Something Old/Something New

April's XYRON DT Challenge theme is "Something Old/Something New"

This challenge is right up my alley :) I LOVE giving to old things a new life!!! 

So this one was a great pleasure for me
My assignment  for  this great theme was -Table Centerpiece

The challenge was to choose an old yet very popular ( most viewed/most pinned ) project listed on www.XYRON.com and make something NEW insired by that project.

I chosed the "Summer Centerpiece" by Kay Brown as my "old" inspiration
As you can see, this is a cute ,girly centerpiece  design with pretty ,colourful paper  flowers placed  in a metal tin .
  So I knew I will make something flowery and feminine ,but I yet to decide how I want to approach  this. Then ,I saw this strange piece of metal thrown in my garden-it was a piece leftover from my broken washing machine which I had my hubby  tear apart for it's drum, to make a fire pit  out of (idea I saw on Pinterest where-else ) And right then on the spot my Muses did their magic and my Table centerpiece was born

So here it is, little piece of metal laying near my herbs crying for attention...Not a tin,yet can hold my paper flowers...  What can be better than that -taking something old and broken and make a new version of a Summer Centerpiece (which by the way, can also be used as Wall Hanging ,Door Wreath or even a LAMP) 

Here is how I did mine-

So, Good Luck with your crafting and I'll see'ya soon

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Upcycle your Cereal Boxes ...

As you can imagine,I ship LOTS of packages each month ..
At the beginning ,when I've opened my first shop,I used to buy envelopes at the post office-which of course becomes expensive when you need to buy dozen of them a month...So I started to upcycle the envelopes I've received from the supplies I order from around the world :)
But these weren't enough ,so I had an idea to recycle the cereal boxes as my packaging option !!!

At first ,I was covering the box with craft paper,but pretty shortly I come to the conclusion ,that it's a waste of paper to cover perfectly good box with a plain paper ,when I just can open the box ,flip it over and use the blank side as my front leaving the printed side from the inside.
And let me tell ya,it's the BEST idea I've ever had!!!!
First of,my customers LOVE the fact that their outfit arrives in a cereal box
Secondly ,I  RECYCLE
And finally, I make it even better with my original Zentangle doodles on each box,making every package OOAK-who wouldn't want to get a treat box fully customized only for him :)
I even got some feedbacks from customers telling me the outfit  they ordered was fantastic,but the package even better :D

So I think I need to share my idea with you guys .
Here is how I do it
You'll need Cereal Box
XYRON Mega Runner or Tape Runner or both :)
Posca or other brand fine tip markers

So what you'll need to do is simply open the glued tabs of the box and flip it inside-out,

 then glue everything  back on

 Draw some cute little doodles

 (this box was for  my PettiBearKIDS  customer :) 

and using your XYRON Tape Runner glue the SIDE tab back to close the box 

 see how the printed side is inside now

 The bottom tabs are glued

Put your product/ gift inside

 Now run your Mega Runner over the upper tabs to glue close the box

 READY FOR SHIPPING

Other sample that went to my women's PettiBear shop

With this package I used my XYRON Creatopia machine to make a sticker out of one of my flower doodles to decorate the box

I choose to go with the sticker instead of direct doodling to cover a tear I had in the box

some other samples of my packages and doodles to get you inspired

Drawing with Sierra-GREAT collaboration with my kid :)

Doodled Cork Board 

Another upcycled cereal box+ a handmade recycled paper "Thank You" card

  A3 ZenTangle art

 Another collaboration with Sierra- she drew the little fishes :)

SO

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Beads Orginaizer DIY

A few days ago we bought Sierra,my 6 year old a cute little beading  loom which came  with some simple acrylic beads in a mix of colours and shapes.
 All were thrown together in one plastic bag and cased in a big black and ugly plastic suitcase. .

Sierra was very excited about her own crafty gadget and immediately sat me down and had me teach her how to make a beaded cuff bracelet :-)

Me on the other hand couldn't get my mind to rest-something in this kit wasn't right (according to my standards ) ...
Watching Sierra bead brought me to understanding that having all the beads mixed in a plastic bag was just not good enough for me and it has made Sierra's crafting experience more difficult then it's suppose to be.
So I decided to organize the beads according to colour and give each it's own crib

Here is what you'll need to make the cutest bead organizer for your kid
And yes,I know there are plenty of ready-made plastic bead organizers on the market I can buy, but I didn't want to spend $$ on one when I had the ugly suitcase and my imagination ;P

So here is what you'll need-

• one ugly plastic suitcase (the one that came with the kit)
• small plastic containers (I used ones that are made for food storage )
• variety of patterned papers ( I used the Imaginisce collection )
• XYRON Creatopia machine
• Posca markers

First of,you need to cut one of the plastic containers to make a cutting template

Now with the help of your template you can cut  the patterned paper- one for the perimeter and one for the bottom 

All cut and ready for my beloved Creatopia machine

Pop them in and make a sticker out of all of them

Keep in mind that we want to place the glue on the FRONT of the perimeter templates ,so we should flip each shape over while running through the machine!!!!

(I used double sided patterned cardstock,so it's difficult to see what am I talking about ^^,but trust me on it )

No glue each circle to the bottom of the plastic cup

 Then after, cover the perimeter 

 First is ready-11 left :)

To make things even more kid friendly and give some great inspiration for colour combinations ,I covered  the inside of the suitcase with more great patterned papers from the imaginisce brand

Of course I can cover the outside as well, and decorate the whole thing for a total shabang ...I'll think of that  But meanwhile,I'm happy that all the beads are organized and looking pretty from the  inside and the outside can wait for a different post :D

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