Thursday, March 24, 2011

Framing More

There is so much you can do with pictures. We all love to frame our most memorable pics and place them around the house, but there is only so many pictures you can add to one frame. This craft is great because it can be changed and added to at any time. You can use it for pictures, cards, favorite recipes, love notes, favorite quotes, or reminders. Using the idea of a memo board but changing it up a bit.

You will need a decent sized frame. The one I will be using is 16x20 inches. (the size is up to you)
A canvas board (optional)
A piece of fabric, any kind.
String or Ribbon.
Mini cloth pegs.
And a staple gun or hot glue gun.



The frame I am using I found at a craft store on sale because it had no back, you can find well priced ones at second hand stores or most craft stores. Just keep a look out for sales or deals. If you are using a canvas, make sure it is the right size for the frame so that it fits well. Now that we have all that lets get started.

Taking our piece of fabric, we are going to measure it to the size of the frame and cut it accordingly. If you are using a canvas, staple your fabric around your canvas nice and tight. If you are not using a canvas hold onto that piece of fabric and we'll get back to it in just a minute.

Measure your string or ribbon according to the width of your frame and depending on what you are wanting in your frame, how many pieces you will need. I am using string for mine, I have cut it and knotted it on both ends and have stabled it into the back of my canvas where I wanted it. You can then either nail your canvas to your frame or hot glue it to it, whatever works best for you. If you are not using a canvas, you can hot glue your string straight onto your frame and once you have glued all your pieces you can then hot glue your fabric onto your frame as well, sealing it nice and tight.



We are almost done, all we need to do now is add to it our little items that we have chosen to display and enjoy. Using the mini pegs you can peg on your photos that you would like, your favorite recipes that can hang in your kitchen, or your little reminders in your bedroom.


The limit is yours to what you want to display. It can be a great addition to a child's room with their favorite photos, or a grocery list and reminders for that week. It is all up to you. Fill it up, add to it, and change it up. Enjoy crafting.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Making Memories

Photo albums are fun and a great to show off our special occasions, embarrassing childhood moments, and all the family. I recently got married and have now received all my beautiful pictures of the wedding. But instead of buying an album that I couldn't really make personal, I decided to make my wedding album, it was quite the task but I have to say it is very rewarding once completed. Now with the freedom to design what you like you can create it just the way you want it. Birthday, Wedding, Anniversary, Baby Shower or a Special Occasion, there is no limit to what memories you want to display. What I love about this craft is everything I used I either got on sale or used a coupon, it makes it even more rewarding when you know you got a good deal on something. A great tip is to always keep a look out for good deals and sales that are happening, it might take a few weeks to accumulate all that you need for your craft, but it is worth it at the end of the day.

You will need to start off with a blank album, card-stock that you like, and whatever else you would like to place on the front of the album or on the inside.



For my album I used  8x8 green photo album, yellow card-stock, and white letters. I also found this gorgeous button which I wanted to place on the front. So I used some brown organza, sewed the button to that then hot glued the organza to my album. I also hot glued my card-stock to my album and placed photo corners to add to the look on the front.




With the front complete lets move on to the inside. I choose the color of card I would like to have as my pages and cut them to the right size.




Using photo corners to hold my pictures in place I placed my pictures in the order and style as I want and stuck them onto the card-stock. Photo corners come in different colors or if you not a fan of them there are little stickies that you can buy and place on the back of your photo that will hold them there just as good. 



Slide in your pages and enjoy your hand-made personal Photo Album. 


There is no limit to what you can create and place in your album. Words, tokens, letters, or photos. Have fun and enjoy.