Slide Out Pencil Box

Schools in most areas will be starting soon. It seems like they just got out for summer break. The stores already have school supplies and WalMart has this cute slide out pencil box for about 50 cents. I bought some of these boxes a couple of years ago when they had their after school sale and I only paid 10 cents each for them. You can use these to store a lot of little gadgets and craft items plus they make good little gift holders for small items such as candies and toys, etc.

This is one way I altered some of the boxes to give them a prettier look.
I designed a cover. Added graphics, printed it, cut it out, and covered the box...wa-la, a pretty box! You could also add pretty button, beads, ribbons or whatever you like to alter the look.

They come in assortment of different colors. I just bought another one in red and thought that would be good for something for Christmas. In the meantime, I have photos of the ones I did a couple of years ago.

I'm offering my template to you free for your personal use and I hope you find it useful. Have fun making some pretty boxes!

The template is a transparent PNG. Directions are included.
You can download it here from my 4 shared account.

*note - I just realized that the newer box I bought has a shorter closure on it, thus the snap is in a different position. This is the only difference so I have re-uploaded the 4 shared files and included a template for both boxes. The snap position is the only difference, and I apologize if this has inconvenienced anyone who previously downloaded.

Click on photo to enlarge it.

graphics from pcCrafter.

Little Bit

Little Bit is the name of my little pet parakeet. I won't go into the story of how I came about to have Little Bit or how she was named but I snapped this photo of her one day when she flew away from me and landed on this wall display with the little not so real birdie in the nest. It is just another of my crafty creations I put together years ago and I'm still hanging onto it....or should I say, Little Bit is hanging onto it?

photo©JP2008

Christmas In July

Make a Christmas gift bag from a plain brown bag. You can decorate the bag anyway you want. Glue on, paint on, or tie on what ever you have on hand to give your bag a Christmas look. This is a quick and easy idea to use if you need to give a gift and don't have wrapping paper or purchased gift bags on hand.
Don't stop at Christmas gifts, you can also use this idea for other gift occasions.
You can buy a package of fifty of these little brown bags in the supermarket food wrap section for less than two dollars or at one of the Dollar Stores for one dollar. You can also re-use some of those little white "pharmacy" bags. Recycling paper is always good. Regardless of the occasion, you can make a bag for that little gift. Bear graphics are from pcCrafters
©JP2008

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

© The Graphics Fairy

July 4Th is the day that Americans celebrate our independence from Great Britain, the day that the then Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. That was on July 4, 1776, 232 years ago.
Celebrate America! Keep safety in mind and have a happy 4Th of July.


Patriotic Cross Stitch

The following pictures are a sample of the twenty four patriotic cross stitch projects I completed. I am planning to make the squares into a small quilt and/or maybe some pretty pillows.

You can see more of these patriotic squares that I stitched in the slide show in the right panel.

Altered Tin

Who would have thought this tobacco tin could be so pretty. This is one of the few brands that have a metal can. Most are plastic. It has a plastic liner around the bottom inside edge, but the remainder of the can is metal.
Of course I don't chew or dip or whatever you call it! I personally think it is a bad, nasty addiction. I know someone who does use this, and that is where my tin came from.
Below are the steps to show how I altered this tin.

Be sure to click on the photos for a closer view.

The first two photos show what the can looked like before it was altered.





To start altering it, I added a big "glob" of glitter glue to the top. I used the inexpensive kind you find around Christmas at the Dollar Tree or the 99 cent stores.
You can find it almost anywhere you buy craft supplies.



I applied a generous amount of glue to work with.



Then I picked out a few pretty elements from my button and bead collection and placed them around on the glitter glue. I used the very small pearls and seed beads to fill in.





After the glue dried for a day or so I brushed on gold leaf paint around the edges. This step can be done before the glue and elements are added to the top.
Either way works fine.



The edges could be further embellished with trim of my choice but I prefer my tin without more trim. This is my finished tin and it was so quick and easy!

More Cans

A little can to drop my spare change in, then another just because I like that saying.
Money graphic from GrandStand Graphics.
©jp2008_______Click on photos to enlarge

Recycled and Altered Can

I made this from a plain old empty vegetable can.
These are the steps I took to make this little can. First wash and dry the can thoroughly. Tap a small hole in the top on opposite sides for the wire handle. Paint the can with a base or matte paint. After that is dry spray with whatever color spray paint you like. Choose your graphic print and cut out or use a premade graphic. I like to spray my ink jet printed graphic with clear Krylon Fixatif to set the ink and keep it from bleeding. You can use a graphic from a magazine or where ever you find one you like. I like to print them on sticker paper so they are easy to attach to the can. Stick or glue the graphic to the can. You can use the sticker paper, glue, or mod podge to attach it to the can. I then coat several light coats of mod podge over this or you can use a clear spray varnish to finish it. After this is thoroughly dry, attach the handle and any other embellishments you like. This makes a cute little holder for different items.
You can turn it into a gift can, candy container, candle holder or a variety of other uses.

©jp2008_________click photo to enlarge

Another Fun Thing

I get these forwarded emails every day and I thought this one was worth sharing. It brought a smile to my face and I hope it does yours too. We all need to smile so this is for all you gals....and guys too, if you have a sense of humor.
I used the email (original author unknown to me), and changed it somewhat, and made this little poster using Grandstand Graphics.

A Can of Worms

Back to crafts...
This really is a can of worms that I made just for a fun thing!
I used an empty vegetable can, washed and dried thoroughly. The trick is to open the can with a special can opener that opens the top or bottom from the outside edge so it can be placed back on with a little non toxic glue.
My can opener is the Good Cook brand. The cost for this opener is about eight dollars.
I designed and printed out the label and top. The label dimension is about 8.75 x 2.75 inches, the top is about 1.50 inches.
(If you decide to make one of these, measure the can you are using as these measurements would depend on what size can is.)
I stuffed a bag of gummy worms inside and thought this was a cute idea.

The pictures were taken with my older camera so they are not very clear, but you can get an idea of what it looks like.
Graphics used on this can are from GrandstandGraphics
front of can ______________©jp2008


back of can

My Photos Published

On a "whim", I decided to enter my yellow lily photo to picture.com. I previously entered another photo to them and it too was picked to be published in one of their books.
I received my confirmation letter today that said my contest entry, "Golden Lily," has advanced to semi-finalist in the International Open Amateur Photography Contest. My photo will now be automatically entered into the final competition, where it will have a chance of winning a prize, but it will also be published in their forthcoming anthology series called Endless Journeys. Even if it never wins a prize it is still an honor to have my photo published in a book.
Here and here are links to my 2 photos to be published.