Bookmarks With Clay Charms

I love books. Our house would tell any visitor that there's someone living in here who loves books. I have two full bookshelves in the living room and one more in the bedroom. Even with my Kindle and iPad, I still prefer reading actual books. But I must admit, I haven't read maybe about 25% of my collection, I've just been so busy with other stuff. I set a goal for myself to read at least 20 books this year but so far, I'm still at number 6. I'll have some books arriving next week from the US and I'm so excited that I decided to welcome them with new bookmarks. 

People close to me know how obsessed I am with Harry Potter, I have read the series more than five times. I love the films, too, though not so much. Anyway, what could be a more perfect bookmark for me than a Harry Potter themed one?

I printed quotes and spells from the book to the size that I wanted, 5.5 inches by 1.5 inches for each bookmark. 

On a cereal box, I adhered the cut out sheets of paper, a magic spell on one side and a quote on the other side of the cardboard. 

I used watercolor to write over the printed words to give it that effect of quill and ink like what they use in the wizarding world, haha.

I also painted over the white background and coated the whole surface with a thin layer of Mod Podge. I punched a hole on one side and tied a braided embroidery floss string in it.

I want a charm to dangle from the string so I made a sorting hat from air dry clay. Polymer clay would be better for this type of charm but I only have air dry clay on hand so it's what I used. I put an eyepin on the sorting hat where I'll attach it to the string and let it dry for 24 hours.

When the clay was completely dry, I painted it with watercolor and finished with a thin coat of Mod Podge. 

I used jumprings to attach the sorting hat to the string, and my first bookmark with clay charm is done. 

The next one I made is the Nimbus 2000 bookmark using the same materials and process I used with the sorting hat.

This one, I just made because I also like Minions and there's still this Minions fever going on. I used popsicle sticks on this instead of cardboard, I glued them together, painted with watercolor and coated with Mod Podge.

I'm so happy with my bookmarks. I would still recommend using polymer clay with different colors, it would be a lot easier because there's no need to paint over it after drying and it's easier to work with.

When I get the time, maybe after finishing a book, I'll probably make more of these, Hedwig is next on my list. You can make any charm you want and it would be a great gift for a book lover you know. I hope you enjoyed this post. Thank you for stopping by!

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Easy DIY Magazine or File Holder

These magazine or file holders are very easy to make and are made from simple materials. The bigger one is made from illustration board and the two small ones are made from a cereal box. This project is very useful not just for organizing magazines but also for the kids' coloring books, activity books or other files.  I'm using mine for organizing paper supplies.

I'll show you how I made the magazine holder from a cereal box first. My brand of cereal doesn't have the really big boxes like the others that could fit a magazine, so it's great if your cereal boxes are big enough for magazines, this project will be easy-peasy for you. The box I have is just 7.5" x 2" x 11" and it couldn't hold my scrapbook paper stash so it's just for my notebooks, photo paper, and other smaller stuff. 

The picture above shows some options on how to cut your cereal box to make this project. Just remove the top flaps of your box, mark and line on where you should cut, and cut it using a craft knife or scissors. Then, have fun decorating, you can use wrapping paper, stickers, or washi tape.

As I've mentioned earlier, my box is a bit small and it's just for small stuff like notebooks, so this is what I did. I cut my box in half as shown in this picture so I was able to make two small holders.

First, I closed the top flaps back and secured them with glue, so that would be the bottom of one of the holders. 

I did a little measuring then mark and line the box on where to cut and used my craft knife to cut the box in half. 

Then, there are two pieces ready to be covered. I just used scrapbook paper and glue to wrap them.

And, done. My notebook and small paper supplies are now neatly organized which is better than when they're piled up on top of each other.

Now, on to my copy paper, card stock, art paper, and scrapbook paper pile. Since I don't have a cereal box big enough to hold them, I just used illustration board to make the holder instead.

I have this 20" x 30" illustration board I bought for only Php 37 (less than $1) that I was planning to use for another wall art, but I decided to use it on this project instead, I'm still waiting for some supplies to make that wall art, anyway.

I cut the board based on the paper sizes I have which are mostly A4, so before the diagonal cut out design, the sides are 9" x 12" and the width of the box is 4".

I just used a regular white glue to stick the parts together and let it dry for quite a while maybe more than an hour or two since I used a generous amount of glue to make sure that every part is secure. 

When the glue's dry and the box looks sturdy to be worked on, I decoupaged it with small pieces of scrapbook paper using Mod Podge. I have lots of these 1"x1" pieces of paper because before throwing away small cut outs from a finished project or a scrap piece of paper, I always check if there's still a big enough  piece I can save. I only throw away tiny pieces and strips that couldn't make out a one inch square. 

After adhering the squares on the box and finishing up with a coat of Mod Podge on top, my file holder is ready. I also tried putting some magazines and they fit well on this size of box.

Now, everything form the biggest size of paper to the smallest one in my craft area seems to be in order. As of this writing, I'm actually still in the process of making organizers and boxes to keep everything neat and keep attractive and colorful things from my daughter's sight. Every time she comes here in my craft area, she likes getting her hands on anything she thinks she can play with, that's why I always make sure that anything breakable and sharp is far from her reach, but sometimes I let her play with balls of yarn and choose the color she likes.

Till next time. Thanks for visiting. 

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DIY Embroidery Floss Bobbins and Storage Box

Embroidery floss bobbins and storage box made from recycled cereal boxes.

This is another project made from one of my favorite things to recylce, cereal boxes. There are a few other stuff I keep like soap boxes, paper bags, plastic bottles, etc. that I think I could repurpose. Anyway, the cereal boxes I have with me are perfect for making this embroidery floss box and bobbins. Sure, there are lots of bobbins like these for sale and also plastic organizers but I always like to make my own version of things if I can, with materials readily available to me.

This is what my embroidery floss stash looks like after just using about eight skeins so I could only imagine how messy it could be when I get to use more. I might not be trying hard enough to keep them tidy but some may find themselves in a similar situation. I remember my high school days when we have cross stitch projects for our Home Economics class, my materials back then were a lot messier than this. So before I find my threads tangled with each other, I need to have them neatly stored. Also, I find it easier to use when each skein is already wound up in a bobbin.

By the way the brand of the skeins in the plastic bag is Janlynn which I got for a very affordable price from Amazon. I'm just showing these DMC ones for comparison and it might not be seen in the pictures but these are way shinier than the Janlynn brand, also softer and smoother. No surprise there since Janlynn is only half the price of DMC, I still like it for my Kumihimo projects but for embroidery or cross stitch, DMC is the best choice.

To complete this task, I used four of this cereal box, two for the bobbins and two for the storage box. There were strips left that I was planning to use as compartments but they weren't enough so I just used a different material for the compartment boxes which I will show later.

I already have a bobbin which I used as a template to make a hundred more. I drew the shapes on the cardboard and cut them. I realized it too late that since I was planning to cover each side with scrapbook paper, I should have glued the scrapbook paper to both sides of the cardboard box before drawing and cutting each bobbin, that way is much faster.

Well, since I already made that little mistake and I'm done cutting the shapes without the scrapbook paper still, I just did it the long way, I glued the cut out bobbins on to the scrapbook paper and cut each shape again.

Honestly, it took me hours to finish this, lol. So, if you're planning to use not just a plain cereal box but want to cover it with colored or patterned paper, it's easier to glue the paper on to the cereal box first and draw the shapes on the already covered cardboard, so you just need to cut the bobbin shapes just once.

To write the number code of each color, I used washi tape and wrote on it instead of directly on the bobbin so I can replace it when the thread already runs out and I need to use it for a different color. 

I made origami boxes from scrapbook paper to serve as the compartments in my storage box. I find the square origami box the easiest one to make. Here is a video tutorial from Origami Instructions channel on YouTube on how to make an origami box.

I glued eight origami boxes together which are just enough to house all my embroidery floss bobbins. 

Based on the size of the finished compartments, I made the box and the lid from, of course, cereal box and wrapped them with scrapbook paper.

And, it's done. I arranged the bobbins according to the color of the floss for me to find what I need easier. I might be exaggerating a little here to make a point, but it's a big improvement having this storage box from how I used to keep my embroidery floss skeins. Now, I won't have messy and tangled up threads that are hard to work with and so not good to look at. 

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Make and Decorate Your Own Letter Standee

Letter standees are "a thing" these days. From wedding and birthday party decorations to kids' room and nightstand display, they add charm and cool vibe to the place. That's why I made these, with my baby's initials, JK. I love how they turned out. The design looks too girly but my baby is a girl and pink is kind of the official color for little girls. 

I've seen a lot of these for sale that are ready to be decorated but I always missed buying one. Besides, I thought that it would be better to make one myself so I can choose the font and size I want. Now, let me show you how I made my custom letters.

I started with choosing a font. I was thinking of a curvy font at first, but I decided to choose a simple one and to just overdecorate it later. 

The next step would have been easier if I have a printer working, too bad, I haven't got a new ink cartridge still. So, I just traced the letter on the laptop monitor. After cutting it from the paper, I used it to draw out the letter on the cereal box. You may use any cardboard box for this, as long as it's sturdy for the project.

I made two letter Js, the one for the back is a mirror image.

I cut a width of 1.5 inches of cardboard for the sides, this would be the thickness of the letter. Next is to attach it in between the cut out Js. To attach this, you can tape the side around the letter using a masking tape. Again, unfortunately, I have to do the long way because I don't have a masking tape on hand. I used hot glue on this process because it dries instantly.

I cut strips of cardboard, scored and folded it, and glued to the side of the letter J that would go inside.

I then glued the side to those strips.

This time, I glued the folded strips on the sides so I could just glue the other letter J on top. If you want to make your letter standee heavier, you can put in crumpled paper inside before you close it.

To make it sturdier, I cut small strips of paper and paste them on the letter, like doing paper mache. Only, I used a mixture of water and white glue instead of paper mache paste. If you want the letter thicker or heavier, paper mache paste is better, I think.

I did two layers of the paper strips and glue. It's now finished and ready to be decorated. You can choose to paint it to cover the whole letter. What I did is use scrapbook paper to cover it and decorate.

I cut the piece that will cover the sides first. My letter is 1.5 inches thick, I cut the paper into 2 inches wide to make it a little bit wider so it can be folded to the front and back a little.

Then, I drew the letter J and a mirror image of it on the paper, for the front and the back, cut it and glued it on.

I used a stamp pad on the edges to make some distressed effect. The wrapping is done. If you want a cute and simple letter, it's already good as it is like that, but I was in the mood for overdecorating so I decided to add more stuff.

I crocheted a butterfly and a flower, and applied the water and glue mixture to stiffen them.

I also made these simple wire and beads embellishments to add sparkle.

I arranged the items on the letter first and finalized where I want to stick them on, and when I was already sure that it's where I wanted each one to be, I put them on the letter permanently using hot glue.

Ta-da! My very own letter standees. The letter J couldn't stand alone so I taped it to K. So if your letter is curvy like C or O, make the bottom a little straighter or put something heavy inside the letter to make it stand and stay in place.

That's it. Thanks for reading!

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