Sarah Jane's Craft Blog

This fall I covered some of these empty wipes containers to put grocery shopping bags in, but recently I thought it would be a good idea to just fill them with rolls of trash bags: great to throw in the trunk of the car--or even better--to take camping.  I wanted a more flexible and durable cover for the trash bags than scrapbook paper, so I reverted to a method I used before to cover some plastic French's fried onion containers . That project used a couple of layers of tissues paper on plastic.  The Mod Podge really loves tissue paper.  It soaks right through the paper and creates a good solid bond and good seal over all of it.  It's also remains very flexible and won't crease or wrinkle (well the finish is a bit wrinkled intentionally) if the container is squeezed or dented. All you need is some colorful tissue paper, empty disinfectant wipes container (with the label removed), Mod Podge, a foam brush for the glue, and something to cut your tissue pape...

A while back I saw a post on pinterest claiming that you could use canola oil or olive oil with vinegar to remove (or at least reduce the appearance of) scratches on wood.  I figured I had to try this out.  Sounds super easy and uses ingredients I have on hand.  I had some misgivings about the idea of using food-grade oil on wood.  I was worried that it might develop a smell.  So instead of trying this with food oil, I pulled out a container of furniture oil (seemed like a logical choice).  I had some Old English Lemon Oil on hand.  I grabbed a disposable plastic container and put in about 1/4 cup of the lemon oil (I eyeballed it) then I added 3/4 cup of vinegar (which I measured). I swirled it around in the container to mix it and grabbed some paper towels.  I then proceeded to find the most scratched up piece of wood in our house: the window sill of our picture window in the living room.  It's at doggy height and our pup is constant...

Always looking for a new way to use alcohol inks, I decided to try them out on glass gems.  You know, the kind you buy at craft stores to fill up jars and vases (or as point markers in board games).  I have amassed quite a collection of glass gems for crafting and game playing.  I pick them up when they go on sale at Michael's or when Dollar Tree starts selling new varieties.  I think the large clear gems I have below are from Dollar Tree, though I'm not sure. They are sold most places that sell craft supplies. I picked out some gems that were relatively flaw free and set up my work space with my craft mat . Using  my DIY applicator , I dripped ink onto both ends with two different mixes of colors .  I found that this method worked well and allowed me to try different combinations and layers on each gem without having to reload my applicator multiple times.  The bolder colors seemed to show up the best through the gem, and smaller pattern...

I wanted to make a simple decoration to hang on my light fixture above our kitchen table for Valentine's day. I had seen these paper strip hearts floating around the internet and figured they'd be pretty easy.  They were pretty easy once you got the measurements and the directions to stack up your paper strips all down. So here's what I did.  I cut strips 1/2 an inch thick.  I think if I did it again I'd go with wider strips--3/4 of an inch or maybe even an inch wide. I tried out a few different sizes, but cutting strips in 5, 6, and 7 inch increments seemed to work out pretty well and gives you a nice sized heart.  You could do 4, 5, and 6 or 6, 7, and 8 inch hearts for slightly larger or smaller decoration without out any changes to the instructions. Cut two strips of paper for each heart in matching scrapbook paper.  Then choose paper that coordinates but is different for each of the smaller sets.  So you'll end up with 2 strips at 7 inch...