Um. Hi-what-us?
Hi! I took an unplanned break, because so far 2008 has been very busy. And I was feeling a bit run down after the holidays. I've not been super bloggy, but there are more holidays, holidays to come! How are you guys feeling about this blog? Good? Bad? I thought maybe we should continue for, just because I have a thing for Groundhog Day and Valentine's Day, and also I gleefully anticipate Cadbury eggs every year.
So! More to come.
How are those New Year's resolutions coming?
Showing posts with label Meta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meta. Show all posts
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Monday, November 26, 2007
Christmas Card Recycling, Meta Stuff
I've done some research on ways to display/reuse your old Christmas cards, unless you have a holiday tradition of losing them/feeling guilty about losing them/finding them and putting them in a box you'll never, ever be able to locate again. (Or maybe that's just me.)
First up: Wreath Made of Cards!
I didn't have twenty cards lying around (see above tradition), so I cut up some construction paper and folded it and we'll all have to pretend these are cute holiday cards with snow and trees and kittens. Also, I did this in my studio, and my work bench is old and beat up, so forgive the surroundings.
The "cards":
Use the power of imagination! Can't you just see the sparkly reindeer?
For this you'll need roughly twenty cards, and it might be fun to use contrasting colors, or use all cards of a similar color, or use a theme such as all snowman cards, etc. You're only limited by the cards you've been hoarding (or losing).
First you'll need to draw a two inch by four inch rectangle on the back of a card and cut it out (my fake cards are small so my rectangle is also small).
Also, you may notice my work in these photos is a bit "relaxed" or "sloppy." Don't judge me; I'm still recovering from an obscene amount of mashed potato consumption. In the art world, this is what we call a mock-up, which is handy little term to say "this one is just a quick practice, please ignore all the crappy mistakes."
Anyway, cut out the rectangle with scissors or an Exacto knife, whatever you have that lets you cut out rectangles.
Then trace the rectangle on the fronts of the rest of the cards and cut them out. Use that first rectangle as a template so you don't have to remeasure.
Now arrange them into a round shape, by putting the corner of each card into the rectangle of the previous card. Like so (bonus--awkward hand!):
Take this time to check out the circle, and rearrange the cards how you want them. If you want to move the reindeer card away from the snowman card because they don't look as if they are getting along, do it now.
Then, glue the edges of the cards together. I used my disgusting old hot glue gun because it was closest, but I recommend other (safer) methods as well. Any old glue should work.
Keep on gluing:
When you're done, and the glue is dry, flip over your wreath and glue down any parts that seem flimsy or floppy.
Finally, take a piece of ribbon or yarn or string and use it to make a hanger. You could punch a hole, or just glue it on, depending on the glue you use.
And there it is! A Christmas card wreath! Or, in my case, a sort of messy construction paper wreath! This is why I love the term "mock-up." To fancy it up, you could add a bow to the front, but it's not necessary. Just imagine these are cute Christmas cards, okay?
Okay, the next one I found was how to make neat little gift boxes out of cards. Good for jewelry, gift cards, etc.
I dug around and found a little note card, so the mock-up wouldn't be quite as lame as construction paper. First you cut the card's front off:
The back half of the card you will use for the bottom of the box. So take it and cut 1/8 of an inch off one short and one long side. (So it will fit easily when you close the box.) Just use a ruler and draw two little marks at the 1/8 inch mark on each side, draw a line between them, and cut.
See? Connect the dots, then slice away.
After that, put aside the back half. Take the front half of the card, flip it over to the blank side, and mark off 1 inch and 1/2 inch from each side.
Connect the dots!
Okay, now take the BACK of the blade of your exacto, or a pizza cutter, or something else thin and sort of sharp/sort of dull. Trace the lines (against a ruler) with it, so that you sort of score the lines to make folding more easy. You could also use a ball point pen and press down hard.
I didn't take a picture of that step, because I am one of those people who can just look at a butter knife and get a cut, so I tried to be careful and not multitask. You understand.
After you score, cut to the one inch mark, from the short side, on each edge, so you have little flaps.
Then fold the long sides on each of the lines.
Press the sides down:
Push in the flaps:
Fold in the flaps toward each other, then fold the short sides down over them. I had to use a bit of glue to keep it in place properly, but I hadn't been super careful with my measuring/drawing/folding. It might be easier if you are more precise--otherwise, the glue helps hold it all in place.
And then, you have a lid!
Just repeat on your slightly smaller piece to make the bottom. And you have a cute little gift box! This was just the right size for a gift card or jewelry or maybe a tidy little wad of cash.
If you're ambitious, or have even more cards stashed away, you can try one of these. I didn't try one today, but they look really neat and it says you can also use wrapping paper. I think several hanging in a window or doorway would be really, really pretty, and the site has handy print-out templates.
Blog business alert: if anyone out there is interested in helping with this site, shoot me an email. I'm trying to figure out how to keep up two blogs, work full time, be an artist, keep up an online store, take care of four pets, be a newly wed, and not suffocate under mountains of laundry and dog hair. If anyone would like to help with the recipes category, or the craft category, or has lots of ideas, or gets some sort of enjoyment out of editing/proofreading posts, or has tons of fun decoration knowledge, or knows how to find good deals on stuff, or is a Googling master, ANYTHING, let me know if you'd like to be a part of Maybe Painted Pink. I want this blog to be as fun and helpful as possible, and the reader emails/posts are AWESOME. I'd love to have some regular helpers. karamarie at gmail dot com.
First up: Wreath Made of Cards!
I didn't have twenty cards lying around (see above tradition), so I cut up some construction paper and folded it and we'll all have to pretend these are cute holiday cards with snow and trees and kittens. Also, I did this in my studio, and my work bench is old and beat up, so forgive the surroundings.
The "cards":
Use the power of imagination! Can't you just see the sparkly reindeer?
For this you'll need roughly twenty cards, and it might be fun to use contrasting colors, or use all cards of a similar color, or use a theme such as all snowman cards, etc. You're only limited by the cards you've been hoarding (or losing).
First you'll need to draw a two inch by four inch rectangle on the back of a card and cut it out (my fake cards are small so my rectangle is also small).
Also, you may notice my work in these photos is a bit "relaxed" or "sloppy." Don't judge me; I'm still recovering from an obscene amount of mashed potato consumption. In the art world, this is what we call a mock-up, which is handy little term to say "this one is just a quick practice, please ignore all the crappy mistakes."
Anyway, cut out the rectangle with scissors or an Exacto knife, whatever you have that lets you cut out rectangles.
Then trace the rectangle on the fronts of the rest of the cards and cut them out. Use that first rectangle as a template so you don't have to remeasure.
Now arrange them into a round shape, by putting the corner of each card into the rectangle of the previous card. Like so (bonus--awkward hand!):
Take this time to check out the circle, and rearrange the cards how you want them. If you want to move the reindeer card away from the snowman card because they don't look as if they are getting along, do it now.
Then, glue the edges of the cards together. I used my disgusting old hot glue gun because it was closest, but I recommend other (safer) methods as well. Any old glue should work.
Keep on gluing:
When you're done, and the glue is dry, flip over your wreath and glue down any parts that seem flimsy or floppy.
Finally, take a piece of ribbon or yarn or string and use it to make a hanger. You could punch a hole, or just glue it on, depending on the glue you use.
And there it is! A Christmas card wreath! Or, in my case, a sort of messy construction paper wreath! This is why I love the term "mock-up." To fancy it up, you could add a bow to the front, but it's not necessary. Just imagine these are cute Christmas cards, okay?
Okay, the next one I found was how to make neat little gift boxes out of cards. Good for jewelry, gift cards, etc.
I dug around and found a little note card, so the mock-up wouldn't be quite as lame as construction paper. First you cut the card's front off:
The back half of the card you will use for the bottom of the box. So take it and cut 1/8 of an inch off one short and one long side. (So it will fit easily when you close the box.) Just use a ruler and draw two little marks at the 1/8 inch mark on each side, draw a line between them, and cut.
See? Connect the dots, then slice away.
After that, put aside the back half. Take the front half of the card, flip it over to the blank side, and mark off 1 inch and 1/2 inch from each side.
Connect the dots!
Okay, now take the BACK of the blade of your exacto, or a pizza cutter, or something else thin and sort of sharp/sort of dull. Trace the lines (against a ruler) with it, so that you sort of score the lines to make folding more easy. You could also use a ball point pen and press down hard.
I didn't take a picture of that step, because I am one of those people who can just look at a butter knife and get a cut, so I tried to be careful and not multitask. You understand.
After you score, cut to the one inch mark, from the short side, on each edge, so you have little flaps.
Then fold the long sides on each of the lines.
Press the sides down:
Push in the flaps:
Fold in the flaps toward each other, then fold the short sides down over them. I had to use a bit of glue to keep it in place properly, but I hadn't been super careful with my measuring/drawing/folding. It might be easier if you are more precise--otherwise, the glue helps hold it all in place.
And then, you have a lid!
Just repeat on your slightly smaller piece to make the bottom. And you have a cute little gift box! This was just the right size for a gift card or jewelry or maybe a tidy little wad of cash.
If you're ambitious, or have even more cards stashed away, you can try one of these. I didn't try one today, but they look really neat and it says you can also use wrapping paper. I think several hanging in a window or doorway would be really, really pretty, and the site has handy print-out templates.
Blog business alert: if anyone out there is interested in helping with this site, shoot me an email. I'm trying to figure out how to keep up two blogs, work full time, be an artist, keep up an online store, take care of four pets, be a newly wed, and not suffocate under mountains of laundry and dog hair. If anyone would like to help with the recipes category, or the craft category, or has lots of ideas, or gets some sort of enjoyment out of editing/proofreading posts, or has tons of fun decoration knowledge, or knows how to find good deals on stuff, or is a Googling master, ANYTHING, let me know if you'd like to be a part of Maybe Painted Pink. I want this blog to be as fun and helpful as possible, and the reader emails/posts are AWESOME. I'd love to have some regular helpers. karamarie at gmail dot com.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
First Meta Post!
So! This blog made it through it's very first holiday (it's been shaky at times, especially since I started a new job the same time I started this blog). I'm going to take a few days off, to regroup for Thanksgiving and Christmas (yikes) and get all my bloggy ducks in a row. Now would be an excellent time for some feedback from you, readers!
How are you feeling about this little holiday blog experiment? What do you like or dislike? What would you like to see more of, or less of? Are you enjoying it or finding it helpful? Have you tried anything I've posted here? Any ideas, tips, complaints? Hate mail? Want to tell me I'm pretty? I'm trying to decide what'll be the easiest/most fun/most helpful/most informative/most awesome way to go through the upcoming season here, while keeping up with my job and other blog and various pets and relationships and responsibilities, blah blah blah. And, you know, those holidays. So if you have anything to share or whine about or suggest, do it now. Feel free to comment or drop me a line at karamarie at gmail dot com. I think things are going okay, but I want this to be as helpful and fun as possible.
Here's what I see: recipes (I'd love to see some for varying dietary needs, such as lactose intolerance, allergies to wheat, diabetes, etc), stress relief ideas, gift ideas, fun decorations, easy/efficient ways to do things, and tons more reader sharing. Especially of traditions and stories. I'm also thinking of a sidebar thing where I can post questions/ideas for posts. As in, "What do you do to make your house smell nice in about two seconds?" and then people can let me know and we can have a fun post about it. And people can submit their OWN questions and concerns, that way. What do you think?
And if you have fun Thanksgiving/Christmas stuff to send me, do it!
I'll see you soon, after my blogging regrouping break!
How are you feeling about this little holiday blog experiment? What do you like or dislike? What would you like to see more of, or less of? Are you enjoying it or finding it helpful? Have you tried anything I've posted here? Any ideas, tips, complaints? Hate mail? Want to tell me I'm pretty? I'm trying to decide what'll be the easiest/most fun/most helpful/most informative/most awesome way to go through the upcoming season here, while keeping up with my job and other blog and various pets and relationships and responsibilities, blah blah blah. And, you know, those holidays. So if you have anything to share or whine about or suggest, do it now. Feel free to comment or drop me a line at karamarie at gmail dot com. I think things are going okay, but I want this to be as helpful and fun as possible.
Here's what I see: recipes (I'd love to see some for varying dietary needs, such as lactose intolerance, allergies to wheat, diabetes, etc), stress relief ideas, gift ideas, fun decorations, easy/efficient ways to do things, and tons more reader sharing. Especially of traditions and stories. I'm also thinking of a sidebar thing where I can post questions/ideas for posts. As in, "What do you do to make your house smell nice in about two seconds?" and then people can let me know and we can have a fun post about it. And people can submit their OWN questions and concerns, that way. What do you think?
And if you have fun Thanksgiving/Christmas stuff to send me, do it!
I'll see you soon, after my blogging regrouping break!
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