{Plastic to Pretty}

Hello to you! Sorry I've been MIA lately!  Life around here seems to be flying by, and I sure have missed the chance as of late to get creative. I haven't been able to post much, or even scour the craft world for all the wonderful ideas out there. I've found that lately I've been putting all of my creative energies into my Pre-K class, although I have a long to-do list of things I'd like to work on around the house. Spring 'sprung' up early 'round these parts, so I've been enjoying watching everything bloom and getting back on the mower. (One of my favorite parts of taking care of our large lot.) I haven't been able to spend as much time in there as I'd like to, but check out the view from my craft room:

Isn't that tulip tree gorgeous?? It's a wonderful inspiration (as long as you're actually IN that room, ha!)

So...here's a simple little project I whipped up recently. We have tons of little plastic baskets around our house. You know, the little white ones that come 2-3 in a pack at Walmart for a buck or two? They come in all shapes and sizes.

My daughter has a few around her bedroom, just to keep the little things organized and together. Her headboard has shelves on it, so she keeps a small one there with her nighttime 'necessities': chapstick, a pen, cortisone cream, and of course, a Fairy lipgloss. ;)  She uses another for her collection of bookmarks, and so on. I decided they needed a little bit of embellishment!

I chose some ribbon from my stash that matches her room  and just started weaving.

What a super easy way to make a tiny change and embellish a plain little basket!

I didn't cut a length of ribbon to start. I just started weaving, and then trimmed it at the end. On the first basket, I overlapped it where the two ends met and they naturally lay flat. You could add a touch of glue or sticky strip if you need to hold the ends down.

Cuter, no? And it actually 'hides' the boring contents a bit as well.

For the longer basket, I decided to tie the ends together in a little knot at a corner. I really like how that looks. Now I can picture favor baskets for birthday parties, little gift baskets for teachers and neighbors, and more.

An easy way to spruce up a very plain (but necessary!) item.

Thanks for stopping by, and for your patience. I've missed posting, and am looking forward to getting back in the swing of things!

Take care,

{Paper Bag Scrapbook}

Whew!! I've been MIA lately and I'm not quite sure where the time has gone. I haven't been able to spend as much time in my craft room lately as I would like, but I did manage to get a little 'fix' with these little paper sack scrapbooks. These are so simple, you need VERY few supplies, and they make cute little keepsakes! I've seen lots of them, but never made one myself until one of my days off this week. There may be better ways to make one than mine, but I like the way it turned out.

I wanted  a cutie little place to keep a few of the group pictures from my preschool class this year. I didn't want to buy a photo album, because I really don't have enough pics to fill one. I saw my giant pile of brown paper lunch sacks and thought it was about time to try one of these!

I cut my bags off just above the bottom flap, then put a little glue stick on the open end to keep it together. From there I just added the pictures I wanted, and embellished with scrap pieces of patterned paper. I added a little bit of text here and there, but not a lot. I made it REALLY quick, but I can see doing one in more detail. Cute potential all over the place!

I punched the holes with my Crop-a-Dile, added book rings, and decorated with scrap ribbon. Voila! I think this would be a fun project for kids to make their own little scrapbooks on the cheap. I'm going to suggest them to my daughter's Daisy Troop Leader and I think the girls will love making them. They can make great little keepsakes with cheap scraps and stickers.

Thanks for dropping by!