Valentine Love Letter Keepsake Box

I know it might be "Old School" now...but back in my day, we wrote letters on paper to people we loved and cared about and what better way to store those precious memories than in an upcycled embellished old wine box!

My Sister recently sent me a ton of personal love letters that my Dad had sent to my Mom when they were dating and newly married and he was in the service.

These are precious to me and I wanted a way to store them where I could find them easily, as one day I want to read them all and gain more insight into my parent's relationship. Unfortunately they experienced rocky times in later years and ultimately divorced which was a sad and confusing time for me, but I know these letters will remind me of the love they once shared!

When Angie and Carolina announced the upcoming "Craft Lightning" for Valentine's Day...I knew this project I had in mind would be perfect for these special letters!

For those of you who are new here...Craft Lightning is a great series for craft & DIY bloggers that is hosted by Angie from the Country Chic Cottage and Carolina from 30 minute Crafts, where bloggers/crafters are challenged to create a quick craft that takes 15 minutes or less...minus drying time!

For this project, I kept it simple to meet those requirements...but you could of course get more fancy with this wine box and add more customized graphics or photos, or even stain it and give it an "antique" look!

So many fun and creative ways you can decorate these boxes and upcycle them into something useful and beautiful!

Not only can this box be used for special love letters, but it would make a cute collection box for a child's valentines from school or special photos near and dear to them or to you!

Here is a short video showing the steps taken to make this love letter keepsake box:

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

Supplies/Tool List:

(*Disclosure: Some text may include affiliate links)

Wooden Wine Box
Rust-Oleum Primer and Sealer
ACE Enamel Spray Paint, Antique White/Cooler Beige
Paper Napkins, Heart Themed, (From WalMart)
Scissors
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Mod Podge
Foam Paint Brush
Rubber Stamp, Love, By Craft Smart
Q-Tips (if necessary for touch-up)
Ink Pad, Red, Studio G, Dye Ink*
Krylon Workable Fixatif
Mod Podge Gloss Sealer

* One note about the materials I used...I was a bit inexperienced in using ink on wood and probably did not use the best type of ink or medium to stamp this box. The ink I used was a "dye" type ink and it did not adhere well to the spray enamel paint on the wood and it never really fully dried to where I could coat it with Mod Podge.
What I did to remedy this situation was spray over the stamped areas with a light mist of the workable fixatif. I let that dry and then lightly sprayed it a second time.
Even then, I was not able to cover it with Mod Podge because it began to "bleed" red when I did.
(That is why I needed the Q-tips...to try and fix my messy looking, smeared boo-boo!)
So, I ended up just using the mod podge on the napkin cutouts and after the ModPodge and Fixatif dried...I covered the entire top of the box with ModPodge Gloss Sealer and it worked great to seal the whole thing so it looked shiny and the stamps didn't rub off!
(I think in hindsight I should have used either pigment stamp or acrylic paint to stamp with...oh well...live and learn!)

Hope you are inspired to create by visiting my blog today and be sure to click on the graphic below to see lots of other great Valentine Inspired projects from Crafty Bloggers!

(*Stuff-n-Such, Lisa Hall, is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, and affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com)

This project/post is linked to the following sites/link-up parties:

http://www.craftsalamode.com/2017/02/what-to-do-weekends-party-211.html

Halloween Pumpkin Centerpiece

Halloween is almost upon us and I have been so busy with all of my sewing projects that I almost forgot about my Craft Lightning Project!

I wanted to make something fun to dress up my plain old boring dinner table, so I decided on this Pumpkin Centerpiece made from a faux carvable pumpkin from the Dollar Store.

This cute project can be completed in 15 minutes or less if you are in a hurry!

When I started out...I took out a ton of my craft stuff just to get some inspiration and ideas...

You can see my MESS here...

I tried different combos to get an idea of what I wanted...like adding faux leaves,spanish moss and ribbon to the pumpkin, but after a lot of experimentation, I settled on ric-rac, lace and bead trim to give the pumpkin a bit of a Steampunk look.

Here is a quick photo collage view of the steps I took to make this project:

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

List of Supplies/Tools used:

Faux Pumpkin, Carvable (from Dollar Store)
Old Candlestick (from Yardsale)
Craft Mat, Inkssentials, Ranger Ink
Black Braid Ric-Rac Trim, (Decorative Trim Brand sold at Hobby Lobby)
Orange & Black Ribbon, Polyester and Wire
Black and Gold Lace, 3-1/2" wide, (Unknown Brand, from craft stash)
Thread, White, 100% Polyester, Excell Brand
Sewing Needle
Scissors, Wescott Brand, Craft Scissors (from WalMart)
E6000 Glue
Ad Tech Glue Gun, 2-Temp, Cordless
Glue Sticks, Ad Tech, Multi-Temp
Beads, Gold, (small...exact size and brand unknown, from craft stash)

I am always happy to participate in the Craft Lightning Series of Quick Crafts hosted by Angie at The Country Chic Cottage and Carolina at 30 Minute Crafts!

Be sure to check out their blogs to see more fun, creative and super fast Halloween Ideas!

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my Halloween Centerpiece!

As always, I love hearing from you, so leave a comment if you'd like or come visit me on social media (see links in my blog sidebar).

Winner Announcement!! 100 Follower Giveaway

We have a winner in my 100 Follower Giveaway!!
Drum Roll please....
And the winner is:

#13, Christy from Christy Blade Handmade!!!
Yay! Congratulations Christy.
Please e-mail me with your mailing address so I can get your goodies sent out to you!

Here is a short video showing how I picked the winner, in case you are interested.

Sorry about the quality of it, I used my webcam and it usually does a decent job, but I guess because I was filming the computer screen it didn't work so great.

Thanks again to all who entered and who have come to visit my blog!

Ikea Julen Cards

I recently won some blog candy from Scrappin' Delta Diva's blog and one of the items that was in the awesome bag of goodies I won were these cute little blank cards from Ikea:

I never even knew that Ikea had cards!

I was pleasantly surprised to find these little nuggets in my gift bag, as they are different and a bit unusual, which inspires some creativity in me.

I really liked the stitching on the envelopes, it adds an elegant touch without being distratcting.

I tried to find out some more info on these cards online, but couldn't find anything.

I was curious to know what they are made of, because they feel almost like they are part paper and part fabric!

I couldn't wait to try them out and see how the fibrous material reacted to different mediums.

I knew that I wanted to make "thank-you" cards as these are the perfect size for that, so here are the results:

The catepillar card was made using a digi design from my dear bloggie friend Nikki at Melonheadz Illustrating.

She is SO very talented, if you get a chance, check out her blog and see some of the awesome digital images she offers.

Incredibly, she does not charge for most of them, but she does accept donations on her blog site and I hope you will donate if you like and use her images.

I started out by experimenting with some stamp pads and a natural sponge on the background of this card.

I wanted to bring out the natural texture of the card material and see how it would look.

I was pretty pleased with how it turned out, it looks almost like it is lightly tie-dyed!

I sized down the digi from Melonheadz to fit my card and then printed it out on white cardstock and cut it out.

I colored it using copics sketch markers and then gave it dimension by coating it with glossy accents and adding pop dots to the back to adhere it to the card.

The word "Thanks" was cut from one of my cricut cartridges, but I'm not sure which one, as it was from my "extra" stash of cuts.

I embossed the word "thanks" to give it a bit of pop.

I added a strip of ribbon and small purple flower brads to finish the card with a bit of charm.

Here is a picture of the items used to make this card:

Recipe:
Cricut Cartridge - "Thanks"
Blank White Card, Ikea, Julen (2-3/4" x 6")
Digital Image, Catepillar - Melonheadz Illustrating
Ribbon, Berwick Offray, Sheer Petit Dot C5 Kiwi, 9.0mm x 4.5m
Flower Brad, Purple, Creative Impressions Bright Flower Asst. Item #90666
Glossy Accents, Ranger Inkssentials
Embossing Powder, Super Fine Detail, Clear, Ranger #SFJ06954
Embossing Ink Pad, Clear, Emboss-It Inkssentials, Ranger Ink
Stamp Pad, Pigment, Lime Green, Studio G
Stamp Pad, Pigment, Yellow, Studio G
Copic Sketch Marker, Y13, Lemon Yellow
Copic Sketch Marker, YG03, Yellow Green
Copic Sketch Marker, BV13, Hydrangea Blue
Copic Sketch Marker, R29, Lipstick Red
Zots Clear Adhesive Dots, 3D, 1/2", Therm-o-web
Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive, Beacon Adhesives
Zig Squeeze & Roll, 2-way Glue Pen

Tools Used:
Cricut Expression Machine
Heat Tool, Marvy Uchida, Model #2500
Sponge, Watercolor, Large Coarse Sea Sponge, Royal Langnickel (From Set #R2098)
Awl/Scribe
Cutterbee Scissors
Flat Spatula Tool, Metal
PSA Essentials Custom Stamp

Now, for the second Thank-you card:

The bow on this card was made using a technique I found on a fellow-blogger's site Seongsook's Creations.
I am terrible at tying bows...especially tiny ones and this tip was a big help!
Here is a photo of the items I used to make this card:

Recipe:
Cricut Cartridge: Flower Shape & "Thank-you"
Blank White Card, Ikea, Julen (2-3/4" x 6")
Patterned Paper, Diamond/Argyle Lt. Purple/White (Unknown brand from stash on hand)
Satin Ribbon, 1/8"(3mm), Spool-o-Ribbon, Offray #RN1991 Orchid
Rhinestones, (2 ea.) Purple, Stick-on (Unknown brand from stash on hand)
Glossy Accents, Ranger Inkssentials
Copic Sketch Marker, #YR68 Orange
Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive, Beacon Adhesives
Zig Squeeze & Roll, 2-way Glue Pen

Tools:
Cricut Expression
Cutter Bee Scissors
ATG Tape Gun, Scotch
PSA Essentials Custom Stamp

Of course I stamped the back of both of my cards with my custom stamp by PSA Essentials.

Thank-you for checking out my blog!

Hope you'll return soon...don't forget my follower giveaway posted on my sidebar and here.

I am almost at my goal of 100 followers!! Yay!