Best of DIYs | Easy Tiny Envelopes

Two years ago we ran across Ruth Bleakley's work and asked her if she'd do a DIY for us.  She sent over this easy (and adorable, we might add) envelope project that has become one our most favourite on the blog. It's a clever idea for making a template that could be translated using any size envelope. If you missed it, here it is:

Easy Tiny Envelopes
By Ruth Bleakley

I discovered this envelope making method completely by accident when pulling soggy rain-soaked mail out of my leaky mailbox - I had a total *eureka* moment when the envelope I gingerly opened up completely unfolded at the seams revealing an envelope "template" perfectly.

I've seen many envelope tutorials online, some offer downloadable templates, some show fancy paper folding techniques and some suggest specific measurements to create your own D.I.Y. envelopes. I'm going to show you how to replicate any interesting envelope that you might already have, no measuring involved!

1. Choose an envelope you already have that you like the size and shape of

2. Soak it in a bowl of water (lukewarm is probably best) for about one minute, or until the glue releases from the paper easily. It will not take as long as you think!

3. Pat the now unfolded envelope dry - it doesn't have to be completely dry, just not drippy - and trace it onto a thin piece of cardboard - chipboard works well, as would something like a cereal box. Try to be accurate at this stage and trace neatly.

4. Cut the template out with a pair of scissors, and you may want to label it so that in the future you (or whoever you live with) won't say "what is this strange piece of cardboard?" and toss it out!

5. Use your new wonderful template to trace out an envelope design on any and all types of paper! Think gift wrap, maps, magazines, old calenders, stamped cardstock - you name it! I like to trace using pencil on the side that will be the inside so the marks won't show.

6. Carefully cut out your envelope with scissors and fold it up - I like to do the sides first, then use the folded sides as a guide on where to fold the top and bottom. Use the handle of your scissors or a bone folder for really crisp edges.

7. Use a glue tape roller  to stick your envelope together, or glue stick but I find glue stick gets brittle after just a few months, go ahead and get a glue tape roller, they're like $5 and you can find them in the adhesive section of an office supply store or craft store.

8. *Bonus Points* if you've ever wanted to be able to lick and stick your envelope flaps, check out this Lick& Stick glue I originally bought from Paper Source (they don't seem to carry it anymore). If you can't find it, you can also D.I.Y. your own envelope glue (2x craft bonus points!)

9. Ta-da! Admire your finished work! Ideas for use include: penpal & swap envelopes, gift card envelopes & storing small things in your studio - if you happen to make some yourself, I'd LOVE to see them! Post a link in the comments.

Ruth Bleakley is a paper addict who probably became a bookbinder soley as an excuse to obtain more paper. She lives on Cape Cod and also designs nautical invitations and stationery (more paper!) under the name Concertina Press.

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DIY Flowering Chandelier + Book Giveaway!

from Sweet Paper Crafts by Mollie Greene

Today we're excited to share a DIY courtesy of Chronicle Books from one of their newest craft books, Sweet Paper Crafts, 25 Simple Projects to Brighten Your Life by Mollie Greene.  The book is  filled with fun and clever projects like star garlands to string over the mantel to delicate flower wreaths for the front door.  Mollie Green founded Royal Buffet, one of our favorite etsy shops and has an amazing talent for unique work using paper.  Today we're featuring one of the many amazing DIYs in her book, a flowering chandelier.  To kick off the launch of the book, Chronicle Books is also offering one of our readers a chance to win a copy!  To enter, visit our Instagram post featuring a picture of this DIY and leave a comment by 6pm Wed., June 26/13.  We'll announce a winner Thursday. Our instagram is @poppytalk! Good luck!  Here's the tutorial. ~Jan


DIY Flowering Chandelier 

Adding the perfect glow to any dark corner of your house, this chandelier, created from a new or used lamp shade, is encircled with clusters of pretty paper flowers and leaves. It is best made with a two-tiered shade that has a universal fitting—where the fitting for the light bulb is in the center of the shade. You will also need a hanging lantern cord and a low-wattage bulb. If you like, you can vary the flowers by using three layers of sewing pattern tissue, three layers of colored tissue paper, or a combination of the two.

Supplies
Two-tiered lamp shade with a universal fitting
Scissors for cardboard
Glue remover such as Goo Gone (optional)
Newspapers (optional)
Multipurpose spray paint in a coordinating color
Hanging lantern cord
Low-wattage lightbulb
20-lb/9-kg cup hook
Scissors for paper
Ruler
Silver metallic thread
Liquid glue
Flowering Chandelier template
Tissue paper for petals
Pencil
Tissue paper or sewing pattern pieces in a contrasting color for leaves
Iron (optional)

Instructions
1. If your lamp shade is covered with fabric or paper, use the cardboard scissors to remove all the covering material. If necessary, eliminate any old dried glue with glue remover. You want the shade to be as clean as possible so it will take the spray paint evenly.

2. (I recommend spreading newspapers over your work area before starting this step.) Following the manufacturer’s instructions and using a light hand, cover the lamp shade frame with two coats of spray paint, allowing the paint to dry between coats. After you apply the second coat, allow the frame to dry completely, at least an hour.

3. Turn the frame so the widest part is facing up. Run the cord through the center and screw in the light bulb. Install the cup hook from the ceiling following the manufacturer’s instructions, and hang the shade from the cord.
4. Using the paper scissors, cut pieces of metallic thread about 12 in/30.5 cm long (or longer or shorter depending on the size of your frame). Starting at the bottom tier of the frame, tie the pieces of thread to the frame, spacing them about 3 in/7.5 cm apart. Place a tiny dot of liquid glue on each knot to keep the thread in place.

5. Download the Flowering Chandelier template at www.chroniclebooks.com/sweetpaper. Stack three pieces of tissue paper. Use the pencil to trace the template on the top piece, then cut out through all three layers. Be careful to cut inside the pencil line so you don’t have to erase it later. Separate the three layers of petals. Place a dot of liquid glue along the straight edge of one petal, in the center. This will be your bottom layer. Place a second petal on top, adhering the two together. This will be your middle layer. Apply another dot of glue in the center of the middle petal, along the straight edge, and place the last petal on top. Fold the stack gently in half, and place a small dot of glue on the top layer inside the fold. Place this glue dot on a piece of the metallic thread, very close to where the thread meets the frame. Pinch the flower around the thread until it adheres to the thread. Make more flowers in the same way and glue them to the thread, overlapping them and occasionally leaving space for leaves.

6. If you are using sewing pattern pieces for the leaves, you may need to iron the pieces on a low setting to smooth out folds and wrinkles. For each leaf, cut a piece of tissue paper about 4 by 1 in/10 cm by 2.5 cm. Fold in half lengthwise. Cut fringe in each narrow end. Apply a dot of glue to the inside of the fold. Pinch the glue-dotted leaf on the thread underneath the flower that you glued to the chandelier. Continue to cut and assemble flowers and glue them to the threads, adding leaves here and there as you like.

7. Trim any excess hanging thread. Allow the glue to dry for about an hour. Then gently spread open the petals of each flower by carefully pulling the layers up and away from each other.

8. For the top tier of the frame, repeat steps 4 to 7 to complete the chandelier.
9. Take care to keep the petals and leaves away from the light bulb. Always use a small, low-wattage bulb and turn off the light when you leave the house.

Sweet Paper Crafts
25 Simple Projects to Brighten Your Life
By Mollie Greene • Photographs by J. Aaron Greene
Available June 25, 2013 at Chronicle Books

Update:  Congrats to @mrs_merriman - you have won the book! Please contact us for details!

 

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Free Download: Botanical Prints

Speaking of botanical prints, this weekend I made us some wall art for our kitchen as we were all getting tired of staring at blank walls and longed for a little more coziness inside! I've been admiring vintage botanical prints for some time and found some really pretty ones that I thought might work - nice for the summer?  I fixed them up a bit in photoshop and created pdf's to print out (thinking to share with you also if you so wish)!  These are all 8.5" x 11" making it easy for any printer.  I just taped mine up temporarily with gold striped washi tape till I can pick up some frames (probably white - like the RIBBA's from IKEA that I photoshopped the images into below). I'm thinking of also trying to make some poster sized ones with some of these as well - hope to share those with you soon too!  (Wouldn't these also make really pretty wrapping papers)?  Links to downloads below.

Download:

Fig. 1 | Fig. 2 | Fig. 3 | Fig. 4 | Fig. 5 | Fig. 6.

Images courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library.

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Beautiful Botanical Desktop Wallpaper

While working on a project recently, I came across some beautiful botanical images.  This one caught my eye, and I decided to turn it into a desktop wallpaper for myself.  I thought you might like it too - so E uploaded it for you over the weekend.  Here are the links: 1024x768 and/or 1280x1024. Happy Monday!


Images courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library. 

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DIY + Book Giveaway: Monogram Card from Put Your Stamp On It

The folks at Chronicle Books have sent over a lovely DIY - perfect for a last minute Mother's Day Card Idea an excerpt Meagan Lewis' book, Put Your Stamp On It!  As Lewis explains in the little video clip (below), people may not realize how easy it is to make your own stamp.  So with that said, she's offering us her instructions to hand-carve an adorable monogram stamp and then alos how to emboss it while you're at it!  And then afterwards, enter (by leaving a comment here) to win a copy of the book!  Good luck!

Embossed Monogram Stationery Set

Personalized stationery makes a thoughtful and useful gift. Use a monogram from the template provided or create your own. This project requires embossing—a fun and relatively easy way to give cards or envelopes an elegant and polished look. Similar in effect to thermographic printing and engraving, embossing is accessible and inexpensive, and requires relatively few materials. The embossing powder is heated and transforms the stamped design into a raised and shiny print.

Materials
• Basic carving materials (artist carving rubber, linoleum cutting tool, scissors, craft knife, cutting mat, metal ruler, graphite pencil (6B), bone folder, paper)
• Double-stick tape
• Clear embossing (a.k.a. “watermark”) ink pad or pigment ink pad
• Cards and envelopes, a solid color other than white
• Scrap paper
• Embossing powder, white
• Fine-point tweezers
• Embossing heat gun
• Monogram Template - click here to download

Step 1
Choose the size and number of letters for your monogram. For a monogram 11⁄3 in/35 mm tall, set your copier to enlarge the template by approximately 150 percent. For a two- or three-letter monogram, make an enlarged copy of the template and cut out the letters. With double-stick tape, mount the cut-out letters onto a new piece of paper. Make sure the letters are straight and spaced evenly apart. Create a new copy so that you have a single sheet from which to trace and transfer the design to the rubber.

Step 2
Apply ink to your stamp with the clear embossing ink pad and print onto the card. Because timing is critical when embossing, stamp only one card at a time, and complete the following steps before repeating the process.

Step 3
Place a piece of scrap paper underneath the stamped card, then pour the embossing powder onto the wet print. Cover the print completely and generously. You can shake it ever so lightly to ensure the powder sticks to the print.

Step 4
Gently tap the card over the scrap paper to get the excess powder off. You will see that the powder has stuck to your printed monogram. Any remaining powder can be carefully wiped away with your finger (or, for pieces stuck in isolated areas, removed with fine-point tweezers). Any powder on the card will melt and stick to your card, so you want to make sure you get all the unwanted powder off! Excess powder can be poured back into the jar of embossing powder.

Step 5
Hold the embossing heat gun at an angle to the card, away from you and the hand that is holding the card in place. Turn the heat gun on and move the nozzle around to distribute the heat around the print. You want to have the heat gun about a finger’s length from the print. The powder will take 20 to 30 seconds to melt and seal. Once you see one area of powder melt, move the heat gun to any other areas that have not yet melted. Turn off the heat gun and leave to cool once the entire print has melted. Your print is now permanently sealed to the card. Set the card aside and allow it to dry. Repeat steps 2 through 5 for each card.

Extra hints: embossing colors
In this project we used a white embossing powder. It turns opaque when embossed so the color of ink underneath will not show through. If you would like the ink color to show, you can purchase clear embossing powder and print with a colored pigment ink pad. When embossed, the clear powder will melt and the color of the ink will show through and appear shiny and raised.

Please enter to win a copy of Put Your Stamp On It, by Meagan Lewis by commenting below.  We will announce a winner Tuesday, May 14th!  Deadline to enter - 6pm Monday, May 13/13. Good Luck!

Put Your Stamp On It
20 Adorable Projects Plus Instructions for Hand-Carving Beautiful Stamps
By Meagan Lewis
ISBN 9781452115719

Update:  We have a winner! Congrats to Julia Marchionna! Please contact us for details!  Jan

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Free Printable Mother's Day + Blank Gift Tags

Following my Instagram Wrapping Paper DIY post earlier, here are some tags to make the final set.  There are three choices with the tags, Mom, I Love You Mom and a blank to use for that special person who is like a Mom (or use for anything)!  Click here to download the tags, here to download the paper and here to learn how to make your own!

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DIY: Instagram Wrapping Paper

Making wrapping paper for special ocassions is one of my favourite things to do.  In fact I have featured a few I've made in the past, here, here and here.  And so this Mother's Day I thought to not only share another, but to show you how I make them.  It's fairly simple if you're familiar with Illustrator (my adobe app of choice), but could be translated using photoshop as well.  In fact it's so simple, it might not even be a real tutorial.  But here it goes!

To start: Pick 12 complimentary instagram images for this type of layout (to fit an 8.5" x 11" portrait paper size).  I opened up my feed online - instagram.com/poppytalk/# and then went to each image I wished to download to my desktop, and copied each to my desktop. Most people probably know how to, but just in case; go to each image, hit control-click (mac) or right-click (pc), then click on "View Background Image" which will open the image to a new page and then control-click "save image as" to save to your desktop.

Once you've downloaded your 12 images.  Re-size each image to 200 pixels wide.  I've created a script in photoshop to make this step faster.  First off, make two file folders on your desktop. Name one "untitled folder" and another "untitled folder 2". Put all the instagram images from your desktop into the "untitled folder". Then, in photoshop - click on "File", then click on "Scripts", then click on "Image Processor".

A window will appear (see below).  Under Step 1 - Select the images to process - click on "Select Folder" which will open up a "choose a folder" and choose "untitled folder"(the folder you just made).  Then in Step 2 - Select location to saved processed images, click on "Select Folder" and choose "untitled folder 2"(the other file folder you just made).  Step 3 - File Type Select Save as Jpeg and Resize to Fit.  Under W: Enter 200 px  and Under H: Choose 300 or higher (to give enough space in case your saved image isn't exactly square)..  Then click Run.  And wait for the script to run.  Which will save all of your files to 200 pixels wide.

Once all your files have been saved to 200 wide.  Open Illustrator.  Then open File, New. Choose letter size to make a letter size piece for your wrapping paper.  If you want your wrapping paper to be larger and you have a larger printer that prints legal or 11"x17" then of course use those to make a larger piece of wrapping paper.  After you have chosen your size, and in this case we are using letter, choose the portrait orientation and hit o.k.  Then start to place your images in side by side.  I do this by opening up the file folder which has my newly resized images in it (e.g. "untitled folder 2") and then just click and drag them onto my page.  But you can also of course use the "file", "place" selection.  And then I just start to line each one up giving a little space in between each other as a border.

Continue to drag and place each image into the 8.5"x11" space. You will find when you get to the last three at the bottom they will be cut off a bit (which is the way it's supposed to be).

And then you are basically done! (I told you it was simple!)  Then just save the file as a pdf so that it makes if faster and easier to print.  Plus you can then share it if you wish to.

If you wish to use mine, feel free to download it here (for personal use only of course).  I have used everything from vintage images as well as family photo's to make it more personal for this type of project.

You might also like this paper I made for mother's day a few years back.  The blossoms one compliments the instagram one quite well.  All photo's taken by me.  And there you go! Happy instagram wrapping paper making!

Update: I made some Mother's Day + Blank Gift Tags to finish the set. Click here to download!

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Butterflies + A Tea Party for Mom's Day

Contributor post by Janis Nicolay of Pinecone Camp.

I love a little origami, and I love a little baking...makes for a happy Mom's Day tea party. Ms. Poppytalk herself popped over to my house, to help fold some butterflies and set up for the shoot. I'm definitely going to replicate this for my mom next weekend. So glad I have all these butterflies ;)

Jan, bringing over the marmalade sugar cookie sandwiches to the table

Here's a "how-to" clip of making the butterflies. It's pretty simple, and hard to stop once you start. I scanned in some pretty fabric, to make my origami paper. These butterflies were made with 10 inch squares. How-to clip recorded by Robert Edmonds.

Butterflies were simply taped onto braided ribbon and pinned to wall (left). I didn't have napkins that worked with everything, so I stitched up some scraps of raw cotton, with bright yellow thread.

I wrapped a few small pots of rosemary, origami style, as table decoration and to give away to guests apres party. 

Marmalade sugar cookie sandwiches. Pistachio raspberry cake, lime ricotta muffins. The cute stand that the cookies are on, is from the Cross. All recipes are over at Pinecone Camp - click here to get the recipes.

Do you have plans for mom's big day? Fill us in!

Have a good day!
janis

Produced and photographed by Janis Nicolay.  To get the recipes for this feature, click here and visit Janis online:

Site:  janisnicolay.com
Blog: Pinecone Camp
Twitter: @PineconeCamp
Instagram: instagram.com/pineconecamp

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DIY: Paper Garland Mobile/Backdrop

Today we're excited to have Tracy Fillon of the lovely shop Dear Pony join us to share how she made her beautiful Paper Garland Screen/Mobile that she uses as background in some of her product shots from her Spring/Summer '13 collection. Tracy is joining us this month at Poppytalk Handmade, and when I saw her new spring line and product shots, I couldn't wait to feature them.  So I'll let Tracy take over now to explain how she created the backdrop and meet me at the bottom of this post to see her new collection! ~Jan

Paper Garland Tutorial by Tracy Fillon
I made these garlands a couple weeks ago. It was so easy and affordable I have to share. I started out by painting white poster board (more like paper) with a watered down light grey, the original white was a very unnatural stark chaulky white.

Next I screen printed some geometric images in a very very light grey- looks more like a soft white. You can also just hand paint or make some potato stamps to achieve this as well.

Next I cut the paper into strips, then into little triangles.

I sewed them all together leaving long threads at the top end.

I found a pretty old branch in the yard (actually I think this branch is one I found somewhere on the coast and drove it with a few others all the way back home) Any branch or dowel will do! Tie the top ends and voila! A pretty thing you can use as a screen to hide something or turn into a mobile.

Thanks Tracy! Super-easy huh?  I can't wait to make one myself!  Such a great idea for wall art, a photobooth backdrop at a party or a fun mobile too!  Now let's check out a bit of Tracy's summer collection shall we?
 

Planetarium Dress 

 

Mountains Tote

Be sure to check out Tracy's shop at Poppytalk Handmade this month or visit her website to find out more about Dear Pony!

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DIY: Customized Initial Papercut by Mr. Yen

Poppytalk invited Mr. Yen (a papercut artist out of the UK) to share a simple papercut tutorial for the blog a few weeks back and today we're thrilled to share it! It's a customized initial papercut, something that one could make and frame for a nursery, a Mother's Day gift, or maybe a powder room.  Check out the how-to below.

Equipment needed:
* Scalpel
* Cutting Mat
* x1 Scalpel blade
* x1 Piece of paper for the main design
* x1 Contrasting piece of paper for a backing to your papercut
•  Downloadable flower PDF file

Step 1: Choose a Font and your Initial
The first step in creating your customised initial papercut is to choose a font you like, or a font you think the person you are creating the papercut for will like. I always feel as though something like a serif font - which has the little edges sticking off the ends of the letters (such as the one I used for this tutorial) seems quite feminine and delicate. Once you have looked at a few fonts, it's time to choose your initial. I'm choosing "A" for Angela, as it's Mothers day soon here in the UK and that's my Mum's name!

CONTINUE READING...

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5 Minute Gift Tag DIY + Wrap Inspiration

This DIY post is sponsored by Elmer's and X-ACTO

Yesterday I mentioned I was going to show you how I made these gift tags - and well here it is as promised. It's super easy and really not a DIY but maybe more on the idea/inspiration side of things? Making a gift tag is fairly simple, in fact I've been known to just freehand cut one when I'm in a pinch, but if you'd like to make one that looks a little more special –grabbing a template and some nice card stock is a good little trick and one I used for my Mom's gift this year. I never really thought about templates until recently and now I'm wondering what I did without them.

CONTINUE READING...

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DIY Stamped Wrapper Paper

Contributor post by Chelsea of Lovely Indeed

Happy holidays, pals! Hope you're having fun decking halls and all that jazz. I'm in wrapping mode, and I really wanted to put the ol' DIY treatment on my giftwrap this year. If you want to do the same and create some awesome, hand-stamped paper, grab your materials. You'll need:

• roll of kraft paper
• a stamp block for carving (I used this one)
• printer and ink
• iron
• carving tools and scissors
• wood block
• strong glue
• stamp pad

First, decide on a design for your stamp. If you love the stag silhouette that I made, you can download it here. Print out your design and put it face down on the stamp block. Iron it with a low heat for a few seconds. Peel away the paper and the design should remain on your block.

CONTINUE READING...

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DIY: Papercute Thanksgiving Garland

Contributor post by Penelope and Pip.

With the American Thanksgiving only a couple of days away, this five minute project will have you sorted for decorations in no time!

I spotted a gorgeous new font just released in the last couple of weeks called Papercute by French font foundry La Goupil and of course my garland making dreams were suddenly filled with paper cut inspired ideas.

Let me tell you, this sure beats drawing the letters yourself!

I made this in 15 minutes before I headed off to the studio this morning so I promise it is the perfect last minute Thanksgiving DIY.

Firstly, the materials:

Materials:

1. Papercute font (it's only $7! Or you could do it the old fashioned way by hand)
2. Scissors
3. Felt scraps
4. Dressmaking pins
5. Bias Binding
6. Sew machine or needle and thread
7. Ruler (optional)

 

 Step 1: Print out your letters (I did two to an A4 sized page).

 

Step 2: Roughly trim around them and pin them onto your felt and cut each letter out.

This font is so easy to use as it requires no precision cutting to look great.

 

When you've finished cutting you will have all of these beautiful, colourful letters ready to sew.

 

Step 3:  Pin your letters onto your bias binding.

You could use a ruler here to make sure they are the same distance apart. I freestyled it and the garland turned out fine.

This is where it pays to pin them all first. I didn't and I missed a letter when I was sewing them. Luckily, I realised straight away and quickly unpicked it. Phew!

 

 Step 4: Sew your letters onto your binding and you're done!

A cute and colourful alternative to the traditional Thanksgiving decorations. Hang with washi tape and maybe even keep it up all year round.

Hope you have a great American Thanksgiving day!

--
Rachael is an illustrator from Brisbane, Australia and is the creator of the whimsical world of Penelope and Pip. You can sneak a peek at her art prints and other pretty paper goods and see what other projects and adventures are inspiring her on her blog too.

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