Cancelled Stamps

My grandpa has been collecting stamps since he was in junior high. He has a very specific way to catalog his collection, which means not all stamps from a booklet or sheet need to be saved. As his granddaughter, one of the perks of his stamp collection is that myself and most other family members have ended up with all sorts of stamps. I hardly ever buy stamps as a result. Well, I did buy stamps this week, but only because I was a few cents short on sending a package and needed to have a $5 minimum to use a card. I hardly carry cash, and when I have change, it gets thrown into a jar that goes towards saving for the wedding (those pennies can really add up!). So after the few cents I needed was added to the package, I had the task of selecting which stamps to buy. It was a tough decision, some of them are so pretty! I went with "dogs at work" because I knew it would make my older sister jealous I have these stamps and she doesn't. I'm not a dog person, but even I have to admit those dogs are pretty darn cute! Look at them working...except the one in the top right corner. That one is sleeping on the job! Yes, my sister and I have previously discussed these stamps and how much she likes them. Is it weird that my sister and I looked at various stamp designs on the post office website together over the phone? I think the only stamps she wants more than the "dogs at work" is the 1 cent bobcat stamp. They didn't have those at the post office I went to, though.


Anyway, whenever I get mail from my family half the fun of the letter is looking at which stamps were used on the envelope. And so rather recently, I had an excellent idea to recover the stamps from the envelopes and use them for a decoupage project! I don't have enough stamps for the project I have in mind, but I'll share how to safely remove the cancelled stamps from envelopes with out ripping them. I just happened to receive a package in the mail from my mom today with these gorgeous rose stamps, just in time to make it into today's blog post!

First, cut off the area of the envelope where the stamp is located. I usually just tear the envelope instead, just don't tear through the stamps!

Next, place the stamp (and the bit of envelope that is still attached to it, of course) in hot water. I usually do this in the bathroom sink. 

After a few minutes, the adhesive will loosen and you can lift the stamps right off the paper! The self adhesive stamps take much longer than the ones you have to lick, just be patient! 

Place the stamps on a paper towel. To prevent them from curling, put another paper towel on top so that the stamps are sandwiched and then put a book on top of that and let it dry for several hours or even overnight. 

Here are most of the cancelled stamps I have so far. Aren't they fun and unique? Way better than the liberty bell forever stamps. Forever stamps are great, I fully support forever stamps and the reasoning behind them, but they just aren't as pretty or interesting as using other stamps. 

Hopefully this inspires you to start thinking of your own decoupage projects to do with cancelled stamps - or to at least buy a greater variety of stamps. :)

Water Color Silhouettes

As promised, this is not another post about upcycling tin cans! Hooray! Today, I want to show how to make a water color silhouette. It is easy, and doesn't require a whole lot of artistic talent - so don't worry if you don't think you are an artist, you can do this!

For this activity you will need:
-Watercolor paints
-Paintbrush
-Watercolor paper or any sort of heavier weight paper
-masking or painters tape
-cardboard bigger than your paper

My lovely family on the East coast gave me a graduation gift when they visited this past month, and I used some of that money to buy myself a nice watercolor set. For quite some time I have wanted to buy some watercolor paints and I finally felt like I could do so without being frivolous. You don't need a fancy watercolor set to do this, though. Any set will do.

To start off, determine what you want your silhouette to be. I chose a seahorse and traced one onto scrap paper. You can also print something from your computer, use something from a magazine...there are a lot of possibilities.

Cut out your shape, trying to keep as much detail as possible.

Next, trace the shape onto your heavyweight paper using a pencil. You will want your pencil lines to be very light. You can always go back and erase them if to lighten up your lines if you made them too dark. With the tape, secure your paper to the carboard. Sometimes the tape can tear the paper when you pull it back off, so I recommend first putting the tape on something fuzzy - like your shirt - then use it to make the border.

Next, with your paintbrush and some water, get the paper a little bit wet everywhere except inside the silhouette. Next, start painting!

I used blue, green, and purple and varied the intensity of the shade through how much water I also used. After everything was filled in, I went over everything with a layer of blue paint. But that was my personal preference.

Have fun painting! This one we hung up in the bathroom. I think I'm going to paint another one - this time a dolphin. 

Yarn-Wrapped Can

Yes, a third post in a row about upcycling a can. I am in the process of slowly reorganizing my craft supplies (can I claim to be reorganizing when it wasn't organized in the first place, just all thrown together willy-nilly?). I promise my next post won't be about a tin can, I have something fun with watercolors coming up.

For this activity you will need:
-Yarn
-Hot glue gun
-Tin can (or other clean container that you want to upcycle)
-Scissors

This activity follows the same technique as the yarn wrapped lampshade I did last month. I used a fun rainbow yarn that I've had for years. It is leftover from a scarf I crocheted forever ago.

Glue the yarn to the base of the can and start wrapping! Whenever you feel that you need to secure the yarn, using your glue gun put a little dot of glue and press the yarn into it, then keep going. 

Once you get to the top, make sure to glue the yarn in place and snip off the excess.

Ta-da! It is pretty and functional! This can was the perfect size to hold my set of bic permanent markers. I love the look of yarn-wrapped items, and have an itch to see what else I can do...but my next post will be about a fun watercolor technique, I promise! :)

Button covered can

After making that colored pencil can, I knew that I had to decorate more cans. So I got out my stash of buttons and got to work!

For this craft you will need:
-Tin can
-Buttons
-Hot glue gun

This can craft was considerably less involved than the colored pencil one.

All you need to do is glue your buttons to the can and you are done!

Easy and simple! 

Ta-da!

Colored Pencil Can

I have a ridiculous amount of colored pencils. And I never use them! I prefer crayons above all other coloring utensils. Most of these I have inherited over the years. With older cousins and an older sibling I ended up with them.

So what do you do when you have a bazillion colored pencils and can't remember the last time you use them? You figure out a way to upcycle them, of course!

For this craft you will need:

-Colored pencils that you don't mind never coloring with ever again

-A tin can (mine originally held diced tomatoes)

-hot glue gun and extra glue sticks

-A hacksaw

-A rotary tool 

This craft ended up being more intense than I originally thought it would be, but I love how it turned out. First of all, gather enough pencils to cover your can. My can was about 9" in diameter, which ended up being 35 pencils. 

Next, you need to cut the pencils so that they are the same height as the can. I used a hacksaw (very carefully, of course!) to get them all to the right length. I used a sharpie to mark where I needed to cut each pencil. 

Aaron makes a lovely hand model! 

Seeing all of the decapitated pencils almost made me feel bad...

Next, take your hot glue gun and start gluing the pencils onto the can. Make sure they are perfectly vertical, and that the uneven sides are pointed up (i.e. the end that was attacked with a hacksaw). 

Once you get everything glued on, in all likely-hood the pencils aren't quite the same height, and the edges are rough thanks to the hacksaw. This is when having a rotary tool comes in handy!

Believe it or not, Aaron was actually glad I was using his power tools for arts and crafts! The rotary tool had been bought for a specific purpose, and he was glad it was getting used for something else, thus justifying the purchase even further. 

The rotary tool makes a bit of a mess. Make sure you use it over a tarp or newspaper. I actually used a trash bag spread out on the floor. That's also what caught the mess when I used the hacksaw on the pencils. 

Once the pencils get sanded down, you are ready to use your newly decorated can for whatever your heart desires! All mine holds right now is my ruler and a pair of scissors, but it will get more as I organize my craft supplies. 

Ps - I have an etsy shop! http://www.etsy.com/shop/TallieH 

Because you are awesome and reading my blog, here is a special treat - a coupon code for free shipping through the end of September! If you make a purchase, at some point during checkout there will be a box for a coupon code and you should enter: THANKSABUNCH

Bubble Stationary!

For this project, you are encouraged to blow bubbles with your straw - nay, you are REQUIRED. How often are you told that not only is it acceptable to blow bubbles through a straw, but it is necessary? Um, how about never?!

Until today, that is.

With only a few supplies you can make unique and awesome stationary. Plus, you can have a lot of fun doing it.

List of supplies:
-white computer paper
-white envelopes
-small bowls, one for each color
-straw
-food coloring
-1 teaspoon dish washing soap
-1 teaspoon sugar
-1/2 cup of water

Mix the water, sugar, dish soap, sugar and ten or more drops of food coloring together in a bowl. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Using your straw, blow bubbles in the mixture! The bubble mixture should extend above the rim of your bowl.

Your should protect your work space. I did not and ended up getting food coloring on the kitchen counter. 

Take an envelope or piece of paper and gently place on top of the bubbles so that the bubbles pop.

Repeat until the paper or envelope is completely covered! Don't forget about the back of your envelopes - they need some bubbly love too. 

It is so bubbly and fun! Once the paper dries, write a letter to someone! Not only do you now have totally unique stationary, but it cost next to nothing. 

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies

My mom is going to be so proud of me. Voluntary eating something that is whole wheat?! That's right, mom. Not only did I bake these delicious cookies using whole wheat, they are also Aaron's favorite baked goods out of everything I make. Even a few days old, these cookies somehow stay moist and fluffy. 

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flower\

1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

Preheat the over to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, butter, honey, brown sugar, and egg until it is smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and the baking powder until well mixed, then stir into the batter until blended. 

Roll into small balls and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten them a little bit with a fork.

My baking sheets aren't very pretty...
Also, see the slightly flattened ball of dough in the bottom left corner? I dropped my phone on it. I guess that's one way to flatted a cookie, but I wouldn't recommend the method. 

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly toasted on the edges. 

I prefer to make my cookies on the smaller size. If you make yours bigger, the baking time will obviously be longer. For me, 8 minutes is perfect.

Once they are done...eat! Nom nom nom!

Don't worry mom, I'll bring some of these cookies at Christmas. Yes, I know Christmas is several months away, but it is never to early to start planning what baked goods you want to bring to the family gathering...I have my older sister's AMAZING chocolate cookies to compete with. 

Paper Roses

A few weeks ago, I went to a wedding where all of the flowers were made out of paper. It was gorgeous! I decided to try my hand at making some paper flowers myself, and made some paper roses. I did some experiementing using card stock verses regular paper, and I like the look of the card stock flowers better, but you can even use plain printer paper to make these if you don't have any heavier weight paper on hand.

Supplies:
Paper
Scissors
Pen or pencil
Ruler

Why yes, I do have a sparkly ruler with my name on it! Thank you for noticing. :)

Cut a square out of your paper  - here I cut a 4" x 4" square. Next, take your writing utensil and draw a spiral.

Cut out the spiral.

Start rolling the paper, from the outside of the spiral to the inside. Make sure to hold it tight and not let it start to unroll too much. Once you have the paper tightly rolled - let go of it. It will loosen up and taken on a more rose-like shape.

Ta-da! Isn't it pretty? You can use some hot glue on the bottom to secure the rose so it will maintain its shape. Some of the ones I made I glued and some I did not.

These are so easy and fun to make - I now have a desk drawer full of them because I'm not quite sure what I want to do with them. I'll figure something out, I always seem to.

For the flowers made out of white paper, I dipped the tops of them in food coloring and water. I love the effect!