Cereal Box Crafts #1 – Cereal Box to Postcards

Hi Everybody!

I hope this post finds you doing spectacular!  My next series of posts are going to be Cereal Box Crafts. They are so great to work with, every house has them and by converting one piece of trash into treasure you are helping this beautiful planet. Besides, art supplies can get pricey, so it is always exciting to find everyday items to reuse.

Last September I did a post on using old paperboard as a mixed media canvas. You can absolutely do this with a cereal box or the technical name “chipboard” boxes that food comes in. Here is a link if you would like to give it a go: Mixed Media Art on PaperBoard.

Today I am going to show you a fun way to customize post cards with a Cereal Box.

Supplies Needed:

  1. Cereal Box
  2. Scissors
  3. Mod Podge
  4. Gesso
  5. Ruler
  6. Markers
  7. Pencil
  8. Stickles Glitter Glue
  9. Glitter
  10. Blank White paper.

Instructions:

1. Grab your box, scissors and a ruler or an old postcard, and trace the postcard wherever you like on the box. If you do not have a postcard to trace use these dimensions:  At least 3-1/2 inches high x 5 inches long.

If you do not have a postcard to trace you can use the dimensions. At least 3-1/2 inches high x 5 inches long.

2. Trace and Cut.

Trace and cut

3. I chose to use the word Honey in my postcard. So I outlined the word with thick black sharpie. It gives me an extra thick boarder to work with. This step is optional.

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4. Next, Use Acrylic Gesso in white and some fine detailed brushes to paint everywhere but the word Honey.

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5. Once the Gesso is completely dry (it may take a few coats), use a pencil to write in your words. I chose: “Honey I sure do miss you”.

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6 Once your completely satisfied with your words, Grab your sharpie and trace. (Just fyi, you can erase on gesso, just be careful and go with the strokes.)

7.) Now Grab your Watercolors and paint all around your words. This takes some fine brushes.

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Don’t worry, It does not have to be perfect.

8. Once that is completely dry, Grab your stickles glitter tubes and fill in the words. I outlined my words in a black glitter stickles (not shown), then filled with Gold. The word honey was outlined in gold and filled with a brown. Then added some dots around the sides.

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Let Dry

9. While that is drying, Grab your white piece of paper. Trace another post card size rectangle. I then used scalloped edge scissors and chose to make the white paper a tad smaller than the postcard to create a border effect.

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10. I added a Post Card Stamp, but you can hand write this or use other stamps.

11. Use Mod Podge to attach once the front is completely dry. 15

Finished:

IMG_20150729_192645373_HDR

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Once it is all completely dry, its a good idea to put a spray sealer on the front side. It will protect the water color and all your hard work!

Also its a good idea, once all dry to stick it in a big book over night so it stays completely flat. Sometimes with all the moisture the paper will want to curl. If you have a tacky surface put the post card in wax paper or freezer paper before you put in the book so they don’t stick.

Here is another idea with Glitter. I did not write a tutorial on this one, but if you want one let me know.

Glitter Post Card!

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Can you imagine getting that in the mail!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

I would love to hear what you think or even better, see your projects!

Feel free to link up to your related blogs in my comments! I love to spread the word on artists!

Have a fantastic week!!

Composition Notebook Cover Re-do #4 Fabric!

Hello Everybody!

I am finally at my last Composition Notebook Cover post….for now.

If you missed any of the last 3 post on how to redo your notebook covers you can find there here:

  1. Composition Notebook Cover Re-do #1 Paper Decoupage https://goo.gl/qSGXIh
  2. Composition Notebook Cover Re-do #2 Gesso & Paint  https://goo.gl/nzdMIP
  3. Composition Notebook Cover Re-do #3 Yarn! https://goo.gl/Dbg4OJ

This week is the final post on Composition Notebook Redo’s. I thought it would be fun to finish up with some fabric. What is better to use than scraps! I am always looking for an excuse to use up scraps. I have this weird condition where I refuse to throw anything out, because I am absolutely sure I am going to need it one day. It’s not fatal but there is no cure and I do believe it was passed down genetically from my mother. ;D

So here we go!

Things you need:

  • Fabric Scraps
  • Mod-Podge or Elmer’s glue
  • Scissors
  • Optional: Stickles Glitter Glue or Puff Paint
  • Composition Notebook

Steps:

  1. Gather Supplies Gather Supplies
  2. Pick your favorite fabric scraps Scraps!
  3. Cut fabric into squares of various sizes. I was not careful in any way. You can cut perfect squares, I just chose to do the cover with a bit more random bits.
  4. Use a brush and add a layer of Mod-Podge or Elmer’s glue to a small area of your notebook. Then line up the squares and start to add fabric to the Mod Podged area. I started from the inside moving out so. That way if your scraps do not line up perfectly you can just trim the excess off.
  5. Keep adding squares… 
  6. Add Some More… Make sure all pieces are completely glued down, cover with mod podge again if you want to be extra sure.
  7. Keep on going.. add some more… 
  8. Until…It is finally all covered 
  9. Let dry completely.
  10. Once it is dry, I added a border line around all the small pieces with stickles glitter glue. I even highlighted the random scraps to fill in the weird gaps.
  11. let dry.

Ta-Da!! and Woo-Hoo!! DIY Quilt style composition notebook cover out of fabric.

Finished!

Finished!

Can you imagine the possibilities! All those scraps so little time!

What do you think? I would love to know.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Before and After

Composition Notebook RE-DO #3! YARN!

Hello Everybody!

Sorry this post is a little late. I hope everyone is having a great week!

Are you crafting? I would love to hear about your projects.

So over the last couple weeks I have been posting on different ways to update and redo your everyday composition notebook covers.

To recap, You can find week one, Composition Notebook Re-do #1 Paper Decoupage, Here: https://goo.gl/qSGXIh and

Week two, Composition Notebook Re-do #2 Hand drawn cover, here: https://goo.gl/nzdMIP

This week was a total experiment, and I will not lie, I almost gave up thinking it was going to be a craft fail, but I kept going and actually love it.

This week’s Composition Notebook Cover redo is with Yarn!

Now the yarn I had laying around I found in a clearance bin. Its called Red Heart Boutique Sashay in twist and platinum sparkle, you can still find it online if you like the look of this particular project. The description in Mary Maxim describes this yarn as “A unique kind of yarn with a touch of metallic that creates beautiful ruffle scarves and accessories with just one ball.” Its almost netted and has a neat effect.

Red Heart Boutique Sashay

Red Heart Boutique Sashay

Its not regular yarn but you can absolutely use regular yarn, it is just going to require a bit more patience and glue sticks.

Materials Needed:

yarn, scissors, glue gun & sticks, notebook

yarn, scissors, glue gun & sticks, notebook

  • Yarn (Any will do but I used: Red Heart Boutique Sashay in platinum sparkle and in twist Link to Yarn)
  • Scissors
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Glue Sticks (at least 15)
  • Composition Notebook

This project is super duper simple. It requires more patience than anything, and you are working with a hot glue gun so if you’re doing this project with children keep an eye out.

Line up and glue

I chose to line up my yarn vertically. You can do whatever your heart desires. If you are using regular yarn you can make pictures and patterns.

So you just heat up your glue gun and start laying down strips of glue. I would work in small patches at a time.

short patches of glue

Lay out about a two inch or so line and then carefully lay the yarn on top. Try not to push right away, you will just burn your fingers, so wait a few seconds then you can lightly press.

I chose to lightly overlap the layers. I also kept the yarn bunched up not pulled out.

Keep adding glue and yarnKeep on going… I know it looks weird.

I did four lines of the twist color then one line of the platinum sparkle.

keep going!

Don’t give up yet…once you are finished with one side make sure the edges are secure and cut off the excess. If you glue around the notebook edge right against the edge then cut you will get a cute frayed look.

cut off the excess

cut off the excess

Now for the front!

But first…get up and stretch, go get coffee or do a few neck rolls, work out that neck so you don’t get a stiff neck staring at this project 😀

So back to the notebook 😀

Keep on gluin’…

Keep gluing

OK, so here is where I get honest. I ran out of glue sticks right at the point pictured above, D’OH!!!!!

If this happens to you, never fear, you can use Mod Podge like I did or Elmer’s glue or anything that will dry clear. I added a pretty thick amount to the remaining piece of the notebook then laid out the rest of the yarn.

Once everything is down…resist the urge to touch it. Just walk away for a few hours, once it has had time to sort of set then you can come back and lightly press everything down. Then walk away again until it dries completely.  (You can do the whole cover this way, but it will take a steady hand and more patience than I have). Hot glue is quicker and much easier.

and TA-DA!

Now you have this soft, fun, hippie, boho, right out of the 60’s awesome notebook. And when all those people ask you where you got such an awesome notebook, you can say “I made it!”

FIN

Who'da thought?

Who’da thought?

all done!

I am so glad that I did not give up and stop this project because I thought It was too weird in the beginning. I think this one is my favorite.

I learned two things from this project:

  1. Do not give up on a vision, not matter how silly it might seem in the beginning.
  2. Make sure you have enough supplies!

Have a wonderful week everyone. I hope you enjoyed this weeks project.

I would love to see any of your projects or hear what you think.

Keep Craftin’!

before and after

Composition Notebook Cover Re-Do #2

Hi Everyone!

I hope your having a fantastic week so far!

So last week was the first of a series of posts on how to re-decorate your composition notebooks. The first Composition Notebook Re-do was done with Mod Podge and different kinds of paper, then stuck mixed media style to the front and back covers.

If you missed it, you can find it here: Composition Notebook Cover Re-Do #1 (Decoupaged Paper Mix Media Style)  Composition Notebook Re-Do #1

This week’s re-do is all about doodles. I am going to show you how easy it can be to customize your composition book with your own artwork.

I love to doodle, I have notebooks full of random drawings, scribbles and doodles. So it was only a matter of time before they wound up on the front covers also!

So let’s get going 😀

Materials Needed:

  • Composition Notebook
  • Pencil
  • Eraser
  • Sharpies or any Permanent marker. I use Micron by Pigma its Archival ink, which means its permanent and it also dries really quickly. Quick drying is important because the last thing you want is a big marker smear, its fixable but frustrating. I also use sharpies they work well also.  You also want to go with a finer tip, especially if your getting into detail. If not go with whatever you like. I try to keep a variety of sizes around.
  • Watercolors or Acrylic paint. (I used watercolor easy to work with, easy to fix mistakes, and dries fast)
  • cup of water for your watercolors
  • paint brushes
  • Sticklers Glitter glue
  • Acrylic Gesso
  • Clear Coat Spray Sealer

Steps:

Grab your Gesso and completely cover your front and back cover. You may need to do two coats. If you do make sure you let the gesso dry between coats.

Cover the entire front and back cover with Gesso and Let dry.

Cover the entire front and back cover with Gesso and Let dry.

Once completely dry Grab your pencil and start doodling or drawing.

Draw anything you like

Draw anything you like

And doodle some more…

Here are some tools I used to do the back. You don't have to free hand everything if you dont want too. Play with your supplies.

Here are some tools I used to do the back. 

and some more...

and some more doodling…

Outline everything in marker. Remember to use quick drying Archival ink or sharpies to avoid smearing.

Then go over everything with marker.

Then go over everything with marker.

outlined in marker

outlined in marker

Now it’s time to watercolor!

The gesso takes water color well .

The gesso takes water color well .

so therapeutic

so therapeutic

All done!

Once your done with the watercoloring, let dry completely.

Once dry, I used Sticklers Glitter glue to accent different places in the pictures to give it a little pop.

When your completely satisfied, spray your cover with Spray Sealer. This helps keep your cover from sticking to everything.

All Done!

There you have it!  A completely customized notebook! What do you think?

I would absolutely love to see how your projects come out.

Send me pics!

Come on back and check us out next week, when I do Composition Notebook Cover Re-do #3!

Have a wonderful week!

Composition Notebook Cover Re-Do #1 (Decoupaged Paper Mix Media Style)

title

Tutorial by Sugar Beet Crafts

Composition Notebook Cover Re-Do #1 (Decoupaged Paper Mix Media Style)

Hi Everybody!

It’s tutorial time! I love to customize my own office supplies. I use composition notebooks for everything so keeping them easily identifiable is a must. I am going to create a few tutorials over the next few weeks showing you different ways to maximize the fantasticness of your notebook, so keep an eye out!

This week I thought I would start with a fun one. Its basically paper mixed media. I use these techniques when I make tags and art journal entries. I had fun with it and really like how it turned out. I hope you like it too.

So here we go!

Materials Needed:

  • Composition Notebook
  • Mod Podge
  • Ink Spray or Watercolors
  • Paper cut outs or Stickers
  • Embroidery Thread
  • Beads
  • Markers
  • Glitter Glue
  • File Folder
  • Scissors

First off, let’s make a reusable template. Now of course you do not have to do this step, you can just trace around your composition book. I personally like a template, easier to handle.

I use file folders, they are the perfect thickness and I usually have a whole bunch of extras around. *You could also use a cereal box, they also work great.

Place the folded edge of the composition book along the folded edge of the file folder.

I like to make templates I can re-use.

I like to make templates I can re-use.

Trace. Cut out.

cut out template

I always keep the scraps for later. You never know when you need a random piece

The bendable line farthest from the folded edge of the folder is the same amount of space the black tape on the composition notebook. This comes in handy if you are not going to cover the entire book and want to keep the black tape on the notebook exposed.

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I usually bend it over then trace on that line to get the right size.

folded

Now the fun stuff.

You can use anything you like as a background. For the tutorial I decided to use 2 pages that were photocopied out of a vintage dictionary. One for the front and one for the back.

copied page of vintage dictionary

Gather your materials:

Gather your template and your background page.

Gather your template and your background page.

Trace the template onto the background image.

Then cut out.

Cut out your Background page

Gather your ink sprays or watercolors, Spray with color!

I used Dylusions Ink Spray, but you could use watercolors or anything you like.

 Dylusions Spray

I colored up the page by spraying  Ink Sprays around the page.

Then I added some water to get the colors to run together and combine.

Let completely dry.

I used Ink spray and water

I used Ink spray and water

  1. Once the spray is completely dry, Open the composition book so that it’s flat.
  2. Make sure your finished background fits the top of the composition book the way you like.
  3. Smear the cover page of your composition book with Mod Podge then stick the background in place. I add a layer of Mod Podge, then lay the page on top, then carefully smooth it out.
  4. Repeat with the back page on the back of the composition book.
  5. Let completely dry. The drying time is the hardest part.
  6. Once everything is dry, it’s time to start adding the fun stuff. Gather all your cutouts or stickers or whatever you would like to stick to your composition book.

Arrange your cutouts, once you’re happy use the Mod Podge to stick them down.

Stick down cutouts

Now Carefully cover everything with the Mod Podge. The Mod Podge will pick up the color of the ink even after drying, so I usually pour some out into a container rather than re-dipping the brush in the main container.

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Sticker for the back
Back

Front Cover Dried

Let completely dry.

You can now cover with a spray clear sealer if you want too. I like to use it. Keeps things nice.

Now, You can stop here… but I didn’t.

I like to add bookmarks. And random stuff.

Usually, I just tape a ribbon to the inside of the front or back cover as a bookmark, but I decided to have a little fun with this one.  

I had some left over tags that I previously decorated.

  1. I placed them side by side and taped just the outside side on each tag. So they open towards each other.
  2. I then strung some embroidery string through the Tags hole, and added a pretty little bead to the bottom, just for pizzaz.
I used pen to add some detail to the leaves

I used pen to add some detail to the leaves

Flaps

Bookmarks & Beads

Here is a link to some earlier Mixed Media tag projects, you might like some ideas to use for your Composition book covers. https://goo.gl/CdvZcc

I would love to see what you come up with! Send me some pics!

Next week I will be doing Composition Notebook cover RE-Do #2! You will have to check it out to see what it is.

Have a wonderful week everyone! Let’s get crafting!

Before & After