Faux Luxe
I know people don't typically think of spray paint as a way to class things up, but it's actually a pretty clever option for making cheap things look a little luxe.
Like porcelain? Try high gloss white spray paint. Gold? Metallic spray paint. Easy as that. See examples below.
 |
| I wasn't particularly fond of the bronze/brown speckled look of this owl so I thought he was a perfect candidate for a fake porcelain makeover. |
 |
| For a gold look, I used Valspar's Metallic Gold which I was happy with. I like more of an antique gold tone. (The pears look a little brassy here, but I think that's because of the harsh overhead lighting in the photo) |
Click the pic below for a great blog post from Chris Loves Julia comparing four different gold spray paints.
That's a Wrap
I'm one of those weird people who actually enjoys wrapping gifts, and I'm always looking for fun new ways to do it. This year, I decided to add a personal touch to my gifts...(Don't judge my rusty doodling skills)
 |
| Black butcher paper or Kraft paper with white bistro chalk marker doodles. |
 |
| You should be able to find these kraft envelopes at your local paper or craft store or on Etsy. I have an Illustrator file with all of my contacts' addresses, then I just run the envelopes through the printer. For me, it's much easier (and much tidier) than handwriting them all. |
A Wee Calendar
You can get this great calendar template from Paislee Press, comes with a 4x6 or 5x7 option. Originally, I planned to have mine bound, but I thought it might be nice to let the person you're gifting it to choose how to display it - bound, one at a time, etc. One year, I printed them all together on a poster and framed it. Or - you can use a small acrylic standing frame and display one month at a time, or I've also seen people just slide the current month under their glass desk topper.
 |
Digiscrapping
It didn't take much convincing for me to make the switch to digital scrapbooking several years ago, and I think most of you, if you're not already there, are going that direction as well. With that being said, I just wanted to share a couple of my favorite digiscrapping secrets.
- I LOVE two page layouts and Simple Yin templates. I take a lot of pictures and Simply Yin has this magical way of organizing the chaos and making your pages look more deliberate and polished.
- Like the rest of the world, I typically print my photobooks with Shutterfly. The quality is decent and the price is competitive. Especially if you take advantage of their 40-50% sales (usually around holidays). However, I recently did a post bound album as a gift, and I was actually really happy with the final product. I bought a nice $30 12x12 flat-lay album at Hobby Lobby, $15 after 50% off (black leather look), and then I printed my 12x12 pages with Persnickity Prints at $1.99/pg. I've heard people recommend Costco, but $3.00/pg is a little steep for me. I was really happy with Persnickity Prints - quality, price & speedy shipping! They also do small square prints for your Instagram shots! So, now I'm torn as to how I'm going to do my next album. There are advantages to both. The photobook is thin and sleek, but the sheet protectors in the album are nice for saving your pages from little busy hands, and they also allow you to easily add keepsakes (letters, cards, ribbons, drawings, etc.). The album is also nice because you can easily add and remove pages.
And those are a few of my secrets. Hopefully, there's an idea in there somewhere that you can use!
Happy crafting!
No comments:
Post a Comment