Mini DIY Tutorial – Origami Paper Wrapped Candles

Happy New Year! For the first post of the year, I have a little mini tutorial. It's the perfect quick craft project to spruce up a drab corner of the house. The other week I was at the grocery store and found these tall candles in glass jars for just $1.50. I decided to spruce up the plain white glass with a little origami paper and washi tape.

DIY Fabric Bound Portfolios

I always have piles of loose papers lying around, cluttering my apartment. I like to save sketches for projects or tear sheets from magazines but I needed a way to corral them all. I used to do a lot of book making projects and a few months got the idea to transform one of those old projects into a set of portfolios.

DIY Fabric Sketch Book Cover Tutorial

Every designer needs a sketchbook. There's nothing quite like putting actual pen (or pencil) to paper and drawing out the vision you have in mind. It's even better when your sketchbook is super pretty to look at. Patterned fabric is one my favorite things in the world and this sketchbook cover is a great way to showcase a precious little piece of fabric. Once you get started, you'll want to cover all the sketchbooks and day planners you can get your hands on. This would certainly make an awesome Valentine's Day gift for your favorite designer, artist, note taker or list maker. Enjoy! 

Free Printable - 2013 Calendar

Just in time for the new year, here's a one page 2013 calendar in three colorways free for you to download and print. I've done a printable calendar for the last couple of years and it's something that I think about throughout the year.

This one is a little different this year. The whole year is on one page of 8.5 x 11 inches size of paper. The document has three pages, each with a different color theme (see other colors below). You can print all three and use them all yourself, or give them away as little new year gifts. The calendar uses the fonts Dude and Cubano from Lost Type Co-Op and Franklin Gothic for the numbers. I hope you enjoy these! Happy New Year!

Click here to download the calendar.

Please feel free to share the calendar and link to this post (not to the download link please).

Terms of use: This document is not for resale or profit. 

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DIY Wrapping Paper

I had so much fun wrapping gifts this year with my own DIY painted wrapping paper. Even better, it cost practically nothing to make. Naturally, I wanted to post this before Christmas but just didn't get around to it. You know how it goes. And anyway, you can make use of this craft anytime of year. It only takes a little bit of time to do and it's totally worth it.

DIY Printable – Christmas Gifttags

I can hardly believe that it's almost Christmas. If you're anything like me you have a few (or all!) of your presents left to wrap. So for today's Font Friday I've chosen two fonts that are perfect for a fun, casual Christmas and I  made them into some Christmas hangtags, free for you to download. (Yay!)

The first font is Blackout from The League of Movable Type which looks like letters cut out from construction paper. There are three versions - Midnight, 2AM and Sunrise. I'd love to try cutting out these letters out and make a garland. The second font is Cubano from Lost Type Co-Op, a rounded, chunky sans-serif, not unlike one Mr. Clause.

 

Mini DIY Tutorial - Origami Ball Garland

You might remember making origami balls as a little tyke. I always thought the best part was the last step, when you puff out the balls with a quick blow of air in the opening at the bottom. This fun cheerful garland is really easy to make and can be done in any color or patterned paper you choose. Like yesterday's project, this is a great project for kids.

DIY Embroidered Diana Camera Notebook Tutorial

I'm so excited to announce that I have a new tutorial on Lomography Magazine. The tutorial is for making a paper notebook embroidered with the outline of a Diana camera. You can see the full tutorial here. Below are some snapshots of the process. Download the pdf template here. 

I hope you enjoy this little project! It's a lot of fun to make. Even though my fingers got tired from the embroidery, it was worth it. Let me know if you make one too.

Free Printable – Circle of Hearts Valentine's Day Card

Here's a little card that I designed last year and completely forgot to post. The card is 4 x 6 inches when cut and folded. Print the design on letter size paper. Make sure to print with page scaling set to "None". Click here to download or the image above. I hope you enjoy it!

Free Printable – Happy Valentine's Day Cards

The perfect accompaniment to any card is a cute little box of candy. Instructions to make origami boxes are from this book.

I've designed two Valentine's Day greeting cards free for you to download and print yourself. There is just one pdf to download, with one of each card per 8.5 x 11 inch page (see below for a preview). Click here or image below to download.

Simply print it out, cut along the dotted line and then fold in half. Each finished card is 5.5 x 4.25 inches. Make sure to print with Page Scaling set to "None".

If you have a lot of valentines ;) or are just looking for something different, stay tuned because I will be posting more designs as the holiday approaches. Also, check out last year's free Valentine's Day card.

Friday Faves – Jan 20

Font: Ostrich Sans Rounded

My favorite font of the week, from The League of Movable Type, is simple yet bold. I used it in some Valentine's Day cards that I will be posting soon (check back in on Monday).

 

This stuffed penguin from the Purl Bee is so adorable (photo from Purl Bee). I can't wait to make one. I just finished making a knitted kitty-cat that I will be showing you soon (so cute!). I'm afraid making little animals could become addictive.


More things to check out:

Elegant Paper Wreath from Stylelist
Downton Abbey on PBS.org (Seriously good. I feel sad every time an episode ends.)
Yarn covered wire letters from Family Chic (via Stylelist)
McCall's sewing patterns M6512 and M6520. These patterns are basic, beautiful and provide lots of options.

Craft from the Past - Paper Covered Boxes

I decorated these little boxes ages ago. They are great for holding jewelry, makeup or other knick-knacks. And you can customize it them to fit any style. I purchased paper board boxes from the craft store (see one in the pic below) and then covered them in paper. For the box above, I used scraps of magazines arranged into a flower pattern for the top. For the sides of the lid and bottom, I used overlapping rectangle shapes.

For the box with the lavender patterned paper, I wrapped the side of the bottom with a long rectangle of paper. For the lid, I glued a circle larger than the lid to the top. Then to cover the sides of the lid, I snipped the paper to the rim (like when clipping a curved seam in sewing), folded the paper over the sides, letting it overlap, glued in place and then trimmed away any excess.

Book Review – Modern Paper Crafts

 I received Modern Paper Crafts by Margaret Van Sicklen for Christmas. It features a variety of unique and inventive paper projects. The photos are beautiful and the instructions are clear. The spiral binding is also ideal for reading and crafting.

 I love the subtle beauty of the Chevron Wall Decor from the folding chapter.

 The Pleated Lamp Shades are amazing. 

 First off I made some Treat Boxes. I've made this kind of box before. They are fun, easy to make and a bit addictive (so much so that I once used them to wrap Christmas presents). You can use a smaller piece of paper to make the lid so that it still shows the sides of the bottom box (see the two boxes on the bottom of the stack above). Sizing the lid to fit the bottom of the box can be a little tricky. I haven't figured out the perfect ratio of paper size and folds so it's a game of chance but is based on folding the sides short of the middle.

I also made a few of the Organizer Trays using scrapbook paper and card stock. When completed, these boxes show both the right and wrong side of the paper. Choose a double sided paper or make one using the instructions in the book.

The boxes were easy to put together and the perfect inspiration for cleaning up and organizing a messy drawer. Before and after above.

Christmas Note Cards and Hangtags

This weekend I whipped up some Christmas note cards and hangtags. I had plain note cards sitting around ready to be decorated. I punched a decorative edge on the side of the note card and stamped fir trees in the center. For the hangtags, I cut a manila folder into 2.5 x 3.5 inch rectangles, trimmed off two corners, punched a hole in the top and stamped the center.

Paper Covered Magazine Files

IKEA magazine files before

After covering with scrap-booking paper. Such a transformation! I love it. And here's a secret: the paper doesn't wrap all the way around. It covers the front and then as much as it can on the sides.

The paper really brightens this corner of the room and did not take long to complete. I used craft glue to attach the paper and an exacto blade to remove excess paper.

Free Printable Valentine's Day Garland Card

In honor of Valentine's day, I made a pretty little card, free for you to download an print yourself. This card is 6 by 4 inches. The illustration is my own original and the font is League Script available for free from The League of Movable Type.

Click here to download.

How to wrap 2011 printable calendar

As promised, here's a clever little way to wrap my free, download-able 2011 Printable Calendars.
Cut a piece of paper approximately 15 inches by 20 inches. Fold in half, short sides together. Crease then unfold. Center long edge of calendar next to fold and fold long sides towards center over calendar (as above).
Fold in half along crease.
Fold over flap edge. Use decorative scissors to cut raw edge. Using a hole punch, punch two holes in flap. Thread a pencil through the holes and you're done – no tape necessary!
Write a personal message on the outside or decorate with a gift tag or holiday ornament.

Free Printable 2011 Calendars

I've been wanting to design a calendar for years and finally got around to doing it. I've done two versions, both ready for you to download, print and give for the holidays.

The Sketch-It-Yourself calendar features an empty box waiting for you to fill it up with drawings, paper, fabric or whatever pleases you. The calendar uses the fonts Sketchetik Light (available for free from MyFonts) and Quicksand (available for free on Font Squirrel).

The Color-it-yourself calendar features the delicate and feminine designs of the font Matilde (available for free from TypeDepot). The numbers are typeset in Raleway (available for free from The League of Movable Type).

To download a print ready pdf of the Sketch-it-yourself calendar click here.

To download a print ready pdf of the Color-it-yourself calendar click here.

After downloading, open the pdf and print on cardstock (you will need seven pieces).
Using a paper cutter or ruler and blade, cut the pages in half vertically.
To hang the calendar, clip the pages together with a small binder clip and hang on a nail or thumbtack.
Tomorrow, I'll show you my wrapping recommendation for giving these calendars as gifts.