Sunday, February 21, 2010

My DIY Stickles Storage

For awhile I have been trying to figure out a way to store my Stickles upside down. I know this is the preferred way of storing them so that way they are ready to go when you need them. 
Yesterday, I was in my scrap room cleaning it up and reorganizing some things, when my lightbulb went off! I finally thought of what would work for me. So then of course, I stopped organizing and started making my new Stickles storage. 
After much trial and error, it finally ended up like this:
And I love it! 
This is basically what I used to make it. My Cricut, Gypsy, and a left over plastic divider from my Cropper Hopper paper holders. The baskets hanging on the wall are from Ikea. What I designed is a plastic holder to be placed in the middle of the basket to hold my Stickles upside down. 
I designed this on my Gypsy. I made a rectangle shape to fit snugly inside the basket. Then I placed nine circle holes that fit the Stickles. This is the part that took some trial and error. I kept thinking I had the measurements right on the rectangle, but then after I cut them, they would be slightly too small or slightly too large. 
This is what the plastic insert looks like. It fits perfectly in the basket right on top of the middle bar. I cut two for each basket and glued them together to make it sturdier. 
And here are a couple of close-ups. Since I have 3 baskets hung, that gives me room to store 27 bottles. I have 5 open spots right now, so I have a little room to grow.  
I realize this won't work for everyone, but it was the perfect solution for me! Those baskets and rails from Ikea are super cheap and since the plastic inserts are something I don't use for their intended purpose, this was a very economical way for me to store my Stickles upside down! 


If this is something you think you might want to make, here are the measurements I came up with. 


Rectangle:
Width - 4.81
Height - 3.61

Circle
Width - .84
Height - .75


I set my Cricut blade on 6 with Pressure on Max and the Speed on Medium. I did a multi-cut of 7 times on the plastic. 


It took a while to cut them, but I just set it and went onto to do other things while it was working. It didn't cut them all of the way through, but it was enough for me to punch the shapes out of the plastic. I do not have a deep-cut blade for my Cricut, so I did this with just a regular blade. It would probably work a lot easier with a deep cut blade. 


I'm so happy with my new storage! I love the way it looks!


Thanks again for visiting me! Have a great day!

Monday, February 15, 2010

A Few Cards...

These are some simple, easy, fast cards that I made last week. Even though they are pretty simple, I thought they turned out nice. 

This is a Valentine card I made for a friend of mine. I stamped the hearts, filled them with red stickles, tied the twine around the red cardstock and then finished it off with some black lines to frame it. 

And this is the birthday card I made for my brother. Happy Birthday Craig!  I stamped the candles, colored them in with Copics, tied the twine around the top and stamped a Happy Birthday sentiment inside. Super Easy! 


I think I like this easy approach to card making. Sometimes I get too caught up in making bunches of layers and adding all kinds of elements. Less can be more! 


Thanks for visiting me! 

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day


This is what I received this morning:


A mix CD of some of my favorite songs and handmade cards! This is an awesome Valentine gift! 

Here is the inside of my beautiful cards. 
And the songs on my CD. The boys have been paying attention in the car to what songs I like and came up with this idea all on their own. Chris helped them out with getting songs on Itunes and burning the CD. 


Thanks boys! I love my CD!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Spongebob Valentine's Day Boxes

I love my Cricut. Love it! I recently purchased the Spongebob Cart because I have two Spongebob loving boys and I thought they would have some fun with it. Who knew I would have so much fun making Valentine's Day boxes with it!


First up is Connor's Box. He wanted Spongebob's Pineapple house. I plugged in my Gypsy with the Spongebob cart loaded in and started cutting out my pieces! Easy Peasy! 
I think it turned out so cute! I painted a shoe box black and then added my cut pieces to it. 
The heart was cut from the Gypsy Wanderings cart already loaded onto the Gypsy. I then just stamped the Happy Valentine's Day to make Spongebob a
little sign. 
The door opens and that is where the kids can drop their valentines for Connor into it. 
Spencer chose the Krusty Krab for his box. This wasn't quite as easy. There are lots and lots of pieces to the Krusty Krab. It was like putting a puzzle together after I cut everything out. 
And I made a Valentine sign for Mr. Krabs too. The hole is on top of the box for the kids to drop their Valentines in. I was afraid the doors to the Krusty Krab would be a little too small to accomodate the Valentine treats Spencer will be getting. 

I have been busy all week making these boxes and a few cards. I will post the cards later this week or weekend. I have to wait for the recipients to receive them first! 

Thanks again for visiting me! And Happy Valentine's Day!