create.

"As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness,
you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you"

Dieter F. Uchtdorf






Thursday, April 29, 2010

Cricut Tips & Tricks! {AweSoMe!}

If you own a Cricut...or if you are thinking about purchasing one...check out this AWESOME info that I came across @ Imperfectly Beautiful!! Amanda has some FaBuLouS money saving tips and tricks like:

How to make your cutting mat {sticky} again....

and...another option on where you can buy vinyl...

and...how you can save a little {moolah} when it comes to fonts!! {Thanks to an awesome reader tip...I recently bought this...and LOVE IT!!}

Sooo...go check it out HERE!!

Amanda...thanks so much for sharing these FaBuLouS tips!!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

{Farm Fence} Picture Hangers!




Check out this AWESOME twist from these Cupboard Door Picture Hangers...to these SuPer CuTe Farm Fence Picture Hangers made by Jennie @ Cinnaberry Suite! She used some old wood fencing that she already had...and some bandanas! LoVe it!!
For more info on how she made these...go HERE!
Jennie...thanks so much for sharing this FuN idea!

Monday, April 26, 2010

{Playroom} Art!

Check out this FuN kids wall art from the fickle pickle! She re-purposed a canvas that she already had! So siMpLe and CuTe! Perfect for a kids room or playroom!

Tip: If you don't want to buy a blank canvas...sometimes you can find old canvas pictures @ the thrift store that you can lightly sand down & re-do for ChEAP!!

For more info on how she made this...go HERE!

Thanks so much to the fickle pickle for sharing this Fun idea!!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Swappin' with I {heart} Naptime w/ Chocolate Sundaes!!

Hey! I'm Jamielyn from I naptime w/ chocolate sundaes!



I’m so excited to take over Stacie's blog today. She is amazing, and I'm so excited to be here!! There are so many fun projects on here that that I want to try!

I hope you all come check out my blog Iheartnaptime w/ Chocolate Sundaes where you can find:

Fun house decor like this magnet board:







yummy recipes



fun holiday inspiration








Modpodged Ribbon Holder - you won't believe the before shots...



Birthday Party ideas



and our kitchen makeover we just finished! I am LOVING the white cabinets!


Thanks Stacie for having me, I had fun swapping with you! I'd love for all of you to come on by Iheartnaptime and say hello. :)
Also join us Sat-Mon for a weekend wrap up party to show off all YOUR fun projects!


Happy Friday!
Aren't those projects awesome?!! I LoVe what she did to her cabinets in her kitchen makeover!! AweSome!
Thank you Jamielyn for swappin' today!!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

{EaSy} DIY Rings!

Here is a FuN ring idea that only took me a few minutes to make.
Here are the supplies I used:


I bought my ring blanks @ Michaels...and I bought the buttons and glue @ Walmart.
First I cut off the bottom of my button with my wire cutters...


Then...sanded the stump down so the middle was flush with the rest of the button...


Then I used E-6000 to glue it on! So FuN and EaSy!!

This project turned out to be a little over $1.00 a ring! WaHoo!! My kind of project!!
Check out these other FuN button ring links that I came across on the web: Here and Here !
So CuTe!!
Wouldn't these make a FuN inexpensive gift for Mothers Day?!!
Speaking of Mothers Day...thanks so much to those of you who have linked up your Mothers Day Ideas!! They are AWESOME!!
And...if you would still like to link up...go ahead...it will be open till Mothers Day!!

Happy Crafting!!

Monday, April 19, 2010

{FuN} Fishing!

Fishin' Anyone??
Ohhhh...my kids would LoVe this!

Aren't those fish CuTe?!! :) I came across this idea @ From an Igloo...where Christine saw the idea on Counting Coconuts! She made her own fish... sewed a metal washer to the fish mouth...and hung a magnet on the end of a string! What an awesome idea!! I could see my kids playing with these for HOURS! Wouldn't this make a great Birthday or Christmas gift?!! Soooo FuN!!

For more info on how she made this...go HERE!

Christine...thanks so much for sharing this great idea!!

Friday, April 16, 2010

Swappin' with {Scraps n' Strings}



Hello to Creative Crate readers! This is Ruth and Sammy from Scraps N' Strings and we are so excited to be doing our blog spot with Stacie! We figure we had better introduce ourselves a bit before we start.




I'm Ruth and I am a stay at home mommy of 2 (3 and 1) and a part-time photographer, you can see my work here. I enjoy making "stuff" and taking pictures of them! I especially love to sew and like to break out the Modge Podge. I love anything that is quick and simple! After I got married, I started crafting with my sister-in-law Sammy as a way to make our homes cute without spending a lot of money.




My name is Sammy and I have 2 darling little boys, 2 and 10 months. I'm a stay at home mom and I like to spend my zero amount of free time trying to be crafty and beautifying my home. One of the first things my husband said to me when we bought our home was, "You want to put crafts up, don't you?" So that's what I've done. And now we've decided to share some of our ideas with you! We've got a little bit of everything on our blog, from baby and home tutorials to recipes. So now on to the tutorial:



I am so in love with these and they were so super easy. First thing that you are going to need is 4 8X8" wooden wall boxes. I got mine at Porter's for $4.99. You can go bigger if you want but I figured these would be the easiest sizes to print pics for. You also need to find 4 flower pictures that you like. I googled mine so I don't have the link or anything for them but you can do the same and find pictures that you like. I then changed the color to a light sepia and added text to each picture (live, laugh, love, always) and put them in the bottom right of each picture, and then printed them onto cardstock before cutting the paper down to 8X8" squares.



The next thing I did was paint the edges of the boxes a dark brown color and then used the glossy mod podge to attach the pictures onto the tops of the boxes.




After I got all of the pictures attached, I took three of my fave distress inks and used a rag to rub some color around the edges of each box, making sure that each color stood out.






This next step is what made me love these boxes. I wanted them to have an aged look, so I took some white tissue paper and crumpled it into a ball


then uncrumpled it and put a thin layer of mod podge on the pictures and layed the tissue paper over the box. Then flatten the tissue paper over the top. It should look wrinkley and old. After it is all pressed down put another layer of mod podge over the top of the tissue paper. Make sure that you use a lot of mod podge to help the tissue paper get a sort of see through look.


Once the mod podge dries, peel off the excess tissue paper and use a sharp knife around the edges to make sure that all of the excess comes off.


Last step is to apply one more layer of mod podge over the top and around all sides to that the finish has a nice shine to it. Let them dry overnight and wha-la!



These babies are going straight up on the wall in my room, but don't you have a cute little shelf or empty wall space in your home that these would be perfect for? I thought so...


Thanks, Stacie, for swapping with us today! Don't forget to check out the rest of our projects at Scraps N' Strings!

Aren't they FuN?! And...what a great project!

Thanks Sammy & Ruth!

And...don't forget to link up those Mothers Day ideas!! :)

Have a great day!!

Don't stop here...Click on "OLDER POSTS"!!