Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

I love to go green whenever possible, so I try to find ways to reuse objects around the house.  One of my favorite items to reuse is an empty plastic juice container.  I use the Welch’s brand – they are very sturdy and you can even run them through the dishwasher before decorating.  In the past I have decorated quite a few for my scrap room to hold supplies.  My son recently got a new desk for his room so I decorated this can to hold his pencils.  He also loves to write notes to his friends, so I created a matching mini notebook.

Supplies used:

K & Company – Actopus Collection

• 12×12 Paper Pad
• Rub-ons
• Grand Adhesion Sticker

Ribbon
Plastic Juice Container
Composition Notebook (small)
Strong Adhesive

To cover the juice can:

* Cut a strip of paper to cover the entire side of the can and adhere.  You will need to use use a strong tape such as Therm O Web Zips Craft Adhesive Lines.

* Cut a small strip of paper and adhere to the top edge of the can using the same adhesive.

To cover the notebook.

* Cut a piece of paper to cover the notebook and adhere using a strong adhesive

* Apply rub-ons (see picture) to the notebook.

* Affix 3 Dimensional sticker to center of the notebook.

* Adhere piece of ribbon to edge of the notebook.  You can also tie a bow if desired.

By Guest Blogger, Jennifer from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

My husband Steve grew up a farm boy in Southwest Iowa.  A tractor originally owned by his Grandpa Stanley Hansen was passed down to  his father Robert Hansen.  When Steve was a young boy while he was driving it, the tractor rolled over on top of him.  Miraculously he wasn’t hurt.  The ground was very soft from a recent rain and they think it had just enough give that it kept him safe. The tractor was damaged after rolling over and so they stored it.  A few years ago my husband started to restore this tractor and finished it up a couple years ago.  It currently takes up his side of the garage and he likes to drive it during tractor rides at the local county fairs. I made this album of pictures with him and his tractor. I used pictures from the recent Warren County Fair, and from back in 1951.

Supplies used:

Wooden Album: Genuinely Jane Studios (4 pages – 8 sides) approx. 5 x 6 ½”
Plaid FolkArt Paint - silver, black, red
Jewels
Chipboard Circles
White Cardstock
Black Photo Corners:  Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L
Ribbon
Provo Cuttlebug Embossing Machine
American Crafts Black Paper
Label Tape/Machine

I started by painting the tractor part of the wood album red, and the side of the tires black. I used my circle Coluzzle template to determine the tire sizes and then cut them out.  Be sure when using a Coluzzle knife that you have it straight up when cutting.  If you do not have a Coluzzle or large punches, you can trace a template and cut by hand.

I ran my circles through the Cuttlebug Embossing Swiss Dots template to give them some dimension.

I made my hubcaps by using chipboard circles and used the outside ring for the large tire and the inside circle for the smaller tire.  I painted them with Plaid silver paint. After gluing down the tires and hubcaps, I added red jewels to the centers.

Next all you have to do is add your photos, photo corners and captions. I used white cardstock as a backdrop for each photo. To make the small pictures, I used the collage 4×6 print feature at Walgreens (most photo centers would have the same function).  I selected 4 pictures that were either all portrait or all landscape and for around 25 cents. I had 4 mini photos that fit perfectly as tractor windows. Their size is 1 ¾ X 2 ½”.

Lastly join all your pages together with ribbon or a binding ring.

Enter to win this craft pack from Paper Accents! This prize comes with a Pound O’ Paper, Create Your Own Journal and Scrapbook, as well as rectangle and pennants chipboard pieces.

The Pound O’ Paper are wonderful packs of paper that comes with a new variety each time. These varieties are great for making cards, invitations, tags or adding special accents to scrapbook and memory pages. It’s an assortment pack , the sizes and kind of paper change with each package. Create Your Own Journals are made with heavy chipboard on the front and back with 25 pages inside. Have fun decorating and personalizing these journals with stamps, stickers, embellishments, marking pens, and more. Each journal is spiral bound so they are easy to flip and stay together! Create Your Own Chipboard Pennants are great for Banners, Seasonal Sentiments, Names and much more. Made with heavy weight chipboard, they are acid free, and ready to decorate to your personal taste.

Every Friday we’ll post a giveaway on Think Crafts and all you have to do is comment on the blog post answering the question of the week. We’ll pick the winner and contact them via email. Deadline is midnight tonight and the winner will be announced Monday. One entry per person please. Contest opened to all US residents, no purchase necessary.

Question of week: What is your favorite summer memory from your childhood, or your children’s.

Congratulations to the Winners of the Scrapbook Layout Contest! First, Second and Third place will receive CreateForLess shopping sprees!

*1st Place Winner of $150 goes to Karen T. from Bolivar, MO.

1st Place

1) I started this fun and romantic layout by placing my cardstock in my Trimmer and instead of using the guillotine I tore cardstock into one-inch strips then weaving them into a checkered board pattern. As I went along I adding pop dots under every other one of the checkerboard blocks to add texture. When I finished weaving the paper into a 12 x 12 sheet I then stitched the two open edges on each of the checks that did not have a pop dot.  2) I cut out the border of a scalloped edge piece of paper and a coordinating pattern paper, after which I layered them and placed them both on the checkerboard adding a border to the page. I stitched around the scalloped edge randomly adding beads to the stitching.
3) I matted my photo and place it on the layout. 4) I twisted floral wire around the bottom point of each paper leaf forming a vine. I curled the ends of the wire with a paintbrush for an added accent. 5) After cutting out fifteen of the smallest hearts with the Spellbinders scalloped heart dies I embossed them. I next did the same to four of the hearts in the next size up. 6) I curled twelve of the small hearts and the four larger hearts into petal shapes using the end of a paintbrush. I then attached four of the small heart shaped petals on a pop dot forming a flower. I did the same with the larger hearts and placed one of the small heart flowers on to the larger one forming a layered flower. I then stitched in the middle and added beads to each of the flowers. 7) The last three hearts I brushed with glue and sprinkled with glitter. I put a pompom on the bottom point to make a “flower bud” out of each. I cut out three sets of the Butterfly Reflections using the Spellbinders dies. Next I embossed the butterflies. I then layered the butterflies and added adhesive to the body of each. Next I ran a line of glue down the body of the butterfly and added beads to complete. 9) After everything dried I place the leaf vine around the photo and added the flowers, buds and butterflies. 10) I typed the journaling and cut it out using a Spellbinders Die and then matted it with a scalloped Spellbinder Die. 11) For the title I painted unfinished chipboard with white paint. When it dried I sanded each letter for a vintage feel. I attached them to the layout and finished it off by adding the word special in mini alphas to the chipboard number one.

* 2nd Place Winner of $100 goes to Vicki R. from Stroudsburg, PA.

2nd Place

This is one of my favorite photos of my grandson! He was sitting next to me on the porch swing and just gave me this “look”, that melted my heart! I used Cosmo Cricket.  The circles are cut with my Circle Scissor Plus. Love it! Then I used my pinking shears to edge them. I sewed around one of the circles and across the photo corner that I made with my sewing machine. I printed the journaling on a transparency for both the little circle in the upper right and the aroung the photo. Six eyelets and lacing attach the two large circles. Heidi Swapp rub-ons, Prima Flowers, Doodlebug buttons, Fiskars Cloud Nine Rain drops, Basic Grey Chipboard Note, and some chipboard alphas add the finishing touches. This is without a doubt, one of my most favorite Layouts!!

*3rd Place Winner of $50 goes to Rhonda T. from Morrow, GA.

3rd Place

I used Leaving Prints and My Minds Eye papers for the background. I wet them with a sprayer, then crumpled them up. Then I opened it up and tore some of the papers, and sanded some areas, then inked them with Distress Inks. The other papers for the mats, flourishes and the word life were by Cosmo Cricket, the Wanted collection. The vintage rick rack, lace and buttons were from my mama’s collection. The small flowers were Prima, and others were just regular silk flowers that I took off the stem. The brads were by Spare Parts and Ck. The photo corners and key hole on the small book were by Garden Ridge. The title was made with Paper Studio chipboard tags, and Ck Rub ons, and the word Life was by Cosmo Cricket, which I covered with the paper from the Wanted collection as well.

Honorable Mentions…

Submitted By: Betty A.

Submitted By: Mandy M.

Submitted By: Alyssa M.

Submitted By: Celeste B.

Submitted By: Joy H.

Click HERE  to view more of our Scrapbook Layout Contest Entries!

With Bazzill Matchmaker you can have the experts match your paper for you!

Bazzill will help you find the perfect Bazzill cardstock to coordinate with your favorite patterned papers. With more than 500 colors and 7 textures of acid-free, lignin-free paper, matching cardstock can be confusing.

The Bazzill Matchmaker is very easy to use. All you do is pick the brand of your patterned cardstock, and all the samples for the selected brands come up. Then it shows what color Bazzill cardstock will match! Perfect for making wedding invitations, scrapbook pages and other paper crafts!

This week only all Bazzill Paper is on sale at CreateForLess!

* 1st Place: $150 CreateForLess Shopping Spree

* 2nd Place: $100 CreateForLess Shopping Spree

* 3rd Place: $50 CreateForLess Shopping Spree

Click HERE  to enter!

Below are some of our favorite scrapbook layout from last years contest…

Enter to win the Dear Lizzy fabric paper from American Crafts!  Inspired by nature and simple childhood play, the Spring collection features fun and fanciful patterned papers designed by Elizabeth Kartchner. The Spring line includes select papers made from fabric, giving this line a unique and diverse touch for any project. 

Attention crop-a-holics May is National Scrapbooking Month! Click here for some scrapbooking and paper crafting ideas from American Craft Designers!

Every Friday we’ll post a giveaway on Think Crafts and all you have to do is comment on the blog post answering the question of the week. We’ll pick the winner and contact them via email. Deadline is midnight tonight and the winner will be announced Monday. One entry per person please.

Question of the Week: What craft or skill did you learn from your mom?

If the comment box is not below, scroll to the top and click “comments”.