Homemade Christmas cards.

There is something really special about homemade cards. I love making unique cards for friends and family who appreciate the homemade. For far this festive season I've been working on two design types which channel my love for vintage and second hand.

A few weeks back at a garage sale I was fortunate enough to thrift a small travel scabble set. These pieces inspired some scrabble cards. If you are not familiar with my love of scrabble pieces, check out my scrabble sign, scrabble coasters, scrabble magnets, scrabble thumb tacks and scrabble chalk board. You can tell I'm always on the lookout for old scrabble boards.

I've made a range of cards but these were three of my favourites. For the background I used pictures I had found in an old version of Frankie magazine. I'm more a 'true meaning of Christmas' type and tend to avoid Santa related things but this vintage Santa print was too adorable to pass. I trimmed the backgrounds to size and glued them on blank cards. Then I used magic dots to attach the letters.

My second style of cards was inspired by love of animals in Christmas hats. I found second hand cards (and Peter Alexander pyjama wrapping) with cute pictures and cut them to fit little wooden frames that I picked up from cheap as chips ( they're two dollars for three). I used magic dots to put the pictures in place and then regular UHU glue to stick the frames on. Some of my cards also had backgrounds, especially with the smaller frames.

I love these little cards and how much more special they are than a packet of 20 cards from a local store.

Enjoy creating your own Christmas cards.

Lisa x

P.S I'm linking up with
The Dedicated House

Oh for the love of scrabble.

 It's no secret that I love thrifting old scrabble pieces and using them for craft projects. Check out scrabble coasters , scrabble magnets and scrabble thumb tacks. It only seemed fitting that the first project I did in my new pad was use some thrifted scrabble pieces to make a sign. For this project I also used a wooden scrabble letter holder, my glue gun, drill, 2 screws, 1 nail and some brown twine.

I used a glue gun to glue the letters to the scrabble letter holder. Then I used a drill to add two little screws to the back and attached these together using brown twine to attach it to the toilet door.

You can't get lost in my house with all the scrabble labelling :)

Lisa x

P.S I'm linking up with 

Alderberry Hill
The Dedicated House

Scrabble coasters.

I am a big fan of using scrabble pieces in creative ways. I've already made scrabble labels, scrabble magnets 

,scrabble labelled chalkboards and scrabble thumb tacks.

Every time I look at the board game section of a garage sale, I always look for scrabble but have only found 2 boards and pieces so far but I'll always keep looking and hoping.

One idea that I just adore is using scrabble pieces to make coasters and this idea is all over pinterest. I decided to try it for myself and used the 16 four letter words (grouped into similar categories).

BEER/BREW/HOPS/AGED

STIR/LIME/DIET/SODA 

CORK/POUR/VINO/WINE

JAVA/CAFE/TEAS/MILO

You will need:

4 coasters (I got mine from cheap as chips for $1 each)

a table saw

polyurethane vanish

glue gun

scrabble pieces

How to:

Get the four wooden coasters and cut them to size using a table saw. 

Then paint them with polyurethane varnish so they are water tight. 

I initially used craft glue to stick down the pieces but they fell off fairly easily so I ended up using a glue gun to attach each individual piece.

I just love having scrabble pieces around the place and they add a little extra cute touch to our coffee table.

Lisa x
P.S I'm linking up with 

Too Much Time On My Hands
Tutus and Tea Parties
Classy Clutter
Its Overflowing

Spring is in the air.

I love being organised. It may sound weird to you but I find it so soothing and exciting to have a clean and organised space to work in. It's the start of Spring so wanted to get into some serious spring cleaning, now that the weather is simply amazing.
To start off the organising, decluttering process I made a few easy DIY things to help my home look nice and neat.

This DIY I'd been meaning to make for a while. All I did was glue some fabric to the front of an old cookie sheet and voila, a pretty magnetic board...and since all magnetic boards need magnets, I made a few of my own using some old magnets I have lying around and beloved scrabble pieces. For now I've put it on a mini eisle I thrifted and am using it assist in my meal planning for the week.

Everything seems more manageable when it's in a pretty storage container. For this DIY I just found some old scraps of fabric and used a hot glue gun to attach them to old shoeboxes. Then I added a sticker label and there was my pretty storage containers (* I am still perfecting making fabric covered boxes but my first tries have turned out quite cute.) Are you sensing a slight obsession with scrabble pieces?

I found these cute pineapple shaped bowls at an op shop and thought I'd spruce them up a bit to fit in with our home with a few coats of white paint. Now I've got three unique storage containers- one for hair ties, one for bits and bobs and one for loose change.

I'm already on my way to a cleaner, more organised, less cluttered home and it's only the start of spring! Yes, I'm being glass half full in this thinking but every project completed means the goal is slightly more achieved, right? :)

 P.S I'm linking up with Penny Worthy Project,  Coastal Charm, Making mondays marvellous, Frugal Treasures Tuesday, I heart naptime, the thrifty home, southern lovely.

Enjoy the weekend.

Lisa x

Scrabble thumb tacks.

I had an old pinboard lying around. It wasn't very aesthically pleasing so I painted the frame blue and reupholstered it with some beautiful toile fabric that my bestie gave me. However when I added the thumb tacks, they just didn't look right so I decided to make them a little more exciting. 

I had some thrifted scrabble pieces left over after making a guest room display , fridge magnets and labels around the house which seemed just perfect for my next project.

+ 1 glue gun.

Simply glue the scrabble pieces to the the thumb tacks and voila, they look much more appealing.

The scrabble pieces somewhat blend into the background but that's better than thumb tacks standing out.

Now I just need to find some adorable pictures and inspirational quotes to pin all over this board.

Lisa x

A homemade chalkboard.

Earlier this year I had a garage sale with some friends to raise $ for the salvation army appeal and the Australian Tanzanian services foundation. It was also a chance to raid each others throw away possessions. My friend had an old frame which I thought would make the perfect chalkboard for our dining room.

How to:

I removed the glass and painted the frame white (2 coats).

Then I painted the board with primer, before giving it two coats of chalkboard paint ($20 from the local hardware store).

To finish it off I used pieces from a scrabble board (found on a garage sale $2) to create the word 'dinner'.

I used bluetac to attach the letters as then I can change the words if I need.

Chalkboards also make great presents like this one I with a friend for another friend's 30th (the frame was salvaged from the backyard and the plywood backing was from the inside of the seat of an old phone table.
We simply painted the plywood with paint and attached scrabble letters using a glue gun. Then attached it all together and added some wire to the back.

Have you got any good chalkboard ideas? 

Lisa x