So I am...like everyone else in the world..addicted to Pinterest. I love it. It warms my heart and wastes my time--equally. So you can only see so many wonderful things and read so many uber creative craft blogs before you yourself develop dillusions of grandeur in regards to your own crafty abilities. This, my friends, is where I fell prey. And so, I share with you, a super fun tutorial gone horribly wrong. Good thing I took pictures along the way!
So, I needed a new chore system for Jack and Lu. I didn't want to spend any money so I decided to get creative. I guessed that I could cutesy up some clothespins and put the chores on the clothespins. One side would have the chore, one side would say "Done" so it could be flipped when the chore was finished. I gathered my materials and started:
My handy little paper cutter, some cute scrapbook paper, ribbon, clothespins, one of my FABULOUS Pitt pens (thank you Erica!), a sanding block, paint brush, Acrylic medium (like Mod Podge only better!) Acrylic Gesso (this is where things went sideways. I thought I grabbed Acrylic Medium but instead grabbed gesso. Sigh.) Luckily I gathered a Diet Coke as well. It came in handy later. So I got all my materials together and then...
Coated the clothespin with what I thought was Acrylic Medium, wondered why it looked white but decided it would dry clear and put the paper (that I had cut to the approximate length/width of the clothespin) on top. I did this to both sides.
Once it dried a bit, I used my sanding block on the edges to sand off the paper that went over the edge, smoothing it. I wondered again why it was white...sigh.
So after I made like 20 of these, not even kidding...I went to put a "top coat" on them and decided this was really ridiculous..this was really white and was not supposed to be. I was using a new tub of acrylic medium..what the heck? What brand was this? That's when I noticed it was Gesso. GAAAAAA!! This is the point in the project where I busted open that Diet Coke, and decided to leave the tutorials to the truly brilliant ones. Or, you know, the ones who are capable of reading the label of a tub.
Despair not--I learned my lesson and ran across this wonderful friend who has a great tutorial and template on her site for making those great envelopes you use in the cash envelope budgeting system. We've had some insane medical expenses come up, plus a trip to Portland this coming month so budgeting is something we need to hit hard. They were super easy to make and they fit right in the checkbook section of my wallet. I used my favorite Melody Ross paper to make them and they turned out wonderfully! Here are pictures of the finished project (I am soooo over trying to create tutorials. Go to her blog and make some! If you aren't the crafty type, she has and Etsy shop where she'll make them for you! Tada!) I'll let you know how the ole' budgeting went. (Well, maybe by "letting you know" asking to borrow money for Diet Coke!)
So, I needed a new chore system for Jack and Lu. I didn't want to spend any money so I decided to get creative. I guessed that I could cutesy up some clothespins and put the chores on the clothespins. One side would have the chore, one side would say "Done" so it could be flipped when the chore was finished. I gathered my materials and started:
Despair not--I learned my lesson and ran across this wonderful friend who has a great tutorial and template on her site for making those great envelopes you use in the cash envelope budgeting system. We've had some insane medical expenses come up, plus a trip to Portland this coming month so budgeting is something we need to hit hard. They were super easy to make and they fit right in the checkbook section of my wallet. I used my favorite Melody Ross paper to make them and they turned out wonderfully! Here are pictures of the finished project (I am soooo over trying to create tutorials. Go to her blog and make some! If you aren't the crafty type, she has and Etsy shop where she'll make them for you! Tada!) I'll let you know how the ole' budgeting went. (Well, maybe by "letting you know" asking to borrow money for Diet Coke!)
2 smart remarks:
Those turned out wonderfully!! Thanks for the shout-out!! :)
Your envelopes are very cute. I have thought about making tutorials, but I tend to go for the 'whatever works' approach and I forget to take pictures of the baby steps. When are you going to Portland? And when are we doing Raclette?
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