Invitations, Paper Punches and Planning, Oh My!
I love a good party. What’s not to love about getting together with people you like and celebrating something… or just eating and drinking yummy things? Last year we put on a Thank You Party for the teachers at Anna and Jack’s preschool, and it was a big success. I didn’t get very many pictures last year- I’m hoping this year will be different. Hindsight 20/20, Michael and I did way too much complicated food, so we were running around the whole time trying to balance entertaining with cooking. This year I hope to choose much easier food that we can prepare ahead of time and then we can enjoy the company of our guests a lot more. I will also have a new baby on my hands, so that’s another reason to keep it simple.
Every party starts with an invitation, and I wanted to try something different for these. I’ve been oooohing and ahhhhing over Martha Stewart’s “Punch Around the Page” sets, and came across a coupon in one of her magazines for 40% off any item, so off I went to Michael’s. I ended up buying this set:
I’ll admit I was a bit intimidated by these- I mean, really. Can you really make them look as nice as they do in the photos of things that Martha’s people make? The answer is: yes! There is a bit of a learning curve, though, so I thought I’d share with you some of the things I ended up doing to help them look (close to) perfect.
Firstly, it’s important to know that you have to size your paper to a certain measurement in order for them to work correctly. This makes sense, but it forced me to adjust my invitations a bit at the onset. Also, do some practice punching on paper that doesn’t matter at all- scraps you’ve saved or something- just to get used to how they feel and work. I do think they are very nice tools- they will last a long time.
I printed my invitations 8.5 x 5 inches. I made about 4 extra so that if I messed up I didn’t have to print more- which ended up being wise because I did make a few bloopers.
Step 1 is to do your corners with the corner punch. Turn it upside down so you can get it just right.
After your corners are done, you can do the edges. This is where I made the most mistakes, but here’s what ended up working best.
The edge punch has a graphic guide that you line the corner up with. I found that after punching those first segments just off the corners that I did better when I turned the whole thing upside down so I could see exactly where I was punching.
And here are some final product shots for you:
I just love all those little holes lined up. I’m such a nerd.
Now that the invitations are out it’s time to plan, plan, plan. I’m using two of my favorite magazines to lift ideas from. I have some in my head, but nothing on paper yet.
How do you plan parties? Any favorite sites or tools you use? I’m a list person at the core. I could use an app on my phone or something, I’m sure, but there’s something about writing a list out that helps my brain figure everything out. More to come!
Picture Frame Gallery
We have a ranch-style house (I think). It’s all one level, which I love, and it has a loooooong hallway down the bedroom side. We’re talking 30+ feet. Really long.
When we moved into this house, which my husband grew up in, we had tons of projects, so for quite a while this one sat by the wayside, waiting to be done. I had lots of thoughts about how to hang pictures, but it wasn’t until I saw this idea on Martha’s website that I got my rear in gear and starting putting this together.
Here’s the before, with just our small photo gallery that my mom gave me from Red Envelope. (I actually need to email them because some of the frames aren’t holding up…) Many apologies for the lighting- there is very little natural light in this hallway. We hope to put in skylights someday, but until then…
And here’s the after: voila!
I really love the end result. Here’s a little bit about my process.
This was a very overwhelming task now that I look back and think about it. Because of the layout I decided to do things in a way that felt a little bit backwards- I didn’t even think about what pictures to use- I just collected frames. I wanted the frames to be uniform in color, and most of them were black. But we were definitely on a budget and I didn’t want to buy frames unless I needed to, so I went through our huge collection of unused frames and pulled any that were black, or useable, but not black. Then I spray-painted the ones that were not black.
I did have to make a trip to get a few more- I chose to hit up Wal-Mart. My theory on frames is that once they are on the wall, it doesn’t matter if it was $3.00 or $30.00- it’s a frame. This was a good thing, because Wal-Mart has some cheap frames!
I followed the directions on Martha’s website pretty much verbatim. The one thing that I was very glad to have was the laser level with 3M Command Strips- that way I could easily make sure the dividing line was/is level. Lots of painter’s tape was involved as well. Lots.
Once I had the frames ready, I taped off the dividing center line. Then I grouped the frames into four groups so that I wouldn’t have two identical frames right next to each other. This made hanging go a bit faster because I didn’t have to stop and think- just measured, taped, nailed and hung. It took several hours to do.
(horrible lighting- sorry!)
Once the frames were up it was time to think about pictures. I didn’t want them to be haphazard- I wanted each row to have it’s own theme. I came up with this formula (pardon the elementary-ish Photoshop skills):
Then I started a folder on my laptop and dumped photos into it whenever I had a chance. I used Photoshop Elements to print a contact sheet with little thumbnails of the possible pictures, and I taped them onto the frames so I could go over them with Michael and we could decide.
(our whole hallway looked like this for quite a while)
I had most of my family history pictures, but I had to coordinate with Michael’s mother and father to get his side. Once the last few pictures went in it was like our house was complete (in a few ways, at least).
Did I leave anything out? Let me know if you have questions- this was so great for this super long hallway. How do you like to hang your picture frames?
Martha! I Made It! Sewing Notions Organizer
Whew! I’m back! I’m sure there are still several things to tweak on this new (and hopefully improved) site, but I need to get posting, wouldn’t you say?
I completed this project months ago and am so happy to a) have made it, and b) never have to make it again. Ever.
You may have seen in my post about our house that we have an office. It looks much different than it used to because now it’s a guest room AND my craft room AND an office. While I didn’t need the office desk anymore, I did need help with all of those sewing notions that pile up. I hate digging for stuff. Maybe it goes back to my lovely run-in with scabies in Italy (shall I post about that sometime? You tell me….), or perhaps it’s just that when I have to dig for something it’s a reminder that I should be more organized in whatever area it is I’m digging in. This project eliminated a lot of that. I am also a huge fan of taking advantage of vertical space. Hence:
These sit above my sewing table, and they hold not only the things I use most when sewing, but also some crafting tools, as well. And of course, it’s all because of Martha….
If you consult your Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts, you’ll find this one on page 267. I apologize in advance for not taking great pictures- this was definitely in my “blog break” time and I was really doing this for myself.
I’ll walk you through what I did and what I used- I used the instructions in the book as a guide, but really had to wing some of it. As a result some of my pockets didn’t turn out super swell, but that’s okay- they work. You’ll see in photos below I actually made three of them, and the middle one has office supply things in it, which is nice.
In the book they suggest using homasote fiberboard. When I went looking for homasote fiberboard I could not find it in a small enough size. The one size I saw at Home Depot was big enough to warrant bungee cords on top of my car, and that felt a liiiiiittle over the top, so I opted for some plain pieces of wood. The two squares are 24×24, and the middle one is 12×24. I then used some quilt batting and spray adhesive to give them a softer look. I wrapped them up with the fabric and taped them in the back temporarily while I figured out what was going to go where. Then I pulled everything that was driving me crazy and laid them out like you see here just above. This took a long time. I really wanted to get it right, so I debated for probably-excessive amounts of time making sure I could fit everything I wanted. I really took the photos of the layouts so that I could refer back to them while I was in the process- if you decide to make one or more of these I highly recommend it!
The most time-consuming part, however, was cutting the fabric for the actual pockets. The book gives you a formula for adding length and/or height depending on the pocket you want to make, so I followed that and for the most part it worked out just fine. What was challenging was keeping them all straight so that I didn’t a) get them mixed up and b) remembered where they were supposed to go. You also have to press them and sew the tops over so that they look nice (who’d-a-thunk- Martha wants something to look…nice?). 
Here is a collage of some of the process. You can see that I ended up using some office labels to keep everything organized. This worked nicely because they stuck nicely to the fabric without ruining it, so once I had the pocket in place and ready to go, I could toss the label and it was like checking off an item on a to-do list. Done!
The bottom left photos shows the middle panel I made for office supplies- and you can kind of see that I taped a border around the edge. I did this to help myself remember where the edge of the wood would end up being- sort of helped me keep everything level, I guess. And the bottom right is just a sketch of each board so I could write down measurements, placement, etc.
Once I had the pockets sewn on I stapled them to the wood on the back with a staple gun about 8 million times. My husband helped me place the hanging wires on the back and, since we used wood which is much heavier than the fiberboard, we made sure to hang them on studs in the wall so that they wouldn’t fall off eventually (crossed fingers). Here are a few more pictures of the final product as it looks in my office:
It’s hard to tell in these photos but my office is still a dusty lavender- quite similar, actually, to my new background color on this blog. I love it. And the gray of the fabric and the print really looks nice. You can also see that I made some little cups to hang- it looked sort of empty in between and I had a ton of fabric left over, so I made six little hanging….cups(?) to put things like buttons, pins and safety pins in.
How do you organize your sewing notions? If you decide to make something like this, give yourself plenty of time and don’t rush. I didn’t rush this one and I still made a few mistakes, but I still love the final product. My pockets don’t look nearly as perfect as the stuff in Martha’s book, but it’s so very nice to have this stuff right in front of me whenever I need it. If you have a question, if I left something out, please leave a comment! I’m going to link up to some link parties, too, as soon as I get a chance! And if you’re all the way down here at the bottom, thanks for reading this far!
I linked up to:
Starbucks Card Upgrade
Hi friends,
Working has certainly taken its toll on my little blog here. I hope after the holidays I can really come up with a system to keep posting more regularly. We’ll see…
Onto my project… I actually did this just before Halloween, but the backstory goes back even further. I have a former student who I taught at school, and I also taught him piano lessons. I met him in 2002 when I started my current job. This year he started acting school at NYU. Talk about a reality check- did you know that everyone grows up? It’s amazing, though, to watch a student grow into such an amazing person- he really is someone to be proud of.
Anyhoo, I procrastinated about giving him a graduation gift. Then I bought the gift… and it sat for a little too long in my purse. I’m amazed I didn’t use it instead, because I love me some Starbucks. But I wanted to make sure he got something relatively funny and special to make up for the fact that his gift was totally late and not really that creative. So I made over his Starbucks card.
Remember college? If you went to college, I bet you wish you had an endless Starbucks card for those mornings when you wake up and need. Coffee. Immediately. I harkened back to a day when I slept through an exam. Actually, come to think of it, I graduated from college in 1998 and I don’t think I had been in a Starbucks more than 2 or 3 times. I digress…
So first I hopped onto Photoshop and designed the new front for his card.
This is often how I feel in the morning, even though our budget doesn’t allow for Starbucks nearly as often as I’d like.
Then I slapped it onto the card- this was easy- I just tried to make sure the layer of Mod Podge was super thin because I didn’t want it to thicken the card up too much.
Then I traced the card holder to make it match. I had to trace the holder both directions- a good lesson in spatial awareness. 🙂 I also had to make sure I traced the little notches, and I cut them with a razor knife before MPing.
Then I Mod Podged that sucker up as well. Here’s the final product. Note that I poked fun at myself for taking so long. And you’ll probably see that the Mod Podge smeared the ink on my card- I did a thin coat on top and it did sort of “fog it up” but I sort of liked it, and also didn’t want to delay sending an already-late gift just because of some smeared ink.
I think I will do this again for Starbucks gifts- it was fun, easy, and once I got my rear in gear, a fun way to perk up an otherwise totally expected gift.
Cancer can kiss my…
Cancer sucks. Cancer can bite me. For reals.
(If you’d like, feel free to scroll to the bottom to see pictures- I got lots to say.) 🙂
I’ve been debating about whether or not to post about this project because it’s a bit personal for someone, and the someone isn’t me. But the thought of not sharing this doesn’t sit well with me either, so I’m going to post in hopes that my project might help other people dealing with the same thing, and that they will be able to copy my project in their own way.
A friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer in the last few weeks. It’s an aggressive form of cancer, one that requires immediate surgery and treatment. This friend is about my age- mid-30-something. A beautiful family, a beautiful life, a beautiful woman. And lo and behold, here comes the big C word to throw everything to a screeching halt. To protect her privacy and her family’s, I won’t mention how I know this woman or her name- it’s really her story. But I was still totally thrown by her diagnosis, perhaps because it really hit home that cancer doesn’t give a flying flip if you’re 4, 14, 40, or any age. And because of that, cancer can kiss my ass.
After my friend was diagnosed I found myself in a place that I bet a lot of people have been: “What do I do? What do I say? How can I possibly make this better when it sucks so completely?” I literally could not sleep the day I found out, even though I hadn’t spoken to this friend since earlier in the summer. For a while I tossed in bed that night, and then as this idea came to me, the hairs on my neck stood up, and chills went from my shoulders down to my wrists. I had a plan.
My apologies for not taking many pictures as I went, but as I made these canvases I also had family in town (my parents) and we had already planned a weekend trip amidst me trying to collect materials. I was lucky to finish it in time for it to be with her when she comes out of surgery (hopefully) and is recovering.
I wanted my friend to know how many people were supporting her. I sent out messages for all to write words- personal messages, inspirational quotes, whatever they felt comfortable with. I collected all of these messages and then typed them up in various fonts that seemed to fit. I had a lot of fun in Photoshop and learned a lot along the way.
I ended up needing 3 canvases. I wanted the center one to stand out, so I searched online for a graphic design of a heart. Then I painted my own simplified version using the colors I had chosen. I outlined a heart on the canvas and then painted around it. Then I filled in with white. These are acrylic paints that I used.
(many apologies for the quality- some of these were taken at night)
I painted the other two canvases a teal color. After they dried overnight I took the messages that I had already printed in various fonts and colors of paper and started to fit them all together like a puzzle. I am only showing shots of the three complete canvases and up close shots of the quotes that turned out well. I tried to keep the personal messages on the pastels and the single words and quotes on grays, with a little variation. Below are some shots of the final product(s):
I used foam squares to give them some dimension, lifting some pieces above others. This proved helpful with fitting things together- sometimes I need to tuck things underneath others, but I didn’t want anyone’s message to be blocked..
A friend wrote the verse on the right in this one (above). Ikaika & Lanakila are two Polynesian words for “strength” and “conquer.” I loved what this friend wrote and made it the center piece of the center canvas. I think if I were fighting this fight I would want to be reminded of those two words often.
I love all of these fonts. I’m a font addict. I’ve been getting my fonts at dafont.com.
I made sure to use Mod Podge Paper so that the paper is preserved, and then I finished with Mod Podge Matte. The paper elevated on the foam squares did curl a bit- perhaps I should have mounted the raised pieces on wood or something, but I actually ended up liking the way it turned out.
My hope is that if anyone you know is diagnosed with anything horrible- cancer or otherwise- that you might be inspired to make something for them. I know that my friend will appreciate this, and I hope that in a couple of years, when she has kicked cancer’s ass that she can still look at these and remember that she wasn’t fighting alone- she had lots and lots of people fighting with her.
Organization is the Spice of my Life
I’m such a nerd. I love it when things are organized. It makes me feel calm and like I might know what I’m doing in at least one venue of my life.
When we first got married, Michael and I bought a super-tiny condo near downtown San Diego. It was 1,000 square feet + a garage + a tiny storage unit. No patio, no outdoor area for a grill- nada. Our kitchen was neat, but not huge, and I wanted to keep our spices out of the cupboards. I found these containers at the Container Store and in the spices went. Even though that was our first place, and we are currently on our third, we still use these spice containers. I love having easy, fast access when I’m cooking, without hunting and pecking for common spices.
Originally I handwrote in permanent marker the names of the spices. However, at a recent visit to the Container Store I saw that they make nice stickers for them, so I redid them and am again in spice-organization-heaven. By the way, do you know how to erase permanent marker from plastic? All you have to do is color over it with a dry-erase marker and then rub it off with a paper towel- it all comes off. I had to do it a few times, but it totally worked. Love it!
We are going to be remodeling our kitchen in the next year or two, and I plan on still keeping our spices out. I love the colors, the names, and the access. We may put them on a backsplash instead of the fridge, but they will be out in the kitchen with us somewhere.
How do you organize your spices? I love seeing how people cook and what they do in their kitchens. If you do something with yours, please post a link with your comments- I’d love to see!
About Natalie
Life is crazy. Craft it well. Thanks for stopping by Crafting Crazy! I'm stumbling into a new sort of life after leaving a 12-year teaching career. More of a practical crafter, I'm trying to temper the perfection a bit. If I mess up, I’ll be sure to share- then we can laugh together. Here you'll find anything I like that makes my life better or fun. Crafts, of course, but also posts about food, home decor, exercise... whatever I'm dabbling in at the moment. I'm so glad you're here- thanks for stopping by! Content Brewing!
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