
4. Using downloaded template, open in Photoshop and type out information that you want to go on back of your card. Duplicate layer several times to fill each card. Add a small photo if you like. Print out on label paper. By the way, the grey lines are pretty light and will be a guide for cutting in the next step.
5. Cut out and adhere. Trim if needed.

I really am happy with how these turned out. They look almost just like the real thing! And their also a great way to reuse and recycle!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Graffiti Glam Earrings

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graffiti glam earrings

Here’s a quick and easy project I whipped up using gift cards! OK, ok…I admit it, I actually stole these gift cards. I figure it’s not the worst thing I could do; however, you could ask them if you could have them, which is what I’ve done on a couple of occasions. You could also use old membership cards or the like. It’s not that hard to find those plastic cards, ya know?

I wanted to create a fun, recycled project and I love the thickness and clean lines I can create with these cards. Word to the wise, though…cutting into them, I couldn’t get a clean shape (like a star or heart) with scissors. If I had used an exacto, I could have achieved better results. Anyway, here’s what I did to create them!

Graffiti Glam Earrings

Supplies:
– Plastic gift cards
– Tulip Soft Paints in various colors
– Tulip Glam it Up Crystals
– Tulip Cordless Heat Setting Tool
– Spray paint in desired color
– newspaper
– Straight pin
– Corner rounder tool
– Scissors, exacto, or paper cutter
– Collage Pauge Instant DecoPauge (sparkly)
– paintbrushes/toothbrush
– small jump ring
– ear wires
– round nose pliers

Instructions:

1. Lay plastic cards down on newspaper. Spray one side according to can instructions. Once dry, flip over and spray other side. Let dry.

2. Take sharp knife or scissors and scrape off (sparingly) lines into paint to reveal card design/colors below (kinda like scratch art).

3. Cut card into desired shape. Use corner rounder (if desired) to create contoured corners (this will also help it from poking you while wearing).

4. Load paint brush with paint and flick onto shapes in random design. I actually brushed some on in certain areas and wiped it off to add additional coloration. Let dry.

5. Apply Sparkly Collage Pauge on top to add gloss and sparkle. Smear over all areas with your finger or foam brush. Let dry.

6. Apply crystals in desired patterns using heat setting tool.

7. Poke hole using a straight pin at top of each earring. Loop jump ring through hole and close. Then attach ear wire.

8. Proudly wear your recycled creation!!

Hope you enjoyed this project. It was fast and fun and a great way to get the grungy/glam look that is so popular these days!

Until next time Swellions!!!

Alexa

Make your own “Trashy” Valentines!

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trashy-valentines

Tonight I decided to create swell valentine’s utilizing trash (literally, not smutty images like you were probably thinking…ha ha) that I had on hand. I took the flyers and coupons I got in the mailbox and cardboard packaging that I would have normally thrown away and made one-of-a-kind Valentine’s (along with some stuff from my existing craft stash) that I hope to give to someone special.

Here’s a little rundown of how I made it happen…

First off, these were my basic materials! Nothing fancy at all…just trash!

Trash for valentines

I cut into the box the shapes I wanted my valentine’s to be. Then I cut out words and images from the sales flyers (plenty of Valentine related words and products could be found in that trashy stash). I then used a foam brush to cover my cardboard and cut out images with Aleene’s Instant Decoupage from Duncan.

Découpage it!

In the one shown above, I just collaged them into place (I found some fun images like stuffed animals, chocolates, and wine bottles). In the other rectangle valentine, I did a weave design of strips of cutout blocks of colors from the ads.

Decopauge weave

For the heart design, I decopauged it onto a newspaper article, then cut out a scallop edge all around. For the rectangle version, I layered it on other interesting trashy papers.

I finished it off by adding touches of Duncan’s Soft paint around the edges and glamming it up with Glam it Up Crystals that I applied with the Tulip Cordless Heat Setting Tool. It was my first time using that tool and I was super excited with the results. It’s really neat to add a little bling to projects using those crystals!

This idea doesn’t have to be just for Valentine’s. You can use your trash to make custom postcards, ACEO cards, tags, and much more. Even if it did come from the trash, most people will be really touched when you give them something you made custom just for them. I just don’t recommend throwing the papers in the trash, then getting them out to use after coffee grounds and other grossness got on them. That wouldn’t be a “Trashy” Valentine, that would be an “Icky” one.

Hope you enjoyed this project!!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Make ornaments from everyday objects!

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Button Ornament Tree

Last year, I posted this button tree on my blog and wanted to re-feature it again today. Since so many of you out there are either wanting to purge or save a few coins this season, why not take something you already have (like old buttons) and repurpose them into fun ornaments. I simply hung these to the tree using basic craft wire!

Here’s some other ideas other than buttons that may strike your fancy!!!

Mismatched earrings
Finally! Something to do with that earring you lost the match too!

Office supplies
I can just envision paper clip garland as I type this!

Craft supplies
Repurpose those old scrapbook embellishments and random beads into cool tree bling!

Mini toys
Sounds like a great way to display that collection to me!

Junk drawer finds
Repurpose stuff you normally don’t use into totally cool tree décor! Think outside of the box as to what an ornament can be!

Please let me know if you have any other ideas. I admittedly wrote this on the fly. I’d love to hear your unique ideas!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa