A while back I posted this tutorial for how to make a paper toy car. Since my kids have been playing with paper dolls so much I thought it probably wasn’t just our family who was into the fad. So, here’s a repost from the way back machine. It’s funny to listen to, I can tell I have a really bad cold! Ha!
Anyways, please enjoy! And if you make some dolls, I’d love to see them in action in the Flickr Pool. Linky over there ——–>
Remember my gift recommendation book list? Well, I was able to get a copy of Emily Martin’sPaper Doll Primer for my girls for Christmas (the last copy at our local Barnes and Noble, though I bet it is reordered by now) and we’ve been playing with it alot.
Let me tell you, this book has really reached my expectations. I love how the dolls are on card stock pages so that you don’t have to reinforce them to keep them nice. I also love the old-fashioned tabs on the clothing to fold over the edges of the dolls. That’s how I remember playing with my paper dolls as a kid.
Each doll has some back story so that you can build off of Emily Martin’s imagination for your playtime. Of course you can just make it all up as you go along as well, which is what my girls are doing. They received another doll book for Christmas, which they like to play with just as much as Emily’s book, but I don’t find any inspiration in the bright overly cartoony drawings in the other book and much prefer playing with my girls when they are using the Paper Doll Primer book. I can honestly say I even enjoy cutting out the dolls (the other book the dolls pop out) and choosing which outfit to put on the dolls. They are all clothing items I wish I could wear myself.
The only downfall to the book is the large section of clothes in the back of the book come on double sided pages. I cut out a skirt for our doll, and when I looked at the reverse page I noticed I had cut into a dress I would have liked to use later. If she releases a second book, or a second edition of this book, I would likely buy it if that problem was remedied. Over all I am blissful over our purchase, and am looking forward to more books from the dear Black Apple.
I like to make good use of what I already have for the good of the environment and the budget. This year I challenged myself and was determined not to buy any wrapping supplies but only to use what I already had. Since I save every piece of ribbon, I had plenty to make the gifts look lovely. We were going to be driving from Florida to Ohio and I wanted all the gifts to be in boxes for easy & safe transport. I kept a few boxes that new shoes came in as well as check boxes and any other box that I thought would work.
After I packed each gift in the smallest box possible (many of them without tissue paper- I decided it was unnecessary), my husband did the wrapping. I was then the finisher and decorator of each gift. I made gift tags using the front of Christmas cards we received in years past, white business cards that were leftover from a work project, rubber stamps, fabric, tags I bought at the office supply store, and of course, leftover ribbon.
One of my favorite gifts this year is a yellow & white fabric wrapping containing handmade cards & stationary, with a tag made of a Christmas card front that has been circulating my family for years.
I should mention that my husband’s family birthday tradition generally involves gifts wrapped in pillowcases to avoid using wrapping paper. Because her birthday is Christmas Eve, I always wrap my sister-in-law’s birthday gift in paper. This year hers is wrapped in heart paper and the tag is from the front of a Christmas card she made & sent us a few years ago.
I enjoyed the challenge this year and will definitely be saving ribbon and cards this Christmas to use next year.
Today we had a snow day so I had all my girls home with me for the first time in months. We spent the day making paper ornaments and a nativity scene with my wall paper from Zero Landfill. I wish I could show them to you today, but having all three with me was a little more over whelming now that they’re used to school and I didn’t sit down until after dark and the lighting stinks. It’ll have to wait until tomorrow I guess. So instead I will show you these new ornaments I made for the girls at the Craft Akron anniversary party two weekends ago.
I struggled with whether I should make them all the same, or if I should go ahead and do them each differently since I was planning to give them all at the same time. I don’t like how sometimes gift giving can turn into arguing when there are three sisters involved. But in the end I went with different takes on the same theme, which was gold and maroon with musical notes and scrolling letters.
To make these we dripped dye into a glass bulb and poured glitter into the bulb and shook it up to coat the walls. Then we glued a fanned circle of scrapbook paper to the front of the bulb and embellished it with a disk of paper.
Everyone loved their ornament and we hung them on the tree right away. And thankfully no one bickered.
This post on the Red Thread (very cool blog I just found) has a different take on the paper wreath. She used cardboard for the wreath form, which I think is a better structure than the twisted paper and floral wire I used. Mine is starting to sag. I should glue some cardboard to the back. She also used Chinese paper for the poofiness.
Paper Wreath by the Red Thread
I had a big group of moms over for brunch on Friday and my friend Megan suggested using song sheet music. I don’t have a whole lot of sheet music but I do have some old books that I’ve already cut up which have that great old book crumply paper. I am considering making all new Christmas decorations this year because I am tired of all the ones we’ve had. Only the Christmas village that Rob’s Grandmother made is really interesting to me. Perhaps this year will be a paper wreath and garland decorating year.
While making a wallpaper turkey with my daughters I found some amazing burlap wallpaper samples. They were so attractive I really wanted to use them in my decor since they seemed so “autumn” but there really wasn’t very much of it. I thought of framing them and placing them in the dining room seasonally, but then the texture would be kind of lost.
Then I remembered my mums I had in a cheap blue vase, not really making a statement at all on my piano. I thought it would be awesome to have a vase kind of like these to display them, but in brown. But I’m lazy, and I wanted them now, and to make something like that would require a trip to the store and multiple steps. So instead I grabbed my stapler and rolled the paper into a tube and stapled the seam shut. Then I put the tube over a heavy Ball jar of water and put the flowers in the water. The only “technique” required is making sure the ugly part is in the back!
I do really like the look of these, so maybe when I have a free moment I will make them for real, but for now I have the look, and that’s good enough for me!
Come use recycled paper and Iris Paper Folding techniques to make a 5″ x 7″ frame-able wall art. Iris Paper Folding is basically layering paper in a pattern and using it as a background behind a shape cutout. Participants are welcome to bring their own recycled papers such as envelopes, junk mail, greeting cards, or discarded books to use, but a selection of papers will also be available. If attendees have a paper trimmer, they are welcome to bring it, as cutting paper strips will be much quicker.
Sign up is required, and begins August 16, at 330-376-2927.
If you can’t make it to class, I also wrote a tutorial for this project.
I made these beads from pages of an old poetry book. My inspiration is from a similar project in Playing with Books-The Art of Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining the Book. The only difference was that they rolled up triangles & I rolled up rectangles, so my finished beads have more of a tube shape. With either shape, the basic idea is to roll up a long strip of paper (leaving a hole for beading wire to go through), use adhesive to secure it closed (I used decoupage glue), cover the outside of the bead with glue (for a protective finish), & let it dry.
I’m in a friend’s wedding next month and volunteered to make the bachelorette invites. I needed something quick and simple which is hard because I prefer to go overboard & make things too intricate!
For these, I stamped the “Love is in the air” quote, free-hand cut out the flower & edged it with ink, and used a straight-edge & marker to draw faux stitches around the patterned paper.
By the way, the bachelorette party is at The Winery at Wolf Creek (near Akron, Ohio). If you’ve never been there, I completely recommend it for a unique date night. They only sell wine , chocolate, & cheese/cracker baskets, so you’re welcome to bring your own picnic foods. The view is great with the vineyard & lake in the distance. Plus they have musicians on some evenings and offer fun events like “cooking with wine” and “chocolate & wine pairings”.
Easter is sneeking up on me this year. I haven’t really done any seasonal crafts and I have been feeling like I better get my act in gear. So today I spent the day working on Easter crafts, including Elise’s dress, which may or may not be done in time.
But I did succeed in making paper mache eggs with the kids. We wadded up a paper bag into an egg shape and then used watered down glue to paper mache wrapping tissue paper to the outside. For some stripes we wrapped the eggs in embroidery thread. I think that if we make more I will use paper strips instead as the thread looks too different and doesn’t have the same effect as a dyed easter egg.
Why didn’t I just dye eggs? Well, I only had two eggs and I didn’t want to hard boil them!
I made these beads from pages of an old poetry book. My inspiration is from a similar project in 
I’m in a friend’s wedding next month and volunteered to make the bachelorette invites. I needed something quick and simple which is hard because I prefer to go overboard & make things too intricate!
