Thursday, May 14, 2009

Dario's Comic Book Handmade Wallet

A while back I found this tutorial on craftster and based on that I've made a few wallets before. For the first one, I followed the instructions to the tee but after that I've made some changes here and there. These are just wallets made using paper and packaging tape and they are very durable. My first one lived for a few years before it finally fell apart.

My nephew, Dario, is 5 years old he's been obsessed with the Post Office lately and wanted to receive something with "his name on it" so my sister asked if I could mail him a letter. I wanted to send him something a little more fun than a simple letter but light enough to mail to Ecuador and that it wouldn't cost me a small fortune.

That's where the wallet came in: fun, small, you can still mail it flat...perfect! And I even threw in some cash and a few fake credit cards for him! Can you say, "Best Aunt Ever"??


It was made with pages from a comic book that I got free from work. I made another super cute wallet for Isaiah using the same book but I made it at work so I couldn't take pictures of that one. Maybe I'll take my camera with me one of these days and I'll take a picture.
Anyway, I think it's time to stop talking and show you Dario's wallet, even if it's only a couple images.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Handmade Upcycled Magazine Envelopes

From a previous post you can see the massive amount of magazines I've accumulated so I'm always trying to find projects that can give them a second life.

This is a fairly simple one. Start out by gathering your supplies.

- Cutting mat
- Scissors, X-acto or utility knife (they all work just fine)
- Pencil
- Envelope template
- Adhesive (not pictured)
- Assorted papers (I'm using magazines for the larger envelopes and some scrap paper for mini envelopes but almost anything can be used)




Go through your magazines and find pages with interesting images, fun text or anything else you like and cut them all out. I prefer to find all my pages first and then make my envelopes all at once.




Once you've made your selection, use your pencil to carefully outline the template onto one of the papers.




Although this image is not very clear this is what you should have so far. Repeat as many times as you want to save paper.




Use one of you cutting tools to cut your envelope. Remember to use your cutting mat when using the X-acto or utility knife, it runs a lot smoother and you won't ruin your table!!




Finally, fold all four sides and use some glue or double sided tape to finish up your envelope leaving the top flap open.




A few more envelopes cut with the larger template, ready to be finished.




All done.