Penpal Information Journaling Cards

I created an Instagram account dedicated just to crafty things @linhcreates.  I befriended some awesome ladies through my account.  I became inspired by their creations and started picking up some penpals.  

One of my penpals was creating an album for her many penpals. I have the need to organize things and decided that I also needed to create an album to contain information on my lovely penpals. I wanted to start some sort of system before things got out of hand.  

I chose a Basic Grey 6"x9" album with pocket inserts that can accommodate typical 3"x"4 and 4"x6" journaling cards. I designed these cards for my penpals to provide basic information.  

Upcycled Stamp Pad Storage

This is one of my favorite finds from a thrift store.  It is an all metal old cassette tape rack.  I thought it would be perfect to store my stamp pads.  

It is fairly wide, but not too deep. It goes on  the back of my shelf and leaves me plenty of workable space in front of it.  

I just won't know what to do when it gets filled up! 

Tutorial: Upcycled Cardboard Boxes

I found a metal wire rack a long time ago to organize the bathroom counter.  I searched far and wide for bins or baskets that fit each section perfectly.  I never found them. I finally decided to make my own.  

After I collect some cardboard boxes, I cut them open along their seams.  I measured and cut them to fit the sections of the metal rack.  

I taped of the edges with painter's tape and formed the box.  I made four of the exact same boxes. 

I covered each box with white scrap paper since the boxes had bright prints on them.  I brushed on a thick layer of my modge podge then added the paper.  Then I brushed on another layer on the white paper.  I let it dry over night.  

Most online bloggers create their modge podge solution with 50% water and 50% white liquid glue.  I bought my glue from the dollar store, so it had more water than glue to begin with.  I think that's why my boxes look warped.  I add more glue to my solution to about 65% glue to 35% water.  

I picked a light teal colored pattern paper that matched the decor in my bathroom. I covered the boxes with the improved glue solution, added the paper and then brushed on the final sealing coat of glue.  

The final outcome wasn't too bad.  The boxes fit the rack perfectly.  Once I filled the containers, the warped edges weren't as noticeable.  

 

Upcycled Decorated Cans

I was working on organizing the home and my hands were itching to craft something.  More importantly I wanted to upcycle something practical.  I had saved some cans and wanted to organize the makeup in my bathroom.  

I used some decorative paper that matched the color scheme of my bathroom and contact paper.  Next time, I would find an alternative to the contact paper because it didn’t stick to the paper well.  I had to add adhesive to the paper and contact paper.  

I had a separate container for my makeup brushes, mascara, lipgloss and eyeliners. I was pleased with the final result of my efforts.  

Updated Ribbon Storage

I used to live in a small 2 bedroom apartment.  The spare room was shared with my husband as the office/guest room/hobby room. In the past year, we moved into a small house with 3 bedrooms.  Now I’m lucky enough to have my very own office/craft room!  

In the apartment, I didn’t have much space to store my materials.  I had half of a closet and a few shelves.  I created a compact and flexible way to organize all of my ribbon.  

Since I have my very own room to craft in, my inventory of supplies and materials have increased.  I took the same concept that I started with and expanded it to my growing collection of ribbon.  

In the initial concept, I had standard 1/4″ dowels cut in half and spray painted white. In the new design, I started with whole 1/4″ dowels. But as I kept adding rolls of ribbon, the center started to sag.  So I upgraded to 1/2″ dowels.  Some spools weren’t large enough to fit, so I cut slits into the center hole.  This also kept the spool from unwinding so quickly. 

MATERIALS:

• 4   1/2″ wooden dowels
• 2  yards chain
• 2  ceiling hooks

Paper Scraps

Remember the time that you had that really cute patterned paper you bought for one project and later wanted to punch out just a 1″ circle from it?  I used to run into that A LOT!  I don’t like punching out small shapes from a gigantic 12 x2 sheet.  

I organize all of my scraps into two expanding files.  I’ve seen this method before.  But what I love about mine, is that it has two sizes in each expanding file.  There are 12 tabs with a total of 14 slots.  Half of the slots can fit up to  8.5″ x 11″ and the other slots can hold up to 4.5″ x 11″.  I purchased these expanding files several years ago from Target and they were the Up and Up brand.  I think the cost of each one was about $5.  

Each expanding file  is color coordinated for easy retrieval.  I also have a bin to collect paper scraps when I’m working on projects.  Then when I have time, I file the scraps into my expanding files.

Ribbon Storage

An idea that turned out to be a success! Yay!  


I can't take up the entire spare room for my crafting paradise.  So I have to be imaginative with my storage. 






I cut 1/4" dowels and spray painted them white.  I bought decorative chain by the foot from the hardware store.  I used shower curtain hangers (from a failed project) to hang the chain from the closet shelf.  

I bought more chain than I needed, however I was able to make use of it.  I had to free up some space and went vertical with my storage.  I used the same shower curtain hangers to hang the orange buckets. 

I also made use of the closet rod by using skirt hangers to hang my cutting mats.