Rockin' Valentine's Day Cards

Here at the Okui household it's all about the video game Rock Band 2. My son particularly is obsessed with the game. I find him making microphones and singing E-Pro. He even has a new nighttime ritual of brushing his teeth to "Eye of The Tiger", never saw that coming. So when it was time to make his Valentine cards, I knew just where to look for inspiration.

Supplies:
Hear Shaped Lollipops
White Card Stock
Scissors
Hole Punch
Double Stick Tape
Click on image to make it larger, right click, copy and save the clip art onto a document such as word. It's designed to fit on a landscape (11 x 8 1/2) page. Print out on heavy card stock.


Cut out the cards and punch a hole in the center of them, refer to picture.

Fold in the packaging of the lollipop and tape down. This will prevent it from showing once the card is attached.

Place the card onto the lollipop stick. Using double stick tape, attach the bottom corners of the guitar together. Rock out.

Zakka Card Giveaway

Since there was such a positive response from the last weekend giveaway, I'm hosting another one. This is a card I purchased at a Japanese store. What drew me to the card was that it folds into an open box (picture below). I hope you will find this card as charming as I do.

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment telling me what you will do with the card, give it away, keep it for yourself? One entry per household. Please leave an email address so I can contact you if you win. Contest ends Monday, February 1, 2010. I'll announce the winner Tuesday on this post and email them. If I do not hear back from the winner after two weeks, I will choose a new winner. International friends welcome :)

close up of part of the card

Contest Closed

Denise Jo is the winner of the Card Giveaway!

Thanks to everyone who entered. I'll post a new giveaway February 13th.

Upcycle: Heart Clips

I've said it before and I'll say it again, inspiration can come from the most unlikely sources. For example, this heart clip was inspired by. . .

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

a plastic bread clip! One day I was looking at the plastic clip and began wondering what it would look like bigger. Then I threw in the idea of a shape. And before I knew it, I had a full blown craft project on my hands. The next question was what to use for materials. I dug into the recycling bin, pulled out a plastic container, and got to work. Here's how I made it.

Supplies:
Clear plastic from packaging
Heavy duty scissors
Staz On ink pad
Rubber stamps
One plastic bread clip
Permanent markers

Cut out a heart from the plastic.

Trace the inside of the bread clip onto the plastic heart. Cut out the hole with a pair of scissors.


Stamp the heart with any image you like. The most important thing is to use an ink made for plastic such as Staz On.

Twist your bag and attach the clip just like you would a bread clip.

Other ideas: Make other shapes, squares, circles, etc. Color in stamps with permanent markers. Write directly on the plastic with permanent markers. Skip the bread clip part and punch a hole in the plastic and tie with string.

Valentine's Day Crafts

It's hard to believe that I've created enough Valentine Craft tutorials, to put together a round up. I suppose that's what happens when one has been blogging for four years ( yikes).

Just click on a picture to go to the tutorial.

Knitting Patterns

It's been brought to my attention that some of the links for the knitting patterns are broken. In the next few days I will be transferring all the patterns to Zakka Life. I just added the Octopus Bath Mitt pattern.

Thank you for being patient.

Jessica

Paper Craft: Accordion Calendar

If you still haven't found a calendar for the new year, you might want to check out this accordion calendar from Paper Foldables. When you get to the site, scroll down and you'll see a picture of the accordion on the bottom right. The calendar is free to print. You just have to assemble it yourself. The one in the picture above, I made for my son's room. It was actually pretty easy to put together, just took a little time.

Paper craft tips: One tool I recommend is a bone folder to score all your folds. Another option is using a rolling paper cutter with a scoring blade in replace of the cutting blade. Check to see if you a scoring blade is made for your model. Scoring the folds will make all your folds crisp and prevent any unwanted folds.

Fold up your model and make sure you know exactly how it goes together before gluing. Once you glue, it's hard to take apart. Basic white glue will work but I recommend using an extra strength glue stick.

The center of the accordion calendar.

Cake Folding Paper Giveaway

I was at one of my favorite stores and stumbled upon this cute cake folding paper. I decided to buy one and give it away to one lucky reader. I'm thinking of hosting more giveaways like this on the weekends. I would give away unique items, purchased by me.

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment telling me if you like the idea of giveaways on the weekend. One entry per household. Please leave an email address so I can contact you if you win. Contest ends Monday, January 25th, 2010. I'll announce the winner Tuesday on this post. International friends welcome :)

*If you're reading this through Facebook, make sure to leave your comment on the actual Zakka Life site and not the Facebook fan page. I wouldn't want you to miss out.

Contest Closed

Congratulations to Nicole who is the winner of the cake folding paper giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who participated. Please come back next Saturday for a new giveaway.

Glitter, Doilies, & Hearts, Oh My!

My latest creation is this glitter heart doily. I've been experimenting with doilies over the past week and got the idea of covering them in glitter. I plan on using the hearts for Valentine's Day Cards. But until then, I thought I would share how to make the hearts. Simple directions below.

Supplies:
Scissors
Glue
Doilies - the more lacy, the better
Glitter
Paint brush
Toothpicks

Cut out heart shapes from the lacy part of a doily. Paint glue on the top. Cover in glitter and shake the excess glitter off. Let dry. Poke any holes with a toothpick that got filled in with glitter. Done.

* The hearts look better in person. The pictures just don't do them justice.

Alma - Animated Short Film

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

Normally I don't care for creepy stories but this film captivated me with its visual charm. Warning: it is a little scary but it won't make you jump out of your seat, nothing gory either.

For more information about the short film visit the official Alma site.

Found via Jenguin

Craft Project: Doily Bookmarks

Here's an easy bookmark to make for Valentine's Day or just because.

Supplies:
Heavy Weight Doily
Scissors
Exacto Knife

Here's the doily I used to make the bookmark. Any doily will do, you don't need the same one.

Outlined in black is where I cut the doily. Just work with the pattern of your doily to cut out a shape.

With an exacto knife, cut in the center of the doily. Once again, where you decide to cut will depend on your doily pattern.

Place on page.

I just finished reading "Fortune's Rocks" and have now started reading "Son of A Witch" (sequel to Wicked). What's everyone else reading? Recommendations welcome.

Charming Zippers

Brighten up sweaters and jackets with charms in your jewelry box. Simply attach them to the zipper for a little extra color. If your charms only come with jump rings, add a large lobster clasp to the jump ring to easily take it on and off the zipper. Just make sure to take off the charm before washing.

I experimented with all kinds of charms including this cell phone charm. It looks just as good as the jewelry charms.

Juicy charm - my daughter always likes to sneak this one out of my jewelry box.


Here's a little blast from my past, plastic charms. I used to have a purple plastic chain necklace with about 20 of these charms hanging off it. Did anyone else have one of these necklaces?

Craft Project: Paper Cup Gift Boxes

Anyone else have a random assortment of paper cups in their cupboards? It seems every time we host a party there's just a few left over cups. Which always begs the question, what to do with them? The answer, turn them into cute little gift boxes. These boxes are easy to make and only take minutes to do, promise.

Supplies:
Paper Cups
Scissors
Tape or Glue
Label or Sticker

First you will need a standard paper cup like this one. Any size will do.

Cut off the lip of the cup, refer to picture.

Cut one inch strips all around the cup. The strips should be a little longer than half the diameter of the top of the cup. Make sure all the cuts are the same length.

Fill cup with cookies, candy, etc. Fold the strips down, one at a time.

Once all the strips are down, tape them down to seal the box.

Tape or glue a label to the top to hide the tape. Done

* Heart print cups would make cute boxes for Valentine Day treats.