Tutorial: Transparency Bookmarks

Hello my lovelies! Did you miss my tutorials? Well, I'm here today with a quick and fun project.

There are so many possibilities that even your kids can make their own version of these bookmarks!

 For the first method, you'll need:

Plus some ribbon and beads (optional)

And you know what makes this a wonderful recycling project? You can use any clear packaging that you might well have at home! Hooray!

First, cut your transparency sheet lengthwise into wide strips, or in my case, an scalloped oval. 

Then, using a hole punch, make a small hole. This is where the ribbon should go.

Now to apply the rub-on image, you'll want to cut around the selected design carefully with your scissors to remove it from the sheet of Rub-ons. After that, position the image over your bookmark to make sure everything fits. 

The Eiffel tower was a little bit bigger than my bookmark so I had to crop some bits from the bottom. Oh well..

The next step is to peel off the backing and carefully position the image, sticky side down, on your bookmark. And with a Popsicle Stick or any similar tool, start rubbing and rubbing, and rubbing some more! 

 After you've firmly rubbed over the entire design, slowly pull back the protective sheet from the transfer. If any part of the design hasn't completely adhered to the bookmark, don't panic! Carefully place back over and rub again.

And voila! Here's your bookmark after applying the rub-on image.

Now I wasn't sure how durable it would be considering that transparency sheets are not that much of a porous surface and I was afraid that it might get rubbed off just as easily as it was rubbed-on!So what I did was coat it with a thin layer of spray sealer, and sure enough, it did the trick! You can use Mod Podge, too. The only downside would be the visible brush strokes. But if you ask me, I can live with that!

The last step is to add a length of ribbon. And some pretty beads just for the fun of it!

That's it! I hope you've found this helpful. Feel free to leave me a comment. And you guys are always welcome to follow my blog and keep up with all the DIY projects and tutorials!



Have a craftylicious day. xx

P.S. I have Blog Candy!

Click on the picture to go to the candy post.

DIY Watercolor Gift Tags

Is it just me or are handmade tags so much fun to make?

Better yet, watercolor tags! I've always loved playing with watercolors as a kid. I got my first very own set ( which is by the way still some where in my painting stash) when I was in first grade. The feeling I had when I ripped the wrapping paper open and saw the first glimpse of the tip of the box that says "Non-toxic Watercolors" is one I'll never forget. It actually still draws a smile on my face every time I remember it. Yep, here we go again! :) 

The other day I had some leftover watercolor paper that I just couldn't get myself to throw away. So I ended up making these:

I tried a couple of painting techniques. First I went with different shades of the same color. Perfect stress reliever!

Then I tried including 2-3 colors and blending them together. Both techniques turned out beautiful and I'm pretty contented with the results.

After the paper was completely dried I cut them into little tags and punched holes near the tops.

Next was lettering time! I had the intention of leaving them blank and personalizing them whenever I needed attaching one to a gift, but I was craving for some lettering fun!

So I pretty much decorated all of them in a matter of 15 minutes. Ah.. feels much better!

I now have a nice stock of pretty gift tags ready to add the perfect touch to a handmade gift.

Are you in love with watercolors as much as I am? What are your favorite painting techniques? Share the creativity, share the joy!

Pssst!  Have you entered my Friendship Pins giveaway yet? only four more days to enter. You might just receive four pins delivered to your doorstep!

See you on Sunday after my chemistry finals!

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Project Pinterest #2: Mod Podge Shoes

Is it just me or is everybody else so excited about Sandee's Project Pinterest being hosted?

I know I've already submitted an entry for this month, but I just couldn't resist it when I saw this on pinterest. I was instantly one of those "make.now" moments! I had everything I needed to turn my boring old flats from crappy to happy!

So may I introduce you to *drumroll* my Red Polka Dot Shoes:

This was the pair I saw on pinterest:

(Click to go to original pin)

So what did I do? I just gave my flats a good wipe with a damp cloth to make sure everything's clean. Then I applied a generous amount of mod podge and started covering my shoes with pretty polka dot fabric.
I left it over night to dry and voila! A whimsy pair of flats perfect for summer. :)

For a step by step tutorial follow this link.

Do you know what else gives me a bonus? I've googled "Red polka dot flats" and found this:

Close enough? Guess how much this pair is? £15.99 ! Wowza!
This is the link to the shop.
So that totally makes this a good project, no?

 Don't forget to hope on over at Sandee's and check out what everyone else is doing. :)
A side note for my Egyptian friends: If you're asking what "Mod Podge" is, it's just "غراء أبيض شفاف". That's what you say to the guy at the paint shop if you want to buy some. :D

Have an extra crafty day!                                     

DIY Baby's First Birthday Mini Book

Adbullah (pronounced: Ub-dul-luh) turned one yesterday!

Meet my littlest cousin and his chubby cheeks:

I took this photo of him when he was 2 months old.

He looks so different now. His hair have gotten a bit curly and his cheeks a little less chubby. I still love him more than anything else though!

The family & I were invited to his first birthday party yesterday. It was awesome! All the family kids loved to see how big he's gotten since we've last seen him. They also wanted to (quoting 6 yr old Jana) "test" how he can now stand and walk on his own!

Yes, we did buy him a fancy first birthday gift (an inflatable play castle) but I just couldn't resist making him a little something for this special milestone.

And this is how I ended up making this:

A handmade mini book with a total of 20 blank pages to be personalized by each family member for baby Abdullah to look at when he's older.

Think drawings, doodles, birthday wishes, mini photographs..the possibilities truly are endless!

And the cover turned out so cute! I took this photo of him when he was just a few hours old. 

His birth was the perfect excuse to practice baby photography, ha!

To make this mini book I cut 10 sheets of watercolor paper of about 10"x6" and folded them so I had a total of 20 pages.

Then I cut two pieces of heavy cardstock for the cover and assembled the book in a way similar to this one, (but I tweaked it a bit because my cover was too thick for the stapler)

After that I started brainstorming how my layout should be. I kept it simple and added a few embellishments.

And glued a long piece of ribbon to wrap the book closed.

Voila!

Here's one last picture with some baby stuff. Because anything would look cute with crocheted baby booties!

This little book is now full of sweet words and special birthday wishes for the big boy. I would have loved to show you what everyone wrote inside, but I know that your Arabic language is just as good as my Chinese! lol

Have an extravagant day!                            

Bringing Friendship Pins Back {Giveaway-Expired}

Do you remember these little guys? They were totally awesome in the 80's to the early 90's. And being a nineties kid myself, friendship pins were one of my favorite things to make and give away.

Now I'd totally forgotten about them until last week when one of cousins told me he'd made me something. Him? MAKE?! 

He handed me a little safety pin with the tiniest letter beads you could probably find. It spelled my name!

And even though that's not exactly my favorite way of spelling "Roudi", but the fact that he spent time making it just melts my heart.

Little things can bring such great joy. :) 

So this was it, this little gift unleashed the friendship pin junkie inside me! lol
Brace yourselves, I made these:


Thirty little friendship pins in each and every color combination!
Once I started, I just couldn't stop! I even "sorted" them out by color scheme! lol

Now I had only one problem, I didn't exactly like the fact that you insert the beads on the same side you open the safety pin from. This way, every time the pin is opened, you are faced with the risk of, god forbid, losing all your precious beads. lol
So I grabbed my pliers and flattened the coil completely, inserted the beads, then bent/coiled the pin back into shape again. Much better!

I'm planning to give these away to my friends at the club. We're two basketball teams of 15 girls and boys. I know, I know that means another 15 pins have no destiny so far, but I like the idea of getting to choose which pin you want. I'm nice like that! lol

Here are two of my favorites:

This little pin is (yes, intended) for a very dear friend who's so crazy about Dwyane Wade. He even has his last name for his Facebook username! I made him a little W for Wade pin. :)

And this one here holds a very special bead. This little pink heart bead was part of a set my 3 friends and I have received when we won our very first gymnastics championship 7 years ago. This is one I'm definitely keeping for myself. 

There's nothing wrong with some goofiness every now and then, no? I mean, How awesome would it be to have a friendship pin on your shoes, bag or even shirt than says "Hee hee" ? :D

I mostly love the blue gradient, and I really hope the boys won't be all "grossed out with all the girly stuffs" when they see other colors besides pink.

Have you forgot about the giveaway the post's title mentions, yet? lol

I'm giving away four friendship pins from my, now huge, stash. Just leave a comment telling me which four are your favorite (scroll up to the 2nd photo to see them all) and you might just get them in your mail!

The winner will be announced on the 1st of July (yes, that far away! Because that's when my finals end)

You have a whole 25 days to enter. :)

P.s. Please leave me your e-mail so I can contact you if you win. 
Winner has been contacted. Thank you everyone for joining!

Love,                               

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A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Here's what I've been up to last week.

Whipped up these paperclip bookmarks using vintage buttons, ribbon and some giant paperclips.

Found some awesome stamps at a thrift store. A set of 16 rubber stamps for just $1! Quite a bargain, no?

                                               

Been invited to a craft fair! Too bad I hadn't known about it before so I could join. But it was splendid! Look at the marvelous cakes below:

 And I got some oh-so-delicious cake pops, too!

 Here comes the crafty part!

It was the last day at school and I made this little card for my English teacher. (Yes, I'm in high school. Yes, I still make stuff for my favorite teachers. No, I don't find it embarrassing.)

 

 I got him some m&m's and tied them with pretty ribbon and attached this lovely tag. He loved everything about it!

Went shoe shopping! I got these beauties:

 

 I plan on turning this white pair into graffiti shoes like the ones at Lil Blue Boo

Time for some photography!

 

And this is how my week was like. :)

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, don't forget to smile.

Hugs,                                      

Roundup: Out 'n' About

Here are some sneak peaks of the highlights of my week:

Last week I..

Decorated Easter eggs and filled them with confetti for a confetti egg game with my cousins this weekend.

Oh, by the way, have you checked out our Easter Workshop for 2011?

Made this polymer clay keychain with mine and my brother's fingerprint in a heart shape for mum. 

Had a mini photo session with my bestie's 10-month-old sister. Isn't she the cutest?

This is one of my favorite photos from yesterday's session.

Made this wooden ring (my favorite now).

Tried to finish this Wicked Witch of the West bookmark with my online bestie from the U.S.

We're on skype for +3 hours, and I'm loving how it turned out!

Scribbled..

I hope you've had a great week, too!

Love,