Sustainable Faux-Leather Storage Box

I’ve always been one of those people that saves everything and anything that remotely resembles an art or craft supply for the possibility of it being used in a future project. Some of these poor, neglected materials sometimes sit around for ages waiting for their shining moment and today, thank the stars, the “Creative Bug” strikes again!!!

What will we be doing, you ask??  We are going to control the chaos that hoarding saving all these things has created!  And, if you are anything like me, you will most likely already have everything you need just laying around on one of the countless piles covering every surface in your flat.

The idea today is simple; we’ll be transforming a plain ol’ boring shoebox (or something similar) into a fancy-pants faux-leather storage container.  If you recently bought yourself a brand-spanking-new pair of vegan leather shoes and saved the box then you’re in luck. No box? No worries!  Choose something here and get cracking.

Aside from that, you’ll need paper grocery bags, glue, paint, and a couple of brushes (both to apply the glue and for the paint). That’s it, can't get any easier than that!!

In part two we'll decorate our box even further and we'll explore other materials but for now, let's get started!

Materials

Box - Shoebox or similar

Brown Paper Bags or Kraft Paper

Adhesive - You have many options here but the key is that you should be able to easily brush it on. I am using PVA glue but you can use something made specifically for decoupaging, Mod Podge, or even wood glue (keep in mind that this may not dry clear). Just don't use a Pritt stick, you need your glue to be wet and spreadable!!

Paint - One colour is enough but if you want more dimension I'd choose one or two more in the same family. I think acrylics are a great option for this project but the idea is that you use what you have at home so don't worry too much if you don't have this type of paint. Actually, you can even use shoe polish!!

Brushes - One for painting and one for glue. I have an assorted pack that includes foam brushes, those are very inexpensive and you won't be too sad if you forget to rinse them off once finished!

Paper towels or a rag

Instructions

Step 1 - Gather all your materials and select the box you want to use.

Step 2 - Tear your paper bags in large-ish but manageable pieces. IMPORTANT: Make sure you don't have any straight edges left!

Step 3 - Crumple all your pieces of paper into little balls and open them back up. You want lots of creases and wrinkles so repeat this process as many times as you want until you're happy with the result; I did it twice.

Step 4 - Now comes the fun part! Apply some glue to your box, a section at a time, and adhere the paper to it. Be sure to overlap the pieces a little so every inch of your box gets covered. If you find it hard to spread the glue, you can add a little bit of water to make it runnier. IMPORTANT: Don't overdo it or it will take forever for it to dry!

Step 5 - Once the glue has dried it's time to paint. Thin down your paint with some water and apply it to your box, again, work in sections. Use your rag or paper towel to dab the excess and build up the colour until you get the desired effect. You can do this with a single colour of paint or, if you have more, alternate your paints to achieve a more distressed, worn out look. PRO TIP: If you find that the paint is drying too fast and you can't remove it easily, sprinkle some water on your paper before applying the paint.

Step 6 - Let this fully dry and apply one last coat of glue. Trust me, it makes all the difference!

Step 7 - Voilà!  Your beautiful faux-leather box is ready to be filled with pens, markers, trinkets, or whatever else you can think of.  Now go make another one...or three... and before you know it you'll have a beautifully organised home.

It's an Art Party!!

My niece Sofia loves art and decided, very fittingly, that she wanted an Art Party for her 8th Birthday.  Since my sister in law is expecting baby No. 3 and little Gracie's been kicking her butt (24/7 morning sickness, anyone??) I said I'd help as much as possible.  Of course, I resorted to Pinterest for ideas and gave them my own twist.  To keep cost low I used things I already had, made many of the decorations myself and simplified the menu (no kid needs 50 different food choices for a 3 hour party!).

For the mantle I made some simple Pennant Flags with cardstock and spelled "PAINT" with Vintage Sign Letters I already owned.

With the leftover triangles from the flags (I hate throwing stuff away), I made "Sofia's Art Studio" Color Wheel for the front door.

I thought it would be cute for her to have a Guestbook so I quickly painted a rainbow on one of the canvas panels I made for the kids to paint (more on those in a bit), and laid out a few markers.  Instant Guestbook!

For the table, I purchased some White Kraft Paper (some Arts & Crafts stores will sell this by the yard) and a couple rolls of Gift Wrap that went with the theme.  I covered the table in white and created a table runner with the decorative paper.  I also covered a cardboard box with the same paper to create different levels.  I got the cups, plates, and napkins from Amazon and the "Add-On" feature made them crazy cheap!

The backdrop was made with twisted crepe paper in rainbow colors.  Just make sure you twist the same number of times every time to achieve an even effect.  Yeah, I'm a little anal like that...I also like to count how many times I pump each balloon so they are all roughly the same size!!

As far as food goes we also kept it fairly simple.   Rainbow fruit and veggie platter, jello in assorted flavors arranged on the table, popcorn, and chips with guacamole and salsa. Oh, and the super cute (and yummy) pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles.

For the table, I purchased some White Kraft Paper (some Arts & Crafts stores will sell this by the yard) and a couple rolls of Gift Wrap that went with the theme.  I covered the table in white and created a table runner with the decorative paper.  I also covered a cardboard box with the same paper to create different levels.  I got the cups, plates, and napkins from Amazon and the "Add-On" feature made them crazy cheap!

The backdrop was made with twisted crepe paper in rainbow colors.  Just make sure you twist the same number of times every time to achieve an even effect.  Yeah, I'm a little anal like that...I also like to count how many times I pump each balloon so they are all roughly the same size!!

As far as food goes we also kept it fairly simple.   Rainbow fruit and veggie platter, jello in assorted flavors arranged on the table, popcorn, and chips with guacamole and salsa. Oh, and the super cute (and yummy) pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles.

For the table, I purchased some White Kraft Paper (some Arts & Crafts stores will sell this by the yard) and a couple rolls of Gift Wrap that went with the theme.  I covered the table in white and created a table runner with the decorative paper.  I also covered a cardboard box with the same paper to create different levels.  I got the cups, plates, and napkins from Amazon and the "Add-On" feature made them crazy cheap!

The backdrop was made with twisted crepe paper in rainbow colors.  Just make sure you twist the same number of times every time to achieve an even effect.  Yeah, I'm a little anal like that...I also like to count how many times I pump each balloon so they are all roughly the same size!!

As far as food goes we also kept it fairly simple.   Rainbow fruit and veggie platter, jello in assorted flavors arranged on the table, popcorn, and chips with guacamole and salsa. Oh, and the super cute (and yummy) pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles.

For the table, I purchased some White Kraft Paper (some Arts & Crafts stores will sell this by the yard) and a couple rolls of Gift Wrap that went with the theme.  I covered the table in white and created a table runner with the decorative paper.  I also covered a cardboard box with the same paper to create different levels.  I got the cups, plates, and napkins from Amazon and the "Add-On" feature made them crazy cheap!

The backdrop was made with twisted crepe paper in rainbow colors.  Just make sure you twist the same number of times every time to achieve an even effect.  Yeah, I'm a little anal like that...I also like to count how many times I pump each balloon so they are all roughly the same size!!

As far as food goes we also kept it fairly simple.   Rainbow fruit and veggie platter, jello in assorted flavors arranged on the table, popcorn, and chips with guacamole and salsa. Oh, and the super cute (and yummy) pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles.

For the table, I purchased some White Kraft Paper (some Arts & Crafts stores will sell this by the yard) and a couple rolls of Gift Wrap that went with the theme.  I covered the table in white and created a table runner with the decorative paper.  I also covered a cardboard box with the same paper to create different levels.  I got the cups, plates, and napkins from Amazon and the "Add-On" feature made them crazy cheap!

The backdrop was made with twisted crepe paper in rainbow colors.  Just make sure you twist the same number of times every time to achieve an even effect.  Yeah, I'm a little anal like that...I also like to count how many times I pump each balloon so they are all roughly the same size!!

As far as food goes we also kept it fairly simple.   Rainbow fruit and veggie platter, jello in assorted flavors arranged on the table, popcorn, and chips with guacamole and salsa. Oh, and the super cute (and yummy) pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles.

For the table, I purchased some White Kraft Paper (some Arts & Crafts stores will sell this by the yard) and a couple rolls of Gift Wrap that went with the theme.  I covered the table in white and created a table runner with the decorative paper.  I also covered a cardboard box with the same paper to create different levels.  I got the cups, plates, and napkins from Amazon and the "Add-On" feature made them crazy cheap!

The backdrop was made with twisted crepe paper in rainbow colors.  Just make sure you twist the same number of times every time to achieve an even effect.  Yeah, I'm a little anal like that...I also like to count how many times I pump each balloon so they are all roughly the same size!!

As far as food goes we also kept it fairly simple.   Rainbow fruit and veggie platter, jello in assorted flavors arranged on the table, popcorn, and chips with guacamole and salsa. Oh, and the super cute (and yummy) pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles.

For the table, I purchased some White Kraft Paper (some Arts & Crafts stores will sell this by the yard) and a couple rolls of Gift Wrap that went with the theme.  I covered the table in white and created a table runner with the decorative paper.  I also covered a cardboard box with the same paper to create different levels.  I got the cups, plates, and napkins from Amazon and the "Add-On" feature made them crazy cheap!

The backdrop was made with twisted crepe paper in rainbow colors.  Just make sure you twist the same number of times every time to achieve an even effect.  Yeah, I'm a little anal like that...I also like to count how many times I pump each balloon so they are all roughly the same size!!

As far as food goes we also kept it fairly simple.   Rainbow fruit and veggie platter, jello in assorted flavors arranged on the table, popcorn, and chips with guacamole and salsa. Oh, and the super cute (and yummy) pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles.

For the table, I purchased some White Kraft Paper (some Arts & Crafts stores will sell this by the yard) and a couple rolls of Gift Wrap that went with the theme.  I covered the table in white and created a table runner with the decorative paper.  I also covered a cardboard box with the same paper to create different levels.  I got the cups, plates, and napkins from Amazon and the "Add-On" feature made them crazy cheap!

The backdrop was made with twisted crepe paper in rainbow colors.  Just make sure you twist the same number of times every time to achieve an even effect.  Yeah, I'm a little anal like that...I also like to count how many times I pump each balloon so they are all roughly the same size!!

As far as food goes we also kept it fairly simple.   Rainbow fruit and veggie platter, jello in assorted flavors arranged on the table, popcorn, and chips with guacamole and salsa. Oh, and the super cute (and yummy) pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles.

Happy Holidays

Eepi's Birthday Card

She loved it!

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.

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.

Dining Room makeover...continued

I'm still not finished with everything in the Dining Room but it's slowly coming together.
I bought this frames at the dollar store and gave them a few coats of paint. They're not up on the wall yet but wanted to show the progress.


Before, even though I only remebered to take pictures after I started painting.

After...frames are almost ready, just need a couple touch-ups