Starlight Musings

     Some time after seeing cute, mini magazine holders a few talented women made online, I noticed that graham cracker boxes from Costco were a good size for my cards. . .and came up with these.       The boxes were a little flimsy, so I opened them up and glued another layer of cardboard (from other boxes) .     I glued the box back into shape, decoupaged, and added some metal apothecary-type pulls from Amazon to the fronts (the ones I ordered are no longer available, but there are many others - just search for label pull handles and you should find similar ones) .  I just wanted to make sure I like the grouping inside before I made labels.      Thanks for checking out my quick project  - hope you're doing well and hope that maybe I sparked a bit of creativity or courage in you!  (But - if you raid your pantry and take any cardboard boxes, think of labeling any bags you take out if they're not easily recognizable. . . trust me, it could save you or your family a little

     Short version - I pulled off the original covering off two cassette storage boxes, painted the inside, decoupaged the outside.  Still unsure what I'm putting inside or how I'm doing it . . . any suggestions? - hope you're doing well and hope that maybe I sparked a bit of creativity or motivation in you! (On with the yammer. . .)      I've had two old cassette storage boxes for a loooonnnnggg time, but I've been trying to figure out how to use them.  I've seen other blog posts showing pictures of them painted.  They say they've used them to organize craft supplies, but I haven't seen or read what they've actually put in them or how they've done it.  I'm thinking I could use them for die cuts or embellishments, but I'm still working the details out.  Did they use the old cases?  Did they use the slots like others do with ink pads?  Did they do something else??      I decided to answer those questions later and set out to fix the outsi

     The previous owner of our home had some hunting trophies mounted and they left "halos."  We're not hunters, so simply replacing them was not an option.      Actually, why not?  With our favorite characters, that is.  How?  Halloween treat buckets!  The halos still show, but it's not as obvious as when it was bare.  Grabbing them on clearance helped encourage/motivate me to do it.  (Maybe you have a few in your Halloween stash?)       I cut off the plastic handles and used my Crop-a-dile to make holes in the backs of the buckets.  I looped some fishing line through the holes and hung them each on a hook screwed in the wall.  (I had used adhesive hooks, but the adhesive couldn't stick to the stain and they started popping off after a week or so.  Had hubs grab 4 hooks while he went shopping and a week later, had the time and courage to screw them up.)   I left the middle open for another project I'll work on later.    

     Quick idea: before you toss/recycle something, look at it.  Try to see if it can be used as is or if you can modify it somehow for your needs.  (What/how you modify depends on your knowledge & skills.)         Try to see if you can use it alone or with something else.  Shape and size are a little important, but play around with it.  Sometimes it can be cut down, sometimes it just needs to be rotated, and sometimes it can be part of something else.  If it's flimsy, you can double up walls and/or decoupage it for added strength.  (I cut a cereal box in half to make it thinner and sturdier.)   Maybe it can be attached to another box or put inside something else to help organize things (I found a hot chocolate mix box is almost the same width as a photo box from Michael's and I use a few of them to help sort my photos better) .      Just a quick idea this time - we've been busy with our kids and home as well as trying to get some things done in our attic before the

     I got back from Walmart and thought I should quickly share this.  I was just walking from the food section to get deodorant when I spotted these. . . .      I also found a black planner like the others, but has a leather-like cover that I'm going to use for something else.  I'm not sure what it'll be yet - might be an album/planner hybrid for one of my kids grandparents.  I plan on using my Zutter tool to make whatever it is I decide to do.      I took nail polish remover (I have 100% acetone)  and a Q-tip to remove the printing on the outside of the two blue planners.  I also cut a few of the pages to move them where I wanted them - they work just like all the Happy Planners I've seen.  Probably can't move them around as much as the Happy Planner pages and takes longer to do, but this is to just see if I like it.      Thanks for checking out my quick post - if you're interested in dipping your toe in the Happy Planner thing, maybe you