Christmas Cinnamon Stick Car Air Freshener/Ornament

The Holiday's are here and I have to say...it wouldn't be complete without the inspirational and fun "Craft Lightning" series hosted every year by Angie at Country Chic Cottage and Carolina at 30 minute Crafts!

For those few of you who may not have heard of it...Craft Lighting is a round-up of Crafts that take 15 minutes or less to make (minus drying time).

This year, for the Holiday edition Aunt Peaches joins in as a co-host with Angie and Carolina!

It gets a little tougher every year to come up with something "new" to make that hasn't been seen before...and I'm sure my project is not really new, but I have a hankering for recycle/upcycle projects using stuff I have collected (hoarded) over the years!

So I decided to make this scented Car Freshener Ornament:

I was trying to think of something different than just an everyday ornament and for some reason my car popped into my head as it's fairly new... yet has lost that "new car smell" that we all cherish so much!

So I thought how cool would that be to make a cute air freshener that could double as a Christmas Ornament!

There are other little touches you could add to this ornament to make it even better, but as I was trying to keep it at the 15 minute time frame, I didn't get too lavish!

One thing I thought of...was maybe adding a little pocket/pouch to the back of the ornament containing pot pourri or sachet scents as they are a bit stronger than just the cinnamon sticks alone.

You can also boil the cinnamon sticks to bring out more of the scent if they are older and have been sitting around awhile (like mine had been!).

When the sticks lose their scent, you can either add the sachet or a spray to it, or just use it as a pretty Christmas Ornament for your Holiday Tree!

Here is a video showing the steps taken on this project:

Here are the tools and supplies I used to make this project:

Supplies/Tools Used:

Mason Jar Lid (inside piece only)

Cinnamon Sticks, Holiday Time (Marketed By Walmart)

Small Beads, Wooden, 3 ea. (from excess stash on hand, brand unknown)

Drill, Black & Decker

Drill Bit, 1/8"

Hammer, Small, Ball Peen

Scissors

Scribe/Awl

Small Nail (for punching pilot hole for drilling)

Long Needle, (w/large eye for threading ribbon)

Toothpick (for applying glue to knots)

Ruler

Fabric Scrap (Mfr.Unknown, from Stash on-hand)

Felt, Red, Sparkle, Hobby Lobby

Embellishment, Holly Leaves, Plastic

Gold Cord

Ribbon, Dk. Red, Offray, 1/8"

Gold Leaf Pen, Krylon

Dress Marking Pencil, Lt. Blue

Sharpie Marker

Aleene's Tacky Glue

E6000 Glue

Mod Podge

Hope you enjoyed my post and be sure to visit Angie, Carolina and Aunt Peaches for more awesome Holiday Projects you can make in 15 minutes or less!

(Just click on the graphic below!)

Thanks for stopping by!

iPad/Tablet Stand from Repurposed Paper Towel Rolls

I always love being part of the Craft Lightning Series hosted by my blog friends Angie from the Country Chic Cottage & Carolina from 30 Minute Crafts and I was especially thrilled to hear about this one showcasing Recycled Crafts!

As most of my regular visitors already know...I love to make things from materials that would otherwise be disposed of...so this edition of Craft Lighting is right in my wheelhouse!

One of the things I "collect" and mean to someday USE...is cardboard toilet paper and paper towel rolls and my hubby always wonders WHEN I am going to use some of them up and unburden us from all the mass of cardboard!

He will be thrilled to see that I have made good use of a couple of the paper towel rolls and created this awesome iPad Holder/Stand:

The idea for this came out of necessity really...as we do a lot of traveling to auto swap meets and races in our Motorhome and I like to watch episodes of my favorite TV show of all time (Friends) on my iPad when I am going to sleep.

I have never found a good way to get the iPad to sit-up on the bed in the MH, even with one of those pad covers that is supposed to make them stand up. The mattress is just too squishy and it never stays up!

So I tried to think of something I could make that would keep the iPad upright and still let me view the entire screen.

For some reason the cardboard rolls popped into my mind...I figured if I could put two of them side-by-side and somehow secure them to hold the weight of the iPad then I would have a good solution to my problem and it would be a "recycled" craft!

I picked the brains of my family a bit for ideas on what would work best to stabilize it and we decided on rocks and rubber bands!

The rocks give it weight to balance out the weight of the tablet and the rubber bands keep the glued down rolls from taking on too much pressure from that weight.

I covered the cardboard tubes in duck brand duct tape to strengthen the cardboard and make it look prettier of course!

I made the base from an old Capri Sun cardboard box because it was a fairly thick cardboard and would hold-up well.

I covered the base in duck tape also for added strength.

I glued the covered rolls down on the base using E6000, which I recommend because of it flexibility, even after it has dried.

Some heavy duty glues can become very hard when dry and would not work as well for this project, but the E6000 performed great and allows for any pushing/pressure that may be put on the rolls.

I tried to put an even weight of rocks into each tube, I didn't weigh them, but just tried to pick 10 rocks of similar size and put 5 rocks in each tube.

You can glue these down inside the tube if you like, but I did not.

I left them loose and just shake them slightly to align evenly before I put the iPad in between the tubes.

To seal off the tubes I used old baby food jar tops spray painted silver to compliment the colors in my Flying Pig Duck Tape.

After letting the glue on the tubes and base set for a bit I put shims in between the tubes and let it dry overnight. (This was to be sure that I had some extra flexibility with the size of the slot to input the tablet.) For shims, I just used some mini cardboard baby books that I have on hand for my Grandchildren, but you can use thick pieces of cardboard or wood shims if you have them.

This project came together fast (minus drying time) and was so easy!

I recycled three different items (cardboard tubes, baby food jar lids & a cardboard juice box) that would normally be thrown away and the best part is...I made something I really needed and saved some money (have you seen the price of iPad stands??!! Yikes!).

                           

Here is a collage of the steps I took to make this project (click to enlarge): 

Here are the tools/supplies I used for this project:

Cardboard Tubes (from Empty Paper Towel Rolls) - 2 ea.

Duck Brand Decorative Duct Tape, 1.88", Flying Pigs Design

Spray Paint, Sterling Silver, Enamel, Champion Sprayon

Small Smooth Rocks, 10 ea.

Cardboard Box, Capri Sun (Med. Wt.)

Baby Food Jar Lids, 2 ea.

Rubber Bands, 2 ea.

Scissors

Ruler (Not shown in photo above)

Utility Knife, Husky

Adhesive, E6000

Marker, Sharpie, Black

Toothpick (to help place glue on lids)

Hope you enjoyed my post and are inspired to create something from recyclable or throw-away materials!

For more crafty, recycled inspiration be sure to check out all the cool projects featured on the blogs below by clicking on the graphic.

Thanks for stopping by!

Craft Lightning - Recycled Book to Easel Calendar

Welcome to the summer edition of Craft Lightning - 15 minute Crafts!

I am so happy to be participating in this fun series with some of my blog friends...

 Angie at: The Country Chic Cottage  and Carolina at: 30 Minute Crafts!

I'm always racking my brain to find crafts that are fun, easy and cute...

but that don't take a lot of time to complete. 

When visiting my good friend Melissa recently,
I noticed that she had this really cute easel calendar displayed in her den.

Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was hand-crafted and made from an old book cover.

This was just the inspiration I needed for a "lightning craft"!

Hubby and I have been cruisin' the Yard and Estate Sales lately and I have a TON of old books that are just piling up and calling my name to be used in some way, so the timing was perfect!

I used an old children's book for my project

I found this vintage looking 2014 calendar printable at the Crafty Secrets Blog.

I have a TON of buttons that I have gathered from our weekend adventures also and it was fun to dig through them to find this old vintage one that just seemed to fit perfectly with the book cover!

How to steps:

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Photo of supplies and tools used for this project:

Supplies/Tool List:

Old/Vintage Children's Book
Mini Printable Calendar (2004) - I downloaded mine from: Crafty Secrets
Cork Board Material, 1/4" Thick (as an alternative, you can use foam core board)
23-24" of Ribbon, Red, Solid/Sheer Combo w/Irridescent thread, Nylon/Poly, 3/8", Offray #RN17991, #CA07795
Button, Vintage (From Stock on Hand)
Push Pins, White, 2 ea.
Pearl Stickers (Heads), 2 ea., Aqua from: Jolee's Bling, Multicolored Package, Pastel Pearl Borders #50-00200  (Jolee's/EK Success)
Knife/Box Cutter
Scissors
Scribe/Awl
Hammer
Center Punch
Ruler
Scissors
Cutting Mat
Cardboard Template (for drilling holes) (self-made)
Dremel Tool, w/small drillbit
Yarn Needle, Plastic, (Boye) Simplicity Creative Group
Fiskars Paper Trimmer
Aleene's Tacky Glue
E6000 Glue
Toothpick
Paper Weight

If you have a quick craft of your own that you'd like to share...hop on over to The Craft Lightning Linky Party now!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and viewing my project!

Hope you'll come back soon!

This Project/Post is linked to the following sites/link parties: