Tutorial: Memory Keychains

This project is so much fun to make and very rewarding when you're done!!  I know you're all going to love this tutorial!!

SUPPLIES

Wood shapes ("Woodsies")

Crop-a-dile (or other strong hole punch)

Acrylic craft paint

Decorations (photos, scrapbook paper, ephemera, lace, etc.)

Keyring

Chain

Charms or beads (optional)

Metal jump ring

Pliers

Step 1: MAKE WOOD BASE

The wood shapes I purchased were inexpensive and relatively thin so I chose to use 2 for each base.  If your wood shapes are made of a heavier wood, you could get away with just using one.

Pair up 2 wood pieces that are the same shape and size.

Punch a hole at the top center of one.  Line up your two pieces and mark where to punch the hole on the 2nd piece and then punch that hole.

Add a layer of glue (preferably wood glue) to the back of the two pieces and press them together.

Clamp the 2 pieces together using clothes pins or other method and let dry.

Once the glue has dried sand off the excess glue and any rough edges.

Step 2: DECORATE

There are so many possibilities for decorating these keychains!!   I'll list some of my ideas after the tutorial.

Paint the edges of your wood base using acrylic craft glue; you may need 2 or more coats.

Using a decoupage medium glue and seal your decorations onto the wood base, making sure to seal the painted edges too.

Step 3: ADD KEYRING & A CHARM

This is where we turn the little decorated wood shape into a keychain!!

Using pliers, add about 1" of chain to the keyring.

If you want to use a bead, rather than a charm, you'll need to add a headpin and a pair of round-nose jewelry pliers.

Once you have your bead/charm and keyring ready, add them to the wood base with a metal jump ring as shown above.

FINISHED!!

As I mentioned in the tutorial, there are so many possibilities when decorating your wood base!!  Here are just a few of the ideas I was able to come up with:

Vintage ephemera (shown in tutorial)

Photo(s) of a loved one

Mini scrapbook page

Map or image of a favorite place

Mini collage of something you enjoy

Your name

This list could go on and on!!  I'd love to hear your ideas so feel free to add them by commenting!!

Thanks for reading!!  Until next time...

Guest Post: The Stuff of Success (Flip Deck of Photos)

Today, Athena from The Stuff of Success is going to share a really neat Flip Deck of Photos!!  This is a really neat project!!  Be sure to check out her blog, where you can find more fun tutorials!!  I'll let Athena take it from here!!


Hello...  I am Athena from The Stuff of Success. I am so pleased to be here today with Lisa on Lisa's Craft Blog! This is a great opportunity and I thrilled to meet you all.

My blog is the pride and joy of my kids and I!  The Stuff Of Success is dedicated to living life well, inexpensively.  Our blog was developed to help prove that success is not the result of wealth.  We focus on crafts, family, repurposing/recycling, cheap or free deals, with a bit of life's humor along the way. As an added bonus - every now and then my children do a "solo" project specifically for the blog.  Another aspect of our blog is that my children are all adopted with special needs. As a result, many projects are adaptations or solutions to everyday difficulties that may be helpful to families with similar situations.  I look forward to showing you all one of my project's - The Flip Deck of Photos!

You need a large binder ring, wallet sized photos, a hole punch and time… I also used a very heavy scrapbook paper for the front cover and a plain heavy scrapbook paper for the back cover. You can certainly use photos printed on regular photo paper but I printed these with my inkjet printer on the heaviest cardstock I could find. I selected photos from our previous full year with all of our trips, activities, holidays and celebrations.

I also made a set for my husband but that set was with 3 1/2 x 5 photos and required two punched holes for two rings. And for the covers on his I used scrapbook paper adhered to chip board - I wanted to add a layer of protection to the larger sized photos.

I hope you enjoyed this project and there are so many other ideas at The Stuff Of Success such as my favorites below.

Glamorized Boots

Paper Rose Tutorial

Big Screen TV becomes a Portable Closet

Guest Post: Polish the Stars

Today, Megan from Polish the Stars will be sharing her awesome Mini Polaroid Necklace tutorial with us!!  


Before I hand things over to her, I just want to say that I've loved Polish the Stars ever since I found it!!  It has so many great tutorials and there's even a weekly linky party on Mondays!!  You definitely need to check out Polish the Stars, especially if you've never visited before!!


I've always looked up to Megan and have gone to her many times with craft blogging questions.  She's always been willing to help!!  I'm so honored to have her guest posting on my blog!!  With that, I'll let her take over...



Hello there!  My name is Megan and I blog over at Polish The Stars.  My blog name comes from a Shel Silverstein poem about polishing the old, dull stars that you already have when you don't have enough money to buy shiny new ones.  My blog is all about our journey to make our home a fun and beautiful place by repurposing things that we already have on hand and spending as little money as possible.  You will find lots of crafts, recipes, home improvement, decor, cleaning, and organization projects - all with detailed tutorials so that you will know exactly how to do it yourself.  :)

Today I am sharing one of my favorite projects from my blog - a Mini Polaroid Necklace!

This is kind of my fun, retro version of the classic photo locket.  It is really easy to make and would be a great gift for a mom or grandma!   It doesn't just have to be for family photos though.  You can use your favorite photo of anything.  I made one using a picture of my friend's old yellow volkswagon that was pretty fun.  :)

Supplies:Mini Photo printed on CardstockSmall Glass TileNecklace BailMod  Podge or Diamond GlazeExacto KnifeCutting MatFoam Brush

Pick your photo and crop it to an 8x10 landscape.  I made this one using a pic of me and my guys.  :) You will want a tiny print for your necklace.  I just right-clicked and copied the photo from my computer and pasted it in to a Word document.  Then shrunk it to about 0.7" wide.  You could also crop your photo to a square but I thought that the polaroid look was more fun.  Just be sure to make it small enough to leave a white border on the sides or the rounded edges of the glass will distort the sides of the photo.

Place your glass tile (I found mine here) over your photo and center it how you would like it to appear when it is finished.  Hold it in place with one hand and with your other hand use the knife to cut just along the edge of the tile.  You can also trace around the tile with a pencil and cut it out with scissors but it is a lot more difficult to get close so you will have a more to trim away.

Trim the photo down until it fits perfectly.

Using the paint brush apply a later of Mod Podge on the photo and place the tile on top.  You will want hold the picture when you push the tile down or your photo will stick to the surface it is on.  Carefully push out as many bubbles as you can.  It is okay if it appears cloudy - it will dry clear.

Flip it over and apply another layer of Mod Podge to the back of the photo to seal it.  Glue the bail in place (also purchased here).  Allow everything to dry then add your pendant to a chain.

If you don't have the time to make your own, I also sell these personalized pendants over in my Shop!
Some of my other projects that you might enjoy: Techniques For Printing On FabricIncludes a few different methods for printing on fabric as well as the best ways to care for your printed fabric to keep it from fading.
Slow-Cooker Chicken and DumplingsPerfect comfort food for those cold winter nights.
Comic Book Pop ArtEasy and cheap art that doesn't require any drawing skills and can be used with any kind of picture!
Thank you so much for having me over, Lisa!  I have really enjoyed getting to know you the last few months and I am honored to guest post on your blog.  :)

Version: Recipe Box Renovation

I'm super excited to share this Recipe Box Renovation tutorial with you today!!

Before I get into the tutorial, I want to take a moment to tell you about While He Was Napping, the great blog where I found the original Recipe Box Renovation project!!

Krista has so many wonderful projects and sooo much more!!  You definitely need to visit While He Was Napping and maybe even link up to the Weekend Wander linky party that takes place every week!!

If you're expecting or know someone who is, then be sure to follow While He Was Napping because the Bundles of Baby event starts January 29th!!  I can't wait for this event because I have friends who are expecting or have recently had children!!

A couple months ago I linked up to the Weekend Wander linky party over at While He Was Napping.  Afterwards, I found a perfect Recipe Box Renovation tutorial as I was looking through all of the great tutorials Krista has there. I knew right away that I had to make one too!!

Krista's tutorial is so thorough, so if you plan on "renovating" your recipe box, you definitely need to take look at her step-by-step Recipe Box Renovation tutorial.

Let's get started on my tutorial for my version, shall we?

SUPPLIES

$1 Recipe box

Various papers

Fabric

Cheesecloth

Decoupage medium

Glue

Lace (or ribbon)

Stamp & stamp pad

Buttons

Step 1: COVER PRINTED IMAGES

To keep these images from showing through, cover them with torn pieces of brown craft paper.  Use your decoupage medium to adhere the craft paper to the recipe box.

Step 2: TEAR PAPERS & FABRIC

Tear your paper and fabric into small rectangles and squares that are less than an inch wide.

Step 3: DECOUPAGE

Decoupage the torn pieces onto the box, making sure to cover all visible areas.

Note: Keep your recipe box closed as much as possible while working on it and while it dries.  If you decoupage it while it's open it will not close!!

Step 4: ADD CHEESECLOTH

Cut random pieces of cheese cloth.  Decoupage the cheesecloth onto the recipe box in random patterns.  Let dry.

Note: I did not incorporate the ribbon method that Krista did in her tutorial, but I wish I had and may still find a way to do it.  I highly recommend you refer to Krista's original tutorial for how to get around that wonky fold in the back.

Step 5: ADD LACE

Glue a length of lace on the lip of the box, which is only 3 sides of the recipe box.

Step 6: ADD LABEL

Stamp the word "Recipes" onto a pretty piece of scrapbook paper and cut it out.  I glued mine to some chipboard so it would stand out a little bit.  Glue the label to the front center of the recipe box.

Step 7: EMBELLISH

Add buttons or other embellishments at this point.  I added a few wooden buttons which matched the color scheme of my recipe box perfectly.

FINISHED!!

I really hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did!! I know I had a blast getting all messy with the decoupage medium!! hehehe

Thanks for reading!! Until next time...

Crafty Day with Jess and Upcoming Bloggy Events

Crafty Day with Jess

A good friend of mine, Jess, is expecting her first child this spring and I'm so happy for her and her hubby!!  Jess happens to love crafts too so we've decided to get together one day each week to work on projects for her nursery and other fun crafts!!

Today we got together for our first day of crafting and I thought I'd share photos of our handmade goodies with you!!

Our main project of the day were these closet dividers for Jess' nursery...

On New Year's Eve we cut out the chipboard dividers from a homemade template and covered them in "Linen & Lace" scrapbook paper.  She decorated them with bird and butterfly die-cuts, stickers, and pieces of real lace from my stash.  Jess also stamped them with acrylic stamps and added plastic gems too!!  Today we worked on adding the sizes to the dividers.

Of course Jess has a big baby shower planned this month and since I make jewelry, I offered to make her a bird's nest necklace to go with the bird theme of the nursery and baby shower.  Here's how it turned out...

I had never made a wire-wrapped bird's nest necklace before so I was really pleased with how well it turned out!!  Here's a close up of the nest... 

You all should know me well enough by now to know that you can expect tutorials for both of these projects in the near future!!  I just thought you'd enjoy this little sneak peek!! hehehe

Upcoming Bloggy Events

Friday - Feature Friday #1  I'll feature some of my recent crafty finds from around the blog-o-sphere!!

Saturday/Sunday - Tutorial: ????  This is a secret, but I know you'll enjoy it!!  Who knows, maybe I'll even write a couple tutorials for you!!

Monday - Lisa's Linky List #2 & Features  First I'll showcase my favorite 3 linkies and the top viewed linky from last week's party.  Then we'll start a brand new linky party for the week!!

Tuesday - Version: Recipe Box Renovation  I'll be sharing my version of the Recipe Box Renovation project originally shared by While He Was Napping.

Wednesday - WOYWW #2  Another glimpse into my crazy, crafty world and a chance to see my work area(s)!!

Thursday - Guest Post: Polish the Stars  Megan from Polish the Stars shares her super popular Mini Polaroid Necklace with us!!

Thanks for reading!!  Until next time...