Valentine's Day Photo Frame

Don't get me wrong, flowers and chocolates are great, but sometimes it's nice to have a little variety. This is an easy and inexpensive way to make a more personalized gift. (Guys, take notice!)

Materials:
Photo frame
Paint
Red quilling paper
Elmer's glue
Small dowel or end of a paintbrush


You will first need a simple photo frame. If you do not have a photo frame on hand, most dollar stores have a large variety so I would check there first.

If you cannot find a photo frame in the color you want, you can always paint it. I found this paint at the dollar store and it worked very well.

Next, to form the heart, take a strip of quilling paper and fold it in half. Then roll each end of the strip in towards the center on your small dowel or paint brush.

Now, take another strip and cut it in half. Curl each smaller piece fully and then pinch the circle in half to create a leaf shaped coil.

You can make as many leaves as you would like. To create larger ones, let the coil unravel slightly and then pinch it.


And finally, insert a picture of you and your special someone. :)

*Also, a huge thanks to my Aunt Joyce who sent me the quilling paper and some giant light bulbs! I will figure out something to do with those very soon! :)

Simple Bookmarks

To me reading is so much better with a cool bookmark. However, I simply do not have the heart to shell out four or five dollars on a piece of cardboard. So I have made an easy and inexpensive way to make your own book marks.

Materials:
A piece of cardboard (Empty boxes like cereal boxes work well)
Cross stitch floss, yarn, or ribbon
Beads (Optional)
Hole punch


If you are using a box, you will need to cut one side off of the box to use. I used a Diet Pepsi box because I wanted to use part of it for the design on the bookmark. You can use whatever kind of box or cardboard you would like.

Next, cut down the section of the box you would like to display on your bookmark. Leave enough room on one side to punch a hole.

Obviously, punch the hole!

Now measure out ten inches of floss and fold it in half. I have four pieces pictured here but I found out that four made it too thick to string beads onto.

Next, pull the looped side of the floss through the hole.

Pull the opposite side through the loop made by the floss.

Pull tight and tie a knot roughly two inches from the cardboard.

If you are adding beads, I found it easiest to use a small piece of tape to wrap around the end of the floss.
When you are finished adding beads, tie another knot at the end and cut off the taped end.

There are so many ways you can decorate these! This is a great way to use those scraps of paper that do not seem to fit any scrap-booking projects. You can use the whole box and decorate every section in a different way! :)

Think Creatively

I recently came across an article about how to hollow out a light bulb. I thought it was just the coolest thing! There are so many things you can make out of a hollow light bulb! I settled on this idea but I cannot wait for the next one to burn out to make something else. :)


Materials:
Hollowed out light bulb
Scraps of paper measuring from 3 to 8 inches
Tape
Hot glue
Small dowel
A piece of wood or cardboard measuring about 4x4 inches
Your choice of embellishments


You will obviously need to first hollow out a light bulb. The tutorial I used was very easy to follow. A warning before you begin, be sure to take extra care when doing this. You will be handling very sharp glass! I would advise doing this step outside in an area with not much traffic. Whether you dismantle the light bulb inside or outside, it is very important to keep track of all the bits of glass and dispose of everything properly. Ok, enough of sounding like my mother, here is the link: http://www.teamdroid.com/diy-hollow-out-a-light-bulb/

Next, cut eight strips from your scraps of paper measuring 1/8 of an inch wide.

After you have cut all eight strips, wrap them around your small wooden dowel.

Attach each piece of coiled paper to a small piece of paper with small pieces of tape, varying the lengths of the coils. Make sure that the ends are taped close to the middle.

After attaching all 8, begin to carefully insert all the coils into the end of the light bulb. Be careful of any broken glass that may remain in the inside of the metal! I used my small dowel to gently push the coils down.

Use your hot glue gun to glue the base to the metal. After the glue dries, trim the edges of the square paper that stick out from under the bulb.

Now decorate your stand as you desire. This is where you really get to be creative! I covered mine with some leftover scrapbook paper and then added a quote I found in a vellum paper pack from Walmart. I also attached a couple of cute little tags with "Think Creatively" written on them.

And finally, enjoy your finished project! :)