Here is a great gift idea that you could make and give your loved one for Valentine’s Day. This is what the box looks like put together:

The lid comes off, and this is what is found inside:

I got the idea for this from the cricut.com messageboard, but you don’t need a Cricut to make it. What you do need is 3 pieces of 12×12 cardstock, one piece of 6×6 cardstock and matching paper and/or embellishments you want to use. Start by scoring lines on one piece of cardstock 4 inches apart, making the paper look like a tic-tac-toe board. Cut out the four corners.

On another piece of cardstock, score the lines 3.75 inches apart, and cut out the corners. Repeat with another piece of cardstock, making the lines 3.5 inches apart. You will have to trim the length of the edges as well, as much as you want. I chose to round my corners and distress the edges of the layers at this point.

To make the lid, take the 6×6 piece of cardstock and score it at 1 inch all the way around. Do a straight line clear across the side of the cardstock on each side. Cut very carefully one line on each side so that you can tuck it up under the next side and tape it. Don’t cut past the one inch score line.

Fold the sides in, and glue to secure. Now you can begin layering your cut pieces, putting the smaller ones on top of the larger ones and adhering the middle squares only. Once the box is together, you can decorate and embellish each layer as you want. I did it this way, and found that it might be easier to decorate each layer before you assemble it, but that’s a personal choice.

My box isn’t quite finished yet, I want to add some journaling in the middle of the box, and I haven’t decided how I want to decorate the outside of the box yet. But it worked up pretty fast, one evening, and it makes a unique gift.

I had previously posted that I have started sewing cloth diapers for my daughter, and since then I’ve fallen in love with them! They are easy and fast to work up, and you can make them so cute and functional. Plus, I love seeing Elizabeth wearing them, and knowing that my work is getting used

I went to get some more diaper flannel from our local fabric shop the other day, and I fell in love with some of the printed flannel that they had on sale. I decided that I wanted to try some diapers with a hidden waterproof layer, so I can use the fun prints on the outside. I just couldn’t resist the cats and lions:

These will make some cute diapers, and they will be unisex so if our next child is a boy, he can wear them too! I also couldn’t pass up a couple of more girly prints - multi colored dots and purple hippos:

But the cutest fabric I found was the monkey print…I just fell in love with it because it is so darn cute!! In fact I had to buy all that they had, just because I loved it so much! I can picture diapers with this print and a chocolate brown inside, and I just know they will turn out adorable.

However, I will not be using it all up for the diapers, so I think I’ll be making a taggie for Elizabeth out of it, and then I will have so much left over. What should I make with it? Any thoughts or suggestions?

As an avid scrapbooker, I’m always buying scrapbook albums on sale or receiving them as gifts. In the end, I always end up with lots of empty albums and I can never decide to just keep them for future layouts or use them for other things. I came up with a great idea to use a scrapbook album for CD storage, that keeps the CDs out of sight, and the scrapbook looks great sitting on a bookshelf or entertainment unit.

Closed…it looks just like a regular scrapbook album:

Opened…its a storage secret - lots and lots of CDs:

I started with an empty scrapbook album, an empty page protector and 2 pieces of scrapbook paper (for each page of CDs). I folded each of the 12×12 papers into quarters and then opened up. I put the papers into the page protector with the right sides facing out, and I sewed along the folds using my sewing machine. This separates the page into 4 pockets. I then used a ruler and a scalpel to cut about a half inch below the horizontal stitching, creating pockets to slide the CDs into. And there you have it - quick and easy CD storage that matches your decor, takes about 5 mins to make (per page) and holds 8 CDs.

This is a great project to get rid of some scrapbook paper you have laying around, as well as embellishments if you want. I chose to keep mine simple, but you could jazz the pockets up using embellishments, ribbon, colored thread…the options are endless!

Since crafting is my main passion, my husband and I agreed to make me a space that would be all my own. Its in the basement, so unfortunately its sometimes cold and dark, but its a space all my own, and I love it!

So here it is:

Its not pretty, its not fancy, but its mine The black shelving was specially designed and made for me by my husband, and its actually pretty empty right now, I haven’t filled it back up since we moved. As you can see, I have a variety of craft supplies, including stuff for scrapbooking (paper galore!), sewing, knitting / crocheting and even just general crafts.

Of course, my first love is knitting and crochet, and this is my favorite part of my craft room, my yarn stash!!!

I’ve actually made it a lot smaller the past while, at one point my entire black shelf was yarn only Its like an addiction, I can’t stop buying it. I also have a stash of fabric (all the drawers of the dresser are full of it) and a good collection of ribbon.

My husband made the ribbon holder for me, its usually mounted on a wall but I have no where right now since the walls are unfinished. But it keeps all my ribbon in one place, and it looks good too! Eventually we are going to finish off my craft space, and make it into a small room for me. But for now, its perfect for my needs

So now some of my current projects! I’m very excited about these - I’ve been sewing cloth diapers and wipes for my daughter.

Posted in Heather, Show & Tell, In Other Craft Rooms | 7 Comments »